Sports Car
Illustrated
The
Lotus gem goes on a bender
The bend was
wide, flat and open, almost track-like, apart from the occasional
ridge or rut. It was the perfect spot to test the Lotus Esprit
Turbo's handling. It was almost the perfect place to photograph
this Lotus gem; Northumberland, untried by motoring magazines,
except for the area around the notorious A68, which takes you
north from Newcastle upon Thyne, across the Scottish border, to
Edinburgh. We had five days to find suitable locations and the
answer to our question: How does a one year old, standard Lotus
Esprit Turbo fair? Revamp Our car was a 1988 model, registration
E472 KBL, based on the revamp on show at the previous years Motorfair.
Loaned to us by Brian Atthews of the London Lotus Centre, it was
about to be pensioned off, with 12,000 miles on the clock. At
the back of our minds was the fact that the Charge cooled 1990
model year Turbo SE had just arrived on the market at £42,500.
It improvements had also been made to the standard, £33,900 Turbo
and £28,100 non turbo models.
I left Edgware,
North London, in heavy traffic, en route for Photographer Brandwood's
home in Bolton, Lancashire. In these conditions, it took some
time to come to terms with the Esprit's girth and clutch, four
and a half years after last driving one. It soon became clear
that this Turbo Esprit was much better than the previous generation
model. I was soon traveling north on the M1. Speed was not one
of the essence and the Esprit Turbo soon proved happy just to
sit at about 80mph. That's 3,000 rpm and the turbo is hardly on
song. Dab the pedal a little bit to pass an itinerant middle lane
hogger and the boost flashes up - graphically illustrated by the
small binnacle mounted gauge - and you're away, able to dart in
and out of the fast lane as required.
For a fairly
highly strung mere 2.2 litre four, the Esprit Turbo's engine is
remarkably tractable and unfussed. The driving attitude should
be to let it potter along, drop a gear a spin the turbo on when
you want to pass a group of vehicles or just a single one. If
it requires a technique to get in and out of the rep fast lane
brigade as quickly and efficiently as possible, no problem - the
Esprit Turbo does it with merry aplomp. Soon the car needs fuel.
In fact, only Toddington services, in Bedfordshire had been reached.
Having filed up, though, I discovered a little problem. Never
being a great in the body builder stakes, I'd actually wrenched
the fly-off handbrake on and couldn't release it to continue..
I'm quite
used to these devises (honest!) but, for some reason, I'd just
applied the Esprit's to hard. A number of frustrating minutes
later, it's back on the motorway, relived that the journey could
continue. Holiday traffic abounded and the Department of Transport
had decided to carry our more motorway repairs than normal. Not
one, but two, major black spots loomed as car and I headed further
north. Being from Manchester originally, I'm used to this journey
and had done the same route in the last Esprit Turbo - a 1985
model year version - I'd tested. Not only were car and I in stop
start traffic, but in between, on what long stretches there were,
we had to make up some time. Despite the two extremes, the Esprit
was happy to both and gradually, as the miles piled on, I became
more and more confident that Lotus now knows how to match Porsche
standards of refinement…
And refinement
is a key virtue of the present Esprit's make up. Gone are the
days of a Lotus of this type being a raw sports car in the mould
of a Seven of a Europa. The Esprit delivers it's power in a smooth,
sensuous manner, The turbo's actively barely noticeable, save
to flicker of the boost gauge. In the old model, you could clearly
hear the muttering of the wastegate when your foot came off the
pedal, rather than like a big eagle flapping its wings in anger.
Now, it's a soft, delicate sound. And, to draw the analogy, I'd
say it's that of a butterfly. Given these attributes over the
original, plus the overall feel of the Esprit, it's hard to imaging
why anyone would want to drive a bloated executive car.
I can't see
any major failings in the Esprit Turbo's refinement levels and
general driving ability - given you accept the limitations of
its low slung mid engined layout. This, after all, is a sports
car, and one to rival many a supercar at that! The car didn't
miss a beat though out all our hard driving, which speaks volumes
again for Lotus.