Lotus Elise with VW 1.8T Engine

[Sharkie]

Also Lotus Exige or the Elise with the s/c engines is still well over $80000 secondhand.

And Lotus does not use the Opel/Vauxhall engines in the Elise/Exige so there is no straight swap possibility.

[OilBurna]

bear in mind (depends on the chassis set up) they are very tail happy and not easy to drive quickly. Have seen one written off at Sandown on a high performance day clouting the wall at the start of the back straight, nice crack on the rear fibreglass section. Are you after a dedicated track only car or road / race combo that can be regoed? We bought an ex Sports Sedan LG Torana with triple webbers that had approx 250hp for five grand, spent another 3 grand fixing it up and it did under two minutes at Phillip Island with more potential and parts were cheap, ie a mix of Torana, and VL Commodore. Elsie won't be cheap for body panels and other parts. I'd start with a cheap Japanese car, ie 180sx / Silvia, decent suspension, brakes they have a great LSD std with Kaaz's etc avialable and make easy power. You could get a race / rally import only with heaps of mods on it prob for 10k ish. Or even a WRX RA etc. Strip out all the bits are they are fairly light. I'd love an AE86 with the supercharged 4AGZE hehehe.

ariel atom would be nice but not cheap.

[Jarred]

Oil buna is right. there are plenty of cheaper options. although I would doubt any of them would have the finesse of the standard elise even!

I'm sure you could set up a jap (not a torrie though, without major mods lol) to handle pretty damn well, but there really ain't much that can compare with the lotus chassis.

[OilBurna]

true but with the right setup it will hose a stock elise, although I had a fun battle with the same one before it got damaged at Sandown I was quicker in the straight, ie ovetake but he would get me under braking, then around corners. you would be paying a lot for the Lotus chassis / setup etc.

any vw options? a mk1 with a 1.8T?

[static1800]

I agree that the lotus approach would be expensive, they make a great track day car though.

mk4 R32 with haldex would be another option in the lotus price range i would imagine

[Sharkie]

any vw options? a mk1 with a 1.8T?

No, tried a Mk1 turbo before. It was to be polite .... a handful .... making too much power with massive torque steer and a big turbo rush at 3500rpm made it really difficult to track. After a few track sessions, I gave up and optimised it for drags. (Less power would have helped on the track)

For a track car that can run on the road I want rear wheel drive and a chassis that's great to start with (VW simply does not have anything suitable). Taking it further from there is then the challenge.

An Audi with mechanical quattro may be an option, but I'd like something that weighs as little as possible.

So, the Lotus ... light weight ... check, great std chassis...check, enough power.... can be done.....

[OilBurna]

this looks tasty..

http://www.j-spec.com.au/list/index.php?ID=12700



or this trubo + rwd and already has a cage



or check this silvia out 12k landed

http://www.j-spec.com.au/list/index.php?ID=10175

Apexi PowerFC computer
PowerFC hand controller
Trust Profec boost controller
Blitz K3450R turbo
Adjustable suspension
Aftermarket clutch
Aftermarket injectors
Nismo LSD
Drivers bucket seat
Momo steering wheel
Other aftermarket parts

or silvia with GTR engine

http://www.j-spec.com.au/list/index.php?ID=9742

[Jarred]

The only problem is that the silvia (for example) can't be registered. which is a bit of a bummer, + you also need a level 3 CAMS license.

What fun is a nuts race car if you can scare the sh*t outta people on the street?

[VW GTI]

Can't believe you suggesting getting a bogan jap car over an Elise.

Elise/Exige

































Any Nissan.

[tinto]

I'm toying with the idea of getting a Lotus Elise (2002) as a track day car.

Since I want decent power, I'm thinking of fitting a VW 1.8T engine to it and upping its output to around 260kw......

Anybody have any ideas as to the workability of this ?

Hey Sharkie, PM me your email address and I'll email you the zip of snapshots I just took of the article. It was in Performance Tuner Jan 2008.
Hopefully they're not too blurry
Unfortunately not the current shape Elise either - they mention the K-series beforehand.

Cheers,
Martin