Ian Kuah drives the U.S. Elise at Hethel and adds some
information about the new car in the March 2004 issue of Sports
Car International.
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009MQ7U/102-2673417-4480141?v=glance>
Significantly it appears he was able to ask some of the Lotus
engineers about the weight budget for the revised car. It seems
that the Toyota 2ZZ-GE engine adds 64 pounds over the Rover K.
Toyota's 6-speed C64 transmission, lifted straight from their
Celica adds 13 pounds over the Rover's. Air
conditioning adds 22 pounds and twin oil coolers adds 29 pounds.
No doubt quite a bit of the weights for the added cooling and air
conditioning come from their plumbing. A few additional
modifications result is a 154 pound increase over "the weight of
a Euro-spec 111S." Here's a summary:
1. 2ZZ-GE Engine: 64 pounds
2. C64 Transmission: 13 pounds
3. Air Conditioning: 22 pounds
4. Twin Oil coolers: 29 pounds
5. Other modifications: 26 pounds
Front to rear weight distribution remains largely unchanged since
added coolers up front balance out the drivetrain increases in
back.
Fuel tank is 10.5 (U.S.) Gallons and fuel economy is 36 (U.S.)
Miles per Gallon. European LEV1 emissions certifications were
"easily breezed through" and LEV2 certification is underway.
Kuah notes that the Toyota engine and transmission are both
more effective in the significantly lighter Elise than the
Celica from which it came. Due to the much lower mass, the
torque is more useful and tractable. He did not mention that
part of Lotus' ECU re-tuning was to increase torque. Gearbox
feel is "slick," and:
newsletter, that the engine and gearbox work better in the Elise
than the Celica, and I believe he rightly attributed some of that
to the much lower overall weight of Elise.
Kuah notes very good passenger cell protection from the chassis
and impact-absorbing sections up front. He mentions that Lotus
is now cleared to reveal that they designed the crash structure
for the Aston Martin Vanquish. The only safety changes for the
U.S. Elise are the addition of small airbags, which in turn
prompted a redesign of the dashboard, which is now precision
injection-molded.
Instrument pack is new, and includes tire pressure warning lights
and a "race style engine rpm upshift" light.
big bumps and huge potholes. A new rear subframe has a forward
attachment point at the bulkhead, behind the fuel tank. Spring
and damper rates are up slightly in to better control the
slightly increased mass, and new dampers have 10 mm more travel.
In order to handle noise from expansion joints and other road
irregularity impacts on the suspension, Lotus ride and handling
development engineer Simon Newton told Kuah that more complaint
lower, forward A-arm bushings were specified in order to:
of the M100 Elan.) (Expansion joints are lateral gaps between
longitudinal concrete sections of highway which the rest of the
world may not have as prominently as do some U.S. roads.)
In addition the brackets that contain these slightly softened
bushings "are wider and other minor changes have been made to
optimize the chassis for U.S. road conditions." It's not clear
whether European versions of the Toyota-engined Elise will get
similar suspension modifications. (Mike Caucer or anyone who
else gets a look at the European versions may want to compare
bushing brackets...)
Tires are the same Elise-specific Yokohama 175/55ZR16 and
225/45ZR17 sizes used in the European 111S.
New power-boosted ABS brakes are fitted which underwent
extensive, careful development by Lotus. Lotus used the brakes
on the Porsche 911 as their benchmark in developing the new Elise
ABS brakes. Simon Newton described the new braking system to
Kuah thusly:
around the Hethel test track Kuah reports:
photographer. He has probably driven most of the major
production sporty cars during Europe's recent decades, and quite
a few custom specials. He gave rave reviews to the Motorsport
Elise he drove a year or two ago, so if he feels that the
Toyota-engined Elise is a good version of the car, he's probably
right...
Cheers,
Jeff C.
--
Jeff Chan
mailto:[email protected]
http://www.jeffchan.com/
information about the new car in the March 2004 issue of Sports
Car International.
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009MQ7U/102-2673417-4480141?v=glance>
Significantly it appears he was able to ask some of the Lotus
engineers about the weight budget for the revised car. It seems
that the Toyota 2ZZ-GE engine adds 64 pounds over the Rover K.
Toyota's 6-speed C64 transmission, lifted straight from their
Celica adds 13 pounds over the Rover's. Air
conditioning adds 22 pounds and twin oil coolers adds 29 pounds.
No doubt quite a bit of the weights for the added cooling and air
conditioning come from their plumbing. A few additional
modifications result is a 154 pound increase over "the weight of
a Euro-spec 111S." Here's a summary:
1. 2ZZ-GE Engine: 64 pounds
2. C64 Transmission: 13 pounds
3. Air Conditioning: 22 pounds
4. Twin Oil coolers: 29 pounds
5. Other modifications: 26 pounds
Front to rear weight distribution remains largely unchanged since
added coolers up front balance out the drivetrain increases in
back.
