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mikelr

Original Poster:

153 posts

270 months

Saturday 14th August 2004
quotequote all
Am I the only Esprit owner that washes their car in the wee hours of the morning when they can't sleep?





Getting the S4 ready for Watkins Glen International Raceway next weekend, going for a two day instructional track event with a few fellow Lotus club members from the NY,NJ area.
Camera is mounted and ready to capture all the action, I can't wait!

splodge s4

1,519 posts

259 months

Saturday 14th August 2004
quotequote all
looooovely looking S4 mate, did the '02 wheels go straight on, also the arches yov've fitted dont quite look like V8 ones, are the different or am i just looking at it wrong? how has the handling changed with the new rims? Sometimes the standard S4 just looks slightly odd as the rear wheels dont come out enough. need to wash mine, have to admit i tend to do it during the day!

mikelr

Original Poster:

153 posts

270 months

Saturday 14th August 2004
quotequote all
Yes, the 02' wheels bolted right on. I was lucky enough to have the later model hub spigots or else there would have been some machining to be done.
The handling was definetly changed by the wheels, it steers a bit on the heavy side, but seems to hold the road better. Especially when feathering the "go" pedal while exiting a turn.

The wheel arches are V8 pieces but they have been glassed into the body, so there are no seems and do not stick out as much. The flares at the leading edges of the wheel wells are Lotus factory sourced racing cannards that are bolted on.

One nice thing about washing at night....

The sun doesn't dry out the soap on the finish before you have a chance to rinse it ;-)

Mike

britten_mark

1,602 posts

275 months

Saturday 14th August 2004
quotequote all
splodge s4 said:
Sometimes the standard S4 just looks slightly odd as the rear wheels dont come out enough



This chap has put spacers on the rear to fill out his arches, what do you think??

www.bluestorm.ch/esprit/

(Look under gallery)

>> Edited by britten_mark on Saturday 14th August 15:59

mikelr

Original Poster:

153 posts

270 months

Sunday 15th August 2004
quotequote all




This chap has put spacers on the rear to fill out his arches, what do you think??

<a href="http://www.bluestorm.ch/esprit/"><a href="http://www.bluestorm.ch/esprit/">www.bluestorm.ch/esprit/</a></a>

(Look under gallery)




Actually, No spacers were used.

Mike

>> Edited by mikelr on Sunday 15th August 07:31

splodge s4

1,519 posts

259 months

Monday 16th August 2004
quotequote all
it does look like the wheels are filling the arches much better, if not spacers then what? It does look far better, as for a set of '02 wheels i noticed a set on Esprit world today for £1,000, tempting....

splodge s4

1,519 posts

259 months

Monday 16th August 2004
quotequote all

One nice thing about washing at night....

The sun doesn't dry out the soap on the finish before you have a chance to rinse it ;-)

Mike[/quote]

Ok Ok rub it in... based in England remember, problem i have is it rains before i finish with the shammy.

bojangles

464 posts

266 months

Monday 16th August 2004
quotequote all
chamois,,,,,,,, please..........

jrjajs

34 posts

259 months

Monday 16th August 2004
quotequote all
Hey where are you from?
I am in the Saratoga NY area.
I only know of one other Esprit inthe area so far.
Me I have an S4 also, Black w/tan int.
It needs some TLC but boy it is a wonderful piece of machinery to look at and to DRIVE!!!!!!

Early morning washes for me, like 5:30, 6:00 am.
No sun, no people, just me and my Esprit

mikelr

Original Poster:

153 posts

270 months

Tuesday 17th August 2004
quotequote all
[quote]
Ok Ok rub it in... based in England remember, problem i have is it rains before i finish with the shammy.[/quote]

I don't know what I'd do if I lived in the UK, I don't ever drive my car in the rain! (mucks of the under carriage you know). I guess most just give up keeping their cars sparkling clean and drive.

mikelr

Original Poster:

153 posts

270 months

Tuesday 17th August 2004
quotequote all
jrjajs said:
Hey where are you from?
I am in the Saratoga NY area.
I only know of one other Esprit inthe area so far.
Me I have an S4 also, Black w/tan int.
It needs some TLC but boy it is a wonderful piece of machinery to look at and to DRIVE!!!!!!

Early morning washes for me, like 5:30, 6:00 am.
No sun, no people, just me and my Esprit


I'm located about 50 miles north of NYC along the Hudson river in the town of Newburgh.

splodge s4

1,519 posts

259 months

Tuesday 17th August 2004
quotequote all
I guess most just give up keeping their cars sparkling clean and drive.[/quote]

its always in my garage. only really driven once or twice a week, washed then put back, its a good feeling when its pouring down, the Esprit is polished & dry in her cave then when it stops raining taking it out for a quick spin, every other car is minging! Even better is taking it out on a cold & frosty Sunday morning, all that cool fresh air is great for the turbo

splodge s4

1,519 posts

259 months

Tuesday 17th August 2004
quotequote all
At last i have a photo on my profile, now compare my rear wheel to the GT3 on the link above fron a couple of days ago, he must be using spacers or something? any thoughts?

britten_mark

1,602 posts

275 months

Tuesday 17th August 2004
quotequote all
mikelr said:

Actually, No spacers were used.

Mike



Actually, look under "My Esprit GT3"; no.4; wouldn't you take that to mean 25mm spacers?? Any conflicting info?

>> Edited by britten_mark on Tuesday 17th August 22:51

britten_mark

1,602 posts

275 months

Tuesday 17th August 2004
quotequote all
splodge s4 said:
At last i have a photo on my profile, now compare my rear wheel to the GT3 on the link above fron a couple of days ago, he must be using spacers or something? any thoughts?


See above re spacers.

Nice pic. Interesting position for the front plate; have you had any tugs from the boys in blue? Lotus never really made the front plate look right on the S4 shape, people keep nagging me to get a stick-on.

>> Edited by britten_mark on Tuesday 17th August 22:45

mikelr

Original Poster:

153 posts

270 months

Wednesday 18th August 2004
quotequote all
britten_mark said:

mikelr said:

Actually, No spacers were used.

Mike




Actually, look under "My Esprit GT3"; no.4; wouldn't you take that to mean 25mm spacers?? Any conflicting info?

>> Edited by britten_mark on Tuesday 17th August 22:51


Sorry, I thought you were talking about my car.
The GT3 definetly has spacers installed.

splodge s4

1,519 posts

259 months

Wednesday 18th August 2004
quotequote all
Nice pic. Interesting position for the front plate; have you had any tugs from the boys in blue? .

The plate has been on nearly a year, i think it looks a lot better then the standard plate, so far ive not been pulled, its been seen on many occasions by BIB, one marked car saw me coming towards him, he did a 3 point turn and followed me all around town, he obviously did a plate check & the rear plate is legal, i thought he was going to have a word but after a mile or so he just turned off. For the MOT ill stick the old one back on, its always carried in the boot just in case. Ive heard actually if you have no plate at all you can get a fine, to have an illegal plate you can get a fine & 3 points, can anyone confirm this?