Lotus Elan Central

Having modified my turbo and bought a Piper 2.5" Exhaust for my track car (Elan SE) I am reluctant to put the original down pipe back on the car as the system will have a considerable bottle neck, resricting the potential of all the other components in the system.

The down pipe is the bit Piper didn't develop when they produced the performance exhaust upgrade and I'd relly like to see it made. At the moment I am unaware of any on the market so this is new ground.

I started this thread to see what interest there is for an SE downpipe, less weight and with better gas flow.

I'm quite happy to organise this for the greater good of the Elan comunity if anyone is interested?

Interested if it fits the S2 (O2!) LHD with aircon

O2 sensor yes as they all have the socket for them on the standard car.

Is the piper exhaust the same for S2 as SE?

GeoffSmith wrote:Phil, there may be different issues to the KnoxMotorSport's masterpiece on RHD cars without the front crash structure, so a UK equivalent would probably have to end up slightly different.

If Phil can get Piper interested, would you be willing to help in getting it off the ground Billy?

I have a slightly different design in mind which may make it cheaper, but will have to talk to piper once they are properly comitted.

Tom at Piper said they would need a car to work from as they are reluctant to work from the original part (which is on my workshop floor). I didn't realise the LHD would make a difference, I guess we need a good photo of a Euro Cat turbo area.
Air con and Water pump were the first considerations I have mentioned to Tom. Maybe worth a list of variations in UK and Euro cars that will affect the design.

The aim is to have a product that fits all Euro and UK spec turbo cars without compramise. Is this possible?

May be interested..... I have it on my upgrade list....

First option would be find a local company that can make it as shipping from Uk would be expensive!!

I am interested to know how you get on....

It's likely I could send one from Dubai.

Definately interested. Exhaust & turbo upgrades are on the to do list for this winter along with a precautionary engine rebuild (150K)

RHD SE with Aircon

I don't know if LHD / RHD makes any difference. I assume not (but that means nothing i'm afraid)
If i recall right my PECO is the same as for an S1, except it incorporates the pre-cat of course. I (again) assume that this is no different for the Piper.
I do however know that the aircon pump gives a lot less room to play with.

I will browse through my hundreds of photo's with info concerning the downpipe area and make a nice selection. If it's too much data i will upload it somewhere and post you a link

surfboardfiller wrote:At the moment I am unaware of any on the market so this is new ground.

It`s not new ground as stevo produced the Stiffy years ago out of stainless. Not sure he still has the prototype so maybe worth contacting, worth noteing that Stevo`s version could not be used on cars with A/C

some pic`s here

viewtopic.php?f=79&t=2737&start=160

... and no O2 bung....

... and no separation of the wastegate pipe.

I've been puzzeling about that for a while now... Are the speeds of the airflow that different between main flow and bypass flow?
Or is the seperate pipe after the wastegate only there to make it a little laminair before entering main flow again?

If so, a shorter pipe, without flex would be possible if flow straitheners are incorporated in the design. Less weight, same flow capacities

If someone developes a down pipe that increases the cars performance especially if they already have a modified exhaust,
and they can show how much it improves over a standard set up well that's just
I'm sure there will be a lot of interest.

Monty wrote:

surfboardfiller wrote:At the moment I am unaware of any on the market so this is new ground.

It`s not new ground as stevo produced the Stiffy years ago out of stainless. Not sure he still has the prototype so maybe worth contacting, worth noteing that Stevo`s version could not be used on cars with A/C

some pic`s here

You miss understand me, the design is new ground as far as I am concerened because I won't be useing someone elses design, it will be done from the start with all things considered.
The aim is to get the best performance part at a fair price. Not cover old ground by arbitrarily copying some one else.
Is the 'stiffy' currently on the market?

Steve A wrote::D If someone developes a down pipe that increases the cars performance especially if they already have a modified exhaust,
and they can show how much it improves over a standard set up well that's just
I'm sure there will be a lot of interest.

That is it. You got it in 1.

Fed down pipe by Knoxmotorsports.
Produced more bang for the buck with less boost.

This upgrade far exceeds the PCE.

Steve -loving the upgrade-

HJ2 wrote:I've been puzzeling about that for a while now... Are the speeds of the airflow that different between main flow and bypass flow?
Or is the seperate pipe after the wastegate only there to make it a little laminair before entering main flow again?

If so, a shorter pipe, without flex would be possible if flow straitheners are incorporated in the design. Less weight, same flow capacities

GeoffSmith wrote:... and no separation of the wastegate pipe.

I am not convinced by the separate pipe, looks wrong to me.

I asked the question last week on the Fed downpipe thread and didn't get a good enough answer. I have a better idea but need to push for some expert advice.
For me it really has to work, not just look 'clever' and it has to work better than the alternatives.

steve matthews wrote:Fed down pipe by Knoxmotorsports.
Produced more bang for the buck with less boost.

This upgrade far exceeds the PCE.

Steve -loving the upgrade-

It's definately an upgrade but I'm not convinced by the separate pipe.

List time
To guage an interest in a UK/Euro Down pipe, please put your name on the list by copying the latest list and paste into your reply, adding your name in the useual format.

Who is interested in a Performance down pipe (for Turbo cars only)?

We are looking at 2 possible products:
NOC: To fit cars with NO Cat or eliminator (S2 completely de cat or SE).
PCE: To fit cars with a piper Pre Cat Eliminator.

1. NOC - Phil (surfboardfiller)
2. NOC - Phil (surfboardfiller)
3.

We are looking at 2 possible products:
NOC: To fit cars with NO Cat or eliminator (S2 completely de cat or SE).
PCE: To fit cars with a piper Pre Cat Eliminator.

1. NOC - Phil (surfboardfiller)
2. NOC - Phil (surfboardfiller)
3. NOC - Steve A, depending on results and price for an SE, I might even be up for a complete system
4.

Appears to me that other than the A/C pump, which some RHD cars have, it would make more sense and appeal to a wider audience if it was designed to fit either LHD (FED/ROW) or RHD, cant be that much more difficult to design. I would buy if available, but i would be the PCE variant as i have the Piper PCE with the 2 1/4 Peco.

surfboardfiller wrote:List time
To guage an interest in a UK/Euro Down pipe, please put your name on the list by copying the latest list and paste into your reply, adding your name in the useual format.

Who is interested in a Performance down pipe (for Turbo cars only)?

We are looking at 2 possible products:
NOC: To fit cars with NO Cat or eliminator (S2 completely de cat or SE).
PCE: To fit cars with a piper Pre Cat Eliminator.

1. NOC - Phil (surfboardfiller)
2. NOC - Phil (surfboardfiller)
3.