910 & V8: Uniquely Lotus?

[karmavore]

Are either of these engines 'based' on higher-volume engines from other manufactures, or are they completely original?

Luke.

[kmaier]

The V8 (aka type 918) is a fresh design entirely developed and built by Lotus Engineering.

Regards, KM
2000 type918

[karmavore]

...but what about the 910?

[dictys]

I may be wrong, but I thought the 910 was developed from the 907 which was made from scratch with Jenson for use in the jenson range of sportscars.

I think there were pently of problems to start with and jenson dumped the lotus engine. Lotus then when on to develope it further for use in its own sportcars until the final version in the nineties.

Rgds
Dictys

>> Edited by dictys on Monday 21st July 13:50

[lotusguy]

dictys said:

I may be wrong, but I thought the 910 was developed from the 907 which was made from scratch with Jenson for use in the jenson range of sportscars. I think there were pently of problems to start with and jenson dumped the lotus engine. Lotus then when on to develope it further for use in its own sportcars until the final version in the nineties. Rgds Dictys >> Edited by dictys on Monday 21st July 13:50

Hi,

The 9XX series of engines were developed by Lotus using a Vauxhall 4 cyl. block as a model. This Vauxhall was used to power small delivery Vans in the UK.

Lotus had originally been developing a V8 and used the Vauxhall block to develop it's own castings, but used it as a test bed for it's (Lotus) own internals development. The head is Lotus designed and was designed as 1/2 of a V8. The crank in the 9XX 4 cyl. is actually a V8 crank. If you've ever seen one, they are massive and twice what you'll find in any Honda or Ford 4 cyl, as are the ConRods. When I brought mine into the machine shop to have it polished and balanced during my engine rebuild last year, the machinist said "What truck did that come out of...?" He was flabbergasted by the mass of the thing. Ever hear of a 9XX crank breaking?

Of course, Lotus ran out of development money and so put together the 4-cyl 907 to make do. This engine powered the Jensen Healey for many years prior to being used in the first Esprits. The engine worked just fine w/ very few problems, but Jensen wanted to equip it's new GT the Intercepter with a V8 in response to market demand. Lotus wanted too much funding to develop it, so Jensen went with the Rover V8, which is originally sourced from an all aluminum Buick smallblock fom the Buick Div. of GM. Lotus never did have sufficient funds for the V8 they wanted until the mid-90's, but continued to develop the 907 into the 910 and later the 912 in both wet sump and dry sump forms as well as the high compression HC and HCI engines. Happy Motoring! Jim'85TE

>> Edited by lotusguy on Monday 21st July 14:25

[karmavore]

So the 9xx is pretty much (75%?) a Lotus designed engine, though they wanted it to be a V8 but ran out of money so they cut the project in half (literally) and developed it as a four-banger?

Facinating. That was exatly want I wanted.

Thanks,

Luke.

[sanj]

karmavore said:

So the 9xx is pretty much (75%?) a Lotus designed engine

I'd say more like 99%. They were working on the cylinder head design and found that by coincidence the Vauxhall block had the same bore centers, so it was used as a development mule until Lotus designed their own block.

Cheers,
Sanj

[madmike]

I love it when the odd history question comes up and you crusty old timers come waltzing in with these fascinating stories. Thanks to Jim and Sanj for this one!!!

My question for you now is, where did you build this wonderful wealth of knowledge? Which books would you recommend to the average owner who is ignorant of the fine details, such as myself?

And an open invitation to all of you, don't feel it necessary for someone to ask. If you decide, every so often, to just post some of these great tidbits on a whim, please do so! I love reading them.

Cheers,

Mike

[lotusguy]

madmike said:

I love it when the odd history question comes up and you crusty old timers come waltzing in with these fascinating stories. Thanks to Jim and Sanj for this one!!! My question for you now is, where did you build this wonderful wealth of knowledge? Which books would you recommend to the average owner who is ignorant of the fine details, such as myself? And an open invitation to all of you, don't feel it necessary for someone to ask. If you decide, every so often, to just post some of these great tidbits on a whim, please do so! I love reading them. Cheers, Mike

Mike,

It may surprise you to learn that I have yet to read a single book on the Lotus, Esprit or the like.

I have been turning wrenches on cars since before I could legally drive. I got my first car, a '39 Ford V8, not in running condition, when I was 13. It took me 2 years to get it running, mainly through trial and error, afterwhich I ran the car for 3 years 'til I went away for College.

Since then, I have owned Jaguars, MGs, a Europa TC Special and numerous Datsun Z cars (16 total). Never having much extra 'Jake', I had to learn to do things myself. It has been a long, steep, learning curve, as I am really not that bright.

Most of what I learned about cars in general, and the Esprit specifically, was generously passed along by fellow enthusiasts, who never seemed to tire of my endless, probably often ridiculous, questions. As much work as I have performed on my own cars, I have probably done twice that amount assisting other people with theirs and learned much along the way.

If you posess a strong passion about anything in life, you'll generally acquire a great amount of knowledge just through osmosis if you expose yourself to the opportunities. Keep asking questions, and remember what you've learned... to whatever degree, this has served me well. Happy Motoring! Jim'85TE