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April 2003
PUK Esprit Racing To
promote their new website, P.U.K. Esprit
Racing have a Special Offer for all Lotus
Esprit World users. Paintwork and things! My Esprit will be going in next week to have some paintwork done. AutoTech in Milton Keynes are taking on the work. I'm having the o/s rear panel done and the holes filled and sprayed from where I took my wing off. I'll keep you up-to-date with the progress and what sort of job AutoTech do. Once the paints done, I will be making an effort to get my S4 wheels on, as my tyres aren't looking too health! I'm also expecting delivery of the Turbo Timer in the next week or so and they'll also be news on some Esprit Performance Testing I'm looking into. Which should give a more technical review of the chips and performance mods. My brake upgrade is also moving on, with delivery of parts coming soon (hopefully). And lastly, my Sport 300 seat will be painted next week and then trimmed at Lotus. So expect a full guide on that in the near future.
International Orders now being taken The Stainless steel door sills are now available to Esprit owners outside the UK. Email for delivery costs to your country. A paypal account has now been set up to make paying easier. See the Modification Page for more details.
Lotus Parts Online Race-Speed are now taking orders of original Lotus part and Specialised Esprit Parts Online. So now you can shop for everything you need for your Esprit online! So visit their site and see what they can offer you.
Mailing List A new basic mailing list has just been sent out (10.40pm 24th April 2003). I've had a few problems with the html one. So I've reverted back to a more simple version. If you've not received your update, then you're not on the mailing list. If you wish to join, click on the image above for details or email me with the address you wish to add. You can easily unsubscribe at any time.
Dermot's Sport 300 seats Dermots Sport 300 seat have finally arrived and have been fitted to his Esprit (click pic above to see more). I've ordered mine on the strength of a chat with Dermot, Steve at SJ Sportscars (who makes the frames) and Mel Broome in the Lotus trimming department. Now I've seen the pictures I can't wait to get mine. They're not cheap, but then, they're not cheap!. I'm trying to get the Lotus Esprit World logo in my headrests and will have the backs painted black to match my Esprit. Dermot is definately the leader in Esprit Style. Just hope he doesn't get too pissed at me nicking all his great ideas' and telling you lot.
Stainless Steel Door Sills Lotus Esprit World is happy to announce the arrive of Alan Patersons' Stainless Steel door sills for the Esprit. These are now available for purchase at a bargain £75 a pair. You can find out more about them on the modifications page. Lotus Esprit World has produced an install guide together with some close-up photos' and ordering details. Click on the image above to see the guide.
PUK Esprit Racing A new website has just been launched selling performance parts for the Esprit. These include, clutch's, brake discs and pads, suspension, dump valves and performance chips. Caters for both 4 cylinder and V8's, There's plenty for the Esprit owner to drool over, so don't forget to book mark it for when you need performance parts for your Esprit. Another busy weekend The four-day Easter break was going to be a chance to catch up with some on the work on the site and do a few more mods on my poor old Esprit. This was quickly ruined, by having to work both Friday and Saturday. Sunday and Monday weren't wasted. I've reinstalled my iPod, making it more stealth and streamlined. I've also moved my radar dector display with a cleaner install. A new Fag lighter was fitted and I rebuilt my sunroof to get rid of the rattling. I also managed to spray my rear and side mesh with a silver metal paint. Which turn out much better than I expected. All this work will be on the site in time. With time being the problem. Look out for the updates coming soon! Esprit Owners Pages I've just added a few more owners pages and updates to the site. I now have no completed new owners to add to the site. The following people I have received either pictures or text, but not both. If you wish to have your own Owners Page, I will need you to send whichever is missing.
If you have sent text, then the form has probably failed (happens a lot), just add all the text that should go into the form into an email and send it that way. If you're not listed above and have sent stuff. I've lost it, Sorry. Hopefully anybody who wants an owners page, will get one. Just need your stuff! Chips Deal Extended! With the Lotus Esprit World Special offer of the first 10 customers getting a 25% discount fully taken. I've managed to get an extention for Easter. Call it an Easter Special. You can now get 20% off all chips until 26th April 2003. So if you fancy a chip, you'll need to order one in the next two weeks to take advantage of this discount. Not sure I can pull off any more! I will be testing chip #5 over the Easter holiday (18th-21st April). So I'll have my opinion on the site before the discount runs out. I've just put it in and been for a quick spin, feels very smooth and very fast. Nothing like either chip #2 or #3. Will need time to let the chip bed in and then I'll be able to see what it's really like. Chip #6 arrived today, which is personalised for your Esprit. That should be interesting. Also will be testing chips #1 and #4, but I'm afraid it's unlikely to be before the deal expires. Turbo Gauge Deal After all the chipping that's been going on, and Esprit owners lust for more power. I've been looking into Boost Gauges and Turbo Timers. Currently V8's, GT3's and Sport 350's don't have a boost gauge. The Esprit models that do, the gauge only goes up to 1 bar, and isn't very accurate. With some of the chips that are available through the site, running up to 1.25 bar of boost, we really do need an accurate boost gauge. Especially with a few sticking wastegate floating around. I've looked into what's on the market and have found the Blitz DTT DC Turbo Timer (below, also in black) would be just perfect for the Esprit. It's basically designed to let your engine run for a few minutes after the ignition has been turned off, to cool your turbo down. Which is a good idea in itself. It also has a built in Boost gauge among other features (see below). I have done a deal with a supplier to purchase one of these for a slightly reduced price (couldn't get a free one), which I will do an install guide (mornings work) and then review. Once this is done, I have secured a Special Offer for all Lotus Esprit World users. You'll be able to purchase one of these for £119.03 (including P&P) instead of a retail of £131.60. That's a 10% discount. I think this is a must for anybody running anything over chip #3 as chip #4 and above all increase boost above 1bar. For those owners without any type of gauge, then for safety, I think this product will be worth the money without running a chip. I'll review the product honestly, as I'll be running it in my Esprit, and won't advise you to buy one if I'm not happy with mine, as I make no money from any sales. I will be getting the Turbo Timer the first week in May, An install guide will follow and finally a review and details of the special offer.
