The Elise is getting the celica GTS engine

[JustinL]

IT's official today. The north american version of the Lotus Elise will be getting the toyota engine. This sounds great to me as there is already plenty of aftermarket support for this engine and it's more powerful than the previous british version.

Time to start saving a stack of coin for one of these!

www.lotuscars.com/engine-announcement.html


Justin


http://66.221.154.235/pic1.jpg

[Sky]

Will it be available for Canada?

[Heep]

That makes sense. Lotus has done stuff with Toyota before, namely the Lotus Excel which used a Toyota gearbox among many other parts, and is usually considered the most reliable Lotus to date...

[4wheeldrift]

Mmmmm Elise :drool: They actually aren't that expensive, relatively speaking either. Not nearly in the same price category as say an Esprit Turbo.

[Vitesse951]

That power/weight should land it in the high 4 second zero to sixty range. At under 2000 lbs, this car will be ridiculously dominant at the auto-x.:drool:

[Akagi Redsuns]

Hope Toyota has fixed the lift-bolt problem that has been plaguing a lot of owners and not to mention that ridiculous rev limter setting.....or at least fix the gear ratios so you can actually stay in lift between shifts. I rather have seen an ITR or S2000 engine in there instead.

[GTS Jeff]

isnt there a lotus that uses the itr engine?

[4wheeldrift]

Originally posted by GTS Jeff
isnt there a lotus that uses the itr engine? That was a special elise that was converted by Sun Motorsports in California a few years ago. They were offering them as a grey market import I believe.

[Hollywood]

Originally posted by Akagi Redsuns
Hope Toyota has fixed the lift-bolt problem that has been plaguing a lot of owners and not to mention that ridiculous rev limter setting.....or at least fix the gear ratios so you can actually stay in lift between shifts. I rather have seen an ITR or S2000 engine in there instead.

Ya the gts engine is a big disapointment for celicas everywhere, what a poor choice for such a cool car. Even though I'm not pro honda, the type R is definately was the better choice.

[JustinL]

I disagree,

I think that the 2zz-ge engine is a great choice for the Elise. It's very light and reasonably powerful. Although the low end torque isn't huge, the elise is so light that this shouldn't be a problem. The Elise is more of a performance car (and lighter) than the celica and hence will have different gearing. The toyota engine is not a tremendously expensive engine either, which will keep the price down and repair costs down as well.

Anyway, my point is that I think the Elise will give the 2ZZ-GE engine a real chance to shine.

Justin

http://www.c7performance.com/data/2zz_ge_article.pdf

[googe]

Originally posted by Vitesse951
That power/weight should land it in the high 4 second zero to sixty range. At under 2000 lbs, this car will be ridiculously dominant at the auto-x.:drool:

At under 2000lbs, Id hesitate to even call it a car :) These things are so tiny. A large go-cart maybe?

[Akagi Redsuns]

Originally posted by JustinL
I disagree,

I think that the 2zz-ge engine is a great choice for the Elise. It's very light and reasonably powerful. Although the low end ..........snip

No question the 2ZZ-GE sounds great on paper. MMC liner, square bore and stroke for high speed revs, VVTL-i system, looks like a winner.

I would be worried about realibity in its current configuration that is used in the Celica GT-S. Cam switchover at 6,500 RPM and redline at 7,800 RPM....not a lot of room to play in the high horsepower and performance cam setting......and that is provided you haven't broken your lift bolts and can actually get into lift.

description of issue.... http://www.teamcelica.com/installs/liftbolts/

TSB on lift bolts -> http://teamcelica.com/installs/liftbolts/liftbolts.pdf

With a lowered VVTi-L engagement, revised design on the belt tensioner, revised desgin on the lift bolts, more tightly packed gear rations, this engine would be awesome in the Elise. If they took what was currently in the GT-S and put it in Elise.....I really would be disappointed as I love the Elise and what it's purpose and design is.

[kevie88]

Originally posted by googe


At under 2000lbs, Id hesitate to even call it a car :) These things are so tiny. A large go-cart maybe?

4 wheeled motorcycle!! :clap:

[Hollywood]

Originally posted by JustinL
I disagree,

I think that the 2zz-ge engine is a great choice for the Elise. It's very light and reasonably powerful. Although the low end torque isn't huge, the elise is so light that this shouldn't be a problem. The Elise is more of a performance car (and lighter) than the celica and hence will have different gearing. The toyota engine is not a tremendously expensive engine either, which will keep the price down and repair costs down as well.

