Turbo Elise

[Mikie711]

Been working towards upgrading my engine and been having a look about at forced induction. Loads of supercharger kits around but nobody seems to want to turbo a K series. Strange as with a garret GT25 290 turbo and 10psi boost it's possible to get about 275bhp. Other than the obvious problem of exhaust and inlet manifold fabrication any other reasons very few have tried this route. your thoughts would be appreciated.

[BiggestNizzy]

[Rich H]

What he said.

Have a look on NORLOG for P.A.T, he has a T series (Iron block) in his Elise, he has tidied up the PO's install and now its looking rather potent. Its not even that much heavier.

[Shug]

I've seen big turboed Ks in Exiges, but they were 1.4s (rallycross cars). I think the block & head design is near it's limits stretched to 1.8 without forced induction - the supercharger installs (the 'reliable' ones) are pretty low pressure.

[robin]

Several of the Germans on Stelvio 99 had turbo'd the K also. Most of their cars broke It's a struggle to do all the plumbing, fit the turbo and heatshield in the small gap available ...

Cheers,
Robin

[BiggestNizzy]

Backbox Turbo ?

lot's of room there and you don't have the same temp/manifold/plumbing problems.

[Rich H]

As long as you don't use the boot...

Twin turbo setup? Plenty of space, one each side. IIRC there was a saxo thing with similar, small turbos running off 1+3 and 2+4

Go on Nizzy you know you want to... Practical performance car have a series on turboing at the moment (Its a bit half-assed though)

[Mikie711]

You now get twin nozzle turbo's rather than having to run 2. Agree with Nizzy the boot is the obvious place, and solves alot of heat and plumbing issues. The remaining question is in the strength of the K and how much boost it would be able to handle. Certainly not much more expensive than a race tuned engine as apart from different pistons the only added expense is in the turbo itself, which is about £500. Modifying the exhaust could be DIY with a mig/tig. Would throttle bodies stand 10psi, suppose they would as supercharger kits use them...........mmmm, might be talking myself into trying this. No for some serious investigation!!!!

[BiggestNizzy]

Go on Nizzy you know you want to... Practical performance car have a series on turboing at the moment (Its a bit half-assed though)

I do , I have been reading practical performace too. If my car wasn't my daily run around and if it wasn't for my fear of blowing the thing to bits (not forgetting the expence) I would.

[Shug]

You now get twin nozzle turbo's rather than having to run 2. Agree with Nizzy the boot is the obvious place, and solves alot of heat and plumbing issues. The remaining question is in the strength of the K and how much boost it would be able to handle. Certainly not much more expensive than a race tuned engine as apart from different pistons the only added expense is in the turbo itself, which is about £500. Modifying the exhaust could be DIY with a mig/tig. Would throttle bodies stand 10psi, suppose they would as supercharger kits use them...........mmmm, might be talking myself into trying this. No for some serious investigation!!!!

That's a build diary I'd read with interest

[Rich H]

T series engine already proven to run stupid power in the Tomcats, all the work is done but its a litte bit heavier.
No problem with them blowing up that often either. Gearbox might need some work...

[Mikie711]

OK current state of affairs as far as my race engine is concerned is, head at Sabre getting ported, should be ready about Sept. Block, liners, steel rods, Omega pistons, UL flywheel, pulley and clutch ready to go to Agra for decking and balancing. If, and it's still a pretty big if I go for turbo charging I would need to change the pistons probably cosworth as they do/did a set of lo compression ones and maybe the cams, although I know the TT supercharger kit uses the same 285 piper cams as I have so maybe not an issue. Things I would need to sort out would be plumbing, inlet manifold (would have to fabricate one to bolt to DHTB if possible) Not sure about injectors, I have a set of 330cc pico's will have to see if they are big enough. The more I look in the back of the Lotus the more this seems doable. With the boot box out of the way there would be loads of room for turbo, intercooler etc. Would need a frame too mount the exhaust onto as it's hung from the boot floor but that wouldn't pose a problem.
T engine is out as that would exclude the car from A8, must retain original block.
Have got hold of a copy of Turbocharging Performance Handbook by Jeff Hartman will have a read and see what questions it throws up.

the plot thickens

Thoughts/comments from anyone before I start down a road I might regret

[Shug]

This could be very interesting...

Of course, it'd pretty much turn the car into a motorsport only device - I'd not want to drive around with a laggy turbo install out of choice. Can't imagine mounting the turbo so far from the engine would give you anything but biblical lag if you wanted any decent power gains out of it? Could be interesting at full chat (emerald has a flat-shift function, which'd help)

Do keep us updated

[drb5]

What CC's will you race engine be Mikie711?

[Mikie711]

Same, not changing the displacement. Had thought about the Scholar 1.9/2.0 conversion but have heard mixed reviews about it. This way it tried and tested so should be reasonably trouble free if I get the build right.

Shug,
hear what your saying about the lag, however there are variable geometry turbos available that pretty much remove any lag, also the distance is not an issue. If you read the article in practical performance it explains why better than I ever could. Something about garden hoses IIRC. The main issue for me is weather the K could handle 10-12psi boost without munching itself.

Investigation continues............