currently i am driving....

[T]

not very much, but what r u cruising about in?

[-reaper-]

Corrado VR6 Storm, in Mystic Blue. :)

[Psychic Cookie]

Honda Civic ESi VTEC in Silver :)

Bit of a come down from my Lotus Esprit days but times are hard ;(

Hoping to get a new style Elise next year though if things turn out ok :)

Here's some piccies of my old Esprit (http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/abailey/adyshtml/adycarpresent.html) if anyones interested ;(

[Slam]

The Esprite was very saucy m8y!

Not in the same league (although I notice you had one) but I still love my first and current car my MX-5 bless it's wee soft top :)

[Psychic Cookie]

Ah I had an MX-5 too m8y before the Esprit (well I had an Elise in between but there ya go)

I had a 1995 MX-5 1.8i (just the basic spec) in Red :)
All I added to it were Alloys & a Kenwood CD.
Top little car that was - taught me all about oversteer ;)

Kept it for two years then had my Elise in February 1997.
Calypso Red, all the bits 'n' bobs including a very naughty sports exhaust system :laugh:

Kept that for 14 months (Even made a £1500 profit when I sold it :O ) then got the Esprit as above which I kept for two years at which point I had to either find a huge some of money to pay it off or turn it in which is unfortunatly what I had to do ;(

Like I say though I'm hoping to get myself sorted out finacially this year then it's new Elise time again :D

[Swany]

Pug 205 1.6 GTi :)

[Jp]

I used to drive a ford orion 1.4.......stop laughing.............I said stop it!!! Now I drive a 2.0 litre vaux cavalier........you've started laughing again...its not funny....bah I give up! :cheese:

[Slam]

Originally posted by Psychic Cookie
taught me all about oversteer ;)

Heh, can relate to that. First time it happened going around a roundabout, I didn't know what was going on.
Of course I'm much wiser now pfffff :D

[Swany]

christ, i see gameplay are paying you well for the moderating job then! :E

[Firenze]

an L reg rover metro
stop laffing u bunch of tarts :E

[[APST]]

Sierra Sapphire 4x4 2.9v6

[Dead Man]

An auto clutch A Class Merc. Which is not exactly exciting to drive (especialy with the anti skid etc) but not too bad. Before that a 1.6 GLX colt which was fun, and before that a Alfa Sud Green clover leaf which was a blast apart from the terrible rust and electrics (that car is still staring at me in the garage :))

DM

[Edited by Dead Man on 16-01-2001 at 11:25 PM]

[[VL]Barbarian]

I luv me Cavalier GSI 2000 4X4 Turbo:E

[-reaper-]

Originally posted by [M@XPoWeR]
an L reg rover metro
stop laffing u bunch of tarts :E

You are the weakest link.

Goddbye.

[CraigKORE]

:laugh:

[TODave DEFENCE:]

Tell me about the Esprit.

Reliable?
Service how often? (and where - local specialist or does it have to be a Lotus garage? (and how many of them are there?))
Parts cheap?
Power steering? Rock hard suspension?
Insurance?
Storage space?
Tyre price?

[[APST]]

my m8 had an Alfa 33 cloverleaf the best thing it had was the 2 downdraft carbs
his fell to bits and was staring at him 4 about 2 years

[SS004]

Originally posted by [APST]


my m8 had an Alfa 33 cloverleaf the best thing it had was the 2 downdraft carbs
his fell to bits and was staring at him 4 about 2 years

LMAO He won't have been the only one mate

[[APST]]

Russian Steel was the problem
I heard the Russian Mafia done a deal with the Italian Mafia for some cheap steel then they sold it to the fiat group on the cheap and it was oxidising quicker making them rust.
A few weeks back i saw a J reg Maserati Quattroporte and the bodywork was so bad i could of easily put my finger threw the front wing and the rears were fast approching the same state

[drive by]

i know bout them ! ours had more filler in it than origional body work !

