2005 Lotus Elise VW 4.0 W8 Twin Turbo Swap
04) Lets make it Shift
I originally purchased a 2005 Lotus Elise, over any other year Elise, because it was the only year offered in the states with a cable driven throttle body, which for me is much easier when trying to convert to Megasquirt for engine management. One of the perks of the Elise that I was unaware of was how they approached the shift cables using the Toyota Celica drivetrain. Unlike my Fieros that have a specific shifter designed for the car and use a standard FWD transmission but had custom brackets for the cables specific to the car. The Lotus used a...
03) Lets See if this Motor Fits
The W8 motor is originally installed in the Passat longitudinally and the Elise's 1.8l is mounted transversely which gave for a bit of cutting needed and not long after that the first test fit was looking good!
With the motor in place, it was time to fit the body and see what we were working with. You can measure all you want, but until you have cut enough away to slap the motor in, you don't know what you are working with. The mock up transmission is from an AWD audi s4 and about 10" longer than...
02) Lets get the Motor Ready
We all know that motors come with so much stuff attached to them it's a little hard to see what you are working with, to attempt to get it to a place like this:
You end up with quite a mess:
Now the next big part of any swap that is a little less on the glamorous side, but just as crucial is the belt drive system and making sure you have all the accessories you need. People will often tell themselves they don't need air conditioning or power steering because it's easier than...
01) Lotus Elise W8 Swap Introduction
It all started years ago with the love of the Lotus Elise Series 2, a dream or a fantasy of a car to own when I could afford it. The crazy thing was, by the time I could afford it, owning it wasn't enough.
We managed to find my Elise with a stroke of luck in Weston, Missouri about 45 minutes north of me. It was a car that had been on the market for a number of months based out of Texas and then Nebraska but luckily, just as we were about to fly to Arizona to buy a...