Esprit V8 as a daily drive?
Discussion
Hi guys,
New to the Lotus bit of p/heads... I'm replacing my Alfa Spider soonish, and was wondering some things about the Esprit... Mainly, can it be used as a daily drive, and does it handle speedbumps? Loads of the little b'stards round my way (High Wycombe, Bucks). Also, being best part of 6'4", would I struggle for room?
And why didn't Lotus make a convertible version? That would be really cool!
I'd be looking at a 2000/1 ish car with sub 20K miles on it.
Any help appreciated!
Thanks!
Sam.
New to the Lotus bit of p/heads... I'm replacing my Alfa Spider soonish, and was wondering some things about the Esprit... Mainly, can it be used as a daily drive, and does it handle speedbumps? Loads of the little b'stards round my way (High Wycombe, Bucks). Also, being best part of 6'4", would I struggle for room?
And why didn't Lotus make a convertible version? That would be really cool!
I'd be looking at a 2000/1 ish car with sub 20K miles on it.
Any help appreciated!
Thanks!
Sam.
If you get one with the GT sport seats you'll fit, otherwise you may end up looking at the sun visor.
I'm not sure if the latest Esprits have a removable glass roof but some of the pre 98 models do.
Check out the Ruby Red 2002 model at SGT in Maidenhead, this will give you an impression whether the car is suitable for you or not.
Rob should give you an idea of the daily drive as his esprit was used for this purpose. I know of Esprits that have done 100k to 200k without major problems, these car cars beeing used for daily drives.
I'm not sure if the latest Esprits have a removable glass roof but some of the pre 98 models do.
Check out the Ruby Red 2002 model at SGT in Maidenhead, this will give you an impression whether the car is suitable for you or not.
Rob should give you an idea of the daily drive as his esprit was used for this purpose. I know of Esprits that have done 100k to 200k without major problems, these car cars beeing used for daily drives.
As far as being 6'4" goes, you should have no problems. I'm 6'1" and I feel great in the car. Taller folks have taken the rails out of the seats and bolted them straight into the floor, but in reality this only gives you a realistic saving of a half inch. Though some other owners here would disagree.
I've been told that if you truly want to lower yourself for head clearance, visibility etc, then aftermarket racing seats are the way to go.
As for the daily driver thing, it mostly depends on how far you want/have to drive and the owner. If you keep up on the maintenance, the car will last. If you don't it won't. But due to the fact that it isn't a Honda we're talking about, it's best to have another car for the time spent in the shop, and for driving situations the Esprit isn't meant for (curiously my hockey equipment doesn't fit in my Esprit
)
Mike
I've been told that if you truly want to lower yourself for head clearance, visibility etc, then aftermarket racing seats are the way to go.
As for the daily driver thing, it mostly depends on how far you want/have to drive and the owner. If you keep up on the maintenance, the car will last. If you don't it won't. But due to the fact that it isn't a Honda we're talking about, it's best to have another car for the time spent in the shop, and for driving situations the Esprit isn't meant for (curiously my hockey equipment doesn't fit in my Esprit
) Mike
ErnestM said: Rob? I believe Rob is the king of "Esprit as a daily driver"...
ErnestM
ok, yes, it was me, i did that..
I ran a gt3 for a year, then i ran a v8-gt for a further two years as daily transport. Thats a total of three years where my only means of getting around was a mid-engined supercar.
All the costs are in my profile. Just sit down before you read them
Bear in mind that all the maintenance was a main dealer rates (i'm mechanically-challenged) and my commute is 100 miles, although luckily i don't do this every day. I just bought a golf gti to do my motorway miles in to keep the mileage down on the v8. I can live with the maintenance costs (off-set this against the buzz you get driving the v8 EVERY day) but the killer for me is the depreciation, as my car has a pretty high mileage..
Oh, and i was a bit unlucky that my car suffered will leaking liners. Take this out of the equation and the costs per mile aren't too bad (compared to say, TVR, f****** etc)
In short, yes it can be done, but budget for at least 2-3k per year for maintenance, or be prepared to do some work yourself.
Feel free to ask any other q's.
cheers
Rob
98 V8-GT
ps join the yahoo group: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/UKLotusEsprit/|http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/UKLotusEsprit/
Edited to say - like l'Oreal "she's worth it"
>> Edited by rob.ellis on Saturday 26th April 14:30
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