When I was costing it out it was about �1700 all in with VAT and a custom tune and a sports cat. It’s a bit less with a decat. I think for the power gain it’s a good deal.
Like you say, the issue for me it distance and time. It’s a two day trip and right now I don’t really want more power as such (need to fully exploit what I’ve got first) and secondly a few hundred quid slips under the wifes radar, a couple of grand doesn’t.
What do you hang it on then, big boy? 
Sorry…thread drift…don’t encourage me! 
What do you hang it on then, big boy?
Sorry…thread drift…don’t encourage me! [/quote]
PMSL sorry stopping now 
Agree fully Tony, I dont think I’ll ever be able to fully use my cars potential but as with many other peeps on here it brings a smile to my face when I spend money on it Yesterday I was all exited about picking my car up because I was getting a lotus sport rad, when I got there they now paint them black so you need eagle eyes to spot it, the car feels exactly the same but now smells of burning paint 
still it felt somewhat better knowing my water now passes over the rad three times and if I ever take it to Qatar it should run a treat
LOL. I’m not Gill, actually STEVEY from seloc.
No worries on why your not interested in Toyota tuning. The problem with Toyota Elises/Exiges is that you need ~300bhp to make a 900Kg car feel fast relative to a 700Kg S1 Elise/Exige with a Honda or Audi.
For many of us going from NA 190bhp to 250bhp and then to 300bhp is quite a challenge both financially and logistically. It also doesn’t make sense to part-ex our 190bhp for a Exige S 220/Exige 240/Cup 260 given the depreciation hit. It’s got to the point even for me now where 255bhp feels pedestrian and I want more.
If I was getting into serioulsy tuning an S2, the very first thing I would do, would be to ditch the standard ECU and fit an aftermarket unit.
Only having one option and not being able to look at and manipulate the map yourself is a complete nightmare IMO.
A good after market ECU such as MOTEC is not cheap I agree, but you are cheaply able to modify the map after each mod to your car and know you are safe with features such as data logging.
Also you have a huge amount of options for having someone to do the mapping for you.
OE ECU’s are the biggest limiting factor to modding your car in my opinion.
I had a dyno done last year, I wasn’t there and tbh the lack of enthusiasm from the chap who had another chap do it didn’t inspire confidence and the chart looks a bag of shit.
Much like you I don’t really care too much for the extra power not until I master or come very close to mastering what I have now but that said I’m keen to keep up with the next best thing. The reflash is great it brings the power in earlier…excellent!
But I also enjoy making my car my own, I’ll never race it just enjoy it for what it is and if I fook it up I’ll get it sorted…time for a prey!
[quote=blacktoy]LOL. I’m not Gill, actually STEVEY from seloc.
No worries on why your not interested in Toyota tuning. The problem with Toyota Elises/Exiges is that you need ~300bhp to make a 900Kg car feel fast relative to a 700Kg S1 Elise/Exige with a Honda or Audi.
For many of us going from NA 190bhp to 250bhp and then to 300bhp is quite a challenge both financially and logistically. It also doesn’t make sense to part-ex our 190bhp for a Exige S 220/Exige 240/Cup 260 given the depreciation hit. It’s got to the point even for me now where 255bhp feels pedestrian and I want more.
[/quote]
I’m releived that you have kindly pointed out you seloc connection in the first line, as having read the rest of your post I personally would never have guessed.
It’s a well known fact that anyone who has bought an unmodified Lotus is barking mad. They truely are rubbish in a straight line. The sooner some small business (relying on the products of Hethel to survive) gets hold of a car & achieves performance beyond the hopes & dreams of Lotus Sport the better.
I view the aftermarket tuning stuff with the same interest as those other ‘styling’ companies that can supply modded body panels to improve the original design.
This is my dream Lotus, based on a 1992 Excel
I’m hoping to get it round Anglesey anytime soon…
That’s fair enough but I wouldn’t know where to start tuning even with a standalone ECU 
Adding �3k onto a �5k supercharger kit is a pretty expensive cost unless you enjoy the personal touch which I’m sure many folk do. �3k for me is another engine should my current one go pop (its done 63k miles).
I guess I was lucky with the mapping given Dan at Sincs is well respected in the tuning industry (even before he joined Sincs) and is pretty serious when it comes to his work. He’s done hundreds of maps for Atoms, Honda’d Elise/Exiges, Nissan Skylines and now the toyota Elise/Exiges.
I’m sure more mapping/tuning options will start to emerge over time.
