extremeesprit

Looks Great. Just remember to insulate the EGR pipe so it doesnt melt the elbows Johan

Guy Therien, is another nut that buys wrecked esprits and restores them better than new . lol Nathan, you have my number. If you like, call me and Ill give you his contact info

Fuel filter in the V8 esprit is the same one as in a suburban Cheers, Johan

haha, The bulk of vehicles driven in The USA have automatic transmissions, hence a higher potential of failures when drivers dont know how to shift. You wouldnt believe it but 2 years ago at LOG in Alabama Lotus asked us what we would like to see in the new esprit and it was suggested building it with an automatic transmission Johan

Its a very long project. Im building my engine from scratch. I just got a billet crank made. Other mods includes new cams, ported heads, forged pistons, custom exhaust manifolds, maybe a custom intake manifold, custom main bearings to withstand higher HP output (containing more indium) . My goal is to get the car up to 225 MPH top speed without exploding the transmission or engine. My transmission is already totally redone and finished. I also have a G50 tranny which has been sitting in my garage for the last 2 years. To be honest with you I have not done much at all to my esprit in the last year. However, my inspiration is coming back and I am planning to have my car ready for racing next summer/fall. Johan

There are 2 type of rear bumpers: 1 made from fiberglass 1 made from plastic They both look the same, except that the fiberglass one does not have the side markers The last mentioned type is difficult to paint since it is so flexible. Guy Therien May have an additional bumper 4 you. Johan

Muffler ?? Cat ?? Whats that ???

Hahaha, S O L D Cannot wait until I get your engine Mike. I just need something to drive meanwhile I'm building my own engine. Johan (BTW my wife sent me to the doghouse for a few weeks for purchasing your engine )

I keep on seeing this all the time, people saying how bad the transmission is and that as soon as you do anything to the car it will break. When you purchase an ecu upgrade, you only have to wait until you see transmission parts falling out behind the car. Interesting enough, these comments mostly come from people who never have had any experience modifying esprits and only reading posts from others who never had any experience modifying esprits. I have been racing esprits for a very long time and spend a lot of time with other people who are racing and modifying esprits. I have also spent a lot of time with GT40 replicas who are also using the same transmission (without the specially hardened "Lotus" gears), but with 500HP in lieu of the 350HP Lotus engines and they are also spending most of their time tracking their cars. Most transmission failures comes from people who does not know how to shift or drive their cars modified or not. I agree that the Lotus tranny has weaker 2nd gear, but by all means the esprit is not as fragile as everyone is picturing it. The esprit is ment to be driven and driven hard. It is not a trailer queen and to drive grandma around the block vehicle. A matter of fact the car will break more often if it is not driven enough. Granted, you can go overboard modifying and then need to beef up other components, but this is the same for any vehicle. As long you do it in moderation, you will have a very drivable car that will last a very long time. The Red ecu upgrade will not give you an additional 100HP like Lotus says without doing some further modifications to the car like changing the wastegates. However, I think the ecu upgrade by itself is wonderful. The car will feel much stronger, run smoother and cooler. The only real downside to it is that the car will run richer and shorten the life of your cats. (Stepping off my soapbox) Johan

The rattle was caused from the ring fittings inside the muffler. They where welded in placew and the problem was fixed. I definitely agree that the outer casing helps the airflow. A matter of a fact I know so. I had to construct a special diffuser for my car for stability at high speeds Johan ExtremeEsprit

This is the stock muffler out of a center exhaust 2003 esprit Johan ExtremeEsprit

Well I had a friend open his muffler because of a rattle inside it which is rather common for the V8. Opening the muffler revealed this.... Pretty interesting Im no muffler expert, but this doesnt really look like much Johan ExtremeEsprit

The fatal one used no water injection whatsoever. Just 18lb springs, exhaust, ECU, reflowed TEC turbos. Blew a hole through a piston 3 months later. My car is using 18 lb springs as well during normal driving and 20 lb during racing with propane and NOS injection. Of course I also have a custom bottom end and transmission as well. Matt, in your case I feel you have a pretty good setup unless you run out of water all suddenly. Johan

A lot of info here. I just skimmed this thread, but wanted to give some input. To get 450 HP is actually pretty simple. Just change the ecu to mine or marcuses. Then change the waste gates to 15 lb or something. I know about several cars running this exact configuration. I also know about some cars that have tried 18 lb springs which has proofed fatal. I know that after 500 HP there are other factors that can effect the engine such as the need of forged pistons, new studs, and new main bearings. Yes the mains are too soft to support much over 500HP and need to be replaced with harder bearings. However, everyone knows about the pistons or thru bolts. I know this from real experience and the bearings was the first to suffer not the pistons. No I never splattered my engine over the pavement or ever blew my engine up. I have attended many race events with no major failures with 500HP. I was running my car with +500HP for over a year without any issues. However, I opted to rebuild the engine before increasing the power even further. The good news is that with either the PUK ecu or mine the car runs very rich. Maybe even too rich, but I rather have it that way than blowing up the cast stock pistons. There have been many requests to increase the rpm limit or lean out the fuel curves. Driveability at 500HP is also another experience. It will compare to driving the car on ice all the time as you get beyond 450HP. I would actually be more concerned about the transmission or clutch than the engine at 500HP. This is where my catastrophic failure occured during my speed trials. Hope this little info helps Johan

The bad news about the X180R cage is that it is more decorative <duck> What I am trying to say is that originally I tried to install the exact cage which is supplied from "Safety Devices" in UK. However, I came to find out that the X180R bolt on type cage never will pass tech in any of my events. It was too wimpy!!. Also the cost of the X180R cage was a lot higher than the custom cage I installed into my car. Also I managed to fit my cages main hoop behind the firewall instead for inside behind the seat. This gave me a lot more room!! You may also want to talk to Danny French. He is installing a custom rollcage into his car as well. Johan