Cold air intake

[creaturekris]

Looks like Radium Engineering has made a cold air intake system for the Evora that makes a nice Hp and torque gain.

http://radiumauto.com/blog-page.php?Lotus-Evora-Intake-System-45

[Myfavedave]

Am I reading that correctly...? I looks like the stock setup is only getting 240bhp

[Justin182]

Yes, at the wheels

That almost seems too good to be true.. 20bhp+ gain?

[Myfavedave]

Ahhh, gotcha!

[Al]

.... and not silly money either. Looks to be a well engineered bit of kit as well.

However I would assume it would make the warranty null & void so on that basis alone I could never risk it for more than a year yet

[Simon350S]

I'm sure glad that long pipe configuration didn't work out. It looked daft and would have needed a big hole cut in the tailgate....!

Like the kit though, looks very professional indeed.

[mdavies]

Marvellous! I'd like Lotus to get on to this. These techniques show what could be done. (As I suggested for the revised version.)

[Michadams]

An amount of 20HP, just with a "basic" cold air intake on a N/A car, could you believe it ???

I've seen some good results with specify Airbox, but that was on a turbocharged car, and the gain was far away from this !

Here, 240 WHP and 260WHP with this air intake, so a gain of 8,3 % !

On the other hand, was 280 HP and with a specify carbon air box (especially developped for this racecar) we were at 294HP on a turbocarged car, so a gain of 5% and the car was fitted with full exhaust race system...

It seems amazing to increase the HP of quite 10% on a N/A car, just with a "basic" air intake system.

[Bibs]

Would they not be in serious trouble if they were making the stats up though? Surely someone will dyno their own car before/after and if they get a completely different results some law suits will start flying?

[Myfavedave]

I would imagine there's something in the small print about different cars getting different gains.. blah blah blah

Perhaps this is something worth asking Lotus about when you go up Bibs?

[Bibs]

I'm there tomorrow, I'll see if I can find someone

[mdavies]

I've emailed Radium asking about purchase from the UK. The meat of their reply is below. Warranty questions or not, given the simplicity of fitting and removal, I'm very tempted.

Bibs, surely Lotus must look at this? Assuming it performs, endorsement within warranty could show an attitude and spirit that reflects that of the "old Lotus" that I, for one, bought into. Yes, I'm aware of the issues, but given the multi-millions being spent in other directions at present, some costs (even perhaps including a handful of warranty claims), could be hugely rewarding. It could show that there is still more to Lotus than image, media and marketing.

RADIUM REPLY _______________

We do not have a distributor in the UK, but we can ship directly to you when the item is purchased off of our website.

The intake system is 243.50GBP

Shipping cost would be roughly between 24 and 30 GBP.

We are taking orders for this item now and expect to be able to ship mid/late September.

[Justin182]

There is no way Lotus would allow that under warranty.. Surely?

[mdavies]

Justin,

I'm not suggesting in a casual way, no. But the power increase, though apparently great value for money, is actually moderate and well below that of the S, so there should not be transmission issues for example. If they tested it to check that the engineering is as good as Radium claim, why not?

Of course there are commercial issues, and Radium might not want to play ball, but licensing arrangements are possible I imagine. Lotus might want to add to the price - so what, at that sort of money!

Of course it would cost Lotus some time and trouble, but my point is that it would be an opportunity to redress some of the recent assault on the perceptions of what Lotus stands for in the eyes of it's traditional enthusiasts.

[JAWS]

Are you serious? Do you know of any car company that offers an induction kit (bar track orientated cars - i.e 2-11)? Bear in mind that it is a vulnerable air filter that needs additional maintenance. Do you really thing that a car company could warranty it in all markets, all conditions (air & road) and maintenance abilities?

[mdavies]

JAWS, I did say after testing! And not all markets and conditions. OK, limit temperatures and altitudes. They could say subject to dealer maintenance inspection every 5K miles. I'm not suggesting making it standard fit!

