What's the news?
As if the Lotus 3-Eleven, with its 3.5-litre supercharged V6 coupled to a body and chassis weighing just 920kg, wasn't extreme enough, the company has announced the final, even faster edition of its lightweight sports-car, the 3-Eleven 430. The new edition is lighter and more powerful with revised aerodynamics giving a 0 to 100km/h time of 3.2 seconds and a top speed of 290km/h (180 mph).
The engine is a highly-tuned version of Toyota's 3.5-litre V6, mated with an Edelbrock supercharger, the same as in the Lotus Exige Cup 430. A carbon-composite body and bonded aluminium chassis mean that the latest 3-Eleven is exceptionally light too. That combination of engine and low-weight gives the 430 a power-to-weight ratio of 467 hp/tonne.
If you hadn't guessed by now, the 3-Eleven is primarily a car for the track and a formidable one at that. To further that aim, Lotus has improved the aerodynamics. A higher rear wing and a longer front splitter are developments over previous 3-Elevens. Sitting on a set of Michelin Cup 2 tyres (225/40 ZR18 on the front and 275/35 ZR19 on the rear) and with those aerodynamics the 430 can generate up to 1.5G in cornering. Stopping power comes courtesy of AP Racing four-pot calipers on the front and rear with new two-piece J-Hook disc brakes. But what do all these numbers and all this racing-tech add up to in reality?
In short, they mean faster track times. The 3-Eleven 430 has lapped Lotus' Hethel circuit in 1 minute 24 seconds which makes it almost a second faster than the Exige Cup 430 and two seconds faster than the standard 3-Eleven, which means that this is the fastest road-legal Lotus yet.
Anything else?
Lotus is only making twenty 3-Eleven 430s so your chances of getting your hands on one are slim. If you do manage it, however, expect to pay around €130,000, rising rapidly with the addition of a few extras like adjustable anti-roll bars and dampers, the titanium exhaust system, paint, various gadgets for recording lap-times, multi-point harnesses and a fire extinguisher, pushing the car a lot closer to the €150,000 mark, which, we think, seems really rather expensive for a car without a windscreen.