V8gt

[pcc]

Ok guys. Im half way to saving for my V8 GT (spending around 20 - 25k mark) and im starting to get cold feet. I have found myself looking at tunable alternatives at around the same price. The problem is as much as ive always wanted this car the reliability is worrying me. I had planned to up the power a little but can the drivetrain take any further power reliably.

My job means i work around people with nice car collections who know their stuff and they have all advised me to steer clear!? The concerns range from extremely fragile gearboxs (Renault? is this true?) to basic engine and wiring problems.

What are your views and opinions on buying a V8 GT?

Will it be the money pit that prople are telling me?

Any advice would be appreciated

Jon

[jeff_hooper]

You haven't said what your alternates are? It true there is lots of evidence on here to say the engine of the V8 was underdeveloped. Many other bits are either old design or, like the drivetrain, right on the limit and with a relatively short life expectancy.

In the same way that it was compared in contemporary road tests with stuff like Ferrari 355's. Mine has proved to be the same sort of money pit that an equivalent age/mileage Ferrari might have been. A well maintained older air cooled (993) Porsche has a good reputatin for reliability but from all reports younger water cooled Porsches have plenty of issues with reliability/expense. Basically, if you want proper mid engined supercar performance it will nearly always cost proper money to run, no make/model will get you away from that. Oh, one other big difference a proper well maintained Ferrari 355 will cost you at least twice the money to buy in the first place. That's why I run the Lotus V8 and not the Ferrari that I'd really like.

Jeff

[pcc]

Hi Jeff

I have been looking at the TVR T350c, Noble M12 GTO, BMW M3 or EVO FQ340. These all fall into my price bracket and excluding the TVR all seem to be very reliable from my research.

The idea was to have a 'weekend car' that could be driven reasonably hard either on the road or track and still be reliable to an extent (gearbox and engine). Ive always loved the esprit and hadnt even considered alternatives until i chatted with various sportscar owners who have warned me about them. I must admit, even with these warnings the thought of having one sitting in my garage and the noise they make with an aftermarket exhaust would make up for any reliability issues.

I thought i would put the question out their and get real advice from you guys who actually run these cars and know what their like to live with day in day out.

[Bibs]

In my opinion, those cars listed (erm, bar the M12 but that's not the worlds most reliable car either!) aren't alternatives to the Esprit. They are other cars, true enough but certainly not in the same game as a V8-GT.

It depends on what you are after. If you want a rare exotic with huge performance and to be honest an acceptable running cost for a supercar, get an Esprit. You need to make the decision, but bear in mind if you walk into the garage and see one of those other cars rather than an Esprit, you won't be half as excited and won't feel half as special.

[Advantage]

Cross off the TVR, Noble and FQ from your list. If they're not breaking then they'll be in the shop far too frequently having expensive preventative maintainence. The BMW would be a safe bet for reliable motoring, but then, so would a Nissan Micra.

If you abuse a V8 Esprit it will break, that's true. The gearbox is a much maligned mechanical part of the car and doesn't like standing starts or rushed heavy handed gear changes. Treat it well and there's no reason why you won't get many thousands of miles out of it. Unfortunately that kind of anecdote makes a lousy story 'down the pub' so you're unlikely to hear it too often.

I've run two V8s over the years, one of them being a then new V8 GT - which I had for over two years and 20k miles. Neither car was pampered, but both were driven with mechanical sympathy despite frequent forays into the rev limiter.

The most expensive single non-maintainence item that was required was a door locking motor.

I'd probably advise you live with the car for a while before you start upping the bhp, too. I've no idea what your previous experiences are with cars, but the V8 GT has a 0-100mph time of 9.5 secs. They're not slow in standard form, however there are a number of companies can sell you goodies to take the bhp higher reliably. Have a sniff around the V8 Tech section on here for ideas. While your there, take a look at the various options available for strengthening the gearbox, too.

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

My personal call if I had

Edited June 10, 2007 by Evil_Dr_Fish

[hedgerley]

I've had mine 18 months now and have done around 14k miles. I bought it with 29k on the clock. I needed a new alternator a few weeks after I bought it, then the nearside oil cooler split big time and I replaced the whole circuit to be on the safe side. I had major leaks from the oil and water turbo cooling pipes, all replaced last year and in January this year an exhaust leak turned out to be 3 sheared manifold studs. And when my mechanic took it out for a test drive after all the work it dumped all its engine coolant on the garage floor from a split front radiator hose. Oh, and a stuck wastegate actuator - I had both turbos replaced when the engine was out for the new manifold studs. Then a couple of weeks ago it suffered the famous input shaft snap and loss of 5th gear. I have treated it very sympathetically - I don't drive aggressively, have never tracked it and certainly not 'abused' it. But 5th went when I was bimbling along on the A1 at around 70mph after visiting Donnington. I am currently acquiring a recon/upgraded box.