UK Yahoo! Meet The UKYahoo! Group Meeting in Oxford (The Talk House,Middle Road, Stanton St John, Oxford OX331EX 10.30pm, was a great success. 15 Esprit's, 1 Elise and 1 Ferrari turned up. I'll be doing a page with some pictures very soon. For all those who missed the meet. You should go to the next one, great fun for all Esprit owners. Thanks to Dermot and Rob for organising such a good day. More to follow from Lotus Esprit World.
Lotus Esprit World's Busy Weekend! A busy weekend for kato! I visited John Hazzard's BRG Garage this morning. Catching John off-guard by not calling first, he still managed to give me 30minutes of his time, before taking Curly Jon's Esprit for an MoT. Jon's picking up he's G Esprit that he's purchasing from BRG next week. He's been saving a long time and is looking forward to his Esprit Experience. I'm sure you'll see him at a few meets in the UK and if I ever get time on the owners pages. Got a quick look at John's two Esprit Racers. One 4 cylinder SE and a V8. Very impressed with what John's done and will hopefully get some pictures and info on these two racers. John has just fitted a G50 gearbox to he's V8 Racer and is awaiting a clutch from AP before he can give it a go. He also has a Dodge Viper Racer, which is very impressive, Not a huge fan of the Vipers, but this is impressive. It's HUGE. Look out for some articles on Mr. Hazzard in the near future. From BRG Garage, I went off to get a quote on spraying my rear off-side wing and filling the holes left from my spoiler removal, from Autotech in Milton Keynes (01908 502638). AutoTech have dealt with Esprit's before and are happy to work with fibreglass cars. They have done work for Lotus and Ferrari in the past. Their premises aren't particularly plush, but it's there knowledge and experience I'm interested in. My SE should be going in there in a couple of weeks. I'll report back on how good their work is once it's done. If it's good enough, then I'll give AutoTech the Lotus Esprit World Approval. From AutoTech, it was off home to start my A-service. I've had the bits for a while now, so just need to pick up some oil and a socket to remove the spark plugs. Then the next few hours were spent getting very dirty! I also changed chips from #3 to #2, I'm not going to test #5 until I've got my digital boost gauge, so I can report on boost more accurately. I decided to shortern my intake pipe for my RamAir conversion as well, as I'm happy with the conversion and wanted to reduce the Airflow (distance) further. And finally, I managed to replace my Electric Wing Mirror Control Panel, which I've had on my fire place for weeks. Tomorrow is the UKYahoo! Group Meeting in Oxford (The Talk House,Middle Road, Stanton St John, Oxford OX331EX 10.30pm). We're hoping for a turnout of over 20 Esprit's. I'll be there, so expect an article in the next week or so. Should be a good meet, with a run already mapped out and a pub lunch afterwards. So a busy weekend for poor kato, with lots of Esprit stuff going on. Hope you find it as interesting as I do. More Chips! I've added a review of Chip #10 for the GT3 or S with the 2.0litre engine. This was supplied by Lotus Esprit World Owner Adrian Mugridge. I will be testing Chip #5 over the next few day and a review should be on the site next week. Click Here to see the chip review page. You'll have to be quick to take advantage of Lotus Esprit World's Special Offer of 25% Off. 60% have gone! But remember, you can still get the P&P off if you live inside the EU. Stainless Steel Sill Plates
Alan Paterson is currently working on producing stainless steel sill plates (as MY03) for the Esprit. He is currently testing and will hopefully have some for sale in the next few weeks. They should be priced at around half of the Lotus ones, and will protect the full sill instead of just part of it. The pictures above are from the testing Alan's been doing. Finally product pictures will be available soon, they are just a taster for what's on offer. I for one will be very interested in these, once they are ready for sale. Details will be available on the Lotus Esprit World Used Car Centre once they are ready. So watch this space.
Chip Update Both the Install Guide and a Page with all available chips, reviews and pricing is now online (see the Modifications page for more). See for yourself what it's all about. Worth a look for those with a fuel-injected Esprit. Esprit Calendar Update I've just added another sample to the Calendar page. Same style, just gives you a better idea of how it will look. Having some samples printed, hopefully for the weekend, so I can make a decision on paper and overall quality. News from Lotus I've been emailing Lotus Cars about information on any celebrations to mark the end of Esprit production. This is a huge moment in the Esprits' History and needs to be marked with something special. I received an email yesterday from Alastair Florance in the Lotus Public Relations department. As usual from Lotus, not much actual information, but it's a start to getting a foot into anything that's going to happen as the last Esprit rolls off the production line. I'll keep you updated on any further developments on this subject.
