Friday 8th March 2002

2002 Esprit Tested

Colin Goodwin has driven every single model of Esprit. Time to sample Esprit 2002.

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[leatheradams]

Aah The A285 between Petworth and Chichester! Bliss! Just drove it this morning! Petworth to Guilford isn't too bad either!

[buster]

Love the new rump of the Esprit.

The rest of the exterior? Classic but dated.....IMO.

[doughty]

I love the new Esprit, it looks dated, but sounds like it needs a gruff look as it's a gruff sounding car. It is basically no different. But as the old saying goes, "if it aint broke, don't fix it".

[lotire]

for my money the Esprit is still one of the best looking supercars available today, Porchse's off course are good but not exotic enough. About the only things that look better (debatable) are Italian and double the money
long live the esprit

[MEMSDesign]

How much clearance at the front!? 50% of bugger all it looks like.

[adeewuff]

The Esprit does look very dated now, even with all the tarted up extras attached. It is still a very attractive car though, but compare the styling to the Elise & M250 concept and it does show it's age.

[thom]

quote:
, but compare the styling to the Elise & M250 concept and it does show it's age.

Bulls@@t!
Hurray! The King is dead, long lives the King!
Among all the wedges that have been built in the History of Motoring, today's Esprit is IMO definitely the finest.
Showing its age doesn't necessarily mean it should be scrapped; IMO they should come back to those more down to earth shapes, instead of fooling around with complex, no staight forward lines (see dreadful M250 and 'a bit too much' Elise Mk 2).

Keep it up Lotus, plesae don't ever bin the Esprit!

[grahambell]

"How much ground clearance at the front?"

As Colin says, the latest car uses the same front splitter as the Sport 350. I had one of those on test for a few days a couple of years back and had no problems with speed humps or anything else - though it did scrape when they unloaded it off the transporter. Just as well the bottom bit is made of rubber...

[Lotusdude]

I just sold my Esprit and am getting a V8 in the near future, even if the Elise comes out here in North America, the Esprit is simply stunning!

Still dreaming of that Sport 300 *sigh

Dated? you! must be dreaming...

[PetrolTed]

Funnily enough I was looking at Sport 300 yesterday. Lovely bit of kit.

[ErnestM]

quote:
Keep it up Lotus, plesae don't ever bin the Esprit!

Too late. 2003 is the end. I belive they are not making the Esprit after that due to problems getting the Renault transmissions...

(If it were me I would simply source a new transmission, but maybe Lotus has something else up their collective sleeves. Can't wait to see it )

ErnestM

[ErnestM]

quote:
Funnily enough I was looking at Sport 300 yesterday. Lovely bit of kit.

Looking, as in for purchase? C'mon you know you want it... Expect some lovely pics if/when...

ErnestM

[thom]

quote:
Too late. 2003 is the end. I belive they are not making the Esprit after that due to problems getting the Renault transmissions...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!
Don't ever trust the bl***dy French bas****s!!


>> Edited by thom on Friday 8th March 18:42

[Roy W. Olivier]

It's not the tranny. Most Esprits are sold in NA and the Esprit does not pass Federal DOT crash test standards. Lotus has a waiver now that will expire. It has to do with the A pillor being too close to the drivers head... Can't be fixed without a complete redesign and sales don't justify the cost of doing that. Personally, I think if they did a good redesign they would see a huge jump in sales. Too bad for us...

Roy

[ErnestM]

I stand corrected. I was just going off a piece of info that I gleaned here:
www.lotusespritworld.co.uk/ (site not available at the moment, but this guy has been pretty reliable. Said that Lotus only had about 350 or so more transmissions)

Guess I should have checked it out before I passed it on. Apoligies for blaming it on your countrymen Thom...

ErnestM

[thom]

quote: Apoligies for blaming it on your countrymen Thom...

ErnestM

Glad to see I'm not the only one to blame the French

[DBW]

The esprit may look dated to some, but when I drive mine down any high street, anywhere, the sound of jaws hitting the pavement,kids shouting "how fast does it go mister..." and boyfriends explaining to admiring girls that I am "..a flash t*sser who should be killed" is enough for me to realise that the Esprit is still one of the most gorgeous cars around.