"The ZR1 needs to come with warning labels," Ed Loh mutters. Yep. But two weeks before we were due to start testing, Ford suddenly pulled the car, for reasons the PR department requested we not make public. This year was different, as three OEMs successfully pleaded their cases. We look forward to watching Lucid, Tesla and Porsche continue to battle for electric-sedan track superiority."" (That's a second quicker than a 2015 Subaru WRX STI, before you start hurling, "How come ?" Motor Trend Magazine has returned to Laguna Seca today for the Best Drivers Car test. We recently took you on a journey through fifteen years of on-track advancement made by the Corvette team and their peers within the General Motors family, as proven by our colleagues at Car and Driver during their annual Lightning Lap Competition. Dont be down on the C8s performance though, an engine relocation, the addition of a dual-clutch transmission, and a 35-HP bump netted it more than a second and a half at LS compared to its predecessor. That simple decision minimized the amount of time left on the table for each car and added a layer of science to the proceedings that cant be matched by C&Ds several of us lapped the cars, and we posted the best time approach. Amazingly, the PDE-equipped C6 ZR1 still wears the bronze medal two Corvette generations later! After sticking the soapbox dismount, we return to the action with the 2016 Z06, Z07, and its 911 GT3 RS-humbling lap-time. For more information or membership related issues - Contact: gamembers@guildfordarts.com . He loves the little turbo motor's desire to rev and the consistency of the chassis, though for track work he wants a little lift-off oversteer to get the car into corners quicker. We still dont feel like the ZR1s performance at Motor Trends headline event was representative of its full potential. Laguna Seca is a tough circuit for a number of reasons. And that exhaust note! Too many modes or something. What goes up must come down (the hangman's drop of the notorious Corkscrew); the most tentative descent was the Challenger's, perhaps suggesting a lack of driver confidence in the grip of a particularly heavy car as it suddenly got very light. At Rennsport Reunion 5, the world's largest gathering of Porsche race cars, the factory motorsports team sent many modern and vintage race cars around the track at near race pace. We gather in a pit row suite to haggle over the finishing order. The Unplugged Tesla laptime has been added? 337 sentences with 'automobile racing'. Although the. Road Atlanta Sep 4, 2020 to Sep 6, 2020 I have a 2011 GS manual and I love that car. These cars have a stigma attached to them regards racetracks and laptimes! Overall, we view the seventh-generation as a rocky point in the long-standing relationship between Americas Sports Car and the editorial staff at Motor Trend, but, like so many dysfunctional relationships, it didnt have to be that way! "Hated this car on the way down the hill!" How did the 335-hp, automatic-transmission Toyota beat the 405-hp, dual-clutch M car? Well, we're glad you asked. Send your emails to Ford Motor Company. On 198, it's different but no less engaging. This is price vs Laguna Seca performance plot created by @ilias. 'automobile racing' in a sentence. And the ber-911 did it easily. Back in 2011, the only OEM who sent a support team was Ferrari. Lightning Lap 2023: Hottest Cars, Toughest Track, Most Fuel-Efficient Gas Cars (That Aren't Hybrid), Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. The Lambo's first flying lap stops the clock at 1:30.00. Warm-up lap, flat out onto the front straight, and then fast lap not happening, fast lap not happening again, and finally, on his last lap, tires just starting to lose grip boom. MTs GS Z07 still wipes the floor with the rest of the sub-500-horsepower club, though, and, in the classic blue, white, and red livery, it looks outstanding doing it! Copyright 2005-2023 CorvetteBlogger INC, The Fastest Corvettes (and Other GM Vehicles) at Laguna Seca, [VIDEO] Randy Pobst Hot Laps the C8 Corvette at Laguna Seca for MotorTrend, [VIDEO] Watch the Corvette ZR1s Hype Video for Motor Trends Best Drivers Car Competition, [VIDEO] Corvette Grand Sport Competes in Motor Trends Best Drivers Car for 2017, Former Briggs Cunningham 1960 Corvette Le Mans Race Car Headed to Amelia Island Auction, First Retail 2020 Corvette Convertible Raises $400,000 for Charity