Going beyond 7k RPM: A Thread

[jamesbxxx]

Emissions and room for a "430 model" I would guess. What would happen if you plugged in an Evora ECU?!

Lotus are missing a trick not releasing a SW flash to unlock this. Basicially free money to them, not loosing it to a 3rd party. Could charge a premium and still offer a warranty. Come on Lotus!

 

[seriously]

from a purely slimy business perspective I would not release a SW flash and instead release higher HP cars in the hopes that existing Emira drivers will upgrade, especially those on a lease. after the Emira stops production then you release the SW flash to generate additional revenue on existing cars. This is why aftermarket has to solve this issue.

 

[OppositeLock]

You guys are still under the impression that car companies have any freedom these days to fiddle with engines. Any change to a tune requires a very expensive certification process. The tune (via checksums) must be registered with the gov't and approved for use. If you want to make that tune available to earlier cars, you have to have those certified independently. For example, when Lotus came out with the LSS supercharger for the Elise, they had to get separate certifications for each model year prior to the 2008 cars, which had it as a factory option.

In the US, California basically sets national policy because it's the biggest car market in the US, and it's uneconomical to have CA and non-CA cars (and also difficult because you have to ensure they don't get sold where they're not supposed to). In Europe, I'm less familiar, but I've had dealings with the US regulators and I have a low opinion of them. Zero interest in practicality, zero interest in fun, no understanding of car technologies, and just a mandate to crack down. They will never say "we're done, good enough" because that means less hiring, fewer promotions, and less to brag about with accomplishments.

Modern EFI engines, those designed after the early 2000's, emit cleaner air on a smoggy day than they take in. You can't squeeze blood from that stone, so now they're looking at CO2 levels. Direct injection is a result of reducing CO2 levels because you can be a little more efficient at low load, at the cost of being dirtier at high load. Well, now, the direct injected cars are going to have particulate filters, like diesels, and they'll need urea tanks to help clean the filter, which will harm mileage.

I'm really thankful for the Emira's primitive engine. It's the best "old car" you can buy today. More RPM would be nice, I got accustomed to my Elise screaming up to 8500, but it's also nice to have torque instead.

 

[centerpunch]

I think if you're really set on high RPM, the best solution would be to buy a Cayman GTS.

 

[Mfonseca]

I did a factory tour back in October of last year and spoke to the V6 engine engineer. He said that they extracted the most power and rpm's possible from this engine without it coming apart. During their tests, if they applied any additional power/rpms they had engines coming apart. In order to add additional power, would require upgrading the engine internals as they did on the Evora GT's. The GT engines have been upgraded and are not identical to the Emira. This is what I was told.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

I did a factory tour back in October of last year and spoke to the V6 engine engineer. He said that they extracted the most power and rpm's possible from this engine without it coming apart. During their tests, if they applied any additional power/rpms they had engines coming apart. In order to add additional power, would require upgrading the engine internals as they did on the Evora GT's. The GT engines have been upgraded and are not identical to the Emira. This is what I was told.

The Lotus Emira GT4 has 460 horsepower

 

[OppositeLock]

The GT4 has a different supercharger, and different engine internals that aren't economical for a street car, and it doesn't have an emissions system to protect with a conservative tune.

The dealership where I got my Emira has a GT4 for sale as well, for more than double the price.

 

[Blackthought_]

You guys are still under the impression that car companies have any freedom these days to fiddle with engines. Any change to a tune requires a very expensive certification process. The tune (via checksums) must be registered with the gov't and approved for use. If you want to make that tune available to earlier cars, you have to have those certified independently. For example, when Lotus came out with the LSS supercharger for the Elise, they had to get separate certifications for each model year prior to the 2008 cars, which had it as a factory option.

In the US, California basically sets national policy because it's the biggest car market in the US, and it's uneconomical to have CA and non-CA cars (and also difficult because you have to ensure they don't get sold where they're not supposed to). In Europe, I'm less familiar, but I've had dealings with the US regulators and I have a low opinion of them. Zero interest in practicality, zero interest in fun, no understanding of car technologies, and just a mandate to crack down. They will never say "we're done, good enough" because that means less hiring, fewer promotions, and less to brag about with accomplishments.

Modern EFI engines, those designed after the early 2000's, emit cleaner air on a smoggy day than they take in. You can't squeeze blood from that stone, so now they're looking at CO2 levels. Direct injection is a result of reducing CO2 levels because you can be a little more efficient at low load, at the cost of being dirtier at high load. Well, now, the direct injected cars are going to have particulate filters, like diesels, and they'll need urea tanks to help clean the filter, which will harm mileage.

I'm really thankful for the Emira's primitive engine. It's the best "old car" you can buy today. More RPM would be nice, I got accustomed to my Elise screaming up to 8500, but it's also nice to have torque instead.

Yeah for sure. I think people are truly dreaming that the Emira will get a 450+ engine here in the states. If lotus wanted to, they would have. They can’t with emissions. The cost of doing so wouldn’t justify the cost. Theyre bleeding money. Ex US have a chance at getting higher HP cars just like the got the Evora 430, etc. Thankfully we are starting to see aftermarket create some tunes. Now if they didn’t cost 5k+…

 

[Tracked Emira]

I did a factory tour back in October of last year and spoke to the V6 engine engineer. He said that they extracted the most power and rpm's possible from this engine without it coming apart. During their tests, if they applied any additional power/rpms they had engines coming apart. In order to add additional power, would require upgrading the engine internals as they did on the Evora GT's. The GT engines have been upgraded and are not identical to the Emira. This is what I was told.

You are correct!
My auto revs only to 6,500 and the dealership called Lotus about this and they said this is the safe parameter so the motor doesn't develop any issues. I can understand that, but then let your customers know the new RPMs and change the 0 to 60mph times because it will not be the same anymore..... BOOOOO!!!