Products
Samco Silicone Cooling Hoses
As the Lotus's are getting older we are increasingly finding the cooling system hoses perishing, some of the hoses particularly for the Elan are becoming difficult to obtain. We can now offer silicone hose kits offering much better quality hose at competitive prices. Which also have the added advantage of improving the look of your engine bay.
Kits are also available for LHD vehicles
Alloy Cooling System Header Tanks.
The cooling system header tank is know longer available from Lotus or from Vauxhall where it was original sourced, because they are now ageing and ether cracking or the thread for the cap is failing we have had an alternative produced from alloy.
Alloy header tanks for the Elise and Esprit will be following shortly!
Powerflex Bushes
We are increasingly finding as the Elise's get older the rubber suspension bushes are loosing there ability to control movement in the suspension arm allowing the geometry to be constantly changing, by fitting Powerflex bushes the suspension is constantly held in its correct position without the degrading of the ride quality you can experienced with some replacement nylon bushes. There are also some bushes available for the engine stay bars on the Toyota powered cars which will hold the engine firmly in position without the harshness associated with some other bushes.
Elise/Exige S1 Towing Upright, Now Available For The S2 Elise/Exige.
We are often finding that the towing upright in the front grille of the Elise is rusting away and we have seen some that have been pulled out though the front grille when owners have attempted to tow them, this not only damages the grille but can often badly damage the front clam shell. When we remove the front clam shell for the replacement of the radiator or the cooling fan we often change the upright and it always seems a little daft to replace it with something that is going to rust the same way in a few years.
Our replacement towing upright is a beautiful piece of engineering, manufactured from "Chrome Molybdenum" not only is it very light, incredibly strong, it is aerodynamic. chrome molybdenum is used in motorsport, aircraft construction and in top end bicycle frames.
Elan Big Brakes
One of the few criticisms of the M100 Elan has always been the ability of the brake system, the front brakes which were taken from the GM parts bin were always fairly poor and as age has taken its toll they have got even worse, over the years we have fitted varies different disc's and pad which have improved them but they are still very poor by modern standard. We can now offer a real answer to the problem in the form of a big brake conversion. This consist of two four pot brake calipers & brake pads, two calliper mounting irons and two larger and grooved brake discs. They are available in two sizes 275mm diameter disc's for cars fitted with 15inch wheels and 285mm disc's for cars with 16inch wheels.
Elise Exige (rover K)Baffled Sump Kit
Our Experience with the Rover K has shown that vehicle used particularly for track work can now corner so fast that the oil can be driven up the side of the engine and as a result reduce the oil supply to those alto important bearings, the oil supply is not lost for long enough for the engine oil pressure light to come on, but long enough for long term damage to take place!.
The only symptom you can get prior to a major engine failure is slight rattle from the cam followers during and straight after cornering but in the case of Exige's 190 Sport's and 340R's with solid cam followers you don't even get that warning.
Our new sump baffle kit has been developed with the help of RVJ Racing Services who have a vast amount of experience in fabrication components for racing and track vehicles. In our opinion it is a must for any one racing or even using there car for regular track days. This becomes even more important for people using sticky tyres and sports suspension.
The price of the kit is:-
For more information of baffled sumps and oil surge read Art's article on oil surge and baffled sumps Art Markus thoughts on Oil Surge and Baffled Sumps
Testimonial for engine build and baffled sump.
Dear Lakeside,
I thought I would write to let you know how well the engine is getting on…
Following my rather large failure at the ‘ring last year, my engine was in a bit of a mess. Thankfully the head was relatively undamaged, needing just four new valves and a skim although a complete new bottom end was needed. After some discussion, we came to the conclusion that the failure could have been down to oil starvation on long fast corners. Lavant corner at Goodwood – my home track – proved particularly bad with the starvation after the fitment of AO48s and Nitrons due to the higher cornering speeds. As well as all of the other work and recommendations, which have made the engine superb, the single best modification has been the development and fitting of your baffled sump. At a recent test day at Goodwood, I had no symptoms of oil starvation whatsoever and the car ran faultlessly all day.
