Komotec 460 and 500 hp kits on the way!!!

[NedaSay]

On 2/6/2016 at 19:59, Trevsked said:

I have an IPS and believe the system has limitations to circa 10% power increase so 380hp would be ok. Not sure what the reason is but possibly overheating of the totque converter and IPS software mapping.

 

Trevor.

The Aisin AW6F45 used in the Evora IPS is rated at 450nm max, as bhp and torque tend to increase on par, 430bhp is doable but 460bhp is more than the automatic gearbox can take. On the 3 Eleven Race version the torque number is actually much higher than the bhp number with 525nm. It's pretty safe to assume that the IPS won't be able to cope reliably with that.

Lotus doesn't seem to inclined - at least not yet - to even push the manual BG6 to this level of power as they decided to keep the 3 Eleven Road version to 410bhp and 400nm. 

In order to cope with the extra power Komo-Tec did mention that they intend to fit their very special Evora with a DCT. This DCT should be a Getrag as they are finally bringing the 7DCT500 ( rated at 560nm) forward for the crazy Audi RS3, Mercedes A45 AMG... Check page 34 of the pdf linked below for specs:  http://www.getrag.com/media/products/powershift/7dct300/Presentation_7DCT300.pdf 

In a way this is good news for Lotus, as Getrag gets to churn this extreme gearbox by the thousands for the big OEMSs, the cost of sourcing it should logically drop making it easier for Lotus to acquire this tech if they feel the need for it. As JMG mentioned that lotus will get more powerful in the years to come, Lotus may have to go DCT on its extreme model road versions.   

Edited February 17, 2016 by NedaSay

[NW76]

On 16. Februar 2016 at 14:39, TBD said:

Ask Daniel at KomoTec. He knows the German track limits.

talked to KT ... shouldn't be a big issue for the German tracks ... he also got me hooked on the 460 kit and helped to remediate  concerns on warranty / durability ... I am afraid I will go there and test drive it ... might have been an expensive phone call ;-)

Edited February 17, 2016 by NW76

[j141]

A big issue for me with upgrades would be insurance, I had the same with my VX220 when supercharged it went from 140bhp to 250-260bhp and that suddenly limits your options, 95% of insurers didnt want to know and its even worse if you need to cover business use too. I ended up with a choice of only 2 companies in the end.

 

How have people found their insurance?

[JayEmm]

Surely there is a difference though as with the Evora you're not *adding* a supercharger - I found this recently. Adding a supercharger to my M3 and insurance would be about £10k. Just tuning it a bit was hardly any more expensive than the regular car to insure.

[Breeze]

I'm also interested in the Australian Simply Sportscars Harrop TVS 1900 upgrade. http://www.simplysportscars.com/shop/home/10528-sscv6exigetvs1900superchargerupgrade    Fitting a larger blower would solve a lot of the potential charge cooling/ plumbing work. 

[adfer]

Can someone tell me why Lotus had to rework the Evora S with an intercooler and all the associated plumbing to get 400 / 410 bhp when they could have fitted a Komotec type kit instead?

[JG220]

Not Invented Here? Higher reliability and warranty requirements?

[NedaSay]

Optimizing the packaging I'd say. They wanted to lose weight, adding plumbing would have added weight. And I think they also wanted better esthetics which the Edelbrock supercharger does bring.   

[TheKevlarKid]

Achieving the power is one thing, sustaining it is another...

[JayEmm]

Yep. Plenty of tuners out there who'll give you 1,000bhp from a Nissan Skyline, but when it came to making the Veyron VW went to great lengths to make it a reliable and daily drivable 1,000bhp. Hence the thing has eight radiators, etc..

Not quite the same with the Evora, granted. I think their mission with the 400 was not just saving weight, but cost too. The Komo-tec kits are not cheap, you definitely couldn't add 3-4,000 to the cost of each car.

[NedaSay]

Don't forget that Lotus Cars also has to comply with emission regulations, Komo-Tec doesn't to the same extent. It's not just about the power, Lotus is also feeling the pinch from E.U, U.S and other parts of the world tightening emission regulations, like all global cars and sports cars makers. It is very easy to make power, less so to do it while respecting EU VI is something completely different. For the record the Evora went down to a lower emission bracket by using the Edelbroke supercharger and the car produces more power while burning less fuel too. 

