Here's an official list of Nurburgring laptimes: Lap times [edit]Production vehicles Length Time Vehicle Driver Date Notes 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 6:48 Radical SR8 LM Michael Vergers 19 August 2009 Radical Sportscars[1][2][3] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 6:55 Radical SR8 Michael Vergers 28 September 2005 Radical Sportscars[4] Timed by Sport Auto [5][6][7] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:11.5 Gumpert Apollo Speed Florian Gruber 13 August 2009 Sport auto (Germany) (Article) 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:14.89 Donkervoort D8 RS Michael Düchting 2006 Sport auto (Germany) (Article) 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:18 Porsche 911 GT2 RS Timo Kluck April 2010 [8] [8] Manufacturer claim. 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:18.1 Donkervoort D8 RS Michael Düchting 24 October 2004 Sport auto (Germany) (Article) 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:19.63 Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 (2012) Jim Mero 9 June 2011 General Motors conducted test, "2012 Corvette ZR1 Takes on Nurburgring". Retrieved 2011-06-09. base specification car with optional R-compound semi-slick tires (Michelin Pilot Sport Cup Zero Pressure)[9] and non-stock safety equipment, video confirmed. [10][11][12] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:22.1 Dodge Viper ACR (2009) Tom Coronel 18 August 2008 Chrysler and Motor Trend conducted test.[13] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:24 Porsche 911 GT2 RS Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (11/2010)[14] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:24.22 Nissan GT-R (2011) Toshio Suzuki 1 October 2010 Nissan conducted test.[15] Semi-wet conditions. Video confirmed. Best Motoring (12/2010).[16] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:24.3 Maserati MC12 Marc Basseng August 2008 Evo Magazine conducted test 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:24.44 Pagani Zonda F Clubsport Marc Basseng August 2008 Evo Magazine conducted test 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:25.7 Ferrari Enzo Marc Basseng August 2008 Evo Magazine conducted test 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:26.4 Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 (2009) Jim Mero 27 June 2008 General Motors conducted test,[17] base specification car with stock tires and non-stock safety equipment, video confirmed. 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:26.70 Nissan GT-R (2009) Toshio Suzuki 23 April 2009 Nissan Motors conducted test. video confirmed. Best Motoring (08/2009).[18] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:27.82 Pagani Zonda F Clubsport Marc Basseng September 2007 Pagani conducted test,[19][20] semi-wet conditions[citation needed] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:28.71 Porsche Carrera GT Walter Röhrl 2 July 2004 (07/04) [20] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:29.03 Nissan GT-R (2009) Toshio Suzuki 17 April 2008 Nissan Motors conducted test,.[21][22][23] The test used a stock GT-R with stock tires. Video confirmed. 20,600 m (67,600 ft)[citation needed] 7:32.02 Porsche 911 GT2 (2008) Walter Röhrl 2007 Porsche conducted test,[24] R compound tires used.[citation needed] 20,832 m (68,346 ft) 7:32.92 Ferrari 458 Italia Sascha Bert November 2010 Auto Bild Sportscars (11/2010) 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:33 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 997MkII Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (04/2010), PCCB [25] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:33.6 Koenigsegg CCX Marc Basseng August 2008 Evo Magazine conducted test 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:34 Koenigsegg CCR Horst von Saurma 17 October 2005 Sport Auto (03/2006)[26] 7:34 Porsche 911 GT2 September 2008 Porsche conducted test,[27] stock vehicle with stock tires 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:34 Nissan GT-R (2011) Horst von Saurma October 2010 Sport Auto (11/2010),.[28] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:35 Ruf Rt 12 Sport Auto (02/2008)[29] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:38 Lexus LFA Horst von Saurma September 2010 Sport Auto conducted test,[30] Bridgestone Potenza S001 tires used. 7:38 Porsche 911 Turbo September 2008 Porsche conducted test,[27] stock vehicle with stock tires 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:38 Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 Horst von Saurma October 2009 Sport Auto conducted test,[31] Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires used. 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:38 Nissan GT-R Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (07/2009),[32] Dunlop SP Sport 600 DSST run flat tires used. 