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Bell & Colville upgrade
Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:29 pm
by Matelotman
Well, it's official my B&C 140 is a B&C......134 (dyno'd today with cat fitted - close enough to 140 considering that a lot of people don't rate the B&C upgrade that highly)
Re: Bell & Colville upgrade
Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 2:15 pm
by campbell
Unfortunately a lot of std S1s are "Factory 130s" or similar...the power rating for the K 1.8 was always a bit conservative!
At least now you have a baseline though
A KiwiRog (Sabre) head is a nice step up to reach nearer 150, if you are bothered.
Campbell
Re: Bell & Colville upgrade
Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:44 pm
by Mikie711
Likewise my B & C 160 dyno'd at 147bhp, still don't think it's worth the £3000+ they charge for it. To my mind you would get a much better return with a properly ported head, 270 or 285's. emerald, 52 TB, filter and big bore exhaust all for alot less than what they charged for the conversion.
Re: Bell & Colville upgrade
Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:28 pm
by campbell
I guess B&C entered the market at a time when the range of conversions was very very limited (more or less only Lotus offered alternatives like the 135 upgrade and that was expensive in its own right).
Now that we all know a lot better, it's easy to look back in anger
Your advice on the changes to make is pretty spot on. Although without the nasty cams and Emerald, nearly 150PS (OK, 147 bhp!) is still on the cards. I love it

Re: Bell & Colville upgrade
Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 8:56 am
by tut
My original N1 TUT was a B&C 140.
tut
Re: Bell & Colville upgrade
Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:15 am
by r10crw
Glad you got it done mate, like campbell says you now know what your playing with, where dyou go in the end? If Ive my car back dou fancy a run next sunday? See if we cn get tut and some others?
Re: Bell & Colville upgrade
Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 11:21 am
by Matelotman
r10crw wrote:Glad you got it done mate, like campbell says you now know what your playing with, where dyou go in the end? If Ive my car back dou fancy a run next sunday? See if we cn get tut and some others?
Craig - I went to Japerformance in the end....... I found the guy quite enthusiastic and ok with me (but then he did arrive a hour late for my appointment and has since sent me emails apologising etc) He's pretty keen on getting a Lotus and was asking me all about S1 running costs etc (and I think he was pretty impressed by your motor)
Re: Bell & Colville upgrade
Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 11:26 am
by Matelotman
Mikie711 wrote:Likewise my B & C 160 dyno'd at 147bhp, still don't think it's worth the £3000+ they charge for it. To my mind you would get a much better return with a properly ported head, 270 or 285's. emerald, 52 TB, filter and big bore exhaust all for alot less than what they charged for the conversion.
I agree with the cost V return issue - The first owner of my car must have been sucked in by the sales patter. The 140 upgrade was about £1800 and combined with every other option that my car has, it must have been pushing £30k new
