The Lotus 3-Eleven is the most powerful road car to wear a Lotus badge
The United Kingdom has a long, storied history rich with sports cars and the motorsport industry. British builders like Jaguar, Aston Martin, McLaren and Bentley have been producing iconic sports cars and racing machines since the early 1900s. Lotus is also a revered nameplate in Britain, even though its presence here in the U.S. is relatively small.
They may not be as well known as the aforementioned British builders, but Lotus is still building sports cars and race cars guaranteed to put a huge grin on your face. The latest from Lotus is the 3-Eleven that comes in both road and race versions.
Unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2015, this competition inspired single seater is the fastest car ever produced by Lotus and can demolish the Nurburgring in less than 7 minutes. If that doesn’t impress you, a zero to sixty time of less than 3 seconds and a top speed of 180 mph for the race version of the 3-Eleven should knock your socks off.
“This is a car that exists within an extremely rarified performance envelope – it offers both hypercar performance and handling. Nothing else provides a sensory overload of this nature, and all packaged under £100,000.”
-Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Group Lotus
A carbon composite body houses a lightweight aluminum extruded and bonded chassis. The suspension features lightweight, double-wishbones front and rear, with an adjustable anti-roll bar as standard on the Race version and an option on the Road car. The 3-Eleven uses adjustable Öhlins dampers and anti-roll bars that allow owners to fine-tune the vehicle’s handling characteristics.
A 3.5-liter supercharged V6 and 6-speed transmission (manual in the Road version, sequential automatic in the Race version) send power to the rear wheels. Maximum power for the Road model is 410 horsepower while the Race model can dish out 460 horsepower.
The Race version weighs 1,962 pounds (890 kg) and a power to weight ratio of 517 hp per tonne, making it capable of sprinting from 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds and reaching a maximum speed of 180 mph (290 km/h). The Road version with a dry weight of 2,039 pounds (925 kg) and a maximum power of 410 hp reaches 60 mph in 3.3 seconds before reaching a top speed of 174 mph (280 km/h).
The Lotus 3-Eleven will soon be entering production with deliveries beginning March 2016. Theis will be an exclusive car with a total production run limited to 311 vehicles.
Prices start at £82,500 for the Road version (including VAT and on the road costs) and £97,083 excluding VAT for the Race version (£116,500 including VAT).
Lotus 3-Eleven Race Version Specs:
- Engine: 3.5-liter supercharged V6
- Power: 460 hp @ 7000 rpm
- Torque: 525 Nm @ 3500 rpm
- Transmission: Xtrac 6-speed sequential
- Dry weight: 890 kg (1962 lbs)
- 0-60 mph: 2.9 seconds
- 0-100 mph: 6.0 seconds
- Top speed: 180 mph
Another British carmaker, Jaguar, is still going strong. In this TFLcar video “First Drive Review” video, Roman gets to know a 2016 Jaguar XF & XF S inside and out.
