Esprit GT3

[DarrylV8]

Hi a few questions on the GT3

From what month/year did production start finish. How many UK Orange coloured cars out there?

Is 240bhp a true realistic figure? What sort of figures (both bhp & torque) could an owner get from the 2ltr honestly?

Any horror stories from such a small engine or is it more than up to propelling a heavish car (compared to Elise/Exige)?

What is the kerb weight?

Those who own other Esprits how does the GT3 compare to drive, smile on face/grin factor pleasure to own? As a day to day car? Compared to other Esprit 4 pot's what's it's good/indifferent bits?

What's it like to starting, switching off and slowing the car down from high speed? Does the car need another gear, always going for 6th?

How often does the car require servicing every 12 months/5000 miles? What about the cam belt interval? How much are service items? Owner maintainable?

What is it like on long distance runs. what's a good cruising figure (speed), mpg return at this speed? Motorway or on the hi-ways of europe?

I'm sure there are other questions, the reason for all the questions i'm thinking of getting a GT3 so if any one has any good/bad experiences not mentioned above please feel free to impart your knowledge! Any one thinking what the hell does he want from the car if you see my owners page you will see that i've up-graded the brakes and gearbox just want to know what i'm possibly letting myself into!

My email address is [email protected]

Thanks in anticipation,

Darryl

[Jonathan]

Check LEW - the production figures are on the models page iirc.

MY96-MY99 were production with 1-2 cars either side of that (registered early+late)

240 is basic, the my98 has slightly up on that - mine runs 260-isch with a filter and exhaust.

Fastest I've seen a GT3 was Mental Dave's - easily as quick as a V8, but then again he is a great driver.

No horror stories at all !

Most of the 4 pots are great engines, develped from the 907 over a few decades. The racers in the S300 used a 2.2 to over 400bhp in endurance races....great engine imo.

1150KG ?

Great car, power steering, decent brakes, little lighter and easier to flick around - love mine to bits, would never sell it (well...). Do miss the power but easily upgraded - main difference is the spoiler (lack of) and the options (ie air con) and no leather (alcantara is nicer imo) - 25 less horses and a bit down on torque...easily recovered.

Basic oil changes every 6 months / 6000 miles

Cam belt every 3-4 years 32000 miles

Best get a schedule from a dealer, I do all the maintenance on mine, pretty easy once you get past the rusted bolts !

Great cruiser (they all are) - 120mph is nice...mpg, god knows when it's empty I feed it but its a 2litre so it's not horrendous.

Personally (and not being bias) the GT3 is one of the best Esprits imo.

You have a combination of everything with the opportunity to upgrade and change at leisure. S4s is faster but more expensive to buy...S4 is getting on a bit now and low mileage cars are usually hung onto.

If you wanna young Esprit and dont want to fork out on the V8 then a GT3 is an excellent choice, if you can't live with the lack of power

[esprit350]

Hi Darryl, glad you made it over from the Lotus forum, go introduce yourself in the newbie section

[Bibs]

Moved to motoring - Darryl, please read the forum to understand how it works. If you place a thread in the wrong place again you will be restricted from posting for 24 hours.

That is all, thanks.

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

As briefly touched upon...

There is a chip readily available that will take it to 280bhp - but imho I'd get used to is as-is for a year first and THEN chip it

You really need to read the models page and buying guide on www.lotusespritworld.com also go through the pages of www.espritfactfile.com

Both are linked to at the bottom of every page of LEF

[CarlC]

There is hardly a bad word spoken about the GT3. It certainly seems to be among the best late 4pots to go for. As was said LEW will provide all the technical answers and comparison between this and the S4 /S4s. You will also benifit from Brembo brakes which is the one major failing of the S4.

You wont be disappointed.

[esprit350]

There is hardly a bad word spoken about the GT3. It certainly seems to be among the best late 4pots to go for. As was said LEW will provide all the technical answers and comparison between this and the S4 /S4s. You will also benifit from Brembo brakes which is the one major failing of the S4.

