Top Gear -2002- Lotus Esprit V8
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2024
- Top Gear (Copyright BBC Worldwide) from 2002 (S01E10) Jeremy Clarkson drives the brilliant Lotus Esprit V8, which may be flawed but sure as hell will and has become a classic . All Copyrights go to their respective owners.
Just watched a drivetribe video and clarkson said he's jealous of hammond because he owns one. So he still loves it nearly 20 years on
Just watched the same video (about the Evija) :D
4:14 There were actually 3 cars with pop-up headlamps still in production at the time of filming this (Dec 2002): The Esprit and the 456 as they said, but they’re also forgetting the C5 Corvette, which continued until 2004 and was the very last production car to have them.
Properly gorgeous supercar, I love the Esprit.
The 2004 Lotus Esprit and Chevrolet Corvette were the last cars to feature popup headlights. R.I.P.
The fact that those cars were designed with that feature made it vastly appealing to the nostalgia sports car enthusiast. It had a subtle charm and a very 90's appeal to the body styling. Something the more modern cars today lack.
In regards to the Corvette I'll gladly take a C5 over the C6 or C7 any day..
+Vucky abx I just looked it up, looks pretty cool. But it's technically not a real car, it's basically a kit car for rich guys. It's built off a Lamborghini Huracan and they're only gonna make 5-15 total. www.motor1.com/news/233249/ares-project-panther-first-look/
@@vuckyabx a design concept is NOT a car you dumb fuck. It's a design concept. Hope this helps..
@@Ruddyscheeseemporium 2004
Nope it was 02 or did the video description escape your notice.
One of my best memories of an esprit V8 turbo, was two years ago when i was driving down the Route Napoleon in europe. I was in my ferrari F355 and i came across a really cool guy in a V8 Esprit. We drove for miles enjoying our cars. I could not leave him and he could not leave me. It was quite equal performance wise.
A great day :)
minatormyth it must have been one of your life’s favourite moments, cool!
Nowdays all the problems of the Esprit can be easily solved:
The fragile gearbox have now a bunch of kits to revised it.After the upgrade the Renault gearbox problems not only disapears, the kits make it indestructuble.Now
people can get rid the turbochargers, put 10:1/11:1 pistons and make mid 300s hp natural aspirated.
People can even put an 8stack efi and make even more HP.
The Lotus Esprit is the ultimate drivers car: 3000lbs, mid 300 hp and proper sounding V8
Looked in the comments to see if the community fixed the gear box, nice!
Good to know. I knew there are smart people out there. Thanks.
What kind of forums do you find this information?
Judge Dredd so what you're saying is, all you have to do is buy a 15+ year old car for 45,000+ dollars and then rebuild the transmission and reduce the horsepower/remove the turbos
Doesn't sound like much of a deal...
This is typical of 'pub talk, and internet keyboard engineers' who hear of a few peoples misfortunes and they then label everything from then on as faulty.
If the Renault box is as fragile as the internet fraternity think then why did it not spit gears out over the road when Clarkson was hammering the hell out of it around the track or doing burnouts at takeoff? I have more than first hand experience with the Renault box, first having one in my Esprit SE that has never failed me, on the road or track, and second I have a 5700cc V8 with more than standard horsepower and torque connected onto another. I have a few friends with the Renault boxes, unmodified, in GT40 replicas with Chevys and Ford V8s on them and they dont break either. Clarkson is not a design engineer of gearboxes - hes employed to hold the attention of the audience and sometimes I question if he even knows where to check the oil on a gearbox, neither are most of the keyboard warriors on the internet. So before people start writing off something because of what they perceive where it comes from, think again.
Then of course there is that 'internet fable' about why people think the engine was 'detuned' to 350 hp. Well it wasnt detuned. It can be easily tuned up, it was not tuned down. The fact is a marketing one. You wouldnt go putting out more power than the next new model will have now would you. 350hp is more than plenty to power this car into supercar status. The gearbox also is not a standard Renault 25, but the Esprit V8 has an upgraded version already installed in it. This is mainly in the form of bearings and lubrication, but still runs the 2-piece input shaft. Granted there is a minor weak spot in the gearboxes, the mainshaft where the 5th gear is only supported by a bearing on one side, what happens is the 5th gear breaks at this point because it is necked down - upgraded aftermarket shafts have a larger diameter here and the 2-piece shaft is also made as a 1-piece shaft, removing the need for the sleeve to join the input shafts together. The uprated input shafts are larger all around - I know that too as I have on on my work bench for a huge torquemyster V8 engine, and I wanted revised ratios.
