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Congratulations! You've found the most comprehensive, hands-on, step-by-step guide to fitting a sports, competition or race exhaust to the Elise on the net.
I'll take you through the fitting sequence for the Lotus Race Exhaust step-by-step ... follow these and you'll be fine. If you intend to fit an alternative system then most of this guide will be applicable, but of course I cannot help you on specific differences.
Note that I encountered a few hitches whilst removing my existing system. I've documented them here so hopefully you can avoid them! Also my method (by necessity) is different to others I've seen documented, I'll explain these as we go along.
Which One?
There are many suppliers of exhausts for the Elise and deciding which one to buy can be a difficult decision. I looked at a number of alternatives and listened to them in action. I certainly cannot say which is the best, but do believe that you get what you pay for. When you see examples for yourself, look to see if the tailpipes fit nicely in the centre of the clam opening, that they don't extend too far or too little, and that you are happy with the sound of the exhaust throughout the engine rev range.
I really like the sound of the Lotus system and the fact that the tailpipes can be precisely aligned. Lotus supply two versions, both made exclusively for them by Janspeed. The Competition Silencer (part number A111S0037S) is made of mild steel and currently retails at £473.68 (inc. VAT), whilst the Race Exhaust (part number LOTAC05065) is its stainless steel big brother and retails at £586.33.
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How Loud?
I've measured the sound level at 0.5 metres, 45 degrees from the tailpipes using professional lab equipment. The readings are as follows:
RPM |
dBA |
3000 |
81 |
3500 |
88 |
4000 |
85 |
4500 |
84 |
5000 |
84 |
How Heavy?
The Lotus Race Exhaust (silencer, tailpipes and fixings) weighs in at 10kg. The standard system weighs 15kg (using professional bathroom scales!).
As a matter of interest, the catalytic converter weighs 3kg.
OK, so lets get on and fit it...
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What you need:
Lotus Race Exhaust Part Number LOTAC05065 (I ordered mine from Williams Automobiles in Bristol); Jack & Axle Stands (x 4); 8mm, 10mm, 13mm and 15mm sockets, short / long extension bars, ratchet handle; 8mm, 10mm, 13mm and 15mm combination spanners; 5mm hexagon (Allen) key; WD40; Vaseline; About four hours time (more on this later!).
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OK, so what's 'in the bag' ?
1 x Silencer
1 x Silencer Mount (lower left)
2 x Tailpipe
2 x Tailpipe Clamp (lower left)
1 x Silencer / Tailpipe fixings:
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- For the Silencer Mount:
2 x washer and nut, 1 x large washer, hex head screw and nut;
- For joining the tailpipes:
1 x washer, split lock washer and hex head screw.
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Step 1: Clear the Luggage Space
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Two of the exhaust mounts use 13mm hex head screws that go through the luggage space floor into the exhaust void at the back of the car.
It's best to take out the carpet and the thick padding material now before you raise the car, so that you gain easy access to the screws.
Here you can see the two hex screw heads on the offside of the car (nearside looks the same).
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Step 2: Raise the Car
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Care must be taken when raising the car to prevent damage to the chassis or body structure and / or not to jeopardise safety. I believe the method below is satisfactory (it's the method I use), but I must bring you to the attention of the Important Disclaimer on my Home Page should you decide to follow it.
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When you raise and support the car you should protect the chassis from surface damage using a piece of wood. Pictured left is an axle stand I use with its protective piece of wood on top.
Also (very important!) only raise the car at the position identified by a blue sticker on each main chassis rail.
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Raise the side of the car using a jack at the crossmember location identified by the blue sticker.
Once raised, lower the car onto the axle stands (positioning described below).
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The rear axle stands are positioned beneath the end of the chassis just ahead of the rear wheel (pictured left, wheel removed for clarity only!)
The front axle stands are positioned beneath the front end of the main chassis rail, behind the front wheelarch (pictured right).
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Step 3: Remove the Diffuser
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Remove the diffuser by unscrewing the ten M5 hex head screws and the two M8 button-head screws using a 8mm hex spanner and 5mm hex bit socket / hex key.
