V2mounts - Secure & Safe

I have never been very happy with the mounting options for remote reservoirs on our Lotus. Most suspension companies provide zip ties or band clamps and leave you to find creative places to mount your canisters. The typical place to mount the canisters is the lower a-arms. Though this works, getting the reservoirs tight enough so they don't move during adjustment is tough. Plus they are located in an area that feels vulnerable to road debris. Ralph@V2 came up with a creative solution and sent me a couple to test out.

We installed them on Nirvana last month and ran it at Laguna Seca. Since I only had 2 brackets, I mounted them on the front under the chassis by riveting them. This resulted in a super stiff solution. Reaching in to adjust them was a

snap. We left the rear canisters mounted on the a-arms without the brackets. These remained much less secure as they would move slightly during compression adjustment. On some reservoirs the adjustment is very subtle and any movement can cause you to miss a 'click'. My other concern is adding additional weight to the suspension arms - it is clearly the wrong place.

We decided to order a small batch and assemble a kit we are calling V2mounts. The rear mounts can be installed in a few different locations:

1. Rear triangulation tube
2. Rear toe links
3. Lower a-arms

We like the Rear Triangulation Tube that extends down from the Roll Bar. On the Exige, this is an easily accessible part of the car. Ralph has mounted them here with sweet success. On the Elise it is a bit of a challenge. We've mounted them here BUT upside down on Nirvana. I will run it this way for some time to see how it works. Since most of us don't mess with compression adjustments on

every track outing, this should be less of an issue. Of course the engine will be hot so you have to watch your hands and arms...

I will be using them on my Atom as well to secure my Nitrons. I suspect they may work well on other performance cars.

New Wheel Studs & SS Brake Lines

We installed a set of our new BULLETstuds onto Project Nirvana. I've used these on my previous Elise and on our last Exige. I love this kit as it makes wheel changes a snap. The quality of the kit is excellent and we have finally sourced some black nuts to keep it discrete. Another key advantage is that it eliminates the need for the Lotus wheel bolt key AND locking key. The lock key was prone to failure and worth eliminating ASAP.

We also installed some new stainless steel brakelines from Girodisc. These are a good addition to any track oriented car. New stock lines are usually adequate for most but over time they begin to deteriorate and soften causing additional softness to an already soft brake pedal.

The red lines add some additional flash to our wheel well area. They also come in a more subdued silver color. You can find them: HERE

Now we need to bleed the brakes....

V2 Fuel Tank Installed on Nirvana!

We installed the V2 tank on our Elise. The install went smooth. The pump was lodged in quite tight but we managed to extract it intact. The tank is in the car and ready. We are installing a new baffled oil pan so the car is not yet ready to fire up. We will do that later this week and check for leaks.

Atom Intake

I am eliminating the stock intake on my Atom as it is far too convoluted. The the MAF is located in an area that can not deliver laminar airflow. To meet the aesthetic requirements of the central intake, Brammo developed the twisty intake for the Ecotec cars. I will replace it with a simple 'filter on a stick'.

Tom@UniqueFabrication has already sorted an intake so I have asked him to build one for me. He is also building an inline intercooler that I will install to help with the heat soak issues that plague our Atoms.

Steve@Secant has my ECU and is working his calibration magic. We have already installed the smaller pulley and larger injectors. The tune they have developed for the Lotus Type I will be the base for the Atom. We are confident that this engine can

be safely tuned to 280hp/241ft-lbs.

I had inspected my fuel gaskets and found that they were deteriorating. I am replacing them as part of this overall power upgrade. In the picture, the left gasket came out of the fuel filler neck and the other came from the pump side. Almost everyone is suffering from this issue so please inspect your fuel tank gaskets. Contact TMI for the correct gaskets.

Atom Rear Wing Progress - Strut Fitment Ver2

Steve from Aerosim stopped in yesterday to fit the latest version of the rear strut. He came out a month earlier and we learned a few tweaks were in order. This version fits well so he will machine the second piece along with the horizontal brace.

These pix show the aero features like the knife edge along the trailing edge of the strut. Notice how the struts are hollowed out but not completely cut through for weight savings while maintaining better aero. Can you tell that Steve worked on the aero on the last Lotus F1 car?

The rear wing is the dual element carbon fiber wing from ReVerie. It is super stiff, strong and a ridiculously light piece. This 5.5lb wonder is properly made from prepreg carbon fiber and autoclaved.

I am opting for the TMI front wing for my Atom. They've sorted a cost effective solution so I will have their front solution with our rear wing. We'll spend some time dialing in the balance as soon as I have them on the car.

ULTRAdiscs Love You Long Time & Now For Less!

It appears we have made our 2-piece ULTRAdisc rotors almost too good!

We are getting awesome mileage out of our ULTRAdiscs. The Spyder had over 30k miles on ULTRAdiscs - lots of road and track use. Phil@BOE recently informed me that he has gone through 3 sets of ST43s pads (which are brutally aggressive on rotors) on his front ULTRAdiscs and they remain in great shape with plenty more life. His stock OE rear rotors don't appear to be wearing near as well. He also mentioned that a competitive rotor was destroyed by one set of ST43s.

These brakes have been very successfull in LCS. Several of the fastest competitors are running ULTRAdiscs or its big bro the CUPdisc. In fact Brent, the winner at the LCS Laguna Seca event runs ULTRAdiscs. Of course Nirvana is sporting them as well.

We worked carefully with Girodisc 4 years ago to sort out a high end 2-piece rotor. Martin@Girodisc clearly did a great job as we've had nothing but positive feedback from these rotors. The 10lb weight savings, true floating design, corner specific solution and now proven life has made this rotor the best solution on the market. Learn more about these rotors here: Info Sheet

Some of our features have been copied by competition but none have delivered a solution that is as feature laden or has years of track proven history. No reason to gamble with your brakes, our ULTRAdiscs have kicked asphalt for longer than any other solution.

To make things even better, we've ordered 50 car sets to get our cost down. We are reducing our price on a set of 2 to $600. A full car set can now be ordered for $1200. This is a remarkable savings over the original price. Fear not, we're keeping the same spec. We firmly believe you will not find a better, longer lasting rotor on the market.