My MY11 Evora S; the next chapter(s).

[Stuno1]

1 minute ago, JayEmm said:

We'll have to meet up when I am "with Lotus". @GM77 and co have already been offered by a local pub landlord to have a Lotus meet at his pub near Colchester

I'm in! Have a mate with a 911 who would be keen as well. 

[Gm77]

Ah, the pressure! OK, I'm on it to organise. I will post something on the Essex/Camb./Herts events board and see who is interested.

[PaulCP]

Don't forget about those on the Northern Essex/Suffolk borders Colchester is pretty central 

[JayEmm]

11 minutes ago, Gm77 said:

Ah, the pressure! OK, I'm on it to organise. I will post something on the Essex/Camb./Herts events board and see who is interested.

Let me know if you need a hand organasising. I'm sure a dealer or two would be happy to pop down. How many 400s do we need to make it the biggest gathering thus far, 6?

[Gm77]

2 minutes ago, PaulCP said:

Don't forget about those on the Northern Essex/Suffolk borders Colchester is pretty central 

All welcome. Would be great if we could fill the car park with Loti!

I have started a new thread. Possibly aiming for late April.

Just now, JayEmm said:

Let me know if you need a hand organasising. I'm sure a dealer or two would be happy to pop down. How many 400s do we need to make it the biggest gathering thus far, 6?

Thanks James. 

The last one I arranged we had 5 400s so yes, 6 would probably do it.

[Bravo73]

Ah, now that the Essex/Suffolk love-in has moved elsewhere...  

 

On 16 March 2016 at 15:01, Bravo73 said:

However, when I had the air filter lid out, I noticed that there is a secondary filter of some sort attached to the lid:

There doesn't seem to be an obvious way to remove (or change) it because the fittings/plastic rivets around the edge have been melted to secure it. However, to my layman eyes, it looks like it will still be very restrictive to the airflow. Has anybody (who has fitted a K&N panel filter) been brave enough to remove this second filter?

 

My research has led me to discover that this a carbon filter that is required for the federal market. On the basis that a) it is downstream from the actual (K&N) filter and b) it seems that it can only be restrictive to the airflow, it seems like it is safe for it to come out. So, after a little bit of drilling and a few minutes, I was left with this:

 

No problems with reinstalling the airbox. (It's obviously a lot quicker and easier the second time around. FYI, the maintenance manual says that you should remove the NSR wheel in order to access one of the airbox clips. I haven't got the smallest hands in the world but I can assure you that this isn't necessary. The third clip is definitely accessible from above).

Has removing the additional filter made any difference? To be honest, who really knows..? I suspect that a dyno might not even detect a difference. But the car was definitely quick enough around Snetterton yesterday. I also had Motorsports see if they could find if there was anything that would indicate that the car was down on power. They can check the octane burn per cylinder (on a scale of 0 to 100, 0 being perfect, 100 being goosed). One cylinder was 5, one was 0.75 and the rest were 0. So, the engine would appear to be running just fine. I suspect that the dyno that I used is on the, er, conservative side.

 

[Bravo73]

Fitted these today:

I'll see if these (plus SRF fluid) are any improvement at Hethel on 30th April. 

[Bravo73]

I can report back that the pad/fluid/AP combo is pretty phenomenal. No signs of fade at either Hethel or Spa and initial bite is significantly improved from the previous pads. 

Anyway, on to more important matters. The next few pieces of the 'puzzle' arrived recently:

I will report back again once they have been fitted. 

[Stuno1]

Before and after clips please!!!

 

How are you finding the exhaust now? 

[Bravo73]

Went from this:

...to this:

 

 

 

Oh yeah, and this:

 

 

[C8RKH]

I'll have 2bular headers and sport cat, connected to my existing Lotus Sports exhaust, on my car in a few weeks. Have you noticed any difference yet?

[Bravo73]

Finished 'blacking out' the rear end:

 

But I should probably give a bit of feedback on the more important modification - the exhaust!

For the record, it is the 'full' Komotec system - headers/manifolds, stainless steel y-pipe, 200 cell cat and valved silencer/backbox.

Once it had been fitted (more on that later), my first impressions were a bit mixed, if I'm honest. Performance-wise (from the seat of my pants), the car definitely feels quicker and it is much more willing to rev through the range. However, aurally, I was still a bit underwhelmed. I suppose that I was hoping for a noise/sound closer to the 400 but, in hindsight, it's probably better that it isn't that loud. We all know that the 400 (and the 2bular valved system) soundcheck at 108dB or more. This is too much for most trackdays in the UK, which is an issue for me. Last week, this system was static tested (with the valve open) at Snetterton at 98dB. So, no worries there.

Anyway, although the car 'felt' faster, was there actually any improvement? I'm happy to report that there was:

 

With the OEM system, the car was producing 316bhp (calculated FHP). This is now up to 332bhp. It doesn't sound like a huge improvement, but you can certainly feel it in the car.

When I bought the car, I was advised by the vendor (and a couple of other specialists) that the car would probably need a remap in order to avoid any EMLs. Other specialists said that this might not be needed. If you weren't already aware, the stock Toyota/Lotus ECU can adjust fueling +/-30%. I can report that on my car, the ECU has managed to cope so far. It hasn't produced a single EML or fault code and I have been monitoring MAF, intake temps and command AFR via a Torque Pro app. Everything is in order (so far).

However, I have no doubt that with a different intake and a bespoke map, the power and torque could be increased even further.

Aurally, there has definitely been a change. The note and tone has changed quite a bit, particularly above 5k rpm. However, I feel that the Evora is just naturally quite good at keeping most of this away from the driver, even with both windows down. Some of us went for a quick blast on our way down to the BTCC at Snetterton yesterday and everyone who was following said that it sounded great. Here's a short recording that I made recently:   Komotec Full.m4a  There are also plenty of pops and crackles on the overrun.