I found it easiest to leave the two button-head screws until last so that I could support the diffuser for safe removal.
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Step 4: Get to Know the Work Area (& WD40)
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Take time to familiarise yourself with the exhaust system layout, the location of the four mounts and visually comparing the new system with the existing system whilst it is in place. Use the photos in this guide to help you find your way around and to understand what you will be doing in the hours ahead!
This might be the first time you've seen a catalytic converter, its in the centre of the photo above. The cat has three studs with nuts at each end, unless your car is brand new they will be very rusty. Apply a liberal coating of WD40 to them.
The tailpipes are clamped in place at each end of the silencer box. The clamps will also be quite rusty so spray these with WD40 too.
Now's a good time to wrap a cloth around the tailpipes in the clam opening to protect the bodywork later in the removal process.
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Step 5: Remove the Catalytic Converter Fixings
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Undo the 15mm nuts (3 each side) that join the catalytic converter to the silencer pipe (nearside, left photo) and the flexible downpipe (offside, right photo).
You can see how rusty mine had become! However a good socket and long handle (you could extend this using one of your extension bars) should do the trick. I've read that some people have had to resort to sawing through the nut to split it, so I guess I was fortunate (and hope you are too) in not having to do this.
Note that the nearside stud also carries a mounting bracket (with additional washer). We'll remove this next.
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Step 6: Remove the Nearside Cat Mount
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There are four mounts that will be removed, pictured right is the nearside mount that is connected to the top of the cat. You'll be working from beneath the cat so won't see it as well as this!
Your mount may be black rubber, not blue silicon as pictured. If so you might want to use this opportunity to upgrade the mounts (see 111S Recalls for more details).
The mounts are held in place by two 10mm hex head screws. Note the order of the components, I've laid them out below for reference.
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From the left:
15mm cat nut, washer, and cat mount;
From the right:
10mm hex head mount screw, washer, plate, washer, silicon mounting bush with tube insert.
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Step 7: Remove the Offside Cat Mount
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Referring to the photo, you can see that the cat is connected via a plate to the silencer (lower left) and the flexible downpipe is suspended from the second (blue silicon) mount that we will remove.
Undo the two 10mm hex head screws and note the order of the mount components. They are similar to the nearside but with the addition of a spacer washer between the silicon mount and the car body (1 per screw).
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Step 8: Remove the Cat to Silencer Box Mount
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Loosen the clamp on the 'strap' around the silencer to slide the plate away from the cat. The cat is now loosely held in place.
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Step 9: Remove the Cat ?
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It may seem that at this stage it is possible to remove the cat, indeed there are other instructions on the net that suggest you do so now. I found that I could not move the downpipe sufficiently away from the cat in order to free up enough space to remove it. This was nothing to do with lack of leverage, simply one of space. If you can remove your cat at this time go ahead, otherwise you'll remove it later (as I did).
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Step 10: Remove the Nearside Silencer Mount
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The silencer is held in place by two mounts, one at each end. Picture right is the nearside (blue silicon) mount.
These mounts are held in place by the 13mm hex head screws going through the luggage space floor. Some instructions say you need help at this stage to hold these screws in place while you undo the nuts. This was not the case with my car - the screws are 'locked' in place by nuts fixed to the luggage space floor (a later model mod?).
Undo the two 10mm nuts and remove the mount assembly (nuts, washers, plate and mount bush).
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Step 11: Remove the Offside Silencer Mount
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The final mount to remove is pictured right. The silencer (offside) has a rod clamped to its side that is shaped to suspend from the (blue silicon) silencer mount. Remove the 13mm nuts holding the clamp to the silencer.
As before, the silencer mount is held in place by the 13mm hex head screws going through the luggage space floor.
Undo the two 10mm nuts and remove the mount assembly (nuts, washers, plate and mount bush).
Note that the whole exhaust assembly is now free!
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Step 12: Remove the Cat
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If you still have the cat in place it can now easily be removed. The silencer can be moved towards the nearside, and the flexible downpipe towards the offside. This gives the space required either side of the cat for it to be removed.
Be careful at this stage to ensure the silencer and the tailpipes don't drop and cause any damage (to you or the car). I found I could rest the silencer in a not-so-secure fashion in the exhaust bay on top of the clam underside.
