Simon M

For what its worth Mikie... and because I am also a Motul distributor 5W50 (its not a 300V but is a fully synthetic brought out to satisfy a perceived demand mostly from LoT people). Its good for occassional track day use and of course road. Alternatively a 5W40 is equally as good for 2-Eleven use. Both are more than adequate although some officianardo's of oil would argue the 5W/40 300V is more suitable because its not as "stretched". If you have the standard front mounted oil coolers the 5W40 is plenty good enough. 15W50 300V if its for competition or hard core track use. Just make sure you always allow the car a couple of minutes to warm up before use. The gearbox, typically should run a 75W90 synthetic. However, I'm inclined to run the Motul 75W140 Competition oil for track use.

Hi Lee, no problem. Look forward to seeing you there.

Hi there, if anyone fancies something to do on the 15th of August you could come and watch the British GT 2hour race at Silverstone. We are runninng a little Lotus 2-Eleven and are out numbered by Ginetta G50's and KTM XBows not to mention the numerious Ferrari's Scuderia's (common as muck in these circles) in the class above. It will be the biggest and most competitive grid in British GT for years with a host of pro drivers. Please come and support us..... your welcome to pop your head into the garage and who know's if all is going well and I'm around we may even be able to show around the car.

If any one fancies a day out a week Sunday 15th August, I would be delighted to see you in our pit garage at Silverstone for the Avon Tyres British GT, 2 hour race. You'll be welcome to take a close look around the car and maybe even watch the race and pit stops from our garage if your a 2-Eleven owner. Silvestone will see the biggest grid of GT cars in the British series for a many years. Our battle is with a host Ginetta G50's desperate not to be beaten by a Lotus and a couple of very fast KTM XBow's, theres also talk of a Ford Mustang and Nissan 370Z joining the fray so fingers crossed they join in. We finished 2nd last time out on a circuit not suited to the Lotus, but Silverstone is the perfectly track for us, so we should fly. As well as our class there is huge field including several Ferrari Scudaria's, Aston Martin DBRS9, Ascari, Porsche, Dodge Viper and Mosler. Other races include British F3, VW Cup, Mazda MX5 racing and Ginetta G20 racing all on the Silverstone GP track.

Motul 300V 15W/50 for ultimate protection ;-)

If your man is that good he will trust nothing and check everything so should find the cause. Fuel starvation or poor quality fuel could cause the problem, it would make the engine run hotter but then there are so many permitations. Best of luck with it, I'd like to know what you find as the cause if you don't mind.

Sounds like oil starvation or overheating because on the whole the engines are very capable. You absolutely must find out what caused the problem before wasting money on a new engine because thats an instillation or application issue you've got there. Ours will be exactly the same internal spec as yours but with more than 270bhp and its on over 26hours of pure 8200rpm race use with slick tyres, so maximum stress and still (touch wood) going. Some things for you to think about with your mechanic then.... Are you sure the Laminova was correctly plumbed with the accusump and sandwich plate and just in case......did it have enough oil? Do you run a standard steel oil sump or a Moroso, what tyres were you on and how long are the corners you were driving. Did the car feel sluggish before letting go? The missfire you describe would suggest that maybe a fuel or ignition issue maybe to blame so don't just assume its oil starvation related either. Mail me if you want to run any possible grey areas through.

The air flow from the inlet will soon sort out the heat soaked tempurature as soon as you start moving at speed from our experience. Usually about 3 minutes. However if you are doing lots of stop starts and need instant performance then yes extra shielding is essential. We use exactly the same adhesive backed barrier you have found although our air feed box is made from ally and I've never tried applying that stuff to plastic!

LOL we had exactly the same parts supply problem after being rear ended by a Dodge Viper at Knockhill about 2 months ago. The reason was apprently that there was no part number for the 211 version which was designed by Sport so had'nt filtered into the normal parts system. It took 3 goes for us to get the right one direct from Lotus. In the end we bent the old one into some sort of shape and used that. Its purely there for heat protection.

looks sensible

I've got a set of full proper wet Avon tyres we can't use any more if anyone is interested. They have been scrubbed in and thats all. Its a very stable tyre so good on a drying track and will last for days on the 211. Naturally they are significantly better than any of the Toyo and Yokohama track day type options. Sadly they are not road legal. I also have some used Avon and Pirelli slicks if anyone fancies trying some serious grip.

If at all possible the Sadev sequential is the only sensible way forward when you want more power and proven reliability. We have one in our car and its so far brilliantly reliable, handling more power than your objective for long periods of time whilst running on slick tyres. Point being if it will take what we are doing to it, it will take normal track day use and tuning, no problemo. As for cost you can buy a nice Caterham Roadsport for what the complete instillation will set you back, but then the Caterham wont get near to the buzz and durability the box will achieve in a 2-Eleven with decent power.

Hi Chaps, Hope this is Ok, but the Avon Tyres British GT Championship is visiting Knockhill this weekend, 8th and 9th May. We will be travelling up from Bristol to represent Lotus for our first ever race at this circuit. It would be great to see plenty of Lotus models around as we try to take the fight to KTM and Ginetta with our little orange 2-Eleven. Come and say hello if your up there. Simon