transmission durability

[hachiroku]

Hi, I don't want to seem ignorant, but I guess I have no choice... I've heard about durability and scarcity issues with the Citroen transaxle on the Esprit. These have scared me to the point that I've been afraid to drive the car too hard for the few months I've owned it. For vigorous acceleration, where is it safe to drop the clutch without blowing the transaxle? How can I take advantage of the Ferrari beating acceleration. Should I even worry too much about transmission durability? I used to drive old muscle cars, so this is a bit new to me
Dan

[GUY JOHNSON]

Hi my name is Guy.
What year do you own?
It really depends on how you drive.
I own an '88 and I have had her to the point were the tires spin. The only thing I go through are clutches.
Because the are to dam small.
Were Are old muscle cars we could by any size of clutch.
And run them up to 50,000 miles doing burnouts.

[Skerd]

Change the gearbox oil (synthetic) atleast once a year. Let it warm up first. Don't blow a shift. Have fun. There is a guy who has a ton of citroen parts, they are not that scarce. I can get you his e-mail if you need it.

[hachiroku]

Mines an 86 Turbo. I love this thing. Its very different from my 55 Chevy and C5 Corvette, but in a very good way! Its handling amazes me, and its rock solid even at high speed! I've got an upgraded turbo and I love that burst of power more than anything. But driving it hard off the line is going to scare the heck out of me until I get over it. Are clutches expensive, by the way?
Thanks,
Dan

[Skerd]

I would guess a new clutch (and all the related parts that usually get changed then also) installed at a Lotus dealer would be around $ 4,000.

[mrodrigu]

My 87 Turbo lost two transmissions before I upgraded. The problem is that under heavy load the case of the Citroen gearboxes flexes, allowing excessive ring and pinion lash. The gears pit and destroy themselves. You need not dump the clutch to have this problem. Brisk acceleration over irregular surfaces casuing wheel hop is sufficient.

Another problem is on these gearboxes is that the input shafts have a habit of coming loose, and welding themselves to the back of the crank when the fiber washer disintegrates.

My recommendation is to take care with this gearbox if you want it to live.

[karmavore]

mrodrigu said: My 87 Turbo lost two transmissions before I upgraded.

How do you like your Quaife? Many people here are interested in them, but no one seems to have taken the plunge.

Luke.