Wingless Hopefully you've been following the work I've been doing lately on my 1992 SE. Well another busy weekend of Espritness! I finally removed the High-Wing from my Esprit. Rusted Allen-head bolts took some removing, turning an hour job into a 5 hour marathon. Reattaching the rear hatch proved a little difficult as well. With alignment problems causing it to get stuck on three occasions. With no wing to pull on, I wasn't smiling much. So now the wings gone, am I happy with how my Esprit looks? I was 70% sure I would like it without the wing before I did it. As I was basing the look on a Greek Esprit I saw at the Lotus Service Centre. Neil Turner came to fetch Phil and I in a black V8-GT from Greece, to take us back to Ketteringham Hall, to see the Service Centre. So we had a convoy of a Black V8, BRG S4s and a Black SE, running through the country roads between the Factory and the Service Centre. The V8 had been bought from new by this Greek bloke, who drove it back to the Factory to have all the work done by them. It had no wing, sport 350 wheels, suspension and ECU. It was a little dirty from all the back roads and looked wonderful. That's how I'd have order my brand new Esprit if I suddenly became very rich (well £50,000's rich)! So now the wings removed, what do I think? I'm 100% sure if was the right decision. I love the look without the wing. I'm a fan of the GT3's anyhow, and have always loved the wingless Giugiaro Esprits. Some people may think I'm mad, as I know lots of Esprit Owners have added wings or upgraded wings and most are big fans. But I like the purer look and line on the Esprit. Now to finish the Greek look, I've three options. Put the S4 wheels on and leave it as is (not very Greek). Sell the Wheels and look for a Sport 350 set (very Greek) or look into getting the S4 alloys finished in a gun metal Sport 350 look (cheaper Greek). I'm going to look into the finishing and keep an eye out for some Sport 350 wheels, although I think I may be a bit short on the cash front for those. I've seen quite a few Elise with the gun metal alloy's, but not sure how the S4 alloys will look.
In the meantime, my SE will be off to the paintshop next Saturday morning, to be quoted on a rear panel re-spay and looking at filling the holes left my the wing. My Esprit's not Heavy, he's my Brother! As my younger brother's put a deposit down on a 2002 Elise yesterday morning (5.4.2003), I thought it about time I let him have a go in my Esprit. For unselfish reasons of course! First problem was the handbrake, he couldn't get the hang of that. Next was the close pedals and finding the brake. With me looking a little nervous, he was never going to give it some welly. But what followed wasn't much better. On the roundabout just around the corner from my house, he was struggling with the petals. As we entered the roundabout, the Esprit turned into a kangaroo, and then stalled right in the centre. Fumbling for the handbrake, I was screaming "Just start it and get off this ****ing roundabout". The rest of the drive was uneventful, if a little slow. He couldn't believe how different it was to drive than any other car he'd driven. Well it is a supercar! So for the price of getting a blast in his Elise, I now have to negotiate that roundabout, hoping I don't see anybody who witnessed my Kangarooing Esprit.
Chip Update I've be giving Marcus' High-Torque chip a spin over the weekend, after finally installing it on Saturday morning. The install is painless (well you might scratch a knuckle) and should be a problem for anybody. Especially once my install guide is online. I won't say too much about my finding as yet. But it will be worth waiting for. Two more chips to test yet, with the S4s based chip next. I'm hoping the decrease in lower torque will give my more information that stepping up to the High-Performance chip. I will test that last, as again the jump in performance will make it easier to evaluate the chips. Remember, I have negotiated a discount for all Lotus Esprit World users, and a special deal for those who have already purchased one of Marcus' chips. So look out for Updates on this. Esprit Calendar Update I've been using the Laptop to work on the Calendar a little more. For information and a preview go to the Calendar page. Hope it's to everyone's liking, as I'm having some samples printed to check quality and paper samples.
Esprit & Chips Update I've taken the ECU out of the Esprit, which was a bit of a pain and took about 20 mins (and that's with the rear hatch off!). The chip socket is currently being soldered by a TV repair company, as I took one look at it and thought it best to get a professional to do it. I don't even own a soldering iron! You can just push the socket in, but I didn't want to as I'll be swapping the chips around. The bloke in the shop wasn't going to charge me, but I'll give him a £10 for his trouble. Once's that's done, I'm hoping to test one of the chips out over the weekend. I've still got to finish removing my wing so I can put the rear hatch back on. Marcus tells me you need to drive for around 30 miles for the ECU to relearn all the settings. So back-to-back testing will not really be an option. March 2003 Esprit & Chips I have received the ECU chips from Marcus Freudhöfer in Germany. I will be testing these as soon as I can put them into my ECU. Look out for the reviews. The chips I will be reviewing are as follows: 1.