You wont be disappointed.

er not on my S4, it has brembos, depends on build number IIRC

Edited September 12, 2006 by esprit350

[Loteuk]

Just out of interest and reading the above........why did Lotus put a 2 ltr engine in the Gt3 when they had the 2.2 already tried and tested?

I could see the 2.2 evolve but was this a step back in line with a budget?

Was it focussed at a different market........Federal changes?

Would someone who has lived with say an S4 or an S4s compromise the difference in power for the face lift and later model? The interior changes in my preference were great and a plus for the Gt3 and the later V8.

Just a question in my ignorance.........

[williamives]

Just out of interest and reading the above........why did Lotus put a 2 ltr engine in the Gt3 when they had the 2.2 already tried and tested?

I could see the 2.2 evolve but was this a step back in line with a budget?

Was it focussed at a different market........Federal changes?

Would someone who has lived with say an S4 or an S4s compromise the difference in power for the face lift and later model? The interior changes in my preference were great and a plus for the Gt3 and the later V8.

Just a question in my ignorance.........

I think it was because of european tax. I know that 2Ltr made the car much more attractive in Italy... but I assume it made sense for other markets too...

[Loose Cannon]

A large barn full of unsold Italian spec engines was what I read prompted the choice.

Also because of marketing concerns Lotus wanted to put a divide between the top V8 model (which was circa

Edited September 12, 2006 by britten_mark

[Loteuk]

Ahhh, true to form.

The market and availability driving the development - it sounds like it .

Not a bad thing if it meant sales.

Can t think of another manufacturer who would explore that approach.

[Jonathan]

It's bang on the same engine really - just downsized as mentioned for the foreign markets, less tax to pay on a car under 2 litres.

[jollyroger]

Yes, I actually own a S4 with the 920 engine that was originally manufactured to allow the Esprit to be sold more easily in countries like Italy where under 2L cars sould be purchased by professionals and partially deducted as company cars back then.

I have never sat into a normal 2.2 S4 or a S4s, so I don't know the actual difference in performance, but I am quite satisfied with my S4, and it is completely stock.

Cheers,

Jollyroger

[karluk29]

gt3 = best/most reliable esprit ever made (no argument)

holds it price, just look on autotrader, you can buy a v8 for the same price, reason is because the gt3 has all the best bits in it

just chip it and its at s4 speed, then mental chip it and bye bye v8 (when you see a gt3 sideways at over 100mph overtaking you, thats quick)

oh and i own one BAHAHAHAHA

[Kato]

Servicing schedules are here:

http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EGuides/EM...rviceSched.html

[Advantage]

I've recently bought one (a '98 spec) and it's ok....ish. I must be spoilt though, because I've previously owned a couple of V8s and found them much nicer (easier) than the GT3.

I've never been a big fan of the 4 cylinder engine (and I've owned a few!) especially in fuel injected form, mainly due to the lousy mapping they've got. I find the engine to be wheezy, unresponsive and not very powerfull. Driving around town in a 4 cyl Esprit is a right pain in the, er, bum. No torque....at all. The only way you'll get it off the line smoothly and slowly is to rev it, which makes it very tiring to pootle in.

Flat out foot on the floor is ok, apart from the huge turbo lag. Once it's spooling then things smooth out and you can start to make progress, just don't expect any blippable throttle response to enable a decent heel and toe downshift. Oh, and it sounds like a hairdryer blowing a spokey-dokey.

Marcus at PUK has just sent me a no.11 chip along with a few other bits and pieces, so it'll be interesting to see what the transformation will be like. I hoping for miracles. (My cat pipe and straight through pipe are going on at the same time, that should upset the neighbours!)

