Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I know this is an Elan forum but I want to share some recent other Lotus experience.

I have just replaced the 'filled for life' transmission oil in my Mk1 Elise with Redline GL4 fully synthetic oil. The results are transformative.

If anyone is familiar with an Elise they will know the gear change is at best truculent and the gearbox whine on a long drive with the hood up is very wearing. Other than that they’re brilliant. Post oil change the gearshift is rifle bolt fast and the whine has gone.

I know I’m on snake oil ground here but it also feels quicker, which may be possible with reduced friction.

Is anyone using it their Elan and are the results as equally impressive?

Dave

The gearbox was always a weak point on my Exige ( running 340hp) and I used Redline MT90 ( along with SSC strengthened gears, gearbox cooler , strengthened final drive, LSD , altered gear linkages etc etc

Is the modern Ford fluid not adequate
It’s synthetic too
GL4

Most modern full synthetic GL4 oils intended for manual transmission use from major manufacturers should be adequate for an Elan that is used on the road.

However not all "synthetic oils" are equal as you can claim its "synthetic" if its a heavily hydrocracked group 3 mineral base oil or a Polyalphaolefin group 4 base oil or a polyolester group 5 base oil. Group 5 polyolester base oils have a much greater temperature resistance than group 4 oils and better again than group 3 oils

The improved performance when hot which is valuable in a competition car where gearboxes get very hot as they spend much of their life at full revs and power in the lower gears. Not so necessary in road cars but even in these it extends the life of the oil and results in less wear of gearbox components

Thus I use Redline MTL in my Elan for competition. I also use Redline MTL or MT90 in my road cars for its extended life even at road car temperatures and for its gear change feel which I find superior to other gearbox oils I have tried which I presume comes from the additives used by Redline. However gear change feel is a very subjective thing so "your mileage may vary" .

cheers
Rohan

MT90 made an outstanding improvement in my former Esprit's shifting. I couldn't believe that something as simple as oil could make such a difference. No idea what's in my Plus 2's box but I'll probably give it some MT since I don't know how long it's been in there.

I use mtl90 in my daily (getrag 420g) and made a noticable improvement to the shift.

I use normal mtl in the lotus 5 speed which is good but plan to try mtl90 in it as it sits much nicer when cold.