Which is more expensive to run? 4 vs. 8

[Bibs]

It's the general impression that the V8 is more expensive to own and maintain as there are twice as many thing to go wrong however basic servicing is marginally cheaper and being newer cars less generally goes wrong, or does it?

I know that there were ~9 times as many 4 cylinder cars made as there were V8's but our V8 tech section is a wasteland compared to even just the Stevens technical section, so are they more reliable due to youth? 4 cylinder cars are now getting older and is this the only reason we are having so many problems, and does the net cost of these age related problems mean that it's more expensive to keep a 4 banger on the road that it is a V8 car or do cheaper maintenance costs on the 4 mean it's the cheaper car?

I know that this is very objective and can only be based on our own experience but would like to see what our experiences are and which car stays on the road for less.

[Advantage]

Good question. I think the V8 engines tend to have less things that go wrong, but the things that do break on a V8 equipped car are normally expensive bits! Gearboxes, clutches, driveshafts, brakes, rear tyres (and erm, back bumpers after having a huge tankslapper!) are all put under greater strain simply due to the extra grunt of the V8.

The rest of the car is too similar to the 4cyl cars for there to be any greater disparity between the two.

[Jonathan]

I know that there were ~9 times as many 4 cylinder cars made; 4 cylinder cars are now getting older and is this the only reason we are having so many problems, and does the net cost of these age related problems mean that it's more expensive to keep a 4 banger on the road that it is a V8 car or do cheaper maintenance costs on the 4 mean it's the cheaper car?

The big deal in my opinion is the age, there's no doubt the build quality of the cars when new processes and working practices come in rises. My GT3 is a different car to the SE, it feels much better put together yes it's still lighter !

The biggest difference is 4 pots are much more common place in the club (perhaps do a vote on that). If you took a poll most poeple are coming in with modifying questions and so on or basic maintenance issues / rebuild etc they're doing themselves.

A lot of the 4 banger crew are 'have a go heroes' as well who are posting about ways to do the job themselves.

So it's a mix of things.

I was always under the impression the V8 was more to keep but seems not actually when you look at servicing cost.

Some cars like the GT3's seem to be a little light on the need to be tinkered with (there are only 100 of them I guess hehe)

PLUS where do you draw the line between reliability and damage caused by regular driving ?

Mine's just lost the radiator and starter motor - no fault of the car what so ever (3rd party starter, stone hit the rad, at least there's stone in there where the leak is !) - issues have to come from problems with the design / car itself.

V8 = liners, 4 pot = exhaust manifolds.

When you look at it in that way both cars seem to be fairly good on the maintenance, the issue is getting the remedial work done.

I can change a rad in the old car I used to have in about an hour for nothing, this GT3 is going to cost me

Edited October 27, 2007 by Jonathan

[iainskea]

I voted for the 8 based on double the parts - with effectively the same 'mean time between failure' stats.

This considers that the parts, like valves etc, are the same on both engines, and receive just as much wear, heat, compression and load as on the 4 - given that 4 pot cars are usually lighter etc.

Iain

Edited October 27, 2007 by iainskea

[Kimbers]

I'd also say that you have to take into account things like insurance costs, fuel costs etc and the 4 pot is much better for those (my S4 costs me

[lottylotus]

i voted for the 4 pot

BECAUSE I WANT A V8

please vote for the 4 pots so i can convince the wasp (sorry i mean my wife )

[Paul C]

Of course the V8 does not have double of everything though guys...

It does not have 8 brake caplipers, 8 shocks, two gearboxes etc!

They are so cheap now, and a bit newer than my SE, that if i really

wanted one i'd have one. And i think it would be in the hopeful assumption

that the newerness would work in it's favour runningwise against my older

four cylinder? mind you there are some old V8's now too...

However, the real appeal of the Esprit for me was always the fact it had a

four pot and could embarrass machinery with twice as many cylinders and

engine size. I still like that boast today. The V8 has no excuses, with it's power

and size it simply is expected to be as fast/faster than it's rivals. I always liked

the suprise that the four pot could get there.

[cly_mitchell]

Hard question to answer because you would need to have both to really know. I don't have a complete history on my car, but do know in 48k miles since new it has had; two engine rebuilds and one completely new engine. Including the last rebuild in the last 18 months, over $20k in repairs have be done. But it is an old car and the last engine was due the PO jumping in and driving it after a 3yr lay up. The head gasket blew and the water and oil made a mess on the bearing surfaces. I kind of over maintain mine. If hose breaks, I replace all the hoses.

My understanding is that the SE is the cheapest, most reliable to run of all Esprits.

Cheers

Clay

[DJ504]

I've voted for the V8.

I've owned both - Had a 4cyl for 2 years, replaced the rear tyres. The guy that owns it now (for the past 3 years) has replaced the battery - Cheap motoring?

I've had my V8 for 3 years -it's major costs have been clutch, ABS & radiator.

Insurance is more but I have no restrictions on use.

