So I’ve been thinking about this ever since the S1 became a financial viability.
It ties in nicely with the PH article today :
It does mention the mighty K series but I was interested to know reasons on here for keeping yours standard or why you went Honda/Audi. Could be reliability/performance/or purely originality for financial reasons…
I admit I’m looking at Honda’ing mine when the time comes (some way off I hope) but those could be famous last words! 
Happy to dip my toe in the water 
Purchased my S1 Exige in 2002 with 2k on the clock, 75k miles now.
Kept it totally original except for Nitron shocks, love the original ecu never tempted to Emerald it
65k miles - hgf (head never been off before this) - put in Benja’s VHPD and still running strong
I have a 225bhp DVA modded VHPD ready to install but I reckon 190bhp is ideal for these pocket rockets.
Yep the Honda engines make 'em faster but are they more fun???
Whatever spec they are the best Lotus you can buy
I could not live with the standard ecu on my VHPD. Smelly, lumpy and a pain to drive. An Emerald and verniers transformed the vhpd. Nitrons got shot of the yipping sound. It is now just as it should be, no more changes planned.
I just don’t think the 190 k series feels fast enough, i think it lets the car down. I like the sound of the VHPD but that’s as far as it goes. I wouldn’t want an exige with a standard engine.
I can see why people keep them standard and that’s all down to resale valve ect but why bother with the car if that’s such a problem, enjoy the car and there much better with upwards of 300bhp.
You can pick up cars now with Honda or Audi engines for the same money as standard cars and I sure know where my money would be going.
My 340r is so much better with the Audi engine, even my 60 year old dad said “it’s a bit slow” when I took him out in it when it was standard.
Love mine to bits. It’s totally standard, 177(bar a splitter, diffuser, carbon airbox, sports seats and harnesses) but I am wondering again whether verniers and Emerald would be worthwhile. I love the lumpiness, the noise and don’t mind wrestling it around town.
Spare VHPD nestling in the garage, just in case, so a committed K man.
Yeah my car is pretty modified and I love it to bits. For me there are several drivers :
I can’t say I miss being VHPD, a side of me thinks that when Simon installs his mega-K that I should buy my old engine back but resale would be the only reason…I’ll never put it back in.
keep em standard I say [snigger]
in all seriousness, track daying kills em, and you may as well fix them up better than before
Yeah I agree with what has been said here. Originality will count when it comes to resale and the time will come when an original car will be worth many times what a car with an engine swap will be worth.
To engine swap or not and do they have enough power or not totally comes down to ‘do you do track days’ in my opinion. If B road blasts on a Sunday are your thing, then I reckon the standard 190bhp is enough. The standard suspension (or at least updated versions of the standard spring and damper rates) is pretty good on the road too in my opinion.
Get these things on a track though and you just crave more power. In the last few years of me racing mine, it had north of 450bhp and it was truly awesome. With sorted brakes and race suspension, its as close to a group C car as I will ever get. Going up the kemmel straight at Spa and touching 170mph is a mega feeling. As is throwing it into Pouhon at 120 and knowing (or hoping) it will stick and having to peel your head off the side window. My car got better and better, the more i modified it. Better and better on track that is. It was pretty nasty on the road and too fast to be fair. You only had to breath on the throttle and you were doing silly speeds (one such time for me has been pretty well documented on here). The last race of the old LOT Group C cars at Silverstone was awesome. The three of us (Me, Randy and Walshy) had thrown caution to the wind for the last ever race and nobody can dispute it was one of the best races that had happened to date. I guess I have to mention that Audi trumped Honda that day !! 
I agree that a vhpd is not fast, even when mapped. My NA s2 is faster with me behind the wheel, even if it is more lardy. I track mine and i am able to have fun with both. The only probing is that other track users think all S1 exiges should be super fast so often do not lift to let you pass on the straights.
Yes I found that out two weeks ago trying to get past cars on the straights.
It’s refreshing to see a number of VHPD’s are still in the engine bay; for some reason I thought everyone on here had monster BHP cars 
Here goes…
Not an engineering expert or driving god 
but comparing the standard K of my dads immaculate Ice blue exige to our joint Honda SC monster, I personally for road use prefer the K. Love the rawness lumpiness and characteristics of the engine plus combined with the janspeed exhaust make it a fabulous experience.
The Honda without doubt is quicker and maybe when I learn to drive the cars on track I can make a better judgement.
Whenever dad and I go out in both cars I find myself wanting to drive the K. more fun? possibly and for me fast enough for the road.
…and I have your old yellow VHPD powered Exige. It likes Donington. As I said above, only nitrons, verniers and an Emerald changed since you had it…oh and a new alarm. I am not tempted to Honda it. It is fast enough and with it’s limited power is a pussy cat to drive. Ideal for me.
Hi Keith, Glad your still enjoying the car and keeping the K
Love my K, drove it all summer Rob and enjoyed every minute. Could it be better, should I track it…not now, it is what it is and Honda’s/Audi’s are what they are…I believe I’m on a winner moving forward. All talk is about Boxster Spyders, M3 CSL’s in EVO. Raw, that’s where it’s at and it’ll never be there again. Lotus might may have broken new ground with the Elise but old ground ended with the VHPD Exige.
Cool! :>)
There no more “raw” with a VHPD in though, it’s just as raw with the Audi or Honda just with a more reliable more powerful engine and what’s not to like about that. It’s a few kg heavier but then if you wanted light weight you could put a bike engine in and have more power with less weight and that would have a nice sequential box to.
Simply that I think the tuned K series engine is very poor in the Exige. Much better suited to light Caterham type car. So the S1 Exige is massively improved by a Honda engine.
I can see why some would want an original collectable car, but I’d rather have one that drives fantastically
Perhaps you have not experienced a well sorted and driven VHPD Exige S1… it DOES drive fantastically! 
I’ve driven a brand new S1 Exige, when they first came out, at the main dealer. Not driven a sorted/modified one, but I can hardly see the engine changing all that much, other than a bit more power.
Question is, have you compared to a Honda converted S1 Exige? With and without SC/CC? They are world’s apart from the K series car.
Have driven them all, lots. Different strokes for different folks.
A well sorted K can be very impressive, pretty similar to an NA Honda, but without the 6 speed gearbox. The downside can be that they need constant attention, as even when the engine is behaving, things that are bolted to it don’t necessarily - alternators, throttle bodies, etc. On their day, they are very impressive, but a well sorted one that does something unpleasant will cost a fortune. VHPD/Vulcan head anyone?
Honda revs are addictive and the engine/box is uber reliable in NA form, but the downside can be that they need constant attention. They do have issues, driveshafts mainly, but there is more to it than that. SC are the same, but even more mental. They like a drink on track and heat is a big issue despite what you read. 140 degree oil temps and 100 plus inlet temps are not good. Replacement engines are relatively cheap, if difficult to source.
Audi’s can be a bit bonkers, was always meant to be FI and it really is dial a number on the power front, but the downside is they can need constant attention. Heat is an issue at bigger power, but all just about manageable even at 600hp. There are loads of engines out there, but there are loads of different specs as well, upgrade bits are relatively cheap. Its far to easy to think bolt a big turbo on and aim for big power, without thinking about fuel, cooling, mounts, etc as well.
And yes, there is a theme with all the standard engines and conversions. Bar none.