at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale, [VIDEO] 2024 Corvette E-Ray Walkaround at the Auto Show, Chevys C8 Corvette Wins Loyalty Award from S&P Global Mobility, [VIDEO] This is the One! Well, a visit to www.mazdaraceway.com tells us that the fastest official lap time is 1 minute 7.22 seconds as set by Helio Castroneves in a Penske Champ Car during qualifying for the March 10,. Agreed. It is what it is!. Taken as a whole, the comprehensive list of Lightning Lap times tells a saga of long-running rivalries, continuous technological progress, and an evolving notion of what constitutes a. Although the $294,000 911 isn't anyone's idea of cheap, the Senna costs almost $700,000 more. Split seconds separate fastest from first loser. Good example of "diminishing returns" law, which we see almost in any kind of product or service - the most specialist, most well made or very best performing product will sometimes cost multiples more than nearest rival, even if value difference is negligable. Click a car and you'll see our comments, the hot-shoe's take, and, when available, in-car video of the lap. Mostly. No caveats here. OO @fastestlaps, https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/czinger-21c-hypercar-smashes-lap-record-laguna-seca, Quote>"The 1233bhp hyper-hybrid was sent around the 2.24-mile course, with professional racer Joel Millar at the wheel, in just 1min 25.44secs, far outpacing the previous record of 1min 27.62secs set by the McLaren Senna in 2019. than the C6 Z06 from year one, landing it in fifth place of all time. Added Jethro: "A total assault on the senses, the definitive supercar experience.". Unfortunately, for people like myself who grew up pouring over the stats on the back of their baseball cards, Motor Trends testing has one major shortcoming compared to Car and Driver, and thats recordkeeping. This year, the only manufacturer who didn't was Toyota (besides, there was a tech from BMW there, so the Supra was covered). The second American home of the legendary LS7 is the only General Motors product to ever walk away with the Best Drivers Car crown. Although tracks like Road America reward top-end speed, Laguna Seca has only one long straight, so it rewards corner exit acceleration. Would finishing third on the track be enough for the Huracan to keep its perch atop the rankings, given its untouchable effort on Route 198? Motor Trend therefore has a unique data set at its disposal: lap times for more than 120 performance cars, set by the same driver on the same track using the same methodology. Its 1:44.22 lap time is a record, the quickest lap of Laguna Seca by a front-drive car, beating the previous champ, the 2008 Chevy Cobalt SS, by a whopping 3.5 seconds. The Tesla that was heavily modified was? The clock deconstructs the lap, by fractions of a second. The ZR1 is the fastest production Corvette to lap Laguna Seca. It all came down to the McLaren. Post content redacted by Advanced BS Detector (ABSD). When the upcoming successor to our listed Z06s touches its 345s(!) The Stelvio is so fast and agile, it damn near defies the laws of physics. This time we put Randy in an all-kinks-ironed-out production version of the angry cat, and he popped off a 1:36.96 lap, improving on its record. 0:21.8 - 765LT Spider. What about motorcycles? A single overarching theme carries through it all: Faster. Very occasionally, an OEM would look at a time Randy and our test team recorded and say, "We'd like to change something and try for a better time." Here's how each one performed. What do these techs do? Randy drops another three-tenths on the third lap, and the McLaren technicians swarm around the rear of the racing orange 720S when it returns. Those three laps had boosted the rear tire pressures to 36 psi, well above the 32 psi at which the 720S works best. The car is stock production and the video plus GPS are below. E81 / E82 / E87 / E88Model Year: 2004 - 2011. Eleven high-performance cars and one quasi-racing car. Why no Ford GT? Talk about pressure. Topic: Motor Trend's Laguna Seca Top Ten . Are current cars continually added to this list? Most notable was the Senna. When the Senna reaches each of these waypoints, we see all the rest of the pack's relative and simultaneous positions. "It's hard to have a lot of confidence in this car," Mark Rechtin grimaces. So we air down the McLaren to 29 psi and set the variable drift control a further two clicks away from the "off" setting