Anyway, my point is that I think the Elise will give the 2ZZ-GE engine a real chance to shine.

Justin

No way, that engine is weak! Every MR2 with it and a turbo blows it up! I remember reading in SCC that the 2002 turbo MR2 project went through 4 engines. You said it's light and cheap....Light + cheap= weak.

This engine is not even in comparison with the type R IMO.

[Akagi Redsuns]

Hollywood: Just FYI, but the engine that comes in the latest MR2 (The MR-S I still call it) is the 1ZZ-FE. It's 1.8L as well, but it's a VVT-i engine, it has no cam switch over and the stroke on it is rather long and not really suited for high-boost and high rev applications. This is the same engine that is in the base Vibe/Matrix, Celica and Corolla gets. It has 140HP and 125 lb-ft. The article in the SCC does pertain to the 1ZZ-FE.

Edit: Wait a tick, reread your post... Project MR2? Hmmm, I was thinking of the Ultimate Street Car Competition where James Chen had a Turbo MR-S. I know there was a Project MR-S thing, but mostly suspension and the usual I/H/E mods. I might have missed it since I don't read that much SCC :)

[Hollywood]

Originally posted by Akagi Redsuns
Hollywood: Just FYI, but the engine that comes in the latest MR2 (The MR-S I still call it) is the 1ZZ-FE. It's 1.8L as well, but it's a VVT-i engine, it has no cam switch over and the stroke on it is rather long and not really suited for high-boost and high rev applications. This is the same engine that is in the base Vibe/Matrix, Celica and Corolla gets. It has 140HP and 125 lb-ft. The article in the SCC does pertain to the 1ZZ-FE.

Edit: Wait a tick, reread your post... Project MR2? Hmmm, I was thinking of the Ultimate Street Car Competition where James Chen had a Turbo MR-S. I know there was a Project MR-S thing, but mostly suspension and the usual I/H/E mods. I might have missed it since I don't read that much SCC :)

K I will revise my post then.....both those engines suck! Toyota has dropped the ball as far as performace vehicles. I drove the celica its a really nice car....cept for the lack of power. The MR2 is really nice looking.....but again lack of power. Afreeking sentra spec V...a 4 door has more power than both of toyotas current sports cars....whats wrong here?

I dont recall the exact title of the SCC article there has been a few but the Ultimate SCC was one of them.

[Akagi Redsuns]

lol, oh come one now. The 1ZZ is a good engine (I am biased:)), just not a good performance engine. For a fuel effecient economy engine it's great. For performance......no way.

[rice_eater]

Originally posted by googe


At under 2000lbs, Id hesitate to even call it a car :) These things are so tiny. A large go-cart maybe?

my neon is hovering very close to the 2000lbs mark (with stripped interior) :nut:

[Millsie]

For 2003, the 2ZZ-Ge has gone back to the 8400RPM redline, which is good, but it also has an electronic throttle now...which could be a problem. The lift bolt issue was fixed, as an updated botl can be picked up at toyota..it was only the 2000 and a few 2001 GTS that had the problem.

As for the "weakness" of the engine...the Mr2 that goes through engines is mostly because of Toyota's rediculous ECU's which have YET to be cracked. Last time I checked, that Mr2 from SCC was running 340whp, without standalone engine management and on a stock block...I don't think the b18cs stand up to that either.

Regardless for NA power, the 2ZZ-GE is a phenominal engine, I'm interested what they plan to do about the gearbox issue with the elise...if they give it tighter ratios...look out. But een if they don't that car is gonna be a monster.

[Akagi Redsuns]

That MR2 with 308RWHP has different crankshaft, pistons and the block was bored out. This was done after he blew 4 engines. Is that still considered a stock block?

"Teddy Hiraoka, of Mavrik Motorsports in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., built the new engine. The block was machined at Taylor Engines in Santa Fe Springs for Darton sleeves, allowing the bore to be increased 2mm to 81mm. The crank was welded, stroked 5mm to 96.5mm, knife-edged and lightened 5 pounds by Castillo's Crankshaft. Final displacement is 1989cc. JE forged pistons yielding 10.0:1 compression were teamed with Crower rods and ARP rod bolts."


http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/features/0302scc_uscc2_01/index.html



Regarding the newly designed lift bolts (they are more tappered), reading some Celica forums, it seems there is still an issue with them breaking.

[Millsie]

Sorry, I didn't realize that they rebuilt the blcok like that, regardless, the engine didn't blow during the competition right? I fI remember correctly, he pucked up his tranny instead.
Anyways, thanks for posting the article, its good reading!