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Mark Chow's 1998

Mark Chow from Toronto, Canada owns a 1998 V8 in Calypso Red, with a Tan interior.

Model:

V8
Year: 1998
Colour: Calypso Red
Interior: Tan
Driving Style: Normal
Miles per year: 4,000 – 8,000
Owned Since: 2013
Purchase from: Private
Serviced at: Turbosportique
Other Cars: 2010 Mercedes Benz C350 4M
Previous Lotus': Pending
Why an Esprit: The one car that has captured my attention since the 70's
Upgrades:

Steering wheel upgrade, Center exhaust, Lotus door sills, Alpine stereo with MP3 player

Problems: passenger mirror loose and tilted down towards ground but was easily readjusted - will see if it stays put. There seems to be a small gap in the glass roof rubber seat. I also searched Tire Rack.com for tires and only Sumitomo's HTRZ II come up as matching replacements. Any suggestions for other options?
Info: Car is in storage until spring arrives. The car was initially a USA car but was imported to Canada in 2003. Fog lights were converted to daytime running lights.

          

Additional info / updates will be provided once the car is out of storage and on the road again in the spring. Hoping to replace headlamps with HID solution. Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

UPDATE: December 2014
Here is an update to my 1998 V8TT. In looking to update the look of my Esprit, I came across an HID solution from Oracle lighting. These LED lo-high beams update the look of the car and at the same time provide a great HID solution for night-time driving. The one aspect of the Esprit which dates it are the pop-up headlights, however these are brighter than the bi-xenon's on my Mercedes and they modernize the Esprit nicely! Installation was plug & play for my North American Esprit. I also updated the fog / driving lights and parking lights with modern white LED's to match the new headlamps.


UPDATE: April 2015
Tires: I ended up going with the Michelin Pilot Super Sports. These are great tires and my Esprit handles like "it is glued to the road". I did have to go with 245/40zr17s on the front though instead of the 235s, but if anything the car is more neutral than before which tended to mild understeer.

I wanted to modernize the headlights given the technological advancements in this area since 1998 and decided to go with the Oracle LED 5.75 sealed beam replacements for my North American V8. These were plug & play and they are now super bright - brighter than bi-xenons! I also went with LED DRLs and parking lights to match the colour temperature (see pic attached). This really modernized the Esprit as, in my opinion, the headlights were the only thing that dated the car. More update to come this season!.

superfish@rogers.com

 
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