2004 Lotus Espirit Review

An Exclusive Piece of Sport Car History

A quarter of a century - twenty-seven years to be exact - makes the Esprit nameplate one of the longest running in the auto industry. Within that time the six-lettered E-word has evolved into something much more than its creators could have imagined, but then again Lotus has always been a company of vision.

Yet not all has always been rosy in Norfolk, 80% of its shares having been dropped like a hot potato by GM to Malaysian government owned consortium Proton on August 27, 1993 being a high or low point depending on how you look at it. Through thick and thin the Esprit has soldiered on, earning the embattled company much needed green as well as token respect from previous non-believers to secret agent James Bond (The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only) alike.

Adding to its status as the longest running production car in Lotus stable (the 7 is currently made by Caterham in case youre questioning this fact), the Esprits ability on the street and track has earned it the admiration of sports car enthusiasts the world over.

But it was a combination of the marques racing heritage and the desire to build a worldly supercar beyond the mild-mannered Elan, Europa and Eclat that stirred Lotus to make the Esprit in the first place. The results are now clear. A rich history of perhaps some of the best performing British sports cars to ever grace the planet, starting with the S-Series, followed by the 350 Sport, and finally ending with the V8 Turbo as seen here.

Though it may be difficult for some to fathom, the Lotus Esprit is one of the major contributors to the way people perceive a supercar should look. Unlike previous entries to the Lotus stable, the Esprit was styled by Italian firm ItalDesign under the experienced pen of Giorgetto Giugiaro. The wedge-shaped car that emerged put the world on hold, changing the way nearly every supercar would be styled for the next quarter century.

Even today, where extremities in proportions are seen on every automobile on the road, the Esprit still shocks with its extremely low overall height. Try and find a lower sports car, and all there is are supercars such as Ferraris Enzo, Lamborghinis Murciélago, Saleens S7 and a handful of others, all hundreds of thousands more expensive than the Esprit.

Now factor in the Lotus is a pensioner in comparison to these energetic teens, and it becomes very clear that it has aged like a fine wine. Of course, it hasnt exactly motored along over nearly three decades without any updates at all. The original Esprits folded-paper look lost some of its initial sharpness when Lotus stylists freshened it in the mid-80s. The car went under the scalpel in 1993 for a second update as well, albeit more subtly executed than generation one to two.

Over the most recent decade Lotus has continued to improve the Esprit one detail at a time. Pick any part of the car - though it may appear to be the same in all Esprits - and year-to-year updates to items such as spoilers, trim bits, windows and others have been altered.

But for the 2003.5, and now 2004 iteration, its final run, Lotus has given the Esprit one last update to carry it to the end of production. Most notable of all changes is the four, circular rear tail lamps, a styling detail never seen on any prior Esprit borrowed from the smaller Elise and M250 concept car, the theoretical replacement for this elder statesman.

The exterior package is finished off with a set of OZ alloy wheels, shod in Z-rated rubber, leaving a wide footprint on the road. Set in black, the outrageous appearance of this British Ferrari fighter still draws attention from crowds and public. The shape may have been around the block a few times, but partially due to its rarity, only 36 2004 Esprits will be made, it still looks sensational.

For the longest time, the Esprit made a strong argument on behalf of the 4-cylinder engine. Upon introduction, the its super-high performance 2.2 liter inline four gave it a title that was both for better, but mostly for worse - it was the worlds most powerful, but also most expensive 4-cylinder automobile. A short five years later saw the introduction of a turbocharger, whereupon overall performance seriously spiked.

While there was an inarguable improvement between the naturally aspirated and turbocharged versions, the Esprit dragged its heels in terms of performance, refinement and grunt as opposed to its six and eight cylinder opponents. Performance for the dollar, however, was definitely satisfied, with increases in power added year by year. In its final form, the most powerful 4-cylinder Esprit wrung 240 horsepower out of its diminutive displacement - more or less the same engine architecture it started with.

With little that Lotus could do to improve its outdated 4-cylinder engine, a radical change was needed. Things finally started to boil in 1996 when the British brand fitted the rear engine compartment with 3.5 liters of twin-turbocharged V8 wholesome goodness, completely developed in-house no less.

What a perfect 20th birthday gift for the venerable Esprit. Charge-cooled (an alternative to the intercooler) and featuring quad over head cams and 4-valves per cylinder, this engine may seem almost average by todays technological standards, but its proven engineering yielded decent results. For one, its total output was and still is 295 lb-ft of torque and 350 horsepower.

