Fifth Gear 200mph car
Discussion
rallycross said:
sell the lotus and buy that Cosworth and do it in that, at least its proven to do 200 + mph.
Actually the Cossie will be for sale in September (Im 60 & retireing). Will be over 800bhp & past 205mph by then if all goes well,at Brunters of course have no idea what the old girl could do given the space. Its 212.4 on the limiter on my longest gearing.
Cheers Rod
I don't know if it has been mentioned yet (I jumped to the end of the thread) but the Esprit engine (Lotus 918) is a de-tuned race engine by design. It can produce 550-odd hp without much tuning and they are a good way to achieving this, (maybe nitrous is the final ingredient). The Elise GT1 has one fitted albeit tuned to a very high level by Lotus themselves. The gearbox should have been sorted with a Quaife or at least the Derrick Bell modification (with the higher 5th) mentioned on the Esprit thread.
Dom
Dom
Plotloss said:
It just doesnt look right, its not as complete as Adams for some unquantifiable reason.
It almost looks like its entirely the wrong model to be a Yellowbird, almost 964 based.
But I am probably wrong about that point...
If you are on about the black car that was auctioned recently in the US, it was a 4WD version. I imagine collectors would want the 2WD version? Still a bloody bargain though!
DAZ
www.barrett-jackson.com/auctionresults/common/cardetail.asp?id=175174
>> Edited by dazren on Monday 25th April 20:06
4wd said:
27 litres! Absolutely awesome. Can you imagine the sound without exhaust?!
I heard it at Bromley Pageant last year, the crows fell from the skies, the M25 developed structural defects and children ran off screaming, blood pouring from their ears. On the website it says that its going to be on their stand again at the Show in P'boro.
Street Machine had a tale of a similar thing back in the 80's. Some guy in southend had a road legal drag '55 chevy, running an alcohol big block. It would either idle along at 15mph or run flat out at max throttle. It couldn't do anything in between. Allegedly the sound created immense sub bass pressure waves. One time the guy rolled up outside his local and various pint glasses shook off the bar and smashed. Cue everyone bowling outside in shock and awe. 
We have an Esprit here in town thats hit 214 mph. He has a built motor, larger turbos and the drive train to support the power.
I called him to let him know that you were looking for a car like his and he has no interest in assisting your show. We don't get your show here, but according to him, your show is biased against anything built in the US and he does not want anything to do with you guys. (He has Corvettes too)
Good luck with the search.
>> Edited by joecooool on Monday 25th April 21:47
I called him to let him know that you were looking for a car like his and he has no interest in assisting your show. We don't get your show here, but according to him, your show is biased against anything built in the US and he does not want anything to do with you guys. (He has Corvettes too)
Good luck with the search.
>> Edited by joecooool on Monday 25th April 21:47
Glad to see there's so much recognition on here that the Corvette is the easy way way to pass 200 mph. Lotus Esprit is a great car but is already under stress before it's further tuned. Vette is built tough so plenty of scope to take it further. Also square tail is good for high speed aerodynamics without big spoiler and associated drag. Euro Vette speedo reads to 300 mph too!
mmm, that will be the UN1-027 gearbox which is from Renault, NOT the motor. The clutch is a twin plate AP unit, so is strong. The driveshafts are probably OK as long as it isn't thrashed with torque but then they are attached to the RENAULT gearbox.
Like I said earlier, 3 posts or so, the engine (lotus 918) is a DE-TUNED race unit. De-tuned to let the gearbox survive, low boost in low gears etc. The race ECU they fitted will give up to 1.25 bar boost in all gears and makes the car SUPER fast. I don't just mean fast, I mean Blisteringly quick, as said by the bloke who drove it after it was built and then broke it and he's driven Vipers aplenty. He mailed the Esprit forum to explain the problems and the gearbox rebuild went awry due to a wrong shaped bearing fitted by the rebuild guys. When they get the gearbox sorted, and there are ways of making it handle 500 hp and similar lb/ft of torque as testified by the Lola/GT40 guys, then they should manage 200 mph no probs.
Phew!
"Lotus Esprit is a great car but is already under stress before it's further tuned"
>> Edited by Cross-eyed-twit on Monday 25th April 22:43
Like I said earlier, 3 posts or so, the engine (lotus 918) is a DE-TUNED race unit. De-tuned to let the gearbox survive, low boost in low gears etc. The race ECU they fitted will give up to 1.25 bar boost in all gears and makes the car SUPER fast. I don't just mean fast, I mean Blisteringly quick, as said by the bloke who drove it after it was built and then broke it and he's driven Vipers aplenty. He mailed the Esprit forum to explain the problems and the gearbox rebuild went awry due to a wrong shaped bearing fitted by the rebuild guys. When they get the gearbox sorted, and there are ways of making it handle 500 hp and similar lb/ft of torque as testified by the Lola/GT40 guys, then they should manage 200 mph no probs.
Phew!
