S4s with 82,000 MILES!!

[LotusS4S]

Wow.. This is the most mileage I've ever seen from a late model 4cyl (In fact, I think this is the most of any Esprit that I've seen) I'm wondering if this is without a rebuild? I've emailed the owner.. Anyone in the UK know this guy? I'm impressed! Not sure if it's just me, but I feel a bit more proud about owning a Lotus when I see high mileage Esprits...

1995 Lotus Esprit S4s

Calypso Red, 82,000 Miles, Excellent Condition, Recent 'A' Service, New Exhaust Manifold. Owned for the last 3 years, all reciepts and servicing records. Looked after by Justin McCaulay at Pennisula Lotus, he can give info on the cars Mechanical history. Carbon Air Box. Recent new 2nd Gear Syncro, syncro hub and 2nd Gear, Sport 350 Splitter. Recently Refurbished and re-lacquered Futuras Split rims. New House, Rewire, Central Heating, wife and baby force sale. Priced to sell

Edited August 17, 2005 by LotusS4S

[superdavelotus]

Have you contacted the owner because you're interested in buying his car or just curious?

I know a guy called Mike Price who owns an S4 from brand new and he has 130000 miles with FSH. Still runs like a dream.

A charge cooled car shouldn't need a rebuild for a while longer yet. Not like the turbos which will be tired by now.

I've seen quite a few and know quite a few owners who have +80K on their cars.

[Kato]

Dan's been on the Oxford Meets before and was at our Silverstone meeting.

http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EOtherstuf...ilverstone.html

[Mark Blanchard]

I've got 93k on my Turbo, without an engine rebuild and it's still pottering along ok. There are quite a number of people with similar cars and mileage.

And then there's Alan, who has an 88 Turbo and has clocked up 300,000 miles (with 2 engine rebuilds). Now that's impressive.

[madmezza]

I've got 93k on my Turbo, without an engine rebuild and it's still pottering along ok.  There are quite a number of people with similar cars and mileage.

  And then there's Alan, who has an 88 Turbo and has clocked up 300,000 miles (with 2 engine rebuilds).  Now that's impressive.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

300k! Blimey. I was starting to think mine was wearing out at 58k. Still, what's an engine rebuild cost for a S3 HC? And how many gearboxes did he get through?!

[Mark Blanchard]

Around 6k - 7k. Really depends on where you go to get the work done though.

I'm not sure how many gearboxes he's got through, but he told me he drives it normally and doesn't thrash it.

[LotusS4S]

I've got 93k on my Turbo, without an engine rebuild and it's still pottering along ok.  There are quite a number of people with similar cars and mileage.

  And then there's Alan, who has an 88 Turbo and has clocked up 300,000 miles (with 2 engine rebuilds).  Now that's impressive.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

WOW! 300K... THat's fantastic! That just shattered my record. It's great to hear about these high mileage Esprits. I hope to venture into this high mileage territory at some point.

Superdave- Yes, I contacted Dan and he gave me some history on the car. He has even down a compression check on the engine and its running in good order. I hope it finds a good owner that can take it well beyond 100K.

[Rob]

I'm not using mine daily anymore, both to keep the running costs down and also to put off that dark day when it trips over 100k..

Currently showing 80k miles, car is 98 v8-gt. Was averaging 1000 miles per month over first 6 years of the car's life.. B)

[Mark Blanchard]

This car is also impressive. It's a 1988 Turbo, done 133,000 miles and no engine rebuild! It has a blue printed engine. It was at this years Castle Combe Lotus track day.

[senna21]

This car is also impressive.  It's a 1988 Turbo, done 133,000 miles and no engine rebuild!  It has a blue printed engine.  It was at this years Castle Combe Lotus track day.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If it hasn't had a rebuild then how'd they blue print the engine? Something seems amiss here...

[abrussich]

I have a 89 Esprit turbo that I purchasd from the original owner in 1992. It had 1700 miles on the clock. I now have 82,000 on the clock without having had to do anything to the motor. The car is currently used regularly for auto cross events, occasional track days, and general outtings and road trips. The body needs a fresh coat of paint but other than that it is running better than ever. The Esprit motor is stout indeed.

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Steve W's '89T is north of 100,000 too!

[LotusS4S]

Seems to be more of the UK folks that have the high mileage... We need to get on the ball over here in the US.

[MKE40]

If it hasn't had a rebuild then how'd they blue print the engine?  Something seems amiss here...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Charles ... probably a top end / gasflow blueprint.

Mike

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

...And look at all that country you have to drive around!!! (Must be MUCH harder to police it all too )

IMHO Esprits tend to have higher mileage than other supercars generally as they get bought by people who want to DRIVE them like Colin intended!

[Mark Blanchard]

If it hasn't had a rebuild then how'd they blue print the engine?  Something seems amiss here...

The Owner said it was a blue print engine from new, Lotus used it for testing. He said the engine is faultless.

[alan]

I had a chat about 4 cylinder reliability with Barry from Lyte & Wakefield when I picked up my car from a service yesterday. He has been working with the 4 pot engines for longer than he cares to remeber....

In his opinion the later cars last a lot longer before rebuild. This is partly down to gradual improvements made to the engine over the year and also due to better oils (fully synthetic). The big difference however is with the ECU controlled cars these never run rich or lean and always have perfect timing etc so the engine runs in more optimal conditions. I guess its also possible that the charger cooler helps as well lowering the intake temperatures.

I hope I am not tempting fate by saying all this!

Alan

96 S4s

[redesprits4s]

Hi have just started using my account on this forum and its my S4s with 82000 miles on the clock thats up for sale. Its not had the engine rebuilt as yet, and gives no indication of needing one. However, if i was a prospective buyer, it would be something I'd be thinking about hence I've made the price somewhat lower than other S4s's.

Not happy about having to sell, but then who would :-) If I manage to pay off a large chunk of the house refurb bills before selling it, then I'm more than likely going to keep it. Glad to see there are other people who use ther cars regularly

Cheers

Dan

Red S4s

[Brian Skeoch]

very nice to know these cars will do 100 k + miles. very nice indeed.

Brian

88 turbo / Atlanta GA U.S.