The Eternal Rear Wing Question !!
Discussion
I've wanted an Esprit since 1977 and when I finally got one, the best I could do at the time was a '97 V8 in 2000 from a main dealer. The wing was a standard item on all V8 cars at that age so I had no choice. As the years went by, I have felt progressively less and less fond of the rear wing until eventualyy, I decided to take it off. What could go wrong, I thought (as you do), the worst that will happen is I'll damage the paint and have to put the thing back on. Nothing to lose. For once, I was correct !
Taking the rear wing off involves nothing more complex than undoing six bolts whilst an accomplice holds the wing in place pending removal to a place of safety.
Just in case anyone is thinking of doing this and worried about what might happen, I've posted my account under a separate thread(Rear Wing Removal- Easy !)
The reason for posting this thread was to add weight to the arguement in favour of wing removal just in case anyone reads this who is finding it difficult to decide (as I felt a few months ago)
Here's my list of arguements:
1. Whatever we like to think, it is pretty rare that we will see the kind of speed and simultaneous envelope stretching handling very often. There has been a lot said about the merits of the rear wing and how you need a bigger transom lip (sticky out thing behind the boot across the back of the car) (Don't shout at me, not every Esprit owner is a mechanic !) if you are to avoid the adverse handling resulting from the removal of the wing. This only seems to be the case at speeds well into 3 figures according to most of the articles I have seen. It would be pretty unlikely that this would be a problem for a car used on ordinary roads as most Esprits are. Track preparation would also require more than an extra bit of plastic bhind the boot, I fancy ! I therefore concluded that as long as I stay below 150mph, there should be no danger to removing the wing.
2. Because of its mid-engined configuration, the Esprit "nods" with the result that the wing moves up and down in the rear view mirror. This is almost impossible to notice during daytime but, at night, it has the effect of making it appear that the vehicle behind is flashing its headlights. I have had a few heartstopping moments wondering if the headlight flash will be followed by a flashing blue light !
3. Because the wing is positioned a couple of inches lower than the '98 MY wing, it takes up the top 40% of the rear view. On later cars, it is higher and this does not occur.
4. Because the wing is fastened to the car rather than the boot lid, it stays in place when the boot is open and I have had many suits and shirts soaked by the water which had collected on the wing when I reached into the boot for something and forgot to hold any dangling clothes back.
5. Finally, like so many vehicle addenda, the Esprit was designed without a rear wing and hence it is at least arguable that it looks better without the wing it was never intended to have. My jury is still out on this one but I would say that I am 70:30 in favour of a wing-less car. The Esprit is pretty flash without any extra bits and, like the Countach and Diablo, in danger of becoming a characature of itself when extra bits are added !
So, I now have a prettier(probably !) car with much better and less frightening rear visibility and no more embarrassing wet shirts and ties !
Taking the rear wing off involves nothing more complex than undoing six bolts whilst an accomplice holds the wing in place pending removal to a place of safety.
Just in case anyone is thinking of doing this and worried about what might happen, I've posted my account under a separate thread(Rear Wing Removal- Easy !)
The reason for posting this thread was to add weight to the arguement in favour of wing removal just in case anyone reads this who is finding it difficult to decide (as I felt a few months ago)
Here's my list of arguements:
1. Whatever we like to think, it is pretty rare that we will see the kind of speed and simultaneous envelope stretching handling very often. There has been a lot said about the merits of the rear wing and how you need a bigger transom lip (sticky out thing behind the boot across the back of the car) (Don't shout at me, not every Esprit owner is a mechanic !) if you are to avoid the adverse handling resulting from the removal of the wing. This only seems to be the case at speeds well into 3 figures according to most of the articles I have seen. It would be pretty unlikely that this would be a problem for a car used on ordinary roads as most Esprits are. Track preparation would also require more than an extra bit of plastic bhind the boot, I fancy ! I therefore concluded that as long as I stay below 150mph, there should be no danger to removing the wing.
2. Because of its mid-engined configuration, the Esprit "nods" with the result that the wing moves up and down in the rear view mirror. This is almost impossible to notice during daytime but, at night, it has the effect of making it appear that the vehicle behind is flashing its headlights. I have had a few heartstopping moments wondering if the headlight flash will be followed by a flashing blue light !
3. Because the wing is positioned a couple of inches lower than the '98 MY wing, it takes up the top 40% of the rear view. On later cars, it is higher and this does not occur.
4. Because the wing is fastened to the car rather than the boot lid, it stays in place when the boot is open and I have had many suits and shirts soaked by the water which had collected on the wing when I reached into the boot for something and forgot to hold any dangling clothes back.
5. Finally, like so many vehicle addenda, the Esprit was designed without a rear wing and hence it is at least arguable that it looks better without the wing it was never intended to have. My jury is still out on this one but I would say that I am 70:30 in favour of a wing-less car. The Esprit is pretty flash without any extra bits and, like the Countach and Diablo, in danger of becoming a characature of itself when extra bits are added !
So, I now have a prettier(probably !) car with much better and less frightening rear visibility and no more embarrassing wet shirts and ties !
Hear hear!
In an ideal world the original Esprit shape would be 'the one'. It's only engine bay ventilation that brought about the 'ears'. The Esprit could (IMHO) quite easily have run its course (say, up to 1990) without the Stevens reshape and would by then have been around for the best part of 15 years, not a bad run by any car's standards.
My personal styling dislike is the wrap-round bumpers of the S3...
In an ideal world the original Esprit shape would be 'the one'. It's only engine bay ventilation that brought about the 'ears'. The Esprit could (IMHO) quite easily have run its course (say, up to 1990) without the Stevens reshape and would by then have been around for the best part of 15 years, not a bad run by any car's standards.
My personal styling dislike is the wrap-round bumpers of the S3...
When I first bought my '99, I had every intention of removing the wing. I simply thought Esprits look cleaner without it, particularly the V8's: its wing is tooo big and bombastic-looking in pictures. But after I bought the '99, I kind of got used to it. First of all: in person, you realize that it's not as big and awkward looking as in the pictures. It seems to 'fit'. Second, you're inclination is to not fix what isn't broken on a car where lots of other, more important, stuff can break.
That being said, I secretly still suspect my car would look even better without the wing.
Anyone with a late model wing-less Esprit want to post some pictures so we can see?
That being said, I secretly still suspect my car would look even better without the wing.
Anyone with a late model wing-less Esprit want to post some pictures so we can see?
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