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I completed running-in the head as I arrived at Brands Hatch on Wednesday morning. I had driven down in company with Alan Hulley on a dull, damp autumn morning. I even had my hood on, a rare occurrence. At signing-on I was informed that I had been moved from the road car class to the high-performance class. I hadn't informed the 96 Club organisers that I had upgraded the engine: serendipity or what? Alan took some photographs of the kit while we were hanging around the pit lane waiting for the first session. He was using a steam-powered camera, so it will be a little while before we can get the pictures posted.
I wasn't scheduled to be on track until 10:00, so Alan and I investigated the pitlane. Lotus were represented in force. Lotus Cars were there with their Elise Stage II press demonstrator equipped with Corbeau seats, Sport suspension, drilled and slotted cast iron disks, and close ratio gearbox. The Corbeau seats were the standard seats re-trimmed and used as the passenger seat in the Sport, but here used as the driver's seat as well. They also had the old (86,000 miles now) Stage II development car doing some stress measurements, an Esprit V8 and the restored GT3 that had collected the Armco last time out at Brands. HR Owen also had a Stage II demonstrator, fitted with the Sport suspension springs, but with adjustable dampers and with sticky tyres (Dunlop Formula R) on magnesium wheels. Bell and Colville had their Sport 150 there with the hardtop; very pretty it looked too. There were also 4 or 5 privateers with their Elises in various states of tune, although mine was the only one with the Stage II kit.
Out on to a damp track. A couple of laps to settle everything in and then start to push on a bit. The engine is definitely smoother. It runs and pulls sweetly to 6800. It will run to 7000, but there is little point in bumping up against the rev limiter since almost all of the power has been delivered by 6800. The big difference is that the torque peak is much later at 5200, but this is really not significant because all the torque and more of the standard engine is available from 3000 rpm. There is appreciably less engine braking: a consequence of the freer breathing, I suppose. Interestingly, the Sport exhaust seemed louder: a by-product of a harder working engine? I started by turning on the power on the straights only. The difference is startling: 6800 rpm at the end of Brabham Straight and Pilgrim's drop. That's a full 600 rpm more than standard. Although that may not sound like much, it represents an increase of about 10 mph, and approaching Paddock it seems very fast. I just about doubled my braking distance, but this was as much in deference to a damp track as anything. As the track dried out, I began to use more power in the corners. Previously, I had been able to floor the accelerator at the apex, however, now it is necessary to feed in the power. That said, you aren't going to get lurid power on oversteer à la Esprit V8 GT. In general there was no need to adjust exit lines. I had to run much wider out of and Westfield and Clearways, but that also represented an excellent and safe overtaking opportunity. The main difference is that I found myself having to brake hard at points where previously I hadn't really braked at all: at Westfield and Stirling's Bend.
I had been a little apprehensive about going on the track in what was virtually a strange car with cars which were nominally 'high-performance', mainly because I didn't want to spend the whole day watching my mirrors and being pushed off-line. In the event, I need not have worried. The Elise was as quick at Brands as some nominally fast machinery: 'standard' 911s, BMW M3s, Ferrari Maranellos, and I even managed to get by a Esprit V8 (OK, it was being driven by a customer). It even gets amongst the slower Caterhams. I got a comparison with a chum's Bell and Colville 140 conversion: I was pulling away slightly at the end of the straights. Clearly B&Cs 140 horses are a bit smaller than Lotuses 135, but we knew that. The Lotus kit is definitely developing more power above 6000 rpm, and that is consistent with pulling away at the end of the straights. Overall, the smooth and progressive power delivery makes the car easier to drive as you aren't having to contend with the fall-off of power above 5500 rpm by juggling gear-changes. For those interested in fuel consumption, I'm afraid I failed to measure it properly, but subjectively it has increased as you would expect: the engine is delivering significantly more power. I would be surprised if I got much better than 20 mpg on the track.
Miscellany.
Summary. The package of the Sport suspension and 135 engine etc. is a cracker for the track. It strikes a good balance between road holding, handling and power. The more you modify the car, the more it is optimised for the track and the less for the road. For the road? You have to be able to live with 100 mm ride height, and under most circumstances the additional power and torque is not noticeable. That said, there is no downside apart from a marginally increased fuel consumption (who cares?): the tuned engine is perfectly tractable, no lumpiness at tickover, no effect on the ECU/immobiliser. However, the standard car is just fine for everyday use, and no one should feel that their car has been in some way invalidated by the existence of the S135 package. I for one would need to think very carefully before spending more than UKP 5000 plus increased insurance premiums on the package if it were for road use only. I would be slightly uneasy about fitting the S135 kit without upgrading the suspension. This is my final report on the Stage II Tune-up Kit. Final, that is unless something goes disastrously wrong.
| vivian.meazza@lineone.net | |
| NLOVELOCK@lotus-cars.co.uk |