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:38 Ferrari 458 Italia Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (08/2010), Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires used. 20,832 m (68,346 ft) 7:38.85 Lexus LFA Sascha Bert November 2010 Auto Bild Sportscars (11/2010) 7:39 Porsche 911 Turbo (2010) Porsche Conducted Test [33] Stock vehicle with stock tires 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:39 Ferrari 430 Scuderia Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (07/2008)[34] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:40 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Giorgio Sanna Lamborghini Autobild (01/2007) 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:40 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Klaus Ludwig AutoBild (07/2004)[citation needed] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:40 Porsche 911 GT3 997MkII Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (06/2009)[35] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:40 Mercedes SLS AMG Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (2010)[36] 7:40.6 Ford GT Markus Draper Octane Magazine[citation needed] 20,832 m (68,346 ft) 7:40.76 Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera Sascha Bert November 2010 Auto Bild Sportscars (11/2010) 20,832 m (68,346 ft) 7:41.23 Porsche 911 Turbo S Sascha Bert November 2010 Auto Bild Sportscars (11/2010) 20,832 m (68,346 ft) 7:41.50 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Sascha Bert August 2009 Auto Bild Sportscars (08/2009) 7:42 Porsche 911 GT3 Walter Röhrl Automobil (05/2006) Sport Auto (05/2006) 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:42 Lamborghini Murciélago LP670-4 SV Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (01/2010?) [37] 7:42.99 Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06 Jan Magnussen 2005 General Motors,[38][39] Motor Trend confirmed 20,832 m (68,346 ft) 7:43.65 Nissan GT-R Sascha Bert November 2010 Auto Bild Sportscars (11/2010) 7:43 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 'Motor' magazine[citation needed] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:44 Audi R8 V10 Sport Auto (09/2009) 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:44 Pagani Zonda S Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (02/2005) 20,832 m (68,346 ft) 7:44.42 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Sascha Bert November 2010 Auto Bild Sportscars (11/2010) 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:46 Porsche 911 GT2 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (06/2001) 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:46 Lamborgini Gallardo Superleggera Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (09/2007)[40] 7:46.36 Jaguar XJ220 John Nielsen Evo (07/2000) [41] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:47 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (08/2004) 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:47 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano Horst von Saurma Sport Auto[42] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:47 Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 E-gear Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (01/2007), Sport tires[citation needed] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:48 BMW M3 GTS Horst von Saurma Sport Auto[43] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:49 Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06 Horst von Saurma 22 June 2007 Sport Auto[44] 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:50 BMW M3 CSL Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (08/2003) 20,600 m (67,600 ft) 7:50 Porsche 911 Carrera S (2009) Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (08/2008),[45] PCCB, PDK, Sport Chrono Plus, Michelin Cup tires 7:52 Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (11/2008),[46] apparently problems with tires and ABS 7:54 Mercedes CLK DTM AMG Sport Auto (03/2005) 7:54 Nissan GT-R September 2008 Porsche conducted test,[27] stock vehicle with stock tires 7:54 Porsche 911 Turbo 997 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (05/2007)[47] 7:55 Caterham R500 Superlight Robert Nearn 'EVO' magazine (07/2000) 7:55 Ferrari F430 F1 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (01/2006) 7:56 Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06 Dave Hill crossedflags.com[48] 7:56 Porsche 911 Turbo Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (06/2000) 7:56 Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale f1 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (02/2004), Sport tires[citation needed] 7:56.773 Honda NSX-R NA2 Motoharu Kurosawa Best Motoring video "Carrera Invasion",2002 7:59 Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z51 Dave Hill General Motors conducted