As Jake said... once a car is run through enough times by enough different drivers you reduce the the driver and condition variables and get a very good measure of a car's overall handling, acceleration, braking, transition, and stability on a real world track.

The only thing that ring times still don't account for too well (and I have yet to find any solid quantified measurement for even though motor trend did try in an article a few months ago) is overall stability. I forget what motortrend did but they came up with some sort of quantitative measurement as to how easily upset the car was by excessive inputs, sudden transitions, bumps, etc... basically when driving to the limits, how fine-tuned did the driver's skills need to be to keep from ending up in a ditch or way undershooting the car's full capabilities. That's an important factor IMO... one of the reasons people like Porsches and BMWs so much... they just seem to be easier for a novice to drive hard and end up looking like he knows what he's doing.

 

Uhh....these times were logged by a person with a stopwatch. Let's be real here for a minute. Wait until something official is revealed than start being critical.

The C6 Z51 times are for the LS2. We all know the LS3 is more than likely faster.

The Z06 times are also old. The suspension has been revised since the 7:42.9 was run. Wouldn't be surprised to see an 08 lay down a better time. Heck just install some real tires like the ZR! is getting and you can shave an easy couple of seconds off the Z06 times.

 

With much better tires, and better brakes, and more HP.

 

Because it is the benchmark that ALL manufacturers use for bragging rights these days.

 

Where was I being critical?

I was asked by another member 'how fast is fast enough' so I was naming current best times and my benchmark of the Carrera GT for what I hope to see from the ZR1 once official times are released.

That's not being critical, it's just answering the question 'how fast do you hope it will be?'

 

"For 100k I was hoping for a Carrera GT-matching time of 7:28... especially since they've been saying they could take any production car on any track anytime."

Your "was hoping" is past tense suggesting your are already disappointed by the ZR1's lack of performance. Your assuming the ZR1 will not be able to match or beat the times of the GT based on timing done by a stopwatch from the side of the track in damp conditions before the car is likely even dialed in. That sounds critical to me unless you add a quantifier like I just described above.

Let's wait until there is some official timing released then make comments suggesting the car should be faster or we hope it was faster.

 

Flawed logic.

 

Go figure.

 

I would agree you were not being critical. If the ZR1 could do a 7:28 or better I would be extremely impressed. That is a very lofty goal, and to keep myself from being let down I am going to assume it won't be that good.

But it is important not to use the stopwatch times as anything because we have no idea how hard the car was been driven around the track. If the Z06 is in the low 7:40's than this car should be considerably faster. The tires alone on the Z06 would probably get it into the 30's. They are not that good, but that is only an excuse because the car should be compared stock to stock.

In the end it doesn't affect me too much, being I won't be buying a ZR1 anytime soon. Unless I get a damn good raise this year!!

 

So the ZR1 is lapping in the low 7:40's? The GM engineers should better learn the phrase "walk softly and carry a big stick". It looks like the ZR1 might barely eek by the GT-R, if it even does that. So much for the hype.

I really hope the ZR1 doesn't turn out to be a flop when taking into account price and the Z06, but maybe that's what an extra 300 lbs does to a car on that track. It's like having your REALLY fat friend riding shotgun while you drive your car around.

They should've spent the ZR1 money and tweaked the Z06 with CF panels, better tires, and a better suspension.

 

You guys kill me. The ZR1 is only lapping in the low 7:40's so says the stopwatch. Did I miss the memo where it said they were using God's stopwatch. Did you guys know they used an hourglass to get the times for the GT-R. That's why it ran a 7:38.

BTW rumor has it the Michelins will be optional on the Z06 for 09. We'll see.

 

That and I've driven on it in simulation video games, the GT-R should always beat the Z06 and ZR1 on it.

The course just has way too many turns. The GT-R will get it's .05 seconds lead due to AWD and the few sections where the power of the ZR1 will help aren't really worth it.

Maybe as a test course, it's great, but it's quite biased where you start racing on it.

Now, take us to the 24hours Le Mans race course, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_de_la_Sarthe, and those 15in ceramics and 620+ horsepower will shine.

 

Just because somebody is 300+ it doesn't mean they are REALLY FAT

 

He said it's like having your 300lb really fat friend along for the ride.

Maybe it's also like having your 7'2" and ripped as hell friend along for the ride?

 

Maybe some BMWs, but the rear engine Porsches can be a handful for even a seasoned Porsche driver. The rear engine changes the handling characteristics dramatically - they oversteer horribly. A novice would be in deep trouble pushing one of those cars to the limits. Remember all the 911 problems in the 80s?