[Auto Blog] Swapping Spirits: Audi V8-powered Lotus Esprit

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Filed under: Aftermarket, Tuners, Sports/GTs, Supercars, Audi, Lotus

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Some people just can't be satisfied. As if the Lotus Esprit weren't still one of the hottest-handling cars on the market, back in 1996 the British sportscar firm updated the iconic Bondmobile with an all-new 3.5-liter twin-turbo V8 to give it more of a fighting chance of showing up cars like the Ferrari 355 and Porsche 911 Turbo. Not enough for one enthusiast on the Motorgeek.com forum going by the name of "hilly", who apparently just wasn't satisfied with the engine in his '81 Esprit S3. So he yanked it out and painstakingly swapped in the all-aluminum 4.2-liter V8 from the Audi A8. Although the Esprit's engine bay could accommodate the engine, turning it around and squeezing it in there was no mean feat, requiring the project's undertaker to custom fabricate a slew of parts himself. Follow the link to the forum where hilly describes the process with pictures, or follow the jump to watch the Audi-powered Lotus disappear fast into the horizon.

[source: Motorgeek.com via CarScoop]

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Source http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/10/swappin...d-lotus-esprit/