Cerbera to Esprit V8?

[Duke Thrust]

Hello chaps,

Has anyone gone from a Cerbera to an Esprit (or vice versa?)

These are the two cars on my short list and would be very interested to hear from anyone who's had indepth experience of the two.

Please forgive my ignorance, but are all the V8 cars twin turbos? Are there trouble cars that are worth avoiding, ie early ones in preference for later ones?

All comments welcome, thanks in advance.

[karluk29]

if you want a v8, there all good but make sure the liners have
been done on the early models, can someone verify im right.
(im a gt3 owner)

as for the difference i have been in a cerb and in a straight line
esprit will get left BUT if you want to turn at any point buy
a lotus, and the esprit is alot more rare, all to do with what you
like/afford.

also i do belive the tvr has to be serviced twice as much if not
more than the esprit, also reliablility factor on cerb is poor

my gt3 has never had a serious issue ever (touch wood) and i have
owned it 3 years now and was a daily drive for 2 years. but if your
shy dont buy one as you will get asked over and over again about the
car by ppl.

[jackal]

i think the liners issue is NOT restricted to early 98 cars but to cars up to June 2000 when lotus changed to Hylomar sealant
(formerly used Loctite)

having said that, IIRC lotus have stated that there is NO issue with either sealant and that liner problems that have happened are more a result of problems with cooling (thermostat, pump breakage etc..) or the cooling system not having been looked after. I personally would look at uprating the radiator as its been cited as a weak point in traffic and i know some owners have done this.

From the forum research i did and having spoken to people on the subject the following also arose:

1. liner problems could appear in a post 2000 car

2. rebuild from kelsport ~3500 quid

[sledge]

I went from an Esprit S4 to a Cerbera 4.2 & i agree with what has already been said, the Lotus is a fantastic car & handles really well & again i didn't have too much trouble with reliability, the Cerb is a stunning looking car & extremely quick in a straight line but the reliability of TVR's is not horrific more annoying, for the fun factor i would go for the Lotus...

[adam g]

Had 3 Esprits including an S4s and a 99 V8 and picked up a Cerb 4.2 on a bit of a whim. Had no reliabilty problems with the Cerbie yet but in 9 years and 100k miles I had very few problems in Esprits either.

Cerbie; Sounds better, interior looks better, Straight line performance is awesome, better transmission, marginally more practicle

Esprit V8, Mid range, more practicle interior, more refined, far better handling, better built (IMHO), better high speed stability, more refined

For me it breaks down to a couple of things - looks which is clearly personal preference. Also the Cerbie gives you more of a "hero" factor - it will catch you out far more easily but a bit of opposite lock seems to do the trick every time. Esprit is more predictable until you either hit the turbo at the wrong time, less of a problem on the V8, or you get right to the limit and it is a tad harder to get back but then it is much harder to get it wrong!

I am trying to decide now if I should upgrade to a late cerbie, buy another V8 or keep the cerbie I have and save my pennies for an earlier V8.

My conclusion - try them both! I honestly don't know which I prefer as they are both so different. Feel free to mail me via my profile for a proper chat about the cars if you want.

[toyroom]

All V8 engines are twin turbo 32 valve quad cam fuel injected. There is no intercooling. The Esprit evolved continually right up to the end. Therefore, buy the youngest you can afford is the best advice