The Esperante is a

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

made by

Panoz Panoz is an American manufacturer of sports automobiles founded in 1989 as Panoz Auto Development by Dan Panoz, son of Don Panoz. Panoz products have included the Panoz Roadster and AIV Roadster, the Panoz Esperante, and the Panoz Avezzano. Pa ...

, an American car manufacturer.

First generation

There have been several Esperante models: the base model GT, the GTLM, the GTS, the JRD (an aftermarket upgrade brand similar to Roush Mustangs), the Brabham, and the 2015 430-hp Spyder and 560-hp Spyder GT. Each model has different specifications. The GTLM, for example, uses a supercharger to boost power from to , raising performance from 0-60 mph in 5 seconds to 4 seconds. The GTS on the other hand is built as a driver's class spec car, to

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional ...

standards, with harness, roll cage, side bars, etc. Additionally, it is around lighter than the base Esperante, has a steel 5.8 liter V8 racing engine that produces , and is made of easily replaceable panels to facilitate small impact race repair. It can do 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 4.2 seconds, go up to a top speed of , and achieve 0.98 g of lateral grip. Panoz's engines are sourced from

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

LS-based small-block engine and

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

's Modular V8 family. Production continues today. The company currently builds the Spyder and Spyder GT, an Esperante convertible with a removable hardtop, and a new version of the car was introduced in late 2015. The specifications below apply to the 1st Generation. The current Esperante Specifications can be found at th
Panoz
website

Specification

Body and chassis

*Layout: Front/mid-engine,

rear wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-wheel ...

, luxury sport

convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

*Body: Hand assembled lightweight SPF

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

. *Chassis: Hand built Modular extruded aluminium, bolted and bonded to

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

subframe A subframe is a structural component of a vehicle, such as an automobile or an aircraft, that uses a discrete, separate structure within a larger body-on-frame or unit body to carry certain components, such as the engine, drivetrain, or suspen ...

Engine and drivetrain

*Engine:

Ford Modular The Ford Modular engine is Ford Motor Company's overhead camshaft (OHC) V8 and V10 gasoline-powered small block engine family. Despite popular belief that the Modular engine family received its moniker from the sharing of engine parts across nu ...

, Hand assembled

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

, 32-valve, 90-degree, aluminum V8 *

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

: 4,601 cc *

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

: 305 hp (309 PS; 227 kW) @ 5800 rpm *

Torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...

: @ 4200 rpm * Compression Ratio: 9.8:1 * bore by stroke: 3.55 by 3.54 in (90.2 by 90.0 mm) * Fuel:

Gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

93 octane *

Fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All comp ...

Sequential In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is called th ...

electronic *

Ignition Ignition may refer to: Science and technology * Firelighting, the human act of creating a fire for warmth, cooking and other uses * Combustion, an exothermic chemical reaction between a fuel and an oxidant * Fusion ignition, the point at which a ...

Distributor A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plug ...

less, coil-on-plug * Transmission: Tremec T45 5-speed manual; 4-speed automatic (optional) *

Gear Ratio A gear train is a mechanical system formed by mounting gears on a frame so the teeth of the gears engage. Gear teeth are designed to ensure the Pitch circle diameter (gears), pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping, pr ...

s: 1st: 3.37:1 2nd: 1.99:1 3rd: 1.33:1 4th: 1.00:1 5th: 0.67:1 :Rev: 3.22:1 Final: 3.27:1 * Differential: Limited-slip type, 8.8 inch (224 mm) ring gear, aluminum case *

Weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity. Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar qua ...

Performance

*0-62 mph (0–100 km/h): 4.2 sec (Esperante GTLM) *0-62 mph (0–100 km/h): 4.9 sec (Esperante GT) *0-62 mph (0–100 km/h): 5.1 sec (Esperante) *Quarter Mile: 13.4 sec. @ 107.3 mph (Esperante GT) *Quarter Mile: 13.7 sec. @ 103.5 mph (Esperante) *Lateral Acceleration: 0.96 g (Esperante GT) *Lateral Acceleration: 0.92 g (Esperante) *Top Speed: 155 mph (250 km/h) with manual transmission *Top Speed: 150 mph (242 km/h) with automatic transmission

Suspension

*Front: Fully independent short-long arm (SLA) double wishbone configuration with gas charged Eibach coil-over shock absorbers and

anti-roll bar An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) whee ...

