Ekku

My Esprit does that too. Sometimes the odometer reading is not seen for weeks. When car sitä unused longer like Winters months for example, the reading shows normally. It does clock more KMS when driving, so I am not much worried about it.

I have booked the time for geometry check. I had it checked 2 years ago, but better to be sure everything is In order.

No, only the Anti-roll bar bushes. I am considering now to change the rest, but I am not sure if that is necessary or beneficial considering the street driving. Opinions welcomed.

I had a track day with my Esprit a week ago. I noticed heavy vibration to the steering wheel under heavy braking. In street with light braking this did not occur. I have also had some vibration similar to unbalanced wheels on regular driving. After track day me and my mechanic friend did sort of yearly service to the car and changed the Anti-roll bar bushes to the polyurethane ones which I had bought earlier. It had a huge impact on cars driving behaviour. Steering is now go-kart precise and the vibration is gone. It is hard to believe how much improvement can be had for so little work and cost.😃

I though so. Something to do in long finnish winter nights... I must do a lidt of things which to check when the engine is taken out. Any advice what to inspect while In there are warmly welcomed. I though the cambelt change to blue belts and checking the clutch are must. Condition of the heat shields another.

Hah I see now what You mean. That is done now, but there is at least 2 exhaust manifold studs broken on the right side rear, nearest the turbo. Is It possible to change them engine In place? The right side engine mount is also not In great condition.

Thanks for the advice. It might be a bit smelly Job, but hopefully it will not be necessary to perform it very often. The new balancer pipe is suppose to be corrosion free material. I had a track day yesterday and now I am replacing the brake discs and pads too. And some other items too.

What is the cleanest way to drain the fuel tanks? I am finally going to replace the pipe an the hoses between the tanks and now is suitable time, because there is only about 8 litres left In the tanks, I suppose.

Bingo! 1989-model. Last of that bodystyle. It was sale locally In the winter and because it is virtually unknown model in Europe it was quite affordable. I have Bern fancied old american car in pristine condition, but I figured that maybe japanese 30 years younger knock off might be more workable. Only about 100 thousand miles and no rust. Bigger V-8 than on Esprit, but not much power. And does not make You want to drive fast. Steering is light without any feel whatsoever. In Finland if You have over 30-years old car or motorcycle, You can get rid of road tax and get insurance which costs 30 euroa per year. MOT is In every fourth year. There is a limit of 30 days of use per year for a car with such status, but it is not strickly governed. Sure likes petril though. Last filling was 14.2 litres per 100km. Worst one was 18. People here usually mistakes it Tsaikha or Gaz so there must be some similarity.

If somebody thinks that Lotus is hard to get the spare parts for, then this must be considered really hard.

Not Toyota,.

Guess what? It is the car that not many people in Europe regognizes. It has the steering on the right side, which is not the Best option here, but there was no other option. I will add some more pictures.

I have not driven Esprit much lately, because I did buy another "hobby" car, which needed bit tlc to be In reliable driving condition. Driving experience is totally different compared to Esprit. Hitting the apex with this barge is somewhat harder. You can congratulate yourself if You stay between the ditches😊

I have had the impression that polybushes are "maintanance free and everlasting". Maybe it is better to use the rubber bushes after all. I am pretty neurotic about any noises from chassis and it was quite difficult to adjust the mind to Lotus after Mercedes etc. Now my daily ride is Volkswagen Phaeton and I have replaced allmost all the bushes In the front suspension and there is still squicking sound coming from the front somewhere. It only comes when the weather is cold and after some driving it disappers. There is all kind of "extra" noises present, but I have get used to them by now. I still avoid driving with sunroof open though😃 If I do that all I do is to listen is there some extra noises coming from the engine...

Just had the MOT yesterday. No problem, except I had to take of a relay and put it back to get the right side headlamp up. That is normal procedure😁

I can not really evaluate the quality changes, because when the car came to me it allready had Protech and after few thousand kilometers the other one did let go. The new ones have not been thorougly tested yet, because my early kms are usually In range 2 to 4 thousand. It seems that Protech is only affordable option available. When I need to replace the front ones In the future, I might just bite the bullet and have Lotac/Bilstein set, because I am not fond of changing the original setup and the ride height. Next thing I might be doing In the near future is replacing the rear end bushes. I am tempted to use poly bushes, because I do not fancy replacing the original ones one by one. I have the impression that polybushes withstand the time little better than rubber ones.

I have Protech shocks In my esprit. I had to replace the other one In the back 2 years ago because it was leaking. When I ordered the new ones the prize had gone up and now they are manufactured on China🙁

It seems that the new Shop has deleted my account. Is It necessary to make new account?

How many Esprit miles You drive annually? I have managed to do 10000 In 4 years and it will propably stays In that level In the future.

From my point of view as one time owner of so called "dieselgate" car I can comment that I did not suffer that at all. I got the car with the promised power&consumtion figures and had no problems with Mot, so I had nothing to complain about. Reliability issue is bit more complicated. For the people who often change New car main issue is absence of minor problems, which require workshop visit during the warranty period. People like me who generally drives from 150 to 350 thousand miles before changing the new or newer car, more important proof of quality is the durability of the engine, gearbox and other expensive components. Small problems which can be solved withinh first 100 thousand miles are not that important. Every brand and models seems to have it own problems areas. Mercedes it was air suspension, in this current ride Phaeton it is the wheel bearings. They seem to last only about 60 thousand each before making noise. I have not heard much negative comments about chinese Volvos.

Yes Colin67, Our season is shorter. I usually pit the Lotus to winter storage at late October and start the season late April or 1st of May. I am not planning to have winter tyres for Esprit. There are tracks plowed to the frozen lakes during the winter, but it is getting more difficult As the enviromentalists keep much noise about the polluting. It was fun to drive on ice when I was younger, but these modern cars are too heavy and do not stand well the contact to the snow and ice walls surrounding the tracks. The previous track day hobby with bikes started with regular road bike and at the end I had unregistered classic racing Moto guzzi with racing tyres and my street ride bike was updated too. I have to be very carefull not to end up the same with Esprit... I have 3 race track within 200 kilometers, so there will be good opportunities to practice this vice.

I had my first track day with a car Last saturday. I have done few dozen before, but with motorcycle. The stock Esprit V8 is not the Best possible tiil for the Job, but I had very enjoyable day. The car run as good As expected with no mechanical problems whatsoever. Tyres are not the best possible (Kumho ecsta sport) and the stock brake with brembo pads felt wooden. The track itself was familiar to me but the driving lines of the car and motorcycle are bit different. I was beaten by all the Porsche at present, four of them, 2 Caymans and 2 911 which one was Gt3. 2 porkers had roll cage In them so I was not really disappointed. Top speed at the end of the longest straight was about 120mph and I did not do late braking to the corner. 3rd and 4th gear was all needed and 5th at the long straight. I will make minor brake upgrade by changing the brake pads. I allready had the braided brake lines installed. I had so much fun that I will do it again at the next year.

I had my alternator refurbished about year ago. The car started to make sound which sounded a lot like bad water pump. It was dry alternator Bush and bearing afterall. The Bush In the other end was easy to replaced and the Ball bearing In the other end was a standard Skf etc. item. The source of the sound was easy to diagnose after the belt was off.

Prizes seems to be over the top, but if one want's to buy Esprit on the mainland Europe with the steering wheel on the left side, there are not many cars available. You brits are spoiled with cars to choose.

Sounds like a bargain, but very few will be sold here because of the taxes. Base prize for v8 Mustang here In Finland is 77800 euros, so...