So, whats the moral of the story? Yes, its fragile and my wallet is about

[GasketsGone]

hedgerley tells it like it is....

nail...

head...

wollop!

[snuffy]

Cross off the TVR, Noble and FQ from your list. If they're not breaking then they'll be in the shop far too frequently having expensive preventative maintainence.

Unlike Esprits ofcause ?

[pcc]

Cheers guys.

I needed some positives to help counter balance all the negatives that ive unfortunately had. Some very valid points made. I definately get the feeling that if i dont get one then i may be dissapointed with whatever i get as its just not an esprit. I also think as advised maybe spending a little less and keeping some money back for maintenance and problems would be the safest route.

Really like the sound of that PUK box.

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

It's a complete replacement of the internals - iirc Marcus has been racing as well, it to dmeonstrate and test it (etc)

The V8 was a hugely restrained car / engine - capable of SOOO much more than 'stock'. IIRC Chris was running his at 550 bhp with only the addition of an aquamist water injection kit and a chip!

[Mark Blanchard]

Have you thought about a chipped GT3? A more reliable 4 pot engine and same awesome looks (Novas will make it look like a V8 to the uninitiated). You might not have the performance, but you wont have the problems / bills either.

[Loose Cannon]

Jon

Have a look, there is a 99 V8 GT just gone onto LEWs classified section at a giveaway

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

I'd LOVE to have an Evo - I'm sure I'd laugh my head off!

Get that V8, puts Novas, and put a huge wing on it - stick Lambo doors on it - it would look the nuts

Modded cars are not chav cars!

Modded Car:

Chav Car:

One cost more than 2 Esprits put together and would leave them for dead...

The other cost about as much as a McMeal and is actually LESS appealing!

Edited June 12, 2007 by Evil_Dr_Fish

[Kato]

I'm not going to mention 'other' cars, as this is an Esprit forum and we all love the car. We'll all say get one, but the difference is, we'll help you find and run the car (obviously you'll be paying!). LEF and LEW offer support for Esprit owners unlike anything else you'll find. Other owners will go out of their way to help you out and you'll have access to all the information you need.

As for the Esprit! If you get a good one, then you'll be paying a reasonable amount in running costs for what it is. If you get one that's not been looked after, or one that's just not tight, then you'll be paying a lot more than the car will ever be worth! Getting a good one is the most important thing. Forget colour and spec, just get a good one. Other owners will help out if you find one. Some specialist will come and look and member will take time if they're local.

As for adding bhp. This will reduce reliability and increase enjoyability, as everyone knows. Biggest trouble with the V8 is cooling. More bhp you put in the hotter it gets. The V8 it almost at it's limits with regard to cooling. So as things run hotter, exhaust, CATs, engine mounts, heat shields, turbo pipes and the engine itself all suffer. As a general rule, make sure the radiator is unblocked and in good condition. You'll looking at over

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

There's a difference between Off Topic... and Off Song!

Every one of us here would definitely ditto what Kato said about your ability to get help from members here - you will always find someone willing to help you out / check out a car if it's near them but the opposite side of the country from you - offer first hand advice etc etc etc!

[pcc]

It's a complete replacement of the internals - iirc Marcus has been racing as well, it to dmeonstrate and test it (etc)

The V8 was a hugely restrained car / engine - capable of SOOO much more than 'stock'. IIRC Chris was running his at 550 bhp with only the addition of an aquamist water injection kit and a chip!

How much are we talking here and where can you buy and have fitted. I think this is something i would like to do early on along with an uprated clutch. Engine wise i was thinking chargecooler and exhaust to begin with.

Have you thought about a chipped GT3? A more reliable 4 pot engine and same awesome looks (Novas will make it look like a V8 to the uninitiated). You might not have the performance, but you wont have the problems / bills either.

