Schmidts Cat

Any of you guys driven a Lotus 2-eleven? Thinking about it as I love open cars. Looks like a much better power to weight ratio than the 3, and cheap to maintain? The motor isn't sexy, but it's go enough power. Comments?

N-Dub

Great car! The absolute limit is a bit of a snap. Falls a bit flat after 130ish (it gets there pretty quickly though!) Parts aren't outrageously expensive. Quite a good track car!

P.J.S.

I have not driven one, but from what I can tell it is the cats *** so to speak

here is a center seat conversion 211

P.J.S.

no affiliation -- this one is in my area and has been for sale for a long time...

http://www.parkplaceltd.com/all-cars...ctual_~Year_/1

cobrien

I haven't driven one, but I know a couple of people who have them and race them and/or track them. They're relatively quick, and they seem to be reliable. I've run a number of 3 - 8 hour endurance races with them and I don't recall them ever breaking or having an issue. I also had a Lotus Exige S at one point and can say it was great to drive on track. Very well balanced, very good feel. I would expect the 211 would be even better.

aussie jimmy

been pax in one. i liked it a lot. more fun and down to earth than the radical sr-3rs which is aero ballistic.
seems reliable and cheaper to run, but not sure how safe it is.

savyboy

Oh my...

I bet the running costs per hour are 80% less than a GT3.

Lovely.

blake

Huge fan as well... The rollover protection seems scant... At a high speed track, I would be a bit concerned. That is the only reason why I have not committed to that Lotus!

tcsracing1

as long as there is a series in your area that would allow you run it then it would be worth trying to find space to store it along with the trailer to haul it.

I would love to take one out for a track day test drive!

senna

This is from my father in law, he lives in Asia. He races an Ariel Atom, almost every month.

I have watched two hit a wall, not hard and because of the glued together aluminum chassis have to be written off. Besides that, they are not fast and my 220 hp Atom eats them with my fat *** driving. I have never been passed by a 2-eleven

skxf430

A very nice review of both the 211 and Atom.

Check them out.

Schmidts Cat

I was thinking the same thing. My son had a sweet Exige S240 that had a minor incident and was written off for the same reason. I also have a friend with an atom that flies.. right by all the GTx cars and the Lotus 211... and his is not one of the crazy top end cars. AND a new Atom can be only about 50k. Love the style of the Lotus, but thinking the Atom would be better.. And street legal!

AudiOn19s

As stated, they are pretty quick, can carry tons of corner speed, cost of consumables is low, however they are very fragile.

A friend of mine had an off with his at Mid Ohio, passenger side impact into a tire barrier at relatively low speed. Latest repair estimate I heard to fix the car was close to $40k. Despite there being very little suspension damage to the car all of the bodywork needs to be replaced. The more frightening bits were things like the pedal box being bent / moved, seat brackets bent, and other misc items that concern driver safety were tweaked in what was seemingly a very minor accident. Likely due to the fact that everything is built to be as light as possible. A bit eye opening from a safety perspective.

dp35

+1 to Senna's post above. I've encountered several 2-11's on track, and none have been as fast as my 245hp NA Atom.

Nothing against the 2-11, I think they look great & would be super fun. But in my very biased opinion, the Atom is better in nearly every category, and is street legal in most states (including mine).

The problem with either of these cars at most track days is that they're too fast. Too much time is spent waiting or passing other cars, which also increases the danger. Eventually I quit tracking my Atom for this reason, bought a Spec Miata & went racing.

Just for fun - here's a thread from a Lotus forum, with reaction to a 2-11 getting beat by an Atom (the final post sums it all up nicely):
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f100...nfineon-82395/

Schmidts Cat

Thanks for the call the other day d. I think I agree. Faster is not always more fun. Still looking at my options. May get back into a GT3 soon.