[Dead Man]

When I jacked my first one up to change a tyre, the car stayed on the ground while the jack went through the sill.
The one in my garage at the moent lost the whole of a rear cross member, so much so that it passed an MOT like that because there was nothing left so the tester did not realise it should have been there.....
The real problem with the Sud is they are such fun to drive with superb engines that you try and overlook the rust/electrics tell well after there best before.

DM

[Psychic Cookie]

Originally posted by TODave DEFENCE:
Tell me about the Esprit.

Reliable?
Service how often? (and where - local specialist or does it have to be a Lotus garage? (and how many of them are there?))
Parts cheap?
Power steering? Rock hard suspension?
Insurance?
Storage space?
Tyre price?

Wow so many questions :eek:

Reliability:
Well it never let me down once but that isn't to say that I didn't have any problems with it. In fact in the two years I had it (from new remember) I had about £3000 worth of warrenty work done. Two new exhausts, hole in the carpet, excessive front suspension wear which all had to be re-built etc.

Thats the warning that always goes with Esprits though - ownership can be very expensive without a warrenty to back you up.

Servicing:
Well mine only had 13,000 miles on the clock when I sold it which meant two proper services (6000 mile / 12 months intervals) apart from the mandatory oil change at 1000 miles which was about £50

The 6000 mile service cost me about £250 but the 12,000 mile one was £749 (that did include two new front tyres though)
It had to always be serviced at a main Lotus dealer because otherwise I would of invalidated my warrenty (2 year warenty as standard)

Apparently though if I had had the car another 6000 miles / 12 months the next service was gonna be in the region of £1200 :eek:

Parts:
Well again these were always covered by warrenty but I know a new exhaust was about £650.

Power Steering/Suspension.
Well this is the area at which Lotus really excel (no pun intended)
The Esprit's steering was always regarded to be one of the best power assisted units in production on any car and and I can't argue with that. It was supurbly weighted and very precise with at all speeds with excellent feedback.

However there was actually an issue with the steering that was never resolved.

Near to where I live is a very wide roundabout and I used to like nothing better on a Sunday afternoon then to powerslide the car around there a couple of times. However I didn't do this as much as I would of liked (unlike in my old Elise :naughty: ) because for some reason for about two hours afterwards the power steering pump would start making these horrendous groaning noices!!! The dealer inspected the car and clamined that nothing was wrong but obviously something was :(

The car still steered perfectly well but sounded terrible till it had had the chance to rest!

Maybe it was a problem with the pump oil overheating or something? I dunno but it was very annoying.

Suspension & ride quality are strong Lotus strenghths and it showed in this car.

The handling was supurb and the ride quality excellent. You could drive over pot holes and not even notice them unless they were very severe. Some passengers complained of being uncomfortable over long journeys but I can honestly say that I never was.

Their discomfort was probably due to bucket seats being non-adjustable and maybe lacking a certain amount of padding but like I say it was never a problem for my light slender figure :laugh:

Insurance:
My Esprit was rated as group 19/20 and as a 28 year old male living in fairly low risk Norfolk with a full no-claims bonus and no accidents/convictions/dissabilites I used to pay £1400 for fully comprehensive gold cover with Norwich Union including no-claims bonus protection.
My excess was £100

Unfortunatly Insurance premiums have rocketed just recently and I'm sure that today I wouldn't see any change from £2000 despites being three years older/more experienced.

Storage Space:
Inside the cabin nt very much at all. The glove box was a reasonable size and there was a little pocket in front of the gear shift and a very small top loading 'cubby' between the seats at the back but little else.

The boot was a decent size though (if a rather unusual shape) and there was a small amount of room at the front too.

Certainly there was enough space for two people to go away for a week so long as they used squashable bags etc.

Type Price:
I think that the front tyres were about £120 each and the rears about £180
They were Goodyear Eagle GSA's front and back, all 17" although the rears were slightly wider and lower profile.

