Hi All,
This seems to be the forum to ask all my questions so hoping you guys and girls can help with some advice
I'm currently driving a 2005 Lotus Elise 111R, mostly spirited road driving but I do a regular track day once a month - all that's available in my area when I really get to push her to the limits. The car has 45,000km on the clock and gets regularly serviced.
Don't get me wrong, in stock format she's quick but I'm looking for overall improvements in terms of handling and speed as well as keeping reliability , so here's my list and please feel free to jump in with 'waste of money' vs 'definitely worth it' vs 'have you thought of' plus anything else I've missed off the list. Oh, and I'm generally mechanically ignorant/avoidant!
Budget wise I'd like to keep costs down obviously as I still have labour to add at the end of the day - unavoidable for me!
1. Lotus designed supercharger - the bolt on Eaton (i think it's called) - this was no 1 on my list as I'd like to get some decent straight line speed.
As far as I'm aware this doesn't require any other mods, comes as a complete package with a replacement ECU included? I don't want to go past this to other makes as I really don't want to get oil coolers of whatever needed to run it. In reality has anyone done this and see a noticeable improvement?
Lotus Sport Supercharger Kit (Toyota 2ZZ N/A Cars) - Lotus Sport Parts - Track and Sport parts
2. Shocks - currently I have the Bilsteins and IMHO are pretty damn good but is there an upgrade that won't make the car feel like it's breaking apart and let me corner with a bit more confidence/speed/stability? Not worried about adjustable or the really expensive stuff as I won't be sitting there with a hex wrench doing it. Also, should they be changed with just 45,000 kilometres on the clock - waste of money?
3. Tyres - This is a definite for me, but based out of South Africa I have a very limited range, Yoko's are impossible to find here so I think I'm going for
Michelin Pilots vs Dunlop Direzza if I can find them...
4. Airfilter & Exhaust & Manifold - I see lots of talk about this and am now bamboozled! Is the TRD/Hurricane + Larini Sports + decat with damper + manifold worth the effort and more importantly cost, would I actually see an improvement in speed or is it just the sound/placebo effect? Should I get the complete package or only one or two items worth the actual effort in terms of cost vs performance?
5. Dry sump - a lot of people mention oil starvation and say a dry sump is well worth it as the 2ZZ engine aparently suffers from it, others say just top up your oil for a track day...? Not a performance enhancement but definitely not skimping on reliability - this is my daily driver.
6. Suspension - bit of a topic here but considering the mileage on the car I don't know if it's now time to do a refresh of all the bushes/ball joints/mounts? If so, I'm just getting them ALL done in one go to reduce labour costs. With that in mind if the concensus is yes, is there a place where I can buy them ALL in one big bundle, I don't want to be sourcing for 5 different suppliers trying to work out whats what, and I'd like it to cover everything in one go so I've at least ticked that box in terms of purchase, or is it too soon to do it.
Was looking at this: Suspension Refresh Kit - View all Suspension and steering section - Suspension and Steering
7. Drop link bars - these are relatively cheap if I recall, and if the answer to the bushes is a no brainer then I may as well do them as well. Question, is
this front or rear or both? Lot's of people recommending the rears to be done.
8. Anti-roll bar - excuse my mechanical ignorance on this, but is this on the front/rear/both? And should I get adjustable? Please understand on the
adjustable bit, I don't have tools etc so it will be a once off fit by a mechanic so I'd like to get it right first time.
9. Steering - not sure if there is anything on here I need to change? Does any part wear of it wear out? Happy with the lock-to-lock ratio.
Anything else I might have missed to make a great car feel/drive even better..? I did have a front splitter in mind (to cover up the two small front scrapes i have as my garage is raised) but I think I might have to take her to be professionaly fixed/painted and have the underside protectors I bought off ebay installed instead.
* Brakes - I've already done, braided hoses and Mintex 1155 (which btw give me no fade and I'm really happy with - I much prefer them to EBC red).
Ideally, based on everyone's advice I'd like to source it all from one reputable supplier that can ship to South Africa... and I don't get stung by import
duties, but that's another story. Oh, and if you have links please include them
Anyways, thank you for all/any responses in advance. Much appreciated.
