Lotus Esprit Turbo
If the Esprit was a Lotus game changer then the Turbo Esprit S3 was the game changer’s game changer, so to speak. In came a Garrett Airesearch T3 turbocharger to elevate the model onto an entirely different performance plane. Cue Motor Sport on March 28, 1981, declaring, ‘At last the Esprit has the urge to go with the image.’
Top speed hit the magical 150mph barrier, with 0-60mph now devoured in a scorching 5.6 seconds. Six years after its arrival, Hethel’s engineers had finally brought supercar performance to Giugiaro’s supercar pen party.
Today it has all of the S3’s handling grace, but under acceleration it shifts significantly faster. Boost builds from surprisingly low down and the engine’s torque isn’t all unloaded in a fizzy last-minute spurt – as with other early turbocharged cars – but builds progressively with the full 200lb ft available at 4500rpm; it’s more of a continuously hard push.
If you consider what came before – BMW 2002 Turbo, Porsche 930 and Saab 99 Turbo – the sheer absence of any turbo-lag is a marvel. Lotus achieved this by comprehensively re-working the engine: capacity was enlarged to 2.2-litres, in came a stiffer bottom end, sodium-filled exhaust valves and stronger pistons, and the exhaust manifold was re-engineered to include divided exhaust tracts that linked straight into the turbocharger intake flanging. It also used a Lucas fuel pump and pressure regulator supplying an overgenerous 4.5lb in tickover pressure.
The result is instant engine responsiveness, but predictable performance. I’m charging round the track in an almost identical manner to the naturally aspirated S3, but with the Esprit volume turned up another notch. Yet there’s no need to factor in a sudden mid-corner explosion of thrust.
That Lotus achieved this not with fuel injection and electronic management – both cost and time ruled this out – but with a traditional twin carburettor set-up has the added bonus of making this the best-sounding car here. Satisfyingly rorty intake noise building and ending with a turbocharged ablution – it’s the best of both aural worlds and worthy of a lowering of the driver’s window.
Damping feels marginally harder than in the unblown S3, but the seating position is slightly less extreme and the brakes similarly strong. Visibility is somewhat less impressive thanks to those magnificent slats.
This example also brings up one word – Bond. It’s the reason owner Martin bought the car, even if his colour/series combo is a bit out (it was a white S1 in The Spy Who Loved Me, but a Copper Turbo Esprit in For Your Eyes Only) – okay, so a white one did appear briefly in the latter, before being blown up. No matter, the result of all these celluloid shenanigans was a clear and lasting input into the generation of the Esprit legend, and one that still endures to the present day.
Says Geoff Downhill of Esprit Engineering, ‘The perception is that a Turbo is more expensive to look after and more likely to go wrong. But that’s not the case – it requires the same checks as the normally aspirated S3. The clutch does have a few quirks – the Nylatron washer on the end of the input shaft can come loose and cause it to run into the back of the crankshaft necessitating a gearbox out,
‘The sheer absence of any turbo-lag is a marvel – there’s no need to factor in a sudden mid-corner explosion of thrust’
bell housing off job to change the worn out circuit. You’re looking at £1500, plus £300 for a clutch exchange (new ones are not available). It can manifest as a strange squeak with the clutch down or up, or a rattling noise, but it’s difficult to spot. There is a modification using a spacer, so it’s worth asking if this has been carried out.’
The price of that extra oomph and movie stardust sees concours examples sitting at up to £50k, with decent cars in the region of £35k. Further down the food chain, rough to average cars are much closer in value to their normally aspirated brethren at £15k-£20k.
Of course, I couldn’t finish without mentioning this car’s looks. NACA air ducts, side sill extensions and a deep front spoiler, all married to that anything but discreet Turbo Esprit script, lend it one hell of a visual impact. Yes its limited-edition edition blown forebear, the lairy-looking Essex Turbo, ramps that up even further, but while it’s the most desirable Eighties Esprit, at circa £100k (rumours abound of £150k offers being turned down) it’s hard to argue for it being a best buy.