Lightning Lap 2016
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 8:10 pm
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/li ... ir-feature
This is one of the best ones that I can remember.
Some highlights:
- The Viper ACR is still a serious performer (but the Z06 last year came within 0.2s in a lower price class, but packaged as a real car, not a racecar that is street legal)
- The Corvette Grand Sport is....extremely, unbelievably impressive. It is 0.3s faster than a McLaren 570S and 0.1s slower than a 911 GT3 RS. A car in which a radio and A/C is optional.
- The NSX posted a time much faster than I expected but I did not read the description yet. This car is not interesting to me at all.
- The Mustang GT350R is fast though nothing in this test really is interesting to compare to. It was significantly slower than the Corvette Grand Sport, and it is cheaper, so that's fine. Except is it really $16k cheaper when you actually try to buy one?
- The real comparison I wanted to see was Mustang GT350 to Camaro SS 1LE. I think the GT350 is the real car and the 350R is more of a marketing weapon that hardly anyone is actually going to get their hands on. We will see if that changes. Anyway, I am pretty sure the SS 1LE would have beaten the GT350, which is what I have been claiming across the internet despite being shouted down by Mustang fanboys.
- Camaro V6 1LE was pretty amazing. They even liked the engine. It was only 0.1s slower than the Focus RS. It was only 0.5s slower than a goddamn Charger Hellcat! That's gotta sting.
- Camaro SS 1LE was 0.8 seconds behind a Cayman GT4. That is not nothing but it is also an order of magnitude closer than you'd expect. Remember, the Cayman GT4 is $53k MORE EXPENSIVE than the Camaro SS 1LE. Perhaps even more significantly, the Camaro was 1.3 seconds FASTER than an Audi R8 V10 Plus. You don't even want to know how much the R8 V10 Plus is. Embarrassing is all I will say.
- BMW M2 was still 0.7 seconds slower than a 2013 Camaro SS 1LE.
- The Lexus GS F is a disappointment imo.
- The Miata Cup Car was out of its element on a fast track like this. But some folks would still probably bench race it as faster than a lot of stuff here. Nope.
- The Tesla was pretty bad. It does not belong on a track. It is for impressing your friends with 0-60 runs. It cannot (yet) compete with the big dogs (slowest lap time in this year's lineup). It went into limp mode, not because the battery pack ran out but because of high motor and electronic temps.
This is one of the best ones that I can remember.
Some highlights:
- The Viper ACR is still a serious performer (but the Z06 last year came within 0.2s in a lower price class, but packaged as a real car, not a racecar that is street legal)
- The Corvette Grand Sport is....extremely, unbelievably impressive. It is 0.3s faster than a McLaren 570S and 0.1s slower than a 911 GT3 RS. A car in which a radio and A/C is optional.
- The NSX posted a time much faster than I expected but I did not read the description yet. This car is not interesting to me at all.
- The Mustang GT350R is fast though nothing in this test really is interesting to compare to. It was significantly slower than the Corvette Grand Sport, and it is cheaper, so that's fine. Except is it really $16k cheaper when you actually try to buy one?
- The real comparison I wanted to see was Mustang GT350 to Camaro SS 1LE. I think the GT350 is the real car and the 350R is more of a marketing weapon that hardly anyone is actually going to get their hands on. We will see if that changes. Anyway, I am pretty sure the SS 1LE would have beaten the GT350, which is what I have been claiming across the internet despite being shouted down by Mustang fanboys.
- Camaro V6 1LE was pretty amazing. They even liked the engine. It was only 0.1s slower than the Focus RS. It was only 0.5s slower than a goddamn Charger Hellcat! That's gotta sting.
- Camaro SS 1LE was 0.8 seconds behind a Cayman GT4. That is not nothing but it is also an order of magnitude closer than you'd expect. Remember, the Cayman GT4 is $53k MORE EXPENSIVE than the Camaro SS 1LE. Perhaps even more significantly, the Camaro was 1.3 seconds FASTER than an Audi R8 V10 Plus. You don't even want to know how much the R8 V10 Plus is. Embarrassing is all I will say.
- BMW M2 was still 0.7 seconds slower than a 2013 Camaro SS 1LE.
- The Lexus GS F is a disappointment imo.
- The Miata Cup Car was out of its element on a fast track like this. But some folks would still probably bench race it as faster than a lot of stuff here. Nope.
- The Tesla was pretty bad. It does not belong on a track. It is for impressing your friends with 0-60 runs. It cannot (yet) compete with the big dogs (slowest lap time in this year's lineup). It went into limp mode, not because the battery pack ran out but because of high motor and electronic temps.