The Sun Speed DIY Kit is the world standard for Elise powered by Honda. There are many happy SunSpeed converts world wide. England, Taiwan, Australia, China, Japan, Singapore, Europe, Norway, New Zealand, Malaysia and, various parts of the US.
"A dozen Series II Elises showed up (all slower, of course). The only two cars that consistently out-drove me were a Noble (oh my God, that's a fast car) and a Ferrari 360 Challenge car (ditto, but the sound was even better)" - USA SunSpeed installation
"Just be driving and smiling. Even commute to the office periodically in it. Lot's of enthusiastic good comments ... most people assume it's a Series II ("oh, that's got the Toyota motor in it, doesn't it?") My mechanic was really very impressed with the thoroughness and professionalism of the design/install. It's really a work of art. You should feel great about the accomplishment" - RP USA
"615 kg Elise" - JB Australia
"Tom, . . . the car runs very well and is great. I love it. We still do some testing. The problem with the drive shaft was that they have been change to S2, Here are 2 pictures of it when I was doing the first test. I’ll send you more later. Everybody in HK is looking after us and start asking me questions. I guess you will send more around here soon". - Hong Kong
"Tom, car was fantastic at Silverstone. Could have done with some better tyres as the ones I had have a very hard compound, they are not even showing any wear! A few dramas in the morning when it was wet, I even got hit by a Caterham who lost it at the end of the main straight but no major damage.
A good mix of cars there, about 15 or so Elises and Exiges, then about 4 Porsches, Subaru WRX's, Mitsy Evo's, Caterhams, Civics, MR2 Turbo's, BMW's, in all about 50 cars. In the wet we were close to being the slowest, just no grip anywhere even at low tyre pressures, but when things dried out we passed everything and were easily the fastest on track, other than a full race GT3 997 Porsche on testing duty. Damn that was fast!! My car was faster than a new Toyota powered supercharged Exige and was spitting flame on downshift. Was also (Porsche GT3 excepted) the noiseiest!! Luckily no noise restrictions on that day.
My set up is as follows: Coil over suspension adjustable for damping and height, 400lb 9" springs on the rear, 275lb 8" springs on the front (too soft, will try 325lb) . Rear ride height 120mm front ride height 110mm. Bump steer characteristics very good, did dive a bit under brakes though. Tyres 195/45 16" on 7" rims front and 225/45 17" 7.5" rims rear (8" would be better). Car balance was good and able to choose under steer or over steer with turn in and throttle. tyre pressures front 19psi cold (24 hot) rear 20psi cold (25 hot).
Plenty of interest and, a number of other drivers asking what the @@@!! have you got in there! Gave a couple of demos. Car ran well with good engine temperatures and no snatch or excessive vibration. It did, however, split both inner CV boots. These were the Honda items and were fitted comfortably without stretch. Maybe research some more pliable boots? Brakes need improvement also, may change to steel discs??" - Steve, UK
"Honda K20 engine is 20 lbs lighter than the B18" - JC USA
"Honda power train was 64 lbs heavier than the removed Motorsport Rover" - RS USA
"'An inconvenient truth' the Rover engine is not up to the rest of the car." TC USA
If your Elise could speak she'd say give me a Honda engine . . . please, s'il tu plait, onegaishimasu,
A Honda Elise owner - "you can feel the road and, it feels good."