Motor Trend - Best Driver's Car 2011

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Super Drag Race Turned Up to 11!

[YOUTUBEHD]uDP7Pty8Qnw[/YOUTUBEHD]

Contenders are lapped at Laguna Seca by Randy Pobst.

Current Leaderboard:

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Centennial Edition - 1:34.43*
[YOUTUBEHD]wheEOSdDi9w[/YOUTUBEHD]

Ferrari 458 Italia - 1:36.22
[YOUTUBEHD]KMRmLDZXRRI[/YOUTUBEHD]

Nissan GTR - 1:36.35
[YOUTUBEHD]lY6z0nzgb3o[/YOUTUBEHD]

Lexus LFA - 1:36.39
[YOUTUBEHD]eKuoOtUsJxA[/YOUTUBEHD]

Audi R8 GT - 1:36.39
[YOUTUBEHD]3V7vYhDQDzY[/YOUTUBEHD]

Porsche 911 GT3RS - 1:36.77*
[YOUTUBEHD]_P9er4aaViU[/YOUTUBEHD]

Mercedes Benz SLS AMG - 1:38.82
[YOUTUBEHD]qXwJpVhAMtM[/YOUTUBEHD]

Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca - 1:41.06*
[YOUTUBEHD]rCMxgoWaq9Q[/YOUTUBEHD]

Porsche Cayman R - 1:41.64
[YOUTUBEHD]WPo6OGB2VcY[/YOUTUBEHD]

Lotus Evora S - 1:42.49
[YOUTUBEHD]5uvbt2vbzIo[/YOUTUBEHD]

BMW 1 M Coupe - 1:43.31
[YOUTUBEHD]qWSNUBEzG6o[/YOUTUBEHD]


*=R compound tire. No *=summer tire. Times with * should be taken with a grain of salt.
 
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Pretty impressive, but I think the Mustang is faster because the tune setup for the car was tested on Laguna Seca, and that's where they tested the cars right?
 
Any more cars? I find it weird all of those cars are sub-$100k except for the super rich LFA.

Edit: 2012 GT-R?

+1 that's odd, But it's motortrend so I'm not surprised either way. But that LF-A sounds amazing, ha I believe he hits the rev-limiter in the beginning.:drool:
 
This is just the begging of the test. They add new videos each day or so. These are the best Motor Trend videos so far because it is just the car without stupid music or useless commentary.
 
You know, for the price of the LFA I would expect it to shift a bit faster than it does. The Cayman shifts faster. :odd:
 
Ah, I'll be checking into this thread every day for the videos, this will be intresting. And yes, I'm amazed at the Boss' result.
 
You know, for the price of the LFA I would expect it to shift a bit faster than it does. The Cayman shifts faster. :odd:

PDK is pretty damn good, that is why. If I am not mistaken only Ferrari is faster. Lexus have a long way to go with there sequential system. Porsche's high level tech filters down pretty quickly.
 
God that Mustang is sexy. It turns in brilliantly and looks like it has insane grip. Go Ford!
 
I really want that Mustang, there is a guy around here that has one and it's one of the best sounding stock cars I've ever heard. I know if I was looking for a track beast, I'd be all about that Mustang.
 
You know, for the price of the LFA I would expect it to shift a bit faster than it does. The Cayman shifts faster. :odd:

The design team thought that the gear changes were "overly-smooth," so they ditched the DSG gearbox.
 
I'll take the Evora.. or Cayman R.

Ditto. The Mustang's time is very impressive but the Porsche is an amazing piece of kit. Despite the price, which as we know isn't everything.

Edit: Having watched the Porsche vid, was the guy leaving the PDK in auto mode? I know PDK is good but I'd be surprised if on the track he didn't knock it into manual.

Edit #2: I'm still not a fan of the LFA's styling but it looks like massive fun on track.
 
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I really really hope they were done on the same tire. Otherwise... lap times don't matter.

They were probably all done on their stock tires, which are all high performance summer only rubber. I don't see how that would invalidate lap times, race cars don't even use the same tires. As long as they are in the same classification of tire I don't see a problem.
 
Tyres are also largely irrelevant for handling comparison (as long as they're the stock ones) but I get the impression that Motor Trend is separating the qualities of outright grip and handling for their test so it doesn't matter anyway. The tester describes the Cayman as probably the best handling car he'd ever driven, and describes the Mustang has having loads of grip.

The lap times just prove they achieve a similar goal in quite different ways.
 
Meh... even the same class tire can change lap times by seconds. Especially on a 2.2 mile course.

In my perfect auto rating world, multi car comparisons on a road course where the quickest car wins would be on the same tire.

Is it the tire that made Car X faster than Car Y? Put 'em on the same tire and decide what Car handles better!
 
Except a lot of cars are engineered to be used with a specific tire, swapping tires on sportier cars may actually hurt the intended performance or change the handling characteristics.
 
I think the point of this comparison is the cars themselves, not the tires they are on.

True. "The total stock, from the factory package" sort of deal. But in my world...

Except a lot of cars are engineered to be used with a specific tire, swapping tires on sportier cars may actually hurt the intended performance or change the handling characteristics.

Huh? I think I see what you're saying. Car X has a better tire than Car Y. Downgrading Car X to match Car Y's tires will slow down Car X. But, they would be on the same tire playing field.

Grip =/= handling

Typed that out to fast. My bad. Should have said lap times instead.
 
Huh? I think I see what you're saying. Car X has a better tire than Car Y. Downgrading Car X to match Car Y's tires will slow down Car X. But, they would be on the same tire playing field.

Cars are engineered with a specific set of tires in mind. My best friends works at Chrysler and all his department does is figure out which tires new models should use. They test hundreds of tires for noise levels, handling, wear and cost. For higher end models that require sportiness the tires are chosen based on suspension, brakes and power to the ground.

Swapping tires on a car for something other then OEM can change the handling for better or worse. Putting grippier tires on a car may cause it to understeer, just as putting less grippy tires may cause oversteer.

My point is cars should be tested with the tires that came as OEM since you are testing the entire car as a whole package. Putting different tires on it essentially "modifies" it.
 
Agree with your paragraph 1.

Disagree with 2.

Mix on 3. Testing the total package... ok cool same tires. Getting fast lap times, put 'em on the same tire.
 
Cars are engineered with a specific set of tires in mind. My best friends works at Chrysler and all his department does is figure out which tires new models should use. They test hundreds of tires for noise levels, handling, wear and cost. For higher end models that require sportiness the tires are chosen based on suspension, brakes and power to the ground.

Swapping tires on a car for something other then OEM can change the handling for better or worse. Putting grippier tires on a car may cause it to understeer, just as putting less grippy tires may cause oversteer.

My point is cars should be tested with the tires that came as OEM since you are testing the entire car as a whole package. Putting different tires on it essentially "modifies" it.

Agreed 100%.
 
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