One area you guys are overlooking where the M3 excells the Lotus by far: safety. The M3 is made like a tank, and you have outstanding protection in a crash. If a Lotus collides with an SUV, the driver of the Lotus is in deep shit.
The Lotus is an outstanding track car, but I have some reservations about driving it on the street. Way too many inattentive drivers for me to enjoy driving a 1900 lb car on the street.