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Mattmahope

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Everything posted by Mattmahope

  1. And a few lovely shots taken at Bedford last year by the excellent @GFWilliams
  2. A few shots of my (heavily modified) Exige on track at Silverstone this time last year. It’s been away having a full engine and gearbox rebuild since that day, as well as numerous other changes including TracTive dampers and fully retrimmed interior. I have missed it greatly and cannot wait to have it back soon at last. Hopefully it will be well worth the wait!
  3. But here is what we have all been waiting for… the initial dyno test results… Main goal accomplished - it revs to over 8,000rpm and is super responsive. Listen to the blips at the end of the video! Second goal accomplished - super smooth power and torque curves from low down all the way to screaming at the top end. Third goal accomplished - relatively low boost of only around 0.6bar and nice low inlet and engine temps to aid longevity. It should be able to put out the power all day in hot conditions on track. Finally, and least importantly for me, some very healthy power/torque headline numbers - 551hp and 552NM. We could have got much more power by using a smaller pulley, cranking up boost and lowering the redline, but that was not the goal of my build. Also no point in gunning for massive numbers as the gearbox won’t cope on track. It’s already at the limit as it is! Very pleased with the results so far. FullSizeRender.MOV
  4. Brakes have been refurbished and look great. All the suspension parts have been replaced and/or powdercoated, and the inside of the wheel arches have been ceramic coated to make it easier to keep clean.
  5. I think they put a lot of the wiring down the sills but I’m really not sure to be honest. Was all arranged via Back On Track. They have done a fantastic job at coordinating the whole project. A few more close up shots of the interior, including the control panel for the TracTive dampers mounted in the stereo slot along with USB slots for the driver and passenger.
  6. Good progress with the wiring. From this… To this… So much cleaner and more weight saving. Also added a connector so that all the wiring to the rear of the car can be easily disconnected/re-connected for removal and reinstallation of the rear clam.
  7. Exhaust going back on now. Love how you can see the gold engine bay lining reflected in the Zircotec coating. New braided line for the clutch with new adjustable delay valve. Hopefully it will allow us to fine tune the clutch feel to make the twin plate manageable on road. Good progress with preparation of the new engine loom
  8. You can see how massive the Harrop TVS1900 charger is here. It is also bloody heavy unfortunately. I’d be interested to know how much heavier it is than the Edelbrock standard chargecooled version. Any ideas? Decided to use this stuff as coolant for the engine and supercharger to keep temps down as much as possible: https://www.demon-tweeks.com/red-line-supercool-fortified-with-water-wetter-premix-red81215/ Wasn't cheap but hoped worth the investment as it should last 5 years. It’s amazing how much coolant is needed. You can see why there is such a big difference between wet and dry weights quotes by manufacturers.
  9. Pleased with how the retrimmed interior is looking. Especially happy with the new vents. They fit perfectly!
  10. Current status at Back on Track. More progress but still a long way to go. Next step is the new engine wiring loom which will probably take three weeks or so. Thanks to @Gordon S for the picture.
  11. Engine now back in the car and looking great! The powdercoated subframe also looks good and Sam painted the engine mounts to match. Everything else has been vapour blasted so all nice and shiny!
  12. Reducing alternator speed helps reduce damage at high rpm and gives you more power/response as there is less drain on the engine. Doesn’t need to run at full speed as the car doesn’t have anywhere near the amount of electrical need as a Camry or Lexus. Will be totally fine to power everything even while idling. My gear shift has always felt great. The box has been completed rebuild with all new parts and cryo treated. Also brazed on metal tips for the shifter forks to replace the crappy plastic ones that snap. The gearbox is the biggest unknown in this project, as very few are running this kind of power and rpm. However it is a strong, well designed gearbox, so fingers crossed. If it fails, I’ll probably replace it with Jubu’s manual box or maybe go DSG. Cup R engine cover came from John Seal @ Lotus Hardtops. Intake manifold with big injectors and fuel rail now on Here you can see the additional oil drain we plumbed in
  13. The guy who did my cylinder head work used to be chief of cylinder head design at March F1. Probably good enough for me…!
