Lotus Esprit Turbo HC real-world review.

[Music] welcome to a new Harry's garage and today's car is the Lotus Esprit turbo HC you see behind me 1987 car and a car I've owned for a few months now and I've been looking at the Esprit for years almost decades I sort of felt it should be in the collection but from a time of Evo we drove a lot of us sprees there I never quite gelled of the car not sure why but we retested them when the v8 came in and it just seemed to lag behind what Ferrari are offering the time etc it's sort of from a previous age and then recently I thought I'll tell you what I'm gonna get a Lotus Europa to go beside my notice of and sprint I'd I sort have a love of Colin Chapman and what he did and how he created amazing cars from fairly mundane parts I mean it was a bit of a genius as we all know and then I've got in there and they just felt all could and old the Europa and it didn't really I've just preferred the island sprint then I thought well why do I look at the earlier Esprit so in a car that somehow I've missed me by I drove her s1 the really early one love the interior but love nothing else about it he saw rattled it had a lot of noise about it and their parts of tricky on its I thought dismissed it but I never looked at the turbo until recently and it struck me this is current Chapman's last car sadly died in 1982 and the first spri turbo came out in 1981 so he was right there at the beginning and if you delve into the history books they made sure this car was really special really top turbo turbo was new in the late seventies eighties and they did a fantastic job anyway so that's the background let's go and have a look at it in more detail so the 8c came out at the very last of the Chitauri before they went to the Peter Stephens design car in late 87 this car dates March 87 and it was the final variant and basically it was the regular turbo Esprit turbo but with a new updated engine bit more power and it was the engine went into the Peter Stephens Esprit from launch so it it has a quite a lot of difference we'll have a look when we get actually look at the engine but at the front you can tell the difference because it has a bigger scoop under the bumper normally is vertical stays they've gone on this later version and they're rare cars they think they made about 308 actual turbo eight C's but that includes the injected version for the states and they had more cars going over there than anywhere else so nobody knows the split but the strain relate I would suggest there's about 200 went to the States that means there's around a hundred and eight or there abouts of the carburetor the higher power version which is this one and if you want a white one with the red interior as this one is this is the only one in existence so they're really rare cars which you don't discover until you start trying to buy an 8c version so before they introduced this free turbo 1981 Colin Chapman went to Zara and asked him how he could do a more aggressive looking Esprit because the s1 s2 normally aspirated they had the two liter engines hundred six euros per so he went back out of the drawing board and added there's a deeper front air dam as you'd normally do have these side skirts coming down the side of the car as well and as a scoop at the back that feeds air up to the into the engine and then at the rear he had this much more aggressive rear spoiler as you can see here and instead of having a plain glass window he had 2d slice here it's matte black slats here on when the first car arrived at Hefele they started testing it and they felt it actually wasn't quite as stable as they thought they they did a Windtunnel tests on it and did some arrow on it and discovered in actual fact that rear spoiler was way too aggressive but they loved the look of it and they either had to have sort put even deeper down at the front but they didn't want to do that so what Lotus did sneakingly without anyone really noticing they added this little spoiler here just the top of the roof here and that spoiler then messes up the air and so the rear spoiler now nothing and they had perfectly balanced car again so so the rear spoiler on this is a bit like the Countach is therefore shown and actually doesn't do an awful lot because it's this little thing added by lotus pose the air before it gets there front of the street you get a sort of boobs but all it really contains there's a spare tire small spare table jack tools are there but you can just hide a few things in there if you want but the main boot is in the back this is quite fun pops up like that and then you get and it's all slightly bizarre in here that you have one back window there the engine has this cover on it and then there is another back window hiding in there and that's so that when the water goes under the if it goes under those slats over the back it then falls around here and drains away but the cooling the engine sort of suck it can it can vent through this that then goes through the vent but it keeps this sort of sealed look at the engine I have to do it's an amazingly tight little engine bay in here it's 2.2 litre in this insulation will introduce the turbo and they went from 2 liters to 2.2 and at launch it was 