[08x05] November 7th, 2005

[enzojr]

Call me stupid but surely covering the intake vents with a piece of acrylic will have had quite an adverse effect on the engine temperature of the Lotus non?

:?

That was what I was thinking. I tried to see if there were any pre-cut holes/vents in the persplex glass itself but couldn't see any.

There was no way that Esprit would have gotten to 200mph on that strip of runway. It was too short for the 480hp. Even if they had it 200mph with NOS on, it would still have been cheating a bit b/c the car has duct tape all over it, no mirrors, and glass engine cover. Oh, and without that rear wing, perhaps not getting to 200mph on a wet track was a good idea. We still need Tiff to do awesome powerslides in the future!

On a side note, I thought that their mission was to build a 200mph car that you could drive EVERYDAY, not just on empty airfields with duct tape on.

Next episode better reinstill my faith in FG. This and the last episode were so crap that I didn't bother burning them onto a CD for archiving.

 

[Redliner]

Opinions on the episode aside, I just LOVE the sound that Aston Martins has...and that roll over thingie popping was funny.
In my opinion, it was better then last week?s.

 

[Z0RR0]

Once again, sounds like I don't need to bother downloading it.

"lazy" is probably the most accurate description. Half-a$$ed production work, and half-a$$ed test drives. I sure as heck wouldn't want to be presenting such crap.

No big deal, TG starts soon, hopefully they will still be as passionate about the cars as they have always been.

 

[Shawn]

What popped off the Aston when the roll-bars came up? Is there like a plastic cover or something?

 

[bartboy9891]

this ep wasnt that great at all. The 200mph bit was good, but the DB9 review was too short. the expensive modded cars was a little useless. the RX8 wasnt nearly as quick as i thought it would be. I was suprised that the Espirit couldnt hit 200. I would've thought they could've gotten a Cerbera for around 20K and modded that, but i guess an Espirit is much cooler.

 

[Overheat]

I agree with the half-assed production work - that high-pitch wurring all the way throught the in-car commentary during the shoot-outs was really annoying.

 

[GraemePC]

What is Tiff's problem with the NSX? I think he is just trying to be more like Jeremy and disagree with the other two, but Tiff just came off as an ass.

And why bring back the Lotus if it didnt make it? While it was the best segment in the show, it was rather pointless, and only served to demonstrate the lack of knowledge possessed by the team. I am no mechanic, but I know that if you make an engine that much more powerful, you have to make it stronger. And covering up the air vents is a fantastic way to go faster. Thats why all supercars run on pure gasoline with no oxygen mixed in. Can you ever imagine Jeremy doing one of the international races, showing the first 15 minutes and then saying, "Oh, by the way, the car broke down and we never finished".

I think they need to boot Vicky, move Tom to the main presenter/reviewer, have Tiff do the shootouts, and let Plato do the supercar reviews. And at least one crash segment per show, those are pretty cool.

 

[umair]

Wow... haven't been here in a while.. but it seems like everyone's a critic now.

 

[Overheat]

And covering up the air vents is a fantastic way to go faster. Thats why all supercars run on pure gasoline with no oxygen mixed in.

That doesn't mean that the engines don't need cooling

 

[GraemePC]

And covering up the air vents is a fantastic way to go faster. Thats why all supercars run on pure gasoline with no oxygen mixed in.

That doesn't mean that the engines don't need cooling

Sorry, I left out a smilie. I meant it was stupid that they thought they would get more speed from reducing aerodynamic drag while cutting probably 70-80% of the air to the engine.

 

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Hey guys...

It has been really interesting reading this thread as we are all very curious as to how this has played with other car enthusiasts.

I'm an Esprit owner and a moderator on the biggest Esprit forum in the world with nearly 1000 members.

I could feel my car devaluing with every excrutiating minute of it! I also know that we will be beaten over the head "down the pub" with some of the ridiculous statements they came out with despite much of it being factually wrong!

To say we're nearly all hopping mad would be an understatement!

I personally know MANY people running 450bhp Esprits (both V8's AND 4 pots!!!!) and drive them on a daily basis.

The Esprit Engine itself is actually VERY robust indeed and off the shelf was capable of 450 bhp and was only tuned back to 350 due to the legacy transmission

450bhp out of a V8 is actually a complete piece of p**s and I personally know people who have done so for less than ?1000! (it was a standard chip upgrade and Water Injection to be on the safe side!)

Chuck a decat, sports exhaust, filter and 500+bhp is still just an off the shelf specialist chip (NOT from superchops however ) but would then require the mods like they made (turbos, charge cooling etc)

There are two very well known gearbox mods

1) Derek Bell sells a ruggedised version of the T21 box that the V8s use (and many kit cars use) which he developed for his Lola!

