I believe the lightning lap is the same as motor trends best driver s car, in that only new cars or cars that have had significant changes in the model year are allowed in. Jan 25, 2012 there is a wealth of information about the lightning lap and the cars tested on the car and driver website. I feel like this event every year shows a lot of upsets. Today, that lap doesnt even land in the fastest third of a record book that. On another note, it would be interesting to see how the mercedes amg 63 estate would stack up to the hypersuv crowd on the lightning lap. Car and drivers lightning lap is that magazines test of a cars skill, and this year. Car and driver takes a large array of contenders to virginia international raceway to determine how quick the sportiest cars on the market are in a controlled environment lightning lap can be. Aug, 2012 after a huge wildfire delayed the 2012 pikes peak international hill climb, it has finally had its day in the spotlight, and it did not disappoint. Within a stones throw of the invisible line that separates north carolina from virginia is a very visible 4. Jun 12, 2017 also, if you seriously think that people who are buying m4s are crossshopping them with camaros because it lost according to a journalist, then i dont see the point of continuing this discussion any further.
The result is an americanstyle nurburgringlike timed lap test called the lightning lap. I much prefer smaller rwd coupes, but the charger srt8 is no slouch on a road course. The lightning lap can bring just as much shame and disappointment as it can pride for cars that fail to meet their expectations. The chevrolet camaro zl1 1le has surprised us time and time again with its performance, but the recent car and driver lightning lap test really put the coupes track capabilities into. Car and driver january 2016 this magazine is for automobile enthusiasts interested in domestic and imported autos. Sep 07, 2017 after all, a supple ride is nice and all. Motortrends 2015 best driver car lap times laguna seca. Covid19 has been screwing up the world in more ways than one. Bmw m4 car and driver lightning lap times are out bmw m3 and. Jan 24, 20 ever since lap times at the nurburgring became a benchmark for a vehicles overall performance, there has been a need to find a benchmark track in. If the steering gets wacky or the car skitters, you cant push the car hard and you will lose speed. Given, my car is modified, but most of those increase longevity of the tires and brakes and not so much actually make the car go faster for one hot lap. There are plenty of cars packing more than 577 horsepower on the lightning lap all time.
The event kicks off the 48th season for the usac silver crown champ car series. Best driver s car is our favorite time of the year where we test a handful of the hottest highperformance cars to find out which is the most fun car to drive on both the road and the track. Colwell, josh jacquot, tony quiroga, aaron robinson, eric tingwall, car and driver. Sep 19, 2018 every corvette and 911 lap time from our annual lightning lap track test ranked. Car and driver just held their annual lightning lap competition for 2015 and according to the results, the 2015 corvette z06 not only won. The 09 jcw was included in the test and ran a lap of 3. Heres a look at an overview of the driver lineup for the 2018 phoenix copper cup april 67 at ism raceway in phoenix, arizona. They changed from listing times from 5 small sections of the track to 5 full sectors in 2014 as shown below.
Came in 19th out of the 21 cars tested this year, only beating the brz and 2. Each of our five drivers is assigned vehicles to lap, but we crosscheck our work by cycling into one anothers cars. Sep 14, 2016 its when a car has to be made streetlegal and reasonably maintainable that meaningful performance comparisons can be made. I knew in my mind that in order to run the fastest lap in.
The 2012 pennsylvania 400 was a nascar sprint cup series stock car race held on august 5, 2012 at the pocono raceway in long pond, pennsylvania. Brute force was a big part of the gt63 ss success at lightning lap. Bmw m5 one of car and drivers fastest lightning lap sedans. The estate version should be able to put down the same lap times as the saloon version, considering similar objective measures in general. Car and driver we told you a few weeks ago about the 2014 corvette stingrays performance in car and driver s 2014 lightning lap competition. But now you can actually see a video that offers a sweet look at what its like to ride in. I think it is interesting to compare to car and driver s lightning lap list. Video watch the corvette stingrays run at vir for car.
Sep 19, 2018 car and driver when we started lightning lap years ago, a 2006 ford gt claimed the fast time with a 3. Corvette value for performance as inspired by car and driver. Bmw m5 competition at car and drivers lightning lap. We conduct speed tests of many different cars at virginia international raceway, and here are all the lap times from our 2019 lightning lap event. The indianapolis 500 is considered one of the most traditional and historical races in the world, and is also considered one of the three most significant motorsport races in the world. Nov 08, 2018 teslas dualmotor, 450horsepower model 3 performance has a new track mode.
These 20 cars laid down the quickest lap times at virginia international raceway. Car and driver organizes the lightning lap classes by the pricing of the. Video watch the corvette stingrays run at vir for car and driver s lightning lap. Weve run lightning lap six times now, amassing a ton of blistering lap times around vir. Car and driver takes the hottest vehicles on the market and subject them to a reference lap on the fearsome virginia international raceway lightning lap can be considered the equivalent of the. Runner up 2018 subaru wrx performance package at 3. Lexus lc 500 holds its own in lightning lap showdown. Best drivers car award most fun cars to drive motor trend. Virginia international raceway grand east course post 01. Lightning lap by patrick rall on september 12, 2016 at 4. Heres the link to all of the car and driver lightning lap times.
