Lotus begins offering supercharger kits for all NA Elises and Exiges
Lotus Elise - Click above for high-res image gallery
Anyone who's picked up a Lotus Elise or Exige before the kids from Hethel began offering a factory supercharged engine, help is at hand. Drivers of normally aspirated Lotuses can now get a factory style blower kit from Lotus Cars USA. The system is completely emissions certified, warrantied and legal in all 50 states, and includes higher flow injectors, a supercharger with integrated intake manifold and new ECU calibrations. Any authorized Lotus dealer can sell and install the kit that bumps the output of the 1.8-liter Toyota engine from 189 hp/133 lb-ft to 218 hp/155 lb-ft. Although the torque gain is minimal, twist now peaks at a more usable 5,000 rpm rather than 6,800 rpm. You can get all the details in the press release below the fold, but don't look for a price -- Lotus hasn't announced the cost for the kit yet.
Gallery: Lotus Elise
PRESS RELEASE
Owners of Naturally Aspirated Lotus Elise and Exige Vehicles Can Now Supercharge Their Thrill Rides
Duluth, GA, August 3, 2009 – Lotus Cars USA, Inc. is pleased to announce the availability of a new Lotus factory engineered, warranted and 50-state legal complete Supercharger Kit for naturally aspirated Elise and Exige models.
These Lotus Supercharger Kits use the same supercharger and integrated intake manifold unit as fitted to a production Elise SC and can be installed on any naturally aspirated Elise or Exige powered by a Toyota 2ZZ-GE engine. The compact supercharger and integrated intake manifold, working in concert with new high-flow fuel injectors and a re-programmed engine management control unit, increases horsepower from 189 HP up to approximately 218 HP and torque jumps from 133 ft.-lbs. up to approximately 155 ft.-lbs.
Perhaps even more important, the increased maximum torque is available at a lower 5,000 rpm instead of the naturally aspirated 6,800 rpm providing the Lotus driver with a much broader and more flexible power band to work with when carving their favorite twisty roads.
"Lotus Elise and Exige owners are genuine driving enthusiasts and that's what has attracted them to Lotus cars in the first place," said Lotus Cars USA, Inc. Director of Operations Arnie Johnson. "They will fully appreciate the dramatically enhanced driving character these Lotus Supercharger Kits will bring their vehicles and the peace of mind from a fully warranted, factory engineered kit."
The Lotus Supercharger Kit is available for purchase and installation at all authorized Lotus dealers in the U.S. and Canada.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Aloysius Vampa 6:25PM (8/03/2009)
That's a pretty nice thing to do.
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Shiftright 6:28PM (8/03/2009)
I would have expected more than a 29 hp boost though. Meh...Then again, the Elise and Exige weigh about 50 lbs, so that extra hp is the equivalent of 100 hp in any other car.
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ij70 6:38PM (8/03/2009)
I think you are forgetting how superchargers work. There will be more horsepower across the whole power band, not like turbo where additional horsepower is in specific place on the power band.
Shiftright 6:44PM (8/03/2009)
I know how they work, and I prefer them to turbos anyday, despite the parasitic losses. The more instant throttle response and more linear power delivery, and none of the worries of cooking the turbo bearings after oil supply is cut off when the engine stops also seal the deal for me. I just feel the horsepower increase should be more substantial, say 45 + hp or so. If you're going to do it, go big! It's not like Lotuses are slow anyway.
Lucas 7:32PM (8/03/2009)
@ShiftRight.... cooked turbos? Welcome to the 90s my man, that is a thing of the past.
Shiftright 9:16PM (8/03/2009)
Okay Lucas, I'll tell my my girlfriend the '03 GTI she used to have was actually a car that had time travelled from the past, and that's why her turbo cooked.
Lucas 9:46PM (8/03/2009)
Was is modified? Full of oil? Otherwise properly maintained?
I was in the VW scene for a long time and have NEVER heard of a modern turbo cooking.
Forgive me, but I'll be tshe was running way low on oil. She is a SHE after all.
.
Shiftright 1:48AM (8/04/2009)
I did all the scheduled maintenance, on her GTI and I'm pretty meticulous. Mobil 1 every 5k miles. She always drove it hard in city traffic then a canyon road on the way to/from work, and I always suggested she let the car ideal for a bit before shutting it down, to which she responded "the dealer said I didn't have to". Well, the bearings cooked...on top of countless electrical problems and the standard failing ignition coils. I realize turbo failure is pretty rare nowadays, and turbos have come a long way, but I still prefer a cooler running and larger displacement and normally aspirated or a supercharger. Although it was a fun car, I never really warmed to the rubber band feeling of the powerband. Slight turbo lag, then big wave of torque, then started running out of steam at 4,500 rpm. I would have much preferred the VR6 GTI.