Fuel tank is 10.5 (U.S.) Gallons and fuel economy is 36 (U.S.)
Miles per Gallon. European LEV1 emissions certifications were
"easily breezed through" and LEV2 certification is underway.
Kuah notes that the Toyota engine and transmission are both
more effective in the significantly lighter Elise than the
Celica from which it came. Due to the much lower mass, the
torque is more useful and tractable. He did not mention that
part of Lotus' ECU re-tuning was to increase torque. Gearbox
feel is "slick," and:
Andrew Barron also noted in Lotus ReMarque, the U.S. club"the stubby lever can be moved swiftly and surely
across the gate, totally in keeping with the light,
fluid and tactile Elise experience that we have come
to know and love -- the Toyota 6-speed is a good fit"
newsletter, that the engine and gearbox work better in the Elise
than the Celica, and I believe he rightly attributed some of that
to the much lower overall weight of Elise.
Kuah notes very good passenger cell protection from the chassis
and impact-absorbing sections up front. He mentions that Lotus
is now cleared to reveal that they designed the crash structure
for the Aston Martin Vanquish. The only safety changes for the
U.S. Elise are the addition of small airbags, which in turn
prompted a redesign of the dashboard, which is now precision
injection-molded.
Instrument pack is new, and includes tire pressure warning lights
and a "race style engine rpm upshift" light.
The chassis was recalibrated for U.S. driving conditions, notably"A new center console carries the controls for the
lightweight air-conditioning system that came onstream
last year when the Euro Elise 111S was launched. A/C
comes standard on the U.S. car, as do power windows."
big bumps and huge potholes. A new rear subframe has a forward
attachment point at the bulkhead, behind the fuel tank. Spring
and damper rates are up slightly in to better control the
slightly increased mass, and new dampers have 10 mm more travel.
In order to handle noise from expansion joints and other road
irregularity impacts on the suspension, Lotus ride and handling
development engineer Simon Newton told Kuah that more complaint
lower, forward A-arm bushings were specified in order to:
(Sounds quite a bit like the rationale for the "raft" subframe under the front"cope with 'wheel recession,' which is how Lotus
describes the phenomenon of the wheel and suspension
being pushed backwards when they encounter a short,
sharp obstacle like and expansion joint."
of the M100 Elan.) (Expansion joints are lateral gaps between
longitudinal concrete sections of highway which the rest of the
world may not have as prominently as do some U.S. roads.)
In addition the brackets that contain these slightly softened
bushings "are wider and other minor changes have been made to
optimize the chassis for U.S. road conditions." It's not clear
whether European versions of the Toyota-engined Elise will get
similar suspension modifications. (Mike Caucer or anyone who
else gets a look at the European versions may want to compare
bushing brackets...)
Tires are the same Elise-specific Yokohama 175/55ZR16 and
225/45ZR17 sizes used in the European 111S.
New power-boosted ABS brakes are fitted which underwent
extensive, careful development by Lotus. Lotus used the brakes
on the Porsche 911 as their benchmark in developing the new Elise
ABS brakes. Simon Newton described the new braking system to
Kuah thusly:
Kuah describes the resulting braking system:"We worked very hard on this system. A few years ago,
we were against ABS, as it interfered with the purity
of the car on the track. But things have moved on and
current technology allows us to develop a system that
suits this car.
Our major criticism of most ABS systems is the way
they perform on a circuit [racing course]. We
originally wanted an on/off switch, but this was
not possible because of legal liability in case of
an accident. The alternative was to develop a
better system ourselves, and our benchmark was the
Porsche 911."
After driving the prototype with U.S. spec engine and suspension"Basically Lotus has designed an ABS system that
does not trigger too quickly, which makes it
especially suited to track use. The system
actually allows a bit of lock before triggering
and keeps the pedal from going hard while the
ABS is pulsing in order to preserve brake feel.
Ultimately this allows you to go deeper into
corners. As with the engine and other changes
that have been made to the Elise, the added
weight and complexity was justified."
around the Hethel test track Kuah reports:
I note that Kuah is a very prolific reviewer, writer and"Poise into and through fast bends and the
delicacy of steering feel are unaffected by
the changes, but the extra thrust out of
bends can be readily felt and straight-line
speed is most impressive. At last the chassis
has the engine it was always crying out for."
photographer. He has probably driven most of the major
production sporty cars during Europe's recent decades, and quite
a few custom specials. He gave rave reviews to the Motorsport
Elise he drove a year or two ago, so if he feels that the
Toyota-engined Elise is a good version of the car, he's probably
right...
Cheers,
Jeff C.
--
Jeff Chan
mailto:[email protected]
http://www.jeffchan.com/