In honor of Throwback Friday, today we pay homage to the long lived and soon to be reincarnated Lotus Esprit.
The Last Iteration of the Legendary Mid-Engined Lotus Esprit...or is it? (Click to Enlarge)
The Esprit V8 used Lotus’ self developed all-aluminum, twin-turbocharged (Garrett T3/60 turbos) 90-degree V-8, Code-named Type 918, in front of the same Renault transmission as before with no intercooler. Derek Bell developed an up-rated gearbox that overcame a lot of the gearbox problems with a much thicker single piece input shaft. The Type 918 engine was detuned from a potential 500bhp to 350bhp to prevent gearbox damage due to the fragility of the Renault UN-1 transmission. As tested by Motor Trend Magazine in 1998 at the Ford Proving Grounds] 0-60 came in at 4.4 seconds with a top speed of over 175 mph. Early Type 918 engines built between 1997 to 2000 are noted to suffer from a leaking cylinder liner problem due to a breakdown in the liner sealant if the engine overheats, resulting in water leaking into the cylinders and ending up in the sump. After extensive testing, this problem was rectified with a change of sealant type from Loctite 572 to Hylomar 3400, although some owners still reported sporadic leaking cylinder liners.
Alongside V8 models was produced the GT3, a turbocharged 4 cylinder car with a 2.0 liter intercooled, turbocharged engine.
In 1998 the V8 range was split into SE and GT specifications, both cars with a much changed interior configuration, both offering similar performance with the SE being the more luxurious of the two.
The ultimate incarnation of the Esprit came in 1999 with the Sport 350. Only 50 were made, each offering 350 horsepower (as per the name) and various engine, chassis and braking improvements, like the addition of AP racing brakes, stiffer springs and a revised ECU. Several visual changes were made as well, including the addition of a large carbon fiber rear wing on aluminum uprights in place of the standard fiberglass rear wing. By this time the Esprit could reach 60 mph in just 4.3 seconds as well as reaching 0-100 in 10.1 seconds.
Jeremy Clarkson’s Take On the Long Lived Esprit
A native of Tampa, FL Robert is the presiding editor and co-owner of both Down Shift Magazine and DS Holdings, LLC. A proud alumnus of the University of South Florida’s class of 2005 Robert is active in the Tampa Bay community and when not residing at his home in Tampa, FL enjoys traveling throughout the United States and abroad covering the motorsports and cultural phenomenon that shape our modern automotive enthusiast community.
