Brakes 10.5in discs front, 10.8in rear, with servo 10.2in ventilated front on Turbo V8 vented 11.7in front, 11.8in rear Sport 350 12.6in f/r.Steering rack and pinion, 2.8 turns lock to lock (3.1 on V8), power assisted from 1993.Suspension front double wishbones, anti-roll bar rear upper/lower transverse links, longitudinal radius arm, a-r bar on V8 coils, telescopics f/r.
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Engine all-alloy dohc 16-valve 2174/1973cc ‘four’, with twin Dell’Orto DHLA45 carbs or EFI plus Garrett T3 turbo or all-alloy dohc 32-valve 3506cc V8 with electronic injection plus two Garrett T25 turbos 172bhp 6500rpm-349bhp 6500rpm 160lb ft 5000rpm to 295lb ft 4250rpm.Construction steel backbone chassis, GRP body.Steering racks wear on early cars (as do column UJs) and can leak on PAS models. The V8 clutch lasts 20,000 miles in normal use a heavy clutch and difficult gear selection mean imminent replacement.īudget £1000 each end to properly overhaul the suspension. Turbos, intercooler pipes, oil feed pipes, catalytic converters and exhaust systems can all have short lives if not treated with respect: £4k to sort. If the wastegate operators (two on V8s) fail due to heat-induced corrosion, the engine can overboost with devastating consequences. “Parts are getting scarce and they suffer from DiY mechanics stripping threads.”Įxtreme exhaust heat, and vibration, have knock-on effects on various components that, if ignored, lead to a £10-15,000 engine rebuild – so check extremely carefully. “Preserve that engine at all costs,” warns Geoff Davidson at Esprit Engineering. The V8 was new, exclusive and magnificent – but highly strung. Cars with a chargecooler have a separate electric pump for the intercooler circulation, which suffers with age the impeller can be replaced, but a new pump is better. The four-cylinder engine was thoroughly developed by this stage and, if carefully maintained, is very reliable. Odometers can fail: look for odd readings in the paperwork.
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Study the bills and try to buy a car that has always been pampered, and properly stored if unused for long periods.ĭon’t pay full price for an Esprit without full history and look for even panel gaps, especially around headlight pods. The V8 is also much more complex, and hence costlier to run.Īnything less than snap acceleration and top-class handling indicates that something is wrong. The Esprit’s balance and agility were legendary, which Lotus succeeded in carrying forward to the V8s, while endowing them with superb braking, too – but the extra weight made it more of a handful, and more liable to bite. It had the image, and class, to stand tall alongside V6s, V8s, V10s and V12s from its rivals. In the end, though, the Esprit needed an engine that sounded better, but the V8 still needs an aftermarket exhaust to sound its best. With 302bhp, a stiffer chassis and massive rear track, it’s worth more than double the price of a standard model.ĭeveloped at a cost of £5.5m at the same time as Lotus was developing the Elise, the V8 was a long time coming – because the four-pot was just so good. For example, the Sport 300 was a homologation special for the GT1 version that raced at Le Mans in 1993. The big rear wing on the V8-SE was optional on the V8-GT, and many specified it. Julian Thompson tidied it up to produce the S4 of ’93, with new rear wing, bumpers and side scoop, plus a much-revamped interior incorporating Vauxhall parts from Lotus’ new owner. The new Vacuum Assisted Resin Injection process for glassfibre body production improved quality and Kevlar reinforcement stiffened the shell. The gearbox was changed to the stronger Renault GTA transaxle, necessitating outboard rear brakes. The Stevens makeover was claimed to be much more aerodynamic than before, as well as being stiffer and more spacious, with better trim, instruments and controls – but it was 500lb heavier. Mid-range acceleration was blistering, handling awesome and only the soundtrack proved disappointing. Why you’d want a Lotus Esprit (1987-2004)īy the time of the Peter Stevens redesign (coded X180), the Esprit was such a well-sorted, affordable machine that you had to conclude that people bought Ferraris only for the name and Porsches for dependability, so dramatically did the Turbo undercut them on price and beat them on performance.