Scottish Elises

Thinking about some mods..... std (apart from hurricane) 120hp S2...

Apart from the obvious first upgrade i.e me (walshy day ahoy) what's the suggestions next?
Easier to sell and go for an R or exige, but I kinda like what I got for now .

Would prefer to do the work myself where possible, but bearing in mind my skills are limited yet....

Only road use at the moment, but that will change longer term.

oh dear,

oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

The most contensious subject under the sun, so just take Campbells advice, and leave it as standard.

tut

You could spend hundreds on mods, but I think you have hit the nail on the head - unless you are an accomplished racer - driver training is perhaps the best upgrade.

My car is fairly standard, but the very best "upgrade" I bought was a shower cape. The next best was a new wiper blade (£2.97 for a pair from Tesco).

A sports exhaust at least makes you sound like you are going faster

After 3 years of ownership I finally tracked it and am now completely addicted. I found out on track just how slow a driver I am, but am still loving it. It also improved my road driving.

must admit, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to mod the car. Its a total waste of money etc etc.

HOWEVER

if you do it, my advice is to go full steam ahead., dont pussy foot around with a halfway house, just jump in with both feet

Silly question I suppose.. just a burst of enthusiasm cos I got access to a nice garage space and fancy some new skills

Go down to Tesco's and pick this months Practical Perfomance Car mag.
Apparantly it's all about modding an Elise.

NOOPS 160 wrote:Why don't you upgrade to an S1 , probably one of the best mods on the market.........

Yawn.

How much money are you thinking of spending and are you looking for just engine, or engine and handling.

* Standard S2 handling is pretty good (after all, the S1 owners keep fitting the inferior S2 suspension to their superior cars). If you can afford it I would consider adding the 135R-type wheels, but these aren't cheap. These give you 195 at the front instead of 175 and it makes a big difference. Failing that, squeeze some 195 section tyres onto the standard rims

* Sports exhaust is the best part of 500 quid these days I think.

* K&N Panel filter for your standard airbox is better VFM than bolt on cone-type filter (cue Yvo ), and is around 50 quid.

* After those I would start looking at the engine. You can get to 155 BHP with bigger inlet valves+mild cam+4-2-1 exhaust manifold+fuel pressure regulator running on standard intake and ECU. This has the advantage of being smooth and looking standard. You also get a free cam belt and coolant change into the deal The cost for all of this is about 1,100 p/x for your old head and cams. The cost of materials to refit it all is 200-250 depending on what you do (new belt, new tensioner, new head bolts, new gasket set, new oil, new coolant, new thermostat are all recommended).

* If you just want bolt on, a set of racy cams on a standard head is ~600 for the parts (cams, verniers, timing belt, tensioner, head gloop) and a couple of hours to fit. But to get good power hike out of cams alone always means a less smooth car - hence I would go for milder cams and bigger inlet given a choice.

* I also have some 135R heads for sale if you want them - you could p/x against your standard head and then rebuild with some mild cams to get a nice ~140 BHP engine on standard exhaust manifold for about 750 less than the full big valve jobbie.

Cheers,
Robin

/Rambling hangover content:

I'm with Robin on this one. Engine mods are expensive and it's always going to be diminishing returns, drivability traded off against big power.

There are some awesome cars out there that are hugely quick but I wouldn't want to be driving them in traffic, before my last round of mods was completed I managed to hike the power up to around 4.5-5k rpm... (Cams, mild port, VVC inlet) That did not make a very nice car to drive at all. Might have been fine if I was anything other than a average driver but I'm not and I didn't enjoy the car like that one bit. I prefer a bit of mid range grunt so compensate for my lack of skill!

A 4-2-1 and a bigger TB sorted things out now and the car is back to being fun again. I would rather have fun than high power and barely drivable any day!

Plan ahead and scout about for what you want, check out other peoples cars and see what you want. If you have the cash I would go for a DVA top spec head as once you have that then everything else is pretty much bolt on after then.

As for skills, the main thing I find is confidence. If you have the skills to work spanners and figure out how things come apart (Without resorting to WMD - Dom!) then generally they will go back together. The skill comes in when something doesn't go to plan: seized bolts, broken bits, missing stuff, etc. The workshop manual is pretty good and there is a wealth of friendly help and advice available here (and even on SELC*CK but thats not so friendly!)

my 2p
Rich
/clutch release bearing change time on the Porka now...

Bert,

You doing Tut Towers? If so the best course of action is to ply Robin & I with drink for the night. Between us we've probably done most of the bolt on stuff that can be done to an S2.

Mac

mac wrote:Bert,

You doing Tut Towers? If so the best course of action is to ply Robin & I with drink for the night. Between us we've probably done most of the bolt on stuff that can be done to an S2.

Mac

On the other hand, that could result in an unpleasant Mac/Robin sandwich, that I would not wish on my worst enemy

When you've had fat you'll never go back


Mac

:

bertieduff wrote:

Silly question I suppose.. just a burst of enthusiasm cos I got access to a nice garage space and fancy some new skills

If you want to tinker and enjoy the satisfaction of making your own improvements, Robin's post above is the one to read

Just take care and time over it all. You will meet many unexpected twists and turns along the way, your ability to problem-solve around them without throwing a spanner at something is what separates the should's from the should-not's...and I know EXACTLY which camp I am in

FWIW, I certainly did hold with "keep it standard" for a long long time, but thanks to help, advice and encouragement from the likes of Robin, Lawrence and Fergus, I took advantage of a good deal available on a bigger valve ported/flowed head - my Sabrespec 147 - and am absolutely thrilled at the results.

If you are at TT, I'll drone on for hours about driveability, creamy 3rd gear response, etc etc

Campbell

arggh.... must stop reading these threads..... you lot are a bad influence. I bought the car just to potter around in and have a wee pose now and again.... Now it's a stripey sheep killing track star wannabee.....

I think I'm coming down with a case of unjustified upgrade-itis!!

I do not need to start upgrading my engine, standard is fine for me...... I do not need to start upgra.................. x 1000

DDtB wrote:arggh.... I do not need to start upgrading my engine, standard is fine for me...... I do not need to start upgra.................. x 1000

You know it makes sense...