diff --git a/c/tools/quant_ablation.py b/c/tools/quant_ablation.py
index 7a870ff..689643a 100644
--- a/c/tools/quant_ablation.py
+++ b/c/tools/quant_ablation.py
@@ -106,33 +106,106 @@ def rotation(dim, device, seed=417):
     return q
 
 
-def quantize_param(w, bits, group, rot=False):
+def quantize_param(w, bits, group, rot=False, e8=""):
     if w.ndim == 3:                        # fused experts [E, in, out] -> move input last
         x = w.transpose(1, 2).contiguous()
-        x = _rot_quant(x, bits, group) if rot else _quant_last_dim(x, bits, group)
+        x = _rot_quant(x, bits, group, e8) if rot else _grid_or_e8(x, bits, group, e8)
         return x.transpose(1, 2).contiguous()
     if rot:
-        return _rot_quant(w, bits, group)
-    return _quant_last_dim(w, bits, group)  # nn.Linear [out, in] -- input already last
+        return _rot_quant(w, bits, group, e8)
+    return _grid_or_e8(w, bits, group, e8)  # nn.Linear [out, in] -- input already last
 
 
-def _rot_quant(x, bits, group):
+def _grid_or_e8(x, bits, group, e8):
+    if e8:
+        return _quant_e8(x.float(), group, ball=(e8 == "-e8"))
+    return _quant_last_dim(x, bits, group)
+
+
+def _rot_quant(x, bits, group, e8=""):
     """W -> Qn(W@Q) @ Q^T along the last (input) dim — see rotation() above."""
     q = rotation(x.shape[-1], x.device)
-    return (_quant_last_dim(x.float() @ q, bits, group) @ q.T).contiguous()
+    return (_grid_or_e8(x.float() @ q, bits, group, e8) @ q.T).contiguous()
 
 
-SCHEME_RE = re.compile(r"^int(2|3|4|8)(?:-g(\d+))?(-rot)?(-nohead)?$")
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# E8 lattice quantization (#81 follow-up): the -rot schemes above are QuaRot (rotation +
+# uniform grid). QuIP#'s 2-bit result needs the second ingredient — an E8 lattice codebook
+# instead of the grid. E8 = D8 ∪ (D8 + 1/2), nearest point via Conway–Sloane: round every
+# coordinate, and if the sum is odd re-round the worst coordinate the other way; repeat on
+# the half-shifted copy and keep the closer of the two. `-e8` clamps points to |p|^2 <= 10,
+# the E8P ball QuIP# builds its 2^16 codebook from (2 bits/weight for 8-dim blocks);
+# `-e8u` leaves the lattice unbounded — an ideal-codebook upper bound, not a deployable rate.
+# Scale: per group, a small MSE search over multiples of the block RMS (absmax is the wrong
+# statistic for a lattice — the ball wants energy matched, not the peak).
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+def _d8_nearest(y):
+    f = torch.round(y)
+    d = y - f
+    odd = (f.sum(-1).long() & 1).bool()
+    idx = d.abs().argmax(-1, keepdim=True)
+    step = torch.where(d.gather(-1, idx) >= 0, 1.0, -1.0)
+    flipped = f.gather(-1, idx) + step
+    return f.scatter(-1, idx, torch.where(odd[..., None], flipped, f.gather(-1, idx)))
+
+
+def _e8_nearest(y):
+    a = _d8_nearest(y)
+    b = _d8_nearest(y - 0.5) + 0.5
+    da = ((y - a) ** 2).sum(-1, keepdim=True)
+    db = ((y - b) ** 2).sum(-1, keepdim=True)
+    return torch.where(da <= db, a, b)
+
+
+def _e8_ball(y, r2=10.0):
+    p = _e8_nearest(y)
+    for _ in range(8):                                # shrink-and-requantize until inside
+        n2 = (p ** 2).sum(-1, keepdim=True)
+        over = n2 > r2 + 1e-6
+        if not over.any():
+            break
+        y = torch.where(over, y * torch.sqrt(r2 / torch.clamp(n2, min=r2)) * 0.98, y)
+        p = torch.where(over, _e8_nearest(y), p)
+    return p
+
+
+def _quant_e8(x, group, ball):
+    """Blocks of 8 along the input dim; per-group scale by MSE search over RMS multiples."""
+    if x.shape[-1] % 8:
+        raise SystemExit(f"-e8 needs input dim divisible by 8 (got {x.shape[-1]})")
+    g = group or x.shape[-1]
+    if g % 8:
+        raise SystemExit(f"-e8 group {g} must be a multiple of 8")
+    shp = x.shape
+    xg = x.reshape(-1, g)                             # [G, g]
+    rms = torch.clamp(xg.pow(2).mean(-1, keepdim=True).sqrt(), min=1e-8)
+    best_out, best_err = None, None
+    for k in (0.5, 0.7, 0.9, 1.1, 1.4, 1.8, 2.4):
+        s = rms * k
+        yb = (xg / s).reshape(-1, g // 8, 8)
+        p = _e8_ball(yb) if ball else _e8_nearest(yb)
+        out = (p.reshape(-1, g) * s)
+        err = (out - xg).pow(2).sum(-1, keepdim=True)
+        if best_err is None:
+            best_out, best_err = out, err
+        else:
+            take = err < best_err
+            best_out = torch.where(take, out, best_out)
+            best_err = torch.where(take, err, best_err)
+    return best_out.reshape(shp)
+
+
+SCHEME_RE = re.compile(r"^int(2|3|4|8)(?:-g(\d+))?(-e8u?)?(-rot)?(-nohead)?$")
 
 
 def parse_scheme(name):
-    """'int4-g128-nohead' -> (bits=4, group=128, skip_head=True). 'fp16' -> None."""
+    """'int4-g128-nohead' -> (bits, group, e8, skip_head...). 'fp16' -> None."""
     if name == "fp16":
         return None
     m = SCHEME_RE.match(name)
     if not m:
-        raise SystemExit(f"bad scheme '{name}' (expected fp16 | int{{2,3,4,8}}[-g<N>][-rot][-nohead])")
-    return int(m.group(1)), int(m.group(2) or 0), bool(m.group(3)), bool(m.group(4))
+        raise SystemExit(f"bad scheme '{name}' (expected fp16 | int{{2,3,4,8}}[-g<N>][-e8|-e8u][-rot][-nohead])")
+    return int(m.group(1)), int(m.group(2) or 0), m.group(3) or "", bool(m.group(4)), bool(m.group(5))
 
 
 def is_router(name):
@@ -152,7 +225,7 @@ def apply_scheme(model, scheme):
     spec = parse_scheme(scheme)
     if spec is None:
         return 0, 0, total
-    bits, group, rot, skip_head = spec
+    bits, group, e8, rot, skip_head = spec
     n = qp = 0
     with torch.no_grad():
         for name, p in model.named_parameters():
@@ -160,7 +233,7 @@ def apply_scheme(model, scheme):
                 continue
             if skip_head and is_head_or_embed(name):
                 continue
-            p.data.copy_(quantize_param(p.data.float(), bits, group, rot).to(p.dtype))
+            p.data.copy_(quantize_param(p.data.float(), bits, group, rot, e8).to(p.dtype))
             n += 1
             qp += p.numel()
     return n, qp, total