210 horsepower 200 pound foot of torque and it's such a simple insulation the HC introduces high compression to what it stands for it went from similar after 8 compression ratio it actually got a different turbo it got a slightly smaller just spin up quicker and then it goes through and it's still on carburetors this car and the del Auto carves on this went from 40 to 45 with the HC and the net effect was horsepower didn't go up much 215 horsepower but talk went up from 200 to 220 pound foot a talk but it's such a lightweight little insulation there is no intercooler no nothing tobei sits there and it blows straight into the carburetors and what Colin Chapman might Kimberly at the time what they're trying to do is reduce turbo like and so that's why they went for this system and what they're trying to do is to get the individual butterflies in the carburetor as close to the cinnamon head as they could so they decided that's where the lag comes from when you put put your foot down the throttle opens and is there's a lag of all this air that then has to go into this internet but not so on this insulation and it's this really tight little Inlet manifold until it goes straight ahead it's actually got on the HC it's got extra portion on the head as well on a different exhaust manifold all to reduce lag and it's a spectacular little unit and it sort out because the car is so light which will go into when we get out to drive but it's a really sweet a little gem of an engine it might be four cylinders but it's super smooth and very very clever other things on this spree you have two fuel tanks on it so you have a filler this side and you have a fin on the other side and remarkably to combine they hold 18.9 gallons 89 liters was there about because it's relatively economical it's in mid twenties you get a 400 plus mile range quite amazing for a car like this and you get a half-decent boot you get this space here sits above the exhaust it always got a watch it might get a bit warm in there and you've got the front bit anyway enough the detail I'm going to put the engine cover back on and let's go outside and our to show you how it drives here we are now first thing to say it's quite snug in here it's it's something yeah something that goes with the territory really with lotuses that they are always made sort of just above Colin Chapman sighs and he was it wasn't the tallest man so if you're over six-foot I'm 6-1 6-2 I'm just there but I looked for one with the glass roof because that just gives you a little bit of extra Headroom the plus thing on the HC muscle is you actually get seats that recline so you're actually normally they're fixed backs and he just got and the wheel is so offset it's a peculiar wheel if you look at the distance my fingers there it's about that much I do the same the same side look how far away it is from the dash so very offset comes out the middle of the dash and then salt goes off this angle and then the pedals are quite tight as well and I have to think about the shoes I wear when I drive this car it's the same on the alam as well and chapman said well no one drives my car in hobnail boots oh it's quite it's quite warm today we're not used to this in the UK this year has been a rubbish winter that's why it's been a bit slow and Vince I know I digress the other thing HC got was a different sort of trip if you look at early versions of the Lazaro to Esprit turbo they sort of very lavish sort of lever and it looks so worn out it's like those sofas you see in sitcoms and things it's all very padded and wrinkly and odd and looked knackered from the day's delivered but it was a style unfortunately in the early eighties this slightly more subdued yes it's red but it's a subdued red and there's no real panic this is the only one in this color combination this hasn't got the lever option you could have four lever this has got powerful lever and off you go they're saying about the space in it it's actually better than my contacts so I think I'm just conditioned to cars that are a little bit tight these knees are over here but I'm fine arm head elbow etc and you'll see in a moment where we get some better rows yeah you forget all about the driving boots because there's some other highlights to enjoy first thing you notice we put away there's no power steering as you might expect on a car like this just at town speeds you see all just gives you that sort of initial surprise but actually on the underway it's not too bad tars on this car aren't huge actually 195 60 50 s at the front 2 3 5 60 fifties at the back so yeah really not that big in fact it's so warm today I'm just gonna pull over here because this great thing about this car we have a roof that opens there we are it's got a lovely that's just sort of a midway position like that that hasn't seen adds another highlight as you'll see in a moment about the engine it has a distinct characteristic that having the roof open like that gives you better access to right that is speed so bit lumpier than you expect from a closest it's only a town speed just you know probably the road anyway but yeah he's just it's you're slightly lovely at the lower speeds but they ensues you get going it's absolutely fine just I