What car—for the money—delivers the best combination of power, handling, and braking? That question is fundamental to the ongoing mission of this magazine and the core element of all our road tests. We should also point out that those traits are the key ingredients of a car’s fun-to-drive (FTD) quotient, something we value far more than cup holders and/or trunk volume.
But—and this is widely overlooked—the elements of FTD are also the key components of active safety, a vehicle’s ability to respond to and avoid an accident situation. The lane-change exercise, part of our comparison-test regimen, provides insight to this ability, but Lightning Lap delivers an indelible blueprint. Unless you’re a taxi driver in Baghdad, you might argue that no accident-avoidance situation goes on for three minutes, but of course our interest extends beyond dodging drivers whose text messaging overrides their attention to the road. We want to see how well a wide variety of performance cars combine their various dynamic elements in absolute terms in a controlled environment.
Controlled environment means racetrack, and for Lightning Lap that means the 4.2-mile Grand Course at Virginia International Raceway, near Danville, Virginia. This beautiful road circuit is an outstanding blend of fast chutes, blind-entry corners, and lots of changes in elevation, including a series of climbing esses that’s one of the most challenging sections of racetrack in America.
We rank our finishers strictly on lap times, taking the best run achieved by each car during our two-day event. The cars are grouped by price, and there was some very fast traffic this year in the upper groups (LL3 and LL5; there were no cars in the LL4 price category). The four fastest all lapped VIR quicker than our previous absolute record of 2:58.2/82.7 mph. How much quicker? Read on. And let the games begin.
2008 Times
LL5 MOSLER MT900S 2:45.9
LL3 DODGE VIPER SRT10 ACR 2:48.6
LL5 FERRARI 430 SCUDERIA 2:54.6
LL3 NISSAN GT-R 2:55.6
LL2 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z51 3:01.2
LL2 CADILLAC CTS-V 3:04.0
LL2 BMW M3 3:05.6
LL2 MERCEDES-BENZ C63 AMG 3:06.5
LL1 CHEVROLET COBALT SS TURBOCHARGED 3:13.0
LL2 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION MR 3:13.3
LL2 BMW 135i 3:13.7
LL2 LEXUS IS F 3:14.0
LL2 AUDI S5 3:14.6
LL2 HONDA S2000 CR 3:15.0
LL2 DODGE CHALLENGER SRT8 3:16.3
LL2 LOTUS ELISE SC 3:16.6
LL2 INFINITI G37 SPORT 3:17.5
LL2 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STI 3:19.0
LL1 DODGE CALIBER SRT4 3:20.8
LL2 VOLKSWAGEN R32 3:21.8
LL2 HONDA CIVIC MUGEN Si 3:24.8
LL1 VOLVO C30 T5 VERSION 2.0 3:26.6
2006/2007/2008 Times
Mosler MT900S- 2:45.9 (2008)
Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR- 2:48.6 (2008)
Ferrari F430 Scuderia- 2:54.6 (2008)
Nissan GT-R- 2:55.6 (2008)
Chevrolet Corvette Z06- 2:58.2 (2007)
Ford GT- 3:00.7 (2006)
Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06- 3:01.1 (2006)
Chevrolet Corvette Z51- 3:01.2 (2008)
Dodge Viper SRT10- 3:01.6 (2006)
Porsche 911 GT3- 3:01.8 (2007)
Chevrolet Corvette C6- 3:03.6 (2007)
Cadillac CTS-V- 3:04.0 (2008)
Lotus Exige S- 3:04.5 (2007)
Audi R8- 3:04.6 (2007)
BMW M3- 3:05.6 (2008)
Porsche 997 Turbo- 3:05.8 (2007)
Ford Shelby GT500- 3:05.9 (2007)
Mercedes Benz C63 AMG- 3:06.5 (2008)
Lotus Elise- 3:09.2 (2006)
Chevy Corvette C6- 3:09.3 (2006)
Porsche Cayman S- 3:09.5 (2006)
BMW M6- 3:10.0 (2006)
BMW 335i Coupe- 3:10.5 (2007)
Ford Shelby GT500 3:11.0 (2006)
Audi RS4- 3:11.2 (2007)
BMW Z4 M- 3:11.7 (2007)
Nissan 350Z Track 3:12.5 (2006)
Chevrolet Cobalt SS Turbocharged 3:13.0 (2008)
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X MR SSTT (semi-auto)- 3:13.3 (2008)
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX MR- 3:13.5 (2006)
BMW 135i (steptronic automatic)- 3:13.7 (2008)
Lexus IS F- 3:14.0 (2008)
Audi S5- 3:14.6 (2008)
Honda S2000 CR- 3:15.0 (2008)
Pontiac Solstice GXP- 3:15.7 (2007)
Mazda Speed 3- 3:16.0 (2007)
Dodge Challenger SRT8- 3:16.3 (2008)
Lotus Elise SC- 3:16.6 (2008)
Infiniti G37 Sport- 3:17.5 (2008)
Dodge Charger SRT8- 3:18.2 (2006)
Subaru Impreza WRX STI- 3:19.0 (2008)
Mazda RX-8- 3:19.0 (2006)
Chevy Cobalt SS (Supercharged)- 3:20.6 (2006)
Dodge Caliber SRT4- 3:20.8 (2008)
Ford Mustang GT- 3:20.9 (2006)
Volkswagen R32- 3:21.8 (2008)
Mini Cooper S (Turbo)- 3:22.9 (2007)
Honda Civic Mugen Si- 3:24.8 (2008)
Volkswagen GTI- 3:25.1 (2006)
Honda Civic Si- 3:26.5 (2006)
Volvo C30 T5 Version 2.0- 3:26.6 (2008)
Mazda MX-5- 3:29.3 (2006)
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