LOTUS S4s

Jump on it. God, i love that car.

 

There aren't many of these around.
It's a huge leap forward over the SE

Is it the black one that was shuttled around PA, sold on ebay then came up for sale again?

If yes, its had a lot of owners.

 

S4s is the Lotus Esprit to have. There ain't that many, so don't be too picky about the color.

 

How many dollar?

 

PM or wait for Alxlee to post. I road in his a while ago the car is awesome! He is very familiar with them as well.
Erik

 

This is my S4s... I removed the wing, but might put it back on as it adds a certain style to it. It's an amazing car. I've owned an 89 EspritSE, '00V8 Esprit, and this one is the best so far. AMAZINGLY fast, rare, easy to work on, quite reliable, and much easier to drive in traffic compared to the '89. I've put 6K miles in the past 7 months.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

What do you like more about the S4S as compared to the V8?

 

My V8 Esprit had more torque, an updated interior(although after a new steering-wheel, and other goodies, my S4s interior is great.), and faster top end speed. My S4s seems just as fast, and the handling is actually better.

The V8 Esprit that I owned had several issues. It would constantly back-fire on acceleration ALL THE TIME. I changed the plugs, wire, etc.. but it continued. It was out of warranty, so when I took it in for service, I paid $530 for some exhaust work, and advice on purchasing better gas.. Three months later, the back-firing came back. It also had an issue during LONG trips. After driving for several hours, it was stall constantly. V8's also have the liner issues that is now fixable with the correct sealant. The timing belt also needed to be watched carefully MUCH MORE than the 4cyl Esprits. At the end of the day, you will save about $20K going with an S4 or S4s Esprit. If you can easily spend $48K on a used V8 (that's what a WELL maintained low mileage V8 with the updated interior will go for approx), and can either work on them yourself, or have a good mechanic near by, you should go for a V8 Esprit. If you want an Esprit that is just as reliable (if not MORE), that is almost as fast, looks almost the same, is quite rare, easy to work on, and you want to save approx $20K then go with an S4s.

They're both great cars, and more enjoyable then my '03 NSX

 

24 months or 24,000 miles....

Search deeper you must, young Jedi...

http://lotusespritworld.co.uk/EMaintenance/4-cyl-ServiceSched.html

Craig
90SE

 

That's for UK cars.. US (writting in my manual..sitting in front of me) RENEW CAMBELT AT 100K MILES for US cars.

My S4s is at 34K miles and is still with the same timing belt. I had the Lotus mechanic(one of the very best) inspect it, and he found NO FLAWS, and said to check with him in 12K miles. He said the great condition was due to the fact that both myself and the previous two owners drove the car regularly.

I've spoken to both previous owners, and they maintained the car well, but never changed the cambelts due to its great condition. I'll probably change it at 50K miles just because. I spoke to Dave Simpkin (Lotus Rep) and he also said that if my S4s was driven, and maintained regularly, along with proper storage from the elements, that the I should follow the manual's suggestion on the timing belt.

 

Like everyone has said here so far the S4S is by far the best Esprit to get. If the issues aren't that bad it might be a good deal considering the price point on it.

 

If you check the tension, I see no reason to change the belt every 24000 miles. My mechanic (who had Dave Simkin's job at one time) has never pressured me to do anything more than the "official" interval of 36000 miles but I know he checks the tension when I bring the car in.

As I've mentioned before, I've had an S4s for nearly 5 years. It has 76k+ miles on it. I won't call it "flawless" but it has exceeded my expectations in every respect. It's a pretty simple car, most parts are reasonably priced (many GM electronic bits help here), and it's fun as hell.

My biggest complaint is that chassis rigidity isn't so great. I bet it's better than a 308/328 GTS and 348ts but it's about 1/2 a modern E46 BMW Convertible. The 300 Sport model that preceded the S4s in Europe has a chassis stiffening plate and an engine bay brace that increased rigidity by fully 1/3. The S4s after serial number 50 or so (mine is 32, alas) got the stiffening plate but no S4s got the engine bay brace. I'm finally going to see about retrofitting the plate and having something custom fabbed up in the engine bay this winter. Really. I swear.


http://www.exit109.com/~mfennell/lotus/service has lots of info about my car.

 

I don't know abouth that though...

I passed on two S4S's in Monaco white,( yes, It had to be Monaco) because I didn't want power steering nor abs.

For me the choice was easy to get the SE (though I really wanted an X180R).

Be sure to join www.lotusespritforum.com

better techinical discussion than other forums.

link to my ride...

http://www.glcforum.com/ukesprit/forums/index.php?act=garage&CODE=12&CID=70

Craig

 

Ummmm, ok, my federal lotus repair manual states that the belt should be done at every 'C' service. That's every 25,000 in the states, and tension should be checked every 1500 miles with the correct borroughs (sp) gauge. This belt is not something that should be left undone because it looks 'ok'.

Craig

 

FWIW, my 928 has one of the longest TB ever used and its very critical for engine longevity. Most owners go with 4 years or 40,000, so 4 years it is. Factory spec was 60k.

Nice cars guys.

 

You're correct in your advice to check the tension regularly, but when a Lotus Certified Mechanic tells you that it's ok after he observes, and retensions it, I would say it's okay. We did discuss the amount of years between the intervals for replacement, but that was left up to me. He's a great mechanic that is not greedy, unlike many others I know. I TOTALLY agree with the high degree of seriousness that should be associated with belt maintenance, and I feel that I have done just that. When I owned my V8 Esprit, I replaced my belt at the 28K mark because my mechanic (Harry Appleby) discussed the faults of the V8 engine (something regarding increased vibration that led to early belt life). The V8 belts were given an 80K warranty for free (From the LotusUSA) replacements due to this engine issue.

I recommend to just follow the manual... safe bet