QUESTION : How to make a good lap time ?

IMO who's driving it plays the biggest role in the lap times. Especially at the Nurburgring were bravery is actually as important as skill. A guy driving an F430 is obviously gonna be a lot more careful than a guy driving a NSX-R. The type of tires also play a big role. Did the NSX have DOT legal slicks?

 

Honda make fantastic cars but they need Ross B to make a good F1 one though.

 

I REALLY want to drive there someday

 

A lot of it depends on the track too. Many of the cars that put up good 'ring times do not do as well against the competition on other tracks like Road Atlanta, Sebring, Road America, etc.

I personally do not put a lot of stock in 'ring times. When you dig into the times, you see them doing things like testing cars in wet/dry and not disclosing it, running R tires without disclosing, running a shorter version and not disclosing it, not starting timing at the same place, doing a running start vs. a standing start, etc, etc, etc.

The 'ring is a track where a light car with good road feel that can carry a lot of speed through a turn is going to do better than a car which is otherwise faster and more powerful.

 

Conditions at the track on the day can greatly influence times. Temperature effects engine and tyre performance as does the condition of the track on the day eg greasy, post rain etc. Track only conditions can vary a 2 minute track in identical cars by up to 2 seconds. Therefore the ring being an 8 minute track could have a swing of more than 8 seconds!

 

Without a doubt both those rice burners are excellent cars. Each one of these manufacturers have proven they can produce speed.
Without a doubt the Ring is not a place to compare times and draw conclusions for all the reasons listed above and more.