Lotus Elise to recieve Celica power ...

LateNightCable · 11-02-03, 09:24 PM

The Lotus Elise which will be made available to the U.S. for the first time, or as it's commonly called, the " Federal Elise " will sport the 1.8 liter 16 valve VVTL-i ( Variable Valve Timing and Lift Intelligent ) four-cylinder of the Toyota Celica GT-S.
The Toyota 2ZZ-GE engine, which is replacing the Rover K series engine of before which couldn't quite meet U.S. emissions standards, will have undergone some tweaking from Lotus, including reprogrammed ECU to put out more mid-range torque. The final engine is said to produce 190 hp. and 133 lb.ft. in comparison to the 180- and 130 of the versian in the Celica GT-S. The engine will be mated with the very same close ratio 6-speed transmission of the Europe only Celica T-Sport.

The Elise will replace the Esprit as the sole Lotus offering in North America. About 39 carry over Esprits' are slated for U.S. shores labeled as '04s'... Farewell Esprit

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I can't help but think about certain people's opinion that the Celica engine is one of the worst around. And here now it lands in the engine bay of one of the most anticipated sportscars. It's pretty cool

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thepolarfoxqx · 11-02-03, 11:13 PM

cool in the way of blashpemy?

sure. The thing has the torque curve from hell, literally. The engine is furthermore from toyota, and does not belong under the hood of a british sports car. I'm dissapointed. We'll just have to see how it turns out.

Oh, and by the way, when the british call a car the "federal", that means it sucks. If you drove, say a federal MG Midget, and then a real MG Midget, the federal would feel impotent. For instance, when I had my alfa spyders (i know they are italian, but same concept), the first thing I did was retrofit to undo all the things that made it north american (my alfa mechanic had an alfa graveyard, and hooked me up with the non-smog cams and etc. It made a big difference.

LateNightCable · 11-03-03, 06:14 PM

I'm sure federal cars have come a long way since black rubber bumpers and smog gear. Lotus wouldn't put their name on an Elise that stank.

Had the Rover engine been up to snuff in terms of emissions, they probably would have used it. But the Celica engine was available, and already good for U.S. use. They actually had to go to Japan and cajole Toyota into letting them use it. I'm sure the Celica engine will be a great fit.

It's really no more blasphemous than a BMW engine in a Range Rover, which I can live with since they made the Rover so good. Or a Ford V8 in an Italian DeTomaso, or a Chrysler V8 under the hood of a French Facel Vega. People tend to think that is really pretty cool.

djfux69 · 11-03-03, 08:38 PM

i cant wait till it comes out. it should be a great car to have some fun with. it is priced great and i cant wait to see some figures in performance.

thepolarfoxqx · 11-03-03, 10:03 PM

ok, everything and it's cousin uses a Ford V8, mostly because they are good, solid, and cheap. Range Rover gets both forms of the AJ-V8 for 2006, this change probably won't be a very big one (except for the supercharged AJV

, but the BMW powered rover is a hell of a lot better than the old ones were (I don't even know what to call the old engine, it's the same one i have in my disco, it's a 4.6L pushrod 16V V8, all aluminum, originally derrived from a Buick engine of the 60s, it makes 217hp peaking at 4,800rpms and 300ft/lbs of torque peaking at 2,500rpms, as opposed to the new 4.4L BMW V8, which is DOHC 32V, making 282hp at 5,400rpms and 324ft/lbs of torque at 3,600rpms.

either way, i'm not impressed with toyotas 1.8L, a 2.2L honda making 240hp may have been more interesting, but we'll have to see how the 1.8 does.

djfux69 · 11-03-03, 10:29 PM

im not extatic that they used a toyota 1.8 either, there are obvious motors from honda that would meet size requirements with more power. but we have to remeber that this car will be insanely light, so 180 hp should be very very nice to play with. but FOX i agree with you on the J22 from honda, it probably would have been better.

thepolarfoxqx · 11-04-03, 01:09 AM

with 190hp, it is expected to run to sixty in under 5.5 secconds. That is impressive enough for me I guess, it just hurts to know it could have been a corvette beater in every single aspect had it gotten the right stuff under the hood. There are better engines for that car out there, it just hurts to see it not reach potential.

djfux69 · 11-04-03, 01:20 AM

didnt they make a turbo matrix? and the matrix has the same engine as the celica right? im guessing you could easily take a kit from the matrix and put it in the lotus. well maybe not easily... but you get my point

thepolarfoxqx · 11-04-03, 05:25 AM

actually, nope, the Matrix never got turbos, they have a 1.8L toyota engine making 140 and 180hp respectively. Same as celica.

I kinda like the idea of VW's twin turbo 1.8L I4 under the hood of elise, 225 torque rich horseys, only issue is that engine is damn heavy.

djfux69 · 11-04-03, 03:12 PM

im sorry. you are right, i got confused. the last time i saw one was at a tuning shop around here. i looked under the hood and i saw a turbo. seeing as the man was in his 60s i just assumed it came on the car stock, because i didnt think he would care to upgrade his car. i was wrong.