Lotus Esprit with SHO motor - LotusTalk

MarkHaigler · 04-17-2008, 09:19 PM

Several years ago I owned a S2 Esprit that Chuck Beck had installed a Ford SHO motor into. It was a lot of fun but I moved on, now have a 94 S4. I'm wondering if anyone has seen the car recently? It was gold when I sold it.
If you know where the car is now I would love to know!

megatron · 04-17-2008, 09:30 PM

Interesting on your description about "Ford SHO motor", when the motor is the only thing that was not Ford on their SHO. Yamaha SHO motor sound better on an Esprit anyway. Good luck on locating the car.

Tristar Racing · 04-17-2008, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by megatron

Interesting on your description about "Ford SHO motor", when the motor is the only thing that was not Ford on their SHO. Yamaha SHO motor sound better on an Esprit anyway. Good luck on locating the car.

It was a shared effort, not just Yamaha. Similar to the Toyota engine under the hood of Celicas and Elises.

A little known fact is the SHO engine was actually developed for a mid-engined sports car that Ford pulled the plug on. It actually made it to focus groups and there were three different body styles being evaluated, but Ford canceled the whole thing before it saw the light of day. In fact almost no one knew about the car, internally known as GN34.

I've seen pictures in one book, here was one of the styles being evaulated. Its a shame it was canned...

For the record below is the less attractive of the two designs that I have seen, still have never found pics of the Italdesign version. The book has a pic of the Ghia version.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...16/ai_n6202547

Interesting link talking about Ford and Lotus, it mentions the GN34 briefly.

lotusmark · 04-18-2008, 08:39 AM

I remember that car being in Chucks shop back in the late 80's. I had just bought a 550 kit from him and he was working on the Shoguns. The 904 that is currently being produced was back in a corner under wraps too. Chuck is da man!

roffle waffle · 04-22-2008, 04:59 PM

that would be a fantastic swap. Then again, so would be the v8 from the new bmw m3

Tickle · 04-22-2008, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkHaigler

Several years ago I owned a S2 Esprit that Chuck Beck had installed a Ford SHO motor into. It was a lot of fun but I moved on, now have a 94 S4. I'm wondering if anyone has seen the car recently? It was gold when I sold it.
If you know where the car is now I would love to know!

This car was famous on the S1S2S3 yahoo forum. The last I heard of it, it was in Florida. I'm sure that if you drop a line on the S1S2S3 forum, someone will know where it is at. Certainly, if you ask Tim Engle - I'm sure he'll know.

Enjoy,

~Phill
Former owner of JPS#027

Dmbrown34 · 04-22-2008, 06:27 PM

Keep us posted on this one!

I remember a company here in los angeles was putting honda bc18s into early European Elise models. Called them back in the day when I first started my lust for lotus to see if they could put a honda into the espirt. They said they had a lot of interest in that swap, but had no plans of pursuing it.

MotorCade · 04-23-2008, 07:35 AM

Yes, please do keep us posted. I'd love to know more, as I'm currently in the middle of shoehorning an SHO motor into an X1/9.

Cade

Lancia · 04-23-2008, 02:44 PM

Are you talking about the SHO 6 cyl by Yamaha or the Ford SHO 8 cyl?
I would like to hear about this car.
I have a chance to get a 914 with the SHO 6 in it.
Opinion was heavy but great engine.

carbuff · 04-24-2008, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lancia

Are you talking about the SHO 6 cyl by Yamaha or the Ford SHO 8 cyl?
I would like to hear about this car.
I have a chance to get a 914 with the SHO 6 in it.
Opinion was heavy but great engine.

Interesting...the SHO V8 motor is lightweight with high output. It is going into Volvos (XC90 and S80) currently.

lotusbrakes · 04-24-2008, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carbuff

Interesting...the SHO V8 motor is lightweight with high output. It is going into Volvos (XC90 and S80) currently.

The XC90 motor shares no parts with the old SHO motor 3.4 V8. It is actually a Volvo tuned version of the Ford Modular V8 with 4.4 liters and DOHC.

The SHO was an interesting 3.4 liter Twin Cam V8 that made 235ish hp. It was designed primarily by Yamaha and proved to be pretty reliable aside from an issue with the camshafts snapping off at the cam gear

This is pretty easily remedied with some reinforcement welds, and otherwise it seems like a great choice for the esprit.

ChrisB · 04-25-2008, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lotusbrakes

The XC90 motor ... is actually a Volvo tuned version of the Ford Modular V8 with 4.4 liters and DOHC.
...

