The Honda K20/K24 swaps are gaining popularity among Elise/Exige owners and Sean’s build is a good demonstration of why.
Sean has owned his Elise for years. It has well over 100,000 hard miles on it; coast to coast road trips, spirited weekend driving and countless rigorous track days. It got around ok on the stock 2ZZ engine but it really hurts during a track day when you get a wave-by and you simply can’t go by in the straightaways even when the other guy is at half throttle. He needed a substantial power increase but also wanted to increase reliability and drivability.
The Honda K20/K24 swap is an obvious choice. Instant throttle response, simplicity and reliability, light weight, improved 6-speed transmission (some with factory LSD). Even stock, the K20 easily outruns a modified naturally aspirated 2ZZ. Pep the K20 or K24 up with a camshaft upgrade and you’re outrunning the factory supercharged 2ZZ. Increase compression and you’ve got a real monster on your hands, with some builds making 275+ whp (315+ hp) naturally aspirated on premium fuel from only 2 liters!
Power problem: solved. The new engine screams to 9000rpm and chases down even the fastest competitors on track. This video gives you a good idea of how it stacks up against a stock-ish Exige S 220.
Monkeywrench Racing stocks a broad lineup of Honda swap parts for the Elise/Exige as well as the MR2 Spyder. More parts are in the works; we want to make it easier and cheaper to make even more power with these swaps. We also do complete swap installs at our shop in Southeast Michigan (USA)