Dare I even ask? With the motor from Toyota having been around a while, does anyone have any info on parts for even more horsepower? Or is this a blasphemous thought from a new Lotusphile?
No doubt there will be some aftermarket people that step in regards to superchargers or turbochargers. The engine is pretty maxed out as I understand it, but can take some boost.
... not to mention the fact that the maps on the Lotus ECU will be different than those on the Toyota ECU - so a tuner would have to tune the Lotus ECU for FI. With only 3000 or so cars sold per year, that will be an unlikely scenario.
This car is about everything including straight line speed. Any car that is expected to run the 1/4 mile in the 12's is all about straight line speed. It's all the other incredible things that the Elise can do that separate this car from all the others.
Hey Meat- Not to get defensive but maybe I should have been more specific. I'm not after more top speed (more hp per se), but more torque would be great coming out of the turns where the Elise lives. Does that make sense?
being a current 2zzge (VVTl-i) owner, I can tell you that there isn't much out there. And the things that *are* out there are quite pricey.
FI is a touchy subject, mainly due to the high compression (11.5:1) of the motor. There have been some turbos built, but getting (and maintaining) high boost is next to impossible.
Blitz has had a supercharger in "development" ever since I bought my 2000 GT-S. I've seen some pics with it installed, but it's definitely not easy to obtain. That, and it would (by the looks of the Elise engine compartment) be nearly impossible to fit.
I would assume the exhaust manifold would be different from the Celica to the Elise, and from prior reading, just getting someone to fabriate a manifold for a turbo was VERY tough.
On the N/A side, your usual intake/exhaust was about it. I had the AEM CAI and the TRD exhaust, and while it made slightly-noticable improvement, it wasn't really worth the $$ (IMO).
Getting new cams developed turned out to be a mistake, because of the way that Toyota crafted them out of two different kinds of metal (in one cam). I believe Crower was the company that looked into it, and told the Celica crowd that it would be quite pricey to get something developed.
Trial has some other interesting items on their site for the Celica as well. Just a warning - it's gonna be pricey. http://www.trial.co.jp/
Hope that sheds a light on some of this ... personally, i'm really only interested in suspension/brake/tire mods myself. Modding the 2zz didn't seem to generate much of a gain, unless i wanted to dump a few thousand bucks into it.
The problem with all the numbers getting thrown out on the car ( I and don't think 12 sec 1/4 mile will happen in the standard yota powered elise, perhaps hi 12). Expectations will get unreasonably inflated. Take the car for what it is. Not because one magazine says it'' x in y sec. etc. The car as it comes out of the box will satisfy the vast majority of buyers, but for the hp and 0-60s and 1/4milers are probably going to be disappointed.
The other problem, is some of the people will throw lots of $$$ to make the car go faster, probably with result of decreasing the life of the motor, and decreasing reliability. These will be the same guys who will scream bloody murder to the local friendly neighborhood Lotus dealer complaining about what a piece of crap it is, it happens, I've seen it.
Chris
who's mantra (sp?) It's not about the straight line speed, it's about the whole handling performance package.
Ace3- Excellent response. Sounds like there's nothing in it, as the aussies say. I was hoping for some bolt on stuff. I would definitely not want to go to forced induction.
I'd advise all but the most serious racers to drive the car first - it will be faster around a track than you think. More power is always good, but if you don't know how to use the power what good is it??
The Elise probably won't be too easy to launch to get those quoted magazine times. I've never even tried to launch the Exige - it would probably smoke the clutch with the big, sticky rear tires and all the weight back there.
I'm hoping that the standard bolt on stuff will give some noticeable gains. A smaller crank pulley, lightweight flywheel, free-er flowing exhaust maybe an bigger airbox are all thing you really can't go wrong with. I do want an LSD though I hope something will be availabel, I hate the idea of having a one wheel burner.
Actually launched my S2 111s twice just to see what I could do. The first attempt ended with a lot clutch stench (and >7s - I'm a loser - I know). The second one was < 6s with limited wheel spin.
There's no fun in it, it's hard too launch (at least for a n00b like me). Best thing for me is going through twisties fast; this excites folks that a pax seat the most.
I remember picking up a collegue for a day of driving and he was giving me directions to guide me out of the city
- "Ok, better slow down, tight turn to the right"
- "Yeah sure"
- "Uhm... slow down?"
(take corner with silly speed; car sticking like glue -not close to the limit though; i'm holding back-)
- "Ok, this car rocks. I'm going enjoy this day"
And he did
Received my speeding ticket yesterday for that day- might even been him driving. I forget the time we switched seats
Very good point about the numbers being thrown around. I for one, keep all my cars bone stock. Of course, my current 2003 Z06 doesn't really need much in the way of improvements in any department with the exception of interior quality.
The Elise will my everyday car and will stay stock for reliability. If the numbers are even close to what is being tossed around, I for one, will be very happy with car right out of the box.
I believe the Elise will be very good out of the box. Just add some basic breathing bods like to the intake and exhaust and you'll gain up to 15whp w/o breaking a sweat.
here's an example dyno of the 2ZZ with an intake, no muffler and no accessory belt:
also, take in account this is without the modified ECU from Lotus.
I believe the rover engine has been FI. The 2zz-GE is about the same size. I think the intercooler was put up front. It will be done. As far as launching, it should be a breeze in the Elise. I thought launching the Celica GTS was easy. The lighter Elise should be a snap even with larger tires.
Wheel hop may not be an issue with the Elise and MR layout. I'm all for putting the turbo under the car. Keeps the engine bay cooler and you won't need as much heat shielding.
I'm a relatively new Elise owner.. Noticed both of my front oil coolers are totally disconnected and unused. First I freaked out but then I saw that the previous owner has paperwork for an old discontinued part - TRD Engine Oil Cooler - TRD part part #15071-ZT300. I didn't see where this TRD...
I am finishing up the install of the Inokinetic Ultimate shift package, which includes the Short shift linkage. While, for the most part, the directions/video provided by Inkinetic is accurate and helpful, I found the short shift linkage somewhat perplexing. This post describes in detail how to...
I've noted before that I love the results of my Torque200 tune, but one of the drawbacks is the hard start. It takes 2-3 cranks before it now whimpers to a start. How many folks experience this same issue?
Step by step of radiator removal. Hope this helps the next person in search for help on replacing there radiator.
radiator replaced with proRAD from sector111
PDF format
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