I bet there would only be 1 other person in this whole thread who owns or has owned an Esprit of this type - the rest can go back to their Hondas - coz thats all they can afford - let alone even ever seeing one for real.
4:14 yeah lets not mention the C5 Corvette. This was recorded in 2002. C5 was made until 2004
Let's not forget the Trans Am too! 2002 was it's last year!
They likely didn’t because I don’t think C5 Corvettes were offered in the UK
They didn't mention it because they hate those generations of American cars and don't wanna give them any light lol.
I've loved the Esprit since the first moment I saw one. Lotus needs to bring it back, but only if they do it right and keep it simple. I had pop up headlights on my first car a 87' Pontiac Fiero.
I think the first time I heard of the esprit was back in 03' playing Forza Motorsports 1. Ever since then it's been my favorite car and always will be. While there are a few hidden here in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs I hope that when I get my career going I can own one of these bad boys and cherish it.
Good luck! I was lucky enough to get one. I have a Silver 99 Esprit V8 in the SW Chicago suburbs.
Forza Motorsport 1 actually came out in 2005 my guy
@@dalewasson5919 2005 I stand corrected been a long time
Jimmy Saville at the beginning... lovely :/
It seems the Lotus is the only 70's British icon that didn't touch children.
Don't be a prude. Ol' Jimmy is as British as tea, scones and sodomy.
I’d shag him
Lotus was ahead of its time a small v8 with turbos now ferrari does that
Is that apart from the mid 80s ferrari 288 GTO and F40?
minatormyth 2 litre ferrari 208.
McLaren?
@@labarone8910 McLaren p1. I think it's a 3.8 engine with over 900bhp
captn slow also proved its a good offroader
Truly a beautiful car, would love to own 1.
In 2002 the Chevrolet Corvette and Pontiac Firebird still had pop up headlights.
You have to remember, while this is true, these cars werent sold in the UK at the time.
Plus no one gives a fuck cos they're shit lmao
@@Ruddyscheeseemporium
Lol ok i guess you like your cars to not run 20 years later
@@SoI_Badguy 🙄no car would run 20 years later unless it's been maintained regularly.
The most perfectly proportioned supercar ever. Particularly the rear three-quarter windows to the left and right behind the driver's head...so many cars these days pinch this window down to nothing so that you can only see to the side and straight back. I just wish you could have Esprit styling with 911 reliability and engineering. Cayman comes close, but is just to narrow, tall and dull compared to the Esprit!
Pity about the simean in the driver's seat really.
I'm one woman who would kill for one of these puppies. The Lotus Esprit will always be one of the most beautiful cars.
blobvision I would kill a puppy for one of these...
blobvision got one and unless fall on hard times won’t sell, she’s one of two chrome metallic orange V8GT in the country you will find it on lotus esprit world owners if you can get one get one as they are now going up fast
wayne owen I agree I have a 94s4 calypso red , and I will never get rid of it
The most beautiful car ever made
I have always loved this car since I was a little kid. Understated and gorgeous.
We might wonder where British sportscar industry would have been without that old Oldsmobile aluminum V8 they got their hands on back in the 60s
Name of those 2 songs from the test drive will forever remain a mystery for us
I drove one at Bruntingthorpe and got 170mph down the back straight. It was excellent
Love the old top-gear soundtracks.
Still my favorite car. By far.
Always adored the S1 since first seeing the 007 movie TSWLM as a youngster. The shape is the genius of Giugiaro at Italdesign & influence of Bertone (responsible for the Stratos, Lamborghinis, Alfas & VW Mk1 Golf).
why cant someone revive this iconic shape ?
If only Renault 25 owners back in the day knew how valuable the gearbox was when driving them to the knackers yard. Same with Capri and Sierra owners with Type 9 gearboxes.
The Chevrolet Corvette C5 had pop up headlights.
Not relevant in that country.
c5's didn't exist in 96. 97 was their first year and they ran until 2003
I swore they were going to say "Corvette".
gedaman the vetted is trashy and tastless. This is a work of art and engineering.
I beg to differ mate. The Vette is brash and loud, but it definitely deserves respect. The SAE thought so and gave the Corvette engineers an award for the chassis back in 1997 or 1998.