Improved S4s-MK5-code with the 3k stumble
reduced Wings & Wheels and My Front Room
Decided to remove my rear wing today. Didn't think it was going to be easy, it wasn't. The Allen bolts had rusted beyond usefulness. So they are going to have to be drilled out. Lacking any metal drill bits. I how have my rear hatch in my front room. To keep it company is the Sunroof, which was remove today to test for rattles. I though my chassis bolts were loose. But on removing the sunroof and going for a spin. I found the Esprit to be quite as a mouse (that's not squeaking). So there's will now be a how to rebuilt your sunroof piece coming to Lotus Esprit World soon. Also in the front room is my new set of GT3 wheels and tyres. Waiting for my brake upgrade before the hubs are changed to fit them on. I also have some parts for my A-service, air filter, oil filter and plugs. And last of all a new electric mirror switch, waiting again to go on the Esprit. Lucky I'm not married, as I'm sure having this lot in the front room for weeks on end, wouldn't go down to well with the other half. One last point, I'm typing this piece on my new laptop at 11.30pm on Sunday night. Its great to be able to put stuff on the site at any time. Thanks again for all the donations. Braking News With the lights finally finished (see here) and pay day looming. More work is to be done on my Esprit. Some paintwork needs some attention, so I'll be looking into possible companies to undertake the work. I will also be undertaking the A-Service, including oil and filter change, plugs and points and plenty of lubrication. I have the service schedules for the 4 cylinder Esprit, so everything will be covered. As usual a full guide will follow. I have also been looking into the Brake upgrade a little more. Cost is the main problem at the moment, as always. I'm currently looking a putting the AP Calipers and Discs on from the Sport 350 and current V8's. The problem is with this system on the front, the rears will be underbraking, possibly cause frequent locking of the front wheels. To upgrade the rears, I'll need to put the rear Brembo discs and calipers on from a V8. This will almost double the cost of the upgrade. So I'm now looking for a second hand set of V8 brembo rear calipers to lessen the cost. One other option I have been looking into instead of the new rear calipers is changing the rear discs and pads. Using a higher quality rear disc and some soft pads may increase the rear braking enough for the system to work. This of course would mean going ahead with the fronts and then testing the rears. This may leave me with an unbalanced and possible dangerous car, if the rear experiment didn't produce enough braking to keep up with the fronts. So I'll make looking into this a little further before deciding what do to. Any comments on this would be most welcome. kato@lotusespritworld.com Esprit & Chips I've secured a deal to review the ECU chip upgrades offered by a Marcus Freudhöfer in Germany. I will be testing the three most popular chips (see below) and reviewing them for Lotus Esprit World users. I will also be doing an install guide to show you how to install a re-mapped chip in your ECU. These chips will be for the 4 cyliner Esprit, but depending on how this project goes. There maybe a possibliity of testing the V8 chips that Marcus Freudhöfer offers. Once you've read my review and seen the install guide and feel you may be tempted to invest in a chip from Marcus Freudhöfer . Lotus Esprit World will be offering discounts for it's users. I'm also trying to secure a deal for those who have already install an Esprit Upgrade chip, to be able to upgrade there current chip at a reduced cost. The chips I will be reviewing are as follows: 1.
Improved S4s-MK5-code with the 3k stumble
reduced The chips will be reviewed as soon as the demonstration versions arrive from Marcus Freudhöfer and I have installed them. So look out for this exciting development.
Lotus Esprit World's iBook The Apple iBook that all the donations paid for arrived on Friday. Still snowed under at work, but managed to load all the software over Friday and Saturday. Did a little work on the site on Sunday and finished off sorting the iBook out today (24.3.03). So now I'm ready to get my head down and do some work on the site. I have a mountain of "things-to-do". Lots of updates and articles. Along with a lot of development work on the site. You will hopefully see the site morf over the next few months. Thanks for all the donations. Hopefully you'll see where your money went as the site develops. Current 'kato' News Front lights have how been fitted, pictures taken. Just need the time to put everything on the site. Worked 87hrs last week, so was pretty tired down. Lots of stuff to go on the site as soon as work is a little quieter. Met John (Curly) at the weekend. He's buying a BRG G Esprit from John Hazzard at BRG Garage. Curly's not picking it up until April, so came round to have an Esprit chat and talk about the website. We are trying to offer Lotus Esprit World logos for Nokia mobile phones. If I can sort out a logo, I'll charge a very small fee and you can have a Lotus Esprit World logo on your mobile phone (Nokia only at the moment). I'll keep you posted on what's going on. The Calendar is still going strong. Trying to sort a printer and work out costs. If everything viable then I'll put them on sale around the summer for next year. I'll let you see what there'll look like on the site. Going to try and keep cost to £15 + p&p. But I'll have to see how much it'll cost to do. Spare Tyres 'The True Story" This comes from my Source at Lotus, who has worked on the Esprit's development for over 23 years. "When the Airbags were developed for the USA all the crash testing was done with the spare wheel installed in the car. All the crash test results from impact testing for the compliance requirements showed a spare wheel in the vehicle. The wheel does very little / or nothing with respect to injury levels so removing it will have no influence on crash protection in a frontal impact. We only have it in Airbag equipped cars to ensure compliance with the original test results. Basically cars with no Spare wheel are no less safe than cars fitted with the wheel". Current SE Mods Front lights have been delivered, so should be finishing the install this weekend. Guide will follow. Have sourced some S4 alloys for my SE. Won't be putting them on until I've sorted out the Brake upgrade (funds permitting). Lotus Esprit World Donations After trying to sort out the financial loss I am incurring from running Lotus Esprit World, by charging people to advertise Esprit products on the site. Someone on the UK list said maybe donations would be a good idea to help buy the laptop (apple ibook) to help me to spend more time on developing the site while traveling to work and back every day. This will help with sorting the advertising out so some income can be earnt sooner rather than later. At present I'm unable to spend the time needed as work is very busy (the site is run from work only and I can't access it at home). So
I'm going to give it a go. Someone on the UK list has offered me a
ibook laptop at cost price and 60 days to pay. Now need to find £1,186
to pay for it.
