Lotus Esprit Turbo chassis trumps a 308 vetro

A good review of the Esprit Turbo turns up a comparison to a vetro chassis on this video by Harry Metcalfe:



His Esprit is the equivalent of a targa top, too.
His reminiscence of his 308 vetro appears toward the end of the piece.

I've driven an Esprit but that experience was fairly brief & far apart from my 308 ownership, so I'm unable to comment. It'd be interesting to hear other's opinions.

 

Image Unavailable, Please Login start by saying, I absolutely love the look of the Lotus Esprit.. Two years ago I ask the members here their opinion of the Esprit S1, consensus was not to drag one home even if it was given to me. Well, emotion overruled common sense and I ended up with a white/tartan S1. Fast forward, I just agreed to sell this vehicle last week and it will be shipping to Pennsylvania shortly. Have absolutely no interest in ever owning another Esprit, no matter what year.
No offense to anyone but my opinion is this is little more than a glorified, poorly built kit car. Below is a picture of the chassis which the turbo version also shares. Really enjoy Harrys garage but will take 308 hands-down over any Esprit any day.

 

Should also note that I personally haven’t seen any early turbo Esprit engines make 35k miles.

 

This (this very one) was the very first magazine I bought after I discovered the 308 just a couple months earlier. Summer between 7th and 8th grade.

I have had it for almost 37 years. Wow...
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Everything he says is so spot on.
I have 84 308 and 87 HCi. Both are different. I love the sound of the Ferrari, but the chassis on the Lotus is amazing.

Oddly, wind flows all through out the Esprit cabin, where the 308 seems to be like a little hot bubble.


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What does it say about chassis performance?

 

Here’s an Autocar article on the next gen Turbo and 328

https://www.lotusespritturbo.com/Lotus_Esprit_Turbo_Versus_Ferrari_328GTB.htm

 

Natural to link to Harrys presentation of the glass 308.

 

I had an '87 HCI - bloody fun, especially when that boost cut in. Lousy brakes, and a little tight in the cabin. I was going to trade it on a QV, but the Ferrari just didn't have the push in the back that the Lotus gave, nor the pin sharp chassis. Years later, the same QV came up for sale, and I bought it! Still have it.

 

Just to be particular, any fair comparison of chassis feel between a Lotus Esprit and a Ferrari 308 should be done with a GTB, not a GTS.

-F

 

Why? Lotus has a removable roof. Guess you didn’t bother to watch the video


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Much more difficult to replace an Hci than a QV


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The Lotus also has 4 supports between the roof pillars, while the GTS does not.

 

That makes the chassis comparison all the more valid against the GTS, not the GTB. Chapman's targa approach is surely superior.

 

Depends if you call it a targa, or removable sunroof.

 

Chapman's design is not a targa. It's a removable sunroof. There's a difference, just as a targa is not a convertible.

 

Think the best thing to do is that everyone who is in the stands cheering on the Lotus should purchase one, drive it for a year, then report back . LOL
Sure the chassis Is more rigid! Hard to get much movement when all four corners are strapped down to the tow truck. Just giving you guys grief, all in good nature! They are beautiful cars, just not for me.

 

I've always been a big Lotus fan, lusted for a Europa when I was in high school, but never in any sense did that supplant my deep desire for either a 246 or a 308. If I could only have one and it's true, I really can only have one, there is no way I'd take the Lotus over the Ferrari and that has nothing to do with a hares breath difference in chassis stiffness or torque. When it comes down to the single choice, there is no contest.

 

I think you had a bad experience with a basket case car. I’ve had a few Esprits and they are great fun. Very different cars than the 308. Like anything else a neglected car will treat you like a baby treats a diaper but a well sorted example is an underrated sports car and very engaging!

 

Sorry, I just watched the video on the 308. The removable roof on the Lotus is a little different than the removable roof on the Ferrari. Not sure if the Lotus flexes like the GTS flexes.

If the comparison between a Lotus and a 308 GTS is a fair one, so be it. Different strokes for different folks.

-F

 

"Back in the day", before the internet, and long before I was old enough to drive, I used to read and collect just about ever magazine article that had anything whatsoever to do with Ferrari, which included many articles that compared the Lotus Turbo Esprit to the Ferrari 308/328.

Every single one of those old test drive articles stated that the Esprit had the better chassis out of the two, and had the better acceleration/performance (once the turbo kicked in). It was noted though that, as exciting as the Turbo Esprit was to drive, the 308/328's power deliver was much more linear, and was the more pleasurable power-unit, the Lotus' in-line 4 cylinder being noted as being a bit coarse, made even more noticeable when directly up against the Ferrari V8. Being a turbo-charged 4 cylinder, the Lotus power delivery was also noted for being a bit "all or nothing" - keep it on boost and it was fabulous, but it was all too easy to catch it off boost, leaving the driver having to wait for the boost to come back again, whereas the Ferrari's response was pretty much instant in any gear.

The Ferrari was given the nod on the brakes (just), and when it came to engine noise and sense of occasion, the Ferrari blew the Lotus into the weeds.

