2016 Lotus 3-Eleven – “Simplify, then add lightness”

2016 Lotus 3-Eleven (cropped)

Lotus fans will recognise the quote in the title, from Lotus founder Colin Chapman. Chapman was a firm believer in the tenet that race, and road, cars should be as light and simple as possible, all in the quest of going faster, and faster. The Lotus 3-Eleven carries on that philosophy, with the driving experience and handling for which Lotus cars are renowned.

Limited to a production run of 311 cars worldwide from March 2016, the 3-Eleven reaches 100 km/h in under three seconds, and 165 km/h in six. Lotus claims the race version of this open-top roadster will top 290 km/h. This would make it the fastest road car to come out of the Hethel works, completing the Hethel circuit in one minute and 19.5 seconds.

Jean-Marc Gales, chief operating officer of Group Lotus, described the Lotus 3-Eleven as, “a game-changing car, not only in terms of what has come before it from within our own rich heritage of sports cars, but also in terms of anything else comparable brought to market by any other manufacturer. Extreme, focused and phenomenal are all words that have been used to describe the 3-Eleven.”

The body is built out of lightweight carbon composite, giving the 3-Eleven a dry weight of 890 kg and maximum power of 460 hp in race trim. The road version weighs-in at 925 kg and has a maximum power of 410 hp that allows it to reach 100 km/h in 3.3 seconds before reaching a top speed of 280 km/h.

The bodywork of the 3-Eleven is sculpted to provide massive levels of downforce – necessary in a supercar this light – provided by the rear wing, front splitter and flat floor and rear splitter. The road car has 150 kg of downforce while the race version, using an adjustable rear wing and twin canards in front, produces 215 kg. Cornering forces have been recorded at 1.5 g.

The race car comes with competition spec Xtrac 6-speed sequential transmission with a semi-dry sump, oil cooler, cassette-type plate limited slip differential and paddle shift, while the road car makes do with a close-ratio six-speed manual gearbox with a Torsen-type limited slip differential, featuring a performance clutch assembly and oil cooler.

The Lotus 3-Eleven’s suspension features lightweight, double-wishbones front and rear, with an adjustable anti-roll bar, and bumps are soaked up by 2-way Öhlins dampers. The items are standard on the race car, and an additional cost option on the road car.

Rolling on 225/40 ZR18 wheels in front and 275/35 ZR19 at the rear, the 3-Eleven comes with Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres for road use, and Michelin Cup 2 rubber for the race car. Braking duties are performed by AP Racing four-piston calipers grabbing 332 mm discs front and rear.

A list of performance oriented options include an FIA-spec roll cage, race fire extinguisher, battery isolator and motorsport towing eye. Other options include carbon racing seats, a tonneau cover and removable steering wheel. The 3-Eleven comes in four colours – Metallic Green with metallic yellow stripes, Metallic Black with metallic gold stripes, Metallic Red with metallic gold stripes and Matt Black with metallic black stripes.

The 2016 Lotus 3-Eleven starts at 82,500 pounds sterling (RM523,000) for the road version, and 97,083 pounds sterling (RM616,500) for the race car. The 3-Eleven will be sold in all markets as a race car and in Europe and Asia as a road car.

Group Lotus is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DRB-HICOM, and is based in Norfolk, UK. It has three operating divisions – Lotus Cars, Lotus Engineering and Lotus Motorsport.

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Mohan K Ramanujam

Coming with diverse and extensive experience in heavy engineering, Mohan enjoys making anything with wheels go fast, especially motorcycles. His weapon of choice is the Desmoquattro engine, and he has a penchant for anything with a dash of Italian design. Strangely enough, he insists he's a slow rider.

 
 

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