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Lotus Esprit
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The Lotus Esprit was a sports car built by Lotus in the United Kingdom from 1976 to 2004. The silver Italdesign concept that eventually became the Esprit was unveiled at the Turin Motor Show in 1972, and was a development of a stretched Lotus Europa chassis. It was among the first of designer Giorgetto Giugiaro's polygonal "folded paper" designs. Originally, the name Kiwi was proposed, but in keeping with the 'E...' naming format of Lotus tradition, the name became Esprit.
Esprit was launched in October 1975 at the Paris motorshow, and went into production in June 1976, replacing the Europa in the Lotus model line-up.
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The Lotus Esprit was a sports car built by Lotus in the United Kingdom from 1976 to 2004. The silver Italdesign concept that eventually became the Esprit was unveiled at the Turin Motor Show in 1972, and was a development of a stretched Lotus Europa chassis. It was among the first of designer Giorgetto Giugiaro's polygonal "folded paper" designs. Originally, the name Kiwi was proposed, but in keeping with the 'E...' naming format of Lotus tradition, the name became Esprit.
Early Esprit (1976–80)
S1
The Esprit was launched in October 1975 at the Paris motorshow, and went into production in June 1976, replacing the Europa in the Lotus model line-up. These first cars eventually became known as S1 (or Series 1) Esprits. With a steel backbone chassis and a fiberglass body, the Esprit was powered by the Lotus 907 4 cylinder engine, as previously used in the Jensen Healey. This engine displaced 2.0 L, produced in European trim ( in US/Federal trim), and was mounted longitudinally behind the passengers, as in its predecessor. The transaxle gearbox was a 5 speed unit, previously used in the Citroën SM and Maserati Merak; it featured inboard rear brakes, as was racing practice at the time. The Series 1 embodied Lotus’ performance through light weight mantra, weighing less than . The car gained fame through its appearance in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) where it featured in a long chase sequence, converting into a submarine.
The original Esprit was lauded for its handling and is said to have the best steering of any Esprit. However, it was generally regarded as lacking power, especially in markets such as the United States where the engine was down-rated for emissions purposes. Lotus’ claim of 0-60 mph in 6.8 seconds and a top speed of may be thought of as optimistic - actual road test times indicated 0-60 mph in 8 seconds and a top speed of around .
The S1 Esprit can be distinguished from later Esprits by a shovel-style front air dam, Fiat X1/9 tail lights, lack of body-side ducting, and Wolfrace alloy wheels. Inside the car, the most obvious indication of an S1 Esprit is a one-piece instrument cluster with green-faced Veglia gauges.
S2
A series of improvements made to the Esprit during its initial run culminated in the S2 (or Series 2) Esprit. The most obvious of these changes are intake and cooling duct "ears" located behind the rear quarter window, tail lights from the Rover SD1, and an integrated front spoiler. S2 Esprits also used Speedline alloy wheels designed specifically for Lotus. Other changes included relocating the battery from above the right side fuel tank (under the rear quarter window) to the rear of the car, adding an access door to the engine cover, as well as replacing the instrument cluster made by Veglia with individual gauges made by Smiths and using different style of switches on the dashboard.
During this era, special edition cars were made to commemorate Lotus's racing victories. Sharing the black and gold colour scheme of Lotus' then F1 sponsor, John Player & Sons, these cars are commonly known as the John Player Special (JPS) Esprits. Lotus' records of production figures are notoriously vague, however best estimates suggest that 149 JPS Esprits were produced.
The S2.2 was produced as a stop-gap model in 1980, almost identical to the S2 but with an enlarged (2.2 L) type 912 engine used. This kept horsepower the same, but bumped up torque from to . Importantly, the S2.2 also introduced the use of a galvanised chassis. These cars are extremely rare even among Esprits and only 88 are thought to have been produced.
Turbo and S3 Esprits (1980 - 1987)
Essex Turbo Esprit
In 1980 the first factory turbocharged Esprit was launched. Initially, this was another special edition model commemorating F1 ties and reflecting current sponsorship, this time in the blue, red and chrome livery of Essex Petroleum, and is therefore known as the Essex Esprit. The new turbocharged dry-sump type 910 engine produced and of torque. 0-60 mph could be achieved in 5.6 seconds, with a top speed of over .