Design-wise, the Lotus was praised for having a great, stand out shape, but, the articles all stated that it simply couldn't match the sensuous curves of the 308/328. The Lotus was also noted for having a bit of a kit-car feel to it, with it's British Leyland door handles, and obvious, bought in switchgear from various other manufacturers, rather than having bespoke switchgear. The interior was noted as being even more cramped than the Ferrari's - especially in the foot-well area, and the articles all said that the Lotus interior didn't not feel as special as the Ferrari's.

The conclusion of just about every article I ever read stated that, on it's own, the Lotus Turbo Esprit was a fantastic car, and a performance bargain,with outstanding looks, and the performance to humiliate much more expensive cars, Ferrari included.

"But" they went on to say, in a head to head battle, the superior chassis and performance of the Lotus simply wasn't enough to beat the Ferrari. They said that the Lotus was just a little too rough around the edges, and harder work to get the best out of it compared to the Ferrari. "Buy the Esprit and you won't be disappointed, but if you can stretch your finances to by the Ferrari, then you should, because although it costs more, it's worth it, because it is the better car overall", tended to be the final paragraphs for all of the articles.

Improvements were made to the 4 cylinder Turbo Esprit over the years, to improve it's design - taking away a lot of the early 80's kit car image, to make it brake better, and to make the power delivery smoother, but when it was put up against the Ferrari 348 in the early 1990's, yet again, despite having the better performance, still having the better chassis, and being less of a handful at the limit, it still lost out to the Italian car.

And then in the mid 1990's, the Esprit gained a twin turbo V8 that gave it even more credibility as a supercar, and gave it performance that could leave a Ferrari F355 struggling to keep up. Whilst the exterior design was now more rounded, and less 80's wedge-look in appearance, certain aspects of the interior were still a bit kit car-ish (such as the air-con panel in the centre console - It almost looks like a DIY job!). And yet again, the Lotus Esprit Turbo, whilst being a great car in it's own right, whilst being cheaper to buy than the latest Ferrari, and whilst still being superior to the Ferrari in outright performance, still lost out to the Italian car, with road tests saying that the Italian car was still worth the extra money if you could afford it.

It's all to easy to look at the Esprit's simplistic chassis and dismiss it as being inferior to the Ferrari's far more complex space-frame chassis of the 308/328, and the later monocoque/rear cradle chassis of the 348 and 355, but the reality from just about all of the road tests that I've ever read is that the Lotus chassis has always been the better one.

 

Totally agree with everything said. I read all of those articles too.

That was probably Why I bought the 308 first back in 1998. I thought it would be a better car.

Over the years, however, I noticed that it was very difficult to find an HCI for sale. When I finally bought one I was very surprised just like Harry.

Having a 308 makes some of these comparisons come alive. Even though I expected there to be a chassis difference, I wasn’t expecting the Lotus to be THAT good.

I just really appreciated the video


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Purchased my 1981 308 the first time in 1985, subsequently sold it in 1987 and bought the same car back again around 4 years ago. I also currently have a 1995 S4S Lotus. That is after having (2) 1988's over the years. I do consider the Lotus to be faster and to have better handling and braking then the 308. Since I consider the 308 to be the best looking Ferrari ever I obviously prefer it's styling.

One of my Esprits was totaled while I was sitting at a stoplight. I was the second car at the stoplight and an early 70's Monte Carlo hit me at 25mph. I was unharmed but the car in front of me was launched into the intersection and the driver went to the hospital. I felt that the seats are more comfortable on long trips and the Lotus is definitely better on the highway. And the air conditioner works much better.
I don't get the kit car feeling and I much prefer the steering feel.
My current Esprit has over twice the miles of the 308 and it is tremendously stiffer.

In summary I feel the Lotus is better in almost every way except styling and engine sound.

Having said all that you still wonder if the windows will go back up on the Lotus if you put them down.

Of course if I had to choose one it would be the 308.

 

Are the chassis different from the series 1 Turbo & best considered from the next generation along than the 308? They certainly look different & chassis aside, have lost that Italian Guigiaro elegance to my eyes.

 

i have an S3 and have driven the HCI usa spec which has a better and more powerful motor than the euro spec. i have an different opinion on the handling of esprit vs 308. i had 2 308 and driven a half dozen more. the esprit has much more grip than the 308's, stays flatter, turns in much better and feels more modern up 8 to 9/10ths which most people drive to.... BUT once you go beyond that and get it sliding its bloody awful! it has a rubberband feel to it when you get it sideways. the backbone chassis is much too soft and acts like a spring itself making it unpredictable. ask anyone who tracks theirs... the 308 isnt chassis isnt so stiff either but its limits are lower and more predictable. despite molasses slow steering ratio and the cg high you can slide it drift it around a little at low speeds.

the esprit backbone lack of rigidly is well documented. the torsional rigidity on s1 elise is 6x stronger with only a puny 115hp according to the late roger becker the lotus chassis engineer. you cant put uprated springs on a S3 chassis or rear bars for it would twist the chassis. the later cars it was improved with the leanings of doc bundys trans am/ scca winning SE esprit in which it had substantial reinforcements with a cage binding the suspension pick up points. X180R, sport 300 and gt3 all became fine handling cars which differ from the S3 chassis.