Lucas 10:29AM (8/04/2009)
Weird.... yeah, those ignition coils nearly ruined my life, marriage.
ronnyek 6:35PM (8/03/2009)
uhhh.... so 20/30hp and 10-15tq? I realize this car doesn't need to be a torque monster or anything but... wtf. you could get a measly td04 and make that EASILY I would hope.
Look forward to pricing information on this one... I'm betting it will in no way be a cost effective mod for minuscule turnaround
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HotRodzNKustoms 6:46PM (8/03/2009)
I've driven ever recent Lotus since the first generation Elise to the Eleven to the Evora and hands down my favorite road car is the normally aspirated Elise. It is just what a Lotus should be so anyone who would buy the supercharger kit for their NA car shouldn't be allowed to drive a Lotus in my opinion, because they don't understand what a Lotus is supposed to be. Nothing against the supercharged cars Lotus makes but don't turn one into the other! But that is just be being a Lotus prick.
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Chris O 7:59PM (8/03/2009)
@HotRodz:
Lotus has been using forced induction forever... turbo 4s, turbo 8s, and supercharged 4s (in the Exige). I'm glad that you like the anemic NA Elise, but the fact that you don't think that Lotus owners should be ALLOWED to put a supercharger on the craptastic 2zz-ge is stupid, at best. You should probably consider that Lotus may have offered the supercharger on base Elises and Exiges had they been able to sell the car at decent price and profitability points.
The fact is that the cars (as nice as they are) are full of the normal production car compromises.
You state that anyone that might want to improve their vehicle does not "understand what a Lotus is supposed to be". So tell, me... what is a Lotus supposed to be? Is a Lotus supposed to have a terrible engine? Using your line of reasoning, improving the brakes, clutch, engine, flywheel, seats, safety equipment, etc. would all amount to ruining an otherwise perfect vehicle. Using your extremely narrow definitions, does the Evora actually count as a Lotus?
HotRodzNKustoms 9:27PM (8/03/2009)
I'm not saying they are not allowed to but they make a supercharged version. Trying to ring out every bit of performance out of a base Elise is one of the most gratifying experiences a car guy can have. I just feel that the NA Elise is the closest thing to the philosophies of Colin Chapman to come out of Lotus since the late Colin Chapman. Not every car needs the biggest engine, the biggest brakes, the most of this or that. I just believe the Elise has a purity in the tradition of English sports cars that has been lost and no one seems to remember. Now owners are perfectly allowed to add superchargers on their cars but I just feel like those owners don't recognize what the aim of a Lotus is... just someone who can write the check.
And by the way the Evora is probably the most exquisite 2+2 in the world.
PJ 7:25PM (8/03/2009)
I won't go quite as far as HotRods, especially given the relatively transparent nature of superchargers from a throttle response/power delivery standpoint, but I tend to agree that anyone who's really worried about hp in a Lotus is missing the point. Anyway, the stock NA Elise does 0-60 in what, 4.3 seconds?
The conversion I'd *really* like to see is a kit to swap the Elise's Toyota 2ZZ engine for a Honda K20A. The 2ZZ is too much of a on/off switch (snapping "on" at 6200 rpm, "off" below that), and isn't terribly Lotusy itself in that respect. Maybe they could sprinkle some Honda dust on the Elise's clunky shifter while they're at it...
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Aloysius Vampa 9:00PM (8/03/2009)
4.9 seconds for the base Elise, according to http://www.lotuscars.com/elise.html.
tankd0g 10:10PM (8/03/2009)
Does the Honda motor turn the right way? I'm sure the lift point for the power cam in the 2ZZ is easily lowered if one were so inclined.
Robb 6:21AM (8/04/2009)
Or maybe a rotary. It wouldn't work because the Renisis for rear wheel drive but talk about a linear HP curve. I love my Rx-8
PJ 7:25PM (8/03/2009)
By the way...
"I've driven ever recent Lotus since the first generation Elise to the Eleven to the Evora."
Lucky bastard. ;-)
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drew 7:09PM (8/03/2009)
YES!!!!......wait I'll never own one of these.
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RussianSwinga 7:26PM (8/03/2009)
I can finally bolt on some horsepower to my '06! Thank you, Hethel!!!
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