test[citation needed] 7:59 Cadillac CTS-V (2009) John Heinricy 9 May 2008 General Motors conducted test,[49] video confirmed[50] 7:59 Porsche 911 Carrera S Walter Röhrl 'Wheels' magazine (06/2004), PASM setting "Performance"[citation needed] 7:59 Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 V-Spec Dirk Schoysman 1996 Best Motoring - Time Attack / Autocar magazine 97, stock[citation needed][51] 7:59 Dodge Viper SRT-10 November 2005 Motor Trend[citation needed] 8:01 Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 Motoharu Kurosawa Best Motoring - Video Special DVD Series, Prototype (weight/horsepower different from production car)[citation needed] 8:02 Mercedes CLK 63 AMG - Black Series Autobild (07/2007) 8:02 Aston Martin DBS Horst von Saurma Sport Auto [52] 8:03 Aston Martin V8 Vantage (2005) Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (10/2005) 8:03 Porsche 911 GT3 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (08/1999) 8:03 Honda NSX-R (NA1) Motoharu Kurosawa FM3 (02/2011) 8:04 Audi R8 V8 Sport Auto (07/2007)[53] 8:04 Porsche Cayman S Walter Röhrl Sport Auto, 19 inch wheels, ceramic brakes.[citation needed] 8:05 BMW M3 E92 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (12/2007)[54] 8:06 Subaru WRX STi Spec-C Motoharu Kurosawa Best Motoring Video 'NISMO Beast Unleashed'[55] 8:07 BMW Z8 E52 Autobild (06/2001) 8:07.97 Renault Megane RS Trophy Laurent Hurgon June 17th, 2011 www.europeancarnews.com (06/2011), new record for a FWD car.[56] 8:09 Audi RS4 Sport Auto (06/2006) 8:09 BMW M6 E63 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (12/2005), Sport tires, 259 km/h speed limiter.[citation needed] 8:09 Honda NSX-R Sport Auto (08/2002), Sport tires, suspension modification.[citation needed] 8:10 Porsche Boxster S www.sueddeutsche.de/automobil/372/449102/text/11 8:10 Chrysler Viper GTS Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (10/1997) 8:10 BMW Alpina B6 S Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (05/2008)[57] 8:11.16 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX Takayuki Kino****a (Best Motoring video 14) 8:12 BMW Z4 M Coupe EVO magazine (Issue 093, page 077) 8:13 BMW M5 E60 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (12/2004) 8:13 Ferrari 355 GTB Sport Auto (10/1994) 8:13 Mercedes-Benz_C63 AMG Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (2/2009)[58] 8:14 BMW Alpina B3 Biturbo Coupé Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (12/2008),[59] including optional LSD and 19 inch wheels. 8:15 BMW 1 Series M Coupe June 2011 Sport Auto , [60] 8:16.90 Renault Mégane RS R26.R Vincent Baylé 23 June 2008 Previous FWD record [61] 8:16 Porsche Cayman S Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (12/2009?)[62] 8:17 Porsche Boxster S Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (12/2009?)[63] 8:18 Lexus IS-F fastestlaps.com (2007) 8:20 2010 Camaro SS NA Edmunds[64] 8:22 Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 Motoharu Kurosawa Best Motoring Video Special DVD 8:22 Mercedes-Benz C55 AMG (W203) Sport Auto (7/2004) 8:22 BMW M3 E46 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (12/2000) 8:22 BMW M Coupe E36/8 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (10/1998) 8:22.85 Chevrolet Cobalt SS/TC (2007) Motor Trend (10/2007) 8:24 Cosworth Type 25 STI spec C (2010) Mark Chandler Sport Auto (2010), Sport tires 8:25 Lotus Exige S Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (06/2008)[65] 8:25 Jaguar XKR Horst von Saurma Sport Auto 8:25 Audi RS4 Sean Moore 8:25 Porsche Cayman S Horst von Saurma Sport Auto 8:24 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (11/1999), Sport tires[citation needed] 8:25 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (11/2002), Sport tires[citation needed] 8:26 Audi S5 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (01/2008)[66] 8:26 BMW 335i E92 Coupe Horst von Saurma Sport Auto 8:26 Nissan 350Z Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (10/2003) 8:26 Ford Focus RS Horst von Saurma Ford conducted test (08/2009) 8:28 Porsche 911 Carrera (993) Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (07/1997) 8:29 Audi TTS Coupé Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (10/2008)[67] 8:30 Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV al Volante.it (04/2011)[68] 8:32 Porsche Boxster S Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (12/1999) 8:35.00 Ford Focus ST Patrick Bernhard 2005 8:35 Opel Astra OPC 2.0T (240PS) Manuel Reuter Opel, 05 19,100 m (62,700 ft) 8:36 Volkswagen Golf Mk5 VW R32 MKV DSG RRRRpower 4 October 2009 [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSnMcKdsfjg[/ame] 8:38 Honda NSX Sport Auto, (08/1997) 8:39 Honda S2000 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (01/2000) 8:39 Mazda MAZDASPEED3 (Mazda3 MPS) Mark Ticehurst 2007 Mazda News (06/2007),[69] Mazda Racing Driver, 10th lap.