E.g. I'd be happy with:

Suitable markets only

Dealer fit only, registered, date etc.

Sign up to an excess of £1,000 on any engine warranty claim. (That should restrain gross excess!)

Dealer inspection every 3,000 miles

Lotus is pushing the boundaries in many directions! They should some imagination here.

Edited August 16, 2011 by mdavies

[mdavies]

Re the Radium air intake for the Evora, their blog describes a recent track day (US of course) that they were involved with. It includes the paragraph I have copied below. I'm glad to see this kind of testing. The bench and dyno is all very well, but ........ And the easy on/off is interesting too.

___________________________

Local Evora owner, Kris Myers, was on hand turning out lap after lap. We installed our prototype cold air intake kit on his car and he gave us excellent feedback. We could tell he was genuinely sad when we pulled it off at the end of the day and replaced it with the stock airbox.

http://radiumauto.com/blog.php

Some nice photos on the blog too.

Edited September 4, 2011 by mdavies

[mdavies]

Local Evora owner, Kris Myers, was on hand turning out lap after lap. We installed our prototype cold air intake kit on his car and he gave us excellent feedback. We could tell he was genuinely sad when we pulled it off at the end of the day and replaced it with the stock airbox.

Kris, as you started this thread, any comments?!

Edited September 5, 2011 by mdavies

[creaturekris]

The Intake is fantastic, here is copy/paste of what i wrote on the other forum.

Yesterday I went to the CLNW fall track day and met up with Radium at the track. We were going to put the production piece on my car but one of their suppliers is still a few days out on one of the elements. So we put the prototype intake on the car for some track time and some "butt dyno" results:D

As we all know the stock intake is enormous and the amount of room in the engine bay is amazing with it removed and the Radium kit installed.

Remember this is just the prototype and not the pretty production version

After the short install i started the car and at idle there is hardly any difference in sound compared to the stock part........that all changed as soon as i started down the front straight of PIR. Wow! this thing sounds amazing! I am so glad that the first time I was able to use it was at the track so i could hear this engine the way should sound! Redline in second and third is something else. For those of us who want the car to sound like a sports car, this intake along with the Larini or Lotus sport exhaust will get you there.

The "butt dyno" results were pretty pleasing overall as well, I felt the car pulled harder in second gear out of the tighter corners and there was plenty of pull all through third and fourth. At the end of the day I did not want to put the stock box back on my car, but the finished product should be along shortly. Looking forward to getting back out on the track on the 25th with Lotus Cup USA and the finished CAI

Thanks to all at Radium Engineering for your hard work and letting me run with the prototype for the day.

Edited September 7, 2011 by Kris Myers

[Justin182]

Kris, thanks for that. All sounds very interesting, but i think most of us in the UK are more worried about warranty problems etc.

[Bibs]

I'll check but I'm pretty sure you'll not have to worry about the warranty if you fit something like that. It's pretty easy to take back to stock after all...

[Justin182]

I would be worried if I did have one fitted, and had an engine failure for example, that Lotus would not cover it?

Same for an aftermarket exhaust such as Larini?

[creaturekris]

If we had a better dealer network over here I might have some reservations as well. We also have the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act, where there has to be proof that the aftermarket part in question caused the problem with the car.

[mdavies]

Kris, thank you from me too.

Getting a good sound and a power increase are two separate things of course, and I guess that the psychological effect of the sound could increase the sensitivity of the "butt dyno". (Great phrase!)

It would be good to hear any results from a practical test, say timing acceleration in a single gear from say 2,500 rpm to the first change-up light. Depending on what available locations you have, up a slope and using 4th might stretch out the times to make them measurable reasonably accurately. (Perhaps a bit tricky on a public road!)

Oh, what is the "other forum" you mention? Thanks again.

[creaturekris]

The other forum is lotustalk.com, I will try a practical test later this month when i get the finished product on the car. I was just using the prototype intake during a track day with the lotus club here in Oregon. I had to put the stock airbox back on the car at the end of the day.