Will an Esprit V8 eat its gearbox?

[wildatheart]

I read in this month's EVO magazine that Paul Matty 'won't touch' the V8 Esprits as the gearbox can't handle the torque - I'd be interested to hear what others here think of this.

[Bibs_LEF]

The Esprit came with up to 295lb ft of torque and 350bhp and was/is fine. In answer to your questions, no it won't.

Edited by Bibs_LEF on Tuesday 26th October 17:57

[GKP]

It kinda works out ok, because I'd never send my Esprit to Paul Matty.

[CMB123]

I always found PM quite good, but that was a while ago.
I would be worried about taking my Esprit (of any variety) to somewhere that only cherry picked the easy lotus. Says something about the competence of the mechanics don't you think?

However, I would check this is true with PM themselves...don't take anything you read in rags at face value.

[peter450]

Paul Matty are ok, i think they are honest and mean well, but if your expecting them to be the font of all things lotus you would be mistaken! i bought my Excel there and while it's been solid and was in excellent nick, it was also very expensive, and there was also the small matter of the inlet and exhaust valves being the wrong way round, and the engine having a oil leak around the cams fixed with loads of silicon (Work which i've no doubt was carried out before they got there hands on it), the point being i remember vividly Mr Matty's comment as i drove off, it's got a fantastic engine that one!

Once the engine was fixed and the inlet/exhaust cam's put the right way round the engine indeed seems quite nice and it now runs considerably better, i of course had no referance point until the before and after, so never realised anything was wrong, with hindsight it idled badly before when cold and was noticably down on power around the 2000RPM mark

PM like any dealer are not perfect and things get overstated or understated if you got a forcourt full of inline 4's to shift of course there going to be the best!

Edited by peter450 on Tuesday 26th October 22:10

[Sam_68]

CMB123 said:

However, I would check this is true with PM themselves...don't take anything you read in rags at face value.

Although there are certainly Lotus models that PM don't touch from a sales point of view (the 500-series Elite and Eclat, for example), because they're too much trouble/too costly in terms of warranty and the company's reputation.

...and come to think of it, I can't remember ever seeing them selling an Esprit V8.

[rob.e]

When I sold my v8 it had 85k-ish hard driven miles on it.. track days, vmax, airfield days etc etc. Gearbox was fine, all original, never had any issues with it.

Its originally fitted to a renault so its at its limits in terms of torque etc - in fact it was the g/box that dictated the final production outputs of the v8.

That said, its not going to survive if abused, unlike some more modern machinery which is specifically manufacturered with the "idiot driver" in mind.

Matty: yep, he's always saying that. don't agree.. all esprits are going to need maintenance - for the v8 you've obviously got more to go wrong (more cylinders, two turbos etc plus more power and torque to put pressure on the drive train..) but fundamentally there is not much in it. If you want lowest risk in terms of maintenance, then GT3 is the answer - all the develoments for the latest cars are in that model plus it has the simplest/ lowest torque engine hence least drive train stresses. A V8 will be more risky but its not "night and day" different like matty implies. The GT3 unfortunately although a great handler is not actually that fast in a straight line compared to say a modern hot hatch. V8 is a different matter - still not many modern cars that will go 0-100 in 9.1s or whatever the figure is for a v8-gt..

All IMHO of course.

R

[Bibs_LEF]

The gearbox was derived from Renault however was modified and strengthened for use in the Esprit, the cwp are a different and stronger metal for example and unique to the Esprit.

Lotus tested the gearbox/clutch extensively and these durability/abuse tests included, amongst others, hundreds of consecutive 5k/sidestep clutch standing starts, hill starts etc and it's safe up to the 400nm that's the V8's produced.

[Hedgerley]

The V8 is actually de-tuned' to 350bhp and the ECU limits torque in 1st and 2nd to protect the drive train. Under normal, even occasional spirited, use they should be OK. Having said that repeated standing start burn outs will take their toll.

I'm on my second V8, at 53k miles having done over 25k myself with no problems whatsoever. I'm still on the original clutch which is fine. However, my previous V8 lost 5th gear cruising on the A1 at about 80mph late one night. I made it back to Edinburgh as a 4 speed doing about 15mpg! Its a reasonably common problem as 5th gear is 'overhung' - it was added at a later date as the box was originally a 4 speed and it is not supported well within the box. Various upgrade kits have been made available over the years. A quick search on Google picks up many articles. Also check LEW for plenty of technical information the box. Here for example -

http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EGuides/ETechnical...

[ErnestM]

Let's please keep in mind "Naming and Shaming" rules on PH. Thanks.

[Thorburn]

Are there no alternative gearboxes that can be fitted to the Esprit?

[eddie main man]

Go and see Miles at Fibre Glass Services, along near Arundel. Smashing bloke. He will tell you in his own special way what he thinks of a V8, consuming the Renult box. Miles is the greatest !!!