Mods for '98 Turbo Esprit V8
Discussion
After reading posts about the relatively fragile halfshaft/tranny on these cars, my desire to wrench more power out of it has decreased somewhat. However... What could I do to gain a few extra horsepower and remedy the restictor-plate vacuum cleaner sound of a stock Esprit V8? 400hp or slightly more would be ideal. Are there nice quality bolt-on exhausts, air filters and chips available for this car? Would a larger (louder) blow off valve be of any benefit? If so, where would an individual source these parts? Thanks again for your help.
ThrottleJock
Where are you based?? If you're in the UK (or even if you're not) join up to the Yahoo group for the esprit. Check out the bookmarks section - lots of links to suppliers in there (too many to list here).
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKLotusEsprit/
There are several exhaust suppliers: Quicksilver, Stebro, Tubi, D&T, SWEuro, plus lotus themselves sell a 'sports exhaust'. Which one to get is a matter of personal choice and also budget! I know of several who have made up their own systems too.
K&N do some excellent filters (i have these in my 98 V8-GT).
Regarding 'chips' - the usual practice here for a 96-99 esprit is to upgrade to the 2000 onwards ECU which is basically the same firmware as the Sport 350 model. This gives you improved torque but no actual bhp gain. The ECU just plugs in in place of the factory unit. There is also a "race" ecu that is said to give an extra 100 or so bhp... but this will invalidate any sort of warranty you may have ;-)
It goes without saying that lotus themselves could have easily given the v8 more that 350 bhp /295 lbft torque but decided NOT to due to the limitations of the renault sourced drivetrain...
IMHO: do the ecu (its cheap) do the K&Ns (good whooshing noise!) and an exhaust to make it sound better, but think carefully before blindly increasing the power output. I can't think of any situation i've had in my esprit where i was thinking " if only i had another 50bhp.." !
Good sites to check out:
Ian Fenech-Soler's modified V8 Esprit
http://members.home.net/shokwave/
Johan Hybinette's Extreme Esprit
www.hybinette.com/lotus/
Cheers
Rob
98 V8-GT
Where are you based?? If you're in the UK (or even if you're not) join up to the Yahoo group for the esprit. Check out the bookmarks section - lots of links to suppliers in there (too many to list here).
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKLotusEsprit/
There are several exhaust suppliers: Quicksilver, Stebro, Tubi, D&T, SWEuro, plus lotus themselves sell a 'sports exhaust'. Which one to get is a matter of personal choice and also budget! I know of several who have made up their own systems too.
K&N do some excellent filters (i have these in my 98 V8-GT).
Regarding 'chips' - the usual practice here for a 96-99 esprit is to upgrade to the 2000 onwards ECU which is basically the same firmware as the Sport 350 model. This gives you improved torque but no actual bhp gain. The ECU just plugs in in place of the factory unit. There is also a "race" ecu that is said to give an extra 100 or so bhp... but this will invalidate any sort of warranty you may have ;-)
It goes without saying that lotus themselves could have easily given the v8 more that 350 bhp /295 lbft torque but decided NOT to due to the limitations of the renault sourced drivetrain...
IMHO: do the ecu (its cheap) do the K&Ns (good whooshing noise!) and an exhaust to make it sound better, but think carefully before blindly increasing the power output. I can't think of any situation i've had in my esprit where i was thinking " if only i had another 50bhp.." !
Good sites to check out:
Ian Fenech-Soler's modified V8 Esprit
http://members.home.net/shokwave/
Johan Hybinette's Extreme Esprit
www.hybinette.com/lotus/
Cheers
Rob
98 V8-GT
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