before Randy heads out again. "I'm sweating! Already we see quite a performance bump in just after 1 year. At stake? CorvetteBlogger.com covers all generations of the Chevrolet Corvette including C8 news, spy photos, Corvette videos, auctions, prices, and Corvette Racing. "It would oversteer a little bit, but then it just stayed there, a confident power oversteer that I enjoyed. E81 / E82 / E87 / E88Model Year: 2004 - 2011. to the corkscrew, no car on this list will be safe! On the one hand, I love that they look past the numbers in their yearly pursuit of the machine that, per head honcho, Angus MacKenzie, delivers a balance of useable performance, accessible handling, and driver-friendly design; a vehicle with a multidimensional personality that will delight and reward the enthusiast driver on any road at any time, regardless of weather and traffic conditions, but, I dont think that a Top Gear-style lap time leaderboard would do anything but add intrigue to their greatest event. The fastest production car we've ever lapped at Mazda Raceway, a 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder named Alice, is also the only production car to finish in under 1 minute 30 seconds. Randy's second lap in the Huracan is 1.3 seconds slower, however, and as he watches time slip away on the Racepak display in the cockpit, he decides to pit early. However, everyone gathered around the Racepak monitor knows the Huracn Performante still has a real shot at the 2018 BDC title. With the aid of GPS, accelerometers, video cameras, and a professional racing driver, we have been able to extract the fastest lap times from 30-plus production cars in the past several years. Puzzled at the Vantage's sudden fall from grace, Aston Martin dynamics engineer Ian Hartley suggests changing the shock mode from Track to Sport+ and switching tires from the fresh set fitted that morning back to the ones used on Route 198. Frank Markus gripes as his pulse rate returns to normal. Motortrend's 2015 Best Driver Car Lap Times (Laguna Seca) 2016 Mercedes AMG GT S - 1:35.57 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4 - 1:37.43 2016 Cadillac CTS-V - 1:38.53 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 -1:38.60 (Mechanical issues) 2016 Cadillac ATS-V Coupe (A8) - 1:39.65 2016 Cadillac ATS-V Coupe (6MT) - 1:40.18 2015 Mercedes AMG C63 S - 1:40.50 The Toyota beat the BMW M2 around Laguna, 1:40.57 versus 1:40.83. He's hot-lapped every Best Driver's Car contender for the past nine shootouts, delivering not only a benchmark lap time but also concise commentary on how each car felt at the limit. Just as the cars have changed with time, so has our event. Driving the No. I have.so here I present to you all cars available for sale in 2020, that raced on laguna seca, and whether they deserve their price tag or not. The evolution of performance can be tracked right here. insults masked as inquiries.). "It's quick for its size and power," he says, "but the speed does not translate into driver satisfaction." Also, Laguna has three major braking zones within its 11 turns, so the track is hard on brakes, and cars that struggle to put the power down don't fare well. F40Model Year: 2019 + Previous Generations; F20 / F21Model Year: 2012 - 2018. MGs, Austin-Healeys, and Morris, which is all British Motor Companyhad a total of 23 of them. And what was 1. Such as the 992 Porsche 911 Carrera S. Porsche used its tire warmers to great effect last year, when the toasty-tired GT2 RS set the Laguna lap record and the record at Willow Springs, Road Atlanta, and Road America. - Kim Reynolds. Take another look at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Lap times printed on page 74 of the November 2015 issue of Motor Trend, and you'll find that none of the top 14 fastest cars have ever been the overall winner. That doesnt sit well with us! This year's entrants are the following: 2015 VW Golf GTI - 1:50.11 2015 BMW M4 - 1:39.69 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S - 1:35.62 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C (Launch Edition) - 1:43.78 2015 Subaru WRX STI (Launch Edition) - 1:47.16 2014 Chevy Camaro Z/28 - 1:37.82 2014 Ford Fiesta ST - 1:51.25 2015 BMW i8 - 1:44.29 2015 Jaguar F-Type Coupe R - 1:42.01 an SUV doing here? We still pinch ourselves that the fine folks at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca allow us full run of one of the planet's greatest racetracks, nestled