Just my .02 cents, as a fellow former V8 owner... (Geez, it’s hard to believe the V8s are over 25+ years old already.) Anyway, if I recall, a Lotus mechanic once said, (either to me or I overheard him at a service center) that the twin-clutch setup from ‘AP Racing’ for the V8 cars was actually an “attempt by Lotus to protect the fragile Renault UN1 transaxles” from the brutal "shift shock" of hard acceleration during those initial shifts from zero to first, and then from first to second. It was something along the lines of, a mechanical means of increasing the holding force of the gear synchronization to ensure a smoother continuous engagement between the teeth as the first two drive gears were (for some reason) not helically cut. Gotta love British engineering! Sadly, those damn fragile transaxles were always the Achilles heel of so many Esprits, and unfortunately, as I am sure you know… The main reason why those incredible V8s were so horribly detuned down to 350HP & 295lb torque. Love the content, and keep up the great work! I've been subscribed since the red S1 and can't wait to see what you come up with next. - 👍
Thanks I appreciate the kind words! The twin disc makes a lot more sense when you mention that. Luckily I’ve had good experiences with the v8 transmission but in my earlier 93.5 se I had 5th gear shatter while overtaking someone and hitting a bump. I think the wheel left the ground and the shock of it hitting again shattered the gear. My yellow car has the red race ecu and I think that’s the perfect balance of power for these cars. It still feels fast to this day
This brought on PTSD! I bought my 99 Esprit new. I live in the mountains, and put all my cars through the paces on some really tight roads. Which means shifting a lot. Not ideal with one of these transmissions. I went through two transmissions, and eventually had the third one “built” I can’t remember who made uprated internal parts way back then. It threw a rod at 27k miles in 06. I bought a new elise the next day. It’s been sitting in a corner of a warehouse I own untouched since 06. I have a factory new motor for it. A handful of red ecus, two new transmissions, a bunch of glass. Knowing all of this stuff would end up becoming hard to find. Aside from the engine blowing and transmission issues. It had so many other little gremlins. I worked on it constantly. They look sooooo good, but man they are a pain to work on! I’ll eventually get it back on the road 😅
Revive it! They are so fun. I'd bet the electrical gremlins are alarm related. Mine also suffered from that but has been pretty solid since I deleted the alarm.
Great, look forward to this, I had S1, s3 turbo and s1 with a Rover v8 engine so agree Esprits are great….. defo agree its good Lotus did so much part sharing, especially earlier ones, will follow your journey, thanks for posting, love the format 👍🍺🇬🇧
Solid work my man. Now you need to get the multi piece OZ wheels. This video makes me appreciate my Exige S. I am not that handy but the car is not overly difficult to work on. Thank you for keeping this beauty on the road.
A 50 minute Esprit video, with nothing but working on the car? HELL YES!
Just my .02 cents, as a fellow former V8 owner...
(Geez, it’s hard to believe the V8s are over 25+ years old already.)
Anyway, if I recall, a Lotus mechanic once said, (either to me or I overheard him at a service center) that the twin-clutch setup from ‘AP Racing’ for the V8 cars was actually an “attempt by Lotus to protect the fragile Renault UN1 transaxles” from the brutal "shift shock" of hard acceleration during those initial shifts from zero to first, and then from first to second.
It was something along the lines of, a mechanical means of increasing the holding force of the gear synchronization to ensure a smoother continuous engagement between the teeth as the first two drive gears were (for some reason) not helically cut.
Gotta love British engineering! Sadly, those damn fragile transaxles were always the Achilles heel of so many Esprits, and unfortunately, as I am sure you know… The main reason why those incredible V8s were so horribly detuned down to 350HP & 295lb torque.
Love the content, and keep up the great work!
I've been subscribed since the red S1 and can't wait to see what you come up with next. - 👍
Thanks I appreciate the kind words! The twin disc makes a lot more sense when you mention that. Luckily I’ve had good experiences with the v8 transmission but in my earlier 93.5 se I had 5th gear shatter while overtaking someone and hitting a bump. I think the wheel left the ground and the shock of it hitting again shattered the gear. My yellow car has the red race ecu and I think that’s the perfect balance of power for these cars. It still feels fast to this day
This brought on PTSD! I bought my 99 Esprit new. I live in the mountains, and put all my cars through the paces on some really tight roads. Which means shifting a lot. Not ideal with one of these transmissions.
I went through two transmissions, and eventually had the third one “built” I can’t remember who made uprated internal parts way back then. It threw a rod at 27k miles in 06. I bought a new elise the next day.
It’s been sitting in a corner of a warehouse I own untouched since 06. I have a factory new motor for it. A handful of red ecus, two new transmissions, a bunch of glass. Knowing all of this stuff would end up becoming hard to find.
Aside from the engine blowing and transmission issues. It had so many other little gremlins. I worked on it constantly. They look sooooo good, but man they are a pain to work on!
I’ll eventually get it back on the road 😅
Revive it! They are so fun. I'd bet the electrical gremlins are alarm related. Mine also suffered from that but has been pretty solid since I deleted the alarm.
Great, look forward to this, I had S1, s3 turbo and s1 with a Rover v8 engine so agree Esprits are great….. defo agree its good Lotus did so much part sharing, especially earlier ones, will follow your journey, thanks for posting, love the format 👍🍺🇬🇧
Solid work my man. Now you need to get the multi piece OZ wheels. This video makes me appreciate my Exige S. I am not that handy but the car is not overly difficult to work on. Thank you for keeping this beauty on the road.
Man i cant believe the patience you have, pro job 👍👍
I’m not sure if it’s patience or stubbornness haha but thank you
You can hear the turbo waste-valve letting go. Interesting.
The English . . . Right, let’s put a sponge on the bottom of our metal gas tanks (basically, the gravity dependent side). What could go wrong?? 😂😂