 

So, is that it in terms of modifications? Nope, probably not. Watch this space for the next stage. 

 

 

 

 

[C8RKH]

Nice one Jonny, sound clip sounds great as well.

I need to get my car on a rolling road as the new 2bular headers definitely improve the noise and the popping and gurgling is hugely addictive - so much so it has slowed me down a few times just to hear it on the over run!

Car is looking great, the black lotus badges on the back are so correct with the red, i was lucky ,my car came with them.

Keep on enjoying it and keep the updates (to car and forum  ) coming...

[550superfast]

Good write up. What's next then?

[Bravo73]

Aha. I'm glad you asked.

The car is going in for a little bit of, er, 'open heart surgery' in mid February. I'm not going to reveal what is planned (yet) but, rest assured, when it's up and running again, I'll be posting the details here. It should be worth it (I hope!)

[550superfast]

TVS1900?

[Bravo73]

Nope. I considered that but at £6k+, that was a bit more than I was hoping to spend. If/when the option that I'm going for works, it will hopefully be a viable alternative to the Komotec/SSC options available at present. And it is UK based. More details will be revealed (as soon as I can).

[trcm]

Could this be something ES have been developing?

[Bravo73]

Watch this space. 

[Stuno1]

11 hours ago, Bravo73 said:

Nope. I considered that but at £6k+, that was a bit more than I was hoping to spend. If/when the option that I'm going for works, it will hopefully be a viable alternative to the Komotec/SSC options available at present. And it is UK based. More details will be revealed (as soon as I can).

Assume comparable prices for comparible performance as well? 

[Bravo73]

We'll have to wait and see, tbh. There are still a few elements of the development that need to finalised. But I'll certainly be sharing all of the dyno results on here. 

[Bravo73]

Well, I think that this thread is long overdue for an update. There has been a fair amount of work done on my car in the past year so here goes. 

First of all, externally, a Win-Ace ‘410 ducktail’ bootlid has been fitted: 

This was done primarily for 2 reasons: firstly the weight saving (8kg vs 20-30kg for the OEM glass & spoiler). But secondly, to help with engine bay cooling (due to the open louvres). However, there is no denying that rear visibility has suffered. You can see a bit through the rear view mirror, but not much. So most of the ‘rear view’ is now done with the side mirrors. FWIW, I went for the GRP version. 

Next, a set of 400 calipers & rotors were fitted to the front:

I looked at a few options (2 piece rotors, Kobra kit etc etc) but this actually worked out to be the best size vs cost option for me. The original AP calipers with RS26 pads were great but these are phenomenal (as 400 owners already know). And contrary to some reports (especially from Lotus themselves), these calipers do fit under a set of 18” wheels:

These, incidentally, are another upgrade. I replaced my original LMS/TD1.3 18” track wheels with a set of BC Forged RS31 wheels. (35.2kg per set vs 43.4kg). 

 

However, arguably, the most important work was done ‘under the bonnet’. This has had a pretty comprehensive overhaul:

It starts with a custom ES Motorsports intake (based on an ITG filter). The cams have been replaced with a set of cams originally developed by Swindon Engines for their 400 engine and it is all controlled by an ECU developed by SCS Delta. The exhaust is the (previous) full Komotec stainless system, including headers, Y-Pipe, 200 cell cat and switchable backbox. The sum total of all of this work is:

So, 426fhp and 330 lb/ft. (As a comparison, the GT430 produces 430hp and 325lb/ft). 

However, what isn’t shown in that graph is how the power is delivered. Without Sport engaged, the power delivery is relatively moderate and the car is very manageable around town and in traffic. However, with Sport engaged, the ‘in gear/mid range’ acceleration can only be described as ‘brutal’. The car is an absolute rocketship. I can’t wait to try it out properly on track. (When on a dyno, the ABS warning automatically disables Sport mode so I’m not convinced that the ‘on the road’ performance is truly represented on that graph). 

The new intake also changes the ‘sound signature’ quite significantly, especially with the passenger window down. You can now really hear the supercharger gulping in the air. 

 

All of this work has been carried out by ES Motorsports in Norfolk. My car has been the first customer car that this particular combination of intake/cams/ECU has been fitted to so there is still an element of development to iron out the remaining bugs. But, the results have been outstanding. 

If you are considering a power upgrade to your Evora or Exige V6 and until now, if Komotec and SSC have been your only options, please add ES to that list. My car now lives in Oxfordshire and if you want to have a further look, please get in touch. I’ll be more than happy to show you around. 

 

So then, what now for the future? Well, the car is going to go back to ES in the Spring for it’s annual service and MOT. When it’s there, I’m going to ask them to fit a set of 400 calipers and rotors to the rear (to help balance the brake bias a bit). 

After that, (when funds allow), I’ll turn my attention to the suspension. As much as I’d love to fit a set of the Ohlins TTX Mechatronics, at £9k they are a bit pricey for my budget. So, at some point, I will be heading to Hoffman’s for a set of @Randy‘s Nitrons. 

 

[Del Lardo]

Nice to hear the love for ES. My car is there at the moment having a bit of work done and so far I have been very impressed with them. 

Your car is looking amazing and I can scaresly imagine the performance. 

[C8RKH]

Really nice update and great to her that it is all going well Jonny. What you having done Paul? Any performance enhancing stuff or maintenance?

[TheKevlarKid]

I know you say they fit but those 400 calipers look very close to the BC rims in the picture above... especially the top trailing edge, looks to be less than a mm left ?!