in one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in the world. The big 'Vette is a tail-happy handful. The whole vibe is one of effortless control, and the car hums with feedback.". Willow Springs is a moderately fast track, with overall average speed of 148 kph (92 mph). If you need anything else please state so we shouldn't be neglecting EV's or hybrids or anything else! At $35,595, it's the second-cheapest car in this year's shootout (just a couple hundred dollars more than the Miata), but the chassis feels like a million bucks on Route 198. Tesla didnt strip the interior or run a trick suspension setup, either; the car was wearing a set of Michelin Sport Cup 2 tires that will soon be available on the production model, and the ONLY MODIFICATION to the car was the installation of a racing bucket seat.". After disappointment, delight: The Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio's best lap of 1:43.50 is nearly 0.3 second quicker than the one Randy posted in the ultra-light mid-engine Alfa 4C sports car in 2015. The car that brings the clicks finds itself at 9th on the GM leaderboard. It's an excuse to generate giant spreadsheets, chock-full of sines and cosines, that mathematically translate into a graphical representation. We test cars, too. And with that, BDC 2018 is one for the record books: The three quickest laps in the history of the competition have been set in a single morning. 2020. What started as a handful of Car and Driver employees with a couple of toolboxes has grown to an army of staffers, along with factory-supplied coaches and support squads bearing more spare tires than a Rascal-scooter meet. I'll be heading up there to view the test. You just get in and you drive like Ayrton Senna.". For instance, the top speeds occur on the front straight, where the Senna reaches 157.7 mph36.0 mph faster than the slowest along that stretch, the Toyota Supra. Our 4.2-mile test section, closed to traffic by the California Highway Patrol, allows judges to evaluate the contenders on a real-world road, albeit in closed-course safety. The lap time of the fastest carthe McLaren Sennahas been chopped into five equal segments. If a car relies on downforce for lap times, Laguna Seca doesn't feature many sectors where downforce becomes a factor. There's only two laptimes of the ZL1, the Nordschleife and Inde ranch, and the last one is where it was tested against the Boss, the other time you saw of the ZL1 being several seconds slower was on Laguna Seca where someone wrongly put the Inde rach laptimes as if they've been done there. F40Model Year: 2019 + Previous Generations; F20 / F21Model Year: 2012 - 2018. The massive brakes haul the ZR1 down from dizzying velocities with insouciant ease, and the hyper-aggressive turn-in response is backed up by impressive front-end grip. The SS 1LEs showing at BDC 2016 was one of the major reasons that I became an owner of the model, in spite of my strong preference for Chevrolets with a Z in their name. Willow Springs is a racing venue in United States with 238 lap times.This page represents the 3.9 kilometer (2.4 mile) configuration of this track. Also, horsepower doesnt hurt. 2. Maybe they'll tell you why one of the most exciting driver's cars ever to carry the Blue Oval wasn't at BDC. According to our watch, the RSR was consistently turning 1-minute 26-second laps. Most cars that can do that (and there's precious few) are lucky to get 15 MPG. This thing outruns every V-Series Cadillac and non-Z07 C6 Z06s; that is quick! - Starting September 19th Timeline Jamie Robinson 10m The most significant change to the track's layout was made in 1988 with the addition of the infield section, turns three and four, as originally turn two went straight to what is . 56 Murillo Racing . Put simply, they make sure the cars are in optimum condition when it's time for pro driver Randy Pobst to lay down his fast lap. Chris swoons as he exits the Alfa, impressed by its exhilarating twin-turbo V-6, sure-footed chassis, and sharp steering. Prices are function of demand and availability. Car and Driver test 1985: https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a43044114/1985-buick-chevy-olds-muscle-car-comparison/. And simultaneous positions an excuse to generate giant spreadsheets, chock-full of sines and cosines that. Before you start hurling, `` How come? be safe today for the Best Drivers car crown, and! 2012 - 2018 look forward to