[Clovis]

I just got off the phone with my sales rep at Overseas Motors in Dallas. While discussing my upcoming test drive he did mention that no hard driving would be allowed. This I completley understand. What really bothered me is when he said that the ECU tracks how many times you drive the car to the rev limiter. You are allowed 10 times to the limiter before your warranty if void. Do we have any confirmation of this or should it be chalked up to dealer fabrication? This was supposedly discussed a few months ago at the dealers meeting as a way to cut down on warranty costs similiar to Mitsubishi and Subaru. If we do find this to be true...

 

[Miguel]

I just got off the phone with my sales rep at Overseas Motors in Dallas. While discussing my upcoming test drive...

Clovis,

Did they received the demo car yet?

Thanks,

Miguel

 

[AuburnSpyder]

If Toyota did that on my Spyder, my warranty would have been voided many times over.

 

[Clovis]

Re: Re: Warranty, ECU, & Rev Limiter

Clovis,

Did they received the demo car yet?

Thanks,

Miguel

Saturday

 

[del105]

So basically the day after breakin my car is not going to have a warranty? That sounds like a load of horse ****.

 

[atyclb]

You are allowed 10 times to the limiter before your warranty if void. Do we have any confirmation of this or should it be chalked up to dealer fabrication?

only if they are talking about 10 times to the limiter before break-in is completed.

otherwise, that's what the limiter is there for. I expect to hit it frequently

 

[rtking]

If that's true, I suspect there might be a run on "spare Lotus Elise ECUs." I would purchase another ECU from Lotus (claiming something... such as a defective ECU, etc.) and plug that one. When I have to bring the car in for service, I will plug in the original ECU and drive it for a week before bringing it in.

I understand the reasoning behind such a rule during break-in. But the very nature of the engine is to be a high-strung, "make power at the top of the RPM curve" motor. That said, I would expect many people to be hitting the limiter often. Especially during the first few months after break-in when people are testing the limits and haven't aurally tuned themselves to recognize that they're approaching the car's redline.

Bob

 

[mike.griese]

Part of being a good driver is being able to observe rev limits - on a track, an autocross, or the street. I don't see how this could be a big issue.

 

[Randy Chase]

My guess is a misunderstanding and that it is about hitting rev limiter during break in.

Otherwise, the rev limiter would just be set lower.

And it would have to spelled out in your warranty.

 

[Randy Chase]

Part of being a good driver is being able to observe rev limits - on a track, an autocross, or the street. I don't see how this could be a big issue.

I will hit rev limiter 10 times in one weekend.

On the course at Lake Tahoe, I hit the rev limiter twice on every run. That is over 20 times at rev limit.

 

[Ground Loop]

Something like this could seriously depress the used-car market.

How confusing could it be to have a 1yr old Elise on the market that may, or may not, have any warranty at all? You'd have to take it a trusted dealer with a scantool to find out. Can you imagine the lawsuits, especially if the seller had no idea?

All kinds of interesting markets will spring up to return balance to the system: ECU Reset Tools. EPROM swap services. Cases of beer for Lotus techs with access to a tool. ECU swaps. ECU "loaners". Rev sub-limiters.

Like others have said, it MUST be 10 bounces off the rev-limiter just during breakin.. That seems reasonable, if it's clearly defined and in writing.

If the "10-strikes" rule is for the life of the car, I would not buy it.

 

[AuburnSpyder]

This would defeat the whole purpose of a rev limiter. Like Randy said, if this was the case, why wouldn't they just set the limiter lower? The limiter is supposedly the top limit to the engine's SAFE rev capabilty. If hitting the limiter damages the engine, it's too high in the first place. I can see if this applies to the break-in period. Staying at the limiter for too long certainly isn't healthy, but IMO you aren't driving the car to it's full potential if you don't bounce of the limiter every once in a while. Also I can see them wanting to check the revs in the ECU to see if you may have over-reved becasue of downshifting too low... but denying warranty because you hit the limiter driving the car how it was supposed to be driven?....

 

[iwilson]

This is nothing unusual. All modern cars have ECU's that record such things as highest RPM etc. Useful in cases where an engine blows due to a customers over-reving (by mis-shifting for e.g). As far as that individual dealer goes - bs. It would have to be spelled out in the warrantly. In any case there are those who advocate that running an engine in these days is a waste of time and you can get more power by driving it hard to begin with.

Secondly what happens if you drive just up to the limiter but don't quite hit it 10 times? He's pulling your leg, to stop people caning the demo car.

 

[Clovis]

A little further clarification. The 10 times to the rev limiter was his speculation as to "abuse" as defined by Lotus. The fact is that the Lotus ECU is tracking your moves and can/will be used to void your warranty. Although I can see the reasoning behind this I'm not too excited...depending on what the definition of "abuse" is.

 

[del105]

My own little personal rule when I auto-x is, don't shift unless you hit the rev limiter 5+ times. Less than that and you're losing time IMO.

 

[iwilson]

A little further clarification. The 10 times to the rev limiter was his speculation as to "abuse" as defined by Lotus. The fact is that the Lotus ECU is tracking your moves and can/will be used to void your warranty. Although I can see the reasoning behind this I'm not too excited...depending on what the definition of "abuse" is.

The limiter the highest RPM the manufacturer will safely allow the engine to go to. Therefore hitting the limiter as many times as you wish will have no effect on your warrantly. Going over the limiter is a different story... The only way to do this is to mechanically force the engine over the hard cut-off by mis-shifting.