Egg
Bank Account Make a donation to Lotus Esprit World using paypal
Lotus Esprit World @ Donington Lotus Esprit World met up with the UK Lotus Esprit Yahoo! Group at Donington (Sunday 9th March 2003). Good fun was had by all, as you can see from above. I missed the pub lunch and run as I needed to do some more networking (yeah right!). Lotus Esprit World's Tour of Donington will be on the site this week, so look out for it. (I'm bottom left, if you're interested). Managed to pick up some nice pictures for the Lotus Esprit World Calendar at Donington as well as 3 new magazine articles. This will be uploaded to the site as soon as I can get them done. All three are from Classic Car magazine. Your first Supercar (Nov 1998), Lotus Esprit - Supercar for a Song (May 1996) and Rush of Blood - Esprit vs 328GTS (Oct 1999).
Lotus Esprit World is SITE OF THE WEEK Lotus Esprit World is SITE OF THE WEEK on autotrader.co.uk. No much of a review, but nice anyway. See it here Last UK Esprit I can confirm from my sources that the last UK spec Esprit is indeed Black with Magnolia interior. It's coming off the production line as we speak/type. All Esprits produced until the productions ends in December will be for the US Market. My
source also confirmed the main reason (amongst others) for production
finishing was the lack of Renault gearboxes. Parts will be available
and fully
Lotus Esprit World @ Donington Don't forget Club Lotus' Donington Festival. This weekend, Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th March 2003 at Donington Park, Derbyshire. J24A off the M1. I will be there on Sunday with my dirty SE. Seems most of the Esprit guys will be attending on Sunday only. Be there from 10am. Non-members welcome. Should be the same as last years. So check last years here to see what you could be missing. Current SE Mods Front lights have been delivered, so should be finishing the install this weekend. Guide will follow. Currently looking into putting S4 alloys on my SE. Having secondhand hubs machine, so there are no changes made to the wheels. This means the SE wheels can be put back on using the old hubs. Also still looking into the Brake upgrade. More news on that as it comes. February 2003 Esprit Owners Pages Just a note to say I have been receiving files from owners, but due to the amount of work going into the site recently I have a back log of work to be done. Currently the owners pages are having some work done on the menu's and aren't available for updates. I have stored all files that have been sent to me, both new owners and updates. All owners pages will be done in time. So don't worry if you sent files in and haven't seen your pages updated.
Front
Clear Indicator Mod The
following is a copy of an article published in THE
TIMES, Motoring section dated, 21st Feb 03, enjoy: Lotus
supercar reaches end of road AH, HOW times change: 31 years ago T Rex were in the charts, Leeds United won the FA Cup and Britain embraced entry into the EEC. And Lotus unveiled the nation’s latest supercar, the fabulous wedge-shaped Esprit. Three decades on and poor Mark Bolan has gone to the great turntable in the sky, Leeds have forgotten what the FA Cup looks like and Europe is the place you go to on holiday, but is still full of funny foreigners serving chips with mayonnaise. Incredibly, the Esprit is still with us and still recognisable as the car that cut a swath through the dreary world of motoring flooded with Austin Allegros and Morris Marinas. More than 10,500 have been made at the factory in Hethel, Norfolk, over that time, and there still isn’t a man with a medallion who is complete without an Esprit. Actually, that isn’t fair, because the Esprit is one of the most underrated supercars on the road, and there are only seven new cars left in the UK without a buyer’s name on them. Lotus is finally ending production of the model this year, with the last 100 going to the United States, underlining the Lotus badge as one of Britain’s most identifiable exports. But UK production is finished and the last magnificent seven are just waiting to be cleared to end the era of a car that offered performance to rival the best, at prices that more modest enthusiasts could afford. The final versions cost £49,995, but just check these performance figures: 0 to 60mph in 4.8sec, 100mph in 10.5sec and top speed limited to 175mph. Quite extraordinary when you compare that with rivals from Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche. Of course, the Esprit can’t help but look a little dated, even with the help of some reshaping and bodykit, but ask any kid to draw a supercar and the wedge-shaped nose is almost certain to feature. Like so many Lotus cars before it, the Esprit defined a style that roared performance and that has still never really been overtaken by its successors. The concept has produced an archetypal sports-car shape, with its arrow shape, low cockpit and sleek stance, and it is incredible to think that it comes from an age when politicians could sleep with their secretaries without the tabloids finding out, and glittery eye-shadow was an acceptable style accessory on an adult male in a Sheffield nightclub. But this is the last batch before Lotus dreams up a new and no doubt equally mouthwatering supercar for the next generation. Meanwhile, Lotus fans will make do with the lovely little Elise, which is finding new buyers around the world. A sales mission set off to Japan this week, where enthusiasts are queueing up to buy the car. Lotus estimates there are already around 1,500 “grey” imports of Elises there. Hopefully, as well as the Elise, the Japanese will learn something of the joys of bargain-basement supercar motoring, too, just as soon as Lotus comes up with a successor to its legendary Esprit.