Yuzzy
This seems to be the forum to ask all my questions so hoping you guys and girls can help with some advice
I'm currently driving a 2005 Lotus Elise 111R, mostly spirited road driving but I do a regular track day once a month - all that's available in my area
when I really get to push her to the limits. The car has 45,000km on the clock and gets regularly serviced.Don't get me wrong, in stock format she's quick but I'm looking for overall improvements in terms of handling and speed as well as keeping reliability , so here's my list and please feel free to jump in with 'waste of money' vs 'definitely worth it' vs 'have you thought of' plus anything else I've missed off the list. Oh, and I'm generally mechanically ignorant/avoidant!
Budget wise I'd like to keep costs down obviously as I still have labour to add at the end of the day - unavoidable for me!
1. Lotus designed supercharger - the bolt on Eaton (i think it's called) - this was no 1 on my list as I'd like to get some decent straight line speed.
As far as I'm aware this doesn't require any other mods, comes as a complete package with a replacement ECU included? I don't want to go past this to other makes as I really don't want to get oil coolers of whatever needed to run it. In reality has anyone done this and see a noticeable improvement?
Lotus Sport Supercharger Kit (Toyota 2ZZ N/A Cars) - Lotus Sport Parts - Track and Sport parts
2. Shocks - currently I have the Bilsteins and IMHO are pretty damn good but is there an upgrade that won't make the car feel like it's breaking apart and let me corner with a bit more confidence/speed/stability? Not worried about adjustable or the really expensive stuff as I won't be sitting there with a hex wrench doing it. Also, should they be changed with just 45,000 kilometres on the clock - waste of money?
3. Tyres - This is a definite for me, but based out of South Africa I have a very limited range, Yoko's are impossible to find here so I think I'm going for
Michelin Pilots vs Dunlop Direzza if I can find them...
4. Airfilter & Exhaust & Manifold - I see lots of talk about this and am now bamboozled! Is the TRD/Hurricane + Larini Sports + decat with damper + manifold worth the effort and more importantly cost, would I actually see an improvement in speed or is it just the sound/placebo effect? Should I get the complete package or only one or two items worth the actual effort in terms of cost vs performance?
5. Dry sump - a lot of people mention oil starvation and say a dry sump is well worth it as the 2ZZ engine aparently suffers from it, others say just top up your oil for a track day...? Not a performance enhancement but definitely not skimping on reliability - this is my daily driver.
6. Suspension - bit of a topic here but considering the mileage on the car I don't know if it's now time to do a refresh of all the bushes/ball joints/mounts? If so, I'm just getting them ALL done in one go to reduce labour costs. With that in mind if the concensus is yes, is there a place where I can buy them ALL in one big bundle, I don't want to be sourcing for 5 different suppliers trying to work out whats what, and I'd like it to cover everything in one go so I've at least ticked that box in terms of purchase, or is it too soon to do it.
Was looking at this: Suspension Refresh Kit - View all Suspension and steering section - Suspension and Steering
7. Drop link bars - these are relatively cheap if I recall, and if the answer to the bushes is a no brainer then I may as well do them as well. Question, is
this front or rear or both? Lot's of people recommending the rears to be done.
8. Anti-roll bar - excuse my mechanical ignorance on this, but is this on the front/rear/both? And should I get adjustable? Please understand on the
adjustable bit, I don't have tools etc so it will be a once off fit by a mechanic so I'd like to get it right first time.
9. Steering - not sure if there is anything on here I need to change? Does any part wear of it wear out? Happy with the lock-to-lock ratio.
Anything else I might have missed to make a great car feel/drive even better..? I did have a front splitter in mind (to cover up the two small front scrapes i have as my garage is raised) but I think I might have to take her to be professionaly fixed/painted and have the underside protectors I bought off ebay installed instead.
* Brakes - I've already done, braided hoses and Mintex 1155 (which btw give me no fade and I'm really happy with - I much prefer them to EBC red).
Ideally, based on everyone's advice I'd like to source it all from one reputable supplier that can ship to South Africa... and I don't get stung by import
duties, but that's another story. Oh, and if you have links please include them
Anyways, thank you for all/any responses in advance. Much appreciated.
Yuzzy
