3-Eleven - should I or should'nt I?

[Adamist]

Hi guys - your advice and thoughts will be greatly appreciated, I’m either about to make one of the most exciting decisions of my life, or maybe not!

A bit of history first, I’ve been lucky enough to own some fantastic cars, including a BMW E30 M3, Audi RS2, 993 turbo bodied 2S, Evo XI 450 bhp etc. Currently I share an E92 M3 with a good friend which has been brilliant but is too heavy & really requires a suspension upgrade to unleash its full potential. Our priorities are fun, reliability, amazing suspension and residual values; we want something that is a real event to drive and has the suspension to cope with the bumpy roads of Yorkshire and won’t cost us a fortune.

About 2 years ago we started looking at Lotus and Porsche as a replacement for the M3. We’ve looked at GT4’s, GT3’s, Exige V6, Evora 350, Exige 390 and 410. Lotus ticks the light weight box and feels like the sweet spot in terms of reliability utilising Toyota parts. The running costs and mechanical risks with a Porsche put us off and I don’t feel any emotional attachment to the brand despite their competence.

Recently we drove an Evora GT430 which was amazing but hard to justify at 3x the price of our M3. We then looked at a 2 eleven which stood out as being intoxicating however we didn't close a deal.

Move forward a few weeks and we’ve put a deposit down on a 3-Eleven with 300 miles on it. Having read the reviews and driven several cars with basically the same engine, we're hoping it will be utterly addictive. Also if treated with respect there should be little to go wrong and even if it doesn't appreciate it should hold its value.

First world problems I know... Any general advice about the 3 Eleven or anything we should look out for? Are we mad? Please help!

[EldonZ]

Are you planning on tracking the car? If so, you'll only be able to run street performance tires and not slicks unless you want to dry sump the motor. Other than that, go for it.

Later,
Eldon

 

[Bibs]

Good God they're fun, enjoy it

Welcome and wishing you many miles of smiles! 

That's David Pittard next to me at first and driving at the end. They are noisy and due to that we're shifting at about 5k here at Goodwood. He just won the N24 too!

 

[Bravo73]

Welcome to TLF. 👋 A 3-Eleven would be one helluva way to start your Lotus adventure. 

Have you been through this lot yet?

https://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/forum/380-3-eleven-chat/

[jimichanga]

That will also cost 3x your M3 won’t it? It’s hard to advise without knowing more about you and what you are really after, level of driving ability and so on but you’ll need to bring your A game to get the best out of a 311. They are not often driven especially fast at track days but I’m sure the owners are having a great time. But if you’re expecting to show up at a trackday and blitz everyone you might find that more of a challenge. You will certainly get an intense driving experience. Maybe a bit too intense at times on your bumpy roads in Yorkshire but you will cause a scene wherever you go and it will definitely be an event to drive. Anyway if you’ve put a deposit down it looks like you’ve already made up your mind. Nothing to look out for with a car with 300 miles. Obvs it will still need running-in before you do hard track miles. Tyres must be pretty old now I guess but no issue while you’re taking it easy. Hope it’s everything you were hoping for.

[Adamist]

@EldonZ - thanks for the heads up r.e. sump. It's the first time I'd heard about the sump issues. Were unlikely to do many track days and the car is fitted with street tyres. Would something like the Moroso baffled sump do or must it be dry sumped? I've also read that the plastic baffles on the standard sump need replacing at 2 years? Is that correct? Would the 3.11 be affected by this?

@Bibs Great video, you go past that purple Exige like its stood still, brilliant, i can't believe that's only a 5k rpm!

@Bravo73 Thanks, i'll get reading

@jimichanga Yes that's roughly the cost but for something more special it feels justifiable. Were competent drivers but not heros. We understand it needs running in to 600 miles below 4k, then a service, then the fun starts. Agreed on the tyres, they need checking. Suspension wise it has the uprated 2 way Ohlins, they were sublime on the GT430 so were hoping for the same on the 3-eleven. Deposit is refundable...!

Roll on Thursday, gulp

[EldonZ]

@Adamist Lotus never disclosed what the issue was, oil starvation, etc.,  but mounting slicks on the 311 would end up with a blown motor. The only fix that they had was to dry sump the motor. The baffles in the pan on the V6 are a maintenance item. There are a couple of aftermarket pans that will solve this issue. I believe a couple of owners have changed them after a couple of years and have not noticed any degradation. I would suggest waiting till you need to change them and update to an aftermarket pan at that time.

Later,
Eldon