My 911 has sold, deposit taken this morning - Pistonheads Ad here
Only 10 months of ownership, and it was away for three of those having rusty bits done, but a generally good experience, with a friendly community at Impact Bumpers. Whilst I took the old girl on track a couple of times it was a standard car and I really didn't want to start modifying (or damaging) it so have sold it on for a decent profit.
I miss my racing, but still want to use the car for occasional road use, so whilst another stripped Caterham appeals I suspect I'll end up with a modified Elise (heater, seat with a tiny bit of padding and the option of a hard top). Will keep you posted.

Dave

It's one ticked off the list, Dave!

Let us know what you buy next...

One careful (racing driver) owner...

Glad that you enjoyed her. It must be one of those cars that we'd all like a go in at some point. My brother recently bought a 997 Carrera S and I was trying to persuade him into something older but he said no.

I can imagine an elise ticks many boxes. Sure you will find sideways fun in one!

You may soon need to change your location from 911 Heaven to Elise-ium.

I viewed and drove a suitable candidate this evening, have just got to finalise a few details.....
Off to Spa working tomorrow for a week, will give an update on my return. Cheers all, Dave

An Elise sounds like a great plan, Dave. I was sorely tempted by one prior to buying my Westfield. A great car for your needs, I suspect!

Last week was manic, got back from Spa on Monday, collected the Elise on Monday (back at 1am), cleaned it on Tuesday night, oil change on Wednesday night, brake fluid change Thursday night, trackday at Castle Combe on Friday and GP qualifying on Saturday.
I had some fun shaking down the new car and have a list of issues to sort out, namely the tiny intercooler and rather wayward handling when lifting off or on part throttle. I suspect the handling is partly down to my driving style and partly it is running too much rake, still, it seemed to entertain the passengers!
I have order a roll cage and over the next six weeks will be working to get the car ready for its first race on BH Monday 25th of August.
You Tube

Very nice Dave. How do you think it'll compare to the Caterfield experience? I'm considering a VX220 turbo for a track car for 2016, but I didn't realise how heavy they are. As much as my stripped out cup...

Hi Jonny,

You can certainly feel the extra weight over the Caterham, but then it feels pleasingly light compared to the 911. I will be putting it on the scales in a months time, so will let you know its actual race ready weight then (guessing 800ish kg). I'm going to leave the heater and stereo in as still want a tiny bit of comfort.
The steering is superb, actually better than the Caterham, with the ride on Nitrons and Eibachs being excellent. It's a pleasure to drive it home after a trackday and not have to worry about driving through mud or gravel and getting a face full!

Hi johnny I had a vx220turbo and they are pretty awesome. Mine was stage 2 with a miltek exhaust, paddle clutch etc. I found that when you think your on the limit.... Your actually not and you could actually go even quicker.

If you're tall then do try sitting in a VX220 before giving it any futher thought.

I went to test drive a VX220 turbo years ago and found the driver's seat is fixed (no adjustment at all) and steering wheel had quite limited adjustment.

I could barely even get into the driver's seat and my legs were totally jammed against the wheel, was no way I could drive it at all so gave up on that idea after less than a minute in the driver's seat.

I remember yours Steve, I do like them. For track work, maybe a supercharger conversion may be better. Or just find an Elise like Dave. I'll no doubt change my mind again...

Graham- 5'10/11, so I should be fine!

Doctor Frag and I still chat, he is currently looking for a VX220T to join us again on trackdays, it's been 7 or 8 years since his last one!

It will be great to see you back racing again. Paul told me you had been trying to contact me, do you have a new number? I just missed you the day you were on the dyno, and was a little too busy to pop round for the track day. Catch up soon.

I'm up for it! Let me know when and where you are racing - I'll come along.

RX7 now has a nice carbon twin plate clutch after I nuked the single plate paddle in 8,000 miles. Oddly enough it's actually easier to drive on the road than the previous one. R888's now on it too, it's VERY grippy now.

Elise is a great shout - sooo much fun to throw about.

Not sure what was happening there, the driver's seat is adjustable forwards and backwards, the passenger seat is however fixed. The VX is a squeeze to get in and out but there is a nack to it.

Maybe they changed it on later models? This was at a Vauxhall dealer just after they came out, so about 10 years ago. Salesman confirmed that driver's seat had no adjustment.