[70] 8:40 Chevrolet Corvette C5 Sport Auto (07/1997), automatic transmission 8:42 Lotus Exige Mk1 Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (11/2000), Sport tires[citation needed] 8:43.3 SEAT León Cupra R Mk1 Øistein Helland 7 August 2010 [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGwNecMZrtQ[/ame] 8:43.52 Chevrolet HHR SS 8:47 Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 TSI Bernt Bråten Andersen 15 November 2009 Minimalt.no 8:47 Honda Civic Type-R Horst von Saurma Sport Auto (11/2001) 8:47.99 Opel Corsa OPC Manuel Reuter Opel, '07 [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9AgTHx1dzI[/ame] 8:51 Ford Focus ST Sport Auto (09/2005) 8:52 Mini Cooper S Oscar G. Matos Open Trials (05/2006) 8:53 Volkswagen Golf GTI DSG MK5 Sport Auto (11/2005) 8:54 Vauxhall Corsa VXR Sport Auto (04/2008) 8:54.38 Opel Zafira OPC Manuel Reuter 8:55 2010 Range Rover Sport Supercharged Paul Wijgaertz 2009 Dynamic Adaptive Test - [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SYyxYDWtyk&feature=related[/ame] 9:02 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Turbo John Heinricy October 2007 Wet Track "2008 Turbocharged Chevy Cobalt SS (full version)". Retrieved 2009-03-26. 9:05 Ford Focus RS Sport Auto (09/2005) 9:09 Volkswagen Lupo GTI Daniel Schwerfeld 29 September 2002 "Vw Lupo Gti @ Nürburgring". Retrieved 2009-08-26. 22,800 m (74,800 ft) 16:01 Trabant P50 Factory team of VEB Sachsenring April 1960 Production car with 20 bhp during the final stage of the international Hanseat-Rallye. from Lang: Rallye-Sport mit dem Trabant. Kraftfahrzeugtechnik; August 1961; p. 340; VEB Verlag Technik Berlin, Germany F355 GTB was at 8:13. This was with the manual transmission. I wonder how much faster the a 355 F1 would be? I also own a 2009 C63 AMG with paddle shifters that has the same 8:13 time. When I drove the AMG spiritedly with a trio of Ferraris, I could more than keep up in long straights and long sweepers due to the 451 HP and 443 lb-ft torque, but could noticibly feel the higher center of gravity and heaviness of the car as a would approach turns at speed. There is nothing like the weight and balance of the Ferrari. I realize that I'm comparing a 14 year old "sports" car to a modern 4 door, 4 seat super sedan. And there is no denying the joy that you get from all the power from that 6.3 liter monster. Although identical Nurburgring lap times, the Ferrari still feels more special!
Thanks for posting this. The F355 is very close to the Porsche Boxter S and Cayman S times. We have been comparing the F355 to the aircooled turbo Porsche's recently but its very interesting to see it compared to the non turbo mid-engine p-cars. Has anyone here spent much time with a boxter or cayman and a f355? I would love to hear some comparisons as they probably have very similar capabilities. Looks and sounds wise, the F355 wins by a large margin, Runnings costs go to the P-car by a wide margin, so how do they each feel?
thanks for the official list... this article was missing that bit Avoidable Contact #17: Cheating Nissan, Bitter Porsche.h Story by Jack Barut
Car companies always use ringers to send to the auto rags... its pretty common. The NSX ringer car that was used in Canada is now in the hands of a regular owner and it's been dyno'd at events and dyno's too high for a normal NSX. Its more like an NSX-R I have no doubt that Nissan was sending GT-Rs with MUCH higher boost and possibly additional tuning for the tests. If there is "cheating", IMO, it isnt about varying conditions or someone deliberately mistiming, it is more about Nissan providing a car that you can't buy. Either way, it would be sort of ridiculous to claim that the bone stock from the dealership GT-R *isnt* a monster and *cant* destroy most Porsches in most speed tests (all of which cost a hell of a lot more), so probably would have been classier and better if Porsche just let it alone. If I were an editor at a car mag, I would get a hold of *bone stock* off the showroom floor GTR, GT3, 911c2 and 911TT and hold a 'Ring day with independent observers and professional timing and have a single pro race car driver take them all around and see. I suspect it wouldnt go well for Porsche. If an $80k Nissan is *close* to a $170k Porsche that isnt great news. Ive been in many GT-Rs and Porsches, owned a 911 and have owned 3 NSXs (my current one supercharged to 400HP and lightened down to 3000lbs) SOTP I can feel that the GT-R is quicker than any Porsche I've been in, or my NSX, with the exception of a GT2 I was able to take for a spin. Id put it about on par with a 997 turbo. It's a damn quick car. Ugly? I think so. Boring? Big time IMO. REALLY heavy? Absolutely HUGE? I parked my NSX next to one at a recent car show and standing by the GTR you actually *cant see* my NSX. But it IS damn quick and DOES handle and stop very very well.
