Fastest Cars - Lotus Esprit VS

Lotus Esprit VS
ENGINE Twin-turbo V-8, 3506 cc
HORSEPOWER 350 bhp @ 6250 rpm
TRANSMISSION Manual5-speed
CHASSIS Steel backbone
BRAKES Discs all round with ABS
TOP SPEED 172 mph (277 km/h)
ACCELERATION 0-60 mph 4.5 seconds 0-100 mph 11.3 seconds.

When the Lotus Esprit VS was released, it was known as Britain's only affordable mid engined supercar. Lotus had designed an all-new 3.5 litre V-8 producing 350 bhp in unstressed twin turbo form. The Esprit engine is Ultra-compact, and it slots into the tail of the Esprit with no difficulty and will push the top speed up to over 170 mph, while the extra torque makes the car even faster off the line. The major reason for the new unit was that the turbo four was no longer acceptable for American emissions legislation.

The 2.2-litre S4 series continued to be available for more supercars, and with the recall of the 2-litre turbo adding an entry-level GT3 to the range. Although the design concept of the Lotus Esprit is still that of the 1972 Turin Show car, it underwent many more developments in every area that almost nothing physical remained from the original.

it still had the backbone chassis carrying a mid-mounted engine in a striking body with a similar silhouette, but that is about it. Its origins go back before 1972. Lotus had used their twin-cam version of the Ford engine for the Elan and the Europa Twin-Cam, but the engine was not going to meet the stricter emission regulations of the mid-'seventies.
The new engine for the next generation of cars was based on the 2-litre Vauxhall slant four; with a Lotus 16-valve head, this L V220 would power the new Elite, Eclat and Esprit range.

Progress on the new cars was slow, so the engine first saw production service in the Jensen Healey from 1972. Meanwhile Lotus' founder, Colin Chapman, had let ItalDesign have a prototype mid engined chassis in 1971; when the resultant Esprit was highly praised at the 1972 Turin Show, Chapman pushed the design through as fast as possible alongside the two front engined cars. All would use a backbone chassis, of the type used on the Elan or Europa, with glass fibre bodies built on Lotus' patent Vacuum Assisted Resin Injection process.

While the front-engined cars retained the Elan's later 5-speed box, the Esprit borrowed the Citroen transaxle that had been built for the SM and the Maserati Merak. The 4-seater hatch-back Lotus Elite finally came in mid-1974, with the cheaper fast-back Eclat and the mid engined Esprit following in October 1975; tooling delays then deferred the Esprit's production start until mid 1976. With 160 bhp, the Esprit was capable of 135 mph, a considerable improvement over the 105 bhp Europa Twin-Cam's 117 mph. An S2 version arrived for 1978 with minor cosmetic changes and a torquier camshaft, but the major change was to come in 1980 with the arrival of the Turbo and engine capacity increased to 2.2-litres, a size which had been developed for the Sunbeam-Lotus and was to span the Lotus range.

Body changes saw a full-width chin spoiler blending into side-skirts and a rear spoiler denoting the 210 bhp Turbo, the first 100 of which were sold in the racing Essex Lotus colours - suspension changes adjusted to the wider wheels. The new maximum was near 150 rnph. The next major change came with the subtle, but effective, 1987 restyle by Peter Stevens; Giugiaro's original origami creases were smoothly rounded while front and rear bumpers were integrated to give a much more modern appearance. By now the power was up to 218 bhp, with the US version using fuel injection for the same figure. The 1989 model year saw non-turbo units phased out as fuel injection versions were increased to 231 bhp, but the Special Equipment model used higher boost pressure with an intercooler to generate 268 bhp and had a rear wing to prove it; this became the S4 in 1993.

Meanwhile Birmingham 1992 had seen the Sport 300 with a bigger turbocharger, stiffer suspension and fatter wheels. Two years later the S4S' arrived with a slightly smaller turbo to give better low down response at the expense of a minor power drop to 285 bhp; a clever compromise, it retained most of the 300's race- proven roadholding but with the S4's comfort. With some 20 years of steady refinement behind it, the Esprit has managed to retain its driver appeal despite the lack of engine sophistication. With its new, more powerful and much quieter V-8, the latest Esprit will please a much wider market.

The new engine for the next generation of cars was based on the 2-litre Vauxhall slant four; with a Lotus 16-valve head, this L V220 would power the new Elite, Eclat and Esprit range. Progress on the new cars was slow, so the engine first saw production service in the Jensen Healey from 1972. Meanwhile Lotus' founder, Colin Chapman, had let ItalDesign have a prototype mid engined chassis in 1971; when the resultant Esprit was highly praised at the 1972 Turin Show, Chapman pushed the design through as fast as possible alongside the two front engined cars. All would use a backbone chassis, of the type used on the Elan or Europa, with glass fibre bodies built on Lotus' patent Vacuum Assisted Resin Injection process.

While the front-engined cars retained the Elan's later 5-speed box, the Esprit borrowed the Citroen transaxle that had been built for the SM and the Maserati Merak. The 4-seater hatch-back Lotus Elite finally came in mid-1974, with the cheaper fast-back Eclat and the mid engined Esprit following in October 1975; tooling delays then deferred the Esprit's production start until mid 1976. With 160 bhp, the Esprit was capable of 135 mph, a considerable improvement over the 105 bhp Europa Twin-Cam's 117 mph. An S2 version arrived for 1978 with minor cosmetic changes and a torquier camshaft, but the major change was to come in 1980 with the arrival of the Turbo and engine capacity increased to 2.2-litres, a size which had been developed for the Sunbeam-Lotus and was to span the Lotus range.

Body changes saw a full-width chin spoiler blending into side-skirts and a rear spoiler denoting the 210 bhp Turbo, the first 100 of which were sold in the racing Essex Lotus colours - suspension changes adjusted to the wider wheels. The new maximum was near 150 rnph. The next major change came with the subtle, but effective, 1987 restyle by Peter Stevens; Giugiaro's original origami creases were smoothly rounded while front and rear bumpers were integrated to give a much more modern appearance. By now the power was up to 218 bhp, with the US version using fuel injection for the same figure. The 1989 model year saw non-turbo units phased out as fuel injection versions were increased to 231 bhp, but the Special Equipment model used higher boost pressure with an intercooler to generate 268 bhp and had a rear wing to prove it; this became the S4 in 1993.

Meanwhile Birmingham 1992 had seen the Sport 300 with a bigger turbocharger, stiffer suspension and fatter wheels. Two years later the S4S' arrived with a slightly smaller turbo to give better low down response at the expense of a minor power drop to 285 bhp; a clever compromise, it retained most of the 300's race- proven roadholding but with the S4's comfort. With some 20 years of steady refinement behind it, the Esprit has managed to retain its driver appeal despite the lack of engine sophistication. With its new, more powerful and much quieter V-8, the latest Esprit will please a much wider market.