FRANKFURT: The English sports car specialist, Lotus is readying an all-new replacement for the 2-Eleven track-day special that will weigh under 900kg and boast 309Kw, CEO Jean-Marc Gales said.
Gales revealed that the target weight for the 3-Eleven was a svelte 890kg, less than 40kg heavier than the substantially less powerful Elise Club Racer.
The engine will likely be a development of the 257kW supercharged V6 that powers the Exige S and Evora S, with the wick turned up to a healthy 309kW. Power will go to the rear wheels, and the all-alloy chassis will be based on the Exige’s.
It’s a similar formula to that used by the 2-Eleven, which used the previous-gen Exige as its basis and also took its power from an uprated supercharged motor. However the 3-Eleven will be heavier than the 670kg 2-Eleven, and produce far more power.
And though there might be more powerful engines around these days, the 3-Eleven’s whippet-like frame will put its power:weight ratio firmly in supercar territory.
Well, Auto Motor und Sport reckons it’ll lap the Nurburgring in a mere 7 minutes and 9 seconds, about as fast as a Nissan GT-R Nismo.
Only 311 will be built (natch), and Lotus is expected to make all of them road-legal (unlike the 2-Eleven, which was offered in either road-legal or pure-track form). Expect to see it make its global debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in mid-September.
