Lotus finally had the engine to take on Ferrari. Did it convince?

After 20 years, Lotus’ Esprit finally got the V8 it was designed around. But could it upset Ferrari and Porsche?

Even with four cylinders, the Lotus Esprit always held its own alongside more muscular competition. Lighter than any rival, its small engine packed with F1-derived technology, it was exotic on its own terms. But had the Seventies’ oil crisis not intervened, it would have had a V8.

In 1996, a V8 engine – a 3.5-litre twin-turbo unit that would also see service in GT1 racing – finally arrived in the new Lotus Esprit. Its £58,750 price tag made it a direct rival to Porsche’s £56,495 993 Carrera 2. But in spirit, its closest nemesis was clearly the £88,965 Ferrari F355, darling of the motoring press and Hollywood alike. Could the new Lotus outgun them both? In June 1996 CAR decided to find out with a Northumberland blast.

The first issue John Simister picked up on was the Esprit’s lack of aural drama compared with the howling Ferrari, although he went on to say, ‘I’m treading dangerous ground here, but I suspect that Italian ways of complying with EC noise regulations might be more inventive than those of the rule-abiding British.’ No matter – both cars cleared 60mph in a 4.8-second dead heat, the Ferrari using revs while the Lotus was shoved by torque. Simister described the Esprit’s gearchange as ‘cantankerous’, but admits it didn’t hinder progress – he was able to attack bends faster in the Lotus than the Ferrari.

But Simister clearly had more fun in the F355. ‘Every control matches the steering for precision and consistency of effort, even that clack-clack, metal-to-metal, gated gearchange once you’ve learnt the required firmness of hand,’ he noted. ‘You can loose the tail in the wet, for sure, but because you know precisely what’s going on it’s not a fright.’ In the end, Simister was reluctant to name a conclusive winner – the Lotus did what the Ferrari did, for Porsche money, yet without Ferrari’s fine attention to detail.

But there was clearly a surprise loser – the Porsche. Slower than its rivals, its architecture manacled to the Sixties, its tokenistic rear seats considered odd when it’s pointed out that the proper boot on the Esprit is bigger than any of the 993’s luggage spaces. But as Simister said, ‘most people would buy the Porsche, use it daily, have a great time and be pleased at its lower cost.’ But what’s most interesting today is the changing roles of Lotus and Ferrari. The Esprit V8 was Lotus proving it could do supercars just as well as Ferrari, albeit at the expense of fine feedback, while the F355 was a tactile, detail-led evolution of the discredited 348tb.

Later in 1996, the Elise landed, casting Lotus as the ultimate paragon of driving purity. At the same time, the F355 gained the efficient yet soulless two-pedal paddleshift F1 gearbox option, pitching Ferrari into a future of interactive menus, drive modes and user-friendliness. How times change.