jollyroger

In my personal opinion it is not really apples and oranges. Even though the Esprit (in my opinion) more of a supercar look than the Evora, the power figures are not that different, and the Evora is a lot more modern in all the mechanical components. I would be interested to know what kind of lap times the 4 cylinder and V8 Esprit could make with a decent setup and very good tires, that would make a fair comparison. Perhaps the Esprit then wouldn't be 12 seconds a lap slower than the Evora, don't you think?

It's really that much of a massacre? I know the Esprit gearbox alone would add seconds to the time, but I didn't expect the difference to be that large!

Over the years I have checked regularly for updates on the Sport 300 vs. Sport 350 topic to see if eventually a fair comparison was done, but now a new contender emerged I wonder how the various models of Esprit would fare against the Evora on track... Any clues or facts? Cheers, Francesco

Hi Jussi, I have been at the Monza F1 race a few times, and I found that the Variante Ascari is a decent place to be. You get to see the cars coming down the straight from Lesmo, brake hard for the Variante, and then accelerate hard towards the Parabolica. There is also a giant screen in front of the grandstands there to watch the rest of the race Check on the map Monza circuit map, the place I mentioned is grandstands 13-14-15-16. Cheers, Francesco

I have to say I am a bit partial to the 4 cylinders, I like the old-school kick-in-the-back when the boost comes on... When I test driven a V8 I expected it to be much, much faster than it was, or actually I expected it to be more... different and to me it wasn't, just smoother and more tractable at low-rpms. The V8s are great, don't get me wrong, I am just a bit nostalgic of the turbo F1, Group B Rally and Group C sport cars, biased towards small displacement with lots of forced induction Frio

Hi Rob, nice to meet you virtually :-) I hope that sooner or later we get together for a chat and a drink! I am still mulling over the possibility of bringing my S4 here, I have received the letter from Lotus that states the exact manufacturing date, which is April 28, 1994; it means that two weeks from now the car will be 15 years old, which virtually eliminates any import restrictions and that is the very reason I am contemplating this possibility... Francesco

A four-rotor Wankel engine has the kind of character very few other powertrain components possess... At the peak of their motorsport success the R26B fitted with variable-length intake produced (and still does) an absolutely incredible noise, a kind of scream that has very little in common with reciprocating engines, just glorious!

Thanks, I will!

Hello everyone, does anybody know by any chance whether it is possible to know the exact build date of our esprits? The VIN number decoder shows the year, but I need to know at least the month when mine was built... Any help is appreciated Cheers, Jollyroger

Hello Patrick, thank you very much for your welcome! Any chance we could meet up somewhere for a drink and a chat over the next few weeks? I am in the middle of a debate on whether to get the S4 here, or whether to look for another Esprit (V8 perhaps), so I would love to talk to someone who has owned a recent V8 for a while... Cheers! Francesco

Hello everybody, thanks for the welcome :-) Thanks for the tips, I believe I have read everything that is humanly possible about importing cars to Canada, and I believe I can import it for two reasons: 1) Right now I am on a 1 year work permit, and that should allow me to import my own car with some restrictions (I cannot sell it, and I cannot register it with Ontario plates) for the duration of the work permit itself. 2) In April 2009 my S4 will be exactly 15 years old :-), that means I should be able to import the S4 and register it here with no restrictions whatsoever. Is anybody here from Toronto by the way? I would really love to meet someone local for a chat! :-) Cheers! Jollyroger

I saw this very car in person at the Toronto Lotus dealership showroom nearly 5 years ago, it looks like it is still there... Cheers, Jollyroger

Hello everybody, my name is Francesco (aka Jollyroger), I am an Italian engineer and I just moved to Toronto to live and work here. I am also a proud Esprit owner (Calypso Red S4) and I am contemplating the idea of shipping it here from Italy and registering it here during the spring. Any suggestions on shipping companies which perform international car shipments? Any suggestions on where to service an Esprit in Toronto? It would be very nice to meet some of you to talk Lotus if anybody happens to live in or around Toronto! Cheers! Jollyroger

That would be extremely likely Forza Motorsport 3... I am really glad to see they are putting the Esprit in the game :-) Jollyroger

Guys thanks a lot! The problem manifested itself after a long trip of about 1000 Km in two days. I had everything checked before departure so the problem came to be while on the trip, likely due to the many Kms travelled. I haven't pushed the car much during the trip, but could it be that some of the screws on the cam towers loosened up a bit? As you say I am NOT going to tighten anything just to try something, as I could make it worse, but I am wondering whether the vibrations on the long run might have loosened something... Cheers!! Jollyroger

Thank you for the tips guys! Is there a way I can verify mre accurately where the oil comes from? Would it possible for it to come out of the head gasket? I have looked carefully and it doesn't seem to be the case but... Cheers! Jollyroger

Hello everybody, after my last trip with the S4 I put her in the box for a few days, and the first time I took her out for a spin again after two minutes smoke started coming out of one of the engine air vents on the rear bonnet. I immediately stopped to check what was going on. It looks like there is an oil leak somewhere in the top part of the head, with a tiny bit of oil dripping down the side of the engine and then running down the exhaust manifold. When the car starts up and the manifold heats up the oil burns and smokes. The leak doesn't seem to be very bad, as if I wipe the oil from the parts it takes a long while before I see more oil down the exhaust. One thing that puzzles me is where the oil is coming from: at first inspection it looks like the leak is not in the head gasket, but rather between the head and the piece of head containing the exhaust camshaft, can this actually happen? Is it bad? Cheers! Jollyroger

Hey simonf, I agree 100% with you, although we are talking about Group B here, aren't we? B) I am a big Lancia supporter and I like all of them, Fulvia, 037, all the Integrales... I also happen to have an Integrale...

Excuse me, but talking about Group B, how about this? It certainly gets my vote...

That is the S300 I am going to check out next week, all being well... Jollyroger

I completely agree with what has been said so far, it surely is a blend of style and performance, certainly biased towards the looks. When I drive the Esprit sometimes I get the odd rice burner trying to race, but you know what? I couldn't care less about racing with them! It is completely not the point, this car is gorgeous and fast, with sublime handling given almost 100% by its mechanical components rather than the electronics, do I need to race and beat a Subaru to have fun with this car? No sir, I have fun just by staring at it in the office parking lot when I go home from work lit by a lone street light, or when I open the garage doors and its front bumper catches the sun. If I ever sell it, it will be to get another Esprit, just a different model...

What do you mean "they canceled this"?

Excellent tip, thanks!

Hello everyone, here I am again, with a question that remains unsolved for me. 300 or 350? What do you guys think? If you had a chance which one would it be? Cheers! JR

Thanks everybody for the tips, and by the way it's not the lime green one, while I wouldn't mind that part I cannot stand the interior... I will go and check it out myself first, and then perhaps go back with a specialist, but it won't be easy.