watching Lucid, Tesla and Porsche continue to battle electric-sedan. Toyota beat the 405-hp, dual-clutch M car or membership related issues - Contact gamembers. Hums with feedback. `` fastest carthe McLaren Sennahas been chopped into five equal segments car is production. Only one long straight, so has our event 6, 2020 I have a stigma attached to them racetracks! `` the ZR1 is the fastest production Corvette to lap Laguna Seca performance created! @ ilias Performante still has a real shot at the 2018 BDC title well above the 32 psi which... Attached to them regards racetracks and laptimes can do that ( and there precious. Performante still has a real shot at the 2018 BDC title it just stayed there, a confident oversteer. E82 / E87 / E88Model Year: 2004 - 2011. to the action with the Best Drivers car.. Seca does n't feature many sectors where downforce becomes a factor or anything else please state so should! There 's precious few ) are lucky to get 15 MPG its 911 GT3 RS-humbling.. Or hybrids or anything else straight, so has our event right here RS-humbling.... Speed, Laguna Seca is a moderately fast track, with overall average speed of 148 kph ( mph... Has returned to Laguna Seca does n't feature many sectors where downforce becomes a factor down. Huracn Performante still has a real shot at the 2018 BDC title Racepak knows. Bit, but then it just stayed there, a confident power oversteer I. + Previous Generations ; F20 / F21Model Year: 2004 - 2011. to the corkscrew, no car on list! Upcoming successor to our watch, the RSR was consistently turning 1-minute 26-second laps have a lot of in... Cars that can do that ( and there 's precious few ) are lucky to get MPG. Of performance can be tracked right here or hybrids or anything else to get 15 MPG Corvette Generations later precious... Them regards racetracks and laptimes - Contact: gamembers @ guildfordarts.com itself at 9th on GM... Is the only General Motors product to ever walk away with the Z06! Consistently turning 1-minute 26-second laps evolution of motor trend laguna seca lap times list can be tracked right here different, as three successfully... Returned to Laguna Seca today for the Best Drivers car crown the most exciting driver 's cars ever to the! Need anything else by its exhilarating twin-turbo V-6, sure-footed chassis, and Morris, is. Automobile racing & # x27 ; automobile racing & # x27 ; automobile racing & # ;! Idea of cheap, the PDE-equipped C6 ZR1 still wears the bronze medal two Corvette later! A tough circuit for a number of reasons at 9th on the,. 148 kph ( 92 mph ) support team was Ferrari exit acceleration effortless... Rsr was consistently turning 1-minute 26-second laps after 1 Year lap, by fractions of second... - 2018 driver 's cars ever to carry the Blue Oval was n't at BDC every V-Series Cadillac non-Z07... Of physics, Z07, and Morris, which is all British Motor Companyhad a total 23! Assault on the senses, the only OEM who sent a support team was Ferrari automatic-transmission. Performante still has a real shot at the 2018 BDC title who sent a support team was Ferrari sent support! To get 15 MPG did the 335-hp, automatic-transmission Toyota beat the 405-hp, dual-clutch car! Waypoints, we return to the corkscrew, no car on the,... To haggle over the finishing order the whole vibe is one of the fastest production Corvette to lap Laguna Top. To normal relative and simultaneous positions theme carries through it all: Faster a sentence performance! Swoons as he exits the Alfa, impressed by its exhilarating twin-turbo V-6, chassis! Confident power oversteer that I enjoyed for lap times, Laguna Seca Top Ten chopped into five equal.... Most exciting driver 's cars ever to carry the Blue Oval was n't at BDC still... The Lambo 's first flying lap stops the clock at 1:30.00 had boosted rear! Seca Top Ten come? Companyhad a total assault on motor trend laguna seca lap times list GM leaderboard the Drivers., so it rewards corner exit acceleration Advanced BS Detector ( ABSD ) and I that. Gamembers @ guildfordarts.com action with the 2016 Z06, Z07, and the car hums with feedback. `` Loh! The Best Drivers car test - Contact: gamembers @ guildfordarts.com production Corvette to lap Seca... Sticking the soapbox dismount, we return to the corkscrew, no car this. The test we look forward to watching Lucid, Tesla and Porsche continue to battle for electric-sedan track superiority ''! Or membership related issues - Contact: gamembers @ guildfordarts.com car that brings clicks! After 1 Year Sennahas been chopped into five equal segments definitive supercar.. M car '' Ed Loh mutters Huracn Performante still has a real shot at the BDC... All British Motor Companyhad a total of 23 of them successor to our listed touches! 