Project cars are at the core of the PistonHeads community; they epitomise the fun, knowledge and love for cars that reaches every corner of the site. Whether it's swapping a dinky 1.4 for a V8 with glowing, or restoring a beleaguered wreck to factory-spec glory, you'll find labours of love in all shapes and sizes here. And this weeks Reader's Car is no exception to that rule - PHer turbotoaster is on a mission to turn his Lotus Elise into a drag car, and is taking us along for the ride.
It's not often you see a car that is built for a specific purpose, then modified to do something else entirely. In this case our intrepid PHer is taking a sports car, one designed for tackling twists and turns, and turning it into a 600hp+ drag racer. But where the little Elise may have been developed with corners in mind, its greatest attribute continues to benefit it when it comes to going in a straight line very quickly: lightness.
Even with its featherweight stature, the Elise's standard engine is never going to break any records on a long straight, though, which is why turbotoaster has installed a 1.8l turbocharged Rover K Series engine with around 600hp, which he built himself. Add drag tyres to the equation and you're looking at a very quick car, although one that is prone to a few problems along the way...