The Lotus Grand Tourers

MARTOQUEZ32

Do you know if the cam belt has been changed recently?

Even if you don't know either way a quick check to see if the cam timing isn't a tooth out of syncho might be wise for peace of mind. When the crank is at top dead centre the two dimples on the cam timing sprockets should meet in the middle IIRC (but see the WSM for the exact description). Worth a check just to exclude that as a possibility.

You should be able to at least match a BMW with a 3.5 litre engine or a 3 litre diesel ...they are my favourite for performance testing against. I had one (535) move over in a chase up a drag only the other evening (you've gotta use 4th gear). I reeled him in a lot quicker than I expected.....and he didn't dare put in a challenge for the rest of the journey (I know it's a sad preoccupation to be chasing down BMWs, but hey!).

Lotus-e-Clan
I replaced the cam belt the same day I bought the car (one month ago) with the great help of this forum, but I put the metalic cam belt cover in a wrong position and this cover broke partially the cam belt when I started the engine, then I put a new cam belt but perhaps I lost the exact position of any pulley.
After this, the car started OK but didn´t run OK, then I turned to the left one postion (one tooth) the ignition pulley and the car run better but with low performance.
I´ll try this weekend to check the cam timing marks as you suggested and adjust the ignition timing turning the Lucas distributor.
Thanks for your help.

It is possible that the distributor pulley is still one tooth out of position - worth checking when you look at the cam timing marks.

Sounds like you have the ignition timing out.

When I did my cam belt I found that the ignition pulley was very easy to move unlike the cam one's.

I suppose you have seen this:

http://www.benani.co.uk/cambelt.html

I would suggest a check on the ignition timing with a strobe light to see if the timing is out.

if the cam belt is a tooth out only on the aux pully (DIZZI) i wouldnt recomend de-tentioning it, mooving the pully and re-tentioning it... just change the position og the dizzi if it is possible, vacume advance module allowing..., cam belt failure can be caused by playing about with tention...

I change the position of the dizzi yesterday, turning it a little to the left and the car runs better now. When I can put the correct 98 RON fuel (now I´m using Unleaded 95 RON ) I´ll try to adjust the timing better.

Thank you.