Autoblog: Corvette ZR1 laps the 'Ring in 7:26.4

[TomCat]

Originally Posted by the Interceptor

Every review of the GT-R states that the car is incedibly easy to drive at the limit and gives you a lot of confidence to go there at the same time. So it would be logical that the laptime it can archieve on the Ring would be better than you would expect from such a car if you only take the figures into account, as a lot of a low laptime is down to good grip as well as the courage to use it, both disciplines where the GT-R shines.

There are lots of cars with AWD, amazing grip, and good feel at the limit. But when you start going into supercar territory, power is a big deal. You wouldn't ever compare the GT-R to a Veyron, simply because it also has turbos and AWD. Your car can feel awesome at the limit with tons of grip, but if you're low on power, your lap time won't be as good. The GT-R is claiming to have only 480hp. Yet it's posting better lap times then supercars with 600+hp? It's an amazing achievement, but you'd be a fool to just believe it without question. It's good to be a skeptic sometimes. Now that the GT-R is out and we're seeing real road tests and real comparisons, you'll notice the naysayers are getting very quiet.

[prizrak]

Originally Posted by thedguy

I still hate the c6's headlights. And the only reason they got rid of them was because some random broad got 3 seconds of air time on tv and said that the corvette looked old because of the pop-ups. So they instead put on the shitty Viper looking headlights

We need to put this in the FAQ. Pop up headlights are basically illegal at this point.

Originally Posted by wikipedia

Internationalized ECE auto safety regulations have also recently incorporated pedestrian-protection provisions restricting protuberances from car bodies, making it more difficult and expensive to design compliant pop-up headlamps.

Full article

[airmenair]

Failrods and lolspringz > awd and dsg

[the Interceptor]

Originally Posted by TomCat

There are lots of cars with AWD, amazing grip, and good feel at the limit. But when you start going into supercar territory, power is a big deal. You wouldn't ever compare the GT-R to a Veyron, simply because it also has turbos and AWD. Your car can feel awesome at the limit with tons of grip, but if you're low on power, your lap time won't be as good. The GT-R is claiming to have only 480hp. Yet it's posting better lap times then supercars with 600+hp? It's an amazing achievement, but you'd be a fool to just believe it without question. It's good to be a skeptic sometimes. Now that the GT-R is out and we're seeing real road tests and real comparisons, you'll notice the naysayers are getting very quiet.

I'm absolutely fine with being sceptical, I'm in no way implying that one should believe everything that's being said. But many people tend to forget the difference between thoughts, suggestions, assumptions and facts. And when people start to take the former for the latter, discussions become difficult.

For the sake of comparing laptimes, let's take the Carrera GT. It has much more power than the GT-R, and it is much lighter, so in theory, it would lap the ring much quicker than the Nissan, right? But remember how edgy and wild that car is. Would you floor it in a difficult bend on the Ring? Would you constantly go to the limit for the whole lap? Would you trust the traction control to save you from spinning out and destroying a $400k+ car?
On the other hand, would you floor an extremely grippy and confident AWD model? Would you trust its very sophisticated electronic systems, which constantly reallocate the power to the right wheels? Now, can you imagine that the latter car would archieve a much better time than the figures suggest? I can ...

[TomCat]

Originally Posted by the Interceptor

I'm absolutely fine with being sceptical, I'm in no way implying that one should believe everything that's being said. But many people tend to forget the difference between thoughts, suggestions, assumptions and facts. And when people start to take the former for the latter, discussions become difficult.

For the sake of comparing laptimes, let's take the Carrera GT. It has much more power than the GT-R, and it is much lighter, so in theory, it would lap the ring much quicker than the Nissan, right? But remember how edgy and wild that car is. Would you floor it in a difficult bend on the Ring? Would you constantly go to the limit for the whole lap? Would you trust the traction control to save you from spinning out and destroying a $400k+ car?
On the other hand, would you floor an extremely grippy and confident AWD model? Would you trust its very sophisticated electronic systems, which constantly reallocates the power to the right wheels? Now, can you imagine that the latter car would archieve a much better time than the figures suggest? I can ...

The Carrera GT can be difficult to handle, but in the hands of a trained driver, it's fast as hell. Faster then even the Enzo Ferrari with it's super-fast sequential gearbox. I'd even go so far as to say it's probably faster then a Veyron around the NRing.

But that is a car that requires some skill to drive. The GT-R is much much easier, with its AWD and automatic transmission. But in the hands of professionals with good track conditions, the lighter and more powerful car should be faster. The NRing is kind of a cruddy track though. It's more of an unrestricted road then a race track. It's bumpy, uneven, and narrow in sections. If you took the GT-R to a proper racing circuit where cars like the CGT and Enzo could find just as much grip as the Nissan... well, I doubt the GT-R will run away with it. As we've seen with recent magazine tests at other tracks.

[the Interceptor]

Originally Posted by TomCat

The NRing is kind of a cruddy track though. It's more of an unrestricted road then a race track. It's bumpy, uneven, and narrow in sections. If you took the GT-R to a proper racing circuit where cars like the CGT and Enzo could find just as much grip as the Nissan... well, I doubt the GT-R will run away with it. As we've seen with recent magazine tests at other tracks.

and I am absolutely with you on that.

[Nocturnal]

Originally Posted by TomCat

It's more of an unrestricted road then a race track. It's bumpy, uneven, and narrow in sections.

The North loop isnt a race track at all, thats what the GP Circuit is for. I disagree about it being narrow though, at its thinnest its still easily 2 conventional lanes wide!

[prizrak]

Originally Posted by Nocturnal

The North loop isnt a race track at all, thats what the GP Circuit is for. I disagree about it being narrow though, at its thinnest its still easily 2 conventional lanes wide!

