engine swap

i know that the lotus elise was made to be light but i want to engine swap with a new more powerfull engine. does any one recomend anything? i just need to know what can fit and what would be best. thanks for your input

-Michael Stone-

i'd personally like to see what a Honda S2000 engine could do in a US spec Elise, that would be about 50 extra hp, a much higher redline, and about the same weight

google.is a mans best friend...check for specs, weights, etc. you should have no problem finding what you need

the new toyota 1.8 twin-cam is gonna be in the U.S. spec version, Personally i always wanted to put a second gen MR2 turbo engine in.

A 3S-GTE in an Elise would be SCARY

Scary, yes, but it's not like you don't have the suspension to back it up. Toyota power and the handling and breaking of Lotus, that's some serious Kung-fu!!

no more scarry than the 3sgte in my first gen mr2

in your gen 1? Lets face facts, that engine makes good power in the second gen. All i can say is, "you brave, brave man."

id like to see one of those nissan sr20det(sp?) engines in one. turbocharged, and aluminum block. lightweight yet potent. :]

They should've kept teh Integra Type R engine in it like SunSpeed did while importing it in for the last few years. 195 hp, 9000rpm. Oh well.

.....why do so many people think that they know better than the guys at hethel....?

A 3S-GTE in an Elise would be SCARY

Not only would the elise be lightning-quick.. it would be ungodly tail heavy. The weight on a 3S-GTE is enormous compared to the stock 2ZZ-GE. One is an iron block (3s) the other is aluminum and other light materials..

I don't think you want forced induction in a car like the Elise. The best options were the Celica GT-S motor and the Integra Type R motor, and they chose the Celica GT-S.

various guys have tried to fit different things to the old k series 1.8 and most of them, while did increase power and performance, lost the knife edge fine handling of the elise.
(and then hethel released their own high power versions which once again showed them how an elise should be like....)

the best case where someone fitted a totally new engine in there was a german company who's name escapes me, who used the twin turbo from the old audi S4.
BUT
it wasn't as simple as that.
they also manufactured larger, stiffer, stronger more downforce clamshells front and rear,
as well as a total overhaul of the suspension.
result, an elise with 200mph potential.

you ain't gonna be able to do thet in your garage...
and it isn't cheap.

Yah, i'm sure there are plenty of options for motors to put into an elise if you want it to go fast in a straight line. But that's not the car's purpose at all. That thing is set up to corner!

I dont see why you would need to swap the engine. Just turbo the stock one. How ever if you must swap I second the SR20DET...hope you picked out a casket :evillol:

As I own a series 1 Elise (120Bhp), and have driven a 111R (Series 2 Toyota engined Elise) I'll stick my oar in. I wouldn't go for a turbo motor, the relativelly poor throttle response dulls what is a light weight, responsive car. Your best bet is one of-

Rework to 1.8 K series. A solid 190 is acheivable with little effort, upwards of 210 going towards the race motor route.

Fit a K Series Evo motor. 1.8 block stroked to 2 litres with 250+ Bhp.

Buy the 111R, it's pretty quick as it stands. Don't like the way the cams change over so sharply, but it's a fine motor and suits the car.

Fit a Civic type R motor. Not driven it, but I know several people who have gone down this route and they all seem quite happy with it.

But from my experience the best way of getting your Elise to go faster is to work on the guy behind the wheel. In the hands of an expert it's amazing how fast even a standard S1 can be. I've been taking mine on the track for a couple of years and haven't felt the need to upgarde anything yet, it's quite fast enough to have fun.

I dont see why you would need to swap the engine. Just turbo the stock one. How ever if you must swap I second the SR20DET...hope you picked out a casket :evillol:
the 2zz-ge engine is sensitive to turbo; but there is nothing wrong with it, why even swap it, i say the 2zz is a better engine than any honda engine, why? if you drive a dc2 in a low rpm the acceleration is weak compared to the 2zz.

i know that the lotus elise was made to be light but i want to engine swap with a new more powerfull engine. does any one recomend anything? i just need to know what can fit and what would be best. thanks for your input

-Michael Stone-


I recommend you drive a US spec elise before you start trying to "make it better'. Its a bit frustrating to see posts from people who probably have never even driven one wanting more power or more torque or more whatever.....

It's all so very silly.

i wanted to do a mr2 swap..but i want to do a lexus swap into my mr2..i was wondering if any engine experts are here to help me to see if i can swap a sc300 engine into my mr2..is there any modification that i need to do when i swap the motor?

you guys are crazy insane for wanting more power in an Elise. They are allready god damn fast.

