[Roundabout]

During my first outing at the track with this car, the car lost power for 1-2 seconds during a long left hand turn. I had about a half-tank of fuel at the time. My Elise is stock and NA (except for a Moroso pan). Is it possible that I damaged the engine from just this one event? I'm assuming that the car was fuel starved, but perhaps not? I'm surprised that half a tank is not enough fuel.

 

[scratch269]

If you aren't showing any issues you are likely fine. I would find a solution quick though if you plan to repeat. I believe this is what blew my engine. BOE surge tank now.

 

[andy7777]

You may or may not have had half a tank, the gauges can be very uneven doing tracking events. IIRC, the pickup in the tank is over to the left, so left handers cause the fuel to pool on the other side.

Another solution is the V2 tank. More costly than a surge tank but fewer potential fire issues. It's a series of baffles that keep the fuel near the pickup. As I understand it, in earlier cars in particular the baffling that Lotus put into the tanks corroded out. The V2 tank fixes the baffling and introduces a small trap. I've used one for 2 years and many track days and it seems to work fine even with a gallon or two left.

 

[Gunpilot]

If it's running okay, you should be fine. It's happened to me a few times.

You have two choices -- cell or surge tank.

Cell looks like a lot of ass pain, I chose the surge tank route. If you install it correctly I don't think there is a risk of fire. Phil makes good stuff and I doubt he would market something that fails and catches fire.

 

[pro10is4life]

I've got a baffled fuel tank and a surge tank for sale! PM me if you're interested in either.

 

[andy7777]

If it's running okay, you should be fine. It's happened to me a few times.

You have two choices -- cell or surge tank.

Cell looks like a lot of ass pain, I chose the surge tank route. If you install it correctly I don't think there is a risk of fire. Phil makes good stuff and I doubt he would market something that fails and catches fire.

It's not whether the surge tank is well made, it's introducing a new set of connections and a new container of gas inside an already cramped engine bay. I have no doubt that they work and are virtually all safe. But an internal tank solution makes more sense to me. YMMV.

 

[cashxdr]

Surge tanks take up little room and many choices to mount them. I have the Radium in both my cars and they have several different mounting bracket choices and they are very easy to install

As with who ever you want to go with. Contact them, discuss the options and get the proper hoses and stuff that you need for your setup/requirements

 

[holmz]

Andy is correct though, the surge is more complex, heavier, sub-optimal.
It is a simpler solution to do the tank, but most people will gladly spend a few hours installing a surge tank because they do not want to drop the tank and want to save a few $.

Secondly many engines are designed to run lean.
It can NOT hurt the engine when it is actually cut out.
It could hurt it in the narrow section between rich and so lean it does not run.
But the damage is detonation related, which can also be heat damage.

 

[Trakit]

not feeding fuel will almost never cause damage to an engine, and certainly not for that short of time. It's actually my preferred method of traction control, which can be fuel cut or ignition cut. Most manufacturers I knew of before used ignition cut, but whatever works. I have no idea what Lotus uses for ours, but either way you are fine. There are benefits for both depending on what you use it for. In my old cars I was f/i with meth injection so I like fuel cut so there wasn't a possibility for detonation.

I agree with all those who are behind doing a baffled or cell tank option. Anything else is adding components and complexity where a simple solution is safer and better. not saying it won't work, just not optimal. I'm just going to run full for a while until my lazy azz decides to do it though. ha