Evora Sport Exhaust from Larini

The stock exhaust on the Evora is very quiet as it needs to meet strict noise requirements in many countries - especially in Europe. Naturally we want something a bit more aggressive. We had the boys at Larini send us a prototype Sport exhaust for our Evora along with a Decat pipe for the third stock cat.

The first noticeable thing was the ease of removal for the stock exhaust compared to an Elise/Exige. Once we hefted the stock exhaust out we immediately put it on our scales.

The stock exhaust was 38.45lbs. The Larini weighed in at 18.38lbs - a 20lb weight savings. The stock Cat pipe weighed 6.2lbs and the Decat pipe only 2.95lbs. Removing this last cat does not trip the MIL as it is located after the O2 sensors. This is a 23.3lb weight saving off the rear of the car! We have a Lithium Ion battery coming that will shave off a similar amount.

On start up there was only a slight increase in idle and a noticeable tone change when revved. Driving it on the street and highway showed that it is a gentleman's (or gentlewoman's) exhaust. It sounds aggressive as you rev up the engine yet it is dead quiet while cruising. The sound is very deep and muscular. We like it a lot and it suits the nature of this car.

This system came with an Oval tip but it also available with a Dual Tip. We are also planning to get one that sports a special heat resistant coating that will be white. One Evora customer, Craig, has requested black tips which we should also be able to accommodate.

Evora Pre-flight Checks

After taking delivery of our new Lotus Evora, we found out the battery from the factory had gone bad. So, before initial take off, we called Lotus of Long Island to see if they've seen this issue before. They had in fact experienced a handful of cars delivered from the factory with bad batteries.

We promptly sourced a Deka battery to replace the dead OE one. Their 69 series 691MF was an exact replacement and fit perfectly.

Now that the Evora had power, we had to make sure the one touch window controls were programed properly. To do this, we made sure the windows were up and held the switch in the up position till a click was heard. We then lowered each window and held the button for 2 seconds until it clicked again.

Our Evora Has Landed!

We received our 2010 Lotus Evora this week from our friends at Lotus of Long Island. After test driving the car I was convinced that Lotus has another hit on their hands. As we have done on the Elise/Exige, we want to be a part of this success story by developing products that enhance this fantastic car.

Here's a basic list of parts we will developing for the Evora:

1. Exhaust - Larini Sport exhaust is due next week
2. Forged Wheels
3. Lightweight brake rotors
4. Brake pads
5. Lightweight battery
6. Car covers
7. Floor mats
8. Interior/lifestyle bits
9. ...and MUCH more!

Wasting time is not our style, so, we invited HRE to visit us and get wheels under development. Roy from HRE stopped in yesterday to take critical measurements from our Evora. HRE produces very high-end wheels for many sports cars. They offer multi-piece and single-piece forged wheels of superb quality. We're known as wheel snobs and these guys meet our standards. An added benefit is the fact that they are located 30 minutes away.

The OE Forged wheels that came on our car with the Pirelli P-zeros tires weighed 43.5 lbs (front) and 52.6 lbs (rear) each. Our goal will be to offer wheels in this range - and possibly even lighter.

Dave Wins Again!

Congratulations to our ride & handling engineer, Dave Thilenius, for another 1st-place finish in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in his #74 Compas360 Honda Civic Si! Dave and his co-driver, Lawson Aschenbach, extended their ST class championship lead to 13 points with the win at Watkins Glen in upstate NY. You can watch the exciting race when it's broadcast on Speed Channel June 13 @ 1:00 PM Eastern (check your local listing).

Dave & Lawson will look to stretch that lead further on June 19 when GRAND-AM heads to Mid-Ohio. Good luck, gents!

Brake Rotor Paint Testing

We recently tested our Katana2 Elise with ULTRAdiscs and Hawk HT10 brake pads and ran some new Temperature Indicating Paint. We used 500, 750, 1000, and 1200 degree F paints for our first test. We painted the front and rear rotors.

REAR

FRONT


As you can see in the pictures, we only burned off the 500deg F paint in the rear. This means we are getting our rear brakes hotter than 500deg F but still less than 750deg F. .

REAR


We burned the 750deg F paint in the front. This means we burned past 750deg F on the front but not up to 1000deg F.

FRONT


For our next test we are going to narrow down our paint choices to get a better indication of actual temps we are running. This is a fairly simple and easy non-intrusive way to find out where you are in the heat range of your braking system. It is a smart approach before spending money on a BBK or venting. You might be amazed that the stock sized system with better pads, rotors and fluid might be enough to keep your brake temps in check.

My Monticello Motor Club Visit

I had the pleasure of visiting Ari Straus and his team at the Monticello Motor Club in Monticello, NY. This country club racetrack is relatively new and located about 90min outside of New York City. The location is truly beautiful with green rolling hills and natural terrain that offers excellent elevation changes.

They were running the full 3.5mile config during my visit. This track is very technical with some great long straights as well. It is an excellent track for the Lotus,Ariel,Solstice or Sky. In fact they had a track prepped Solstice GXP available for me to blast around in. This car was one of the Solstices used in the TV show, Set-up. I fully enjoyed running around the track and only wish I had my own car to really get comfortable. A new club house and hot pit garages were under construction and are expected to be complete in June. They also have plans for condos with garages.

I also spent a fair amount of time with Mike Reed, Monticello's Chief Engineer. Mike is a fellow Lotus owner with a Series 1 Exige in his garage. This Lotus is one of my favorites and remains on my short list. Mike has a team of techs who maintain and upgrade many different cars at the club. They have several Lotus that they manage including, Elises, Exiges, Cup cars and 211s. They also have an Atom, plenty of GXPs, Ferraris, Porsche, Radicals and much more. It really is a track rat's wet dream. Mike has been a Dealer of our products and is a guy you can trust to sort your machine. Plus he may just be faster than you as well around the track...

We discussed plans to hold a joint Monticello/Sector111 event late this year. We are going to try to have a track weekend in early Oct that will also include a time trial and possible race. We know that the Lotus enthusiasts in the surrounding area are itching for an event. We are going to do our level best to make it happen....

Balanced Approach - Safe. Reliable. Performance.

In the past 6 years, we have talked with literally thousands of Lotus owners & have tracked these cars our selves. We've used these experiences to develop an upgrade path that will ensure you avoid unnecessary lost track time and costly breakdowns. We believe taking a balanced approach to tuning your Lotus is the safe and reliable way to gain performance and lower your lap times.

Click on the image below to view the full-size "Balanced Approach" chart. Of course, give us a call if you have any questions. (951)296-6762.

Rules to Live By on Track

My good friend, Grand Am racer, classmate, and driving instructor, David Thilenius, has some rules he presents to all his students. I wanted to share them with all y'all.

Here are Dave's 10 governing principles for driving on track:

1. Don't die.
2. Don't die.
3. Don't die.
4. Don't die.
5. Don't die.
6. Cars break.
7. Driver's make mistakes.
8. Driving at the limit is not like riding a bike. If you don't do it regularly, you will forget.
9. Sooner or later, you will crash. Prepare like you are going to crash.
10. The driver is 100% responsible for everything that happens to the car he is driving.

Dave will be with us at the next Lotus Challenge race at Spring Mtn coaching a couple of drivers. Come out and meet this recent Daytona Grand Am winner. Did I mention Dave is also the Ride & Handling engineer for us and Secant?

Nirvana Built Engine Swap

The boys just finished removing Project Nirvana's Katana2 engine to make room for our new built n/a power plant. We are leaving the Katana2 engine untouched so its ready to go for our pending CARB test.

This new engine, built by renowned Toyota engine builder Bruce Nogrady, will feature our Sector111 Stage I built head and stronger internals. Our goal is to have Nirvana up and running by the end of the week. We'll break her in this weekend and run her on Buttonwillow next week to really see how she performs. Once the engine has proven itself, we will add a TVS blower and get Steve to calibrate her with a goal of 275hp.