Lotus was now touching supercar territory, with a car that beat the psychological milestones of 150mph and 0-60mph in under six seconds. With almost peerless handling they could now be compared with Porsches and Ferraris. The extra 50bhp over the normal 2.2-litre Esprit comes from a Garrett T3 turbocharger, though the whole of the engine was re-engineered to cope. The first 104 were in Essex Petroleum livery. In 1985 the suspension was revised to use more Toyota and less Triumph parts. Short-lived HC version for 1987 only gets extra 5bhp and 20lb/ft of torque.
info from Octane