That is fair. I will say now that the Lotus is 9/10th the car the NSX is Glad we could work that out!
I think they brought out the RSX to compete with that lotus elan. The elan was 10x the car the esprit is.
I currently own a Ferrari, have owned several Corvettes including the 40th anniversary edition with the LT-4 and ZF 6 speed package and several turbo cars. My dad owns a '00 Esprit TT V8, a 2004 911 TT and had an '86 Esprit turbo with the sohc 1.4 liter inline 4 producing if memory serves, somewhere in the neighborhood of 215-225HP. Both of those Lotus' are the most fun cars I have ever driven PERIOD !!! I am a true-RED tifosi since I was 5 years old but I have to say that Lotus can produce some truly exhilirating acceleration in their cars. It is a shame that the 70s, 80s and early 90s cars were hampered by inferior British workmanship, and even more distressing that it took FORD of all companies, to bring Lotus (and Jaguar) out of their reliability doldrums. But I have to say, even the '86 Esprit was balls-out fast. We could hit 140mph from a dead start on a freeway entrance ramp before we hit the merge point.
The Esprit is a great car no doubt and is fast. Whichever model year you chooose an exhilerating drive! But um where are you getting that Ford had any ownership or helping of Lotus Cars LTD? NO such thing happened. GM sold 80 percent of its shares to Proton, a govt. owned malaysian car company. GM still has an 20 percent stock interest in Lotus. Lotus Cars LTD and Lotus Engineering are actually 2 separate companies that work independantly of each other, but still under the Lotus group as a whole. Ford has not had any hand in bringing Lotus anywhere, thank god so far.
Well this thread seems like it will not die, so I am going to jump in on the positive comments by tifosi69 with a shameless plug, Please forgive me. I have a 2000 Lotus Esprit Azure blue with cream interior. 8700 miles -- Looking for an offer.. e-mail me at: [email protected] Chuck
The only thing I like about the RSX is the interior and it revs high. Other than that its kinda crappy. And, it has about as much body roll as my Chevy
I saw motor week do a test on the Esprit turbo V8 dodge viper, porsche turbo, and ferrari 550. The Esprit was doing 187 and was limited by it's gearing. It was bouncing off the rev limiter.
The Esprit only comes in a 5 Speed. The Esprit can achieve much higher speeds like stated above also. Motortrend also did a test similiar results, high 180's but ran out of gearing. With more gear stock it would be in the 190's thats almost insane. Please give this car some respect, it was way ahead of its time and has some great engineering as do all Lotus Cars. Almost every car manufacturer has hired Lotus Engineering to help in part engineer parts of at least one vehicle of there own. That speaks volumes to how good they are.
Are you kidding, I LOVE the car. If I could only fit comfortably in one, I could then maybe drive one...
Hehe... damn that allan! .. and since it hasn't been said for a while.. the NSX is 10x the car the esprit is, 20X the car the elise is and a whopping 500 x the car the Elan is!
Having owned a NSX NA2, I have to say, if you could put the shifter from the NSX into the Esprit, I would be in love even more. That and fix it so I can actually see the front of the car when sitting inside
You forgot your decimals: the NSX is .10x the car the esprit is, .20X the car the elise is and a whopping .500 x the car the Elan is!
I didn't want to jump in but now I have too. I mean no harm in saying this, but we have had several NSX's on the lot and I have never been overly impressed with the car. I have not run it on a track, but the car is a little bit boring too me. I completely understand when people say the car has no soul, it is somewhat devoid of feeling and personality. I will say it is a smooth car, but I think that part of the stigma of owning an exotic supercar is the ride characteristic being a little more aggressive. The NSX is really passive feeling, not aggressive and exciting. Like I said, not trying to be nasty it is just my opinion. An NSX is a really nice car but it is not the calibre of a Lotus or a Lamborghini for sure. Chris
I would say you like TQ. The NSX has a lot less TQ than the cars you mention and therefore on the street does not feel as "aggressive and exciting". On the track it is an amazing car. I have no doubt it would keep up with a lotus, but probably not a lambo. I think it is insulting to say the NSX is not the caliber of a Lotus. Every article I have ever read puts the NSX far about the Lotus in EVERY category minus accleration. It is not the caliber of a Lambo, but it also does not cost like a lambo. I would love to drive either car so I can get some real world experience.
Im going to say this once and for all. I dont see how you dumb ass's keep saying the NSX or Corvette have no soul! Maybe its because its not in the six figure range, and maybe because its not Italian? From where I stand it could very much be both.