I would strongly recommend this system to anyone who takes their K-series Elise on track and would go as far to say that it’s the first track modification that should be carried out on a track day car…
James,
James MacNaughton
Club Secretary
Goodwood Road Racing Club
Goodwood Motor Circuit, Chichester,West Sussex PO18 0PH
Elise Suspension Upgrades
As with most upgrades for the Elise there are
countless options available, at many different prices and making
many different claims. Upgrading your suspension can have one of the
biggest effects on your car on the road or the track,
The Picture here shows the original Koni Suspension
Elise S1
The original suspension on the Elise S1 was adequate it was produced by Koni at a price and was not some of their best work, it tends to be noisy and the life of the dampers is not very long by modern standards.
If your car is mainly used on the road with the occasional track day then in our opinion Lotus have produced the best answer them selves. The Bilstein dampers and springs on the S2 Elise were a big improvement over the Koni's fitted to the S1, as a result Lotus have produced a Kit for the S1 based on the system used on the S2. It lowers the ride height by approx. 10mm and the spring rates are a little higher making the ride slightly firmer (but perfectly acceptable for road use) and reducing body roll.
Have a read of Nigel Fryatt's article in the Press section.
Elise S1 & S2
Nitron now build and supply a set of dampers and springs which are design for mainly road use and light track use, priced very competitively, they are now a real alternative to the Bilsteins or Koni systems, supplied by Lotus. Please ring for more information and prices.
If your car is used more for track use or you are not too worried about a fairly stiff ride then the Nitron suspension is the one for you. The Nitron system gives you spring rates of 325lb at the front and 400lb at the rear, with this system you have the ability to set the ride height at a level that suits you and you can fairly easily adjust the damper rates at the side of the track/road.
One of the great advantages of Nitron is there support and back up service, the performance of all dampers reduces over time, but with Nitron they offer a great after sales service, rebuilding the units as regularly as you might require and a very reasonable cost. It is a first class service, it is often quite difficult to tell the difference between a serviced and a new unit.
For further information on Nitron products go to www.nitron.co.uk
Lotus Brakes
Lotus have always been an innovator with brakes, they were one of the first manufacturers to fit disc's brakes all round when most were still relying on the very old technology of drums brakes. This continued with the Lotus Elise in 1996 with the introduction of Silicon Carbide Reinforced Aluminium Metal Matrix brake disc's often referred to as MMC.
These brakes had many advantages of conventional steel disc's, they were much lighter, the pads lasted two or three times longer and they produced little brake dust thus making keeping your wheels clean much less of a chore, there were a couple of down sides, braking in extreme wet weather was a bit unpredictable and under very extreme condition on the track you could melt the disc's.
Unfortunately production and supply of these brakes was stopped in 2000 and although there are a couple of aftermarket suppliers that offer replacement pads they just don't seem to be of the same quality as the Lotus originals and as a result not something we can recommend.
The only practical alternative is now to fit conventional steel brakes, although there are a variety of different types of pads available depending on the type of use your car gets.
Lotus Tyres.
There are many different tyres available for the Lotus Elise & Exige, but most tyres are designed with a different vehicle application in mind, the Lotus Elise & Exige is much lighter than most other cars on the market so whilst the sizes and speed ratings may be right, they may not suit a car with such a low weight.
The S1 Elise was originally equipped with Pirelli P Zero tyres which while designed for that application they never had a particularly good reputation for wet weather grip, the Pirelli's have become increasing difficult to source with the replacement of the S1 with the Bridgestone equipped S2.
Thankfully Lotus have teamed up with the Japanese tyre manufacturer Yokohama to produce a replacement tyre specifically designed for this application. They have produced a Yokohama Advan Neova which would seem to do an admiral job. It Is an unusual tyre because a different tyre is produced for each corner of the car, presumably because of the success of this tyre Lotus/Yokohama are now producing a different tyre in the sizes required for the S2, this is call a Yokohama AD07 LTS this tyre only has a front and a rear tyre not a different tyre for each corner.
Unusually for a manufacture supplied tyre they are not too expensive !!!
Elise S1 Lotus/Yokohama Advan Neova
Exige and Motorsport Application
For Exige and Elise there is a track orientated tyre call the Yokohama A048 which offers much improved grip in dry conditions although they can be a little scary on standing water.
Please ring for the latest prices on these tyres 01932 340003
We can supply tyres for all other Lotus and Porsche Models at competitive prices, please rings to discuss your
requirements.