2003 - Lotus Esprit on 2040-cars
Mission Hills, California, United States
This is the car Lotus wanted to sell. Instead of detuning their wonderful V8 due to drivetrain issues, - fix the weak transaxle and let it pump out the 500 horses it was intended to! That’s exactly what you have here. The current owner ( only the second ) has taken a, sweet 20K California car and spent well over 100,000 to build this Ferrari eating supercar. All this and it is still capable of passing the strict California Emissions test and dropping a very happy kid off at school. Most of the work was performed by a well known Los Angeles County Lotus specialist and there has been a lot of it. Starting with the engine, it has been completely disassembled blueprinted, balanced and rebuilt using new bearings, forged pistons etc. The heads have been reworked and fuel system has benefited from a set of matched injectors and an ECU that is reprogrammable with the use of chips. Breathing in through K&N free flowing filters the turbo’s ( both rebuilt) now cool the air in a large charge cooler prior to the engine breathing out through racing cats. The manifolds have been Jet Hot coated and the racing exhaust system features upgraded O2 sensors and the turbos have new blow off valves and a very neat 15 pound boost gauge added to the interior. The result is an amazing sound and incredible performance. Aesthetically the engine also looks the part with a lot of candy blue powder coating, Aeroquip lines and braided or silicone hoses. The whole thing is held in the car by a set of heavy duty engine mounts. The torque is gripped by a 3 plate racing clutch and fed into the upgraded UN-1-13 gearbox, and custom linkage that is controlled with a brushed aluminum shifter knob with Lotus logo. The final drive was replaced with a Quaife limited slip differential. The rubber that hits the road consists of a good set of Dunlop Sport 9000 tires, 285/35ZR18 on the rear and 235/40zZR17 on the front. Suspension tweaking was next with new Lotus Bilstein shocks front and back, held up by Eibach springs all round with a 17mm sway bar fitted at the front. Finally stopping power was increased to match the forward motion by using Willwood 6 pot calipers on the front with a similar set of 4 piston units at the back with 12 inch ventilated discs all round. The cooling system did not go untouched either, having a new water pump, hi capacity radiator and high performance fan set-up, which all keep this fire breathing beast cool at all times.. To protect this vulnerable area a ¼ inch thick skid plate was added under the front. There is also a manual override switch controllable from the drivers seat. To help keep you driving, the car is equipped with Generation 8 High Power laser interceptors with quad detectors and a Valentine One radar locator, high range hidden system with controls units in the dash and hidden sensors installed in the front and rear bumpers – Stealth? The interior shows a little use, but is in good condition, with race inspired leather seats and dash, as well as a leather wrapped steering wheel and hand brake. It has also had a Halon fire extinguishing system neatly installed – just in case! This Esprit also has been equipped with a Kenwood radio with IPod connection, DVD and GPS system, and has had additional speakers installed for a total of 6 Alpine and 2 Infinity speakers, 4-mid range and 2 large woofers, and two tweeters with an external amplifier system. The car also has an active Low Jack anti theft system installed. The factory heat and air conditioning, both work as intended. The headlights were upgraded to new Hella Headlamp System, and the taillights are LED. The entire front half of the car has been shielded with SC Clearbra to eliminate road rash and it has done a good job. The exterior paint very nice, a deep black and in good condition, there is one minor scratch on the driver side quarter panel. There are some chips and scrapes to the lower valence/bumper but nothing unexpected or unusual. It has had a new gasket kit for the sun roof installed. There is a lot of invoices and a current smog certificate that go with this car along with a hardtop panel and some extra exhaust parts. This black beauty starts with ease, idles smoothly with performance that is breathtakingly fast. Although this car is obviously extremely powerful, it is surprisingly docile and easy to drive. The racing clutch is firm but forgiving and the gears selection easy and precise, not always the case with mid engine cars. It’s easy to just to cruise around town - until you stop wanting to cruise. The upgrades have come together to make this an exceptional automobile. This is a testament to the overall approach of no cutting corners by the owner and the professional manner in which these upgrades have been carried out. It has been well looked after since its purchase in 2006 and driven frequently but lightly by its mature owner and now it is time to pass it on for someone else to enjoy. It has never been crashed and it is straight, very clean and turns heads wherever it goes.
