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432 Hp - 3.5l Twin Turbo V8 5-speed Manual Alloy Wheels Alpine Premium Stereo on 2040-cars

US $32,000.00
Year:2000 Mileage:43192
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A SPECTACULAR example of the truly rare Lotus Esprit Twin Turbo V8. This car was purchased by me in 2006 and has been meticulously maintained. I have taken many steps to upgrade some of the shortcomings of the car to make it more reliable and truly a joy to drive.

Lot's of people describe their car as "The One", but I'll let you read the description of this particular car, and you be the judge. One of the most disappointing features of the Esprit was the stock, ugly GM steering wheel that was basically the same as the Saturn cars, but with the Lotus emblem. Many people switch the wheel out to a Momo wheel, but give up the safety of the airbag. I, instead, had a RAID race steering wheel installed with integrated airbag. This required a custom adapter, but the satin aluminum wheel perfectly matches the aluminum accents on the dash panel and shifter knob. This is the wheel that should have been in the car from the beginning. Another disappointment was the meager 350 horsepower of a car that was supposed to compete with exotics like Ferrari and Lamborghini. Taking into account the standard 15% loss from the crank horsepower to the rear wheel horsepower, the typical V8 Esprit puts out 297.5 horses to the pavement. To remedy this, we did the following:

1: Switch to high flow K&N air filters
2. Switch to high flow catalytic converters
3. Install the high performance computer chip.

This resulted in rear wheel HP of 367.8 which translates to 432 Horsepower at the crank. This is a vast improvement over the stock performance, and truly brings the car closer to "supercar" performance. Please see the attached Dyno run done in 2008. Since then, we have installed 9 lb. waste-gate valves and changed to forged pistons. The Esprit ships from the factory with weaker cast pistons, and is prone to melting form high turbo boost. This is one of the reasons the car is sadly de-tuned to lower horsepower. My goal was to restore the power the car was capable of, while making it a completely reliable daily driver. The forged pistons are a must-do upgrade to these motors. 

Another design flaw of these cars is the inadequate radiator which causes them to over heat in warm climates. I live in Las vegas where the temperature regularly gets up to 115 degrees. I installed a 4 core aluminum radiator, and have never had an overheating issue.

In addition to the upgrades to improve the car and make it a reliable daily driver, i made these maintenance and repairs:

Replaced oil cooler lines
Replace gear box mounts
Replace clutch assembly
Replace pinion and release bearings
Replace oil temp sensor
Re-weld exhaust
Replace motor mounts
Replace shifter knob
Service and evacuate Air Conditioning
Replace stock horn with Italian air horn
Replace carpet mats
Replace timing belts and adjust
Replace rear crank seal
Replace low press oil switch
Replace both exhaust valves

I also replaced most of the light bulbs with low-current LEDs. The dash gauges were replaced with a brilliant white LED set which looks very contemporary. The headlights were switched to european CBIE lights which are brighter and shine farther.

I also had the alloy wheels re-powdercoated so they look like new. The tires have good tread on them. Includes the removable body color sunroof panel.

Now in the full disclosure department, the drivers seat shows some wear on the left bolster. There is a scratch on the left rear fender which was there when I bought it, and didn't bother me. The edges of the doors could use some touch up paint, and there are the standard small rock chips on the front bumper. Standing 6 feet from the car, you don't see any of this, the pearl yellow paint is simply stunning in the sunlight. You will probably want to replace the front rotors with the next brake job.

The AC blows ice cold, the CD stereo sounds real good, and as far as engine sound, everyone always remarks this is the best sounding Esprit they have heard. The high flow cats and straight pipes sound amazing!

I have taken great care of this car and hate to sell it, but I have just too many cars and this is the next one that has to go.

I am offering the car for sale locally and reserve the right to end the auction early if it sells locally. Buyer must Paypal a $1000 deposit within 24 hours of auction close, and the balance within 5 days by cash or cashiers check. Private message me here if you would like to arrange an inspection here in Las Vegas. Buyer is responsible for shipping and transportation.

