Heralding a new generation of Lotus sports cars, this past weekend saw the unveiling of the company’s quickest and most expensive series production car ever, the 3-Eleven, at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The new vehicle features an all-new lightweight body, with an open cockpit design and a revised V6 supercharged engine developing 450 bhp.
Two variations of the Lotus 3-Eleven will be available, namely, ‘road’ and ‘race’. Based on the road version, the race model includes a more aggressive aero kit, a sequential gearbox and an FIA approved driver’s seat with a six-point harness.
With a claimed dry weight of below 900 kg, Lotus engineers say the 3-Eleven offers a power to weight ratio, in excess of 500 bhp per tonne, and manages 0-60 mph in under 3.0 seconds before reaching a maximum speed of 174 mph for the race version and 180 mph for the road version. Official fuel consumption figures and CO2 emissions figures are yet to be disclosed.
“This new car is a giant slayer, capable of embarrassing far more expensive rivals. It condenses our engineering know-how into one, hard-core package, and is so focused that it won’t suit everyone. This is a perfect demonstration of the faster and lighter concept, something which will be crucial to all Lotus cars in the future,” says Lotus boss, Jean-Marc Gales.
The new 3-Eleven will enter production in February 2016 and deliveries will commence in April 2016. Production will be limited to just 311 vehicles in total.
Source: Lotus