If you use a slightly tuned 355 (exhaust, ECU, etc.) with newer rubber, you could probably cut another 30 seconds or more off this lap time. That's my thought at least.
I reckon you're on to something with the thoughts on tyres. Tyre technology moves along quite swiftly over a 15 year period. All the best, Andrew.
You will still need a driver of Mario's ability {in his prime} to set such a time, and invest in a days rental of the facility {$10K} in order to get used to, set up, and then perform as well as possible. Bring at least 5 sets of tires, and 100 gallons of gas.
How does the 348 compare to the 355 around the ring? Does anyone know? As the 355 is essentially an evolution of the 348 (*ducks the shoes thrown by 355 enthusiasts*), it'd be interesting to see what the margin of improvement on lap-time is. All the best, Andrew.
Once again Mitch pegged it, it must all be taken in context. We were doing set up testing at Donnybrooke many years back with a variety of race cars... rented the track for two days. Mid afternoon when we were getting things closer to where we wanted them to be on the cars and were no longer bothering to check the mirrors as we were the only ones on the track...... Under heavy braking into turn three I hear a horn honk, look in the mirror just as I get passed by a Chevy Citation rental car with the driver sucking on a Slurpy held in his right hand.... No brake lights, he threw it sideways under full throttle and never set his drink into the cup holder during the pass. After a few thousand laps on his home track, Jerry Hanson owned it with anything wearing tires. "Brakes, what's with the Brakes? They just slow you down!".... For years I listened to that crap... I even tried it.... once! Want an Ego deflator... go and play with a World Class driver for a bit. Just when you start to feel the slightest bit cocky..... D. Bell taught me I should stay in the Pits with a wrench in hand. There are good drivers, there are True Pro's and then there is World Class. There are Enduro drivers that can make a car driven in anger last for 2 days and Sprint drivers who are blistering fast but completely use a car up in two laps..... Not knowing many of the names posted I just wonder what group they fall into on a given day. There is no better than a World Class Enduro racer capable of handing a car back that needs only tires and an oil change before the next lap record is set. A "Legal" race car, what is THAT? Hell no, only the mid pack and back marker cars are legal. Legal race cars are for suckers, never built one. It's only 'illegal' if they figure it out in impound and by then the driver is already playing grabass with the Track Queen having their photo's taken by the media and the sponsors are happy. No Impound you say... they are ALL legal then.
You're talking about a 7min 48 time in a F355???? No way! Not even close.... At the speeds the 355 is capable of semi slicks like Pirelli Corsa's are worth around 6-8 seconds on the Ring, an exhaust is worth next to nothing. Look at all the trouble Ferrari went through with the 360 Challenge Stradale (9 seconds faster base car tuned through: power/weight ratio, brakes, suspension, semi-slicks) to only just break the 8 min barrier @ 7 min 56. But boy is the 355 beautiful and nice to drive!
I would also doubt this proposition. I happen to drive regularly with a group of guys with various Ferrari models. Luckily, I have also been able to drive the entire V8 line of modern F-cars from the F355 upwards to the 430 Scuderia. I have even got to drive them back to back spiritedly on great roads. If you've ever driven a Scud, F430 F1, and Challenge stradale you will find how much quicker and seemingly more capable the newer cars feel compared to our F355's. The F1 transmission and larger and carbon ceramic brakes (when warm) allow you to brake latter, blip downshift quicker and have earlier power out of the turns. The longer wheelbase and wider track and better aerodynamics keep yOu more stable at high speed. It is akin to when me and my friends were watching the old Ferrari F1 cars race around Laguna Seca during the corse cliente program. The difference between the older F1's with manual transmission and less horsepower compared to the newer F1's was night and day. Heck, an F2004 driven by a corse clients driver (not a professional) beat the "unofficial" lap record at Laguna Seca. Imagine that, a 7 year old retired F1 car driven by a nonproffessional having the fastest lap ever around one of the most famous racetracks I. The world. It is like my buddy with an F430 f1 teases me by saying, "you comparing your manual gated 6 speed to my superfast F1 transmission is like comparing a black and white TV to 60 inch Plasma.". He is correct, in a sense, that in the case of chasing pure seconds during laptimes, our cars are old technology and are MUCH slower. However, whenever anyone gets behind the wheel of my F355 with straight pipes and Larini muffler and is able to take it to 8500 rpm's, they quickly understand our obsession with the F355. It's even better if they really figure out how to drive a Manual gearbox with heel-toe technique with PERFECT sounding throttle blips. When you can do this in an F355 manual, you will see that contrary to popular belief, Paul Bunyon did in fact beat the machine.
