Apparently the following parts (off the add-ons list) are what give the biggest gains, in order of improvement:Cat replacement pipeIntake cam pulleyECUSupersport exhaustSeeing as I already have the cat pipe and exhaust, there’s not much left to complete the upgrade.A 340R owner with the 190 kit had the following result on a rolling road:192.9BHP @ 7600RPM and 150.1LB of torque @ 6500RPMAnother interesting point is that the ultra-close ratio gears are supposed to make a bigger difference than the engine upgrade. Downsides are that it will cost over 2k and will be noisy (straight-cut).
Hitch,Do you have any idea how much more power the SuperSports exhaust yields ?The Cat : 5 bhp (good value for �50)Cam/ECU/Hoses : 8 bhp (not much for �1500)
The way to squeeze the max out of what you’ve got is described in the Lotus Service Notes (Section XA page 36) for the 340R ie how to get 340PS/tonne. Apart from the 190bhp ECM and 101 degree inlet pulley it states :“Engine Upgrade.Delete engine resonator valve.Remove the air intake resonator valve and control mechanism including the vacuum reservoir and two solenoid valves. Re-plumb the MAP sensor. Discard the secondary air cleaner at the airbox inlet, and connect the air intake trunking directly to the airbox, with the primary air cleaner at the front end of the trunking, which can be sited close to, or connected to the air intake duct on the LH flank. Take care when washing to avoid directing jet wash equipment into the intake duct - blank off if necessary.Delete breather rail.Remove the steel breather rail from the inlet tracts. Remove breather hose from cam cover to rail. Fit alloy blanking plugs to inlet tract spigots.Delete charcoal canister.Remove the charcoal canister and plumbing. Vent the fuel tank breather pipe from the roll-over valve to atmosphere.Delete IAC valve.Remove the idle air control valve, mounting bracket and plumbing.Fit blanking plugs to the inlet tract spigots on manifold underside. Fit blanking gromet to back plate.Fit breather hose kit.Remove the screen wash bottle and battery clamp bracket from the fron chassis well.Cut the top, bottle mounting portion, of the bracket from the lower battery clamp section and paint protect the cut surface. Rivet the bottle mounting bracket to the LH side of the enigine bulkhead, and fit the washer bottle with motror aperture blanking gromet, to the bracket to act as oil catch tank. Remove the breather hose between cam cover and air box, and fit the gromet to airbox hole. Use the breather hose kit to connect the two cam cover breather spigots to the catch tank, cutting a 13mm hole in the top surface of the bottle to admit the breather hose and a similar hole in the bottle to allow breathing.Fit race exhaust system.Remove the catalytic converter and standard muffler and replace with the track muffler.Fit lower temp thermostat.Replace the standard 88 degree C thermostat with the 82 degree C thermostat.Engine ECM.Replace the standard ECM with the reprogrammed unit and return old unit to Lotus.”…it then goes on to give instructions for replacing the 105 cam pulley with a 101.Incidentally somewhere else there was a discussion regarding fuel grades the following is from the Lotus Service Notes (Section XA page 32) on the Motorsport.190 VHPD Engine…The preferred fuel is 98 RON unleaded(Super Unleaded) although 95 RON is usable…Finally a word of warning. I was recently in France and noticed that their Standard Unleaded is 93 RON and Super is 95 RON.
Are we safe to assume we can do what we like to the engine, but as long as we have the cat on, there will be no problem with the MOT?
Great info Ken…That goes straight into the “Stuff you need to know” forum.
… it also confirms what I thought about using Super Unleaded (even though it’s 97RON now and not 98RON)My car runs at 86-88 degrees, is that inline with having a 82 degree thermostat ?
Not really sure of the significance of the lower temp thermostat is…as once its open its open…I guess it might make a difference in a racing environment when keeping a really high revving engine relatively cool.
In reply to Hitch’s question regarding MOT, Lotus’s good book states:“…MOT Regulations (UK)If the car is required to meet the UK MOT regulations, the standard engine breather system must be retained, together with the charcoal canister and the catalytic converter. Deletion of the the standard breather system for track use, allows increased mid-range spark advance to be applied. If the standard breather system is retained for road use, it is recommended to use 97 RON Super Unleaded fuel in order to provide a higher resistance to detonation when using the track specification spark advance curve.If the idle airt control valve has been removed, check that the idle speed is within tolerance, as a low idle speed may cause excessive HC emissions.”
quote:Originally posted by Ken Pegg:to meet the UK MOT regulations, the standard engine breather system must be retained, together with the charcoal canister and the catalytic converterHmm… my dealer didn’t give me the removed parts (I bought it as ex-demo with 190 already done)… should they have done so ? quote: Deletion of the the standard breather system for track use, allows increased mid-range spark advance to be applied.How does one know if they have a standard breather system or not ? quote:If the idle air control valve has been removed, check that the idle speed is within tolerance, as a low idle speed may cause excessive HC emissions."Perhaps this is why my dealer upped my idle yesterday ?[This message has been edited by Admin5 (edited 16 November 2000).]
