2006 Lotus Elise With 2014 Headlights, Touring, Sports, Black Packages on 2040-cars

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The Lotus 3-Eleven 430 is the fastest street-legal Lotus built

You're looking at the fastest street-legal Lotus ever built. Weighing in at 2,028 pounds, the new Lotus 3-Eleven 430 can hit 60 mph in just 3.1 seconds and continue all the way to 180 mph. It's a fitting tribute for 40 years of Lotus cars. As expected, the "430" in its name refers to its power output. There's no four-banger screamer in the 3-Eleven 430: The supercharged, Toyota-sourced 3.5-liter, 24-valve V6 produces 430 hp and 324.5 lb-ft. of torque. There's a lightweight carbon-composite body on an extruded-bonded aluminum chassis, and the carbon side panels are partially exposed for that cool carbon look. You also get variable, six-position traction control, with five levels ranging from 1 percent slip to 12 percent slip to off. Lateral acceleration while cornering is a respectable 1.5 g. At the Hethel test track, the new 3-Eleven 430 has reportedly beaten previous Lotus efforts. With a lap time of 1:24, it's 0.8 seconds quicker than an Exige Cup 430, and it also completely obliterates the previous, 2015 3-Eleven by shaving off 2 whole seconds. Only 20 units will be built, so few people will get to experience the 430 at maximum attack. Lotus has priced the 3-Eleven 430 at GBP102,000 on the road in the UK, which corresponds to $142,525. Related Video: Featured Gallery Lotus 3-Eleven 430 Lotus Convertible Performance lotus 3-eleven

Lotus 3-Eleven may be the quickest track weapon you can buy

Germany's Sport Auto magazine routinely takes world-beating supercars around the short circuit at the Hockenheimring: Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis... the works. But the top of the leaderboard has now been claimed by something altogether smaller and less powerful in the form of the new Lotus 3-Eleven. The most extreme expression of the Elise/Exige platform to date, the 3-Eleven is a track-focused machine of the highest caliber. At its heart sits a relatively humble 3.5-liter supercharged V6, tuned to produce 460 horsepower. But with composite body panels and a low curb weight, it rockets to 60 in under 3.0 seconds flat, and more poignantly laps the company's own test track ten seconds ahead of the Evora 400. Now it's clocked a lap around Hockenheim – sometimes host of the German Grand Prix – in just 1:06.2, just edging out the previous record held by a Porsche 918 Spyder. It also bests the Gumpert Apollo, and the similarly track-focused Radical SR3 SL... not to mention everything else Sport Auto has ever taken to the track. What's even more impressive is that the magazine's road test editor Christian Gebhardt completed the lap on stock rubber and on a cold track that didn't get any warmer than 46 degrees Fahrenheit. Just imagine what it'd do on even semi-slicks and a warm track surface. Related Video: 'HYPERCAR-KILLING' LOTUS 3-ELEVEN SETS HOCKENHEIMRING LAP RECORD - Lotus 3-Eleven raises the bar by establishing a new "sport auto" production car lap record around Hockenheimring - Lotus 3-Eleven now heads the lap time list which features exotic hyper cars and track-focused supercars from some of the world's most prestigious manufacturers - Lap record set by "sport auto" magazine's top road tester Christian Gebhardt The Lotus 3-Eleven, the quickest series production car to come from Lotus' Hethel Headquarters, has set the fastest lap time ever recorded by the leading and highly-respected German car magazine, "sport auto". Driven by Christian Gebhardt, a highly accomplished driver and Road Test Editor for "sport auto", the Lotus 3-Eleven lapped the Hockenheimring short Circuit in an incredible 1 minute 06.2 seconds. This time was even more impressive considering that the 3-Eleven was on standard road tyres and the fastest lap was completed in less than perfect weather, where temperatures did not get higher than 8 degrees Celsius. Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Group Lotus plc said, "Christian set a fabulous lap in less than ideal conditions.

Lotus proves it's alive and well by releasing its most powerful road-going car

The future hasn't always looked bright for Lotus, but the British company is skating on much thicker ice under Geely ownership now than it was in the middle of the 2010s. It continues to claw back from the brink by releasing a GT-badged evolution of the Evora that delivers a meaner punch than its predecessors, and comes with a list of options that nearly rivals Porsche's. The GT replaces the Sport 410 and the 400 variants of the Evora. Presented as the most powerful road-going Lotus ever sold in the United States, it's powered by a 3.5-liter V6 engine supercharged to 416 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 317 pound-feet of torque at 3,500 rpm. Those figures allow it to hit 60 mph from a stop in a brisk 3.8 seconds, and reach a 188-mph top speed. It's still a little bit slower than the Evora GT430 released in 2017, but Lotus kept that model away from American roads. The Evora GT comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission. Enthusiasts not interested in using a clutch can select an automatic gearbox that they can leave in drive or shift manually with aluminum paddles mounted on the steering wheel. Torque goes up to 332 pound-feet when the six shifts through the optional automatic, but the Evora GT posts the same performance figures regardless of how many pedals are in its footwell. Lotus makes the Evora GT using carbon fiber to keep weight in check. Buyers can honor company founder Colin Chapman by adding lightness if they're willing to add dollars, too. Priced at $10,000, the Carbon Pack includes a roof panel, a tailgate, a front access panel, and a diffuser all made with carbon fiber. Ticking that box shaves 50 pounds; put another way, Lotus charges $200 per pound.  Selecting the $8,000 titanium exhaust removes another 22 pounds. The Evora GT tips the scale at 3,104 pounds in its lightest configuration, but getting there requires paying for a Volkswagen Golf's worth of options. At least downforce comes standard, and the GT has more of it than its predecessors. The new GT designation doesn't bring significant exterior styling changes. It's the same story inside, where Lotus continues to offer the model as a strict two-seater, or with a pair of rear seats big enough for very, very small occupants. Every GT comes standard with a 7-inch touchscreen compatible with both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. On sale now, the 2020 Lotus Evora GT starts at $96,950. Deliveries will begin by the end of 2019.