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Guest Message by DevFuse

2nd drive from France to Düsseldorf

Posted by mike_sekinger, in V8 Projects 30 May 2011 · 9 views

Yesterday I drove the V8 from our place in France to Düsseldorf. A little shy of 1000Kms, but the weather was absolutely spectacular.

The engine behaved very nicely and despite my discipline I did get caught speeding once on the way through France. Only a minor infringement, but still a 45€ spot-fine.  :thumbdown:

It was after 9:30pm before I entered Germany and first encountered some unrestricted Autobahn. Given the lack of traffic, I decided to open up a little and see what speed was possible. The gearbox has a 3.44 to 1 cwp installed and managed a GPS based speed of 295Km/h @ 6500rpm.....  would equate to 200mph with just over 7300rpm.... promising  :thumbsup:

I can honestly say that is the fastest I have ever been in an Esprit and that it did not feel very safe  :censored:
The noise from the road, wind and engine was almost intolerable. Next time I will use some earplugs !

Cheers,
Mike S

streetz

May 31 2011 07:10 AM

Haha, I know, what you mean with "noise", and I guess everyone else, who has ever driven his Esprit fast knows, too. I upgraded my noise canceling stereo with speakers behind the seats. But at some speed nothing helps - maybe the earplugs :band:

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Exploded

Jun 02 2011 09:32 PM

Mike, You are crazy!!!!! 295 in an Esprit!!!!!! Wow man, that must have been well over 300km/h on the clock if you did 295 on the GPS. I can really believe you will need earplugs ;-) Not only for the wind, but probably also because you don't want to hear the engine howlin' so loud :-D

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bzguy

Jun 03 2011 09:44 AM

Oh my God ! That is Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast !

Nice one Mike !

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Exploded

Jun 07 2011 09:21 AM

It became so quiet in here... did you ever get back Mike? ;-)

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mike_sekinger

Jun 07 2011 10:40 AM

Hi Gert,

The car is still here in Ratingen. I´m currently moving to Holland for a while, so the Esprit will become my daily transport to and from work.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of driving a 7.5t truck to France and back.... 13hrs at 90Km/h. :wallbash:

I was hoping to find some time to come visit you in Belgium, once we are settled in.

Cheers,
Mike S

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redshift

Jun 08 2011 07:16 AM

Only another 25 kmh to find now. What do you reckon, 15-20% more power needed? Not forgetting how much is going to be aero at these speeds.

Go on, tell us why it felt unsafe. Does it feel a bit 'floaty' and not really planted?

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mike_sekinger

Jun 08 2011 08:44 AM

Hi Pete,

I stopped at 6500rpm - but clearly the engine had more to give. It was just a quick test, not a full-bore attempt at a top speed.

It felt unsafe due to the sheer noise and vibration (the cf rear deck moves more than the stock one...). I was totally unprepared for the deafening sound of the engine/turbos at WOTand that combined with the road and wind noise was rather unnerving. The car didn´t feel floaty or as if it was going to take-off ;-)))

I´ll be getting to drive that section of road routinely in the next weeks/months, so I´ll see if I can capture some images.

Cheers,
Mike S

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redshift

Jun 08 2011 10:03 AM

A few weeks of commuting on unrestricted autobahn with a modified V8....

To quote Monty Python:

"You lucky, lucky, lucky b*******d!" :thumbsup:

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mike_sekinger

Aug 18 2011 10:54 AM

Update: I´ve been travelling daily between Holland and Düsseldorf, which in practice means two 25Km slices of 150mph+ fun each day. The commute is only 80Kms each way, but with a good section of unrestricted Autobahn in the middle of the run.

The car is behaving very well although it really gets through the fuel in a hurry at those speeds. I´m having to fill-up every three days !

In an attempt to address the excessive noise, I fitted 200cpi cats, but removed them very soon afterwards as the power loss was noticeable and certainly unwelcome. I´m now running minus cats but with the Lotus federal centre-exit muffler. Seems a good compromise for now and on light throttle the car is reasonable quiet - still a howling banshee at WOT !

Engine has done just over 8000miles, so 2nd oil change planned for the weekend.

Cheers,
Mike S