Whats more important style or performance?

[Gasman GT3]

I was listening to 5 live the other morning and they were taiking about price of fuel and alternate technologies. They had the chief exec of Shell on and asking him where the future lies. One possibility he came up with was Petrol stations becoming battery exchange stations making electric vehicles more viable.

So the question is WHEN petrol becomes so expensive we cannot afford it anymore what do we do with our Esprits?

Put them in the garage and put a chair next to them so we can sit there of an evening with a stiff drink and stare at them wishing we could afford to drive them?

Use bio fuel or some other petrol replacement, which will become almost as expensive,

Or fit them with alternate power plants like high power electric motors so we can still drive them and enjoy the stares of admiration.

Or sell them because we cannot enjoy 300bhp on a regular basis

So what I am really saying is What is more important how it looks or how it goes? Difficult question I know.

[Backmarker]

For me it is how it looks............... but it's still got to go!

No point selling because no one will want to buy an Esprit when petrol hits

[abrussich]

If it gets that bad, have the car gutted and mounted on the wall as a testament to the b.s. of the oil industry, government, and the auto industry for creating this days situation. More grumbling follows off-line.

[Tony K]

The blue S1 has been giving me 31 miles per gallon on the highway as of late. I'm not feeling the fuel price crunch yet!

Adrian - the title of your thread stands all by itself; the context you put it in gives it another entire dimension!

In short, my opinion: Need to have both, but I'll take style over performance. (Hey I have S1s! ) There will always be a faster or better-performing car than whatever it is one can afford now, so performance is an endless quest; true style, on the other hand, is timeless, or gets better with age, like a good stringed instrument. Performance is also more quantitative, whereas style is more qualitative. I can't have the fastest car in the world, but I can have the most beautiful, exciting, and stylish. Performance just has to be somewhere in the range of good to excellent, which in any Esprit's case it is.

As for what to do when petrol becomes too expensive, the solution is simple: Keep one of them a piece of art, and keep the other for use on special occasion! If we were to run out of petrol Mad Max style, I would seek some kind of conversion to run the 907 on ethanol, or whatever the emerging or prevalent form of liquid combustible fuel would be; swapping power plants is a last resort!

[mayevora]

Good Q Ade.

This was for me my first mistake at buying my first Esprit 9 years ago. I went purely on looks alone. ie - It even looked fast with the engine turned off - beauty personified!

However after a few years and a few passenger rides in other Esprits (really bad move really as I was happy until then) I then realised looks alone were not enough for me. With the second Esprit, for me, I now have both - looks to die for and performance that will keep me happy for hopefully a long time to come.

[dbroughton]

This is the Esprit Forum (not the Subaru Imprezza forum) so you have to know the answer to that question without asking!

We all love performance but it has to be in one to the most timeless car designs ever! The Esprit has to be top 10 in terms of perfomance/style for any car that has driven.

Reading through the comments again and I have to say that our fellow American enthusiasts have no idea how expensive it can get to run a Lotus!

Top of my head, Petrol is about 3 times the price here in the UK!

[Autocross7]

Well, I must disagree a little from over the pond. Petrol, no doubt, is high as hell in the UK. But, seeing this topic come up again and again a couple years ago lead me to do some study ups on the US cost vs the UK cost in general of anything... Verdict: the UK folks pay just a small percentage more than the US folks overall for everyday living. You guys get raped on cars! Like liberal assed California with a vengence! So car for car - I agree (still). I cannot understand why the UK peoples are not up in arms... oh wait... the libs in the UK took your guns away long ago... . However, when all is added on the tax side and pass along cost on other products and services... I was actually surprised (and then got pissed off) at much we pay in the US. It is just a slight of hand on the part of the government.

Now, back on topic. I love cars, and trucks, and tractors... But cars? Looks by themseves just do not do it for me. I associate that idea with kit cars? But ass haulin' just to be fast does not do it for me either.

"We all love performance but it has to be in one to the most timeless car designs ever! The Esprit has to be top 10 in terms of perfomance/style for any car that has driven."

I soooo agree, except I would put it the top 5 as the design did not change so much over the years that the Esprit looked like a diferent car. G to S to V8 - you know it is an Esprit. I love that. It is timeless and it goes well. It is not the fastest - but nothing ever is for long. I want to go well, but I do not get into the faster-faster game as it cannot be won. More money is always out there. more speed is always out there... always. I love what I have in the Esprit! Why? The Z06 is a great car and faster than the Esprit putting out loads more torque. It looks as good as it goes too. But you know what? At the end of the day I have an Esprit and the Z06 guy has another Vette.

Cameron

[M3S2k]

I bought my Esprit for the look and the rarity. I have always liked having something completely out of the ordinary and the Esprit is definitely that. You will definitely see more Ferraris and Lamborghinis around then a Lotus Esprit and I enjoy that fact. Performance is also important to me, but looks are still #1 to me. This car goes like crazy, but I also know there are probably some little rice rockets out there that will probably beat me, therefore no point in competing

[jfitz981]

I have to say that I think it needs to be a combo of both. I think with the Esprit we have the best of both. The design like many have said is timeless and the performance is excellent! And to top it off the value of the Esprit at this moment is semi affordable for an exotic. The other Ferrari's (308/328)that I were looking at when I bought my car could not hold the Esprits jock...but they did have the timeless design. For me it came down to what was more rare. The Esprit won for me!

I would hope that there will be alternatives available when fuel costs get completely outrageous. All classic car owners will be in the same boat so hopefully something will be out there!

Jason

[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...

[matk]

For me it's a blend, but also the Chapman factor of engineering excellence.

Actually been thinking about this for a while, in the context of should I be sinking cash into a restoration of a car that a few years may become unusable if they ever turn the pumps off.

Personally if I had to choose, it's style everytime. If performance was that important to me, I'd go get a V8 as I could prob stretch to one if I binned my existing car, or even go for a Scooby or Integrale.

If the petrol engine as we know it, ceases to exist I'd convert powerplants without a seconds thought, so I could keep driving it.

[kyliesmith.com]

Looks Looks Looks

I never had driven or had a ride in one before my I bought my first Esprit, I just knew I had to have one. Too many reasons but just felt right in every way. I do worry about fuel prices going through the roof, but its not going to stop me from driving it. Ill cut back on luxuries before cutting back putting gas in the Esprit

[iainskea]

S2 drivers must think the same - I'm with Mat.

Style and looks and all of that design has to be preserved, but I have knocked my nuckles on that engine too many time to care about keeping it as the power plant.

That said, I am fairly certain that my S2 would never drive the same with anything other than the 907...

Iain

[Jonathan]

Nope, you can't have one without the other and it still be special.

Look at anything that was or is ANYTHING - Concorde, Spritfire, Desert Eagle, numerous cars - they all have both qualities in bounds which is what makes them special.

Plenty of cars are fast or perform well (porkers) but it's that mix of soul and performance which makes things magical which in other words would just be another car, plane, machine.

[Gasman GT3]

Some interesting replies. I purposly did not give my answer to this at the beginning for two reasons

1. I did not want to start an argument, but a debate on what is a very serious and real issue especially in the UK (how many more threads on people selling their cars due to the credit crunch cost of petrol)

2. I didn't really know. I do get pleasure driving my Esprit at low speed in the town and seeing peoples faces and the reflection in shop windows (we all do it admt it) but also the buzz I get when the turbo kicks in, and if I wanted just power I would but a 500bhp Scooby. After watching the Tesla doing 100+mph at Goodwood at the weekend I think I could live with an electric Esprit if it went like that .