New Lotus Esprit Available in Malaysia
In 2002, the Lotus Esprit reaches a milestone in its illustrious history. Unveiled in 1972 as a styling concept at the Turin Motorshow, the Esprit entered production in the mid-1970s – with James Bond providing added publicity — and is today accepted as being one of the world’s finest supercars.
To celebrate 30 years of this performance car, Lotus has given the Esprit a facelift which is described by as Russell Carr, Chief of Design at Lotus: “The Lotus Esprit is an iconic design, a classic blend of traditional supercar razor sharp edges combined with design elements that have evolved over three decades. Therefore we decided not to change the car dramatically for 2002 as this would be changing the true spirit of the Esprit, a classic supercar.”
The redesigned rear panel and light cluster, which features round rear lights set in pairs, carry over some of the Elise design elements. The front of the Esprit has inherited the lip spoiler from the legendary Sport 350 ensuring greater stability at very high speeds.
Many subtle changes can also be seen in the interior too. The new high-backed seats featuring an embossed Lotus logo are available in two-tone leather and are a no-cost option. A distinct aluminium theme features throughout the interior providing an elegant, technological, lightweight finish to the gearlever, handbrake sleeve, inner door panel and new inner door sill which also features the Lotus logo.
The new “crystal titanium” finish multi-spoke OZ Racing alloy wheels hide powerful 4-pot calipers with an advanced Kelsey Hayes ABS system. Large 320-mm diameter AP Racing two piece brake discs are vented and cross-drilled, front and rear, for maximum cooling and heat dissipation when the car is subjected to sustained heavy braking. The race specification calipers, pads and discs ensure that the Esprit stops as well as it goes.
The Esprit V8 version has a Lotus-designed 3.5-litre twin turbo V8 engine producing 257 kW/350 hp at 6500 rpm (racing versions currently producing over 400 kW/550 hp with very few changes from the standard road engine!).
The product of thoughtful design, the engine is efficient, compact and lightweight (weighing less than 220 kgs, complete with all ancillaries.) A wide torque band with a peak of 400 Nm at 4250 rpm is said to assure an incredibly smooth power delivery and an effortless but rapid acceleration in all five gears.
The 2002 Lotus Esprit retails in the UK for £49,995 and is available for ordering in Malaysia through Lotus Cars Asia-Pacific, a division of Proton. Its on-the-road price in Malaysia is expected to be in the region of RM1 million.
