7/30/01 Corvette club track day at PIR. They did not run the chicane, so lap times are not directly comparable to previous efforts. I ran a best of 1:23 with majority of the laps in 1:25 range. The new ECU smoothes the engine out considerably, and adds low-end and midrange punch, but doesn't do much for the top end. If anything, the initial impression is that I lost some power up top judging by speeds at the end of the straights. Maybe a matter of further adjustment, maybe not... either way, the exhaust and the ECU together certainly don't deliver the claimed power gains, and for a combined total of a well over $2K the value is questionable... Still, it's in there so I might as well make the best of it. I'm now mostly concentrating on getting better lines through turns and working on consistency. A couple of previous trouble spots have clicked nicely today (2M video ).

Also, for some reason a TV crew was on site, and they were so amused by the contortions required to exit the Elise that they did a 15-second spot of me performing this ritual, and a quick talk about the car. LIVE. I didn't ask what channel or why... Maybe someone who knows me will see it and let me know. Not terribly likely.

In the back of the parking lot, the Audi ALMS team was getting ready for practice before the race next weekend. These are the same cars that won LeMans for the last two years. Very neat machinery!

8/16/01 BMW club day. The car is just not running right. It's smooth, but power is noticeably down. Could only manage a best of 1:34 with the chicane, which is not great. My driving wasn't all that spectacular either - a clumsy downshift had me scrambling to find my way through the chicane (video here).

I wasn't the only one having trouble staying on track, and unfortunately the gentleman in the M roadster that you see in the picture above was not as lucky as I, ending up on top of a tire wall, with the nose pointing up at the sky. Luckily he was not hurt, and his car was even driveable afterwards - but only barely. Video here.

Hmmm... I need to be improving, not regressing. Hopefully will do some of that on Lotus day August 31st. So far the 'upgrade' of exhaust and ECU has proven to be less than effective. Did a couple runs with G-Tech accelerometer, and the results are disappointing - 5.3 sec 0-60 and 13.88 quarter mile at 104 mph. A far cry from the factory advertised numbers for a stock 190. So, almost $3,000 for a 3-4 second per lap loss? Sign me up for more :(

8/31/01 Lotus club day at PIR. Lotus days are the best - TONS of track time and much more relaxed than others. I got seven 20-minute sessions and went through more than 2 tanks of gas. It's the only club where I get to share the track with some really cool race cars, including a lot of vintage Lotus open-wheelers. I also sent my camera for a ride in the F50 (having ridden in it myself already there was no need for a repeat).

I've put together a video from the Ferrari and me following him through a section of the track. He was being rather conservative and running about the same lap times as myself, maybe a second faster. But his power and speed on the straights are in a totally different league from the Elise. Ah yes, $500K+ still buys you something ;)

The tuning I've done to the Lotus has helped a bit, but the net result is now the car is essentially back to where it was before I started the mods, performance-wise. Yes, it is more pleasant on the street, but I hardly ever drive it there. On the track there's no improvement. Oh well.

9/7/01 Needed to take a break from work to clear my head - what better way than with a Lotus outing. Didn't take long to convince a friend to bring his Caterham (a Lotus 7, basically - similar to my just-arrived Westfield kit). We headed out to some nice roads nearby, and brought a video camera - below is a clip of our idea of what should be done with a Friday afternoon...

And of course we stopped a couple places to snap a few stills of the Loti at rest.

OK, back to work now :)

9/30/01 After pondering all my problems with the ECU (I've been getting 9MPG with this tiny car), I've decided to reconnect the manifold pressure line which Lotus told me to disconnect. Sure enough, the car seems to respond a lot better now. Not much time to test the change fully due to my travel schedule, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. Now if I can only track down the oil leak that is consuming a quart every 500 miles....

10/17/01 After a couple more drives the Elise seems to be running quite well. I decided to try a different air filter setup, because the stock one is blocked by the airbox on three sides and doesn't provide much filtered air reserve for the intakes. I modified a K&N cone filter to fit in the intake of the airbox, and added some quick release fasteners to the airbox housing. Below is a picture of the airbox with the old and new filters next to it, and one with the completed new box.

The result? Eeehhh.... Hard to tell. Certainly not a startling improvement, and I think I may have actually lost some throttle response and/or power. I could try a quick run without a filter to see if that makes a difference... Maybe tomorrow.

11/03/01 After the return of the M Coupe from California and the sale of the 325, moving some things around the garage again...

With the Elise up on the lift, it's easy to see the full aluminum undertray and rear diffuser:

12/24/01 A rare day of winter sunshine inspired me to take the M Coupe out for a fun drive. Then, while in the mood, the Elise got exercised too (it's off insurance, but by previous arrangement if I call my agent before taking it out for a short run it's covered). It's great to dust off a car like this and stretch its legs. I didn't remember it being this fast. Or this loud. Or this fun :)

01/23/02 The Elise is due for some maintenance. Once I get the Westfield running, the 'lis will get a thorough going-over. I have ordered some parts, a few of which have already arrived and some are due to show up from England in the next month or two. The list includes an upgraded throttle cable, heavier-duty clutch, a new ultra-close ratio gearbox (currently I never use 5th gear on the track), stainless brake hoses and fresh Motul 600 brake fluid, a new set of tires with softer-compound fronts, a new driving light to replace one broken by a stone... Also have to track down the source of a fairly significant oil leak, and come up with a better solution for fuel that is spilling down the side of the car sometimes (right now I just have a catch can made of an empty oil container). The car has 3500 miles on it, although more than 2/3 of it was on the track pretty much all-out.

02/02/02 The first sunny day after many weeks of rain and even snow. Used the opportunity to run the Lotus through some curves, and swap the wheels so that I can put the new tires on the track set. And of course took some pictures :)

Somehow sitting next to the Coupe the Elise makes the BMW look tall, despite the lowered suspension...

In the process of the wheel swap I found out that the motorsport set with the Yokos is just a little heavier than 'road' wheels with Pirellis, at 33 lb vs 31 lb front and 42 lb vs 41 lb rear. Not bad, actually, since both the wheels and the tires are wider.

02/13/02 More sun. Wow. Gotta use it. I mounted the new shaved race tires on the Elise and took it out for a quick run, this time open-top. I should take the top off more often - it's FUN. The new tires are much better than the Pirelli set, which inspired me to get very sideways in one spot (and on these it takes some doing!). Gathered it right back up, didn't even skip a heartbeat. An awesome car! Did I mention it is fun?! ;) I can deal with more rain now.