[manasho]

Hi!

1st please let me explain my situation. I'm not new to racing inspire car (or track cars), used to have a EVO 9MR pretty tuned, but I do admit I'm new, totally new with all the Elise/Exige scenario so I'm not gonna try to be a big shot or something. Also I live in Peru and I do have a pretty good mechanic but I'm not so sure to find a good tuner.

Well lets get started. The big question should I go with a turbo or supercharger kit?

Please could you help me out with this? Telling me your opinions between them, complicity between them? Do I need a retune? Who could do it? How much is a safe number to have it running without having to be thinking I'm gonna break the engine/trans?

As you can see I'm asking pretty much a help in the whole project because as I told you I new with this cars.

Thanks in advance for all the help, I really appreciate the time you spend helping me =)

Percy

 

[lotus90]

Go with supercharger. Boe has a great setup. There is so much more knowledge for getting a supercharger setup to run well that I think it will be easier to setup

 

[sturgeongeneral]

A supercharger kit will come with a reliable proven tune. Turbos will require someone very advanced to set the tune.

 

[bri3d]

Because of your location, I say get a supercharger.

Turbos are awesome and can deliver more peak power, plus the various turbo options give you a lot of flexibility to build the torque and HP curves you want. Sadly, there's not a 100% solid off-the-shelf bolt-on Elise turbo kit and more importantly there's no solid off-the-shelf turbo tune/map.

There are a lot of decent off-the-shelf bolt-on superchargers (BOE, Vision Function, Katana, even a factory MP62 supercharger setup) for both the Elise and Exige that come with perfectly reasonable tunes.

If I were building a car in the US with access to a good tuner, I'd probably look into a turbo for the flexibility and achievable maximums. Since you're not, get a supercharger.

BOE's seems like an especially good option for you because you buy a cable which lets you re-flash the ECU yourself, so you won't need to mail the ECU internationally to get it tuned.

People start generally having transmission issues somewhere in the 300hps, although obviously that depends on how you use the car.

 

[manasho]

Because of your location, I say get a supercharger.

Turbos are awesome and can deliver more peak power, plus the various turbo options give you a lot of flexibility to build the torque and HP curves you want. Sadly, there's not a 100% solid off-the-shelf bolt-on Elise turbo kit and more importantly there's no solid off-the-shelf turbo tune/map.

There are a lot of decent off-the-shelf bolt-on superchargers (BOE, Vision Function, Katana, even a factory MP62 supercharger setup) for both the Elise and Exige that come with perfectly reasonable tunes.

If I were building a car in the US with access to a good tuner, I'd probably look into a turbo for the flexibility and achievable maximums. Since you're not, get a supercharger.

BOE's seems like an especially good option for you because you buy a cable which lets you re-flash the ECU yourself, so you won't need to mail the ECU internationally to get it tuned.

People start generally having transmission issues somewhere in the 300hps, although obviously that depends on how you use the car.

Thank you so much for the help. I'm looking for something between 280-300whp, I think more than that I might have some troubles with the transmission right? With that in might what kit you could recommend me? I was looking at the BOE Rev300 but not quite sure for the no I/C I think I will lose quite some boost there right? What is your opinion on the M62 kit? Thanks in advance,

Manasho

 

[Westrock]

Thank you so much for the help. I'm looking for something between 280-300whp, I think more than that I might have some troubles with the transmission right? With that in might what kit you could recommend me? I was looking at the BOE Rev300 but not quite sure for the no I/C I think I will lose quite some boost there right? What is your opinion on the M62 kit? Thanks in advance,

Manasho

For that power level, hands down supercharger no doubt about it. The main reason is because of the zero latency of the supercharger. It is SOOO seamless it really does feel like a V6 back there. And really I would say up to near 400HP stick with supercharger. This is one of the few 4 cylinders that superchargers really took off on.

Turbo's will always have the throttle modulation problem where you have a threshold at which the exhaust heat is either enough to spin the turbine or not. All turbo's have that "point". With the supercharger, the potential for boost is always being made, only the throttle is directly limiting it.

The MP62 is loud, but it could do 280WHP. If you want the audible drama of the turbo then the MP62 will come closest because the whine is splendid. But for power and efficiency the 1320TVS is much better. And if you go researching on this board about the TVS and find threads from several years ago about how the TVS will negatively affect drivability, forget about it. Those were uninformed people at the time. The TVS feels exactly the same as the MP62 and has none of the problems.

 

[evansp60]

Mmmmm.....funny, We have 3 turbo charged Lotus Elise here and have experienced none of the lag issues being referred to. I'm not sure anyone posting has driven a turbo Lotus. Further, Phil has the base tunes for the turbo's on file so they are readily available, depending on what you install. Radium makes a complete kit for the Lotus that is pretty robust!! Having said that.....it comes down to $$$. Turbo's are more expensive but are more complete. They involved both intake and exhaust mods so your entire system is overhauled. They are also more robust in terms of scalability. Supercharged systems are cheaper in terms of cost but the exhaust system is not modified (unless you choose to) and they do not scale outside of changing the pulley system. Choice is up to you in terms of $$$. Final custom tuning is always a good idea regardless of what system you buy. YOU WILL WANT A NEW CLUTCH!! Regardless of what you use the extra impact on your clutch will take it out sooner or later. Your transmission shouldn't be a problem unless you like to badly abuse your system. Shift smoothly, heel and toe properly and you'll be fine. I run 14psi on a modified engine and my transmission is fine......

