Elan vs Esprit Aircon

[F1 LOTUS]

I have a question from a potential buyer for my Elan: -
"can you tell me how well the air conditioner works, i live in arizona and i own a esprit which has a terrible air conditioner."

Anybody have any comparative experience between the relative effectiveness of the Elan and Esprit A/C installations?

[Dave Eds]

Brian - I edited A/C fom the title of the thread due to Ailwyn's request elsewhere not to use / in the title - something to do with the search facility!

Hope you're OK with that!

[F1 LOTUS]

No problem
As always, I appreciate the LEC spirit of being helpful

[wayne]

Can't comment on the esprit aircon but I had a 1992 Elan in Bahrain (middle east) climate similar to arizona, a bit hotter and deffinatly more humid! and the aircon didn't work too well in the summer during the day as car would overheat with it on for long periods and stuck in traffic, whilst it was on I found it Ok but had to cycle it on and off.... evenings & winter time was fine. I've recently returned to bahrain and am driving a fiat barchetta which has similar problems and comparable air con... still hopeing to get my paws on another elan that I have found abandoned and up for sale .... but the guy that owns it is never in the country long enough to sort things out... Grrr!!

[nitroman]

On page 107 of the Mark Hughes book is a pic of the Elan parked in front of the Death Valley national monument with the caption:
"Two-year test program [] Elan in California's Death Valley for the ultimate hot-weather evaluation of engine cooling and air conditioning."

Do you think Lotus ever took the Esprit for a desert test run of the A/C system?

I've found the M100 has to have the coolant mixture changed every couple years for the cooling system to operate at peak efficiency. Miami may never see 100F days, but here in N. Florida/ S. Georgia if you go far enough inland the air stagnates and you lose the peninsula effect of summer-time convergence (yes, I got an 'A' in meteorology!)... or just remember the saying "hotter than Georgia asphalt."