These performance improvements were coupled to a redesign and strengthening of the chassis and rear suspension, where an upper link was added to alleviate strain on the driveshafts, along with brake improvements. The Essex cars introduced a Giugiaro-designed aerodynamic body kit with a rear lip spoiler, prominent louvred rear hatch, more substantial bumpers, a deeper front airdam, and air ducts in the sills just ahead of the rear wheels, which were 15" Compomotive 3-piece items. Internally, scarlet leather, combined with a roof-mounted Panasonic stereo, made for a dramatic environment.
45 Essex Esprits were built, followed by a number of non Essex-liveried but otherwise identical specification dry-sump turbo cars. A copper-coloured Essex-spec Turbo Esprit featured in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only (1981).
Turbo Esprit and S3
By the close of 1980, Lotus were effectively building three different models of Esprit, with distinct chassis designs and body moulds - the Domestic (i.e. UK) S2.2, the Export S2.2, and the dry-sump Turbo Esprit. Introduced in April 1981, the Turbo Esprit and S3 (Series 3) Esprits marked a necessary consolidation: both new models had a common chassis, inheriting much of the configuration of the Essex cars, whilst body production was based on a single common set of moulds.
The S3 continued to use the 2.2 L type 912 engine of the S2.2, whilst the Turbo Esprit reverted to a less complex wet-sump lubrication system, retaining the power and torque outputs of its dry-sump predecessor. The interior for both cars was revised and featured new trim; combined with changes to the body moulds this resulted in more headroom and an enlarged footwell. Externally, the Turbo Esprit retained the full aerodynamic body kit of the Essex cars, and featured prominent 'turbo esprit' decals on the nose and sides; the S3 gained the more substantial bumpers, yet retained the simpler sill line and glazed rear hatch of the S2.2 body style. Both models were supplied with 15" BBS alloy wheels.
In April 1986, the final incarnations of the Giugiaro-styled Esprit were announced, with raised engine compression giving rise to their 'HC' moniker. This increased the output of the naturally aspirated engine to and for the Esprit HC, and to and for the Turbo Esprit HC, with the increased torque available at a lower rpm. For markets with stringent emissions requirements, Lotus introduced the HCi variant, teaming the higher compression engine with Bosch KE-Jetronic fuel injection - the first fuel-injected Esprits.
Peter Stevens redesign (1987)
In 1987 a new version of the Esprit was introduced, incorporating rounder styling cues given by designer Peter Stevens of McLaren F1 fame. This time the tail-lights were sourced from the Toyota Corolla Coupe. Giugiaro is said to have liked the restyling, claiming it was perhaps too close to his original design. The Stevens styled cars retained the mechanical components of the previous High Compression Esprit and Turbo Esprit, but introduced a stronger Renault transaxle, which necessitated a move to outboard rear brakes. The North America Esprit Turbo retained the Citroen gearbox for 1988 MY only. The exterior style changes were accompanied by a freshening of the interior, allowing a little area space for the occupants. The Stevens styled Esprit is often known by its project code of X180. The Stevens Esprit was in the short lived TV series "The Highwayman" in 1988 but it was only seen twice as the show was cancelled after only 10 episodes.
The Esprit was again improved with the addition of a water to air intercooler known as the chargecooler producing the SE. Horsepower was pushed up to 264 with 280 available on overboost, and zero to sixty miles per hour times reduced to 4.7 seconds, with a top speed of over . The chargecooled engine was known as the type 910 S. Modifications to the body kit are also noted. Again the Esprit continued to keep a small or non-existent gap between itself and competition from rivals such as Ferrari and Porsche.
Along with the SE, Lotus produced the little seen Esprit S, a midrange turbocharged car offering fewer appointments and , as well as the standard turbo still offering . The N/A and turbo were cancelled after 1990, and the S in 1991.
The Esprit was a popular and successful addition to the American IMSA Bridgestone Supercar Championship and as a result Lotus produced the SE-based X180R, with horsepower bumped to 300 and with racing appointments. The Sport 300 was a derivative of the X180R sold in Europe. These are known as the fastest of the 4 cylinder Esprits and among the most desirable.
In 1993 another exterior and interior revamp of the car resulted in the S4 which was the first model to include power steering. This car was succeeded in 1995 by the S4s, which upped power to while retaining the comfort of the S4. This car was to be the end of the line for the Esprit but a cancelled project for a front engine car had left Lotus with a compact V8 and no car to put it into.
