Rolling Road Results Of Bp270 Cams And A Head Port ...

[winston]

Thought I would share this with the group.

 

You may remember last summer I posted re. my experiences of an Horizon head port and a few weeks ago I was at Horizon and decided to nip to the RR just down the estate, (you know the one which had been next door to Horizon and always p££sed Wendy off).

 

The mods I had were:

 

1) Hurricane

2) Sports Cat

3) Sports exhaust

4) 4-2-1

5) BP 270 cams

6) Head port.

 

All (except 3 & 4) done by Horizon, apart from this the car is a std S1 118bhp Elise.

 

Results from the RR are 126bhp at the wheels, 145 at the flywheel, taking the fly figure this gives 27 bhp increase.

 

I don't think 1 to 4 above give more than 2-3 bhp so the cams and head port gave me 25 bhp roughly. To me this is very much as advertised on the tin, you can expect 12 to 15 bhp each from cams and head port.

 

To my mind these mods are brilliant and make the car much punchier without losing the "dainty" feel and handling, being a 97 S1 (before the fat driver gets in), the car weighs 731 kg so the 145 bhp doesn't have a lot to haul. Cams + port make an S1 similar on paper to an S1 111S (quoted at 143 bhp).

 

I am interested in anyone else's experience of mods which have been RR'd as the RR guy recommended a 52 mm throttle body and I have heard this is useless (from an MG forum mind).

 

Winston.

[Phil.S]

Are you using verniers with those cams? Similar spec to mine although I find I get my power at about 4000rpm which I'm thinking is down to the cam timing.

[PeterField]

Think i've heard something similar before re the throttle body Winston, sure somebody else who knows more will be around to help soon enough i'm sure.

 

That said, Mick at Hi-Tech is a bloody genius at tuning cars and let's just say over the years he's 'been there and done it'. I use them for all non-servicing work on my car (only 'cos that's not really what they do) and would recommend them to anybody on here.

 

His RR's always good for a nosey too with some of the more interesting cars he has in for work most of the time. Always rated very highly, supposed to be one of the most accurate in the country.

[Scrappydog]

You've pretty much done everything that needs doing to the engine (power-wise anyhow). Any small tweaks are just a massive waste of (IMHO). Next step is throttle bodies and an Emerald, but you are talking about splashing £1.5K+ for similar gains as you've had already from the head and cams.

 

If you've not got a remote thermostat or PRT, then it's worth geting one fitted as insurance against HGF. If you are going to track it a lot then an oil cooler is probably worthwhile.

 

Apart from that, you should just enjoy!!

 

Andy

[winston]

Phil, yes I have verniers, who do you use for tuning. Peter, from what your saying the guy at the RR may not be a bad start point for a cam tune.

 

Scrappy, yes I am happy with the engine, I believe going over 150 bhp in an Elise 1.8 K series is asking for trouble.

 

May just be me but I should like to see more mods and there RR results on the board, (e.g. what difference does a 4-2-1 make to torque and what does a de-cat give you). Also v. interested in anyone else's experience of different cams + porting. No real reason, I am just nosey.

 

Winston.

[PeterField]

Winston, i'd definitely recommend Hi Tech if you're looking at a cam tune up etc. Verniers will be a big help in setting things up too.

 

Last time Mick had my Exige in (cam timing and a general check-up) he had it in for a day and the difference was amazing. Car ran loads better afterwards, much smoother etc, better power delivery, and most importantly more power! Found lots of things that weren't quite spot on to be honest, all of which led to a noticable difference.

 

Benefit of taking it there is he can do a change and stick it on the rollers to see what effect it has, since so many things remain constant (conditions, rollers, person testing, etc) you can measure the changes far better.

 

Money well spent!

[winston]

Winston, i'd definitely recommend Hi Tech if you're looking at a cam tune up etc. Verniers will be a big help in setting things up too.

 

Last time Mick had my Exige in (cam timing and a general check-up) he had it in for a day and the difference was amazing. Car ran loads better afterwards, much smoother etc, better power delivery, and most importantly more power! Found lots of things that weren't quite spot on to be honest, all of which led to a noticable difference.

 

Benefit of taking it there is he can do a change and stick it on the rollers to see what effect it has, since so many things remain constant (conditions, rollers, person testing, etc) you can measure the changes far better.

 

Money well spent!

 

Peter,

 

Sounds interesting, about roughly approx how much does Mick charge for a tune up + general check up.

 

Neil.

[PeterField]

Think it was around £200 (although I may have got a favourable rate since we've taken our cars to Mick for years now).

 

Anyway, for that he ended up putting it on the rollers about 8 times during the day (for which he showed me all the printouts so I could see the changes), re-did the cam timing, carried out compression and cylinder leakage tests, checked the fuel pressure, cleaned the fuel regulator, flushed the injectors, and changed the spark plugs.

 

This was all specifically because the group RR at Aldon last year had shown mine to be down on power relative to others. When the car came back it was transformed!

 

Probably best to give Mick a call on 01384 561777 to discuss exactly what you're after. Sure he'll be able to sort you out though.

[winston]

Think it was around £200 (although I may have got a favourable rate since we've taken our cars to Mick for years now).

 

Anyway, for that he ended up putting it on the rollers about 8 times during the day (for which he showed me all the printouts so I could see the changes), re-did the cam timing, carried out compression and cylinder leakage tests, checked the fuel pressure, cleaned the fuel regulator, flushed the injectors, and changed the spark plugs.

 

This was all specifically because the group RR at Aldon last year had shown mine to be down on power relative to others. When the car came back it was transformed!

 

Probably best to give Mick a call on 01384 561777 to discuss exactly what you're after. Sure he'll be able to sort you out though.

 

Thank you Peter, another friend of mine (drives a Lotus Cortina engine powered Escort mk 1, beautiful car), had a similar session with Mick with similar results to you.

 

I think it is money well spent as it gets results.

 

Neil.

[PeterField]

No worries Neil, keep me posted on how you get on.