Serious Mod....

The Oily Bits S1 Specific Topics
1

Well I had my Exige serviced on Saturday at Haydon (Sals). I was asking them again about tunning etc. Know I think the Exige needs more torque rather than power, although more power would be good as well. Now they are think about removing the K series engine altogether and not put in a V6, but a V8! the be exact V8 twin turbo from an Esprit V8 (and gearbox)- now this sounds like the sort of mod to me… 350BHP, 295lb ft of torque. Of course there will be no boot left at all - but who cares!!! I will post some more info as I get it.Guy

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I heard a while back, that Lotus had shoe-horned a V8 into an Exige, and it was one hell of a beastie.I’d be worried that 80% of the weight of the car is sat behind the driver… pendulum anyone ?

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quote:Originally posted by Admin5:I’d be worried that 80% of the weight of the car is sat behind the driver… pendulum anyone ?I belive that the Lotus V8 is the lightest in the world… or so I’m told - I need to findout the weights of both engines.[This message has been edited by Guy (edited 30 April 2001).]

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The V8 engine from the esprit weights 220kg, complete with ancillaries (according to autocar).

5

gosh, that’s even heavier than me A/C…

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does that 220kg include the gearbox? plus how much does the k series weigh with it’s gearbox?

7

Doesn’t the V8 engine cost best part of 20k though, so where are you gonna get a cheap engine from, unless you find a written off Esprit?

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quote:Originally posted by Hitch:Doesn’t the V8 engine cost best part of 20k though, so where are you gonna get a cheap engine from, unless you find a written off Esprit?Probably a written off Espritor a Warranty - repair.[This message has been edited by Guy (edited 01 May 2001).]

9

What a daft idea. It’ll never work. Far too big and far too heavy. It’s designed to fit the wrong way round, the wheels would need to be about a foot further back. If I remember rightly, the K series complete with gearbox weighs about 150 kilos. Lotus have discounted the idea of using a Honda Vtec on the basis of size and weight. No, if you want something that looks like an Exige with that engine in it, you’ll need to get an Elise GT1…Of course, I’d love somebody to prove me wrong [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]

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or just get a GT1…somebody must have them…how many were built…are they all racing?

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Hi Steve. I am fairly sure that there was only ever one customer GT1 sold, and I have heard that it’s in Japan now. There was talk of a second customer car, but nobody at Lotus seems able to confirm this! From memory, it was �150k, which wasn’t too bad for what you got, but of course the residuals were / are a complete unknown. Every time I see that poster that Lotus produced with the GT1 on it, it sets me thinking� [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]

12

I belive there where 7 GT1’s made for the track, and aparently there is one for sale not sure how for though - it would be interesting to know what the differences in the Chassis is, the body differnces are fairly obvious!

13

Hi guy, you may well be right about the track cars, I’ve heard numbers in that ballpark as well. When I said customer cars, I was of course referring to road cars, not race cars. As for the chassis, I’ve poked around a GT1, and I can tell you that it’s effectively a silhouette racer; there’s virtually nothing in common with a normal road-going Elise. This was necessary to achieve what they wanted from the car. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want one though! [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

14

just a shame the problem with the engine. the car could never really show it’s real potential, could it?