V8 (1996)
The Esprit V8 used Lotus' self developed type 918 3.5 L twin turbo engine, in front of the same Renault transmission as before. Derek Bell developed an uprated gearbox that overcame a lot of the gearbox problems with a much thicker single piece input shaft Power was up to , however, the capability of the 918 engine was limited by the fragility of the Renault transmission. Zero to sixty miles per hour came in under 5 seconds. Some examples of the engine are noted however to suffer from a leaking cylinder liner problem.
Alongside V8 models was produced the GT3, a turbocharged 4 cylinder car with a 2.0 L chargecooled, turbocharged engine as used in Italian market cars previously.
In 1998 the V8 range was split into SE and GT specifications, both cars with a much changed interior configuration, both offering similar performance with the SE being the more luxurious of the two.
The ultimate incarnation of the Esprit came in 1999 with the Sport 350. Only 50 were made, each offering 350 horsepower (as per the name) and various chassis and braking improvements. By this time the Esprit could reach in well under 5 seconds, and weighed as a result of their hand laid fibreglass bodies.
Esprit production continued on until 2004, Lotus content on producing the Esprit with little development aside from minor cosmetic changes including a switch to four round tail lights in 2002. Over 28 years a total of 10,675 Esprits were produced.
Future
An "Esprit replacement" may be under consideration or development. This car was predicted to be introduced in 2008. The new design is targeted to compete with cars such as the Ferrari F430 and the Lamborghini Gallardo among others, with pricing expected to be in the region of $130,000.
Esprit designers
- Esprit – 1976–77
- Esprit S2 – 1978–81
- Esprit JPS (John Player Special) – 1978–79
- Esprit S2.2 – 1980–81
- Esprit Essex – 1980
- Esprit S3 – 1981–87
- Turbo Esprit – 1981–86
- Turbo Esprit HC – 1986–87
- Turbo Esprit HCi (Bosch Fuel Injected) – 1986–87
Peter Stevens
- Esprit – 1987–90
- Esprit Turbo – 1987–90
- Esprit SE – 1989–91
- Esprit S – 1991
- Lotus Esprit X180R - 1991-92
- Esprit SE HighWing – 1992–93
Julian Thomson
- Esprit S4 – 1993–96
- Esprit 300 Sport – 1993
- Esprit S4s – 1995–96
- Esprit V8 – 1996–98
- Esprit GT3 – 1996–99
- Esprit V8 GT – 1998–2001
- Esprit V8 SE – 1998–2001
- Esprit Sport 350 – 1999
- Esprit V8 – 2002–04
Parts
As with many of their cars, Lotus used parts from other cars to cut down development costs. Esprits before 1993 have many British Leyland parts and after 1993 have many GM (Vauxhall, Opel) parts. G Esprits have Citroën gearboxes as found in the Citroën SM and Maserati Merak, while S Esprits have Renault UN1 gearboxes, with the exception of the North American Esprit Turbo which retained the Citroen gearbox for 1988 only. The door handles come from Morris Marina / Austin Allegro and were kept until the S4 model in 1994 when instead GM Calibra door handles were used. Early models used a Momo steering wheel, later ones had the same as the Pontiac Trans Am. Until 2002 it had rectangular Toyota rear lights from the 1985 Toyota Sprinter Trueno and RWD Toyota Corolla Coupe, later replaced with the same round light as the Lotus Elise II. The aerial mount and whip on the S4 and V8 is the same as the GM Calibra and Tigra. The side mirrors are from the Citroën CX. Non SE foglamps from about 1989 are GM Astra mk1. The fan motors come from the Ford Fiesta mk2. The alternator on the V8 models is a standard GM unit also found in the V6 GM Omega or the Lotus / GM Lotus Carlton which also provides many of the interior plastic fittings such as door handles and steering column. The clutch slave cylinder on the 98 onwards models is the same as a series 2A Landrover from Girling as is the master cylinder. The front suspension of the S1 and S2 came from the Opel Ascona. Front GT3 Brake Pads (Brembo) are the same as on a Fiat Coupe turbo or a Peugeot 406 3.0 v6.
See also
- Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge, early 1990s video game on the Amiga computer.
- Turbo Esprit, 1986 video game
External links
- - model specs, road test archive, parts, maintenance and 'howto' information
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