"Lotus Esprit is a great car but is already under stress before it's further tuned"
>> Edited by Cross-eyed-twit on Monday 25th April 22:43
joecooool said:
We have an Esprit here in town thats hit 214 mph. He has a built motor, larger turbos and the drive train to support the power.
I called him to let him know that you were looking for a car like his and he has no interest in assisting your show. We don't get your show here, but according to him, your show is biased against anything built in the US and he does not want anything to do with you guys. (He has Corvettes too)
Good luck with the search.
>> Edited by joecooool on Monday 25th April 21:47
Well tell him from me what a cool dude he is then
Oh and I don't believe him, he's probably talking a load of cobblers, lol. As if an esprit can hit 214 mph. Boosted.
This fella has done a tad over 200 (201.4, I think) on a road race thing in the states but a gear let go at about 160, slowing down, sent him into a spin before coming to rest. The car drove perfectly over to and up on to the low loader but of course minus a gear in the Renault box.
Don't know how much he spent getting it modded up but 'lots' springs to mind.
www.extremeesprit.com/Rides/SuperBee/superbee.html
Don't know how much he spent getting it modded up but 'lots' springs to mind.
www.extremeesprit.com/Rides/SuperBee/superbee.html
Cross-eyed-twit said:
This fella has done a tad over 200 (201.4, I think) on a road race thing in the states but a gear let go at about 160, slowing down, sent him into a spin before coming to rest. The car drove perfectly over to and up on to the low loader but of course minus a gear in the Renault box.
Don't know how much he spent getting it modded up but 'lots' springs to mind.
www.extremeesprit.com/Rides/SuperBee/superbee.html
Actually Johan hit 210 in his '97 Esprit V8 at the salt flats in Utah, when he lost 5th gear (lost power), coasted to 160 when the tranny locked up. He then slid sideways (both ways) before gaining control at about 110. this last summer he was able to do two passes (both directions) for an average of 205 (I believe).
He has also done a 10.9s 1/4mile on road racing slicks at Bandimere speedway at 5300ft elevation. That was with NOS.
His modifications are well within the budget of the 5th Gear show. It really didn't take a whole lot, although Johan did almost all the work himself. The biggest expense was the rollcage and fuel cells, which aren't strictly needed.
The NOS was not used at Bonneville, he did have a re-geared Renault tranny, custom cams, bigger injectors, T-28 turbos, air filters, no exhaust, race ecu, custom intercoolers, no side mirrors. And I can't remember if he had the huge wing on or not. I do know that he was on the wide 335mm tires for the runs.
For those of you doing calculations of how much power it takes to go 200 in an Esprit, by scaling 170 (?) up to 200 and 350hp up with the increased resistance of the air, to get 660 (?) HP... You're making some incorrect assumptions. Namely the Esprit V8 is rev limited at 179mph, not aerodynamic/power limited. There is no way to tell how fast the Esprit could go if it had either a higher rev limit or taller gearing with the stock HP.
The Porsch 959 does 200mph with 450Hp, and the Ferrari F40 does it with 489hp. These is no reason to assume the Esprit couldn't do it with approximately the same. Especially if the mirrors and wing were removed, and the seams taped up.
I know Johan personally, and I know his car (you can see a picture of me helping with the widebody modification on his website) www.extremeesprit.com
By far the transmission gearing is the biggest problem in going 200 in the Esprit. Once it is regeared, it is a good idea to also strengthen the tranny. Possibly a bunch of oil jets on the gears and a tranny oil cooler are a good idea too. Or maybe going to a Porsche G50, Quaife, or the Hewland that was used in the GT1 Esprits would be good ways to go 200mph.
Other than that, a turbo car is easy to get the power. Though it would have been nice if Lotus had used forged pistons, sodium filled exhaust valves, and bronze-silicon valve guides on the V8 motor, like they did with my 4cylinder Esprit SE.
Travis
Vulcan Grey 89SE
www.lotuscolorado.com/vulcangrey/
>> Edited by lotusse89 on Tuesday 26th April 00:34
joecooool said:
We have an Esprit here in town thats hit 214 mph. He has a built motor, larger turbos and the drive train to support the power.
I called him to let him know that you were looking for a car like his and he has no interest in assisting your show. We don't get your show here, but according to him, your show is biased against anything built in the US and he does not want anything to do with you guys. (He has Corvettes too)
Good luck with the search.
>> Edited by joecooool on Monday 25th April 21:47
Wrong show!
Fifth Gear is a rival to Top Gear. Top Gear was the show that slated the Corvette, but mainly because it is double the price here compared to the US
He'd be helping a rival which should be reason enough to chip in.
Cross-eyed-twit said:
Oops, sorry -210- mph not 201.
"As if an esprit can hit 214 mph. "
well it aint far off...
Don't take me seriously, I was trying to get you to come out with the info
spill the beans and all that! Personally I love the esprit for it's shape and to make it do that speed is no mean feat. I'll look at the links in a moment. Boosted.
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