Lotus Esprit

The Lotus Esprit was first introduced in 1972, at the Tuirn Motor Show. It was later released to the public in 1976. The Esprit was originally going to be named the "Kiwi" but like all the Lotus models before, and to continue the tradition, it had to start with the letter "E", so they named it the Esprit. Most people know the Esprit from the James Bond films "For Your Eyes Only" where that one bad guy decided to blow it up by smashing the window with a AK-47 and "The Spy Who Loved Me" where he drove the Esprit under water. There have been five generations of the Esprit with a sixth proposed at the 2010 Paris Auto Show, but today I'm going to talk about the third generation or S3 which is my favorite generation. The S3 went from 1981-1987 with two engine options: a 2.2L inline four and a special edition 2.2L inline four Turbocharged version. The non turbo engine produced 160hp at 5000rpm which for a car that only weighted 2,690lbs is a lot. Since it weighed so little the Esprit could go from 0-60mph in just 6.5 seconds and do 135mph. On the inside things where kinda funky, like a tape deck, on the celling. But those weird bits made it iconic and what I think is a great looking car. New the Esprit cost $17,256 which in 1981 is like $42,917 to use which is pretty awesome I have to say. Also the S3 Esprit got 23.2 mpg.

De Tomaso Pantera

In 1971 a small Italian car company released their 3rd sports car: The Pantera. It was a very small rear engine, rear wheel drive coupe. It was so small in  fact the if you where any taller then 6ft you would be scraping your head off on the roof. But how cares about that when it had a 380hp Ford V8 in a car that weighed 3,123lbs. That might seem like a heavy car for 380hp but Car and Driver got it from 0-60 mph in just 5.5 seconds and all the way up to 159mph. The first year the Pantera was in production 1,0037 made it to the US. Unfortunately those first one where unreliable, unsafe, and would rust easily. For instance Elvis Presley shot a gun at his Pantera when it would not start.The last Panters rolled off the production line in 1991 with a total of 7260 made with 5,500 of them ending up in the US. The original 1970's price was 10,295 but you can buy a 1986 Sport with 26,390 miles on it for $119,995.

Caparo T1

The Caparo T1 is not only the craziest car I have ever seen but it is also street legal. Yes this two seater is legal in GB, but you would have to be mad to get it. First off it only weighs 1,000lbs and it also has a 3.5L V8 which cranks out 575hp which gives the T1 a power to weight ratio that is better then a Bugatti Vayron at 1hp for every 1.74lbs. The T1 can reach 60mph in just 2.2 seconds and reach a break neck speed of 205mph. If you have the right tires the body, which was designed by the same people who designed the McLaren F1, can produce 3g of downforce which is more then the average car would dare try. There is a downside to the T1, there are only 16 units in the UK and each one was sold to its lucky owner for $306,969.

BMW Z4 and Audi RS4s (UK) Paintball fight

The BMW Z4 is defiantly not the most expensive BMW nor the fastest, but it is affordable (for a BMW) and fast for its price. The Z4 comes in three options but I will talk about the Sport version because its better. Also it comes in either automatic or manual transmission. The Z4 is rather heavy because of being a convertible car companies have to add extra support to compensate for the loss of a egg like support around the driver. Even though the Z4 only has two seats it weighs 3549lbs. Now to move this heavy German, BMW put a 3.0L, twin-turbo, inline 6 which punches out 335hp at 5900rpm and 332 ft-lb of torque at 1500rpm. Now even though it does not have a very powerful engine and is also very heavy it can still do an electronically limited 155mph and 0-60mph in just 4.8 seconds. Plus you can get 17/24mpg for only $64,200.

Bonus Feature!
2013 UK only Audi RS4s Black vs. White paintball fight.

Concept update: Peugeot Onyx

Around February 22 Top Gear Magazine got to drive the new concept car From the French car company Peugeot. And unlike most concept cars this one could actually drive quite fast like in a 600bhp, 3.7 V8 diesel out of their 2012 908 Le Mans race car. To help the giant engine there is a very well made sequential gear box operated by paddle shifters. Also the Onyx only weighs 2,425lbs with bronze body panels but it does have a carbon-fiber chassis. The power-to-weight ratio is 545bhp/tone which is a little more then a "normal" Bugatti Vayron. It is also very good in the corners, with suspension that handles well but somehow is also very comfortable. Specially since the Onyx has 20 inch rims and low profile tires. Unfortunately the Onyx is worth over $1,306,380 and will most likely not be built but we can only hope for the best.

 This steering wheel was not on the concept but added for actual driving

 

Concept Update: McLaren P1

On March 5 at 10:15 am GMT McLaren will finally unveil its second hyper car that will tread in the footsteps of the McLaren F1. Yesterday they unveiled the dash for the McLaren P1. Well the instrument cluster in race mode. The Also told Top Gear that when in race mode the lovely rear wing will move to a rather appealing and aerodynamic stance. Mobil 1 will work on the fluids for the hydraulic wing while  Pirelli will work on the tires and Akebono will handle the breaks.The McLaren will also feature a power-to-weight ratio of 600bhp per ton. It will also sit on the same carbon tub as the MP4-12C, and will feature KERS too. KERS or Kinetic Energy Recover System, gives a boost from kinetic energy or heat given off from breaking. Pretty cool huh, oh this system is used on the Prius to recharge the batteries. Oh, and it will generate over 600kg or 1,332.7736lb of downforce.

 P1 so far at the Paris Auto Show in Sep of 2012

2014 Porsche Cayman/S

The all new Porsche Cayman is the third car after the 911 Cerrera and Boxster to be redisinged from the ground up. It has a longer wheel bass and is 66 lbs lighter then the pervious model. It is also filed to the brim with high tech things like thermal management, Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) which controls the rear differential and braking. Also the Cayman Porsche Stability Management (PSM) which controls the steering for precise control. The Cayman has a 2.7L flat 6 with 275 hp @7400 rpm and 213 ft-lb of torque between 4500 and 6500 rpm. It can reach 60mph in just 5.4 seconds and reach 165mph. The S model has a 3.4L flat 6 with 325hp @ 7400 rpm and 273 ft-lb of torque between 4500 and 5800 rpm. It can get from 0-60mph in just 4.7 seconds and will go all they way up to 175mph.The Cayman cost $52,600 and an average fuel consumption of 30mpg and weighs 2,888 lbs . The Cayman S cost $63,800 and has an average fuel consumption of 28mpg and weighs 2,910 lbs.