Newbie Ferrari owner seeks Lotus

[bramble111s]

Hi all, just joined, in a vain effort to satisfy my Esprit urges, get put off or something.

Usual story, always wanted a Lotus, from age 5, went to the Lotus Open day back then, toured factory, sat in James Bond cars etc.

Currently drive S1 Elise 111s, but could be tempted into dangerous wallet bending Esprit territory..... please put me off

[s4simon]

This should put you off

Hi James, and welcome to the Forum.

Have a good look around - there's plenty of nice cars to look at in the Garage area. Hopefully you'll see something you like.

Whatcha after in particular ??

[bramble111s]

just been browsing the garage, I fancy an SE or later, so presumably I am a Stevens man, budget around 20k, including insurance, immeadiate running costs, eg broken bits.

Would be used everyday, which I think may be madness, but hey, its gotta be more comfy than my Elise is everyday? Any one wanna swap?

btw, that pictures not working!

Edited September 19, 2005 by bramble111s

[leighton]

just been browsing the garage, I fancy an SE or later, so presumably I am a Stevens man, budget around 20k, including insurance, immeadiate running costs, eg broken bits.

Would be used everyday, which I think may be madness, but hey, its gotta be more comfy than my Elise is everyday? Any one wanna swap?

btw, that pictures not working! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Go for a V8... take a look

[bramble111s]

In my favorite colour too!

Is it for sale?

[Jonathan]

20 big ones will get you a top Stevens, perhaps not a V8 but SE/S4/S4s/GT3 are all under that with the S4s pushing the upper limits.

Esprit is more comfortable than the Elise on the motorway - on any other roads I find the Elise easier to manage and about the same...thing is the S1 Elise seats are crap (imo) compared to anything the Esprit offers. The Esprit is a much more practical car (roof, boot space, luxury) but the trade off is you get a lot of green envy and undesirable attention I find in comparison - I personally find that annoying.

Really mess with your head and have both

They do compliment each other so well, in some situations its better in an Elise, others times the Esprit...

[Bibs]

I have an Esprit and a Bedford Rascal painted up like an A-Team van, saves me from such dilemma's. Welcome to the forum

[bramble111s]

Awesome, am so excited that I can finally afford my dream car, I am assuming running costs not exceeding 4k per year in maintenance, which I hope is excessive!

Only worry, apart from big bills is that driving it through the winter will really hurt it. Would love to keep the Elise as well, but don't think my SWMBO will look kindly on two toy cars, at least not until I have bought her the uber green house I promised her when I bought the Elise! (whoops)

also, are any of you near Norfolk, as I would love to take a ride, chat Esprit, none of the meets seem close by.... my biggest fear is buying the 'right one'

[Guest esprit geoff]

Welcome - a budget of 20K will certainly get you a good S4. The SE has no power steering which makes it heavy business parking. A good SE is only around 12K.

Geoff.

[bramble111s]

thanks geoff, have been looking at a Turbo HC, but am reluctant to go the turbo route, as I understand servicing is greater due to having to get the engine out to do anything?

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Errr... You would appear to have greatly got the wrong end of many Esprit sticks there James...

The last non-turbo (normally aspirated or NA for short) cars were the "Lotus Esprit" ending around(ISH) 1990 (also the Giugiaro shaped ones were called the S3)

ALL others and since were Turbo (SE, S4, S4s, GT3, V8) all have at least one of the buggers!

You need to check this page out first and read it in it's entirety (we've all done it!)

http://www.lotusespritworld.co.uk/models.html

Engine out - depends on the job and the mechanic but again applies equally across the range as they all use the same block / casting.

No turbo may afford you slightly improved access to the input / output manifolds but other than that, all the really annoying stuff (belts, pumps etc) are generally at the front of the engine not the back! I have to admit I ahve never encountered someone's choice of Esprit being based on ease of access to repair it!!! lol

For your money... *personally* I would look at getting a GT3 or maybe be prepared to wait for a good price on an S4s OR you can get a good SE and have enough change to keep your missus happy at the same time They are *reportedly* a little twitchy (the SE not your missus... well... she may be but thats none of our business!!) and the S4 is supposed to have sorted that out... The trade off being the poxy power steering which as ever puts you one step further away from what's going on (admittedly it's one of the best power steering implementations ever but I don't like ANY of this fly by wire nonsese myself!! Humbug!)

An Se with a few modifications down the line - when you're more used to the car, will happily take a chip with S4s code so it's like getting a whole new Esprit all over again!

[bramble111s]

cheers for the info, I am indeed lost in the world of Esprits, and whilst I have looked at the page you mention, I have not studied it with a view to taking a test! Perhaps I should have another look, its a bit confusing ....

OK, possibly a bit clearer, the SE is the first Stevens car right?

Then its Thompson from 93?

having reviewed those few years, I do actually like the HC(I know its not Stevens) and then the Sport 300(bet this is a hard model to find and expensive to service?!) also the GT3 as you mention, or the S4!

So all are in fact Turbo models...... duh

can the Se have a rear spoiler as a Sport 300 or V8, or are these not original?

Edited September 21, 2005 by bramble111s

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

The first Stephens (S-Cars) were 1987 (the changeover year where some were HC Giugiaro (G-Cars) and some were S-Cars)

The SE CAN take the S300 / S4s wing but the V8 wing looks absolutely wank on it because it was styled to go with the roundier Thompson (S4 onwards) shape and quite bluntly looks ridiculous! IMHO The best wing on the Stephens cars is the SE wing - looks the nuts!

S300 Good luck finding one they tend to come up for sale at a rate of *about* one a year... oh and be prepared to almost double your budget if necessary! It's not extraordinary for them to command price tags in excess of

[EspritMiltonKeynes]

IMHO The best wing on the Stephens cars is the SE wing - looks the nuts!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Absolutely! The SE Lo-Wing suit the S-Cars so well, I once saw a white 1988 Stevens Turbo with a V8SE wing on the back! To anyone who knows their Esprits well it just looked bizzarre, like something pimp my ride would do...

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

I peronally don't think it's a bit "pimp my ride" as I don't think it looks bad on the T-Cars.... I'm not a wing Nay-sayer (unlike one person I can think of!! :) )

It just physically doesn't 'fit' with the slightly boxier Stephens styling, so looks just plain aesthetically wrong!

It's just a case of make sure you get your stylings co-ordinated!

[bramble111s]

so can I see a pic of an SE with wing then please?