Tyre wear at the back is pretty good. I think mine would of lasted another 6000 miles (taking them to 18,000) but the front tyres had to be changed at 12,000 miles although the bloke at the garage did say they showed signs of abuse.

Still you don't buy a car like that for trips to the shops. It's made to be enjoyed and thats exactly what I did ;)


[Edited by Psychic Cookie on 19-01-2001 at 03:49 AM]

[TODave DEFENCE:]

Nah, sod it, I'll stick with me Nissan.

(errr, thanks for the answers though. They were useful... in convincing me I didn't want one)

:) :) :)

[SS004]

hehehe

I enjoyed reading that..

I was a bit worried about there being no reclining seats, but remembered the long bonnet, that eased my mind :)

SS

[Psychic Cookie]

TBH I prolly wouldn't buy another one either. It was great for the two years that I had it but Lotus do small cars like the Elise better then big ones like the Esprit.

What sort of Nissan have you got m8? My psychic powers tell me it's a 200SX in black!

LOL @ SS004
But would you really be comfortable sleeping on the bonnet m8??? :rolling:

[Roast?]

Well i have an Avensis 2L :) Nice car, doesn't compare to an Espirit!

[TODave DEFENCE:]

Originally posted by Psychic Cookie
What sort of Nissan have you got m8? My psychic powers tell me it's a 200SX in black!


Crikey that's scary. I must have posted that somewhere else... but why did you remember it...?

[Psychic Cookie]

I didn't remember it m8 - god's honest truth I have never seen you post details of your car here or anywhere else.

I was in the local Asda car-park about a week ago and parked next to a Black 200SX (and thought how smart it looked too) then when I saw you post "Nah, sod it, I'll stick with me Nissan." I remembered that car and somehow it just seemed so obvious to me that that is what you had got too!

Up until a few weeks ago I was known on these message boards as 'Cookie Monster' but after a string of spooky events happened with one particular member of my ICQ list we both decide I must be Psychic and so Psychic Cookie was born :O

[SS004]

I'm saying nothing, mind you prolly already know what I'm thinking anyway...

:E

[TODave DEFENCE:]

That is just too spooky...

Out of all the models and colours, what were the chances of guessing the correct combination...

Seriously, seriously worried. :)

[T]

lmao cookie, i thought u was just plain crazy:)
defence, i recommend moving house, changing fone number, car, and if possible, wife and name:)

[Psychic Cookie]

:rolling:

How predictable :laugh:

[[KIA]EddZ]

I got one of the ultimate boy racers car (wink wink), now I hear some of joo shouting Scooby but i couldnt afford one of those so I got meself a VW Corrado VR6, 76,000 miles, full Volkswagon SV, lowered suspension, even got a little spoiler that rises when you go past 40 MPH. She goes like runny shi.t of a hot shovel. 0-60 in about 6 secs although has got full Konnex sports exhaust air filter induction kit, so probs about 5.5 ish in reality. 50 in 1st, 80 in second, 110 in third, 135 in fourth, not sure about 5th yet. Top speed of about 150 (according to book) although i did 145 in her on Saturday and there was plenty to go. Handles like a bloody Ferrari, she is as EVO magazine says, the ultimate drivers hatch.

And I,m in luuuuuuuuuv wiv her. Shes the last thing i think about before i go to sleep and the first thing i think about (after a quicky wid da mrs) in the morning when i wake :)

:)

If you have got a spare 6-9gs lying around go buy one, you won't regret it :)

Nice car indeed.

[=2R=Blunted]

I only got a 998cc mini, but ill take you bitches on a twisty road :D Gimme a couple of years and a metro turbo engine anyway :P

[T]

i mite invest in a moped or sommit to take u up on that

[Piglet]

Mini's O\/\/N Jooo All!!!!!!! :E

Nah, I do like mini's though, pretty nifty if ya ask me, + you feel like ya doing 100 when your only doing 30 :)

Piglet.......