The date 22nd April 1981 was the official birthday of the Esprit S3, a product that owed its propulsion to the 2.2 litre engine of the S2.2, but whose chassis and substantially revised running gear came from the February 1980 Lotus Essex Turbo Esprit. The £13,461.23 Esprit S3 was one of the most sensibly priced Lotus designs ever offered.

By the time the S3 was announced, Lotus could boast of the Esprit concept that it was ‘the only practical mid-engine 2-seat sports car’ made in Britain and the 2.179 Esprits from the 1975 launch to the end of 1981 had been sold. The S3 proved by far the best Esprit to appear in normally-aspirated guise and original outline. Picking up on the Turbo chassis meant vast gains in torsional rigidity, while the suspension system were tailored to the car rather than unhappy legacies of either past traditions or adapted production components.

A new interior also came with the S3, new seats (still fixed back rest) with option leather, new steering wheel, instruments from the Turbo (except boost gauge), greater sound insulation, reducing interior noise by 50%. External changes included colour coded front spoiler, side sills, air scoops and Turbo bumpers.

A total of 767 Esprit S3 were sold between 1981 and 1987

BODYWORK
BODY TYPE 2 seater fixed-head coupé
NUMBER OF DOORS 2
DESIGNER Giugiaro

DIMENSIONS & WEIGHTS
WHEELBASE 2438 mm 96 inches
TRACK/TREAD (FRONT) 1511 mm 59.5 inches
TRACK/TREAD (REAR) 1511 mm 59.5 inches
LENGTH 4191 mm 165 inches
WIDTH 1852 mm 72.9 inches
HEIGHT 1118 mm 44 inches
GROUND CLEARANCE
LENGTH:WHEELBASE RATIO 1.72
KERB WEIGHT 1067 kg 2352 lb
WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION 41.5% front
FUEL TANK CAPACITY 71.8 litres 15.8 [19] UK [US] gal.
AERODYNAMICS
DRAG COEFFICIENT 0.35
FRONTAL AREA
CDA
POWERTRAIN
ENGINE TYPE naturally aspirated petrol
ENGINE MANUFACTURER Lotus
ENGINE CODE 912

CYLINDERS Straight 4
CAPACITY 2.2 litre
2174 cc
(132.666 cu in)
BORE × STROKE
95.3 × 76.2 mm
3.75 × 3 in
BORE/STROKE RATIO 1.25

VALVE GEAR double overhead camshaft (DOHC)
4 valves per cylinder
16 valves in total
MAXIMUM POWER OUTPUT
(DIN) 162 PS (160 bhp) (119 kW)
at 6500 rpm
MAXIMUM TORQUE
(DIN) 217 Nm (160 ft·lb) (22.1 kgm)
at 5250 rpm
SPECIFIC OUTPUT
(DIN) 54.9 kW/litre
74.6 ps/litre
73.6 bhp/litre
1.21 bhp/cu in
SPECIFIC TORQUE
(DIN) 99.82 Nm/litre
1.21 ft·lb/cu3
ENGINE CONSTRUCTION aluminium alloy block & head
SUMP
COMPRESSION RATIO 9.5:1
FUEL SYSTEM 2 Dell’Orto DHLA4SE carburettors
BMEP (BRAKE MEAN EFFECTIVE PRESSURE) 1254.3 kPa (181.9 psi)
MAXIMUM RPM
CRANKSHAFT BEARINGS 5
ENGINE COOLANT Water
UNITARY CAPACITY 543.5 cc
ASPIRATION Normal
COMPRESSOR N/A
INTERCOOLER None
CATALYTIC CONVERTER N
PERFORMANCE
ACCELERATION 0-80KM/H (50MPH) 4.7 s
ACCELERATION 0-60MPH 6.5 s
ACCELERATION 0-100KM/H 7 s
ACCELERATION 0-160KM/H (100MPH) 19 s
STANDING QUARTER-MILE 15 s
@ 92 mph
STANDING KILOMETRE 27.9 s
@ 182 km/h
MAXIMUM SPEED 217 km/h (135 mph)
POWER-TO-WEIGHT RATIO Higher is better
152.04 PS/tonne (1000 kg)
0.15 PS/kg
111.82 kW/tonne (1000 kg)
0.11 kW/kg
149.95 bhp/tonne (1000 kg)
0.15 bhp/kg
0.07 bhp/lb
WEIGHT-TO-POWER RATIO Lower is better
8.94 kg/kW
14.94 lb/bhp
FUEL CONSUMPTION
FUEL CONSUMPTION
UNIVERSAL FUEL CONSUMPTION (CALCULATED FROM THE ABOVE)
LITRES/100KM
KM/LITRE
UK MPG
US MPG
CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS

CARFOLIO CALCULATED CO2 ?

VED BAND (UK)
CO2 EFFIZIENZ (DE)
CHASSIS
ENGINE POSITION mid
ENGINE LAYOUT longitudinal
DRIVE WHEELS rear wheel drive
TORQUE SPLIT N/A
STEERING rack & pinion
TURNS LOCK-TO-LOCK
TURNING CIRCLE
FRONT SUSPENSION I.W.CS.
REAR SUSPENSION I.W.CS.
WHEEL SIZE FRONT
WHEEL SIZE REAR
TYRES FRONT
TYRES REAR
BRAKES F/R Di/Di-S
FRONT BRAKE DIAMETER 267 mm
REAR BRAKE DIAMETER 274 mm
BRAKED AREA
GEARBOX 5 speed manual