ROB-C or ESM, please comment.

[Jeffbro]

I have a dillemma and need advice. I have had previous experiance using an MBC on my first Elan and was very impressed with the results. (read; "happy as a pig in sh4t"). I now own an immaculate, low mileage completely stock example. Having heard so much about how good Alan's chips are I had decided to fit one to my new car. On inspecting the ECU I found the factory seal still in place. Now I dont want to breech the seal thus compromising the cars originality. I would like more power, not maxed out power, prob around .8 bar to give the car that little bit extra that in my mind it should have. So my question is do I breech the seal and go for Alans chip (along with the built in safety features) or fit my MBC, save £100 (money not really the issue tho) and keep in mind whilst I am driving to restrain my right foot untill the car is fully warmed up to protect the engine. What would you do?

[GeoffSmith]

Fit the chip, absolutely no question. Consign the MBC to B&Q's plumbing section.

Alan has a very good understanding of the Elan and has put in a huge amount of effort into the development into the upgrades. All upgrades have been carefully trialled, not only on his, but other cars as well and have been checked out on dyno sessions. He has probably erred on the side of caution rather than all out turbo-nutter-bastard but they're still one hell of an upgrade........ for track days of course.

Geoff

[dapinky]

I know there ain't that many around, but it may be worth trying to get another ECU and keep your original one intact for replacement in the future if you ever need to?

[Dico]

South West Lotus had them at Donington for £125. (new)

[Doug]

what a joke question -- cut the stupid foil square and put the chip in.

do you still have the original tires on the car?? I doubt it! So it's already not original!

you already proved you do not want a 100% stock car by putting a MBC on it. Are you the kind of guy who buys new furniture and then throws covers over them so you never sit on them and possibly get them dirty?

[Dico]

[Monty]

Was going to say myself that the car won`t stay original when things go wrong ie gearcables

Do u think that by cutting the foil the car will depreciate

Just use a sharp blade so it`s a neat cut so it still looks like it`s intact.

[Jeffbro]

Doug, er yes I still have the original mxx tyres on ! and I said I had used an MBC on my previous Elan, not this one which is completely original. And I havnt got seat covers! (just bought some over mats tho)I would consider a second ECU. That would prob be the ideal solution. Thanks guys

[ESM]

Sorry to be late to this - my time isn't my own these days.

I think the best idea would be to get another ECU - they can be bought at Donington for around £80-100 and put the chip in that. Then you can keep the sealed ECU sealed and replace it in the car whenever you want (the replacement ones don't come with anti-tamper stickers). I tried to buy a stock of replacement stickers but Lotus don't carry them any more.

When I cut the stickers from my ECU in removed them completely and rubbed the area with a bit of metal polish so no obvious witness marks were there - purely for aesthetic reasons.

[Jeffbro]

Hi all, I've decided to fit the chip and go along the route of obtaining a replacement ECU, which I managed to procure along with a memcal chip from Stoneleigh. On returning home I found that there was a chip inside the ECU despite being told that there would not be one so I now have two! Can anyone comfirm that I have the correct parts? My car is a 1990 SE. I was informed that the ECU is for a turbo car, part no A100E 6279F and is identified with the following codes on the unit:

Service code No. 16132241 1.6S MAN DOM 09 APR 1991
16149929 AUFH

The memcal chip I bought is part no. A100L0097S. The codes on the chip are DELCO ANXZ 9099 in one window and 1S9125 in the other.

The chip that came inside the ECU is AUFH 0649 and 1S1023.

I am understanding from the directions on Alans web page that I need the memcal chip.
Thanks for all your advice Jeff

[John_W]

Jeff,
My car is an early 1991 SE, UK spec.

The ECU has a white paper label on the outside with a barcode and:
Service No. 16132241
1.6T MAN DOM
ANXZ

I do not know for certain which model of Elan has AUFH, however I think it's also a UK spec SE. However you'd better confirm before fitting to your car. Ask Russc (I think he has a UK-spec SE). He posted a picture of his AUFH 0649 chip in the thread in this link , and his ECU which has identical codes to yours, is shown in the picture on the thread linked here along with a bit of discussion/speculation on what the code numbers might signify.

To fit a mountain chip you also need to retain the ECU's own memcal, as the Moates adapter board (into which the Mountain chip fits) is plugged into the existing memcal.

John

[ESM]

The AUFH is the code for the 9929 SE chip

Service No. 16132241
1.6S MAN DOM
16149929 AUFH

The clue is the last 4 digits of the last number.