upgraded turbos, what have you all done?

[bratboy_y2k]

i'd like to hear what sort of upgrades people have done with the turbos, type, size, ballbearing or not and just hear what kind of result they got. im thinking t25bb myself.

[bratboy_y2k]

is nobody doing any turbo mods?

[XiPHiAS]

i'm intrested to

[F1 LOTUS]

In no particular order....

http://lotuselancentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5228
http://lotuselancentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4863
http://lotuselancentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10138
http://lotuselancentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5011

[Sy V]

Thanks Brian...

[F1 LOTUS]

No problem.
As a fellow LEC Vet' I feel it my duty to give these young Elanoraks a virtual clip around the ear'ole and send them on their way

[lotusgirlmarie]

GT2560R is the way to go I feel. I belive that there are 4+ of us on here that have gone this route with much success. better spool up, better power band, and less maintenance to worry about. + it just looks darn cool. Ekapol has some great shots of the install I did for him under the stripeless stripey thread.

[tigerdog]

GT2560R is the way to go I feel. I belive that there are 4+ of us on here that have gone this route with much success. better spool up, better power band, and less maintenance to worry about.

Hear, hear! I second Marie's comments. Best part is, the GT2560 can be a completely "stealth" installation; unless someone really knows what to look for, it can be difficult to tell from a stock unit.

[bratboy_y2k]

I am in no way a turbo expert hence why I ask many dumb questions. So what are the cons with this turbo? There must be some. Less maintanence? I'm guessing that the low rpm lag is nearly nonexistant? Hows fuel economy?

[Ekapol]

Hmm... Cons? I can't think of one. No lag and can go up to your definition of being fast in an Elan.

Just that it's not an easy job to install it right, reindexing, proper hoses & connections, etc.

I know a girl that can install it in my car port in a day, about the same amount of time I left my mouth wide open still I can't believe that

[Enright]

Aren't the cons a Manual Boost Controller and a Fuel Cut Defender?

[Nige]

Don't see why it wouldn't work with a chip. I don't think those who've done this are running much more boost than stock even though the turbo is capable of producing more boost than the standard IHI unit. I think the big difference is in the way the boost is produced. I see this as a 2 stage upgrade. Fit the turbo and associated plumbing keep the standard ECU with chip, keep the standard injectors and MAP sensor. Better response and more power through better flow (worth a head job as well perhaps) with the option of a remapped ECU, new injectors and MAP sensor as a second stage upgrade path. Curious to know the costs and some real details of what exactly is involved the threads seem a bit light on the nitty gritty.

[tigerdog]

Aren't the cons a Manual Boost Controller and a Fuel Cut Defender?

MBC and FCD are only required if you want to go above the .9 BAR afforded by a Mountain chip. You can still appreciate the quicker spool-up of the ballbearing turbo without increasing boost. Having said that, the 3 BAR MAP Sensor conversion allows considerably more boost (and dangerously high overboost unless properly chipped) to be developed using this turbo.

[Enright]

I think it's the "dangerously" part of that statement that I'm sceptical of.
With the standard components you can easily achieve 220BHP reliably, retaining all of the inbuilt safety features. That is good enough for sub 6 second 0-60 times.

If you want to go above that, you're talking bigger injectors, MAP sensor, custom ECU, and you'd better have uprated the clutch and the brakes to control it all. Round a track or down a twisty road experience is still likely to be the biggest factor, so what are we looking for here - something that will just out-drag other stuff to arrive at the next set of lights first? Most would say that's not what Lotuses are about.

[davidjt]

After several pints of Old Peculiar, the local brains trust's latest cunning plan involved a small s/h Volvo turbo engine & 'box, custom drive shafts (the easy bit) plus new loom + re-map (the tricky bit). Supposedly its derived from a Japanese unit (hence the availability of after-market electronics. Allegedly). With around 400bhp, we decided wheelspin could be an issue.....

Not sure what came after that - it was my round!

[tigerdog]

After several pints of Old Peculiar...

Theakston's Finest, known even here in the colonies. Say no more...

[bratboy_y2k]

ok i have to say from little ive heard about this turbo it sounds like a good swap. i like the idea of no lag. now if i can get it together with a 1.8 conversion.....

[nitroman]

Aren't the cons a Manual Boost Controller and a Fuel Cut Defender?

MBC and FCD are only required if you want to go above the .9 BAR afforded by a Mountain chip. You can still appreciate the quicker spool-up of the ballbearing turbo without increasing boost. Having said that, the 3 BAR MAP Sensor conversion allows considerably more boost (and dangerously high overboost unless properly chipped) to be developed using this turbo.

Interesting. Never read that before. I did know that 1 bar = 14.7psi = 760mmHg... meaning 1 atmosphere, ie, a normally aspirated car. A diver's training (and every 33ft of H2O adds another atmosphere!). And weight is not the same as mass, and, I'll spare you the lesson.

[lotusgirlmarie]

the 1.8 would be nice but considering the money +headache that the install would cause.... I'd rather stick with the stock engine and do the turbo, injectors and MAP I know that ESM did a chip for Ekapol movithe the safeties to 16 or so psi. Could be worth a look.

On that topic, ekapol and I are in the works of setting a map that would better suit this setup. With help from ESM we'll see where we get.

[MattDon]

ive been looking for more info on this GT2560R upgrade with limited sucess, can someone point me in the right direction of a write up give some details about whats involved, costs, etc.