A few years ago, I was driving my F355 at TWS on street tires (Bridgestone S03s) M6 tranny and lapping 360s with r-compound tires and F1 transmissions (sometimes twice in a 25 minute session)! These cars should have been 8-9 seconds per lap faster than me. In my humble opinion, unless and until you are capable of driving your car within 2 seconds of the lap record of the class your car sits in, unmodified, and on street tires; its not the car holding you back--its the driver. This goes especially double at larger tracks like Nurburgring where you never learn the whole track. Back when I first started driving the F355 I would lap TWS at 2:30, later I could do 20 laps in the 2:06 range (streets) jump out of the F355 and into a F355 challenge and do 1:54s on old slicks (which is still 2 seconds off the lap record pace. A couple years into this adventure, I got the opportunity to sit in the passenger seat while EFR (the real Elliot Forbes Robinson) drove a car he had nver been in, a class of car he had not driven (is own words) in decades, on a track he had never driven on old slicks and was lapping in the 1:52-3 range. But the interesting thing was how gentle he was with the car--the passenger could almost sip tea from a cup while he was circulating about with no drama whatsoever. Had he actually put the hammer down, I'm sure he could have gotten another 1.5-2.5 seconds out of the car (less passenger). Lap record for F355 challenge was 1:51 at that time.
Mitch Alsup, I have spent all of 2012 with the PCA Group at TWS in my 99 355F1 doing only (5) DE's Counter Clockwise using my car in stock trim with Pirelli P-Zero tires and my times have dropped and my average lap time is now 2:10 +/- 2 second. It's taken a while to develop the understandings of the F355, now it's just me that needs to learn more on racing dynamics. It's a total blast out on that track! My P-Zero's lasted only one year. My current target is 2:05 in stock trim before I add some F355 Challenge parts. I have been trying to develop a base line on how fast I can turn laps. I am currently running in the Yellow group. We need more F355's at TWS! ciao, SRR http"//www.rothbauer.us
Put some Michelin Pilot Super Sports on there, tune the suspension for the track. Bye bye to half the cars ahead of our 355s on that list.
All I can say it takes big balls to do a full lap fast. Look at the first video, see how many cars are there. I was there 3 years ago, did 4 laps. One lap is so long. Too long to remember all the corners and dips. No slide off area. There were so many other cars worth around 1000euro. Guys just build up to flog there and would not care what happened to their cars(which I understand and is the right thing to do). In my 4 laps I saw 5 crashes. 2 of them were cars in the middle of the road. One of those I took the corner fast and there I saw a crashed in the center of the track. It was actually scary. I could have done a 5th lap, but I sat out because I was worried about someone crashing into my car. I also went to the Brno Track, more known for MotoGP(czech republic). That was a complete ball. Super wide track. Heaps of run off area and very short track. You really learn the track so fast and you gain so much confidence because its printed in your memory.
Tires are worth a TON of time. Hooser A6's (DOT legal) are worth 6-8 seconds vs. the very best of 200 treadwear street tires at a 2-2.5 minute track. They'd be worth 3x that at the ring. 200 treadwear tires of today are much faster than they were 15 years ago as well. So, put a 355 on A6's of today compared to street tires 15 years ago and 30 seconds would be conservative.
http://www.pirelli.com/tyre/ww/en/car/sheet-motorsport/pzero_trofeo_r.html?url=%3Fsubtype%3DMOTORSPORT%26category%3DTRACK%2BDAYS Check out these NEW Pirelli Track Tires. Ciao, SRR
put contemporary R compound DOT tires on a Carrera GT and see what it will do. The stock rubber is awful
Pretty true from the old american cars from the 60's. I remember an old GTO tri power was dismantled to find closer to 500ci engine then a 389. My little GTO LOL
You could say that about any car on the list. If you throw race car shocks/struts/springs and MPSS's on any car in the middle of that list, it'll move up very quickly.