Which is pretty narrow at 100+ in a 100K+ supercar. I know its a shitty comparison but Ring was a pain to stay on in Forza 2. Much harder than many other tracks.

[Karoug]

Originally Posted by TomCat

The Carrera GT can be difficult to handle, but in the hands of a trained driver, it's fast as hell. Faster then even the Enzo Ferrari with it's super-fast sequential gearbox. I'd even go so far as to say it's probably faster then a Veyron around the NRing.

Have a look at Veyrons lap times.. They're not very impressive at all..

[Disciple]

Originally Posted by Karoug

Have a look at Veyrons lap times.. They're not very impressive at all..

The Veyron was driven around the ring by the Australian motoring press. These guys are on average about 120kgs and 6"3, typical fat aussie bogans. These are the same guys who can only manage a mid 13 sec quarter for the C63 AMG and BMW M5.

The Veyron is quicker than that time would suggest, surely.

[Quadrax]

Originally Posted by TomCat

If you took the GT-R to a proper racing circuit where cars like the CGT and Enzo could find just as much grip as the Nissan... well, I doubt the GT-R will run away with it. As we've seen with recent magazine tests at other tracks.

So the gt-r is faster where it matters, in real world type situations. Not surprising, after all it is built as a road car that happens to be quick on a track, unlike the enzo and cgt which are track cars that can be driven on the road.

Same for the cts-v and zr-1 for that matter, proper road cars.

I'm never really that impressed by what are essentially dedicated track cars with lights and plates stuck on. For the cost of the things, the potential to use them is very limited.

[TomCat]

Originally Posted by Quadrax

So the gt-r is faster where it matters, in real world type situations. Not surprising, after all it is built as a road car that happens to be quick on a track, unlike the enzo and cgt which are track cars that can be driven on the road.

Same for the cts-v and zr-1 for that matter, proper road cars.

I'm never really that impressed by what are essentially dedicated track cars with lights and plates stuck on. For the cost of the things, the potential to use them is very limited.

The only way you could ever drive a GT-R faster then a Carrera GT in the real world is if you decided to break multiple traffic laws. And that's not realistic. Buying a car like the GT-R or CGT is more about the style and feeling you get from owning/driving it. The GT-R has a backseat (not sure it's good for human beings) and adjustable suspension settings, so it's probably a very good daily driver. You may even be able to buy snow tires and drive it in the winter. But at that point, you're better off buying a Subaru or a Quattro.

[bartboy9891]

Originally Posted by TomCat

The only way you could ever drive a GT-R faster then a Carrera GT in the real world is if you decided to break multiple traffic laws. And that's not realistic. Buying a car like the GT-R or CGT is more about the style and feeling you get from owning/driving it. The GT-R has a backseat (not sure it's good for human beings) and adjustable suspension settings, so it's probably a very good daily driver. You may even be able to buy snow tires and drive it in the winter. But at that point, you're better off buying a Subaru or a Quattro.

I've seen one or two people around here driving 911 Turbos during the winter, and they seem to work alright. I don't know if it's just me, but I would find great satisfaction in being able to actually use a high powered sports car year round.

[Quadrax]

Originally Posted by TomCat

The Carrera GT can be difficult to handle, but in the hands of a trained driver, it's fast as hell.
But that is a car that requires some skill to drive. The GT-R is much much easier, with its AWD and automatic transmission. But in the hands of professionals with good track conditions, the lighter and more powerful car should be faster. If you took the GT-R to a proper racing circuit where cars like the CGT and Enzo could find just as much grip as the Nissan... well, I doubt the GT-R will run away with it.

Originally Posted by TomCat

The only way you could ever drive a GT-R faster then a Carrera GT in the real world is if you decided to break multiple traffic laws.

Ok, now i am confused. First post you say that the cgt needs a trained race driver on a proper race track to beat the gt-r (which i agree with). Then you say the cgt is faster in the real world. Which is it?

I would say the ZR1, GTR and CTS-V are perfect examples of cars that are day-to-day practical yet still have amazing potential to go fast in most situations driven by a normal driver.

Look what happened when Hamilton Snr tried to negotiate a slight bend in the Carrera GT.

[TomCat]

Originally Posted by bartboy9891

I've seen one or two people around here driving 911 Turbos during the winter, and they seem to work alright. I don't know if it's just me, but I would find great satisfaction in being able to actually use a high powered sports car year round.

I think that's cool too. But it would be harsh on your vehicle. I'm not sure I would do it if I owned a 911 Turbo. I'd buy a Subaru Legacy for the winters. If I was well-off, of course.

Originally Posted by Quadrax

Ok, now i am confused. First post you say that the cgt needs a trained race driver on a proper race track to beat the gt-r (which i agree with). Then you say the cgt is faster in the real world. Which is it?

Sorry, I wasn't trying to insinuate that the CGT was faster then the GT-R in the real world. They're both fast, but you can't really push either of them on the streets without breaking the law. The GT-R may be easier to drive fast, but you can't really drive it faster then a CGT within the bounds of the law. Same goes for the CGT or any other super car.

Originally Posted by Quadrax

Look what happened when Hamilton Snr tried to negotiate a slight bend in the Carrera GT.

To be fair, I doubt Rookie Sr was puttering along at 25mph when he lost control and crashed.

[argatoga]

Originally Posted by bartboy9891

I've seen one or two people around here driving 911 Turbos during the winter, and they seem to work alright.

911s do pretty well on the snow due to their RR set-up. For snow driving having weight on your driving wheels is a good thing.

[thedguy]

Originally Posted by prizrak

We need to put this in the FAQ. Pop up headlights are basically illegal at this point.


Full article

I don't fucking care if they are illegal now, they weren't when they removed 'em.