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Step 13: Remove the Silencer Mount Screws
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Using the 13mm socket unscrew the silencer mount screws from the fixings inside the luggage space floor.
Pictured left are the nearside screws, whilst the offside is pictured right.
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Step 14: Remove the Silencer
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You should now be able to carefully remove the silencer with the two tailpipes, unless you hit the same problem as me!
I struggled for sometime (about an hour!) and couldn't figure out why it would not come out. So I removed the 13mm hex head screw (and washer) joining the two tailpipes to the silencer (photo left) and the offside tailpipe to silencer 'U' clamp (13mm nuts).
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With some side-to-side movement of the offside tailpipe you can release it from the silencer. This allows you to carefully remove it from the work area.
I then found the source of my problem. The offside tailpipe was being trapped between the heat shielding every time I tried to extract it (see photo left). Having fixed this - out came the silencer with remaining tailpipe!
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Step 15: Rest!
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Pictured above is the clear exhaust bay (left photo) and the free flexible downpipe (right photo), all ready to take the Lotus Race Exhaust!
Whilst pictured below is a comparison between the standard and Race systems. The Race silencer box is around half the length of the standard box.
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The Race silencer has a very interesting tag welded to it (right)!
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Step 16: Assemble the Race Exhaust Silencer Mount
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Join the silencer mount to the bracket protruding from the silencer box. Each stud takes a washer and 13mm locknut. Pass a 13mm hex head screw up through the hole in the bracket and mount, fit the large washer then the remaining 13mm locknut.
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Step 17: Assemble the Race Exhaust Tailpipes
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Slide a tailpipe clamp over each tailpipe, then connect each pipe to the silencer box (via a layer of Vaseline). Don't tighten the clamps yet.
Put a mounting bush on each support, and loosely join the tailpipe ends with the remaining 13mm hex head screw and washer.
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Step 18: Replace the Cat
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NOTE: Now's a good time to replace those horribly rusted cat studs with shiny new stainless steel bolts! See S/S Cat Bolts for details.
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Put the flexible downpipe back in place by reassembly of the mount. Remember the spacers between the body and the bush.
Also remember to place a washer either side of the plate that sits over the bush. Don't over-tighten the 10mm hex head screws.
Fix the cat to the downpipe, remembering to reuse the copper gasket. I applied high-melting point grease to the cat studs to give some protection, and ease reassembly.
Reassemble the nearside cat mount (refer to Step 6), don't over-tighten the screws.
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Step 19: Install the Race Exhaust
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Wrap a cloth around the tailpipe ends to protect the clam bodywork. Feed the Race Exhaust up into the exhaust bay and connect the silencer inlet pipe to the nearside cat studs. This provides support to the silencer assembly for the next stages.
Some methods install the Race Exhaust before the cat, but I found my approach worked well for me. You'll probably adapt the approaches to suit your way of working too.
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Step 20: Reassemble the Offside Silencer Mount
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Replace the two offside 13mm hex head screws though the luggage space floor.
Slide the mount bush onto the screws, fit the washers, plate, washers and 10mm nuts.
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Step 21: Reassemble the Nearside Silencer Mount
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Replace the two 13mm hex head screws though the nearside luggage space floor.
Slide the mount bush onto the screws, fit the washers, plate, washers and 10mm nuts.
Tighten the 15mm nuts on the cat nearside.
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Step 22: Align and Fix the Tailpipes
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Align the tailpipes so that there is an equal space between them and the hole in the clam. When you are happy tighten the clamps (10mm hex head) and the 13mm hex head screw joining the ends together.
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Step 23: Last Checks
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You should now recognise the above photos! The installation as viewed from the nearside (left) and the offside (right). Check all the fixings are secure and you've removed all tools etc. from the work area.
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Step 24: Test & Replace the Diffuser
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Check the car is in neutral and the handbrake is firmly on.
You can now start the engine. WOW ! Big grunty noise ... big smile !
All OK? Replace the diffuser, jack each side to remove the axle stands, refit the luggage space padding and carpet.
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CONGRATULATIONS!
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