[mpesik]

Hello.
I was wondering how the weather is in your parts?
Have you been able to prep your vehicle, mechanically or superficially.
Has it been too cold so far.
Over here, I was detailing my car a month ago. I am far from finished due to the fact that we just had some snow and temperatures are very low. Uggh!
Ordered parts but nothing will be done until mild weather appears.
Anticipation rears its head.
Mike.

 

[amanda11270]

This past weekend, the weather here in PA was excellent for the first time this year to drive the Esprit, however I could not get it out of the garage due to a very large Easter craft sale my wife had going on out of our garage. And its my fault, I helped her set it up. My garage is a 3 car, however one bay is extremely large and well over two cars wide, half of it is actually my workshop I run my business out of, and you have to go in my far two car door, do a 90 degree turn, then drive the car accross the two garages into the third thats actually under my house. That is where the Lotus was all weekend, blocked by craft tables that was way too much to move until Sunday when the whole sale was over.

It was nice out today, and is supposed to be for the rest of the week, however its only supposed to be in the 50's. I thought of taking the car out today, but changed my mind, I washed it about a month ago and have it under my cover, Im hoping to give it a waxing before driving it again, unless the weather is super nice spur of the moment.

I think you just bought your Esprit right? Its hard to keep track because it seems alot of cars are for sale lately on the forum and I see some new User Id's of new owners. But I try to do all my maintenance in the off season, I rebuilt my gearbox over about a months time winter 2012/13, This past winter I did some more upholstery, replaced my speedo and timing belt service. But then owning an Esprit is always maintenance so its hard to predict when it will need it.

 

[EspritNOOB]

In socal there are seldom any bad days. Took the car to work today. Has been in the high 70's all week. I take it out at least once a week. I have added about 1200 miles in a year.

 

[LotusGuy48]

Here in cental Florida I guess we are spoiled as we can drive our cars year-round, although actually I tend to drive mine somewhat less in the summer due to our regular thunderstorms most afternoons.

 

[stugilmour]

Sounds like it is going well Mike.

I got the car out three times so far, but like Mike we got another dose of white stuff this week. All ready to go now.

Will be up to Mike's neck of the woods next week for the first track day of the year, 'weather permitting'.

Castrol Raceway’s Road Course

Stu

 

[jphoenix]

I drive mine all winter long on I-5, unless the temp is below freezing as they are starting to use salt in Seattle these days. After a good rain though the salt is gone. The S4 handles very well in the rain, but I run slightly higher pressures (31F, 33R) because there's a lot of standing water on the roads here and it works pretty well.

I did a track day a couple weeks ago at The Ridge, it rained all day, but only managed to spin once, certainly due to driver error than anything wrong with the car:facepalm.

I used to not want to drive the Lotus in the rain - but the car doesn't mind getting wet - unlike my old XKE that would quit in fog.

I've noticed that the 90's era turbo lag built into my car is something to watch for when getting on it in the rain and a turn, that power comes in fast when the conditions are right and can easily upset the balance, but once in the groove in a sweeper, the car is very controllable with the throttle.

If you haven't tracked your Esprit yet, it's worth it to find the limit (mine - not the car's limit, not sure I've found that yet!). If you're worried about damaging your car (I am) you can buy HPDE insurance for a track day, About $150 for agreed value and it's worth the peace of mind and allows me to push knowing that if I go into the armco, I get to upgrade to a V8

Jim

 

[91MR2]

The weather is finally breaking here in the north-east...about time...taking the Esprit to Rochester this evening for a Lotus Engineering presentation at RIT...hopefully all goes well...

 

[petemon]

I picked up my car last October. It took my son and I until just before Christmas to get it roadworthy...best Christmas present ever, we had a week of unusually nice weather, a few days off work and the coolest new toy I ever got.

Since then I've put just over 1000mi on the car (more than it's been driven in the past 8 years). Here in coastal Virginia we had a nastier than normal winter, but nothing compared with what it was like up north. Still managed to get in plenty of days were it wasn't too cold or rainy.

So far it's been about 2-1...2 days tinkering for every 1 day of just cruising around. The job list is getting gradually shorter and the car is a little better every time I take it out.

There have only been a couple of things that failed prompting new additions to the to-do list. The front left caliper and slave cylinder developed leaks prompting replacement and bleeding of their respective systems. The mounts on my custom chargecooler failed and it developed a leak in the front cc hard line near the radiator. All in all not bad or unexpected for a car that's been neglected for nearly a decade.

I just recharged the AC to get it ready for a long hot summer.

Left on the list:
New tires (Toyo Proxes 4)
Refinish the OE rear rims I recently bought (ebay, $50 ea.)
Respray the bumpers and front spoiler
Replace the radio and fix the power antenna
Find someone to fix the tear in the driver's seat & make a new shift gaiter
Replace the nylon fuel lines
Replace missing fog lights

Next winter I plan to pull the engine and re-shim the valves as they're on the tight end of the spec. Also my cam towers and rear main seal are leaking a little. While it's out I'll check over the rest of the internals to see if anything else needs doing.

 

[lcf_guy]

Yes: it was pushing 100 this week so I didn't drive it.

 

[lotusespritman]

The weather here in Montreal is Ok .around 55 degrees F, 3 days out of 7 are Esprit driving days,... can`t complain. Poor Mike (Mpesik) it looks like another 25cms of snow again in Calgary...:facepalm

Have some minor issues also to be addressed ... just doing it slowly but surely. For the most part I have been enjoying driving the car and the weather after that brutal winter we had . Finally the summer here ...whuuhooo :coolnana::coolnana:

Happy Driving Everyone!
JR

 

[TCAR]

Weather? Prepping the car ...

For some reason I rarely give it a thought. My '05 Elise is my everyday ride. Having said that, normally I do not encounter snow, sleet, etc. Heavy downpours occasionally. I switch to tamer rubber in the winter, and then go back to either A048's or the R888's on in late spring. Usually, I replace the hardtop with the softtop at the same time. Other than that, check tires pressures and just have fun.:shift: