Internal Modifications _

1. Sport 300 Seats  

The fibreglass seats were made from an original Lotus Sport 300 seat mould by SJSportscars, UK. The seat backs were painted in Calypso Red to match the body colour. The untrimmed seats were sent to the Trim Shop at Lotus, UK. Mel Broome at the factory arranged for them to be trimmed in magnolia hide. He suggested that the head rest bolster was stitched with the Lotus "Heritage" Logo in matching red thread. I think the results are excellent. The seats were then mounted on the existing seat runners and installed in the car.

 


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2. Blitz SBC-iD Controller
Several years ago I experimented with setting the car up with a digital boost controller. Johan and several other esprit owners have successfully installed APEXI boost controllers in their V8's but no one to my knowledge has done the same for a 4-cylinder car with the GMP4 Delco ECU. After some research I purchased a Blitz SBC-iD II boost controller as it seemed to very well reviewed. ECU control of the wastegate actuator was disabled and transferred tot he Blitz controller. My aim was to change the boost curves and the max boost levels. After quite a lot of experimenting I was never became totally happy with the results, is was as if the GM ECU was always fighting with the new boost controller, as a result the engine ran exceptionally rich. I now have gone back to ECU boost control and use the Blitz SBC-iD II boost controller as a digital display. The controller has an optional extra wiring loom that allows you to tap into three sensor circuits. I have wired up the controller so that I can have real-time readouts from the O2, MAT and MAP sensors.

boost controller

 

3. Start Button  

start button

The start button is the one fitted in the Honda S2000, it can be neatly installed into the cigarette lighter socket and wired into the ignition system with some suitable 30A relays.
start button
 

4. Polished Aluminium“Esprit” Kick Plates  

sill plates

Aluminium sill plates are Lotus original and were fitted to the 2002 V8 onwards. Several options are available including a nice product from Alan Paterson via LEW.

 

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5. Polished Aluminium Indicator Stalks  

alloy stalks

The polished aluminium indicator stalks were sourced from Zertec. Zertec mainly developed after market products for TVR's. The Zertec website is no longer active so I think they are now unobtainable. Leven Technology do something similar.

The turn indicator and wiper stalks are GM parts, and fitted to the Astra, Vectra etc..

 

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alloy stalks
 

6. Polished Aluminium GT3 Gear Knob  

gear knob

The polished aluminium gear knob first appeared on the GT3. A brushed metal version was subsequently fitted to the Sport 350. The leather gear knob on the S4 gearstick can be knocked off and the GT3 one fitted in place. It is best of you remove the gearstick first to avoid damage to the gear selection mechanism.

 

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7. Polished Aluminium V8 Style Gear Ring  

alloy gear ring

The gear ring is from the V8. Two types were used in the V8 and another option is now available from Alan Paterson via Lew.

You may also notice the aluminium window control buttons. These are aluminium clad original switch gear on a carbon fibre base. They are unique and I don't know how many hours Justin spend making these for me. Do not ask him for any more!

 

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8. Chrome Air Vent Controls  

vent knobs

It is not possible to buy aftermarket metal air vent control knobs for the S4. Believe me I have tried. The V8's can use the smaller metal ones fitted to the Elise. I have tried many options to get a durable and polished finish. The current set are very nice and are as result of getting a set of the original knobs chromed by a specialist company.

 

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9. Polished Aluminium Handbrake Sleeve  

handbrake sleeve

The polished aluminium handbrake sleeve first appeared on the last run of V8's. It can be retrofitted to any Esprit. The one pictured here was obtained from Custom Lotus.

 

 
10. Momo Steering Wheel  

The original fitment Lotus Nardi steering wheel was replaced with the Momo steering wheel from a GT3. I much prefer the thickness and overall feel.

 

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11. Interior LED's  

leds

The idea is to replace many of the filament based bulbs with brighter, better and low current draw LEDs. The bulbs can be sourced from www.ultraleds.co.uk This modification was developed by Jonathon Edwards. A full account of his research is documented on the LED page on LEW.
leds
 

12. Fire Extinguisher  

extinguisher

This nice 1 kg dry powder fire extinguisher is available in red, blue, aluminium and a carbon effect. It can be conveniently mounted between the seats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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extinguisher-1

 

13. Shift Lights  

Rev-Lite represents the next generation in shift light technology. It is a self contained unit designed to be mounted on top of your dash pod or within your stock instrument cluster. All the electronics required to operate the 6 sequential lights are housed within the one ultra low line enclosure which measures only W 60 mm x L 60 mm x H 12mm.

The car is revving so freely that felt I needed to fit shift lights in order to stop me looking at the tacho too frequently. The Rev-Lite sequential shift lights were fitted on the top of the binnacle and can just be seen in your field of vision whilst driving. The unit takes its feed from the tacho signal from the ECU. The green leds light sequentially until 5000 rpm then amber till 7000rpm and the red at 7200 rpm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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