You need a 'slow opening' thermostat too, to prevent thermal shock.

The K-Series was a good design (horrible sound like a bag of spanners!) let down by some stupid "innovations" that were never properly fixed. It's a lot, lot lighter than a Toyota & thus suits the MK1 better.

I'd say K for track nutter petrolheads, Toyota for less knowledgable buyers.

 

Yes Nick, as said above my mate is not that mechanically minded and it will be a DD so reliability is a must.

 

My farther has had seven elise's, six with the k series including a 135, two 160's and has a 190 vhpd to stick in one and not one of them has failed on him even though he has tracked them and uses them for dd's. All in all a very good engine and parts are very cheep to replace.

 

There is a 134hp toyota lump in the s2 elise S, 860kg so 158hp/ton, 130kg heavier than the original car so down on power/weight
I think the S1 exige and maybe the elise will become collectors cars, the newer stuff not so much but a better dd proposition

a few comments from lotus in this book bemoaning the shift to the toyota lump, apparently its much heavier as Mr G points out.

Cracking cars, one you need to run one day

 

I've never seen a like for like comparison of the weights of the K series v the ZZ engines but my guess is virtually no difference in weight of the engine (the total weight of the production cars with the relative engines seems reasonably well documented as being heavier in the later vehicles).

Normally when this discussion starts (not the first time) this web site gets trawled out.
http://www.sandsmuseum.com/cars/elis...ine/kingk.html

However I know some of their data is incorrect.
Example:
"All of this tends towards an engine that weighs in, as standard, fully dressed at 96.5 kg. Compare this to the Honda S2000 engine similarly equipped with standard manifold clutch and fluids at 158 kg and the Toyota 1.9 VVTi engine at 137 kg"
I set the engine audit standards for UK production 1ZZ engines (the VVTi type as stated) and happen to know that the weight of the engine including oil, without exhaust manifold or wire harness was something like 95kgs. With the exhaust manifold and wire harness it was something like 102kgs. Thats a hell of a lot less than the 137kgs quoted.

My guess is it all depends on the definition of "fully dressed". I'm guessing the weight quoted includes additional equipment not included with the K-series (maybe transmission, auxilliary pumps/equipment driven by the engine that isn't supplied with the K series) That's essentially meaning comparing apples and oranges.

 

Yeah, I don't think there is a lot of difference between the weights of the two engines, but I didn't like the way the 1ZZ performed (in an MR2)compared to the K's I have had a go of.

 

Or the off the wall option, get one that's had a Honda engine chucked in. If I still had mine, that's what I'd have done.

 

Then for this reason alone, he should stick with a S2 Toyota engined one.

I've owned both the S1 (K Series) and the S2 Exige (Toyota) and for everyday use, the S2 wins hands down.

Internet experts will tell you a S1 is the only purist choice etc. etc. and while that may be true to an extent, the difference isn't so marked that the extra reliability of the S2 isn't worth the tiny differential in performance. The Lotus is still a world away from anything else in terms of handling and round a track a well driven Lotus will outpace most.

One thing is that the S1 cars are getting long in the tooth, and it's parts like droplinks, bushes, bearings brakes etc. that will need refreshing and will cost (that's not to say S2s don't have those parts of course). Of course, if the owner has treated the car like a rolling restoration, this isn't so much of a problem, and the S1 will be the one which holds it's value better.
Headgasket problems are reduced on the K Series by a thermostat change and steel dowels, as said earlier. Most people take out AA coverage and factor in a HG replacement every now and again as a running cost however.

As a daily driver though, your mate should set a budget and look for the best S2 he can find for his money, and don't discount the S2 Exige - it's the same as the Elise in every respect but a bit more watertight. Personally I would go for the 190 engine unless he has a particular reason to go for the less powerful one, it's VVT so drivable off-cam just like the S2000.
Look for rust on the wishbones and bubbling on the black strip between the door top and the window by the wing mirror (it denotes a car that's been stored outside) - neither are difficult to fix but replacement of the wishbones should be negotiated into the price or simply look for a car that's been garaged. Look for a big folder of receipts from specialists, most responsible Lotus owners will keep this sort of stuff so it makes sense to go for one that's done so for peace of mind.

Happy to offer any more advice as and when....

 

Oh, and factor in a full geometry check with some decent settings (get them from seloc) done by a decent garage every 18 months to 2 years, it makes a world of difference and makes the car a lot safer to drive.

 

Cheers Chaps.

Thanks Mark

So if he wants lowered powered toyota lump elise its an Elise S2 S? - what reg should he be looking at to get the toyota lump?

My mate is a guy that is pretty car illiterate, for example he knows there are spark plugs but couldn't tell you how to remove them or how they work just they have a 'spark', changing an air filter would be pushing it. Not that i think someone like that is an idiot, its just he is relying heavily on me to get a good Lotus nad i want him to have 'relatively' smooth ownership.

He's read about the K series and has put him off frankly (some folk are easily swayed even though I've mentioned remedies to sort it, i don't think he wants to pay the insurance for a 190BHP VVTLi version, and he wants good mpg.

I need to speak to him more but here's the thing, he has a peugeot 206 to trade in (worth about about 1k) and has about 11k-11.5k on top of that to spend maximum.

P.S i recall none of the models have ABS?