05RollaXRS

LFA is now beginning to show its pure track prowess by running the fastest two laps ever recorded on the Goodwood race track by two independent automotive journalists seperately in two separate LFAs:


http://www.fastestlaps.com/track68.html

Here is the video of the 1:24.8 lap:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR66D...layer_embedded

I cannot wait to see an independent lap time around Nurburgring in sport auto super test where LFA will hopefully show its track prowess amongst these:

encore888

Great find!!!

I look forward to the LFA making its mark on those speed charts.

LexFather

Very nice so far. I did notice quite a few cars were not on that list though.

TF109B

3 seconds faster than the GTR- that's amazing, and this is still pre-production cars!

Mister Two

Would've been nice if some of the LFA's true competitors were on that list, but at least it puts to rest the GT-R vs. LFA debate. 3 seconds is an eternity.

EDIT: In the video there's a cameraman sitting as a passenger in the LFA. Does that mean the LFA could've been even quicker, or was it simply that the video is not showing the record lap, which was done without the cameraman?

MR_F1

^quite probably.

wrt the laptimes, as long as the LFA beats the 458, GT-R and ZR-1, I'm quite happy. If it can bag a 7:2x lapime, I'd have no doubt that it'd do 7:18 in the hands of it's test drivers, and I'd parade around the internet, telling all the haters to SUCK IT.

05RollaXRS

x 2

Same here.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i don't know if i will be "happy" yet. lfa is considerably more expensive than any of those 3 cars. if putting price into consideration, there is the lp670 (more expensive) and the 599 gto (more expensive). if the lfa can get close to times from those cars (not sure how fast they do), then i think it speaks even more.

just like the lfa beating the gtr in 1/4 mile, yeah it's a win, but people will say of course it's supposed to win coz' it's so much more expensive

on the other hand if the lfa beats those 3 cars but can't come close to cars costing about the same, then it's another thing for people to pick on

05RollaXRS

I have read LFA pre-production prototypes right now are being run on the race track on temporary summer street tires.

The LFA-spec Potenza tires are not even ready yet and LFA is granting permission to record performance tests and official lap times. That can't be good.

Ofcourse, the samething goes about acceleration tests without a way to put down power effectively off the line using something like launch control system.

Anyway, actually LP670 is a lot slower around the race track than the LFA yet it costs $550,0000. The best recorded lap time around Nurburgring is 7:42. Bugatti Veyron costs over a million yet, it is nothing special around a race track. It is too big, too heavy (4500 lbs)and too difficult to maneouver in tight turns.

GTO 599 is more of a competitor for the Nurburgring edition LFA since it is stripped down with almost nothing in the interior except roll cage and seats. I don't know if Nurburgring LFA can match the GTO, but it is because it still has a lot more luxury equipment in it.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i wonder if sv will be any different

05RollaXRS

The LP-670 IS the super veloce:

http://www.fastestlaps.com/car_Lambo...perVeloce.html

MR_F1

I'd stake the GTO as the only car that should give it a run for the money. It costs about the same if not more, and is likely to be faster than the cars I mention (the nurburging champs outside of the boutique cars that cost twice the price of an LFA).

Remember that these times are not the fastest for the cars I've mentioned, but Sport Auto takes out some of the variability by using the same driver, so I think it's a better relative measure. A 7.2x makes it faster than most everything out there bar a Porsche GT2 RS. Respectable yard stick i'd say. The 670 is nothing around the Nurburgring, it doesn't even factor in here. The Veyron hasn't been that impressive at the ring either.


While I agree about the Veyron, I think the SuperSport version would have a few words to say about that. Impressive for a car nigh 50kg lighter than the standard veyron.

wrt the tyres, got a link? The pics do not have any markings/badges which would lead me to believe that they are indeed bridgstone's special compound made for the LFA.

TF109B

bridgestone's tires say it's name on them, the lfa tires are blank. I don't think the special spec tires are on the LFAs yet. Motortrend said this. So take that into consideration plus the fact that there is no launch control, also that the weight of the cars being tested are around 3500lbs. and it's all adding up to be something quite remarkable being these cars are heavier, not running the correct tires, are pre-production, and have no launch control (on top of it a beaten up transmission that's still being worked) the LFA setting fast laps right now could potentially be shown up by the production LFAs! That's my take on it.

05RollaXRS

That is correct.

Upon some research, I got some really strange info that Horst von saurma was actually one of Porsche's 24-hour Nurburgring race car driver for the Porsche GT3 Cup car and there is common belief that he is very pro-Porsche and runs slower lap times with Ferraris, Lambos etc.

Whether it is true or not. I don't know, but sounds kind of fishy.

Mister Two

See, that's exactly my point in the earlier post. That is why I'd rather compare best lap times to best lap times regardless of who drive the best laps, manufacturers' test drivers or not, because every driver has his strong suit and bias and may not be able to properly extract the full potential of a car if its driving dynamics is too different from the type of cars he's good at or used to. Some may perform better with the neutrality of an FR, some are better with the quick turn-ins of an MR or RR, among many other attributes. Some may even intentionally drive badly in cars opposing his personal agenda or his employer's, like your post is suggesting. By letting those who are able to and willing to extract full potentials of specific cars drive the specific cars, we then can compare cars to cars on their own merits. Letting just one man drive all the cars may sound like one less variable in a comparison, but in the process it actually introduces more variables (i.e. which types of cars the driver's good at or likes) and makes the comparison a result of cars + driver bias, as opposed to just what the best the cars can possibly physically do themselves.

All that's needed though is for the manufacturers' test cars to be verified to be bone stock by an independent party.