  14. https://wilhelmraceworks.com/blog/2gr-oil-drains?fbclid=IwAR3U7gFDL5ImGMZ2sK65lxZCWVo7YZ6o8xn5AY8XOGhyyVf45fI2cpslT6E In classic “while we were at it” mode, I found this interesting article on 2GR oiling and Tom at Datum agreed it was worthwhile, so he has fitted extra oil drainage from the top of the engine. Sam at BoT will then plumb in a line directly back to the sump. Every little helps, especially when it comes to sustained high rpm on track without a dry sump.
  15. Yes indeed - being able to rev higher and more quickly was key for me to really make the engine feel more special. Much more important for me than raw power numbers. Hopefully it will pay off. Engine and gearbox now completed and delivered by Datum to Back on Track. Coil packs fitted and new Jubu uprated pulleys going on. Alternator pulley is 20% slower - particularly important given the extra rpm I will be running. Also frees up a little more hp which never hurts!
  16. As a brief but long overdue update, my car is currently with Back On Track, who have been manging my engine rebuild process. They removed the engine and gearbox from the car, and sent them to Tom at Datum Motorsport to carry out the rebuild, which is now finally nearing completion. High level specs are as follows: Forged pistons & rods from Jubu (made by CP Carrillo, same spec as Radford) Billet cams, beehive springs and titanium retainers from Kelford Cams Titanium intake valves and inconel exhaust valves from MonkeyWrench Racing Uprated hydraulic lifters and rocker retaining clips from MonkeyWrench Racing Ported & polished cylinder heads ARP2000 head bolts Stock crank with custom pulley / damper XtremeClutch twin plate ceramic clutch with adjustable release valve Komotec shortened final drive kit Strengthened shifter fork ends Cryo treatment for gearbox internals While I have specifically not set any requirements in terms of final numbers, we should be able to hit over 8000rpm, which is my main goal. Power will be what it will be, but we may well need to cap it to reduce likelihood of gearbox damage. Most important thing for me is that the engine feels more special and exciting, not how much ultimate power it puts out. Frankly anything over 500hp is mental enough! I am also having a bespoke motorsport wiring loom made up. This should save around 9kg from junking redundant wiring alone. Will also make it easier to remove the rear clam in future as all wiring will go through one motorsport connector. Final major update is fitting the new TracTive semi active dampers as seen on @GFWilliams's car and the new Pagani no less. The Ohlins TTX I had were great on track but too stiff for me on road. I also really wanted to be able to adjust the dampers on the fly from inside the car, which is what the TracTive system allows. I considered Ohlins mechatronics but the TracTive system is far more sophisticated and came highly recommended by Mr. Williams. Big shout out to Sam @ BoT and Tom @ Datum, who have both been absolutely outstanding so far throughout the process. I'll reserve final judgement until the car is up and running, but there has certainly been no faulting their customer service. Both have given me all the time in the world, answering all my questions, helping me with selecting parts, planning the build etc., and have always kept me up to date on progress. Cannot ask for more than that. To be continued...
  17. Yup, that’s the one. But switching to a twin plate for the next stage of my build. Now that may have an impact on driveability…!
  18. No, I have been running the full face ceramic XClutch. Driveability has been OEM or better. Yes, cylinder heads will be fully ported and polished.
  19. Depends on which dyno you believe, but somewhere around 490hp. Engine is currently out of the car for a fully forged rebuild, so will see what numbers we get after that…!
  20. Hi @keith84_hk, how are you finding this catch can set up? Working well or any issues? Thanks
  21. Correct. I have the TVS1900 water cooled supercharger which I ordered directly from Harrop and which was fitted by Komotec with all their auxiliary kit.
  22. My belt broke on my first drive with the TVS1900 kit fitted. Komotec said the pulleys were not perfectly aligned. They fixed it and I have had no problems since. Been using it hard on road and track for over a year now.
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