Lotus Esprit GT3

Author
Discussion

cammmy

Original Poster:

63 posts

129 months

Thursday 23rd October 2014
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Benters, where do you live mate? You need a program called freescan and a USB to Serial adapter that can fit the OBD port. I have an adapter that just has two wires soldered to it. You put them into the correct sockets on the OBD port (cost £4.50 to make whereas they are £50 plus to buy). If you are anywhere near Southend you can come and use mine.

I'm not sure how they compare to an Elise as I've never driven one. They are about 350KG heavier but much more powerful. They are more of an entry level super car (for the time) than the track focused sports car that the Elise is designed to be. The Esprit still feels light but it's designed with a different purpose in mind I guess.

marcgti6

1,340 posts

213 months

Thursday 23rd October 2014
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Lovely looking car. I've always liked them smile

cammmy

Original Poster:

63 posts

129 months

Monday 3rd November 2014
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Was seeing temps in Freescan that led me to believe my chargecooler pump impeller had disintegrated (they are a 7K mile service item); so I ordered an electric pump kit.

Since I've disconnected the crankcase re-circ, I though It would be a good idea to clean out the chargecooler. I used descaling solution on the water side and put some white spirit in the air side and shook it around (after removing the MAT sensor). Judging by what came out of both sides, it needed it. Thinking I'll need to the same with the radiator now. Also wondering if I need to work out a way to clean out the compressor on the turbo.

Old pump.



Blanking plug for the oil pump (it piggybacks off the oil pump)







She refused to help at all!



There were limited options for mounting the electric pump and being able to use the original hoses. This location worked pretty well. It doesn't foul anything and is very accessible. Ones I get some new lengths of hose I might try and attach it to a chassis member under the boot.



By the time I'd finished, it was too late to get pics of it all back together.

Power is spliced into the feed for the fuel pump and injectors, so it only runs when they do (only when the motor is running).

The result. MAT readings of around 21 degrees with an ambient temp of around 10. The cooler itself is always cool to touch now where it never was before. I think there's still a fair bit of air in there, so could be further improvement after further bleeding.

cammmy

Original Poster:

63 posts

129 months

Wednesday 5th November 2014
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Getting some pretty epic compressor surge, which while it sounds good, isn't exactly good for longevity. Have ordered one of these:



http://www.hks-power.co.jp/en/product/blow_off/sqv...

Seemed to be one of the better units out there and doesn't require any faffing with springs etc. Should also do a better job at part throttle than other units which allows for a bigger turbo in future.

Ordered a silicone T piece to fit it. Hopefully I'll be able to fit it pre-chargecooler but if not, plenty of people have these between the cooler and the plenum.

L9 GTE

53 posts

155 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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Serious need for one of these at some point. Always sway between GT3/Early V8. Love the light weight simplistic Turbo, or the Supercar grunt of the V8.

Looks lovely in silver, and a really tidy example. Has it lived up to expectations?

Spantney

334 posts

155 months

Sunday 30th November 2014
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Hey gents, went out for a brief spin with Cam today as the dry weather seemed to be holding up.

Took a quick video montage of the car, apologies for being the worlds worst cameraman!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOkWRXp1Eks&fe...

Cheers, Ant.


Fat Albert

1,392 posts

181 months

Sunday 30th November 2014
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Nice crackle and Pop on the over-run!

cammmy

Original Poster:

63 posts

129 months

Monday 1st December 2014
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Cheers. Pretty please with how it sounds now.

anonymous-user

54 months

Saturday 6th December 2014
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That is a lovely looking Esprit, if it was mine I wouldn't bother with the sill decals, it looks superb as it is.

cammmy

Original Poster:

63 posts

129 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
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Well, I've got an MS3/X on the way for this thing (plus the stim kits to test both boards) and a Spartan II wideband to go with it.

A kind gentleman on the Lotus forum has a dead ECU he's sending for me to extract the sockets from, will connect the MS harnesses to these to create an adapter.

Not as cheap as I was hoping all up but apparently if I wanted to keep the standard 4+2 staged injector setup this was what I needed (MS3 + Extra. I want to keep it as "drop in" as possible to minimise opportunity for me to mess things up). Also allows for a tonne of other goodies in the future though (Flat shifting which will also have an anti-lag effect).

Will prob get a Bluetooth adapter so I can monitor in real time from phone/tablet.

http://www.msextra.com/product-range/traditional-m...

Plan is to just get it driving and test that everything is working okay, then I'm looking at a turbo rebuild with billet 60 trim compressor wheel and new housing, injectors and possibly a bigger chargecooler if a group buy goes ahead. I'll also be ditching the A/C and connecting the chargecooler radiator to the A/C rad as per the Sport 300 Esprit.

Apparently the billet 60 trim good for 360BHP so hoping 340-350 isn't unrealistic with a proper dyno tune.