88-90, Lotus Turbo Espirit?

[83 sc euro cab]

As a daily 911 driver, the only other car which I've admired from a stylish standpoint has to be the Esprit Turbo from Lotus, particularly the 88-90 models before the ridiculous body changes that were made in the early 90's

Has anyone every owned one of these and are they worth the trouble? How do they compare to early 911's (77-89)?


I haven't seen an example for sale
over 40K miles....what's the deal with that?

just curious.

[Kurt B]

Old boss had one. He loved it, said it was very fast.
However, the water pump went out and he had to change it. After 2 weekends working on it in his spare time, he got one nut off. By the end of the month he had removed the pump. Within 6 weeks he had replaced it. I don't know the details but he was pretty handy with tools. After that he sold it and later got a Saleen 'stang.
but it's a great car from what I understand.

[CamB]

No experience with them myself. But this looks to be an excellent resource:

http://www.espritfactfile.com/

I have read they go well and are fairly reliable with regular maintenance. You may struggle with parts availability in the USA.

Cam

[Jim T]

i would get an 89 or up. if its an 89, make sure its an SE. 90 and up are all good.

[89911]

See British car thread above!

[James Ball]

You know the joke about what Lotus stands for:

Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious

[Obin Robinson]

the guy we got our 924 from had a Lotus Esprit Turbo. he said it was by far the coolest car he ever owned. he also had a 944S2, 928S, 911 Turbo, and 3 other cars (besides the 924).

he said that the Lotus is a great car, but there's a few things that are VERY expensive on them. the oil filters were something like $40 each. the windshield wipers were also rediculously expensive (over $100). there were a few parts with outrageous prices. but that aside, he said that the Lotus was pure heaven.

before we got our VW Scirocco 16V, i was considering a 1984 Lotus Esprit for my daily driver. i ended up not getting the Lotus, though i know it would have been a TON of fun. the big problem i heard about the Lotus was "if you sit in stop-and-go traffic on a hot day, you WILL blow the head gasket". apparently the engines build up a lot of heat and if you don't have air flowing over it, the engines cook themselves. this looks like the car i was going to get:




here's a tidit from the esprit fact file:

"More importantly, buy a car with a verifiable service record. Don't, I repeat, don't buy a "fixer-upper". It's not that I don't think there is some merit to rebuilding your own car back from the dead. It's just that, Esprit parts are extremely expensive. If you buy a car that needs a lot of repairs, you will soon come to realize that you would've been better off financially buying a better/newer model. The first time you hear that the flywheel you need will cost $1500, or that the window decal costs $80, you'll remember what I said."


in any case, do the research, they aren't THAT bad cars. don't drive it every day though... that's what the Porsche is for.

obin

[twin plugged targa]

If we are going to get into slinging mud at Lotus, remember what good 'ol 'Ford' stands for: Fix Or Repair Daily!

[firecall999]

At a recent "drive a super car" day I attended 3 out of 4 Esprits broke down.

I spoke to one of the instructors and he said they are *always* braking down.

Although they do look cool with Ski mounts on the back. And if they are good enough for James Bond.....

Alex.

[Automahn]

The mechanic that works on my 911 also specializes in British cars there is ALWAYS a Lotus in his garage he said they are problem childs and the parts are very Pricey and sometimes hard to find. The same reason you see a lot of 308 Ferraris with 30k miles or less they just had their $6000 30k mile service and are scared to drive their cars.

[hhazrati]

I owned a 1997 Lotus Esprit Twin Turbo V8. These vehicles are hand made, with some from parts scavanged from other manufacturers (ie rear brake lights are Toyota Corrolla 1985). Also alot of GM parts (all electricals, etc).
Colin Chapman, Lotus Founder, had no interest in durability of his cars. He said as long as they went 500miles ( the length of a race) they were good enough and it would be time for a rebuild. There is something called Lotus miles (like dog years) you will find Lotus with very very low miles. Thats just how they come. A previous post says "a Lotus as a daily driver" this has to be an oxymoron. My "97 had 8K when I bought it and 9K when I sold it. Very expensive to fix, Parts very hard to find. A new clutch was $3000, Timing belt change was $1900. I had heard that engine rebuild around $15000. Lotus Cars USA is in Atlanta where I live, its such a small mom & pop / mickey mouse operation ( I have been there several times). Lotus cars had made 6,800 Esprits from 1984 to 1987 TOTAL.
BUY THE NEWEST MODEL you can. The best 4Cyl Turbo is '94-'95 S4S with 300hp out of a 2.2l engine. This is incredible engineering. The earlier cars were VERY unreliable. For 25-35K you get a world class supercar (when it is running) that easily matches a 993 Turbo and outshines the 911 in exclusivity and gawk factor.
The 1997+ Twin Turbo jumps to $60K+, but then you have an exotic that can stay with any super car in the world(when it is running). Remember, 40K is very high miles.

[Obin Robinson]

Originally posted by hhazrati:
Thats just how they come. A previous post says "a Lotus as a daily driver" this has to be an oxymoron.

yeah, one of the reasons i didn't get one . i heard how expensive it would be and for that cash i'd rather get a 928... just as fast, and a lot more reliable.

obin

[lukeh]

I also love the look of the Lotus. One day I saw one in a dealers lot and took a look. He asked me if I wanted sit in it. I said sure. I must say that I hated the seating position. It was like sitting in a bath tub. I was laying back and sitting soooo low. The top of the window was at my shoulder. The top of the dash was at my chin and I almost had to reach up to get to the shifter. I like the feeling of sitting up and looking out over the car. In the Lotus I felt like I was driving in a hole.

[Roland Kunz]

Hello

The Esprit is like a selfmade 914/4 turbo.

Erconomics are worser then in any Porsche. ( but better then in some italians )
Driving and Handling is rocketlike.

Refinement and long term test is done by the owner, you must love the car.

But it is one of the best bangs for the buck. If it runs it runs ! and you can make circles around other cars. Straigt driving isn´t the goal and stop & go is killing.

For coolingproblems just do it like James Bond. Typical british solution.

The best Lotus for non mechanics are the Eclat´s and everything after 1995 ( GM ).

Well some say they are dependable as Opel. Hope they don´t think Lotus Omega.

Grüsse

[TWIN911]

I go out a couple a times a year with the local lotus club. Most of the 4 banger esprits are not all that fast on the track, and that's comparing it to my stock 88 911. The V8's are a different matter. Funny thing is that I caught all of them in the corners. So much for the much discussed and much maligned 911 handling characteristics! I looked at the groups web site. It's devoted to mainenance issues!!!!!! Much different than a Porsche site. Tell you something???

[cegerer]

The interior on the Lotus always reminded me of a do-it-yourself kit car type thing! Maybe they were changed and improved over the years?

Also, the mileage thing: Lotus, Ferrari, Maserati, etc. always seem to have extremely low mileage. For 911's it's, of course, not unusual to see them with 150,000+ and still going strong. Says something about the practicality, reliablity, and fun-to-drive factors I think.