Lotus lets loose two giant slayers

Lotus 3-Eleven

Ready to humble some of the fastest cars that money can buy, two of the greatest, most extreme Lotus models ever produced, the Lotus 3-Eleven, finished in matt and gloss Black colour scheme and the Lotus Elise Cup 250 in Red, have driven off the production line for the first time at the famous Hethel factory.

The two, hard-hitting lightweights represent the latest generation of Lotus sports cars, combining high-output engines with the company’s dedication to cutting mass, and so boosting performance through intelligent engineering. Developed through the company’s Lightweight Laboratory philosophy, every component in each as been assessed, optimised and re-engineered as required.

Surrounded by some of the production and engineering teams responsible for the two cars, Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Group Lotus plc, commented: “The lucky owners of these will be the first to find out just how special the latest Lotus cars really are. We’ve raised the bar yet again, to produce two vehicles which the competition cannot hope to match. From the outright firepower of the 3-Eleven, to the sublime handling of the Elise Cup 250, these cars, better than any other, encapsulate our ‘light is right’ mantra.”

3-Eleven

Showing clear intent for the Lotus high-performance sports cars of the future, the 3-Eleven is the company’s quickest and most expensive series production car ever.

The 3-Eleven offers a giant-slaying power-to-weight ratio, thanks to a revised V6 supercharged engine developing 460 hp, to provide in excess of 500 hp per tonne. It is capable of sprinting from 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds before reaching a maximum speed of 180 mph (290 km/h).

Designed to deliver a pure, undiluted driving experience, the Lotus 3-Eleven utilises an all-new lightweight carbon composite body, and a bespoke chassis evolved from Lotus’ ground-breaking work with extruded and bonded aluminium sections.

As part of its development the Lotus 3-Eleven spent time at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, where it was one of the fastest road going cars to ever tackle the track, capable of setting a sub-7 minute lap time.

One year on from its global unveiling, this matt and gloss Black 3-Eleven will be on display at this years’ Goodwood Festival of Speed with Bell & Colvill, the most successful and longest serving Lotus dealer in the world. A second giant killing Lotus 3-Eleven will be taking part in the Michelin Supercar run on all three days of the Festival.

Elise Cup 250

With the Lotus Elise recently crowned as Readers’ Champion during the Autocar Awards, this latest version of the legendary car is the faster ever – with a 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 154 mph (248 km/h).

Powered by a new higher-output version of the supercharged, 1.8-litre 4-cylinder engine, the Elise Cup 250 boasts 243 hp. However, in order to make the most of its power, it’s shed 21kg compared to its predecessor, to weight just 931 kg. Customers wanting to cut weight still further, and so boost performance, can select the optional Carbon Aero Pack to reduce the vehicle’s mass to 921 kg.

The hand-built sports car has long been regarded as a benchmark within the industry, providing a level of precision and driver involvement that rivals cannot match. Capable of lapping the company’s test track in 1 minute 34 seconds, the changes and engineering adaptions to the Elise Cup 250 have taken an impressive four seconds off the previous Elise Cup 220’s best time.

The arrival the new cars coincides with the 50th celebrations for the founding of the famous factory in Hethel, Norfolk, when, in 1966, founder Colin Chapman moved Lotus to the purpose-built facility. Lotus is marking this milestone in the company’s history with special edition cars and events throughout the year.

Every new Lotus 3-Eleven and Elise customer can personalise their vehicle through the Lotus Exclusive programme. Developed by the Lotus Design team, it combines traditional British craftsmanship with the best of modern design. Conceived to inspire customers, allowing them to tailor vehicles to their personal taste, it offers a comprehensive array of options and provides an alluring alternative to an off-the-peg sports car.

GGLC Autox Sat July 9th is open for registration

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2016 Golden Gate Lotus Club Autocross season!

The 4th event of the season is now open for registration for GGLC members on MotorsportsReg.

Registration is limited to club members for the first week. Non-members will be able to register next week. The entry fee is $65 for GGLC members and $75 for non-members. First time autox’ers (first time at a GGLC event) are eligible for a $10 discount, so invite your friends along too.

This season we have 8 classes that you can participate in. Please read over the details on the club autocross page. The Lotus Street, R-Tire and Race categories will be changed this season and replaced three new classes, Low, Mid and High Performance. The details of the change will be announced later, but for now please register using the existing classes.

For Lotus Elise/Exige/Evora drivers, please choose your class that you want to participate in and also use the classification tool to calculate your index points. For non-Lotus cars, please use the appropriate SCCA class.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about this year’s events or any other autox topic.

You can like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GoldenGateLotusClub and check out our event videos (you might see yourself) at http://www.youtube.com/goldengatelotusclub

Registration Now Open for Lotus Laguna Seca Track Days July 18th & Nov 7th

Crossing the Finish

Registration is now open for the Golden Gate Lotus Club’s remaining two track days of 2016 – July 18th and November 7th. Both events will be held at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California. We will be running (3) run groups with approximately 20-minute sessions each. Your options will be Advanced Group, Intermediate Group, and Novice Group. There are a very limited number of Beginner slots available. Beginners will run in the Novice Group and will be required to have a coach assigned to them to ride in the passenger seat in order to enter the track. If we can find more coaches, we will send out an announcement for additional beginner slots.

Pricing for each event is as follows:

July 18th: $230 for members and $250 for non-members.
November 7th: $200 for members and $220 for non-members.

You can become a Lotus club member for an annual cost of $25. This entitles you to a $20 discount on all track days for one year.

Please go to MotorsportReg to sign up.

Our Laguna Seca events fill up fast so be sure to sign-up early to ensure you get a spot. Other clubs run four run groups with fewer sessions. We will be running (3) run groups, giving you a total of (7) 20-minute sessions.

Due to the restrictions imposed by Laguna Seca on the number of cars allowed on the track at one time, there will be no sharing run groups as we normally do at other venues. Also, be aware that there will be absolutely no refunds. If you cancel up to two weeks prior to the specific event and we can fill your spot, we will give you a rain check for a future event. Only sign up if you know you can attend. We will run this event rain or shine.

Also, THESE WILL BE 90dB EVENTS! DO NOT RELY ON LIFTING AT THE SOUND CHECK – if your exhaust or intake is loud, take measures to reduce your levels before the event.

Please read your confirmation email as it has been expanded to include the general schedule.

See you at the track,

John & Scott

15 years apart