Not correct. The Volvo V8 was designed by Yamaha for Ford and has a 60 degree bank angle. Nothing at all in common with the modular V8 (the 4.6L commonly used in many Ford products).

carbuff · 04-26-2008, 06:28 AM

Quote:

The Volvo V8 was designed by Yamaha for Ford and has a 60 degree bank angle.

Yeah, I had a source in Volvo UK that was excited about this "new" V8 because it would fit into a traditional Morgan chassis....other than that I don't know of any details. I still think it's an interesting proposition, given future availability and all!

Bob Huber · 09-04-2008, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkHaigler

Several years ago I owned a S2 Esprit that Chuck Beck had installed a Ford SHO motor into. It was a lot of fun but I moved on, now have a 94 S4. I'm wondering if anyone has seen the car recently? It was gold when I sold it.
If you know where the car is now I would love to know!

Unless there is more than one gold Esprit SHO V6, it's in Austin Texas.
I've ridden in it and it looks and runs great. The only issue is reverse gear gets finnicky after it warms up, but I believe a couple of new linkage parts will cure that. What else would you like to know?

My question would be if you were to do it today, would you use the more readily available 3.0V6 Ford Duratec V6 a couple of guys have use din England?

Esprit V6

Esprit V6 - Megasquirtmaps.com

There are other links out there pointing out three SHO Esprits (termed SHOTUS)...
Early Esprit with Ford SHO V6 ?

Note that KellyW asks for more info, Is there anything you would share?
Note that KellyW also asks for info on the megasquirt site.

There is also another swap here in Austin - a 231cid Buick OHV V6, but I haven't ridden in that one.

For the general discussion on SHO swaps, there are several wierd links...
SHO engine in a TR8:
TR7 SHO Conversion Page
SHO engine in a Probe:
SHO Probe PROJECT: SUPER FRANKENSTEIN
SHO engine in a Festiva (Check Beck's SHOgun):
Jay Leno's SHOgun
SHO in a Cobra:
SHO Cobra

04-17-2008, 09:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
MarkHaigler Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 1	Lotus Esprit with SHO motor Several years ago I owned a S2 Esprit that Chuck Beck had installed a Ford SHO motor into. It was a lot of fun but I moved on, now have a 94 S4. I'm wondering if anyone has seen the car recently? It was gold when I sold it. If you know where the car is now I would love to know!

04-17-2008, 09:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
megatron live free or die Join Date: May 2006 Location: Northeast OH Posts: 837	Interesting on your description about "Ford SHO motor", when the motor is the only thing that was not Ford on their SHO. Yamaha SHO motor sound better on an Esprit anyway. Good luck on locating the car. __________________ 05 Elise (RIP)

04-18-2008, 08:39 AM	#4 (permalink)
lotusmark Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chicago Posts: 625	I remember that car being in Chucks shop back in the late 80's. I had just bought a 550 kit from him and he was working on the Shoguns. The 904 that is currently being produced was back in a corner under wraps too. Chuck is da man! __________________ '98 S190 #4010 225hp 1450 lbs=

04-22-2008, 04:59 PM	#5 (permalink)
roffle waffle Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 12	that would be a fantastic swap. Then again, so would be the v8 from the new bmw m3 __________________ http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/6859/siggreybz8.jpg

04-22-2008, 06:27 PM	#7 (permalink)
Dmbrown34 Grrrrrr Baby Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,593	Keep us posted on this one! I remember a company here in los angeles was putting honda bc18s into early European Elise models. Called them back in the day when I first started my lust for lotus to see if they could put a honda into the espirt. They said they had a lot of interest in that swap, but had no plans of pursuing it. __________________ Add me on MySpace 2005 Lotus Elise LSS 2003 Corvette 50th Anniversary Convertible Visit LA Club Chat for the latest on clubbing and nightlife in Los Angeles

04-23-2008, 07:35 AM	#8 (permalink)
MotorCade Will race for sushi Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Temecula, CA Posts: 2,340	Yes, please do keep us posted. I'd love to know more, as I'm currently in the middle of shoehorning an SHO motor into an X1/9. Cade __________________ www.lotuschallenge2008.blogspot.com

04-23-2008, 02:44 PM	#9 (permalink)
Lancia Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,306	Are you talking about the SHO 6 cyl by Yamaha or the Ford SHO 8 cyl? I would like to hear about this car. I have a chance to get a 914 with the SHO 6 in it. Opinion was heavy but great engine.

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