FirstDrive: Lotus 2-ElevenThe 2-Eleven is the most extreme variant of the Lotus Elise yet, writes Shane O'Donoghue
Having returned to the Lotus factory after a couple of hours on the road, Nick Adams greets me with a huge grin. His enthusiasm boils over: "It's barmy, isn't it?"
That's one word to sum up the new Lotus 2-Eleven. Despite appearances, the latest member of the Lotus Elise family is registered for road use, the concept being that owners will drive it to a circuit, have their fun and then potter on home without the need for a tow car and trailer.
While pitching the idea to his boss, Adams was given the green light with the proviso that he prove that the finished product was indeed as viable as he promised. Throughout the development of the 2-Eleven, Adams drove prototypes on his daily commute, a drive that included trudging down the A11 dual-carriageway, but that wasn't enough for his boss, so, once the car was ready to go, Adams drove all the way to Dijon in France, qualified the car on pole position in a Lotus Sport race and then took the chequered flag first, before waving goodbye and driving the 2-Eleven home.
The 2-Eleven is Adams' baby, and like the father of a newborn he just can't hide his passion for the subject. Its conception was in 2005, when the Shelsley Walsh "Speed Hill Climb" celebrated its 100th anniversary.
As part of the celebrations, Lotus was approached to provide a special car for a demonstration run up the hill. It just so happened that Adams and colleagues had been toying with the idea of an extreme Elise, biased towards track use.
Within a short period of time, the Circuit Car was built and driven up the famous hill. Lotus had no intention to produce the car, but public reaction was too strong to ignore, so Adams was seconded from his position within Lotus Cars to the Sport division and 18 months later the 2-Eleven was revealed in all its glory.
It's no surprise that the new car shares its basic underpinnings with the Exige S; the chassis itself is a unique high-sided version of the Elise's with the added protection of an FIA-approved rollover structure.
It made sense to retain some of the Elise's styling features, but the 2-Eleven has a maniacal character all its own. It is crazy looking in pictures, but approach the car for the first time and you might step on it as it's so low and incredibly menacing in the eye-catching colours of the Launch Edition.
Those high sides and the roll cage, along with the desire for zero extraneous weight, means there are no doors. Getting in is not elegant, but once installed in the excellent ProBax seats, it's a familiar environment to anyone that has driven a recent Lotus. Turn the ignition on and prod the starter button and the supercharged Toyota engine behind you roars into life.
Not content with shaving 250kg from the weight of the Exige S, the Lotus Sport crew decided to up the power too. On the dynamometer, the recorded figure is 252bhp at a heady 8,000rpm, but Adams reckons it produces more than that on the road.
To aid the car's aerodynamics, a flat rear deck was required which meant repositioning the intercooler from above the engine to behind it. Adams was worried that the longer inlet would result in lag, but it has not and its new position, allied to clever design of the air inlets above the rear wheels, has resulted in an increase in the efficiency of the intercooler when on the move, the consequence being a power increase that cannot be measured on a regular engine dyno.
Power is not something the 2-Eleven is short on. Acceleration in any gear at any speed is beyond description. The edges of your vision blur as your brain tries to keep up. It is a ludicrously quick car for road use, demanding every ounce of self-restraint to avoid the unwanted attentions of the local law enforcement.
Surprisingly, for a track-focused car, the 2-Eleven is actually quite driveable on the road.
The combination of a low kerb weight and a tractable engine mean it's as easy to drive as a regular car and the suspension is not quite as rigid as you might think either.
There is no luggage space of course (though Adams was quick to point out the various nooks of the roll cage that double up as bottle and mobile phone holders) and you really do need a helmet.
You should carry an umbrella too, just in case you get stuck in traffic on the way to the track and it rains.
Once at the track, the 2-Eleven comes into its own. Adams' aims for the 2-Eleven were that it would be engaging to drive no matter what the speed, allowing a broad range of drivers to extract the most from the car. Unlike a racecar, its set-up is forgiving, allowing the driver to make a mistake without expensively punishing him with a trip to the gravel trap. Even on a soaking wet Hethel test track, I managed to keep the car on the tarmac.
Variable traction control further adds to the car's appeal, allowing the driver to hone his skills with the knowledge of an electronic safety net. Saying that, even on a wet track, the car is so communicative it really takes provocation and ignorance to provoke an electronic telling off.
Lotus doesn't expect to sell masses of the 2-Eleven, but is already close to the break-even point of 100 units. Adams, however, sees it as a starting point for further special and low-volume editions, for which the Lotus Sport division is perfectly equipped. If the company can actually make money out of such cars, then they're not so barmy after all, are they?
Factfile
ENGINE:1,796cc supercharged four-cylinder petrol engine, putting out 252bhp @ 8,000rpm and 242Nm of torque @ 7,000rpm (likely to be more in reality - see text)
PERFORMANCE:0-100km/h in 3.9 seconds, 0-160km/h in 9.1 seconds and a top speed of 250km/h (estimated)
PRICE:As tested in UK, launch edition: £41,095 (about €60,687).