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450bhp 3-Eleven is the fastest, most powerful Lotus ever

Supercharged V6 lightweight is Hethel’s most potent road car yet. 0-60mph? Under three seconds. Be afraid

Published: 26 Jun 2015

Enjoy simple, punchy soundbytes? Try this. You're looking at the fastest, most powerful, quickest-lapping Lotus ever to hit the road.

The 3-Eleven is, if you will, a successor to the 2-Eleven. Remember that 2007 machine? A stripped-out, ultralight, barely-legal bathtub on wheels that nibbled at the very extremities of what any normal person would define as a 'car'.

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Check out all the highlights from the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed

But for this all-new incarnation, it's powered by something altogether more serious than the 2-Eleven's supercharged 1.8.

For 3-Eleven duty, the Lotus-Toyota supercharged V6 is hopped up to 450bhp. In a car weighing just over 900kg. That means a Veyron-troubling power-to ratio.

The result is 0-60mph in 'under 3.0 seconds'. That is properly violent acceleration. And Lotus is quietly saying no car under £100,000 will lap the Nurburgring quicker, hinting that the 3-Eleven could get very close to a seven-minute lap of the Green Hell. That's closing in on Porsche 918 Spyder pace.

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It actually comes in two versions: race and road. They're not all that different. Both have the same powertrain, limited-slip diff and adjustable suspension. The Race version is slightly lighter and comes with track tyres, harder brake pads and an FIA safety cage, and slightly more downforce - a major-league 215kg at 150mph.

The bare-bones but savagely beautiful body is shared by both. You can just see the care that's gone into aero for cooling and anti-lift. It's made of a new type of lightweight composite, some 40 percent lighter than conventional GRP.

The interior - in so much as this car has an interior - is dominated by race seats, a colour TFT instrument and telemetry display. And a mildly quivering driver, we can only assume.

Price for the road version is £82,000, the track variant £115,000. Production will be limited to just 311 cars. Geddit?

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The car was unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed today, before an apparently satisfied and very sizeable crowd. People out there still have a thirst for Lotus. Do you, topgear.commers? Let us know below.

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