favor little road is quite do this honor of a Saturday because I wanted to catch the decent weather we've waited weeks to do this video by early there you go carthoris in this car is that turbo whistle and then the wastegate shattering Oh see you just let him off the throttle it just reminds me of another a just hearing aid but there it is and it's particularly know he knows it with the roof closed as well that will be open yet it's very noticeable immediately as you get underway you realize how light this car is looking at the roads S on it it felt lights and push just push it in his it causes light look at the road test when they actually used away cars old car and motor tests and this car ready to go 1146 kilos bags remarkable device Kien what you know children 15 overs power the performance figures they do know they're okay it's 5 point something 260 14 points away into a hundred but when you're that sort of weight - eBay it's quite a difference depending on how many people are in the car so the whole performance test is always done with two people in the car and normally a full tank of fuel say you've got 89 litres of fuel or two people that's an extra what is the one hundred and fifty hundred sixty kilos over what aren't running they aren't out just under half a tank and so it really feels oh it's snappy when you're on your own yeah just while we're sitting in traffic in Burford I could be a little bit more history about this car looking for an agency to say it's it's hard to find they're only 100 and some reduce and then this one was for sale at 4matic sports car and it has a remarkable history because gentleman bought it in March in 1987 and then kept it all other way into 2060 so he owned it for the vast majority of its life there was another guy bought it then and then immediately sold it on to poor Matty so I'm sort of the third owner but the second owner never actually driving and it's only done why it had done 19,000 miles when I first book is now on twenty thousand five hundred miles goes on actually since its arrived it's become a bit of a favorite thing I've done reasonable journeys in it it's yeah it's really quite comfy once your yeah once you're in is really quite come clean so yeah quite remarkable find I haven't seen one of that sort of load knowledge of one ownership not a want to sale also while we're career on notice typical interiors are a bit of a parts being special so you sort of look around I think there's bits of Maestro I'm afraid member that car so the switchgear of things is the marina with maxi door handles as well I also like the way you get to straights what and each door and a cigarette lighter in the door as well college chaplain was quite a smoker so that you wouldn't expect anything less from her from a lotus of this period when he was around then this cars got air conditioning and fantasy for the time thought speaker system which was substandard fit ventilation is rubbish on these earlier sprees heater where you set it too hot and you do everything you can and it's it's just trickles a little bit of hot air in there yet that's normal so they all do that certain air conditioning is better and I actually got some reasonable fancy get quite a lot of cooling air in but hot air is definitely at a premium lost the traffic still with a 30 take on there right okay love the airiness with this roof as well was just open the cops they are Priebus feedback bouncing hear me he realized it's got a little bit of force in internus at low speeds hiss engine what sea bream it is the sweetest arrangers there's no harshness and there's this bottle response that it's turbo but it's not nothing like 930 turbo a portion to various artists million swallow nonsense and actually they doesn't over booze what they were clever as they didn't give it a massive turbo field because the boost pressures are quite lows I think it was eight pounds which is about point six bar on a standard turbo and on this model it's so nine point five psi which is 0.65 bar something like that most modern turbos at boosting at least two point eight or 0.25 performance card not so on this it's no loose and that means that to boost and it just feels makes the engine that much more you're not thinking of the obvious want boots is just but very easy to use - I'm gonna do I am going to put over here and take the roof on for these are ugly day and it's just ace with the roof on it has a clever little spoiler you put on it just above the head windscreen gets rid of all the buffeting make the most of days like this I say swell we're searching after one of these cars we've searched one out with the glass roof just Pat's to the car this it's proper performance feels quite quick this car and it's just made for a bit of road like this think back the difference I find with this car compared to the later series we used to drive an ebow which is have a different feeling feels bulkier [Music] the generation of a spree that was introduced in late 87 88 I looked at it I looked at the stats why I couldn't get over is the difference in weight between them the later Esprit had the same engine as this you say but they when this was being built they had an American Marcelin injected engine and they