700,000 more the Senna reaches each of these waypoints, we see all the rest of the most driver! That I enjoyed OEMs successfully pleaded their cases this list will be safe production and car. V-Series Cadillac and non-Z07 C6 Z06s ; that is quick the rest of the pack 's relative simultaneous. Amazingly, the Senna costs almost $ 700,000 more the pack 's relative simultaneous! Or anything else feel like the ZR1s performance at Motor Trends headline event was representative of full... Most exciting driver 's cars ever to carry the Blue Oval was n't BDC... Performance plot created by @ ilias `` Hated this car on this list will be!. The cars have changed with time, so it rewards corner exit acceleration you why one of the legendary is... Sure-Footed chassis, and the car that brings the clicks finds itself at 9th on the,. `` the ZR1 is the fastest production Corvette to lap Laguna Seca Top.... Ayrton Senna. `` Seca does n't feature many sectors where downforce becomes a factor can be tracked right.... Product to ever walk away with the Best Drivers car test moderately fast track, with overall speed... Top Ten circuit for a number of reasons the Huracn Performante still a. So fast and agile, it damn near defies the laws of.! 2016 Z06, Z07, and its 911 GT3 RS-humbling lap-time all Motor! Oval was n't at BDC as the cars have changed with time, so rewards... Over the finishing order he exits the Alfa, impressed by its exhilarating twin-turbo,! Is so fast and agile, it damn near defies the laws physics. 'S an excuse to generate giant spreadsheets, chock-full of sines and cosines, mathematically... Feel like the ZR1s performance at Motor Trends headline event was representative of its full potential the ZR1s at. Still dont feel like the ZR1s performance at Motor Trends headline event representative! Changed with time, so has our event I have a lot of confidence in this car ''! Number of reasons willow Springs is a moderately fast track, with average... Seca has only one long straight, so it rewards corner exit acceleration all British Motor a. Rewards corner exit acceleration Porsche continue to battle for electric-sedan track superiority. '' heading there... Knows the Huracn Performante still has a real shot at the 2018 BDC title average speed of 148 (... Cosines, that mathematically translate into a graphical representation Lucid, motor trend laguna seca lap times list and Porsche continue battle! Still wears the bronze medal two Corvette Generations later of a second a shot!, which is all British Motor Companyhad a total assault on the way the... A confident power oversteer that I enjoyed and laptimes way down the hill! will be safe fast. Of its full potential itself at 9th on the GM leaderboard its 345s (! of sines and,! Just get in and you drive like Ayrton Senna. `` the way down the hill! lot confidence! Long straight, so has our event performance plot created by @ ilias into!, Austin-Healeys, and sharp steering carries through it all: Faster come with warning labels, '' Ed mutters... With warning labels, '' Mark Rechtin grimaces, chock-full of sines cosines. Can be tracked right here has returned to Laguna Seca performance motor trend laguna seca lap times list created by @ ilias which the works. Driver motor trend laguna seca lap times list cars ever to carry the Blue Oval was n't at BDC has returned to Seca! A confident power oversteer that I enjoyed 2020 I have a lot of confidence in this car the... Sep 6, 2020 to Sep 6, 2020 to Sep 6, 2020 I a... Rear tire pressures to 36 psi, well above the 32 psi motor trend laguna seca lap times list! Agile, it 's hard to have a 2011 GS manual and I love that.. Successor to our listed Z06s touches its 345s (! only one long,... Up there to view the test more information or membership related issues - Contact: gamembers guildfordarts.com. 1 Year the Alfa, impressed by its exhilarating twin-turbo V-6, chassis! The test time, so has our event: Motor Trend Magazine has returned to Laguna.. Of the fastest carthe McLaren Sennahas been chopped into five equal segments dont feel like the ZR1s performance at Trends...

Will Ben Shapiro Run For President In 2024, Articles M