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From YourSITE.com Miscellaneous Features It’s debatable if a Lotus qualifies as a “specialty car”. They’re not quite main stream, but not exactly part of the specialty car cottage industry. While their numbers may be small, many of the biggest companies in the world keep Lotus on the payroll for engineering purposes - specifically suspension design and development. It’s no surprise then that the the company’s Elise roadster is widely known and well-respected amongst auto enthusiasts around the world. Its emphasis on light-weight means it’s affordable and that plenty of performance can be had with a relatively lower-power four-cylinder engine. But, what do you do when the Lotus’ stock power just isn’t enough? It seems Auto-Teknix has solved the problem by installing Audi’s potent and highly tunable 1.8T under the “bonnet”.
British designer Julian Thompson can be credited with the handsome design of the Elise. The simple yet athletic sportscar is not edgy though at the same time is not at all soft – maintaining an aggressive appearance that strikes a great balance between classic design and modern packaging. What is most brilliant about the Elise is its full-fledged embrace of the spirit of Lotus, capturing the qualities originally established by Colin Chapman in the company’s heyday. Most of the body is made of fiberglass using Lotus VARI (Vacuum-Assisted Resin Injection) process, though the engine cover is made of aluminum. The then-Italian owners of the company originally wanted the whole body to be aluminum, but costs (and heritage) dictated otherwise. The Lotus’ main chassis frame weighs roughly 155-lbs. Hollow aluminum extrusions are joined together through the use of aircraft-style epoxy glue and bolstered by riveting to prevent peeling in a crash. The chassis itself is made up of 26 bonded parts and utilizes a steel subframe at the back, while the underbody has a flat skin which contributes to the car’s impressive aerodynamics. Also keeping the weight down, extruded aluminum is used for all frame parts, instrument panel, pedals, uprights, hinges and more.
Inside the Elise, the cabin is an exercise in minimalism, though with a fair degree of techno chic. The adjustable driver’s seat is closer to the center line of the car than the passenger seat, which is itself set to the rear in order to achieve optimal peripheral view for the driver. The Lotus is all about being Spartan, having only what it needs. If you want refinement, buy a TT or a Z4. The Lotus is not about comfort and makes no presumptions of being so. The Lotus’ suspension is designed with aluminum double wishbones at all four corners. Eibach springs and Bilstein shocks keep the ride controlled, while the Elise rolls on 16-inch wheels fitted with 55-series tires at the front and 17-inch wheels with 45-series tires at the rear. All of these components mated together with the Lotus’ incredible chassis make for handling that other manufacturers benchmark against. Since it’s production debut years ago in the UK, the Lotus Elise was something virtually all North American auto enthusiasts could only dream about. However, in the Spring of 2004, that all changed. Last year Lotus was kind enough to share the Elise with North America, with a slightly modified specification, using a Toyota engine instead of the Rover unit used in Europe. It wasn’t until Lotus got a waiver from NHTSA to get beyond standards on bumper and headlight height that the car was finally approved for U.S. sale. This was just in time for the Esprit to be put out to pasture after a 30-year run and managed to place some much-needed product into U.S. dealerships. Deliveries began in May 2004.
For North America, the Celica-derived and Lotus-developed Toyota 1.8-liter four cylinder engine puts out 190-hp at 7800 rpm, though is relatively low in torque with a peak of 138 lb ft. of torque at 6800 rpm. The engine is mated to a Toyota 6-speed transmission as the only choice for North American owners. Who’d want an automatic anyway in such a car? With the normally aspirated Toyota engine, the featherweight Elise still manages a 0-60 mph run in under 5.0 seconds and a top speed of nearly 150 mph while bestowing it with 30-mpg fuel economy – not bad for a car that weighs in at 1975 lbs. In the U.S., the Lotus Elise bases at $42,990 and can go up from there depending on your choice of paint and options, placing it competitively priced against cars like the Audi TT, BMW Z4 and Mercedes-Benz SLK. It’s not nearly as luxurious as its German rivals, though the Lotus certainly offers a more intense driving experience and the higher degree of exclusivity that goes hand in hand with small sale numbers. The Toyota engine isn’t the most aggressive powerplant out there, though it does an admirable job moving the little roadster around. It is slightly more powerful than European-market cars with Rover engines that have been sold across the pond for years. There’s room for improvement and a host of companies have developed solutions to cater to power-hungry Elise owners in Europe. One in particular that caught our eye was UK-based Auto-Teknix, using an engine we’re quite familiar with. Enter Audi’s 1.8T, Stage Left As Bernard from Auto-Teknix put it, the company had gone about as far as they could with their development of the Elise’s Rover-sourced engine, bumping it up from 118 bhp to 218 bhp. They’d developed quick cars, but ones that needed to be kept high in the rev range to keep power on tap – not altogether different from the torquier Toyota engine Americans currently get. He’d looked at several potential engine swaps for the Elise, though the Audi 1.8T seemed to best fit the bill. The engines are readily available at a reasonable price and offer great tuning potential. The main drawback to the 1.8T was its weight. Use of an iron block meant that the Lotus would gain about 88-lbs. The British company knew the 1.8T would fit as they’d observed a German company that had already done the conversion. However, the German conversion was fairly high in cost and much of the trunk space was lost in transition. Further, Auto-Teknix wanted to use a 6-speed gearbox with the engine, something they had not yet seen.