I should have added that the particular Lotus Service Note came at the tail end of the Track conversion chapter for the 190bhp Motorsport.I was trying to address Hitch’s question as to what bits have to stay on the vehicle to comply with MOT regs.I can’t say whether your car has these bits or not, but check for the following:Breather pipe.Two rubber pipes connected to the camshaft cover (one is ‘L’ shaped the other’Z’) . One goes across to the back of the airbox, the other points downwards to the purge rail (shiny, parallel to engine block)Charcoal canister.Mounted on LH front corner of engine bay next to expansion tank,black size of baked bean can held on by tapered lug.Your idle speed should be 1250rpm at working temp (my TR2 used to idle at 250rpm!).
that explains why the 340R blue silicone hoses are used as they are not a direct replacement for the standard ones and effectively replumb the breathing circuit
Allix, Have you a 190 Engine? If so there is only 1 calibration.If you have a standard cal there are 2 cals, the one the car was releasedwith, and the cal that we redid for the Exige, which was then reworked forthe 340R.I think I know where this has come from though. I have done some work onthe Exige 190 cal, there was some confusion at the dealers and they havefitted the 340R track cal to the Exiges. This doesn’t work to well. Thecalibration uses a wheel speed sensor to calculate some of its fuelling. Ihave reworked the calibration for Exige to allow for the wheel diameterchange.So answer to your question, there is no level 3 cal for the standard car.Hope this helps.Mark C----- Original Message -----From: “Allix Thompson” To: Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2000 3:15 PMSubject: [340R] Latest ECU upgrade (MkIII?)ECU info that may be of some use:“Mark C,> can you confirm whether there is a latest upgrade for the ECU.> Mine was originally replaced in June but I’ve heard that it has been> tweaked further. Is this the case and for what reason?> Regards,> Allix”
Can anybody tell me how much they paid for the 190 upgrade…even better if you can split the costs between parts and labour…i have an offer from Lotus which I’ll post later…but just want to get a feel for what other people have paid.
Taken from posting on 340R site from Glen Harman:"According to my dealer, an engine ‘upgrade’ bolt-on kit will soon beavailable for the 190 engine which will increase mid-range powerphenominally. It will be sold by PTP and fitted by your dealer. Details ofwhat it entails arent know as yet…or cost.Mark C, do you know any more about it?My dealer has also said an EVO engined Elise has also been built, but doubtsit will go into production…he said check out this months EVO mag for areport on it…"Sounds interesting
Anybody gong to post what they paid for the 190 upgrade…thinking of having it done and would like to know what sort of money dealers have been charging for the parts and labour.
quote:Originally posted by Hitch:Apparently the following parts (off the add-ons list) are what give the biggest gains, in order of improvement:Cat replacement pipeIntake cam pulleyECUSupersport exhaustSeeing as I already have the cat pipe and exhaust, there’s not much left to complete the upgrade.A 340R owner with the 190 kit had the following result on a rolling road:192.9BHP @ 7600RPM and 150.1LB of torque @ 6500RPMAnother interesting point is that the ultra-close ratio gears are supposed to make a bigger difference than the engine upgrade. Downsides are that it will cost over 2k and will be noisy (straight-cut).yepp, I have read it in the evo mag about the elise evo 220 with 220 bhp and 154lb ft @6750rpm… costing 11 grand… uiiiiii…that is a lot of dosh… what about minister power which do a 230 bhp version for the caterham r500. that sounds even better. does anybody know this company?
quote:Originally posted by Hitch:Apparently the following parts (off the add-ons list) are what give the biggest gains, in order of improvement:Cat replacement pipeIntake cam pulleyECUSupersport exhaustSeeing as I already have the cat pipe and exhaust, there’s not much left to complete the upgrade.A 340R owner with the 190 kit had the following result on a rolling road:192.9BHP @ 7600RPM and 150.1LB of torque @ 6500RPMAnother interesting point is that the ultra-close ratio gears are supposed to make a bigger difference than the engine upgrade. Downsides are that it will cost over 2k and will be noisy (straight-cut).yepp, I have read it in the evo mag about the elise evo 220 with 220 bhp and 154lb ft @6750rpm… costing 11 grand… uiiiiii…that is a lot of dosh… what about minister power which do a 230 bhp version for the caterham r500. that sounds even better. does anybody know this company?
Bruno, don’t forget the Turbo Technics 260bhp upgrade for �11K - but that’s �1,000 per 7.5 BHP extra.I know it’s alot of money for the 83bhpBut then… you pay up to �2K for 15bhp extra (192 upgrade) which very amusingly is �1K per 7.5 BHP extra
quote:Originally posted by Admin5:Bruno, don’t forget the Turbo Technics 260bhp upgrade for �11K - but that’s �1,000 per 7.5 BHP extra.I know it’s alot of money for the 83bhpBut then… you pay up to �2K for 15bhp extra (192 upgrade) which very amusingly is �1K per 7.5 BHP extrayeah, you have got a point there. on the subject of turbo conversion, I would like to open a new topic with the question whether turbo,compressor or normal tuning.I really prefer the normal tuning (don’t know the English name for it…help…)I mean, what happens if you are on the limit in a tight bend and then this turbo thingy kicks in. you are gona loose it big time… acually happened at last years driver course in anneau du rhin. the only two accidents on the track happened with Thielert turbo charged cars… they lost them big time…so what does the panel think of it?
The Turbo Technics upgrade uses a super-charger rather than a Turbo. So instead of having turbo-lag followed by sudden power, the power should be ‘evenly spread’. That’s the theory anyway.