2) There is an off the shelf 5th gear cog for ~?300 which will take it to over 200mph

Johan over in the states has had 210mph out of his V8 and we are sure there are people who have done 200mph in a 2.2L 4 cylinder!

To say that their approach was inept or incompetent is a massive understatement. I know we have literally dozens of members who could have done that project right and for less money! (I include myself in that list for a start and I readily admit I'm not the most technically knowledgable among us! I do however know the right steps to take and the right people to get to do the work!)

They did eventually contact www.lotusespritworld.com and then subsequently ignored every piece of advice Kato gave them!

The so called tuning / performance specialists have guaranteed that not a single Esprit Owner in the country will ever touch them! I personally would not let superchips near my car with a ten foot barge pole (tho thankfully I have carbs so that will never be an issue!! )

Reading 5th Gear's credits, depressingly they only credit ONE Lotus Specialist out of the entire project and that was Paul Matty who only did the supsension mods.

They set themselves an unbelievably easy task for those who are even remotely in the know...

They couldn't have botched this worse if they tried.

 

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

PS... BOOT VICKY?!??!

She's all they've got going for them!!

 

[astondg]

Weight makes no difference to top speed...

On a very long stretch of road, that's true. But in this case they only had ~1.5 miles to accelerate on. A better power to wieght ratio helps get the car up to speed sooner, leaving more track for the final few mph.

Being able to reach 200 mph on a 3 mile stretch of road doesn't mean much on a 2 mile runway.

I realise that but like I said the Esprit isn't that much heavier and if you want to take everything into account then you also have to consider that the Esprit is mid engined which means better traction than the Sierra, especially on the wet runway, unless it is an AWD version but then the weight swould be even closer and going by what Tiff said (standard it had 200hp) it sounds like the RWD version. There are also the aerodynamic considerations.

 

[bihus]

I haven't seen this ep, yet, but I was thinking that they would have contacted those in the know, aka, Esprit club members or forums. They seem to have done part of it, but didn't use the info they've got. Can we spell S-T-U-P-I-D? And I usually defend 5th Gear...

 

[SiR_dude]

Hey guys...

It has been really interesting reading this thread as we are all very curious as to how this has played with other car enthusiasts.
[...]
They couldn't have botched this worse if they tried.

Nice to hear anothe side of the story Props for defending your car where it needs it - I love the Esprit, and to see what they where doing made my head spin. They obviously thought they new better than the actual Lotus gang...

Oh, yeah, post some pics of your car in the Automotive section

 

[Shawn]

Yeah, post some pictures and link it here. I know squat about the Esprit, but I love the design... it's timeless, as is apparent from Lotus milking it for song long.

 

[andyhui01]

Evil_Dr_fish... could you show me the thread where fifth gear asked for your advice on tuning the car?

 

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Hi Andy / all - Alas no I can't!

They didn't!!!!

They did e-mail Kato - the guy who runs www.lotusespritworld.com and then, it would appear, promptly ignore his advice!

We are all very glad that most of you guys don't seem to be blaming the car!!

They also spoke to one of our chaps at the VMax meeting which they showed briefly in the piece (one of the things they managed to break the car trying to get to) and presumably ignored his advice too (despite being one of the guys running 450 brake out of a 2.2L 4 cylinder engine! ...Oh, and being an Oxford Science Professor! ) Tho, they did pinch his idea for a petrol brand shoot out (coming next week! )


Mine is the orignal / James Bond shape (The one in the 5th Gear article was the later body shape)

I have had it slightly modified - It has the later, more robust pistons and liners, so the engine is good for over 300bhp (Unforntunately, the old Maserati tranny isn't, without some modification ) and a boost controller fitted. If I want to go beyond .75bar I will need inlet cooling to prevent the onset of knock. Comsetically I have had the panel-wart aerial removed (no replacement) and the doorhandles removed and a remote solenoid system fitted in their place I removed the really 70's looking decals and have had slightly smaller (but much the same shape), clear side indicators fitted

 

[dudical26]

Does any body else ever wonder how Tom managed to get a job on this show?

He just doesn't seem to fit in.

 

[Lusitano]

Does any body else ever wonder how Tom managed to get a job on this show?

He just doesn't seem to fit in.

Apparently, he also works (worked?) at Panam, considering the shirt he wore on this episode.

I found it shocking that they could not hit 200mph in a Esprit V8. I mean, I casually hit 120mph on a stock VR6 Jetta (even though it needs a tune-up). I know that it becomes harder to reach higher speeds due to air, and it was wet, etc..., but it is an Esprit V8. I always thought these things rocked!
Yes, that plastic sheet was a bit suspicious!