Sep 11, 2014 the latest car and driver issue with the rendering of the midengine 2017 corvette zora on the cover also features the results from the magazines annual lightning lap competition where the latest stockunmodified offerings from selected manufacturers are raced against the clock at virginia international raceway. Somehow, i dont think tesla is ready for prime time, then. This cayman r is equipped with a lightning fast dualclutch pdk transmission and sport chrono package plus. The lightning lap on virs grand course is the closest thing to nordscheife.
Whats not accurate is that fastestlaps calls this the grand east course when, if you look at the issue, the map they say they tested on was the grand west course. You can see them all in the table below, which can. Ford gt sets a faster lap time than porsche 918 spyder at vir. The bmw m5 is one of the fastest sedans to ever take part in the competition. For the fifth time, we shake down the years hottest metal at vir.
Taken as a whole, the comprehensive list of lightning lap times tells a saga of. The glis time is pretty surprising considering esc cant be fully defeated. Jan 24, 2012 from the february 2012 issue of car and driver. Despite lexus insistence on the matter, the lc 500 is, in fact, a pretty good sports car. Over the past six years, car and driver has brought 115 production cars to virginia international raceway vir 4. What started as a handful of car and driver employees with a couple of toolboxes has. To put in context this is 5 seconds faster than the. We took it to lime rock park to see how much hotlapping this electric sport sedan can really handle. Mclaren pulled out of the australian grand prix after a team member tested positive for covid19. Car and driver lightning lap at vir ford focus rs forum. Such as a boxster s beating a 20 m6 check out this link too. Corvette stingray runs car and drivers lightning lap but. They use multiple drivers of greatly varying experience and talent levels from highly inexperienced to pretty quick testing cars of similar performance but seeing several second variances because of it. Lightning lap is the biggest joke of automotive car comparisons.
Stinger gt in car and drivers 2018 lightning lap didn. He is okay for an amateur track weekend driver but i have posted faster times in my personal boss 302 around vir. Lightning lap 2012 car and driver for example, a cayman r beat a 911 turbo any other upsets you guys see. The indianapolis 500 is an openwheel car race and is currently sanctioned by indy racing league llc, and has been run as an indycar series event since 1996. The latest car and driver issue with the rendering of the midengine 2017 corvette zora on the cover also features the results from the magazines annual lightning lap competition where the latest stockunmodified offerings from selected manufacturers are raced against the clock at virginia international raceway.
Each issue contains road tests and features on performance, sports, international coverage of road race, stock and championship car events, technical reports, personalities and products. Lap times and sector data are collected with gpsbased racelogic vboxs using predictive lap timing. Track times of some of the newest, hottest vehicles extant. In order to take them fast, you must trust your car. Theres more to owning a sport luxury car than just lap times. I am also making custom tracks with car and driver s sectors as used in their lightning lap so hlt users can compare to cars they have tested. For years, car and driver has been holding a competition aimed at finding the best driver s car you can buy. Driver testimonials virginia international raceway. The 2012 charger srt lapped vir faster than several hot hatches, sports sedans and sports cars. The model 3 performance would fall into their ll2 class. Car and driver does not include this years yet but interesting read. But it doesnt make a car fun to drive in the twisties. Car and driver when we started lightning lap years ago, a 2006 ford gt claimed the fast time with a 3.
Winners, lap times, and a new recordsetting porsche welp, despite all the nurburgring testing, this article just confirms that the stinger gt is a gran turismo and in no way a track car. Corvette stingray runs car and drivers lightning lap but the. The bmw m2 and bmw m4 gts place well on car and driver s 2016 lightning lap, beating out other impressive performance cars. Chevrolet camaro 1le package laptimes, specs, performance. If the corvette was predictable as the ll2 champ this year, the car that put up the secondbest lap time in the category was a surprise. Every year, car and driver hosts what they call the lightning lap. I think car and driver in qualifying is really 5050. Click here for the feature intro or jump straight to the video of the 2012 corvette zr1s lightning lap. And yet, 630 horsepower is meaningless if you cant use it. It looks like it actually matches the time of the 2015 golf r. And while the funky threedoor cannot claim the lightning lap title of quickest front driver of all time that distinction goes to the honda civic type rit. A very good lap time by a typical rally car equipped with a mabuchi fc motor turning 1718 k rpm and producing about 100 gcm of torque is about 8.
The resulting lap times for the ninco lancia 037 recorded over approximately 150 laps are shown in the following table. Many automotive events have been cancelled, including the geneva motor show. That said, cars like the z06 and gtr were left out because there have been no significant changes since the last time they ranz06 in 2011, gtr in 2012. Sep 05, 2017 lightning lap 20062017 historical data. Inspired by jean bugattis legendary 57sc atlantic that has been lost to the sands of time, bugattis new oneoff is the most expensive new car ever. Sep 12, 2016 viper dominates world, hellcat shines. Over the past six years, and in as many installments. There is also a page where you can see the historical lap times.
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