Tim - That will be why most enthusiasts now have Honda, Audi and Duratec engine conversions then? Not to mention modified K series engines… If our cars were so fast in a straight line why do many owners mod them?
If you think a S2 Elise R/Exige is fast in a straight line then you’ve obviously never driven one. 0 to 100mph in 13 seconds is not fast and you’ll be lucky if you can do 0 to 60mph in 5.5 seconds with a stock Toyota S2.
I bought my Exige thinking it was fast and bought into the marketing BS that Lotus normally produces when it comes to performance stats and figures. I love driving my Exige everyday but I’m not naive enough to claim its fast. Especially after having a passenger lap in a S1 SC Honda.
What do you hang it on then, big boy?
Sorry…thread drift…don’t encourage me! [/quote]
PMSL sorry stopping now
Agree fully Tony, I dont think I’ll ever be able to fully use my cars potential but as with many other peeps on here it brings a smile to my face when I spend money on it Yesterday I was all exited about picking my car up because I was getting a lotus sport rad, when I got there they now paint them black so you need eagle eyes to spot it, the car feels exactly the same but now smells of burning paint still it felt somewhat better knowing my water now passes over the rad three times and if I ever take it to Qatar it should run a treat [/quote]
Qatar ? Do you have a connection there ?
Blacktoy - I think it would be fair to say pretty much all Lotus owners are enthusiasts. The cars are very niche after all.
Converted cars are a tiny minority. I did mod my S1 elise to 150bhp, but without the short ratio box it was a disaster.
I’ve owned a stock 111R btw. If you find a 255 Exige to be not fast enough i do wonder. Very few if any Lotus are about straight line speed after all. From what I’ve read (& seen) the SC Honda’s are super quick on track, but for a daily drive it’ll be compromise city.
Nowt wrong with those who choose to mod, just don’t rubbish the starting point, which is what i’m getting at.
The starting point is fine for handling and driving experience. The main concern (back on thread topic) is the maps or power delivery. The fact 21 people have registered for this ECU group buy in a few days is a fair reflection of what is wrong. Lotus do a great job on the handling & styling IMHO but always fail to deliver on the maps (Europa map was crap, Elise SC map was crap, NA Elise R map was crap, …).
Sc honda’s are cracking on the Road.
As for the Yota sean is bang on, it will be interesting to see if many ditch the Efi when other options are on the market. The Omex unit will be available any day now.
No I’m just jesting, it was the first hot place I could think of
Stevey, I really dont know where you are getting this crap map idea from (I am guessing the guy who charges you to re map it). The std maps are a compromise, designed for road use to deliver better fuel economy, emissions etc
An aftermarket map is designed for performance alone and to suit the needs of whatever mods you have done to your car.
Thats the reason the std 111r cam switch is so high, I personally dont like it but I fully understand why its like that.
Road cars will always be a compromise, I now have Randys nitrons on my car which I know if I take it on track will feel better than my std Billys, but I also know on my local country road my std Billys would whoop its ass just like my old 111s would woop the std exige as thats more of a road track compromise than the 111s.
Boothy
I always thought an optimised map gives better fuel economy? I was under the impression Lotus run their maps rather rich by default to accommodate any variation in tolerances of the engine?
[quote=SeanB]Oh wow, I’m glad i live the simple life of an S1 owner.
I have to agree about SELOC, I have ofen typed out replys on their and then deleted them before posting as it just isn’t worth the agro, the place is just soooooo agressive and frankly I don’t need that in my lesiure time.
There have been numerous audi v honda v duratec v ‘K’ etc posts that I think I could have contributed on in a constructive way, but you know it is all gonna turn to poo in a matter of seconds, so I just don’t bother.
Plus if you don’t have a post count higher than several zillion you are invisible anyway.
Long live Exiges.com and our calm, relaxing and helpful demenour.
Off for a lie down now!! [/quote]
SPOT ON Sean!
There have so far been many attempts in the US to replace the Lotus ECU with aftermarket ones, more success has been had with cars with cabble throttle, however the fly by wire throttles seem to cause a great deal of issues with idle and normal day to day running. If a suitable plug in replacment becomes available for sensible money I would consider it, however for a road\track car like mine I can get 10 mapping sessions from 3k for an replacement ECU costs and I get as good if not better road manners and drivability from my remap so it is very good on the road still.
I do however wish Charlie would release the fully mapable version of the ECU I know it exists…
Even with a replacement mapable ECU, would you still need to keep the Lotus ECU as a “piggyback” to run non-engine specific functions?
Bugger, perhaps I do give a toss after all!
Tosser!!