mjdm

I used to run the Caterham all year round (and still do take it out in winter if the roads aren't too slippery or salty, but the Elise is my all-weather car 🙂 Mike

Hi, I picked up an EliseParts Toyota ECU a while back and I'm having a look at getting it set up as a bit of a winter project. I'm more familiar with programming the Emerald K3 ECU on my Caterham so I'm looking for a few pointers to help with learning the idiosyncrasies of a GEMS ECU. The ECU came with a calibration file set up for an Exige with a big supercharger, I've contacted EP and they managed to find what they think is a reasonably standard N/A Elise file. I've tried running the Exige file and the engine starts and idles, but with heavy over-fuelling (as expected). The Elise file also just about starts the engine but barely idles as the fuel map is under-fuelling, plus with a few other odd behaviours due to the way the calibration file has been set up. Talking to EP the ECUs were all individually set up when supplied so there isn't a default baseline file. I was wondering if anybody might have a calibration file for a reasonably standard Elise (with e-throttle) that I could have a look at to get some pointers for a good starting point. I'm well aware that the easy answer is to take it to a GEMS specialist and get them to set it up properly - and that is planned for the future, but at the moment I'd like to run some trials to get it starting and idling correctly. Thanks, Mike

I've spent the last few years trying to work out which one to keep. I tell myself I only need one of them but they are so different in nature that I can't pick between them 🙂 The Elise gets very wet inside in the winter. It's parked outside so some condensation is inevitable. I think also the lack of insulation (allowing the car to cool down very quickly and pull moisture out of the air) and the GRP bodywork (which tends to absorb a lot of moisture) don't help. The AC really helps on wet winter days to keep the inside of the glass clear. Mike

Hi, I've just joined the forum although been a long time Caterham/Lotus/(and Alfa) owner. Currently running an Elise and a Caterham. Hoping to be able to contribute some useful content - but will probably be asking a lot of questions as well! Last big job on the Elise was to replace the long (corroded) Aluminium AC lines that run through the sills with the upgraded flexible lines, now have working AC which is useful for demisting for winter drives (it's an all year round Elise). Regards., Mike