had the European version of rest of world new person came in they did one person for the whole world GM that own losses his point and they made it US federal friendly and then the rest of the world got that version too and though wait when rocketing up and if you look at a weight of a generation for speed up the cave are to these same agent same as same horsepower this but it weighs 13 86 kilos it's two hundred and forty kilos heavier than the stereo version I couldn't get over the difference in weight and that's what it sort of feels like there is an impetus to this it just is very impressive down a bear road like this it's just made for it you hardly have any steering input you're constantly kicking yourself you should have taken the corners quick on the other notable feature is the brakes a terrific really solid pedal and just made her heel and tearing front and rear distribution rate is 42 in front 50 atrium center twice and when he gets in where do you try to push it along don't you see written to push it because it's never doing anything that it shouldn't it oughta think there was powerful it feels utterly at ease when you take it at speed you don't suddenly discover he wants to understeer or it's a bit light and really coping every other life he can absolutely with you I think the secret is actually that four-cylinder engine all a nvidia super simple installation at the turbo the abridge snores spring when it first came out with nothing on it was a thousand sixty kilos to consent for this to be Oh around 11:40 eleven fifty kilos only added about 90 kilos in its life and going turbocharged and it's just so faithful when you're actually pushing it on you code in it so you want to drive it a guys are gonna push it harder this time all the controls that we bring you and also love the way it's dropped by speaking across but fifth parts on here is overdrive our surface you don't want to go cruising in this car you want to rag it and I just didn't expect I would enjoy a spree as much as this car there you go just lovely to discover I just why did I wait decades to try one it helps a lot of time to make up though and I say with a real open very little pufferty just on the speed limit of the bow around 60 miles an hour very civilized proof open anyway something like they remains just coming down here so I'm going to do that anything anything about it 2.8 spots a lot doesn't feel super nervous very faithful steering nuts it round I used to have a 308 Steve remember the glass by the fate that had an itchy nose to it that felt nothing like as accomplished as this car I had these smaller doubts and wheels of that weather that made a difference or not but I really wasn't impressed with a pre-arranged assassin compared to this it was okay but it was short it had a funny dampening action it was short wheelbase this is sublime maybe read back to the old stories all the road tests used to say the same this was regarded as the world's best chassis in its day and they say you have to put up with some of the Lotus video synchronous that I cam in a rubbish ventilation etcetera but the chasse base is world class and it still is today so yeah I was very surprised with before I got to know this car though I loved it it has serious amounts of grit when you you keep taking yourself the smallest tires but it just shows you dermal to me there's no anti-roll bar the back there's inboard breaks to get rid of the unsprung weight again they were introduced on the steamers screen but it's it's all done it has that sense the essence of Chaplin all the way through this car I'm really surprised how good it was and I'm kicking myself as safe but not getting snowing earlier also I look for in history files DeLorean were trying to buy Lotus thank God they didn't but Chatwin had joined the negotiation city of Detroit loads as you can you fly the cars go but I'm keep it in a screen for me that's going to be my car going to continue making the Esprit so the deal never got done lass Albert's chaplain loved this car this just needs a row - it's mighty impressive but when I have we know you dig for a bit I'm there I decided this is actually in my top three cars I can't get over how accomplished this thing is the last cars in the garage are the project seven preserves it over its birth without a really lovely everything in terms of using the Kurds ass I never thought I'd over contest and they have missus stream this is free everything I want to notice to be Giant Killer I think it looks super cool this is REO looks it's got loads of enormous usable fun and I just think he's come of age so I shoved a bit yes I paid quite a lot of money for this car [Music] but I'm so happy because I it's everything I hoped it would be there you go so real surprised this early version of Lotus Esprit turbo hope you enjoyed the video if you have watching keep subscribing all videos coming along very soon you you [Music] you

Channel: Harry's garage

Views: 340,918

Rating: 4.955647 out of 5

Keywords: evo diaries, elite, esprit, v8, 300, colin, chapman, s3, 87, 1987

Id: 8dYbYBP1ToU

Length: 27min 16sec (1636 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 19 2018

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