Petrol - Plenty of people ask me "how many miles to the gallon?" - I always quote the number of "smiles to the gallon" - Higher than any other car I've driven.

I think that with any car, there is a time in it's life when it is expensive to maintain. If you are lucky enough to miss this during your ownership then fine. Before I bought my V8, I was advised to budget for

[Mark Blanchard]

I voted 4 pot because I didn't read it properly! I meant V8.

[Bibs]

Adjusted!

[Mark Blanchard]

Cheers . My reasoning; the 4 cylinder engine (907 through to the 910) was more developed than the V8. Early V8's go wrong more (96 - 99 liner issues and consequent engine rebuilds).

We can thank the Jenson Healey for being the 4 pot guinea pig.

[arbell9]

Its not a afair comparison due to there are loads of old 4-pots around and hence develop technical faults to skew the data. The V8's are too young to compare directly.

Servicieng is more expensive for the V8 and many parts cost more. A good comparison would be compare the GT3 with the V8, technology from the same time and cars of a similar age.

But to get speed out of the GT3 4 pot it has to work harder so maybe it will have a higher parts failure rate. Maybe V8 drivers are more cautious , who knows .

interesting question never the less.

[lottylotus]

i don't know too much about the lotus v8 engine,was it badly designed or is it pretty reliable once the liner problem has been sorted,i assume the problem is loss of water,i think i am possibly going off the origional thread here sorry

[espritpassion]

Hi

I have voted for V8, but certainly is necessary think more point:

every one that have a 4cyl do many mods to his car, for example fit a chip for have more power, fit a new exhaust for have power and great super car sound, mod. turbo,valve and get out of the engine more hp, change the wheels!!, fit arch ext..........................

the V8 owners I think that not have never did all these mods. because is not necessary!!, the V8 is very a supercar with only a power chip that in Italy the Lotus Italy sold with the car and the car were sold for 450 HP!!! in italy there aren't many V8 but all the owners tell me and this is true that the V8 is more faster than Lambo Gallardo and F430!!!!!!!! (see also the movie on youtube with Lamborghini Gall.+Diablo,V8,corvette)

Certainly the cost is expensive when you go to do a service, is not a 4cyl!!! for exampl. is necessary more oil, all is double!!!!

But the V8 engine is perhaps more affidability and good because is a newer, and if you look on Esprit tech. info you can see that the ownwers write only for (Tyre,lotus badge, estetical mods......)

When I have bought the Esprit I have seen also for a V8, I have found just one for the good price of 28.000EUR!!!...but I have bought a GT3, now I have did many many mods paid about 3.000/4.500EUR, if I have bought a V8, the mods are not necessary, and the 4.500/5.000 eur for the mods now can pay for 3/4services....

However I'm happy to have found a new car, my GT3!!

Alesssandro

[Bibs]

I'm fairly sure that main dealer service prices are cheaper for the scheduled services on the V8 than they are on the 4-pot!

[jcbjs 260]

Impossible to answer except you have owned both cars

[fmxa]

Having owned both my vote is for the V8 - I'd guess over a year I pay x2 as much as the S4s

[rocket63]

My S3 was mega reliable and my S4 is pretty good to date.

[talon]

I voted V8, but it's just an assumption on my part. I've had my car about 6 months now and not had to put a dime into it yet. It just seems to me that the additional complexity of the 8 cylinder would jack up running costs. It would also seem that since the 4 banger was produced for so much longer, there was time to do much more refinement on the design.

[redshift]

Logically it has to be the V8.

Servicing costs and parts generally relate to the original cost which was higher.

The extra power and torque will make parts wear out faster.

Overall reliability is going to be less considering the total numbers of 4 cyl engines built compared to 8 cyls. Also the 4's have had many years of post-development so a lot of bugs will already have been sorted.

[OwenGT3]

Hi,

I voted V8 because before I bought, I could have got a V8 in my price buying range, but I had heard rumours of

[Loteuk]

4 pot......its a piece of engineering excellence.

It hasn t been bettered since 1989 and power for pound and more importantly power to weight nothing has come close in a turbo.

Is the V8 really quicker?

Maintenance prevents most mishaps on both.

There are more reliable versions of both engines than unreliable out there. Gearboxes are easy to abuse over time.

IMHO

[Rob]

Whoaaa!! We're letting people vote who may have only owned EITHER a V8 or a 4? How can they have any idea what the costs could be for the other, other than guesswork or hearsay?!

I say only owners who've had both should be able to vote BASED ON THEIR EXPERIENCE!

BTW - all of you 4 pot guys who guessed that a v8 was more, were right.. lol.

sorry for shouting

Edited October 29, 2007 by Rob

[Jukka]

I can't vote, because I have experience only with V8.

But, is it same car except engine? May be that some V8 parts are more expensive than 4 parts. But brakes and all other part should be almoust same. Of course 4 spots are mainly older and whats why needs more servicing.

I have owned my very early V8 now about 18 months and nothing repairs done, only basic services. Oils, brake fluids, filters. So it's gone very well, hope that this continues.