Esprit still gets the vote......

[Deanchad]

..... Its amazing how many people still love a wedge. Pleasantly surprised to win best car 2012 at Retro Rides Gathering on sunday.

Quite a big turn out too. This was just 1 of 3 fields full, from Bentley napier to Farrari's and the odd esprit Its the first time I have Been to Prescot hillclimb, normally travel over to shelsley but its a great venue

[alan]

Great looking car, not suprised you won - well done!

The Esprit always seems to be liked by a wide cross section of people, it seems to have universal appeal whether you normally like classics, supercars etc.

[esprit s2]

Well done to you! Has your suspension failed though???

[slewthy]

Congratulations Dean - good work!

Sorry your car was vandalised though. I know where you can get some more waistline trim

[simonb]

You left the transport wheels on it though

[rizla603104]

Do you detail the car yourself? What process do you go through?

[skiing]

Interested to see pics of the suspension alterations you must have made? I think I will leave mine but curious...

[Roz_Bennetts]

Beautiful shiny wheels!

[Deanchad]

Congratulations Dean - good work!

Sorry your car was vandalised though. I know where you can get some more waistline trim

The waistline trim was removed when the car was resprayed years ago. I'm used to it having none now, dear I say.... prefere it!

Interested to see pics of the suspension alterations you must have made? I think I will leave mine but curious...

The suspension details will be in a mag near you soon! How many people on here still have their original suspenion on the car?

Do you detail the car yourself? What process do you go through?

Its not at all in show condtion really but its much better than it was. How do you mean detail the car? If you mean all the suspension work, it has been done by days of measuring and weeks of fabricating ( but not chassis invasive). Various ways like using photoshop and past car experiences to show previous cars in magazines. Its what I like but most dont. The thing with this car is it can be return to standard in a few hours..... maybe days.

[CharlieCroker]

Hard as nails that, properly slammed in the weeds, love it ;-)

[andydclements]

That's a really nice mix of cars there.

[The Veg]

Between the too-skinny-for-the-rim tread and the angle of the rear wheels it almost looks like a Yank teenager's 'tuned' Civic.

Beautiful otherwise; congratulations on the win and it's good to see our cars get some well-deserved recognition.

[Sparky]

Jeeezus. My nodding dog wouldn't last long in the back of that.

[FRANTIC FRANC]

Wow - looks closer to the grass than my mower! Do the front wheels not hit the arches when cornering hard?

With you on the waiste line trim - Esprits look tidier without it.

[Mark Blanchard]

Congrats on winning. Esprit's always look best nice and low.

[ramjet]

I noticed the rear wheels as well and what looks like excessive camber?

Car does look good though. Congratulations on the win.

[Deanchad]

I noticed the rear wheels as well and what looks like excessive camber?

Car does look good though. Congratulations on the win.

The camber is only because the air is fully released. All s3's would have a camber like this if the spring were taken out. Normal camber at ride height

Cheers for your comments

Edited September 2, 2012 by Deanchad

[andydclements]

Air in tyres (or lack thereof) shouldn't alter camber, the ride height relative to wheel centre is unaffected by tyre height.

Yes, with springs out it would give excessive camber, does that mean you lowered it via springs/ spring bases for the day relative to the height you'd normally run with?

[Tony K]

Air in tyres (or lack thereof) shouldn't alter camber, the ride height relative to wheel centre is unaffected by tyre height.

Yes, with springs out it would give excessive camber, does that mean you lowered it via springs/ spring bases for the day relative to the height you'd normally run with?

I think he has air suspension, and it is lowered all the way for display, and raises for driving.

The whole tuner/slammed crowd is not my cup of tea, but I do appreciate those guys and what they do, they are serious car nuts, and I'm glad to see Esprit representation. Well done, Dean!

[andydclements]

Ah, didn't think about air springs. Not the sort of thing I'd do but that's because it relates very much to the attention to every detail such as having every piece of metal cleaning and gleaming whereas mine has a "protective layer of oil and general grime".

[Deanchad]

It's definitely not to everyones taste but its individual, taking nothing away from the beautiful s3 looks. Ive made a point of keeping the chassis completely original so it can be put back to original if I wanted to, with a subtle install so the boot space can be used. I have used the best suspension systems you can get and the air struts are fabricated by a company in th US. These are controlled by potentiometers to keep the correct ride height (kind of active suspension) which gives a really plush ride with no bounce.

Dont worry, Im not going to be adding ridiculous spoilers or 10'' exhaust pipes, thats it for the outside. I am however going to cover the interior as it has been sun bleached and is proving difficult to keep on top of. Also, I have a little blue smoke under load so I will be addressing this over the winter months.

What sort of mileage do you fellas do in a year?