This is Image of Neil White's vision of how the New Esprit could look. See more of this Students Esprit Concept here.
Next Project I'll be doing a complete headlight rebuild over the next few weeks (work permitting). The headlights in the Pods have rusted badly and the reflective material has peeled off the four headlamps. I will be replacing all the backing plates, screws, clips and the outer headlamps. The inner headlamps are a Lotus only item and are expensive. So for now I'll be putting the old ones back in. As usual I will be doing a full guide as the same headlight pods have been used for years and will be useful for everyone. I was quoted £700 to rebuild from Lotus. So my DIY guide will save you money, if not time. All the parts, including the expensive inner headlights should come to around £350. Not cheap, but thats a full rebuild. Look out for the guide! I have also started inquiring about upgrades for the Toyota brakes, which are on Stevens Esprits from 1987 to 1994. This will be replacement disc, pads and most importantly new 4-pot calipers. Braided hoses will also be on the stopping list! I will also be investigating upgrading the rears to even out the brake bias. I'm looking for a major improvement, but without having to spend stupid amounts of money. Another problem is the 15" wheels on the pre S4 Esprit. This limits the size of brakes that can be fitted. I will be looking a both upgrades, one for 15" wheels and one for 17" wheels. Not sure how long this will take, but hope to have something on my Esprit by the summer. any comments to kato@lotusespritworld.com The Esprit from 'Pretty Woman'
Fancy picking up a prostitute in style, well you can now. The Esprit from the motion picture 'Pretty Women' starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts is now for sale. The Esprit's appearance in the film, when Richard Gere picks up prostitute Julia Roberts down Sunset Boulevard (Huge Grant wasn't driving an Esprit), gave US sales a real boost. See it here www.russoandsteele.com Now been Sold for an amazing $27,000. Lotus Esprit World SE Work Continuing work is being carried out on my 1992 SE. Door handles and rubbers have now been replace (see maintenance page). Lights are next on the list, with the whole internal pod being replaced. More work will done over the next few months, including an A-service (oil, plugs etc), Brake cleaning, possible wing removal and a few custom mods to the interior. Watch this space for further details. Lotus Esprit World Checklist's & Receipt Online
You can now get both the Esprit Checklist online. Go to the checklist page or receipt page and about half way down you can now access the pdfs from the website 24/7. Malcom's Esprit on Ebay
Malcom in the Middle's Esprit is for sale on Ebay. Wish I had a feebie like this! See more at Otherstuff!. Esprit GT1 Racer
Visited Mike Haines Racing on Friday to drop Phil's Sport 350 off for a possible brake conversion (updates on that soon). Spent an enjoyable couple of hours talking to Mike and looking over Mike Sekinger's GT1 Replica. Also got a peek at the only GT1 left in the world. Mike will be working with Lotus Esprit World in the near future to offer top quality racing upgrades for V8 Esprits (watch the site for more info). Should be getting plenty of info on the GT1's life on the track, along with some pictures. Sport Exhaust & Ram Air Finally fitted my new Sports Exhaust and Cat Bypass Pipe this weekend. Very happy with it. Also did the Ram Air conversion. See how both went on the Maintenance page. ZYMOL
CAR OF THE YEAR 2003
Dermot O'Hare's 1994 S4 has won the Zymol Car of the Year 2003. His prize was £250 worth of Zymol products. See more of his highly modilfied Esprit on his owners page. Check the link above to see Dermots car on the Zymol Website and find out more about their car care products. Esprit Engine Cover
As most of you will know, the under side of your engine cover can become very worn, start peeling and get the odd scorce marks. I decided to recover mine, as cleaning it wasn't possible due to most of the reflective coating peeling. I peeled off the silver finish down to the glass-fibre. A quick rub down and it's ready to recover. I used aluminium tape from any DIY store at about £5 a roll (x2). This seems to be the same sort finish as originally supplied on the cover. Using a scaple I was easy able to do all the tricky bits and get a good finish. I've done a 200 mile run since (to the Lotus Factory and back) with no ill effects or peeling. Not really sure why you'd want to reflect the heat back into the engine bay, maybe is used to force the heat out through the bonnet vents. But my cover now looks good as new, and will a little bit of care I should be able to keep it that way. Comments Weight Saving for the Esprit
