Pikey Power...T16 content

[GBOBM]

Haha, at least I've got the right badge and shape

Last year I did buy a saab 2L turbo engine which shares the same block as the vx 2.2 NA engine, unfortunately the S1 elise chassis and the vx chassis are alot different so there was no chance of it fitting unless I cut the mounting plinths off the chassis (which I'll never do)

Kev.

right badge..... oh I forgot that makes a difference doesn't it?!?!?!?! x 1000

Yeah, the VX chassis and subframe were more like the S2. After all, the VX was just lotus' prototype and testbed for the S2.

[ABZ-Elise]

Yeah, the VX chassis and subframe were more like the S2. After all, the VX was just lotus' prototype and testbed for the S2.

Must be the yota engined S2, because I had a look at my mates rover engined S2 and it looked the same as mine.

Kev.

[Shug]

right badge..... oh I forgot that makes a difference doesn't it?!?!?!?! x 1000

Yes, HTH.

[Shug]

Yeah, the VX chassis and subframe were more like the S2. After all, the VX was just lotus' prototype and testbed for the S2.

Must be the yota engined S2, because I had a look at my mates rover engined S2 and it looked the same as mine.

Kev.

Think it was the revised rear suspension geometry they tried on the VX, to stop the average Vauxhall buyer ending up in a ditch VX was also longer wheelbase than S2 (even the Yota), so Bob's partially right I believe. Obviously required a totally different subframe for the totally different engine which it'd have needed with or without S2 development. Lotus did use GM's money to revise the Elise platform for S2 though - clever of them.

[GBOBM]

right badge..... oh I forgot that makes a difference doesn't it?!?!?!?! x 1000

Yes, HTH.

Glad you enlightened me!

[GBOBM]

... Lotus did use GM's money to revise the Elise platform for S2 though - clever of them.

Also put a Lotus developed engine in it!
Vx220 = More lotus components than a lotus!

Anyway.... I look forward to seeing the results of the Elise220T.

[cstrachan]

The VX has the lotus designed engine not the Rover or Toyota so I agree it has the correct badge

[Shug]

Chr*st, what is it with VX owners!

Not really the point of the thread chaps, so let's ease off on the soapbox.

[ikarl]

Shug,

You can pick up an MR2 turbo engine, with gearbox, LSD, chargecooler, all anciliries etc for circa £2k. The engine's designed to work in that position so power in excess of 650bhp is possible, though most sit around 300-350hp very comfortably. So 350hp for 2k + the cost for the conversion.......
Add a grand to that for a bigger turbo and 400 is manageable, though I'm not sure how the elise/exige would handle that power

just surprises me that no-one has ever tried it

[Shug]

Shug,

You can pick up an MR2 turbo engine, with gearbox, LSD, chargecooler, all anciliries etc for circa £2k. The engine's designed to work in that position so power in excess of 650bhp is possible, though most sit around 300-350hp very comfortably. So 350hp for 2k + the cost for the conversion.......
Add a grand to that for a bigger turbo and 400 is manageable, though I'm not sure how the elise/exige would handle that power

just surprises me that no-one has ever tried it

Cool, but the 1.8T Audi offers pretty much exactly the same (doesn't really matter where it's designed to go if the space is there) and there are hundreds about in scrappers the length of the country, so I guess it's because it offers very little different to the established route for anyone to consider spending the research time and coin doing it?

Cost of a one-off conversion will be a different league to something that's already developed. Agree, interesting for someone to try if they fancy a challenge, but there's certainly no business case for doing it. Could you even get the Turbo MR2 officially in the UK? (genuine question - I thought they were all imports)

You could make the argument for any amount of engines - Mitsubishi 2ltr Evo engine, Fiat Turbo, all sorts, but the fact is it's neither cheap or simple to do from scratch, so usually it's only done if there's a quantifiable benefit versus what's already out there so some money can be recouped from selling the conversions.

In comparison to this T series transplant, it's not even an option given that all it looks like Kev will need to do is fab a lower mount and get the plumbing right (might need a wee mod on the bulkhead, IIRC). Everything else should fit with little hassle.

[ikarl]

Shug, I should maybe have looked into a bit more before my comments...... I didn't realise that the Audi lump was so accessible/cost effective to fit.
My thinking was that the full MR2 turbo engine (you are correct in that they are all imported engines - well apart from the gt4 version) would have cost a lot less at say £5-6k for the full conversion

Don't know why but I was sure I had read something about £10k+ costs for the audi conversion

[Shug]

Aye, it is, but that's a drive-in drive-out service with labour & warranty etc (and obviously some profit for Bernard Scouse who does them) The engine cost of an Audi isn't much more than you say for the MR2 - the cheapest fitted option just now is for a Duratec and that's still £9K (with a brand new engine in a crate costing £1.5K)

It's also possible you could turn out a one-off car for £6K with the engine of your choice, but that depends on you being a good fabricator and getting everything right first time (which I've never seen - the most developed Honda kits have gone through lots of versions in the time they've been doing them ). But you'll not have a finished product - it'll be a work in progress. If you get a company to fab stuff and outsource stuff like looms, gear cables, custom coolant/boost piping, exhaust manifolds etc - sky's the limit cost wise. Options like a kit (such as the Stark one that Alan's used to install Hondas in his and Colin's cars) exist as someone has gone and done the hard work in advance and is amortizing the cost over many kits.

I've seen many examples of guys popping up on forums across the UK saying "I'm installing this engine and will be selling kits - won't cost more than a couple of grand" and you never hear from them again. Dare I say it, the only ones that have succeeded have had existing conversions to 'inspire' them - but that's a can of worms I'm not opening...

[Andy G]

i know of a 340R ready for 650bhp

[mwmackenzie]

Nice one Kev.. watching with great interest! Why has nobody developed a mount kit for this concersion yet, sounds like a great idea to me, I love a turbo motor!

Good luck and all the best

Mark

[OlberJ]

Mr2 turbo motor? It's a heavy beast. South of 300 is where most of them sit without a lot of money on new turbos etc. Even i wouldn't put one in an Elise


What do these T16's weigh by the by?