When this car first came out, I couldn't imagine driving a car that accelerated from 0-60 in under 5 seconds. And now I live in the year 2018 where a diesel car will accelerate faster than this Lotus. What a great time to be alive!
Creepy Jim in the beginning should be edited out.
I read somewhere that the Stig goes on holiday to Antarctica to escape the heat..I also read that when he flies he really flies.
Holy shit, 2 nights ago I dreamt THIS EXACT CAR in the video, the colour and the taillights are identical. And it's not a deja vu, I dreamt it in traffic along with another dark blue S1 and the Queen riding a bycicle. xD
Эxodus fuck me I want this car so bad....!
We all have precognition dreams, but forget them when we awake. If you practice dream recall techniques, you will discover this yourself.
I hate how they changed the tailgate. The previous generation's rear looked so much better IMO
Also the C5 Corvette at the time had pop up headlights as well
And was the last car to
Ive always thought the esprit was the best looking of all the 'supercars' . Onky a koenigsegg or mcclaren looks better, but at quadruple the price. Just beautiful little cars, the esprit
Brings back some great memories :)
I had a 77 esprit, a 77 eclat, and a 77 elite, they are fun as hell
The only time I’ve seen a car looking like it was being pushed
I will put this car in the German Hillclimb Championship next year.
People acting like cars of this type should have been making 1000hp for decades now. The V8 came out in 1996 and was largely unchanged until the end of production in 04. Of course its numbers will pale some 25 years later. Compare its performance to its contemporaries ffs.
My favorite car ever
My favorite exotic since a kid. Something about it.
Back when 1:32 was considered an incredible lap time in Top Gear
Love that Lotus Esprit... especially the ones from the late 1970s. Classic design and very fun driving in the mountains. How did Jeremy's HUGE head fit in this Lotus??
Guy in the background said “ford probe” Jeremy said ferrari lmao
Dream car, absolutely brilliant.
That soundtrack though
The Chevrolet Corvette had pop-up headlights until 2004.
So Clarkson mentioned it has 266 hp...but it actually has 350 hp...the prior turbo four cylinder made 285...wtf?
Whats soundtrack from around 1:00 until 2:10 ?
That body roll... 😳
He also could have mentioned the pontiac firebird for having pop up head lamps
Steven Lopez but no one is going to import it because because, it's expensive to import due to taxes, lhd and the Esprit is better
Steven Lopez yes but he said the only car you can buy today. But it was only broadcast in the UK so for that audience it was the only car they could buy new from a dealer IN the uk with pop up lights.
thanks for upload
They hate corvettes so much they wont mention them
Jim fixed it for himself...
I don't understand clarksons criticism on the driving position.
My Gbody driving position is nearly perfect for me. It's one of the few seats I can properly lean back into while driving.
And I have a citroen gear box that is marvelous.
The problem I have with the car is there's no foot room, so there's no where to put your clutch foot, so it kind of sits at a strange angle when not in use that can hurt after a while.
but that might be a LHD problem. RHD versions probably have tons of room because you're not resting your foot right next to the wheel well.
my fav car
The firebird had pop up headlights.
michael575538 was it available in the UK? Then stfu..
@@colinjohnston8519 they didnt specify to it only be the uk dumbass. Even if its not relevant to their country they didnt say shit about that.
@@cudaman7175 you're the fucking dumbass replying to a 9 MONTH old comemt you stupid fuck. Top gear is a UK show. It didn't go out anywhere else in 2002, so why would they mention cars NOT available in the UK????? "The only car you can buy with pop up headlights (talking to a UK audience)". How the fuck is that hard for you to understand you fucking spastic?? BTW trams ams are shit. Of course he didn't mention them.
@@colinjohnston8519 lol did i strike a nerve you commie? "Trams ams are shit" lol youre so mad you cant even spell? And lying? Lol im out. (Btw the age of a comment is irrelevant to how stupid it was but i didnt expect you to know that, have fun being so upstuck)
@@cudaman7175 always on the ball eh? 3 weeks later. I've no idea what your in about. Commie?? Cos American cars are shit?? Hahaha ok little dude. You are clearly a genius. Now fuck off. Cheers.
R.I.P every lotus, they are going to make only new electric models
i want one so bad
and he forgot the corvette which in 2002 still had pop up headlights aswell, but he never did like the vettes! lol
No he didn't. It's a uk show and the c5 is American. Also he hated the c4 and even shot one up with a gunship, but he loved the c6 z1 and even said he'd buy one if it was right hand drive so wrong on both counts..
