__NOTOC__ The Lotus 340R is a limited edition

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

manufactured by

Lotus Cars Lotus Cars Limited is a British automotive company headquartered in Norfolk, England which manufactures sports cars and racing cars noted for their light weight and fine handling characteristics. Lotus was previously involved in Formula One ...

in 2000 at their

Hethel Hethel is a small village in Norfolk, England, approximately southeast of the market town of Wymondham, and approximately south of the city of Norwich. According to the 2001 census, the Bracon Ash and Hethel parish covered an area of and ha ...

factory.

Overview

Originally introduced as a concept car at the 1998 Birmingham Motor Show, the 340R is a special edition of the

Lotus Elise The Lotus Elise is a two-seat, rear-wheel drive, mid-engined roadster conceived in early 1994 and released in September 1996 by the British manufacturer Lotus Cars. The Elise has a fibreglass body shell atop its bonded extruded aluminium chas ...

. 340 were built, and all were sold before they were manufactured. It uses a custom built bodyshell with no roof or doors. All cars came with a silver and black colour scheme. Special A038R tyres were developed for the 340R in collaboration with

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

. While road-legal in the UK and Europe, most of the surviving cars are only used for

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...

, track use, or demonstrations.

Engine

The engine is a four-cylinder version of the 1.8L Rover K-Series engine called VHPD (Very High Power Derivative) used in the regular Elise which produces at 7800 rpm and at 6750 rpm as standard, or at 7500 rpm and at 5600 rpm with optional Lotus accessories. The former can accelerate to 60 mph from a standstill in 4.4 seconds and has a top speed of .

Specifications

*0- 10.7 sec *

Power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measuremen ...

: /Ton or /bhp *Price: £35,000

References

External links

Independent 340R site
340R Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles Sports cars Cars introduced in 2000 {{Modern-auto-stub