I definately want a v8. The sound is one of the reasons i want one of these cars so much. V8 TT on tickover and boost makes the hairs on my neck stand up

[pcc]

Jon

Have a look, there is a 99 V8 GT just gone onto LEWs classified section at a giveaway

[jcbjs 260]

Hi. two years ago I was in your shoes except I always wanted to own a esprit (even for a short time). No other car comes close to it, and also is the cheapest supercar you can purchase. As everyone states all low production cars have their problems but in my two years of ownership the car has been very reliable with only small items causing bother like alternator,gearbox drive seals, oil switch, all easy repairable items, (probably blow up now). I to feared reliability but this is part of owning a supercar(All makes included), and as one of this forum users told me before I purchased mine buy it, drive it, if it breaks mend it and drive on. Was good advice for me,if you don"t enter into ownership you will never know just how good the esprit really is

[Fred Basset]

Well at the risk of going off topic again for a minute, (sorry Mr Kato, sir, I will get back to it before the end of the post). If you do look for an Evo then don't bother with the FQ340, all Evo's are the same when they come in the country. The ones imported here by Colt Car Company are all GSR's and can be had new for about 22k. Then with less than 2k spent on it you have an FQ360 equivalent and about 14k change. Mind you I would not buy any of these, the model to have is a 9GT, it's got the GSR spec luxury with out the problems of the active yaw control - boys you think Esprits are fragile, the driveline on the Evo's sold by CCC are pretty rubbish and at 22k I needed a new rear diff so went for the stronger RS "normal" diff. Much better and about 80k lighter too.

Yes Robin, you would love an Evo and smile every day. I've loved mine every day for seven years, its a scream. But it's not an esprit, I sold my first V8 for the Evo and five years later bought another one. As good as the Evo is the Esprit shows it up in so many ways, its by far a more special feeling when you are driving it and although I've read many people on here saying that Evo's, Skylines are so much quicker I think you'd be surprised if you were able to compare the two over a long period of time.

Get the Esprit you'll owe it to yourself:-)

Regards

Fred

[pcc]

Hi. two years ago I was in your shoes except I always wanted to own a esprit (even for a short time). No other car comes close to it, and also is the cheapest supercar you can purchase. As everyone states all low production cars have their problems but in my two years of ownership the car has been very reliable with only small items causing bother like alternator,gearbox drive seals, oil switch, all easy repairable items, (probably blow up now). I to feared reliability but this is part of owning a supercar(All makes included), and as one of this forum users told me before I purchased mine buy it, drive it, if it breaks mend it and drive on. Was good advice for me,if you don"t enter into ownership you will never know just how good the esprit really is

I hope i find one like yours. Two years and no major problems is very impressive, id be over the moon with that. I think im going to take my time when looking and try to get a good one from the start. I dont mind if things break progressively as ill be able to afford the repairs, its when everything goes wrong that id be worried about.

[pcc]

Well at the risk of going off topic again for a minute, (sorry Mr Kato, sir, I will get back to it before the end of the post). If you do look for an Evo then don't bother with the FQ340, all Evo's are the same when they come in the country. The ones imported here by Colt Car Company are all GSR's and can be had new for about 22k. Then with less than 2k spent on it you have an FQ360 equivalent and about 14k change. Mind you I would not buy any of these, the model to have is a 9GT, it's got the GSR spec luxury with out the problems of the active yaw control - boys you think Esprits are fragile, the driveline on the Evo's sold by CCC are pretty rubbish and at 22k I needed a new rear diff so went for the stronger RS "normal" diff. Much better and about 80k lighter too.

Yes Robin, you would love an Evo and smile every day. I've loved mine every day for seven years, its a scream. But it's not an esprit, I sold my first V8 for the Evo and five years later bought another one. As good as the Evo is the Esprit shows it up in so many ways, its by far a more special feeling when you are driving it and although I've read many people on here saying that Evo's, Skylines are so much quicker I think you'd be surprised if you were able to compare the two over a long period of time.

Get the Esprit you'll owe it to yourself:-)

Regards

Fred

Evo was last on the list to be honest. Probably the quickest of the bunch but certainly no match for the esprit or noble in the appearance and as you said 'special' stakes. If i got an evo i would probably lose my licence within a matter of weeks or end up in a ditch . I aint no Tommy Makinen

Thanks for the advice

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

I can't argue with someone who has owned both! lol

My preferences would be the Esprit, Nobbler or Tiv... (pretty much in that order)

I've hooned with them all and on the streets there's little difference so go with the one which will put the biggest smile on your face every time you sit behind the wheel