Call me picky, but I'm also a touch miffed at all the penny pinching that went on to make it just a

[karluk29]

report back on chip 11 PLEASE as i am running chip 10 lol, but you forgot to mention how COOL the seats are, and everyone wants them,,,unless you have the sofa seats in yours from the v8,,,YUCK

glass roof is obtainable though, as the composite roof is more expensive ppl will bite your hand off for a swop, and i have colour coded interior, no chrome surrond though, but not keen anyway.

the zorst is very very ghey though, i just changed mine for err,,,a glorified scaffold pole LOL, still need to take off cat though.

[DarrylV8]

I've recently bought one (a '98 spec) and it's ok....ish. I must be spoilt though, because I've previously owned a couple of V8s and found them much nicer (easier) than the GT3.

I've never been a big fan of the 4 cylinder engine (and I've owned a few!) especially in fuel injected form, mainly due to the lousy mapping they've got. I find the engine to be wheezy, unresponsive and not very powerfull. Driving around town in a 4 cyl Esprit is a right pain in the, er, bum. No torque....at all. The only way you'll get it off the line smoothly and slowly is to rev it, which makes it very tiring to pootle in.

Flat out foot on the floor is ok, apart from the huge turbo lag. Once it's spooling then things smooth out and you can start to make progress, just don't expect any blippable throttle response to enable a decent heel and toe downshift. Oh, and it sounds like a hairdryer blowing a spokey-dokey.

Marcus at PUK has just sent me a no.11 chip along with a few other bits and pieces, so it'll be interesting to see what the transformation will be like. I hoping for miracles. (My cat pipe and straight through pipe are going on at the same time, that should upset the neighbours!)

Call me picky, but I'm also a touch miffed at all the penny pinching that went on to make it just a

Edited September 14, 2006 by darryl

[Advantage]

Karl:

Like you, I do much prefer the sports seats to the 'comfort' seats (I had them in my V8 GT and even my missus prefered them) but couldn't find a GT3 for sale that had 'em fitted. I think that it's just us three that have good taste. I'm on the hunt....

I'm aware the glass sunroofs are available but the lip that the seal is fitted to is ground down when the cars (V8 GT and GT3 but not the V8 SE - remember that the shell is from 1987 when they all had glass roofs) are manufactured so even if you do fit the taller of the two seals you can never be 100% sure of a watertight joint. I speak from experience of my V8 GT.

Darryl and Karl:

I'll let you know what delights the 11 chip brings. It was going to be fitted this weekend, but I just won't have time. Watch this space....

Darryl:

I've fitted a K+N air filter and a set of PUK improved secondary injectors in readiness for the chip along with a recirc BOV (supplied by Jonathan on here - cheers Jonathan!). I'm considering doing the 'ram air' mod as detailed on LEW but I doubt if that will bring much to the party, but y'know what it's like once you've got the spanners out!

[Jonathan]

Thing I really like about the RAM mod is the fact you can hear the turbo spooling and get more out of the car.

When off boost I generally pour quite a bit of pedal down to get the car going but as soon as I hear that sucking noise I know it's time to gently easy off esp on corners. The sucking comes in about 500 rpm before the huge kick you get from the GT3 - once you work it all out you can be in a sweeping corner and feather the throttle on the turbo a lot better until you get used to it, that way the turbo is spooled on the exit and you can power out...after a few goes it's second nature but it's a great little audable warning of when the power is going to leap in whilst exploring the car.

As karl mentioned the cat and the exhaust imo are pretty restrictive, I havent a clue what mine was chucking out standard but I removed the oil breather from the air intake, K&N filter and a twin exit exhaust and get effectivly 260hp on a dyno that logged a standard V8 at 351hp on the same day.

personally I'm not going to chip mine, need better injectors and ignition and do some more stage 1 mods for now and I reakon you could unleash about 265-270 easily. Obviously the chip is quicker, easier and less money but that's cheating !

[karluk29]

i have done all the little mods i suppose, ramair/bov/exhaust/k&n, i do need the injectors to go for the chip 11 marcus told me. if you want to go nuts you need daves old cars chip thats insane. i also have flared intakes, dont know how much difference it makes and a 360 bearing in the turbo. but first thigs first need a cambelt and tensioner,