Removed my Spare wheel and jack over the weekend and weighed them. Over 20kg, So I went out and brought some Tire Weld from Halford (incase of a flat) and have now re-homed by spare wheel in the garage. Apart from saving 20kg in weight (remember the Sport 350's weight saving over the V8 was 80kg) which will improve performance and economy. It has also lightened the steering a low speed (SE = No Power Steering), with no ill affect at higher speeds (as yet). I recommend this cheap mod if you're currently carrying around a spare tyre. Comments Lotus Gears Ferrari Style
This picture from an American site shows a Ferrari gear gate on a V8 Esprit. Looks great, but not sure of how well it will work. Given the slackness of the Renault Gearbox, I doubt finding a gear through the gate would be particularly easy. Not recommend for pre V8's, but might work better on the tighter gate of the later boxes. A lot of work if it doesn't work well. Comments Club Lotus
A lot of negative comments this month about Club Lotus' Magazine. Their coverage of the end of the Esprit production was to be kind, Rubbish. It would have been better if they'd not have bothered. Added to the usual lack of Esprit content and the amount of adverts that fill the magazine (33 out of 52 pages) they are on the brink of losing their Lotus Esprit World recommentation. Club Lotus is still of some use, with cars for sale, and some of the adverts are useful (especially the independents) and insurance reduction from Footman James. But if the Magazine doesn't improve and their new TEAM ESPRIT is a let down then I will stop recommending them as a usual addition to Esprit Ownership. Comments Lotus Cartoon
This cartoon was supplied by Richard Smith who contacted me asking if he could run out some pictures from the site for his bedroom wall. Nice to see that tomorrows drivers can still see the Esprit for what it is. The most beautiful car in the World. I sent young Richard a couple of posters for his wall and received this cartoon in return. IF ONLY
Lotus Factory
Took Phil's Sport 350 down to the Factory yesterday (2nd Feb) for an A service and a new sports exhaust, as the 6 month old one is falling off due to poor welding. Had a quick look at Classic Team Lotus while we were there. But as it was Sunday everything was shut up. Only 130yds from the Factory entrance and run by Colin Chapman's son. Picking the Esprit up this week. We'll see then how good the Lotus Performance guys are. And of course how much!
Esprit SE UPGRADES Have re-covered my engine cover over the weekend, and made a cheap performance upgrade. Look out for reports coming soon.
Will be tackling the Exhaust, Cat replacement pipe, Air-filter, door handles, headlamps and oil change this weekend. As long as the rest of the part turn up this week. Not sure I'll get it all done, but I'll be doing install guide on everything I do for the site. So look out for them. Parts
supplied by: January 2003 Esprit Pictures for your Enjoyment! Lotus Esprit World currently has over 2,000 colour pictures of Esprits.
V8 High-flow Cat/Cat Replacement Pipe Currently investigating fitting either a Cat Replacement Pipe or a High-flow Cats to the V8. This may sound simple (as with the 4-cylinders), but it is more difficult with the V8. Due to the engine management system having On-Board Diagnostics (OBD). This means there are oxygen sensors before and after the catalysts, and these will effectively monitor the catalysts' performance continuously. If the Cat is removed, the ECU causes problems due to the readings from either side of the now missing Cat. For cars with OBD, I've been recommend using High-flow catalysts with 200 cells per square inch, otherwise you would normally use 100 cell catalysts for optimum flow. Now with these High-flow Cats costing around £300 each, I need to find out what cell per square inch the standard Lotus Cat uses. As if this is close to 200, then an upgrade wouldn't be worth the trouble. Still also looking at the possibility of some chip management to ignore the readings from the oxygen sensors. But again this would increase the cost and be a possible problem with MOT's every year. But performance increases could be maximised this way with the Cat being replaced with a pipe. If you have any useful information on this. Please email me at the normal address. The Picture above is from this months Evo Magazine, showing a Lotus V8 engine running on a test bed. Check that turbo glowing! Checklist & Receipt PDF Updated The new versions of the Checklist and Receipt are now ready for use. Since they've not been touched since the site first went online, they weren't following the sites new style and even had the very first web address still on them. There's not too many changes, as it seem to cover everything. I've added another page to the Checklist with a list of models and space for some notes. The Receipt was also not follows the sites style, and has been modified slightly. There's now only one Receipt for both Steven's and Giugiaro models. I've sent out hundreds of Checklist and Receipt over the 2 years the sites been running, and haven't had any response as to improving either. So I'm persuming they cover everything, but if you find anything you think would improve them, please email me. That also goes for mistakes and spelling errors throughout the site!
