hispec owners i REALY need you help

[MattDon]

ive got some wheels that look fantastic on the elan but they dont clear the calipers, does anyone know if the standard hispec 15" calipers will buy me any clearance compared to the standard calipers or can anyone tell me how much higher the calipers sit on the 16" or even the 16"+ conversion. Its a bit risky because if the 16" conversion still doesnt buy me enought clearance, im stuck with a car with great brakes but no wheels that fit. also even if they do there is the chance that these wheels may adversley effect the handling or rub, but i am hoping being on 205 tyres should avoid the second part and the 49mm offset should be ok. thanks again.

[lotusgirlmarie]

I hate to say it but different wheels may be in order. It took me alittle bit to find wheels that clear my Big Brembo brake upgrade ands be of a reasonable offset but, I did and they're 17" to boot. Some wheels my look good but they just don't clear the brakes. Going to a smaller brake size won't help as the calipers remain the same size.

[Nige]

The standard S2 wheels do not clear my Hi-Spec Billet 4's and 300mm discs despite all asurances at the time from Hi-Spec that they would. There are 4 options to solve this:

Go to a smaller disc and appropriate caliper bracket to pull the caliper in closer to the hub centre, as it is the outer edge of the wheel spokes where they curve into the rim that foul on the outer edge of the caliper. If you have bought a 16" Hi-Spec set up the 15" version should do this for you.

Fit wheel spacers to push the wheel away from the caliper so giving the necessary clearance. I have this solution on my S2, my 60mm offset wheels are now in effect a 55mm offset. If using wheels with the original 60mm offset this is viable, if using aftermarket wheels with the usual 48-49mm offset the result is a 43-44mm offset which is less than I believe is advisable and therefore not recommended.

Find wheels that will clear the calipers without the need for spacers. For track day use I have 17" BMW mini wheels (48mm offset) not all wheel designs give the necessary clearance, on my car the 'minilite' lookalikes did not give te clearance, the 5 spoke 'bullets' did.

Fit a Willwood conversion instead of Hi-Specs, if you can find one or if Brian is persuaded to make anymore. I have one, it's not for sale and it's on my to do list.

If your Hi-Spec conversion is new and unused and you are committed to the wheels you have bought I suggest you try to swap it for the 15" version. Alternatively swap your wheels for a design that gives you the clearance you need, a case of function coming before form.

[mikeydude]

I am not sure what you want to know here.

If you are asking if the Hispec kit will work with your S2 16 inch wheels then YES it will and without spacers.

It's only earlier kits that had a problem nige's kit must be early..or he bought it from hi-spec direct and they will have just given him the wrong brackets..they allways do stuff like that...never buy from hispec direct

If you are worried then speak to the a Hispec dealer that is also a lotus specialist, he has fitted many kits to 15 and 16 icnch wheel elans.

The man to speak to is Pete Musgrove of PNM engineering...his number is... 0151 630 6101

He will sort any issues out

Please don't go to hi-spec direct....they supply great brakes but their knowledge of the cars they fit is very limited.

To give you an idea..up until a year ago they did not even know there were two different wheel sizes on the elan.

But Pete knows exactly what brackets, disks and calipers go together.

Oh, if you buy a kit from him, make sure he supplies the banjo bolts as they are not standard.

[mikeydude]

Ah right, I get it...you have got standard brakes that won't fit inside the new wheels you have bought to replae your S2 wheels......

well firstly....what were you thinking!!?? the s2 wheels are lovely...just get them re-finished and sell yur new wheels whatever they may be...even if they are "gangster wicked" etc. man!

As to whether hi-spec calipers are smaller than stock....hmmm never thought about it, for starters all hi-s spec kits have bigger disks than stock so I suppose they are probably smaller to fit in the smaller gap that's left! Iguess.
my 15 wheels only just clear my billet 4's by a fraction of an inch though.

and I think they are 275mm

you should be able to get 300mm inside an s2 wheel (even better cooling and leverage (further out the calier is from the wheel centre the better it works!)

But once again...because the disk is bigger the s2 wheels only just fit over as well..so no, hi-s spec will make the situation you are in worse not better!!!- nige's idea will give you about an inch clearance I would have thought. i.e put a 15 inch kit on.

Oh..to give you an idea how little room there is, one of my front wheel was buckled ever so slighly...and so it caught on the caliper when turned!!

I thought it was the end of the world until pete said..erm why don't you just put the buckled one on the rear..so I did.


If I have got the wrong end of the stick then just tell me!

[mikeydude]

Here's an idea....bring your bling wheels to me in rochdale..just down the road from you and I will see if they fit on my s1 with 15 ich hi-spec kit. then you will be sorted!!!!!

