Anyone who knows anything about changing your engine for another 2nd hand engine knows that replacing the clutch while they engine and gearbox are out is rule No1.
These aren't hobbyists. They're on the clock. They turn up for filming in the morning, and expect to go home in the evening. If someone has to source a new clutch for a Lotus Esprit (in the days before everyone was online), and it can't be there that same day, then the producers aren't gonna bother. They'd have to get all the presenters and crew to come in for an extra day, and pay them all for it, too.
I remember buying Performance Ford Magazine, with Rod's Cossie on the front cover. It was running less power then, but more torque than a McLaren F1. That was the quote. RIP Rod
Ah the Esprit, known for having a really sh1t renault gearbox that required lotus to detune the V8 themselves so it wouldn't sh1t itself, the PERFECT choice of car. God 5th gear was utter tat.
I love the silver v8, guy in work had one from day 1 and took me out, very memorable, but if you want to go fast and cheap, I would have bought an old m5 or something forged the engine and turbo it and then stuck in larger gear ratios.
@@dieselscartalk4146this was before the E60 M5 was even unveiled. The cosworth was the first car to make 150 mph truely affordable in the UK (if you could stomach the insurance), at this point in history 200 was still a supercars game
Car was never any good to start with it didn't even make the trip home after they brought it??? Then they try to make it do 200mph on the cheap when it was no good to start with...if a car doesn't even make it home after you have just brought it that tells you everything you need to know right there
I've had a late model Corvette hydroplane at 70-80mph and they are goin close to 200 on wet runway? Do they have more gravity where they talk like James Bond? The real one. Sean. Perhaps skinny tires help. Does it rain every day? Surely there are dry track days.
@@slideways8022 Rain and wet roads do not care about ALL wheel drive. Different from 4 wheel drive. Some physics involved but I'm too busy, can't, to explain it.
False economey replacing the internals with standard parts. SHould have uprated and lowered compressions then upped the boost. Blew my 350Z at 431BHP and instead of replacing standard, I went the uprated route. If only the company fitting the new uprated bottom end remembered to install the new gaskets I provided. Warped block. £6600 down the pan.
I remember this - utterly daft taking a notoriously temperamental car and asking it to do those speeds on budget mods. Take a more reliable base and you might have had a chance.
The V8 gearbox was always gonna be a bit off, they were really just units out of Renault 19s that were bodged to fit because lotus couldn’t be bothered to make their own.
@@razgriz380cosworth we’re quite good for longevity, many 150,000 miles+ on highly tuned motors. The only way the sills would rot out quicker was if you made them with cheese, but even then a good undercarriage spray in the winter and you were good to go
@@slideways8022 the only ones that survive today are those that have been cosseted since day one, spending ridiculous sums every year to keep it on the road. I've only ever seen 1 that had miles that would put it in a higher mileage category and that was only 80k. 150k+ I'm not buying that. Not to mention that they rot out so heavily that they could barely make it that far so it's a moot point anyway. A car isn't just an engine, if the whole package is poor then 1 part does not redeem it.
Car was never any good to begin with if it breaks down on the way home after you have just brought it tells you its no good straight away then they try to make it do 200mph on the cheap with a car that was never any good to start with