Esprit V8 conversions?

[Paul93Lotus]

The day this car was converted to race use was the day it was permanently bastardized. I don't know why people are so hung up on keeping the drivetrain the same....(?)

There are only two things that matter in racing....money and having a competitive car.

That being said, you need to get the most bang for your buck, and with a Chevy powerplant, there is definitely a lot of that. Recovering from a motor failure will most likely be a lot cheaper with the chevy

powerplant. Your real challenge at that point will be to tune the chassis for the extra weight of the V8.

What glory is there if you keep the four pot and are non-competitive? Yeah, there will be the few purists out there who are proud of you, but what you will really want will be at the top of the podium. Keeping the four pot competitive will require that you place it at the edge of reliability...something that is also VERY important in racing. Close analysis of the rules for the series you run in should also be done....having the V8 back there could place you next to some serious cars and you could be back to the situation you are in now.... just do what is necesary to give you a competitive ride, and the next step will be just mastering the car to victory.

Also rethink the whole carb thing... you lose a lot of tuning flexibility that you have with fuel injection, not to mention accurate fuel metering. Set aside a couple grand for a nice fuel injection system on that V8.

People should just applaud that you are keeping an Esprit out on the track. What powers it is really irrelevant as long as it makes the car competitive. Today, most race cars are really a former shell of their prior underpinnings. For some, the body profile is their only tie to the original car.

[M Blur]

Thanks Paul - a NASCAR Esprit would make quite a sight (and sound) in any case. I'll keep you guys posted..

[rydning]

The day this car was converted to race use was the day it was permanently bastardized. I don't know why people are so hung up on keeping the drivetrain the same....(?)

I think it is because he have that gearbox he want to stay with it.

M Blur

I could have put that nascar engine in your car with Ecu and trottle bodys.If I was down there.

Cant be that hard to find some/ a company that can do that in your country.

Might not be cheap and almost impossible to give a price in abvance.

[DarrylV8]

Right if you go to the owners section my (S3) Turbo is on a page. And also featured in the factory club magazine earlier this year!

Please don't talk to me about purist apart from the Esprit how many Lotus cars have Lotus engines?

Yes its got a Rover 3948cc V8 engine sounds the dogs twitcher and yes it shifts. I bought the car back in 1997 with the engine already in place.

As the engine is too torquey for the original Citroen gearbox which i broke after a couple of track days, needed to fit the later Renault box of the T-T Lotus V8 beast, due to having to change wheels, hubs, drive shafts, speedo and gear change rods etc etc.

I had to speak to the factory firstly Nick who then put me onto one of their deveolment engineers Geoff as i couldent set the suspension up (yes fitted the adjustable top link). During one of the many detailed discussions we needed to get the car 4 corner weighed with half tanks of fuel. After giving Geoff the figures which put the car lighter than the 4 pot Turbo i had to get the weight of the engine fully dressed YES 10 kgs LIGHTER THAN THE LOTUS 4 POT.

And for all you doubters if your going on the factory visit next month you will be pleased to know that the car will also be coming along. And no the chassis has not been modified but yes the engine bulkhead has been, yes it still passes the yearly test. Although i want a GT3 i will be still using the Black beauty!

HAPPY MOTORING

Darryl

[esprithk]

As you say over there: money talks

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I have read some of the race rules for different supercar series (GT racing) and it looks like it is almost best to use big displacement us engines with only 2 valves pr cylinder in all this type of racing.

thx for the professional comments

ok, I surrender my case.

and I must say sorry to M Blur.