pyropolymer

Flatband barrels with narrow early centers. They are pitas since you have to split them to remove tires not to damage them. I need to return them to original gold, not easy since they are Mg Here’s the clearance to the brakes. Braid, factory fuchs and these E50’s 15’s clear, it may not always be the case with other 15” wheels.

I stumbled on this old thread searching 15”performances tires… I had an early 82 S3, but I wanted one with the standard 4lug speedlines wheels listed. The factory brochure showed pics of a yellow S3 only the larger option BBS. I was also convinced never actually existed since I’ve never even seen a single photo of a speedline S3 coupled with the fact it necessitated the complexity in offer the same car with different 4 or 5 lug hubs. I attended a lotus club meet at donnington back in 2001, lo and behold I saw the hen’s teeth…a S3 with speedlines! I had to double check since it had the smaller S2 bumpers on it. But the small light-catcher ridge on the rockers and larger vented intake ears indicates it was indeed a S3. I posted of photos of it (red car, silver speedlines) on this forum many years ago. I will see if I can find it to repost. On the question whether a 14inch fits over the 275mm (10.4) rotors, I do believe they can with room to spare. I have personally fitted 15 inch BBS E50’s wheels over my 930 with factory brakes specs of 309mm (12.7”) which is only 2.3” larger than the rotor diameter. The vented rotors and 917 styled 4 piston calipers are also much larger in cross section than the thin solid rotors and esprit calipers. It’s extremely tight but it clears. lotus my have added to the confusion on the S1/S2 tire sized. The early brochures featured the preproduction (red) car that had various item not found on production car… interior vents, rear inset taillights panel, optimistic weight and yes those narrower 195 60 14 front tires. But these specs my have gotten transferred into print for the publication on the actual production cars. I think they updated the spec sheet to 205’s with the white S1 brochure car To the best of my knowledge, I can’t recall if the production S1 was ever equipped with 195 fronts. Ive seen brand new S1 cars way back when in 2 different dealerships and they had all had 205 fronts. These Dunlop SP tires I recall were sexy had hell, beautiful sidewall sections and a complex tread pattern. I wish longstone would prod Dunlop to reproduce them Just my observations… cheers PP

So the S4 chassis drops on an early G body without any mods? I was always trying to figure out which esprit was the best handling wise. Some have suggested it's the 2.0T gt3 Stevens esprit. A big thing for me is how to retain the deep dish look of the S1,2and 3s over the more modern offset of the Stevens cars. I wonder if there is any interest her for larger S1 wheels even though the S2 are my fav. Say like a 7-1/2x15, 9x15 rears? S1 wheels seem to be in demand and wheel lends its self for a 4 or 5 bolt pattern in which I can't do with gorgeous s2 speedlines.

luv the idea of your project silverfrost. didnt you converted a 4lug turbo s3 to a 5 lug hub in the past? this was the reason i wanted those rare turbo 4 lug hub!

i wouldnt be so sure that 308 airfoil was pointless... just because the ferrari didnt explain its function dosent mean it didnt work (big debate on fchat). pinninfarina built a new wind tunnel in the late 60's. the 74 boxer was the first production fcar to be extensively tested have one of these roof airfoils. in 77 a car called the aerodynimico based on the 308gtb was unveil in geneva featuring many areo add-on also had this roof airfoil. many of these features ended up on the 308qvs and 288gto. was it a fad or a styling gimmick? most likely yes. did it worked? most likely yes. many station wagons had similar airfoils to guide the are around the back-light as well as rallye cars right up to the modern ages that were wind tunnel developed. lotus did have a habit of posting all sorts of numbers and spec that nobody can ever replicate back then. if its anywhere near .32 cd its still amongst the slipperiest car of the 70's. porsche 924 and the Renault Fuego went to great lengths to boast to the public when they got their cars down to .32-.35 cd

will a SE/S4 chassis bolt right up to a S1-S2-S3 body? that would be the preferred way but much more work? Im not sure if "saggitarius" ever finished his car but seems to you just need a lower A arm, upright, new pickup point and a reinforce triangulation beam. http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/28055-ls4-engine-into-esprit-s2/?page=4

there a fellow who adapted the lower wide base post 85 lower arm to an early S3. i recall he added another pickup point further forward on the existing subframe. im not sure what upright he used, im assuming its was the later S3's. ive driven and later S3 turbo, compared to my early 83, i would agree the front end is much better.

I wouldn't think there would be a space problem. I've seen hewlands and Audi transaxles back there. Btw rob at singer used to be a lotus designer. they about a half dozen of them there under construction. Up close they are stunning under the skin Pics don't do them justice

gee... might thoughts exactly! same s1 body, same 250hp NA, same HC s3 (toyota front end) chassis, same size 15inch wheels (wolfrace style even though i luv the speedlines and think they are the best of all esprits). i paid a visted to the singer shop were my ex college roommate works in creating the cars. he introduced to rob, the owner of singers and it confirm to me the esprit would be the perfect car for a similar transformation that i had in the back of my head for decades. unfortunately there is nothing i can use on my 81 s3 NA even though its in fantastic shape. it just has the wrong components. minor difference is integrated roll cage, updated pedal assembly, bigger brakes, 225 50 15f 245 50 15r (silver proto had 265 in back). carbon lightweight hood, doors, deck-lid otherwise stock S1 looking body. big question for me is keep the Citroen transaxle or not? like the inboard brakes hate the slow shifting. having a lighting quick change modern box with proper gear-set to keep the high rpm motor spinning would ad immense smiles over the stock box.

Great to hear you haven't abandon this project! Looking forward to more of your post... cheers pp

stunning! what a fantastic resto job....

very interesting mod... i would like to have that myself on my early S3 im no suspension expert but i can tell you most modern production car have the the A-arm converging (in side veiw) towards the center of the car below the CG. this point which is referred as the instant center gives it an anti-dive effect under hard braking to conteract sprung weight transfer. for instance the early 308 didnt have very much or any anti-dive while the 328 they did add this feature in. adding too much will cause the suspension to bind on ecessive travel if as i recall. can any suspension expert chime in? regards pp

a little cleaner i suppose...:-) cheers pp

nice pics... i was always curious what mine looks like underneath. once u get it all back together please let us know how your coil overs work out. there has been some debate on using them on the front. cheers pp