The Lightning Lap, 2007: Part IV of IV - Car and Driver

Round 2 of our performance benchmark at Virginia International Raceway, LL3 and LL4: Cars $60,000-$140,000.

The Lightning Lap, 2007 - Feature http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_class...

The Lightning Lap, 2006 - Feature http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/sports_car_cen...

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[legr8est1234]

On part III, you said only one car beat the Z51's time of 3:03.6, but both the GT3 and the Z06 did. Is that a mistake on your part, or am I missing something?

[CARandDRIVER]

As before, there was only one entrant in this class, this time in the shape of a Porsche 911 Turbo. Despite a strong 480 horsepower, it wasn't that happy around VIR and ran an unexpectedly mediocre 3:05.8 time, partly because of its 3528-pound mass, partly because the power went away after a couple of laps, and partly because it really doesn't like to dance.

[MuLeQuE666]

Vettes > all

[Towelman20]

In response to your coment i would like to say that porsche's are not over priced piece's of trash ok you must have no idea about what your talking about to be saying that because porsche makes the best sport's car's in the world now dont get me wrong i love vettes more than i love porsches but come on porsche has dominated the market with high qaulity sport's cars for as long as theyv been around and just because their being beaten by a cheaper car doesnt mean their overpriced pieces of trash.

[derbigpr500]

@MuLeQuE666 Yea, in terms of ugliness and the amount of cheapness it oozes. Its not even in the same class as any of european rivals. Corvette is like a go-cart...its fast...and thats it, except it doesnt drive nearly as nice as a go-cart...and its looks like it came out of a cartoon. Porsche and Audi are overall excellent. They're great at EVERYTHING. They're comfortable, refined, quiet, stylish, great fun to drive, very fast.... and most importantly, feel like quality products.

[TrackingPerformance]

@Towelman20

it just means you can bet then with a cheaper car

[leveilleadrian]

@Towelman20 welcome to america man. This country is full of idiots who think if it's not made by america, it must suck.

[marvinbenz]

that mate was a 335i not m3.theres a uhhm slight distinction

[Towelman20]

z06 going round v international raceway 3 sec's faster than last year's model their the same car's c & d tested the same z06 in the 07 test and the 06 test their's only one z06 model it doesnt get updated evry year it come's out and then they just leave it in production untill it's time to start a new generation oh yes the z06 that got 3 sec's faster than last year was the same car the driver is abit better than he was in 06 but yes the reg vette c6 was left the same till 08 they gave it a 6.2

[PAracerMike]

I wonder if they were running the grand course. A sub 3:00 lap one the full course should be no sweat for a performance car.

[nokia3591]

Damn the GT500 from 2007 was only a second slower than the R8.

[RatPatrol52]

The BMW 3 series in part III of IV in this series was a 335i, not an M3. I'll join you in laughing at its lap times, but get your facts straight.