Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello All
I have just acquired a 1967 Lotus Elan +2 That has been set up for tarmac rallying. I have had to make a few changes to it to allow me to get use to it. First was to fit a normal car battery as the lithium one abut the size of a good match box does not allow for someone not familiar with starting a twin cam engine. Second was to fit some road legal tyres It had Dunlop 185/70 R13 85H Radial PG710 SP Sport D53J stamped for competition only I have now fitted Avon 185/70 R13 CR6ZZ the next thing I am considering is to change the diff at the moment it is a 4.4:1 the acceleration is good its fast off the line but its doing 4000RPM at 65MPH. More to follow as I find out about it.

Paul

Congratulations,you have a nice clean and tidy car/engine bay..

John

Welcome Paul
Stuart

Welcome!
That diff will be very sale-able (if that's a word) to the racing/sprinting/hill-climb boys.
My advice would be to go for a 3.55/3.54 for relaxed road cruising; I've got a full set of diffs and that's my fave ratio for general road use.

Hi Paul welcome,
it looks a great car and it looks like a spec i have been thinking of doing
regards
Paul

Welcome Paul,
If you are wanting to use your car for road use, then as Pete says the diff will be better as a standard 3.77 or 3.55. Standard Elans are not known for being traffic light racers, but your current set up will frighten quite a few exotic cars in the 0 -40 mph race.
Your air filter will be better sited in the nose cone to gain colder air, other than that what a nice car to enter Elan ownership!

Discovered some more about the Elan now having had time to go through the paperwork and recites that came with it. It is fitted with the following:-

A 2000E straight cut gear box

Alloy bell housing, gearbox back housing and diff housing.

4.4:1 limited slip differential

Dual circuit Brakes with balance bar

Alloy brake callipers all round

Plexiglas side and rear screens

Plus Rev Fibreglass seats

Universal joints and sliding spline half shafts

26R exhaust manifold

Mintex soft racing disc pads

Full Roll cage from Spyder

TTR front and rear Koni Shock absorbers

R26 chassis strengthening plates

A set of spot lights that are fitted to a steel bumper the fitted ones being fiberglass

An electrically operated fire extinguisher system a tank behind the passenger seat and jets in the boot behind the dash and in the engine bay

Hi and welcome, Paul

Looks like a clean car from here. Straight cut boxes can be a tad noisy.

As you have discovered, 4.4 is good for acceleration but bad for the nerves. The 3.55 diff is good for touring or in tandem with a modified engine designed for more torque.

Common options are 4.4, 4.125, 3.89, 3.77 and 3.55. As stated above, the standard 3.77, or perhaps the 3.9, are good choices for spirited driving. Series 1,2 and early 3 were originally fitted with the 3.89, later series 3 onwards were fitted with the 3.77 as standard with the 3.55 as an option.

Once you get the hang of getting the diff out, having a selection can be useful so don't sell the 4.44 straightaway

Thanks for Joining Lotuselan.net, for best and useful ideas.