The Lotus Esprit has a history dating as back as the mid 1970s! The first Esprit, designated the S1, was using a 2.2 litre normally aspirated engine and was not very quick evolved over the years
through the S2 and S3 variants. In the early 1980s, a turbocharger was added to the Type 910 2.2 litre engine. This improved performance to 210hp @ 6,500rpm and 200ft/lbs torque at 4250rpm. 0-60 in 5.6 seconds, top
speed was 140+ mph. This performance was more than enough to make it quicker than its colleagues of that era, nemely the Ferrari 308GTB/S and Porsche 911 SC and remember that the Esprit is only a 4 cylinder engine!
The currently available Esprit Turbo SE is a further development of what is a very capable vehicle. The power of the Esprit Turbo SE is raised to 280 bhp with the use of a Lotus developed ChargeCooler and and enhanced
Engine Management System that uses six fuel injectors. Outwardly the Esprit Turbo SE sports a deeper front air dam and a rear wing. 0-60 times have fallen into the mid 4 second range and top speed is in excess of 165
mph. Summing up is simple: the Esprit is a pure Lotus and a trully classic FantasyCar! |
