You can say what you want. All I know is that I got a completely stock GTS at 28,000 with a completely shot 3rd gear syncros, and 4th gear was about to follow it. 05-06 Lotus owners can vouch for how weak the stock tranny is, even NA. After a few months, I finally made time to get a new tranny replaced under warranty, and have put over almost 40,000 miles on my new tranny with almost no griding to speak of after babying it for daily driving.
CLIFF NOTES: THE STOCK TRANNY IS WEAK AS FCUK.
As for me saying they're running mid 11's, that's something cool these decently well off Lotus owners can accomplished with a bolt on kit, and something to consider when going over to Celicas. Maybe we can get in the 12's with that. Who knows, till it's done. If it wasn't for some wealthy Lotus owners wanting to put this setup in their light weight car, this TVS thread wouldn't have been created. Read the first post. Drawing parallels to the Lotus is going to be inherit in this thread, whether you like it or not.
As for the quarter mile claim, here you go, and EVERYTHING he has done to his car:
http://www.drjanestewart.com/darksol/showcase.html
11.9 @ 119 mph, with a 1.77 60'. And since I have to put a disclaimer on everything I post now...obviously this is a drag racing guy...and he did some work to the suspension and weight reduction in order to run those times. Nothing too crazy, if you really look at his mod list. The car is still designed to take turns well, and not to just go fast in a straight line.
Anyway, I'm sure I'm not crazy that I saw him post up a mid 11's time once. I might be wrong, and I'll readily admit I'm wrong if he's
ONLY pulling high 11's with this bolt on kit and weight reduction...
NM, I found where I saw the mid 11's estimation from:
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/1276214-post1152.html
If I remember correctly Jim ran a 13.165 @ 111.91 mph with his clutch slipping all over the damn place... and a 2.548 second 60' time. Pretty damn impressive!
I need to be able to hit 8700rpm to avoid hitting 5th gear... then I should be able to pull a 11.75 @ 121.3 mph run... If I'm stuck at 8200rpm then I'll run 11.99 @ 114.5 mph. The shift is just at the wrong time...
Here's the shift rpm vs. ET table:
shift rpm / time slip
8000 = 12.10 @ 113.0
8100 = 12.05 @ 113.6
8200 = 11.99 @ 114.5
8300 = 11.93 @ 116.0
8400 = 11.88 @ 118.0
8500 = 11.83 @ 119.9
8600 = 11.79 @ 121.1
8700 = 11.75 @ 121.3 (no shift to 5th)
8800 = 11.72 @ 121.5
8900 = 11.69 @ 121.6
9000 = 11.66 @ 121.7
Yeah the XTSS clutch requires more "pedal power" but it holds everything... so far
I guess he's running high 11's, with potential to run mid 11's. I'll own up to that, and say that's my mistake. He just need a little bit more power. Still not bad considering this car first started off in the mid 13's.
But seriously...when turning a 15 second car to a 12 second car is a bolt on ordeal...and turning a 15 second car to a 11 second car calls for rebuilding of the engine AND maybe the transmission...the choice is clear as to which power goals will fit the majority of our budgets...so yea...we get it..we aim low...but we're stuck with our non-factory turbo'd 2zz powered cars with weak stock trannys...if going big turbo is worth the trouble so much...just make a thread about the pros vs the cons so all we have to do is search for it for reference...