Most enthusiasts consider the Esprit to be the equivalent of a British Ferrari, but it delivers in more ways than just long, lean mid-engine styling and raw power. Though the driving experience is there, as is the reported experience of your wallet being emptied, so is the heart-through-the-floor faint feeling when squeezing into the drivers seat. Its a chore in itself; the tiny doors leading way through a particularly narrow entrance which is mostly blocked by the low sills, the steering wheel and heavily bolstered seats. It requires the driver to put one foot in and swing down, head bowed for safety. Mess up, and you get a swift bump on the noggin.

Those thickly padded, well bolstered leather seats are perfect for their pure sports car application, but the surroundings are not as inspired. For one, its difficult to get legs and feet into a comfortable position - the front wheel well carving out most of the usable space, leaving room for three skinny pedals that work best with thin-soled Italian loafers rather than meaty British brogues.

Meanwhile, the traditional upright driving position that the majority of people find most comfortable has been completely scrapped. Its normally thought that sitting low in a car brings the driver closer to the experience of piloting a race car. While this is true to some extent, the awkward positioning of the sill-mounted handbrake and a transmission tunnel that rivals Everest in height are quite bothersome.

But it isnt just how you sit inside that raises concerns, the finish of the interior doesnt appear particularly impressive either. Lotus fettled with a few minor components, but most occupants will be under-whelmed with plastics and switches borrowed from GM products dating back to the early 90s.

Does the steering wheel seem familiar to you? Thats because it was featured on the first run of Saturns with airbags, still a costly option on the Esprit. Unlike other manufacturers that add small bits of wood or aluminum trim, two-tone leather and other decorations, the Esprit is unadorned, left plain and simple. Nevertheless it works, the full black interior leaving nary a thing to divert the drivers attention from the road.

Whatever you learned in driving school about shifting a manual transmission, Im told to forget about when at the wheel of the Esprit. Slowly release clutch, add gas, simply does not work. The heavy-duty clutch is designed to catch hard and fast meaning the best way to get moving is to give the gas pedal a good stomping while lifting your left foot up. Get
this right and the Esprit will reward you with simply awesome straight ahead performance, get this wrong and youll be doing reenactments of Richard Gere in Pretty Woman.

In the former scenario 60 mph arrives in a mere 4.4 seconds, and with the shriek of the V8 in back, hissing turbos forcing driver and passenger along, its only a matter of seconds before hitting the rev limiter at maximum speed - that incidentally reaches 180 mph in top gear.

What makes this immediate forward thrust possible, even with what can only be deemed as moderate levels of horsepower for its supercar status, is superior weight management. Lotus manages the Esprits overall lightweight without the use of high-tech materials or complex structures, but rather delivers up fairly conventional and proven methodology. A simple tubular frame clothed in fiberglass panels keeps the weight down to 3,042 lbs.

Double wishbone suspension components are fitted all around, as are beefed up anti-roll bars. Suspension travel seems limited to the thickness of a sheet of paper, and its all served up with a near perfectly balanced chassis and razor-sharp steering. A Bilstein adjustable suspension is now available as well.

Despite sporting less than super-tech chassis and body architecture, the Esprit is still considered to be one of the best handling cars on the market today, the epitome of a drivers car. Just like the legendary Seven, the Esprit was engineered for performance first, and even after all these years its still brilliant at what it was designed to do.

Without stability control, without traction control and without any major electronic driving aids, the Esprit manages perfectly fine, something that many manufacturers still struggle to do. Then again there are problems that come with age: at high speed, the massive front windshield reportedly fails to stay swept by the wipers, and the beady flip-up headlights dont have the power to fully penetrate dark roads ahead… ah, thats living life on the very edge of ones seat.

The Esprit, the Morgan and the Caterham 7 are perhaps the only true British classics still built upon original platforms. Production has effectively ceased for the homeland market, and whats left in the Lotus factory warehouse is a small stock of left-hand-drive final version Esprits.

For a twenty-seven year old car, architecturally, theres no arguing that this Lotus is very good. But after factoring in its $90,825 price tag, deducting points for interior refinement issues, considering suspect reliability, and finally adding up for a slight deficiency in power compared to many of its rivals, the Esprits flames of passion rapidly reduce into spurts of smoldering sparks.

Or do they? Of course it all depends on what youre looking for in a sports car. Sure the Ferrari 360 Modena and new Lamborghini Gallardo offer more performance, but at almost twice the price. Reliability? Only the Acura NSX wins top accolades here, but even fewer performance car buyers are biting so this is obviously a non-issue. Quality issues? Compared to any exotic in its price range, and there arent many, the Lotus looks pretty good.

In summary, if you want to own a timeless piece of exotic car history, an exclusive vehicle that was not only a milestone for Lotus but for the entire sports car industry when it debuted, plus one that still delivers that early 80s supercar experience with serious wow factor pull, then the Esprit is most definitely the car for you. When it is replaced at the end of this model year, it will most certainly be missed and never forgotten.