Lotus 2-Eleven review
Lotus 2-Eleven 1.8 252bhp Launch Edition Road Test
Test date 04 July 2007
Price as tested £32,307
For Astonishing performance, great steering, easy to fix
Against Absence of weather protection, price, no colour options
Eleven years after the introduction of the Elise, Lotus has created the most extreme variant yet of the car that has ensured its survival during the past decade. The 2-Eleven was born as the Circuit Car, a concept designed and built in 11 weeks to celebrate the centenary of the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb in 2005.
“It’s an engineer’s response to the 340R,” says Lotus’s Nick Adams. “That was a styling-led car. The 2-Eleven has been designed by track day enthusiasts, for track day enthusiasts.”
Underneath the new bodywork are familiar mechanicals. The cockpit section is pure Mk1 Elise, with higher sills than the Mk2 car.
The rest of the chassis is from the latest Elise. The back end houses the Toyota-sourced, 1791cc engine with variable valve timing, mated to a supercharger and tweaked to 252bhp at 8000rpm and 179lb ft of torque at 7000rpm.
SVA cars get a catalytic converter; track-only cars do without but are, perversely, even quieter so they pass more track day noise regulations.
Suspension is double wishbones at each end, with the ride height dropped to 100mm at the front and 110mm at the rear.
All 2-Elevens – at least in Launch Edition – get Ohlins two-way adjustable dampers and an adjustable front anti-roll bar. Owners will get a flash disk with some set-up tips, and even suggested settings for different British circuits.
The body design is driven by functionality. At 100mph, the SVA 2-Eleven generates 63kg of downforce. In track form, with a longer front splitter and bigger, adjustable rear spoiler, it gives 62-83kg of negative lift.
All in, the body itself weighs just 40kg, contributing little to the 770kg, fully fuelled weight of our SVA-equipped 2-Eleven. But it’s not an expensive composite; it’s glassfibre with a lightweight, honeycomb-style textile core mat in the middle of it.
There are many small body panels, too, all bolted to the chassis, rather than bonded, for ease of repair.
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