Even if the seat was on rails I doubt it would help me much as it seemed to be fixed in furthest back position anyway and it was still impossible to steer safely.

I just bought a Vx220 turbo stage 4

Getting in and out of the car requires quite some dexterity and a good sense of humour!!

The drivers seat is adjustable front and back, and there is an adjustable lumbar inflatable area on the seat.

I usually fiddle with car seats to get comfortable, but this car is pretty comfortable for me

Car is rapid!, with over 300bhp and just over 900kg, the car has awesome power/weight,..stage 4 cars tend to have on/off boost delivery which can be a problem as you really need a linear power delivery in these cars. So im looking at trying to sort this but can be a hassle unless you move to aftermarket ECU

Joe

Good lord it's a voice from the past!

hahaa he lives!!!

How are you doing Neil? How was the crazy coupe kit car project?

I still see Squid quite often, his Coupe unfortunately under a plastic cover in the drive, so sad for a 450bhp monster!

Having a car has ignited my enthusiasm again, and speaking to Fishy Dave, we'd like to get o ntrack today, although the VX would be ok its not really smooth enough power for twisty circuits which is odd considering that's what it should be good at!

Count me in Joe, would love to see the vx sometime too!

Kit is still having difficulty getting the power on the ground without wanting to visit the hedge, Joe. SORNed at the moment until spring.

Welcome back Joe

I've got about 5 more full days to go to complete the Elise, looking at my diary I think this will take me up until the end of October. Maybe we could look at a trackday in November sometime? Quite tempted to try the Snetterton 300, like this one on the 22nd of November for £139 - MSVT or Oulton on my birthday, 15th November from £149 here.

Dave

Where did you get the vx from Doctor Frag? I really wanted to get mine to stage 4 untill I had to sell it to fund the house move. They are awesome cars. I really missed having it this summer, still keeping an eye out for another one..

Hi Simon, Dave

a trackday sounds like a great plan!, the Snetterton 300 will be ideal, shall we do the 22nd November?

ive just rechecked and theres still availablity! :-)

Hi Stevo, I got mine from the Vx220 forum. I was rather impulsive and bought the first one I came across. This one had a lot of mods done by the previous owner and done by Courtney Sport.
the car is 'stage 4' but Iv eheard that this is amixed blessing as the turbo delivery is rather all or nothing, certainly not as driveable as my coupe was in that way, I'm considering going for an aftermarkey ECU which seems to be the only way to cure this problem is you are sticking with the VXR turbo at 300+ bhp.

Have a look on the forum there's a few stage 2 cars but the prices are rather optimistic, I would consider a nice supercharged 2.2 as they have a progressive power delivery with 240-250bhp striaght off and can run 250-300bhp if you are keen!

joe

Hey Joe, good to see you on here The throttle/turbo can be controlled better just needs a custom map! A lot of the VAG 1.8ts I tune can be like this if not mapped correctly.

Leighton

hahaa Flea!, Dave suggested giving you a call!

Hope all is well with you, the problems is with turbo stall stutter, its a common problem at this level of tune, trying to get a nice progressive power delivery without stall when lifting off

can you let me know your mobile so I'll chat better on the phone.:-)

Joe

Looks like Snetterton on the 22nd of November could be a good bet then, will confirm shortly and start a new thread.

I'm leaving work shortly to go to my friends workshop and see if we can get the Elise started after a two month race conversion. It's been a lot of work as much of the time has been spent improving the electrics as the Audi to Lotus looms were in less than perfect condition with some shorted or melted wires that have come into close proximity to the turbo. We've removed a number of redundant sensors so hoping the car will run. A pity that the car will be finished just too late for last Saturdays Castle Combe championship race, still, plenty of time to save for new tyres and a few mods ready for next season.

Thanks to Flea for his advice on 1.8Ts so far.

The engine started cleanly so just a couple more weeks of finishing off and it's ready for action, therefore I'm going to book a trackday, woo hoo, see the new thread in 'Trackdays'.

After many more months of work, totalling hundreds of man hours the Elise is finished, JUST in time for three races at Castle Combe on Monday. I've entered the Castle Combe GTs where it doesn't stand a chance plus two Welsh Championships races where I'm hoping for a top third finish. I'm still not keen on the car honestly, but having foolishly sold the 911 to go racing again let's see the project through.