qwerty123

Curious, approximately how much is one of these going to cost and Barry can you describe what advantages it gives?

Bit of a thread resurrection here but I was wondering if anyone knew what happened to the moulds for the doors, bonnet, tailgate and bumpers. Were they rescued?

I’m both excited (that a new Esprit is coming) and sad (that I won’t be able to afford it)...

I just don't get a warm and fuzzy feeling that this instructor did any kind of instructing...

I agree the guy talks a lot of sense. He identified all the markers to be wary of, cold temps, first session of the day, novice in a fast car, instructor who didn't give a tosh etc and learned from them. As to him taking responsibility for his own actions, that's not right. He was under instruction, the instructor has a duty to instruct, not to put the novice driver in a bad place ending in a crash. A good instructor should build a rapport first, get the student to build speed gradually so he/she can feel for the limits safely in a controlled environment. If the student comes away having learned something their confidence grows and the instructors job is done. This one clearly didn't give a shit about his student or the car and should be named and shamed, only way to weed them out. Bad instructor. eta not many people have the self awareness to admit their limitations and put them on a public forum, good on him for that!

The oversteer thing can be exacerbated by worn or old rear tyres (not in your case they're new) and poor alignment. Just be cautious of the often cited experience of exiting a roundabout (plenty of camber and direction changes) particularly in the wet and then putting your foot down (big slug of turbo coming in all of a sudden). Worth visiting a skidpan and looking at lift-off oversteer if you are unfamiliar. The Esprit handles superbly, it's a Lotus! Sounds like a lot of the big mechanicals have been sorted but the finesse stuff like the gearchange mechanism can really make the car annoying to drive if not spot on. Aircon? You probably need it more than me. Worth getting a tech one tool to read the codes via the dangling obd wire thing you mentioned in the passenger footwell.

Well my misfire was a multitude of things. First, there was an air leak with a blown gasket between the manifold and turbo. Second, the plugs were changed due to 1 and 4 running rich (or lean can't remember) but this may have been a symptom of the actual reason which may have been the fuel pump which was making a grumbling noise. It wasn't immediately obvious due to the noise the vacuum pump making that was hiding the noise from the fuel pump. Now, with a new fuel pump etc it goes erm, rather [haironfire] >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell ! [/haironfire]

I have one fitted, I've done track days and racing with and without it. I'd say that the performance comes into its own coming out of bends where you can get away without losing energy through the spun up inside wheel. On the open diff you really do have to wait until it gets traction before nailing it and it seems like an age before blast off...Also the inside wheel will spin up regardless of having sticky tyres on, just you'll do it at slightly higher speeds. With the Quaife fitted I don't really notice it until the back lets go, then you have to be quick because both tyres have lost grip and again you're at higher g-loads and speed. It's controllable though ;-) When racing I am on boost most of the time so I don't worry too much about the turbo lag. On the road, on a cold, wet Sunday morning where you might not be the most alert, I'd be careful.

How did you spot it? Mine has a spluttering habit now, suspect fuel pump/filter. They're the originals...

Oh God don't. I've had my hopes dashed too many times...

Just been looking to clear out some of the gumf from my laminating and have decided to offer the moulds of the bonnet and RH door, 2 parts each. Anyone wants them you are welcome to take them away, to use them again they will need a little rubbing down on some areas with wet and dry but are in good condition. Bear in mind the work that goes into simply making a mould and it could save a whole lot of effort. Also, I have the front splitter in carbon, directly moulded from the original and about a third of the weight in carbon fibre. Not saving much weight of course as the original is as heavy as a paperback book. No new pics as I seem to have reached my limit on this site but see above for the outer blue door mould and splitter and the first page for the bonnet moulds.

Finished today at 7pm. Parked up at home having unloaded and settled down with a cup of tea. Rather pleased with myself, however. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0ROTdbN4M7jUHBnUnlZVHhnRVk

- Whats a the cost to run a season? Very open-ended question and I know will vary depending on what series. entirely open ended. How to make a small fortune in racing? Start with a big one... I race an Esprit, Not the easiest car to set up initially, cage is difficult to make and expensive. (3500 quid roughly) Race licence, helmet, suit boots gloves undies and Hans are expensive but you can work it down to a budget if you aren't a fashion queen. (500-600 for the clothes 250-300 for the hans roughly) Tyres are super expensive, I constantly hunt for surplus or end of series tyres... wets too, have found some bargains but try to find similar fr and rr impossible... clutch will probably need uprating, brakes certainly, new pads after 2 to 3 races? Surprisingly easy on tyres though. Extra servicing, shortened life of parts> manifold anyone? Then the series and fees, £330 a race this year, or £500 for the Intermarque!!! Friday to pick up hired trailer, with a hired tow vehicle of course! Accomodation at the circuit? I camp often in the car/tent on trailer ok if the sun is out... usually finished by Sat eve, sometimes sunday afternoon. Then the drive back, drop the car off then the trailer. From Anglesey or Oulton or -yikes!- Croft, you are looking at 5-8 hrs driving. Not so bad from Silverstone, Rockingham, etc. Castle Combe is half an hour. When does the series race at Combe? Never... food, fuel, red bull for the 60 mph motorway trudge, adds up to about 7-800 for the weekend (plus fuel for tow vehicle sometimes 150-200 quid) but thats once the car is ready, fuelled tyred licenced and I can get the friday off... our series is 4 race weekends, Intermarque is 6 iirc. work is done at a specialist an hour away. Get the car there and back? Mot it or trailer it. Both equally expensive. I have learned that unless you have a 3 day week, a huge salary an easy supply of parts and upgrades and that your mechanic will jump to your help at a moments notice, forget it! It is however great fun, thrilling and you get to play a risky game of jousting like Hunt, Senna, Mansell, Lauda etc on all the circuits they raced on. Nothing like it, when the lights go out and it's 'Go, go go!' from Murray Walker in your head... - How much time do you need to dedicate to it? Full weekends, weekdays, how many race weekend etc - Do you maintain the car yourself or have a mechanic / hire sevices of a race team? - Any other tips, hidden costs, things you've learned etc etc.

Well I have just replaced my old SJ system with a new one on my S4. Cat replacement and backbox, all stainless including the brackets (unlike the SJ system which were welded on mild steel and which ultimately killed it after 12 years or so). It's also repackable with a removable end pipe and is sleeved at the join between the downpipe and backbox then clamped. 20" silencer so not too loud but still has a nice growl when revving through a tunnel. Having seen some of the loud stuff on other cars, especially without silencers, I don't know why I've lived with the droning 'noise' for so long. I expect it will pass the 100db limit at Castle Combe now. I used Torque Technique in Salisbury, took a full day to make. www.torquetechnique.co.uk

Geoff does that when he swaps my tyres. He marks the heavy side of the tyre and wheel and rotates them so they spin roughly opposite to each other, this either cancels out the imbalance or reduces it so the amount of weights required to almost nil. Works well and reduced unsprung mass, if that's your thing... You're in Bournemouth? He's just up the road from you then.