Johnson Motorsports Esprit V8 for Sale Johnson Motorsport have put their Lotus Esprit V8 that appeared in the 2002 British GTO Championship up for sale. See more on the For Sale page on this site. It's your chance to own a fully race pre-pared Lotus Esprit V8. James Bond Esprit Submarine Pics from US Great pictures for New York of the Esprit featured in 'the Spy who Loved Me'. Well worth a look. Reason's for the Death of the Esprit For years, the Esprit has been living on exemptions to the interior safety regulations. I believe all V8's and some of the 4-cyl Esprits were built under that exemption, so the fact that Lotus applied for an extension to the exemption isn't anything new... they've been doing that as a course of business for years. The safety exemption has to do with the roof's, the top windshield header's, and the A-pillar's close proximity to the occupant's heads... combined with the rather reclined seating position. If the occupants pitch forward in an accident, the head, neck and shoulders will move forward in an upward arc about the hips, driving the head into the roof structure. Besides the obvious head injuries, such an impact will force the head back beyond the neck's normal range of motion, leading to a broken neck. The problem could not be resolved without raising the roof several inches and moving the windshield header forward. But Lotus has be able to grandfather the old, limited-production design past the safety requirement with a series of exemptions. So, the Esprit's end came not by legislation; rather, it came when Renault pulled the plug on the transaxle's production. When that happened, Lotus felt the Esprit was too old and too close to it's last days to warrant a re-design to use a different transaxle, and elected to end the production run when transaxle supples ran out. However, recently they "found" (or negotiated ??) a supply of transaxles (45 ??) that would support production of US V8's through 2003. But the then-current safety exemption was due to expire in Sept 2002. So they applied for another exemption that will run through Dec 2003. "IF" the exemption is approved, Fed-Esprit V8 production will run through that date or until the supply of transaxles runs out. The last I heard, approval was still pending. All available transaxles would go to the production of new cars. None would be held in reserve as service parts. In any case, no attempt would be made to extend production beyond Dec 2003 even if more transaxles were found and more safety exemptions were granted. The Lotus V8 cannot be made compliant with Federal regulations beyond that date. Backing the design up to S4s specs isn't an option. The V8 replaced the 910 because the 4-cyl was non-compliant (OBD II ??) and had been surviving on exemptions for some time. Those exemptions finally ran out. So reverting back to a S4s spec Esprit isn't an option either. No engine, no transaxle and not Fed-Safety compliant by it's very nature, the Esprit has run out of rope. Motoring Press on Esprit Production Ending Lotus
Esprit Finally Runs Out Of Time If
you've ever fancied owning a new Lotus Esprit you'd better be quick
- production for the UK and Europe ends in the middle of this year,
although US-spec versions will continue to be available until the
end of 2003 and perhaps into 2004.
It may be the end of the line for the mid-engined twin-turbo V8 supercar,
but the Esprit name will live on, attached to the rump of an all-new
vehicle. Lotus is cagey about what that car might be, but common sense
says that the Esprit tag will be worn by the latest incarnation of
the M250 project - after all, the Esprit name has more than 30 years
of heritage behind it and is well known and respected in the States,
a crucial market for the new car. A V6-engined Elise-bodied mule is
currently running around the roads near the Hethel factory while Lotus
decides which six-cylinder motor the car should have. End
Of The Road For Lotus Esprit Two more years and it would have been celebrating its 30th birthday, but bosses at Lotus have decided to axe the Esprit in 2003. Despite numerous revisions, only a handful of the mid-engined supercars are being sold every year, as the model has been totally eclipsed by the smaller, cheaper and critically acclaimed Elise. The Esprit is most famous for its underwater antics in 007's The Spy Who Loved Me movie. Lotus says that an all-new replacement won't appear for "a few years". Coming Soon on Lotus Esprit World I will be continuing to work on the Lotus Esprit Calendar for later this year. Also I'm looking at producting a Modifications Page, to help all those who wish to upgrade their Esprit. If you can help with any information you think relevant email me at the usual address. The Lotus Esprit World Checklist and Reciept are also in the process of being upgraded, as both have remained unchanged since the site was introduced. Again anything you think can be added, email me. Some work will be going into my Esprit in the next few months. Everything will be covered by the site. These include a new Stainless Steel Sports Exhaust. A Cat replacement pipe, so the dreaded cat can be binned (until the next MOT that is). K&N air filter to help everything breath more easily this winter. I will also be trying to replace my door handles, as these have lost there finish. Two rear tyres, but I'm leaning towards a straight replacement there. And lastly two new Main/Dip headlamps, as these have lost their reflective backing. Look out for these on the Maintenance Page in the coming months. Tyres for Esprits Check out this website for tyres. Not used it yet, but might be worth a look. iPod in the Esprit Finally fitted my iPod to my Esprit. I how have access to over 250 albums while driving. Great. Check it out here. Esprit Video from Top Gear (BBC) A video of the Stig taking the Esprit around the Top Gear test track is available at chargecooler.org. Its about 9mb, so it may take a while, but is good quality. Dump Valve Update My Dump Valve has arrived and been fitted, you can now see the fitting guide here. Esprit Production to End As has been reported here before the Esprit will stop production sometime this year. Lots of press coverage of the Esprit on TV and in the Press. It will be a sad day when the last Esprit rolls off the production line. Long live the Esprit. Lotus have annouced a replacement Esprit, but with no date I'm not holding my breathe. I personally think the Esprit is dead and we should now concentrate on the Cars we have. Lookout for more news on the end of production. Esprit on Top Gear (BBC) The Esprit did well around the Top Gear Test Track driven by the Stig (Perry McCarthy). Getting a time of 1 min 31 sec, which put it ahead of some very fast cars. The piece itself was very complimentary about the Esprit and mourns at the end of it's production. Dump Valve Update My Dump Valve has arrived and been fitted, look out for the fitting guide coming soon. Lotus Needs Sponsors Happy Holidays..... and all help appreciated! For all of those who have moaned on the list that Lotus is not racing in the US. I
have been asked (along w. Stu hayner and Don Sak) to drive the Lotus
Elise GT1 car at the 24 hour of Daytona (Feb 1st and 2nd). However,
in order for Lotus to have a presence we are looking for a few sponsors.
If we do not raise sufficient to cover costs - no Lotus. How
would you like to spend the weekend w. a team at Daytona? Sorry for the short lead time....Andrew Barron |
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