Lotus sport exhaust

[vws]

Hi all,
somebody know how much power adds the lotus sport exhaust?

Thank's

John.

[kmaier]

In a word, nothing. My exhaust system system was replaced under warranty with the Sport Exhaust. It adds a bit more "bark" but nothing more.

Regards, KM
2000 V8

[FJ40]

I just took the muffler off mine. Sounds much better and there are probably some performance gains. It is not very loud at all. My guess is that the cats are some what restrictive so even a free flowing exhaust system after them is kind of moot. The muffler must weight some 50 pounds, the thing almost crushed my arm when it came down.

Dan
97 Esprit
www.certifiedwheels.com

[cnh1990]

The turbo cuts the sound down. Many trucks do not have mufflers as the turbo pads the sounds in itself.
When 4 cyl. SE's run with out a muffler with straight pipes a blue to white flame will be seen at the tail pipe.
Calvin

[paf291x]

I put a s/s exhaust on my S4 and it gives a much better note when driving with the windows down, as for performance why tune a car that does a claimed figure of 0-60 in 4.7secs ?

[cnh1990]

So we may go 0-60 in 4.3 seconds or less.
Calvin

[paf291x]

Had a quick race with a tuscan and was on his tail pipe all the way upto 125mph when the roundabout was closing fast so we both eased off ! only mod a s/s exhaust so what does that tell you !!!

[kmaier]

The standard exhaust on the V8 is fair but no more. It is made of steel, fairly heavy and in most cases, rattles itself to death. My original exhaust had cracked and almost lost an entire exhaust pipe from the muffler in less than 2500 miles. The Sport Exhaust which was replaced under warranty has had one of the stainless tips crack lose (almost lost it). I have used the strongest epoxy I can find and it continues to come lose and buzzes constantly in the 3000-4000 RPM range.

Granted, quite a few owners have removed the exhaust muffler and added straight pipes/tips from the Cats out. This does reduce weight (and eliminates the reverse airfoil effect of the stock muffler) and, IMHO, still does nothing flattering to the exhaust sound. I've also heard that many who have replaced the muffler with straight pipes have to have them re-welded on a regular basis as they don't survive the vibration of the motor. Personally, I prefer a muffler (but would like a much higher quality one).

Tubi makes a stainless muffler replacement but you are still left with the steel pipes from the turbos which also include the Cats and O2 sensor mounts. D&T Systems in Austrailia make a complete stainless system which replaces everything from the turbos back (and is somewhat pricey). I think Rob Ellis found one made in Japan which costs a mere 450,000 Yen (Y-ouch!). So there are some options but it would seem nobody has had much experience with anything beyond straight pipes/tips. Also, you can probably order the 2002 US MY center exhaust system directly from Lotus, but I am not aware of the cost for this.

As for increasing the performance, that's a personal thing. Granted, the Esprit V8 is a very fast car in stock trim. Adding the High-Torque ECM upgrade (one for 97-99 MY and one for 00-01 MY) is a plus as is the accepted replacement of the paper air filters with either ITG or K&N. Beyond this, there are a few other goodies that will boost performance. Moto-Concepts has an ECM upgrade for the V8 which will increase power. Lotus offers a Race ECM which will yield another 75HP or so but voids warranty, etc. and Johan has devised an intercooler setup which certainly improves power.

The Esprit V8 is a great car if you like to experiment and modify and offers more hidden performance than you can reasonably use on the street. You also have to remember that the gearbox (see another thread) is a known weakpoint as are the axle shafts so depending on how you drive the car you may have the expensive experience of breaking some other drivetrain components.

Ah, sorry for the long post.... hope it helps someone.

Regards, KM
2000 V8

[cnh1990]

That your car is very fast, but that if it were a little quicker and depending on your skill level you might have been able to overtake and pass him.
Calvin with a just about stock 90 SE

[vws]

Thank's for your help Kmaier.
I know what you're talking about, i also have buzzes at 3000 Rpm with my sport exhaust but it seems to provide from the end of the muffler's pipe.
My previous car was an 96 V8 esprit with straight pipes but i think it was really too much noisy. When you come back home late at night....Thousand of people are listening to your engine...After all the sport exhaust sounds great. i hope that i can keep it more than 2500 miles )
The problems seems to be the same everywhere...

[klw95]

But if the Tuscan driver wasn't really trying, what does that tell you?

[paf291x]

I'd say that he could not handle the pile of junk,at least the engines dont blow in esprits !! by the way how is your family saloon mate and please would you stick to your TVR page !!

>> Edited by paf291x on Monday 10th March 21:03

[kmaier]

Alas, my Sport Exhaust has developed a crack in the tail pipe and is well on it's way to losing a pipe (the left one, first exhaust was the right one). Fortunately, I've some warranty left so LCU will cover this, but it's annoying... and the same problem. I guess the good news is the Sport Exhaust lasted almost 12K miles before the buzzing got so bad I started looking for cracks.

Regards, KM
2000 V8 ( looking for a few good exhaust bits)

[kmaier]

Alas, my Sport Exhaust has developed a crack in the tail pipe and is well on it's way to losing a pipe (the left one, first exhaust was the right one). Fortunately, I've some warranty left so LCU will cover this, but it's annoying... and the same problem. I guess the good news is the Sport Exhaust lasted almost 12K miles before the buzzing got so bad I started looking for cracks.

Regards, KM
2000 V8 ( looking for a few good exhaust bits)