gmendoza
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Posts posted by gmendoza
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Nope. Here where the 3 roads meet:
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Here are some bad phone pics from today's drive, Anyone local recognize this?
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Lotus claimed 350 crank hp (not wheels). Most are getting between 315 to 340 rear wheel HP. If your Lotus v8 is stock (have not done any upgrades or added boost), I doubt you are getting 350hp to the wheels....never! impossible!
My car all stock with the stock (S350 code) ecu dynoed ~ 340rwhp. With 12psi (non-intercooled), boost controller, Johan's ECU and straight exhaust dynoed ~ 370rwhp
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Where do we send the pics?
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what size rears are you guys running? did you stay with the factory 285/40's or did you go up a size or two? I wouldn't mind going to something like a 305 in the rear if this is a possibility. I'm going to need new tires by next spring for sure so I've started looking already.
I went with 295/35/18 in the rear (Sport 350 sizes)
I've been looking for new tires also. Several people told me to try the Falken FK452 tires. They have the same tread wear rating as the Dunlop SP9000. If you are here in the States the best prices I found are at Edge Racing (http://www.edgeracing.com). $605 for four tires (235/40/17, 285/35/18) delivered to my house isn't too bad. A couple of people have them on their M5 and corvettes and they have not had any problems with the Falken tires. A little more you can get the Toyos where I hear are even better than the Falkens.In my opinion I think either the Pilot S2 or Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 are the two best handling tires. But if you are just doing normal driving do you really need the BEST handling tires? I have almost 24,000 on my Dunlop SP9000 and still have about 1/4 of the tread left (just getting close to the wear bars). I really think you need to decide how you are going to drive the car
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Do you have hi-res versions of those. Might be good for the Esprit Calendar 2008?
I do have the first 2 in 1024x768, the third pic was cropped from a bigger one.
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I neeed new rear tires. I am thinking of replacing all 4 with Bf Goodrich g-Force or should I just replace the rears with Pilot Sports?
I just installed the KDW's on my car a few days ago and I love 'em. A lot more grip than the Dunlop SP9000 although some will say the Pilot S2 are the best handling tires.
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Some of the roads out there are breath taking, I used to live near Castaic before I got into 'handling' cars - I would LOVE to take an Esprit / Elise there now. Dunno if it is the case now but they were mostly deserted roads when I was there - that reservoir is awesome as well with the funky lights at night
Yes they are and they are still deserted.
Ive lost count of the number of times ive watched you shock the hell out of that Gallardo owner.
Can i ask what exhaust system your using? The sound has on a number of occasions actually given me goosebumps, totally incredible..
Thanks. It's a custom 2.5" mandrel-bent straight exhaust (no cats) with 4" Magnaflow tips built by a local exhaust shop.
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gmendoza.. I'm sorry I am a little confused.. so you are saying that in fact these guys are giving me wrong information? and that the 12psi wastegate is dangerous without an electronic boost controller? Very frustrating for me since I have basically spent a good amount of time on the phone with all three of these guys before spending 600 bucks on these wastegate capsules.. if they will damage my engine then I will refund them.. please let me know or send me a PM with your number so I can call you to talk about it. thanks!
It all depends how they are installed. You have a PM.
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Wow, im in love with your car. This is exactly what ill be after next year, colour and all..
Is this the legendary YouTube Esprit??
Yes it is. -
Thanks, it is loads of fun; especially on roads like this (Little Tujunga Canyon):
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I have the Johan chip in this car, I spoke to Johan (from extreme esprit, dude who made my chip)as well as claudius(espritbyclaudis) and Michael(michaels motorsports) <-- all esprit specialists about the 12psi wastegate capsule and they all agree with Johan's chip it is a "safe" mod..
are there other opinions on this that I do not know about? I just spoke to these guys last week they all seemed to agree.. Please let me know if you guys have contradicting info.
Electronic boost controller like the Blitz SBC i-D with stock or upgraded 12psi wastegate capsules set to open at ~ 8psi is safer since you can dial what ever boost you want above what the wastegates open but it also has saftey feature that limits max boost to whatever you set it at.
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I went for a drive yesterday on some local roads and took some pics.
I think I need a better camera though.
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Pano,
Please be gentle to your tranny and your halfshafts !
BTW, I dont know what a 12lb wastegate is, maybe you are talking about stronger capsules ?
Please keep in mind that just a stronger capsule will disturb your mechanical base boost setting ! The mechanical setting has to be 0.35-0.4 bar ! Not more, not less. Otherwise your ECU will not be able to control boost through the whole ECU-controlled boost range (= 0.35 - 0.75 bar).
Cheers
Marcus
Correct, like I've mentioned before to Pano, this leads to bad boost spikes; ~ 1.35 bar!!!!!.
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money was not the issue at all when I purchased this car.. last year when I was looking for an esprit I wanted three things (02-04 V8), Black Exterior, Tan interior.. I don't know if you noticed or not but it's awfully hard to find a used esprit v8 exactly as you want one, not exactly a plethora of V8's out there. This 99 I purchased was basically for the color combo (plus it had some choice mods that I wanted).. so I took the car and had it updated as I wanted it.. now it looks like an 02 V8 with all the mods I wanted.. (BTW trust me I put more money into this car than any 02 v8 would have cost me)
since there is basically no other difference between a 99v8 and a 02v8 besides rims/lights(it even had an engine rebuild in 02).. I am content with this setup..
There is my personal explanation of why I updated it.. as far as I am concerned it's an 02 now
I agree. It is hard to find a V8 just the way you want it. I too was looking for a black or silver '02+. Luckly, I found a silver I really liked.
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While the car does look great and you are free to do what you wish with your car, am I the only one who thinks these upgrades are wrong/a waste? IMO, early V8's with monoblocks look just as good as the last V8's in their own right. Actually early V8's with monoblocks are rarer around here than a late V8. Why make it look like something it's not? If you prefer the look of the '02+ cars, why not start with a '02+ car. Once you factor in wheels, lights, bodywork and whatever else, the price diff is negligible. Anyways, off my soapbox.
The car does look great though.
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My does not run rough but my mirrors do vibrate at idle.
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As long as your wastegates are set same as stock and you are running the same boost level as stock, you'll be fine.
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FYI -
According to Lotus Cars USA: 12k-mile cam belts inspection and re-tensioning, free of charge. Cam belts change at 100k miles! Can this be correct?
-Will
'03 V8
Yes Lotus USA will do one free adjustment and one free replacement.
As for the adjustment intervals, I've heard from the local Lotus specialist say every year/6k miles to the local dealer saying every 3 years/15k miles.
As for the replacement, I've also heard to replace every 4 years while the manual says every 8 years or 102k miles.
Talk about inconsistencies.
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Just had my belts done a month ago.
My car is 4 years old with 12,000 miles. Over and above the service and the belts it needed a new water pump as it was begining to seize up. I was a bit sceptical so asked to see the car and right enough the technician showed me the pump still in situ and he could hardly turn the pulley and when it did turn it was squeeking. The total including the dreaded tax was
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Post pics of your car Pano.
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What about a shot throw shifter found in the Final Edition Esprits?
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That's awesome Paul.
Went for a ride today
in Esprit Chat
Posted
Nice to see the car on the road.