[Nige]

My Hi-Specs were bought directly from Hi-Spec some considerable time ago (at least 4 years) long before PNM solved some of the problems. They are great brakes and have proved their worth on the track. I have a Willwood conversion set from Brian (no calipers discs or bolts as yet) but Monty mentioned at Stoneleigh that he had warped his Willwood discs on the track as they are much lighter than the Hi-Specs (thinner disc) so as the Hi-Specs give me no trouble at the moment the Willwoods remain on the to do list.

[MattDon]

sorry for the confussion, i replaced my (or tried to) 15" se wheels, with some 17" wheels, and its the caliper which is contacting the spokes in the wheels. the wheel arches out just above the caliper and i thought if i got bigger brakes and calipers would move further out from the center into an area where there is more space behind the wheel. i'll try to get some pic's up asap.

mikeydude thats a fantastic idea, would be a real help.

the wheels are an early vauxhall fit, meaning everything is the same as the elan except the offset is 49mm, i was told i could fit spacers, but your point about the offset and the reaction of some people when you mention spacers makes me nervous.

[mikeydude]

Hmm...thought so....

Ok you are welcome to visit and try the wheels I will pm my contact details.

In all honesty putting spacers on would be the answer for you since putting on 17 inch wheel will mess with the cars dynamics anyway so putting spacers on won't cause any significant changes!!!

[mikeydude]

Hmm...thought so....

Ok you are welcome to visit and try the wheels I will pm my contact details.

In all honesty putting spacers on would be the answer for you since putting on 17 inch wheel will mess with the cars dynamics anyway so putting spacers on won't cause any significant changes!!!

[MattDon]

the links below show pictures of the wheel and where they contact.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/ ... age004.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/ ... age002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/ ... age005.jpg

[Elanlover]

Spacers are likely to present a problem. You're already 11mm shy of the +60mm offset that's OEM Spec. If you abide by the +/- 20% rule, then you're already at the acceptable limit for deviating from the OEM spec offset. Spacers will push the wheel out further causing a change in the handling and premature wear on the bearings.

I wouldn't say that simply changing to 17" wheels changes the car's dynamics in any meaningful way provided you choose a tire that, when installed, equals (or closely equals) the diameter of the stock 15" or 16" wheel/tire combo. With a 17" wheel you're going to get a lower profile tire which is both good and bad - probably better cornering due to less sidewall flex but a harsher ride.

A lot of people (myself included) would like to upgrade the look of the car by going to 17" wheels. It seems the lesson here is that you really need to fit a wheel to check for clearance before buying one

Its hard to tell from the pics if a larger diamter rotor (and higher mounted caliper) would solve your problem. It almost looks like it would given where the wheel hits the caliper now. But, it may just move the caliper higher and have it contact the spoke further up. The spokes are very thick (from the face of the wheel in towards the hub) whereas the spokes on the OEM wheel are much thinner. That could be a key point for people looking at new wheels. Get the spoke thickness measurements from the manufacturer and check it against the OEM wheel. I suspect a forged wheel will have thinner spokes than a cast wheel would. Do you know if yours are cast?

I'd call or e-mail the manufacturer if you can and ask them if they think you can machine off a bit before you do anything else.

[MattDon]

sound advice, i did wonder if it would be possible to machine a little off the wheel, but again was advised against it due to the legal issues of offering advice on something potentialy lethal, and the machining could mess with the balancing etc. my hope is that moving the calipers should solve it and its a long shot but im also hoping the hispec calipers might be a couple mm narrower, the oem calipers bulge out at the point where they catch and i cant see a reason why. Its always been my intention to upgrade the brakes from the day i bought the car, so thats not realy an issue. the manufacturer is kahn and the model is Rs-R i will email them but as for the reasons mentioned above done expect a posertive reply. oh and im not sure but id assume they were cast.

[Monty]

It`s possible that hi-spec may clear but you need to test fit one of your wheels with someone who`s got hi-spec`s fitted.

Other wise see if you can send the wheels back

[Nige]

Your problem is now a lot easier to understand with the photos to explain.

It's too easy to say that its all down to the choice of wheels and not helpful either, all I would say is don't machine the wheels as you will likely create stresses where you don't want them.

From the photo's it appears that you would gain more clearance if the caliper were to move away from the hub, bigger discs and the outward move of the caliper would probably help with this. If you have the original wheel still I would re fit them and then put one of the new wheels in the boot and find some friendly Elan owners with different brake set ups who will let you test fit the wheel to their cars to see if the wheeland brake combination works. If you can't achieve this immediately I suggest bringing a wheel down to Donington in March to do the same. You might also see if PNM would be willing to test fit a Hi-Spec kit to your car.