There are many interpretations of the term sports car but yes the purist view is a two seat, rear wheel drive roadster. Many would argue now though that an all wheel drive Porsche 911 coupe is still a sports car, as it was designed for “dynamic performance”. Thanks for watching!
A lot of myths just mentioned in this video. I owned one. It's a horrible car. The engine is not reliable. It has well known issues with head gasket failures, and that's nothing less than a complete nightmare issue. Not to mention lots of issues with the ignition and fuel system that keep it out of the "reliable" category. It's hard to get parts because all the cars that used that horrible buzzy engine were scrapped a long time ago, and Lotus made changes to the design that prevent use of some items like the head gaskets from other versions of the engine. Handling may have been great for a front wheel drive car of the time, but not a rear wheel drive car, and a modern Corolla handles a 10X better now. And then let's talk about how cheaply made this car is! The fiberglass is not the same quality as the Esprit. It's incredibly thin and was bonded to the car frames with glue that warps over those areas. No easy to fix for that problem at all. The interior quality is seriously at the level of a Geo Metro. It's an absolutely horrible place to be with the lowest quality materials and switchgear. The top gets holes in it from bad design. The fuel tank develops leaks from a bad design and requires expensive replacement. The gear shift fails due to poor design of the linkages. Transmissions are known to have failures at a high rate. The suspension and other metal bits rust out from poor quality. The exhaust downpipe cracks from bad design. The brakes are absolutely horrible even when perfectly serviced, and deteriorate quickly from there with frequent failures of the proportioning values that causes the car to spin when emergency braking. Oil changes are super hard, along with other maintenance tasks due to the front wheel drive config. And the list goes on an on. Then there's the pleasure of everyone making fun of you for driving a hairdressers car. All the loyal owners have very low standards, and they all think their cars are worth $100K, but they are lucky to get 1/10th that, and it's for reasons they refuse to acknowledge. Lotus engineers never wanted to make a front drive car, but GM forced them to do it and made them lie that it makes the car better. The car is a stain on the Lotus reputation, and needs to be forgotten. If nothing else, they need to replace the Lotus emblem with Geo emblems because that's what it really is.
yeesh, tell us how you really feel. I've had mine for about 9 months and it's been pretty fun! Every Lotus will need some special attention and these Elans are really no different, with the exception of most of the mechanical parts being available for pretty cheap because other manufacturers made them.
I had one and had not one issue with it amazing car
And it seems that enthusiasts are finally waking up to its charms.
Best handling lotus ever
And cracking value at the moment too.
Just so you know, part of a sports car’s definition is that it has rear wheel drive. It’s as essential as the two seats and drop top.
There are many interpretations of the term sports car but yes the purist view is a two seat, rear wheel drive roadster. Many would argue now though that an all wheel drive Porsche 911 coupe is still a sports car, as it was designed for “dynamic performance”. Thanks for watching!
A lot of myths just mentioned in this video. I owned one. It's a horrible car. The engine is not reliable. It has well known issues with head gasket failures, and that's nothing less than a complete nightmare issue. Not to mention lots of issues with the ignition and fuel system that keep it out of the "reliable" category. It's hard to get parts because all the cars that used that horrible buzzy engine were scrapped a long time ago, and Lotus made changes to the design that prevent use of some items like the head gaskets from other versions of the engine. Handling may have been great for a front wheel drive car of the time, but not a rear wheel drive car, and a modern Corolla handles a 10X better now. And then let's talk about how cheaply made this car is! The fiberglass is not the same quality as the Esprit. It's incredibly thin and was bonded to the car frames with glue that warps over those areas. No easy to fix for that problem at all. The interior quality is seriously at the level of a Geo Metro. It's an absolutely horrible place to be with the lowest quality materials and switchgear. The top gets holes in it from bad design. The fuel tank develops leaks from a bad design and requires expensive replacement. The gear shift fails due to poor design of the linkages. Transmissions are known to have failures at a high rate. The suspension and other metal bits rust out from poor quality. The exhaust downpipe cracks from bad design. The brakes are absolutely horrible even when perfectly serviced, and deteriorate quickly from there with frequent failures of the proportioning values that causes the car to spin when emergency braking. Oil changes are super hard, along with other maintenance tasks due to the front wheel drive config. And the list goes on an on. Then there's the pleasure of everyone making fun of you for driving a hairdressers car. All the loyal owners have very low standards, and they all think their cars are worth $100K, but they are lucky to get 1/10th that, and it's for reasons they refuse to acknowledge. Lotus engineers never wanted to make a front drive car, but GM forced them to do it and made them lie that it makes the car better. The car is a stain on the Lotus reputation, and needs to be forgotten. If nothing else, they need to replace the Lotus emblem with Geo emblems because that's what it really is.
But apart from all that, you like them? 😂
@@SportsandGT In the right color.
yeesh, tell us how you really feel. I've had mine for about 9 months and it's been pretty fun! Every Lotus will need some special attention and these Elans are really no different, with the exception of most of the mechanical parts being available for pretty cheap because other manufacturers made them.
@@carrichcashpoor well said - I bought an Esprit a couple of months ago and I’m gradually learning which other cars all the bits came from!