 

[lotus90]

The radium turbo kit does not come with a tune. I run a turbo ff275 kit and I like it but no one sells a plug and play turbo kit. supercharger is plug and play mostly

 

[XHILR8N!]

so you won't need to mail the ECU internationally to get it tuned.

Not necessary.

 

[Me!]

Mmmmm.....funny, We have 3 turbo charged Lotus Elise here and have experienced none of the lag issues being referred to. I'm not sure anyone posting has driven a turbo Lotus. Further, Phil has the base tunes for the turbo's on file so they are readily available, depending on what you install. Radium makes a complete kit for the Lotus that is pretty robust!! Having said that.....it comes down to $$$. Turbo's are more expensive but are more complete. They involved both intake and exhaust mods so your entire system is overhauled. They are also more robust in terms of scalability. Supercharged systems are cheaper in terms of cost but the exhaust system is not modified (unless you choose to) and they do not scale outside of changing the pulley system. Choice is up to you in terms of $$$. Final custom tuning is always a good idea regardless of what system you buy. YOU WILL WANT A NEW CLUTCH!! Regardless of what you use the extra impact on your clutch will take it out sooner or later. Your transmission shouldn't be a problem unless you like to badly abuse your system. Shift smoothly, heel and toe properly and you'll be fine. I run 14psi on a modified engine and my transmission is fine......

The problem with turbos on this platform is that there are very few people using them compared to superchargers so there a pretty small knowledge base. Not saying it can't be done, but just plan to have to figure out all the problems yourself as it is more uncharted territory in comparison.

Not sure about why a new clutch is necessary... I'm probably 270-280whp and the stock clutch is just fine...

 

[manasho]

As Evansp60 said yeah is true you can make much more horsepower but for what I can se is there aren't so many bolt on kits, and the one that are actually are pretty expensive I know you can gain massive gains with that but also you need to reinforce the engine transmission and make some mods with out talking about the reflash or upgrade the ECU and need the time to properly tune the car.

My situation is that here in Peru is that we do have good mechanics, I and I have one who works in my rally cars and is pretty good with turbos but even he says to me that doing the reflash is gonna be a pain because we do not have the standard parameter. So I'm thinking on going with the SC. Look pretty much like a bolt on and I think that with a simple reflash I might be able to do the trick right? I'm looking for something between 280-300whps

 

[evansp60]

We installed the BOE400 kit on an 08 Elise SC as an upgrade.
Kits well made, Phil offers excellent support.
You'll want the Fastworks tuning package if your keeping
the stock ECU. Phil has the flash for it and I hear the Black Dash
version is not too far away.

 

[manasho]

We installed the BOE400 kit on an 08 Elise SC as an upgrade.
Kits well made, Phil offers excellent support.
You'll want the Fastworks tuning package if your keeping
the stock ECU. Phil has the flash for it and I hear the Black Dash
version is not too far away.

Great! Do you know what I'll be needing for the flash? Just the cable or should I need something else? Thanks!

 

[evansp60]

Just a laptop and the internet.
He sells the cable with the flash

 

[GR82DRV]

+1 for supercharging, especially in Peru. I'm guessing that it's harder to find good Lotus mechanic talent there (like here in Wisconsin), and Turbos will require more fussing and tuning to be right.

Meanwhile, the good supercharger systems are very well sorted out and seem to be bolt-on and plug-in propositions. I'd talk with Turbo Phil about supercharger options if I were you...

 

[manasho]

Yes I have decided to go with the supercharger, but I'm looking for one, any opinions on that?

 

[komiko]

read my build thread on the boe rev400 in my signature. I'm making 292 WHP retaining the factory manifold and cat converter. You will be happy. Grab the surge tank too!

 

[holmz]

t

Mmmmm.....funny, We have 3 turbo charged Lotus Elise here and have experienced none of the lag issues being referred to.
...

A plot of the throttle slapped from ~0 to 100% and the torque would hep convince the non-believers. have never seen those produced when qualitative talking about zero lag takes place.
Many DBW car have lag that is worse than Turbo lag.

OP- Do you even need more power? and if so why? What is the nature of the track?
Where is it and what altitude is it at?

While I am not a huge fan of turbos, at high altitude they can make more sense than a SC.
For one they can have the boost be constant with respect to absolute pressure, and secondly the thinner air makes them run better in terms of exhaust side extraction.
If the car is used primarily on the high slopes of the Andes then a turbo may be worth considering. But if the track is turny twisty and requires mostly throttle feathering, then a turbo may not help.

 

[oldmansan]

Let me clear up a few things.

The OP doesn't have the budget for the REV400 or turbo setup. He also wants something nearly stock as the mechanics and tuners in Peru are limited in their Lotus experience.

A turbo setup really doesn't make sense for the OP given the above.

The OP was going to purchase a complete MP62 setup for sale on this board but kind of disappeared for some time. That kit is still available and IMHO makes the most sense, given the details he's provided in numerous PMs.

San

 

[holmz]

Right San.

One question is... does he need the SC?
If the primary tracks are not really HP hungry tracks then it could result in moving him up into a different class, and there may not be much time advantage with more HP.
Or there could be more seconds/$ advantage with suspension upgrades than with engine upgrades.

Of course there is also the "Want" factor to consider.