[Randy G]

Dear All,

At long last I am about to realize the thrill of Liz ownership. Having sold my beloved 911, I am buying sedwards' car in Austin, and I expect to take delivery next week after Thanksgiving.

Now my real question: For those of you who passed on the Stage 1 and opted for the Stage 2, do you have any regrets? I like the look of the Stage 2, but I wonder whether the richer (louder) sound would be suitable for a daily driver/occasional weekend track car. Can one live with the Stage 2 on a daily driver, or is it just too much. FYI, my 911 had a low restriction exhaust and was quite throaty; I LOVED hearing it.

I suppose one option is to install the Stage 2 and keep the stock muffler for a re-install later. I suppose that the enlarged diffuser holes for the Stage 2 will not interfere with re-mounting the stock muffler in the future.

So, your thoughts of living day to day with Stage 2??

Thanks.

 

[MattG]

I got a ride in a stage 2 equipped Elise, and would not want it in a car that I wanted to be able to take comfortable, relaxing drives in. If it was a track-only car, or my wife never rode with me, I'd possibly consider the stage 2. Otherwise, it's just too loud - but I must admit, it sounds GREAT!

 

[perryeyges]

If you want a comfortable relaxing ride get a Boxster.
The stage II is THE exhaust that matches the car. I love it! It makes the most wonderful sounds and give you goose bumps in a long tunnel at upper cam rpm. It is part of the reason I decided to quit looking at superbikes. The car feels like a superbike with it...
A lighter system like the $3,000 titanium Yoshimura would be sweet but not very practical for most of us. I believe the stage II saves approx 8lbs of dead weight as well..

 

[Randy G]

Thanks for the feedback. I am so looking forward to the Liz, and I understand that the Stage 2 really brings out her personality---I was just concerned that it would be too "over-the-top" around town.

BTW, any problems with black flags for noise at SCCA events with the Stage 2??

 

[biobaggie]

I agree with Perry. I just got my Stage 2 installed yesterday, after much deliberation, and it sounds great. It's not antisocial at all. I've only driven it with the soft top on but I could still conduct a conversation with my 6 yr old son in the passenger seat. Only under load and foot down acceleration do you really hear a difference. Under normal driving conditions the difference in sound from stock is definitely there but it is not greatly different from a db standpoint - only deeper

 

[JonOrangeElise]

You need to hear it in person. The stock exhaust is better-sounding than 95 percent of all other stock cars' exhausts (deeper, throatier, more burbly), and the Stage II is definitely in the "aggressive category" of aftermarket/upgrade exhausts. IMHO, asking people on a message board for this kind of advice won't be helpful, as exhaust sound preferences are HIGHLY subjective.

And I'd still like to know why not a single Stage I exhaust has been reported on.

 

[Gridlock]

I agree with JonM3Coupe... you need to hear them for yourself. However, in my opinion, the stock exhaust has the nicest most refined expensive sound. Both the stage 1 and stage 2 are louder, but to my ear, sound more like those cheap glass-pack mufflers that kids install on their 'suped-up' Honda Civics. I thought the stage 2 was particularly tiring. It's not that it's loud that I object to, since I have a Porsche 914-6 with a B&B exhaust that is very loud; but that sound is very exotic, unlike the stage 2 that sounds cheap to me.

 

[xfactor]

I posted these videos a while ago, but thought they might be helpful again. One is the stock exhaust, the other is the QS exhaust (very similar to the Stage 2)

stock
http://www.elisetalk.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=441&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

QS
http://www.elisetalk.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=442&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

 

[grudkin]

Probably hard to really tell from that, but didn't sound that much different to me. QS was a little lower in tone, marginally louder

 

[atyclb]

Autostrada's demo has the stage II installed.

come down and drive it

 

[Keith]

I took the SB Demo at Autostrada out for a little 'sound test' yesterday and it sounds great! The exhaust had about 1135 miles on it and was broken in nicely. It is noticeably louder than stock. Although we did not test drive one with a stock exhaust recently, Andrew (salesman) started one up with a stock exhaust and then we heard the stage II right after. So the point is we were able to hear them both while standing outside the car. The Stage II may get tiring on longer drives but it does sound great. This may be a personal preference, I think.

I was told the Stage II is 15 punds lighter. Maybe 1.5 hp more in power if that even.

 

[pianomaniac]

Maybe 1.5 hp more in power if that even.

Lotus gives no hp numbers for the stage 2. I haven't heard of anyone on this forum who has done a dyno of the stage 2 vs. stock exhaust. Just curious if the saleman made up this number? Is not, ask him where he got his info. I'm sure that everyone on this list would be interested in these numbers if they have scientific merit. Thanks.

Ron

 

[vistatical]

Is the stage 2 street legal?

 

[Patricko]

Is the stage 2 street legal?

Yes, noise would be the only possible issue and I don't think it is that loud if you don't push too hard

 

[pianomaniac]

Yes, noise would be the only possible issue and I don't think it is that loud if you don't push too hard

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA....good luck on that one!

 

[Keith]

Just curious if the saleman made up this number?
Ron

This was the dealer mechanic who mentioned it ... but he was just guessing I am sure. But I think his whole point was to stress that the Stage II had no appreciable performance gain. Dyno would tell us more.

 

[James A]

LCU says that with Stage 2 there is no horsepower increase. This was discussed at LOG 24.

 

[J-Son]

quicksilver might have an extra horsepower since it weighs 10lbs less and thats the power to weight ratio.

 

[Racer X]

Auto insurnace it calculated differently in the UK. My understanding if someone makes a modification to there car, they have to report the modification to their insurance company or risk not being covered at all. The insurance asks if there is an increase in horsepower, if so the increase is based on the HP increase. The source of HP increase is often from the manufacturer of the product. This creates a strange phenomena of underestimating HP from aftermarket parts to avoid insurance increases.

Perhaps Lotus claims no increases because there are none, or because they don't want to show any increase.


Greg

 

[Surferjer]

I was told the Stage II is 15 punds lighter.

I don't think it's that much. The QS is 4 pounds lighter than Stage 2.

Probably hard to really tell from that, but didn't sound that much different to me. QS was a little lower in tone, marginally louder

I converted, and the QS is a lot more than 'marginally' louder, trust me. A LOT more.

The dyno on stock to QS was a 4-5 HP gain. I don't think I've seen Stage 2 dyno'd against anything yet, either. There would logically be at least a little HP gain with Stage 2 over stock if for nothing else then for weight savings.

Bottom line: listen to your options before deciding. BTW-my QS finally quieted down a bit (not a lot). My wife noticed the difference with a prosthetic in her ear which vibrated a bunch earlier, but now it's okay.