And that was a great two hours. Sure, not as long as I spend with most of my test cars, but enough to get a pretty good idea of the Lotus mission. The car company has long been the masters of the power to weight ratio game, building feather light sports cars, the Super 7 being the master of masters, and powering them with efficient, high-horsepower engines.

The 3.5-L 4-cylinder supercharged V8 is a little charmer, managing a substantial 350-hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press)

The Esprit is a perfect example. While the current example is the first to use a V8 engine, with the original model motivated by what was at one time the world's most powerful turbocharged 4-cylinder, it's still a small displacement engine. Is there any other manufacturer that produces a 3.5-L V8? None come to mind, but the little charmer still manages a substantial 350-hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, with the mechanical nirvana of twin-overhead cams and 48 whirring valves resonating through two throaty mufflers. It's a sensational sounding machine, all the more stimulating when getting on the throttle.

The Lotus Esprit is all about the magical ratio of weight to horsepower, something it appears to have mastered. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press)

And baby it goes, much faster than anything that I have experienced with a "mere" 350 horsepower. That's where the car's lightweight design comes in. Weighing in at only 1,380 kg (3,042 lbs), 160 kilos (346 lbs) less than the 1,540 kg (3,388 lb) Porsche 911 Turbo, it still manages 4.5 seconds to 100 km/h compared to the Turbo's 4.2. Both cars sprint in a rarified league, but Lotus goes about its business in a much different way.