Lotus Esprit for Sale
2002 - lotus esprit(US $26,000.00)
1986 lotus espirit turbo, manual, 78k miles, all original
1988 lotus esprit turbo coupe 2-door 2.2l
Turbo special edition #45 silver investors 5-speed manual connolly calypo red
1997 lotus esprit v8(US $32,900.00)
2002 lotus esprit v8 twin turbo #002 anniversary edition(US $47,000.00)
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Auto blog
Renault formalizes return to F1 with Lotus acquisition
Fri, Dec 4 2015No longer satisfied with simply providing engines, Renault confirmed that it will return to running its own Formula One team next season. Though the terms of the deal are still being worked out, the French automaker will re-acquire the team currently known as Lotus. Renault previously owned and operated this same operation for nearly 10 years. Renault first entered the series in 1977. The company shut down the original Equipe Renault Elf in 1985, but continued powering Lotus, Ligier, and Tyrrell for another season. After a three-year break, it returned as an engine supplier with Williams in 1989, winning championship titles with the likes of Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, and Damon Hill behind the wheel. The 1995 season saw the start of the partnership with the team now in question when Benetton switched over from Ford power. After several years of success and more titles, Renault bought out the team and ran it as its own from 2002 through 2011 – winning two more titles with Fernando Alonso – before selling the operation to Genii Capital, which has run it since under the Lotus name. Even after Lotus switched to Mercedes power, Renault continued supplying other teams with engines, most notably winning back-to-back world titles with Red Bull before the new turbo hybrid engines arrived and Renault's performance dropped off. Now, in another case of history repeating, Renault is gearing up to bring the team based in Enstone back in-house. The move will likely see the Lotus name disappear again, after it was hotly contested with the Caterham team that ultimately disappeared as well. With it, Renault will return as a full-on works effort with its own engines, just like rivals Ferrari and Mercedes. Renault Announces Return to Formula 1 in 2016 - Carlos Ghosn announces his decision that Renault will return to Formula 1 with its own team for 2016 season. - Renault, 12-time Constructors' Champion with nearly 40 years in the sport, is an iconic brand in Formula 1 and intends to play an active role in the sport's development. - F1 is a technology showcase and accelerates development of Renault's innovation and range of sports cars. Following the September announcement of the signing of a Letter of Intent with Lotus F1 Team, teams at Renault continued to evaluate the possibility of a return to Formula 1. Particular attention was paid to competing successfully with its own team in a financially sound way starting in 2016.
Volkswagen looking to acquire Proton, Lotus?
Thu, 26 Jul 2012Let's say you're an automaker bent on world domination looking to grow your sales. That's going to have you looking at Asian markets, because that's where some of the biggest growth has been, and that's exactly what Volkswagen is doing as it considers making another run at Malaysia's Proton.
Reuters reports that Volkswagen is interested in at least a partial stake, if not a controlling interest in Lotus-parent Proton as a way to continue a production presence in the region without having to build its own factory.
Volkswagen already builds the Passat in a DRB-HICOM facility in Pekan, Malaysia, and plans are in place to build the Jetta and Polo there, as well. With both southeast Asia and its relationship with Proton figuring so importantly in Volkswagen's plans for expansion, buying into Proton can help ensure stability. Volkswagen is being tight-lipped about the whole idea, but CEO Martin Winterkorn did recently say, "it's our clear goal to continue the successful (expansion) course of past years with great dynamics and stability," which sounds an awful lot like deals are on the table to smooth the path to further growth.
Detroit Electric SP:01 electric Lotus project not dead yet
Wed, Jun 18 2014Detroit Electric is still on board to produce the Lotus Exige-based SP:01 electric sports car, which has been delayed more than once already. According to the carmaker, the SP:01 prototype is currently undergoing testing at a facility in Europe, as we can see in the above photo provided by Detroit Electric. Details about the production schedule and on-sale date for the SP:01 are still unclear, but Detroit Electric says it will announce more about that in the coming weeks. Production was originally supposed to begin last year, but was delayed when plans to build the car in Plymouth, MI fell through. Production is now planned to take place in Holland, but there's still potential for future models to be made in Detroit. The company has stated that the SP:01 will come with a base price tag of $135,000. Like the Tesla Roadster, the Detroit Electric SP:01 uses a Lotus chassis. The car's electric motor provides 201 horsepower and 166 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels, pushing the car to 62 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds, with a top speed of 155 mph. Range on a full charge is said to be more than 180 miles. The SP:01 has been off to a bit of a rocky start, but this bit of news shows there's still life in the project. Let's just hope it all continues smoothly. See what Detroit Electric has to say for itself in the press release below, or check out our original post about the SP:01 for all the details about the car. World's Fastest Production Electric Vehicle Prepares for Launch Detroit Electric, the international electric vehicle manufacturer, is finalising dynamic testing of its SP:01 pure-electric sportscar at a facility in Europe ahead of its introduction in several world markets. The lightweight, two-seat, rear-wheel-drive, open-top sportscar promises to thrill the EV market with its blistering performance and exhilarating dynamics. This latest version of the SP:01 has seen additional development work carried out by Detroit Electric's engineers and designers since a pre-production version of the vehicle was revealed to the media at events in Detroit, USA, and Shanghai, China, last year. Further details of the car and Detroit Electric's production and sales plans will be announced in the coming weeks. Related Gallery Detroit Electric SP:01: Live View 11 Photos Related Gallery Detroit Electric SP:01 View 9 Photos News Source: Detroit Electric Green Lotus Electric prototype testing detroit electric detroit electric sp:01 sp:01