[Gravel]

On 11/03/2016 at 14:33, NedaSay said:

Optimizing the packaging I'd say. They wanted to lose weight, adding plumbing would have added weight. And I think they also wanted better esthetics which the Edelbrock supercharger does bring.   

Err - the Edelbrock has plumbing the standard S does not - there a new water rad for the charge cooler hence the new nose on the 400...

[Gravel]

5 hours ago, NedaSay said:

Don't forget that Lotus Cars also has to comply with emission regulations, Komo-Tec doesn't to the same extent. It's not just about the power, Lotus is also feeling the pinch from E.U, U.S and other parts of the world tightening emission regulations, like all global cars and sports cars makers. It is very easy to make power, less so to do it while respecting EU VI is something completely different. For the record the Evora went down to a lower emission bracket by using the Edelbroke supercharger and the car produces more power while burning less fuel too. 

Yes this sounds more likely to me - the smaller supercharger in the S will be less efficient and so produce more heat for the same airflow than the bigger Edelbrock in the 400. Coupled with the charge cooler in the 400, the intake air temp in the 400 should be a lot lower, and so require less fuel to protect against detonation at the same power level.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Evora eventually ends up being turboed from the factory to meet future emission standards.

[Bibs]

The 400 is certainly better on fuel than the S, on a par with the NA in my experience.

[C43]

I agree, on my cross country blast to work 300hp in an NA seems like enough (especially now I have fitted a decent exhaust system).

C43

[NedaSay]

6 hours ago, Gravel said:

Err - the Edelbrock has plumbing the standard S does not - there a new water rad for the charge cooler hence the new nose on the 400...

The plumbing of the 400 is optimized even compared to the S even with two new radiators at the front, the Edelbroke supercharger comes with the charge cooler unit built in as opposed to the Komo-Tec which appears to have a supercharger and a charger cooler coming in separate units. The Edelbroke can produce a lot more power... Lotus mentioned 525nm of torque with the Xtrac gearbox on the 3Eleven race version, so Lotus can definitely extract more BHP from the 400 engine, it's just a matter of sourcing a gearbox able to cope with the torque and keeping the engine bay cool. The reason Lotus chose a supercharger and not a turbo is that a turbo requires even more plumbing and is in a different league when it comes to cooling as it runs significantly hotter than a supercharger by definition. The engine bay and the transverse lay out of the Evora make "turboing" a bit of a tough sell. It would run extremely hot in there... Unless Lotus was to use the tech Mercedes on its F1 engine - which will  make it into production at some point at a very high price point no doubt. 

[MickOpalak]

I apologize if I missed it the first time around, but are these kits going to be available for the Evora 400?

[French Frie]

Yep... There's a specific one, called EV4-460 : 

 

[JayEmm]

Didn't Honda intend on turbocharging a transverse V6 for the NSX, before finding out it was pretty much impossible to make work?

[NedaSay]

Yes! Yes they did try to fit the new NSX twin turbo V6 transversally, then they realized that the turbos were getting the bay way above the boiling point with no possibility to cool anything. That's the reason why they had to redesign the new NSX, this is the main reason for the car being delayed. 

Just checked the dyno vid above...  460 bhp and 495 nm of torque on the BG6! I wonder what Komo-tec did to get the gearbox to cope  with that extra much torque.

For the record the 3 Eleven 466 BHP generates even more torque, 525 nm, but the mate it with the Xtrac which is derivated from a touring car/GT racecar gearbox. 

[JayEmm]

Yeah, given the fact the S had only slightly more torque than the NA Evora, and the 400 hardly any more again, I am reasonably confident that it's being deliberately limited to protect the gearbox. 

The day Lotus get a proper gearbox they are going to come out with something pretty phenomenal

[TBD]

Maybe Lotus needs to work closer with Komotec. They already have this alternative sequential gearbox and I know they are working on fitting a GETRAG dual clutch box.

 

[Gravel]

Is that box maintenance free for 100k miles? Or is that a race box with a couple of thousand between rebuilds?

[JayEmm]

As far as I know any "true" sequential box would need a rebuild fairly frequently dealing with that kind of mileage.

As odd as it seems I actually wouldn't mind if Lotus had an SMG-style box, some of the later ones were fairly decent and as far as I know the DCT boxes carry a fairly significant weight penalty?

[Breeze]

I'm pretty sure that Getrag has a dual clutch box in development for some of the Audi transfers installations. Presumably it will be available for other manufacturers at some point. In any event, I'm sure the development guys at Lotus will have their eyes on the ball.