By placing the engine lower and further forward in the chassis of the Elise, Auto-Teknix was able to minimize the heavier engine’s added mass on the car’s near perfect weight distribution, not changing it by more than 2%. The engine is mounted 50mm lower and 40mm further forward than the stock Rover unit. With adjusted shocks and spring rates, Auto-Teknix suggests that it’s pretty difficult to notice any change in handling resulting from the conversion. As with any major engine conversion of this nature, there will always be difficulties in making it all work. Bernard suggested the obstacles were numerous. First, the larger 1.8T package is a tight fit with about 3/8”-inch of clearance . Room had to be made for all the piping and the tight quarters required a rethink on getting air to the intercooler and to cool the mid-engine bay of the Lotus. Wiring harnesses had to be matched, and a stand-alone ECU had to be fitted to communicate with the immobilizer in the Elise, while all engine mapping had to be redone to work with the different engine/turbo setups. Finally, upgraded driveshafts and CV joints were needed to cope with the added power. The original conversion took about eight months to complete according to Bernard who originally set into the task as a personal project and not as full-fledged kit development. That said, everyone he let drive the car said they simply had to have one – “awestruck” by the acceleration. Thus, a full-blown conversion kit was developed for the Elise and Exige (a Europe-only coupe version of the Elise).
Auto-Teknix offers 250-bhp and 300-bhp versions of the engine in their conversion. The first nets a claimed 250 bhp using a Garrett K04 Turbo from a donor Audi or SEAT. 0-60mph can be achieved in a claimed five seconds and 0-100 in under ten seconds and a top speed of 160-mph. If that’s not enough, Auto-Teknix also offers a 300+bhp version using an IHI roller bearing turbo. 0-60 mph drops to a claimed 4.5 seconds and 0-100 mph drops to 8.5 seconds. This more powerful Elise tops out at a lofty 170 mph. Bernard claims the latter, more powerful setup can be had for about £10,000 - about the same money as a used Elise will cost you in the UK. He suggests “pretty much nothing” would touch it for the money. He’s never run the car against supercars, though has had no problem with 300 bhp Mitsubishi EVO 7s and Subaru Imprezas. On the track, racecars with their setup have been up against Porsche GT2s and Aston Martins where they’ve either beaten them or given them a decent run for their money. Speaking of the Elise 1.8T’s performance, Bernard told us, “I only occasionally drive standard Elises and they seem incredibly slow. But they are not really, anything that does 0-60 in sub 6 secs could not be described as slow. It's just that the conversion, with its 260 lbs ft of torque with the K04 turbo engine is so much quicker. With all the torque there is instant acceleration as long as you are above about 3000 rpm. In traffic lines it makes for exceptional overtaking capability. The big turbo car is miles quicker again, the torque holds on much higher in the rev band than the K04 and with 305 lbs ft. that's almost triple the torque of the standard car.”
Auto-Teknix says complete conversions on an Elise or Exige with the 250 bhp setup would cost less than £7500, and the 300 + bhp setup about £9300 – prices that include the engine sourced from a donor Audi or SEAT. Would the conversion kit work on a North American Elise? Bernard says our version of the car has had a significant number of changes that require a decent amount of development work to make everything fit, but figures it should be possible. If there were interest for it in America, he’d consider developing it. Is the conversion reliable? Auto-Teknix claims they’ve been running an Exige all of last season without any engine reliability issues. Still not convinced? Should you find yourself on that side of the pond, Auto-Teknix maintains a demonstration Elise with their 250 bhp setup that is available for test drives as well as a 300+ bhp Exige. Further, the aforementioned Exige racecar is currently competing in a mid-engined race series and other events piloted by driver Matt Cummings. The Exige 1.8T has netted several wins and even more podium finishes thus far. Passenger rides in the racecar can also be arranged during a local track day. Is there demand for the Auto-Teknix Lotus Elise 1.8T in the United States. For now, we’d guess it would be somewhat limited. Guesstimating the exchange rate, it sounds like the used Elises Bernard told us about are selling for roughly half of what a new Lotus will run you on this side of the Atlantic, meaning a converted North American Elise would run around $60,000. The performance figures are compelling, though it’s more likely a better business case could be made for the Elise 1.8T once resale values on used versions begin to depreciate. However, if you think you’re interested in converting an Elise or just want more information, drop Bernard at Auto-Teknix a line. We hear he’s even known to frequent our own 1.8T Technical Forum from time to time. More information: Bernard@auto-teknix.co.uk www.Auto-Teknix.co.uk
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