I have seen a JR Supercharged K20 in one bofore (honda motor from RSX/Civic SI), it was crazy.

i think anything more than the U.S. spec elise would be overkill. in many ways the car is on par if not better than a ferrari 360. Lets face facts, many of us, myself included, dont have the experience to take on a 300 bhp feather-weight. besides, it's been said a million times over: "It's all about the handling"

A year ago my brother swapped his Elise engine out for a 1228 wrhp Ruf 911 turbo s engine and it cost 4X more than the Elise, but it rolls like no other. He also had to get a new transmission among a lot of other thing including fiberglass body duplicate. Now the car still handles better than any other car and runs high 8 quarter miles easily and 0-60 in 2.3 sec. it is one sick car! and 100% street legal.

By the way the first series Elise was tuned to put a Audi 2.7tt V6 in it is called the "Esthi" it runs about 400hpb. just google "lotus Esthi" to see pics of it.

First off, apart from driving my friend’s 2001 Elise on very rare occasions, my only experience and knowledge off Lotus cars come from wrecking a solid frame 1964 Elan(?) into a light pole in high school.

I do however have an adamant knowledge of rotary and SHO engines and their applications.

I have seen a V6 SHO Engine in a hardtop 1996 Lotus Elise and a RX-7 engine in a 2001 Lotus.

A high-powered SHO engine can push between 400-900hp and they are fairly lightweight.
I am not sure about the tuner abilities of a RX-7 Engine.

Car and Driver (October or November? 2005) showed in the Fastest 4cylinder races a Lotus that had an engine swap and it was pushing 400hp.

If you own an Elise why dont you just buy another 2zz from ebay or a junkyard and build a 2.0L turbo motor. Its much cheaper to just build an engine than to transplant another motor never meant for the car. 2.0L turbo could make 400-500 hp. That would be deadly fast.

Interesting subject. I think the 3sgte would be a fun swap, but in all honesty, The motor in it is awesome. A Decent turbo kit and work, and your looking at 250 hp easily, and ANYONE who has owned one knows anythign more than 250 = closed casket funeral. I drove my freinds who put a 22re in this thing once his old motor locked up. Talk about Id10t. If anyonee knows of a SINGLE swap for my 85 Esprit turbo lemme know. I need some insite. *new to esprit*

A year ago my brother swapped his Elise engine out for a 1228 wrhp Ruf 911 turbo s engine and it cost 4X more than the Elise, but it rolls like no other. He also had to get a new transmission among a lot of other thing including fiberglass body duplicate. Now the car still handles better than any other car and runs high 8 quarter miles easily and 0-60 in 2.3 sec. it is one sick car! and 100% street legal.

By the way the first series Elise was tuned to put a Audi 2.7tt V6 in it is called the "Esthi" it runs about 400hpb. just google "lotus Esthi" to see pics of it.




2.3 0-60? That's quite a bit faster than an Ultima GTR. Combined with the handling, I'm curious what kind of lap times that would produce.

k20 from rsx-s supercharged with m62 gives you close to 300 hp.i'll be doing it soon to my 05 elise, unless someone wants to buy 05 rsx-s drivetrain first...

Why not just go for a 13B Renesis engine found in the Rx8? Its lightweight, small and has mass potential. Rotary engines ftw! http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon6.gif

i wanted to do a mr2 swap..but i want to do a lexus swap into my mr2..i was wondering if any engine experts are here to help me to see if i can swap a sc300 engine into my mr2..is there any modification that i need to do when i swap the motor?
They used to race the MR2 with the SC430 engine. That's a nice engine... splayed mains and the whole nine yards... very good power to weight

Edit: A friend of mine tells me you can get those 1UZ-FE engines cheap. Generally speaking, though, the 3SGTE is widely considered one of the best 4-cylinder engines out there. I think you'd be wasting your time unless you're going to build the hell out of whatever you're swapping in. Dollars per horsepower, your best bet for the short term is to work with your existing engine. Getting 300 out of that thing shouldn't be all that hard, even on stock internals. The ceiling for those things is somewhere around 800 horsepower, but it's not very usable power I'd imagine.

Why dont try Lancer EVO , in that way you can have more power , rear wheel drive and a light body . The Rotary engine in the Rx-8 is also not bad .