Top Gear test track.....getting faster??

Necx0

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I thought I would post up a thread about something I have been curious about.

Obviously over the 5 years new top gear has been on car development has moved on quite a bit. Just the disparities between in time between the older cars going around and the newer cars going around is rather startling. I will use the Koenigsegg and Zonda as an example. First time they went round we saw 1min23's whereas both were about the 1min18's. 5 secs is a stunning gain on a short track from what are essentially the same cars.

Another example is the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment. J.K and Jodie Kidd for instance, both very competent drivers in their own right managed 1min48's whereas that was about average in the last series of the Liana.

So....am I mad or has anyone else noticed this?? Discuss!!!!
 
I've noticed it as well.

I thought it could have been due to the Stig getting to know the track even better, or the Liana being fully run-in.
 
The Stig isn't always the same person so the lap times aren't 100% accurate.

The 'New Stig' in season 3(?) seemed to be a bit quicker than the old one. Actually, was it a new stig or just new overalls?
 
The white stig is hugely fast, while the black stig was just average...
 
I did think about that........but Perry McCarthy had massive credentials. Ex-F1 and was successful in sports cars for a long time. I don't think his speed was an issue.

I don't see how the track could have gotten faster unless they altered Chicago or the Hammerhead to become easier corners. Maybe cars just have got that much faster over the years......seems a massive gap.

I have another theory about the Liana actually. The slower times to begin with were due to the fact celebrities didnt want to break it. Then as soon as someone came on that didn't give a crap and thrashed the hell out of it. That become the yardstick and they were prepared to give it 100%......
 
Not to mention the obvious one: advances in car design are allowing the cars to lap the track faster.
 
Yes. Back in 2003, they probably got a worrying pat on the back from an intern saying "pleeeaase don't break it". The later days of the Liana, they probably just mumbled something about staying alive before going for a smoke.

As for black vs. white, the Murcielago says enough.
 
Yes but the lap the black Stig did in the murci was when they hard the wet patches on the track (right in the corners ofcourse), the white stig never had to deal with that. AND he is a much quicker driver.
I have no doubt that a car like the Honda NSX would do a much better time in the hands of the new Stig.
 
The white Stig is 2 seconds faster around the track in the Liana :) Just look at the black Stigs time in the Liana and the white stigs :)
 
Poor Perry, everyone seems to think the poor bloke was slow as a wet week!!! Yes he was 1.4seconds slower than new stig but hmmmm.....still not convinced. Considering NEW Stig took the original Murcie around in 1min23.9 against 1min19.8 for the LP640.

I guess I have sort of answered my own question but amazing that cars have come on so far so quickly!!!
 
When the show started, they used to deleberately wet down the track before the black Stig took the cars out for their power laps. They did it to try and make all the laptimes wet so that they could be compared fairly. They stopped doing that by the time the white Stig was assembled.
 
Firstly, how do we know there were sections of the track that Perry wasn't using, and the later Stig decided to? Also, yes often times there were wet patches on the track. There is no questioning Perry's speed, he wouldn't have made it to F1 and Lemans if he wasn't quick. There are obviously variables that we as viewers don't know about, because we are simply that...viewers. So learn to judge slowly people. Besides, anyone with any credible experience and knowledge of racing and performance driving can look at the short clips of Perry's work and see his skill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b90P8uhvBc
 
I think whether is also a big problem...when the track gets hotter the grip level rises an that's mean better cornering speed...Tires are also part of the equation...tire from now are better than the ones we were able to buy in 2003...and much much more better than the one we have on the fifties...nowadays an old Ferrari would be quicker than from the time when it has been build...new rubbers provides much more grip...
 
Yes. Back in 2003, they probably got a worrying pat on the back from an intern saying "pleeeaase don't break it". The later days of the Liana, they probably just mumbled something about staying alive before going for a smoke.

lmao, quote of the year
 
Wasnt also the time set by Black Stig in the beginning of his first season as the Stig? When the White Stig set his Liana time, he had worked that track and that car for several seasons, so he had to know both car and track better than Black Stig did when he set his time.
 
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