Motor Trend Jan 2007 599 Track Test

Has anyone seen the spectacular numbers in this test?
0-60 3.2
0-100 7.1
1/4 11.3
Amazing! Especially for a luxo GT!

 

Holy ****. This car is nuts !

 

The fastest times I remember seeing for the Enzo were:

0-60 3.3
0-100 6.6
1/4 11.1@133


So the 599 would seem to have better traction (e-diff?), but not quite have quite the top end horsepower of the Enzo

 

The 599 has a Mannetino but not the E-diff.

 

awesome numbers for any super/hyper car...much less a luxury Gt/sport. the superfast F-1 has something to do with it as well i would think.

 

Alex it is not so much of a Luxo GT, more of a latter day version of 250 SWB or GTO. The car is incredible and has all of the benefits of the Enzo in a Mid Front Engine Package. I wonder if it will end up as a 550 or a 250 in the history books. I tend to think this car if the numbers are kept low will be more in line with the 60's Front Engine Cars (milestone).

 

Anyone know how much it weighs?

 

Probably around 3,500 to 3,600 lbs based on performance, traction, etc.

 

3750 lbs
6.1 lbs/hp

 

That much? Thought they took some weight off the car since the 575M, didn't the Aluminum structure help?

 

The 575M weighed 3840

 

What a car!
The amazing test numbers continue to come in.

 

I would guess they used Launch control to obtain those numbers. Anyone know?

 

The 250SWB and 250GTO were cars which could be driven to the track, qualify, and win the race, and drive home (sometimes hundreds of miles). The 599, cool as it is, is not at all comparable.

Unfortunately, there will probably never be another car like the GTO, which can be driven on the street and win on the track without modification.

 

I think that the 599 is much more of a road car relatively than the GTO was in its day. The GTO was clearly a car designed for competition first and transportation second. The difference is that today's race cars are so much more technologically advanced and the gap between GT race cars and GT road cars is so much greater today than the relative gap between the two types in the 250 GTO era.

The 599 is a stunning example of automotive technology, where a car can be completely capable in urban traffic, luxurious to the nth degree, spacious enough to be useful as a daily driver, and yet be faster than almost every other production car out there.

 

ditto

 

Indeed, there's no question that this is true, but it's not a function of the cars, but of the times ... thanks to the DOT, safety-nannies, EPA and in-general over-regulation of everything related to vehicles today it is simply impossible to build a track-competitive car that is street-legal. Then there's the technology/cost associated with the cars that *are* competitive on the track; engines that rev to 21k+ RPM, exotic alloys, advanced computers, airflow modelling, extreme light weight etc etc.

 

That's exremely impressive. Almost all of the stock production cars that are doing the 1/4 in under 11.5 seconds all weigh less than 3,500 lbs.

 

Well stated.

 

Aside from F1, what engines rev to 21k? The 997 GT3RS is an excellent example of a capable track car that is acceptable on the road. Let's focus on basic real world things like adjustable suspension that make transition from road to track acceptable.

 

+1

 

It's also a function of the promoters-- someone could come up with a series which required the cars to be street legal. In fact, wasn't that the case at Le Mans for a while?

 

Is this car a second faster to 100 than an LP640? what does the LP weigh?

 

4,046 lbs
6.4 lb/hp

It not only weighs more, but it's weight to power ratio is not quite as good as the 599, which explains the differences in acceleration times. Bear in mind though that test times are pretty subjective, unless they are done side by side on the same day using the same tires and same driver. At these rarified levels the times are simply spectacular for both cars and clearly not obvious to the naked eye. You need very sensitive instrumentation to discern a difference of half second at 60MPH.

 

The LP needs a diet! some guys on another board mentioned that it cant go to aluminum bc it isnt strong enough, but the 599 handles it well, something has to change here, the lambo is great, just too heavy.