Lotus Espirit
02-26-2003, 07:21 AM
#31
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: union, new jersey
Posts: 8,079
Originally Posted by sidewinderx7' date='Feb 26 2003, 12:41 AM
jesus, come on people! The espirit comes in a v8 TT and a v8 NA. Both are very quick cars! My uncle used to have one. But i would take the exige over the espirit.. nothing can touch those things in the corners! NOTHING! 
03-07-2003, 07:06 PM
#33
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: teh frozen nort
Posts: 1,030
sweet Esprit 3D screen saver here:
http://go-concepts.themes.tucows.com/saver...iew/250016.html
warning, seems to be a bit of a resource hog
J
http://go-concepts.themes.tucows.com/saver...iew/250016.html
warning, seems to be a bit of a resource hog
J
03-07-2003, 07:15 PM
#34
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: teh frozen nort
Posts: 1,030
Oh, didn't read the last couple responses - to set the record straight, the S1 Esprit had an N/A 2.0L four. So did the S2. 160hp. At the end of S2 production there was the S2.2, so called because the engine was enlarged to 2.2L. The S3 was available in 2.2L N/A and 2.2L single turbo form. The turbo was non-intercooled. The S3 was the last of the Guigaro cars. In 1987 the Stevens redesign made its appearance, powered by the same engines as the S3. The N/A variant was very rare though and only in England. The S3 turbos and the early Stevens cars were carburetted with dual sidedraft Dell'Ortos. In 1989 or 1990, forget which, the SE model was made available with an intercooled version of the 2.2L single-turbo engine and 250hp. This was increased for later models up to I believe about 280 for the S4S. I don't remember when the V8 was introduced, probably about 1994 or so. The V8 was always twin-turbo, intercooled. It was basically two of the four-cylinders put together, with a displacement of 3.5L. The most power it put out was 350hp in the aptly named Sport 350 variant.
There, more than you ever wanted to know about Esprit engines.
J
There, more than you ever wanted to know about Esprit engines.
J
03-12-2003, 10:32 AM
#36
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 502
It's best to think of the espirt as a flawed genius. It has a great profile, but it's spoiled by the various bits of plastic that have been tacked on over the years. The foot well is poorly shaped with the left front wheel being where you would want a dead pedal. Its biggest downfall is the drive train. It has a glass French transmission and non LSD. That is why the V8tt only has 350hp.....that number was achieved w/o intercooling! Even with 350hp the gearbox doesn't hold up well. There are countless posts on the esprit forum about broken gearboxes and half shafts. One owner said that lotus told him the half shafts are good for only about 10 launches! There are also lots of other "character flaws" that make it a hard choice (Pontiac steering wheel, fuel tank(s) corrosion, limited dealer support, a custom $70 windshield wiper, ect.
A group in the UK was building up an esprit V8 race car last year. They put in a qualfie gearbox ($10,000+), cut apart most of the interior fiberglass and replaced it with rivoted alloy and a steel tubing, changed the turbos, added intercoolers and gave it proper fender flares-not the pep boy tackons that come with the car. Maybe that is the way to do it. Buy one for $50,000 and dump another 50 into it. I've always thought it would be neat to stuff a 20b into it with a porsche transaxle
I agree, the S4 is the best looking esprit.
A group in the UK was building up an esprit V8 race car last year. They put in a qualfie gearbox ($10,000+), cut apart most of the interior fiberglass and replaced it with rivoted alloy and a steel tubing, changed the turbos, added intercoolers and gave it proper fender flares-not the pep boy tackons that come with the car. Maybe that is the way to do it. Buy one for $50,000 and dump another 50 into it. I've always thought it would be neat to stuff a 20b into it with a porsche transaxle
I agree, the S4 is the best looking esprit.