The only V8 that sounds like a four cylinder.
It's cause of the crank shaft - it's a flat plane crank instead of the V-plane one you get in muscle cars. A shame really but then it does make it faster.
AliAdean Not even. Look up straight pipe Esprit. Sounds like a turbo Corvette
Lack of bass to the tone
That's because of the displacement. 3.5 liters (0.4375cc per cylinder) is difficult to get to sound bottom-heavy. Still, it sounds better than any contemporary Ferrari.
No it's because of the firing order of the pistons.. It's an even firing order, where muscle v8 engines typically have uneven firing order which makes the rumble and deep tone. The even firing order is what "sings" like in a ferrari v8
Well did you actually know that originally the Lotus a esprit was supposed to have 500 hp but the problum was the transmission couldn't hold it so they backed the horse power off to 350 hp
Basic Instinct 1992 😈
Clarkson is drunk when he does his hair
Great car. I reviewed one for my channel except it was Azure Blue, I would love to own one, one day
Pop up headlights disappearing is nothing to do with aerodynamics. Its about pedestrian impact safety.
i solved the problem with the gearbox, if you change the motor with a ferrari the gearbox works very good.
I'm sorry but you should never make the front lip that much longer than the side skirts
>Jim'll Fix It Promo
*I feel unclean*
I owned a 1988 Mazda RX-7 convertible with pop up headlights.
Yeah, but this video was made 14 years later.
Btw, my '94 FD has them as well. :-)
Midnight Club 3 Dub edition anyone?
what a nice Game, everytime again!
6:24 I know u know but still its William Orbit - Barbers Adago for Strings
The Corvette had pop up tail lights in 2002.
Que rico tono de azul, que precioso ese lotus, perfecto.
When I had an Esprit SE over a decade ago. It would smoke stock betta and mustangs. Now a dawg on Subaru could destroy one. It would take major discipline not to street race one. Because every light some hot rod will challenge you.
Chapman killed a lot of great drives with his cars.
I love the Lotus Esprit V8 gt model but the round rear lights got to go.
While aerodynamically beneficial, the deep chin way below the rocker panels looks hokey. It's like some ricer purchased just part of a body kit. I never noticed it before seeing this video.
50k for an Espirit? I can't believe Jeremy is making that out to be good value.
the Lotus Esprit is very fast but they dont last long
LOTUS - lots of trouble usually serious
Driven mine for the last 10- years and never ever had a problem with it. I also have a Lotus Excel, 8 years and this one also never lets me down.
Had three as daily drivers. Very few issues, usually cheap
Fake News (from Ferrari owners) - Have a V8 Esprit for last six years, rebuilt an alternator. The biggest expense is buying car wax to keep it shiny!
british automotive excellence , for the time
If you have kids: Jim will fix it.
uhhhhhhh the c5 corvette still had pop up headlights in 2002
We are properly, properly SAD!
It is, abusively balanced.
Best Lotus ever!😉👍👍👏👏
Here is what I will never understand. How can a car manufacturer who has so much racing history can’t build it’s own gear box? They can build & design the engine, the suspension, the chassis but not the gear box? I don’t get it! What am I missing?
Jazzrengue they can buts probably cheaper to outsource to getrag or someone like that
How much would they cost in 2002
MR2 had pop up headlights
a bit of 355 front and rear.interesting car,not bad
Any Corvette turns circles around this crap for less money,less gas and less problems
and you have to drop the engine to change oil filter
This is 100% untrue
The Car !!!💣💣💣
Look up for UN1 gearbox upgrade
Hard to believe that my Rx8 lapped faster than this on there test track.....it wouldn't feel anything like as quick to drive normally
What did the RX8 lap? I searched but couldn't find a clip where Stig ran it on their track.
@@ffsmikey it did it in 1.31.8....i think.it was exactly the same time as the M3 of the time,6 cylinder.....impressive really
@@darrenlucas2768 nice. not bad
Chop of the Phil'll fix It crap at the beginning if you could please!
Ah. That's awkward at 9 seconds in...
It's just the crappy gearbox that needs serious upgrading , a simple ecu retuning with those twin turbos and the output is 500+hp EASY..
Abusively balanced
Honda NSX had pop up lights
not after 2002.