Yes, Lotus considers this roofless, windshieldless speedster to be a road car. There's also a race version
Lotus has always been a purveyor of purpose-built vehicles—witness the relentless lightweight nature of bare-bones vehicles like the Elise, or the original Lotus 7, an exercise in minimalism. The company's latest offering sticks to those roots, while also taking the title for quickest and most expensive. Meet the Lotus 3-Eleven.
Introduced at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Lotus calls the 3-Eleven "an uncompromised manifestation of the Lotus spirit," focused on "providing an undiluted driving experience" of "legendary handling and blistering speed."
Packing a tweaked version of the supercharged 3.5-liter V6 from the Evora 400, the newest Lotus cranks out 450 horsepower. The Road version sends that power through a true six-speed manual transmission and Torsen limited slip; the Race variant, with an FIA-approved seat, six-point harness, racing data logger and on-board fire suppression, gets a paddle-shifted six-speed sequential transmission, semi-dry sump engine lubrication, and an oil cooler.
Thanks to a new, bespoke chassis built of bonded and extruded aluminum, Lotus claims the 3-Eleven Race will sport a dry weight of under 900 kg (1984 lbs)—making easy work for the supercharged engine's 332 lb.-ft. of torque. Lightweight double-wishbone suspension front and rear, adjustable front anti-roll bar and Eibach springs with Öhlins adjustable dampers offer all the handling tweaking you could ask for; the Race version's aggressive downforce provides nearly 475 lb of aero grip at 150 mph, while a 0-60 time of less than three seconds is the quickest of any Lotus product. Top speed is 180 mph in Road trim, 174 for the more aggressive aero of the Race spec.
Production of this purpose-built machine begins in February 2016. The 3-Eleven Road rings in at £82,000 (around $129,000 at today's rates), with the Race version demanding £96,000 (roughly $151,000). That makes this the most expensive vehicle to ever wear the Lotus badge. And if you want one, you better move fast: Befitting the name, only 311 examples of this beast will be produced.
Source: www.roadandtrack.com