Note: So I see once I listed this, the ebay carfax is putting up an exclamation point regarding the mileage. Apparently the company who auctioned it in 2006, said that the actual miles were not known, probably an error since there is nothing to indicate that the mileage is incorrect. Nevada then must have put "not actual mileage"on the title because of the auction people. If you look at the history of the miles, there is nothing out of the ordinary for a rarely driven exotic, and certainly no contradictions in the mileage. I've worked on the car enough to know that the mileage is in fact, accurate. I don't know why the auction house said that. Maybe they weren't smart enough to turn the key "on" to make the LCD odometer display the miles.

Auto blog

Lotus announces four EVs and moves its technology division to China

Tue, Aug 31 2021

Lotus took a big leap towards the mainstream with the announcement it's building four new EVs, and only one is a sports car. The others include a sedan and two SUVs. And on top of the new product announcements, the automaker revealed its Lotus Technology division is going to set up headquarters in Wuhan, China. With the Elise out of the picture and its pockets full of cash from Geely – parent company to Volvo, too – Lotus is moving forward with its ambitious expansion plans. It announced it will grow its line-up of models with four electric cars shown in the sketch above: an SUV called Type 132 internally and due out in 2022, a sedan marketed as a four-door coupe known as Type 133 and expected to go on sale in 2023, a second SUV referred to as the Type 134 that will make its debut in 2025, and a sports car currently dubbed Type 135 that we'll allegedly see in 2026. This isn't the first time Lotus has made wild claims about its future, but this time it might actually have the funds to pull it off. We knew that an SUV was in the pipeline, leaked patent images may have revealed its exterior design, but the sedan and the second high-riding model are new additions to the company's product roadmap. Lotus explained its so-called "premium lifestyle" vehicles (read: four-door models) will all ride on a new platform called Lotus Premium that's said to be highly modular. Its wheelbase can vary from about 114 to 122 inches, and it can take battery packs with a capacity of 92 to 120 kilowatt hours. It's also compatible with an 800-volt charging system, and Lotus claims vehicles built on the new architecture will be capable of reaching 60 mph from a stop in less than three seconds. As for the other news, while Lotus ostensibly remains based in Hethel, England, its historic home, the Lotus Technology subsidiary broke ground on a new facility in China in August 2021. Lotus explained it formed the division to develop batteries and energy management systems, electric motors, electric control systems and other EV components. Investing in Wuhan rather than in Hethel will certainly raise more than a few eyebrows. It's a move that brings Lotus closer to its parent company and some of its key investors, such as Nio, while pivoting it away from its historic home and its main markets.

Lotus and Aston Martin to hook up?

Tue, 30 Oct 2012

This has been a tumultuous year for Lotus - to say the least - from the company being sold off back in January to its CEO Dany Bahar being fired in June to its questionable financial status and rumors of the British automaker being sold off to another automaker. First, we heard that Volkswagen was interested in acquiring Lotus and parent company Proton, a rumor that was later dismissed. Now Automobile is reporting that fellow Brit Aston Martin could be in the market to work with or possibly even merge with Lotus.
While this is pure speculation at this point, such a venture could prove to be beneficial for both independent companies. That's because with Lotus focused on lightweight, relatively affordable sports cars and Aston Martin producing high-end performance cars, there is virtually no product overlap between the companies. The article suggests that a person or company wanting to merge these two automakers would have to raise between $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion in order to make a go of it, however.
We're not sure what to think of this latest rumor, but anything that can help get the struggling brand back to health at least has our interest.

Watch some vintage F1 cars blast up a Japanese mountain road

Mon, Dec 28 2015

It's a rare treat to see classic Formula One cars racing anywhere, but watching them on a Japanese mountain road is absolutely sublime. The folks behind Motorhead from Japan took over the toll road's twisting stretch of tarmac to turn this impossible dream into a reality. The unusual opportunity of a closed mountain road would be a waste for only two vehicles, and there were plenty of drivers in amazing machines that wanted to blast up the hill. After the vintage F1 cars got their turn, some drifters in a Nissan GT-R and a Toyota GT86 added some tire smoke to the misty mountain air. A couple more GT-R racecars and some modern sports cars eventually joined them. Before the rain hit, this team had quite a party going on. This video features amazing camera work, but the music unfortunately drowns out the chance to hear these amazing racecars. If watching this leaves you wanting more, Motorhead released a video last year of another group of impressive performance vehicles on the mountain road.