*Rear: Fully independent, double wishbone with horizontally opposed, pushrod-and-rocker activated Penske gas charged coil-over shock absorbers and anti-roll bar. * Wheels: Aluminum

BBS BBS may refer to: Ammunition * BBs, BB gun metal bullets * BBs, airsoft gun plastic pellets Computing and gaming * Bulletin board system, a computer server users dial into via dial-up or telnet; precursor to the Internet * BIOS Boot Specificat ...

, 17 by 9 inches (430 by 230 mm) *Installed

Tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which t ...

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

, Dunlop P255/45ZR17

Brakes

*Manufacturer: Performance Friction Brakes *Type: Four-wheel power assisted ventilated discs * ABS: Electronic three channel, four sensor *Front: Dual-piston caliper with high-pressure steel braided brake lines and 13 inch (330 mm) vented steel rotor *Rear: Single-piston caliper with 11.7 inch (297 mm) vented steel rotor

Steering

*Type Power assisted rack and pinion *Turns lock-to-lock: 2.5 *Ratio: 15:1

Dimensions and capacities

Seating Capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

: 2 *

Wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

: 106.0 in (2.713 m) *Track: ''front'' 60.9 in (1.55 m), ''rear'' 63.2 in (1.58 m) *Overall Length: 176.3 in (4.478 m) *Overall Width: 73.2 in (1.859 m) *Overall Height: 53.4 in (1.356 m) *Ride Height: 5.0 in (127 mm) *Curb Weight: 3200 lb (1,450 kg) *Fuel Capacity: 15.7 U.S. gal (59.4 L)

Other Technical specifications

*AM/FM/ audio system With Subwoofers and dual Speakers *Air Conditioning *Power windows *Cruise Control *Traction Control *Stability control *Power Folding Convertible top for the convertible model

Second generation

Racing (Panoz Esperante GTLM)

A racing version of the Esperante known as the Esperante GT-LM was developed by Panoz for the GT2 category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 2006 was a year of noticeable achievement for Panoz. PTG Esperante

The #50

Multimatic Motorsports Multimatic Motorsports is the competition arm of Multimatic Special Vehicle Operations. Founded in 1992, the team has competed in the Firestone Firehawk Series, Motorola Cup, IMSA GT Championship, American Le Mans Series, Grand-Am Cup, Rolex Sport ...

Team Panoz Esperante GT-LM took a first place podium finish at the 55th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring beating GT2 regulars BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, and Spyker. That June the #81 Panoz Esperante GT-LM campaigned by England-based Team LN

managed to outlast and overtake the remaining LMGT2 contenders in the final hour of the 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans. In Europe, Team LNT will be campaigning two Esperantes also. They will be competing in the

British GT Championship The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports GT ...

and

Le Mans Endurance Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

. Team LNT will be returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2007 with both the #81 and #82 car

During the 2007 American Le Mans season the Panoz Esperante GTLM will be managed, stateside, by Tom Milner and Team PTG. They will be campaigning two GT-LMs (#20 and #21). Team PTG scored 1 GT2 class podium in the hands of

Bill Auberlen Bill Auberlen (born October 12, 1968) is an American factory race car driver known for his affiliation with BMW, driving cars made and run by the famous German marque for a number of years. Auberlen currently competes for Turner Motorsport i ...

and

Joey Hand Joseph F. Hand (born February 10, 1979) is an American professional racing driver who competes in sports car racing as a Ford factory driver. A former champion of the Star Mazda Series, Hand is the co-winner of the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona drivi ...

in 2007 Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg. In the same year, Panoz Esperante GTLM also fielded Robertson Racing Team as 2007 ALMS season part-time entries in the hands of Andrea Robertson, David Robertson and Arie Luyendyk Jr.

References

External links

Panoz LLCTeam LNTTeam PTG Panoz
{{Panoz Esperante Sports cars Cars introduced in 2000