Turbos make good mufflers, evidenced by the fact that the Forcedfed Elise is noticeably quieter than stock. The dark gray metallic paint, eerily identical to that on the MR, elicits less attention than the chrome orange stock Elise we have for comparison, although a Lotus is a Lotus and our eyes still widen with lust.
The only modification made to the interior is a custom brushed-aluminum pod holding two Auto Meter gauges monitoring boost and oil temperature.
The stock car we use for reference is fitted with the optional Lotus sport package comprised of forged aluminum wheels, stickier sticky tires and stiffer springs and dampers. Since the Elise chassis, all extruded aluminum and pink structural epoxy rivals a cemetery for stiffness, it isn't surprising the stock car rides with the delicacy of a moving truck.
Double-adjustable remote reservoir coil-overs from -hlins feature springs with rates identical to the sport package-equipped Elise in the front and 50 pounds stiffer in the rear. Combined with the granite sidewalls of the Toyos, you expect marble but get marmalade. The Forcedfed Elise rides like an M3: controlled and firm, with exceptional ability to handle rough surfaces. As a result, the Forcedfed car exhibits more body roll than the stock Elise.
Forcedfed grew the rollers in every dimension, filling the fenders with 17x7.5-inch SSR Competitions stretching 205/40-17 Toyo Trampio R888 middle-compound tires in the front and 225/45-17s in the rear. No, you can't buy these R-compound tires in the United States yet. And yes, you want them.
The Forcedfed car slithered through the slalom at 76.5 mph, 2.4 mph faster than the stock car. Extra rubber and extra power pay big dividends in this test. It musters 1.08 g, or .01 g better than the fantastic stock number. The -hlins suspension has oodles of adjustment, and Forcedfed brought the hastily assembled car dialed with best-guess specs; the numbers can only get better.
In no car we've ever featured does the weight of modifications have to be as carefully considered as on the Elise. Thankfully, the Forcedfed turbo kit adds just 20 pounds to the overall weight. This weight was offset by the 28 pounds saved, ironically, by the much larger wheel and tire package, for a net 8-pound reduction in curb weight.
The stock AP Racing two-piston calipers manning the front hubs remain, as do the stock pads. No reason to mess with a system that knocks out 100-foot stops from 60 mph and 180-foot stops from 80, holding court with the very best numbers we've recorded. Since the test, however, Forcedfed has added a big brake kit from Alcon.
For those who are perpetually dissatisfied, Forcedfed has a 400-hp lump in process, which would give the Elise a power-to-weight ratio similar to a McLaren F1. Sounds like an Ultimate Street Car Challenge contender to us.
The Forcedfed Elise turbo kit price of $7,200 buys you 79 bonus hp, knocks a full second off the quarter mile, and in conjunction with fresh footwork, gives us a new reply to the perpetually asked question, "If you could own one car you've ever tested...?"
The Forcedfed additions do nothing to sully the purity of Lotus's Elise; Forcedfed took a svelte prodigy and grew her into a mature and finished champion.
Forcedfed EVO MRJust ask the IRS; it's hard to argue with numbers. The Forcedfed EVO MR set new SCC records for braking and nearly equaled our slalom record, in addition to shining in each and every test. Again, Forcedfed isn't out to right any dynamic wrong, just to up the flame on the burners.
This MR was built to be unloaded from an enclosed trailer at time attacks, go turn the fastest lap, get loaded and go back home. It was built using off-the-shelf parts sold by Forcedfed and came to our test with a full interior and at full weight. Don't let the license plates fool you; this machine displays as much refinement as Ozzy.
There are lots of fast cars. And there are lots of fast cars that are hard to drive fast. Just ask anyone who has been whooped on in 'Vettes, 911s and Vipers at a track event by a front-wheel-drive shitbox. Much of the MR's (or any EVO's) magic is the accessibility of its performance, the ease with which it works with beginners and pros alike to go really, really fast.
It's not hard to make a fast car, but making one this transparent and intuitive is a feat; it's this purity, this lack of nasty surprises that wins its place in our hearts. We see monster tires and a big turbo and the needle on our surprise-o-meter dances.
Responsible for nearly doubling the MR's stock horsepower number is the Garrett GT 3076 ball-bearing turbocharger that hangs from a Forcedfed stainless-steel exhaust manifold. This big, but not too big, turbo huffs down a 3-inch Forcedfed downpipe and out a 3-inch exhaust. A 38mm wastegate from TiAL with a 19-psi spring combined with a TiAL blow-off valve are on boost patrol. Desiring cool intake temps, regardless of the sometimes hellish West Coast ambient track temps, Forcedfed gurus fitted their front-mount intercooler kit that uses a Spearco bar-and-plate core.
The 4G63 responds well to aftermarket cams, in this case 262-degree intake, 264-degree exhaust Revolver bumpsticks, timed with AEM cam gears and working Revolver springs and retainers. Ensuring significant fuel demands are met is an in-tank Walbro 255-lph fuel pump and 780cc injectors, with an Autronic programmable ECU minding management.
The sweet perfume of race gas means the Forcedfed crew dialed in the full 30 psi of boost for our track and dyno testing. The MR blatted its way to 432 hp at 6300 rpm and 388 lb-ft of torque at 5300 rpm. It takes us several quarter-mile runs to get consistent numbers. There is a strange delay in power production between shifts, like the ECU is pulling timing; our guess is this could be fixed with a few keystrokes to the Autronic's code and would cull more than several tenths from the quarter-mile time.
Giving the throttle a double blip between shifts helps a bit, but the car's 12.4-second quarter-mile time at 115 mph doesn't reflect the horsepower figure, or the massive thrust it creates on boil. If fully dialed in for straight-line racing, the Forcedfed car would probably play happily in the 11s all day.
The twin-plate Cusco clutch does an excellent job of connecting 432-wheel hp to four wide Toyos, even with 6000-rpm clutch drops, but discretionary engagement is not part of its repertoire. The SR Motorsports flywheel to which the clutch is bolted weighs just 9.75 pounds, and when combined with the SR Motorsports short shifter, allows you to tear through the gearbox.