Nissan GT-R Nismo lap time at Laguna Seca (post 1988)

Nissan is so full of shit with their nurburgring times. that's all i gotta say.

and i guess all those video evidence must be fake? dude Nurburgring is all about carrying speed through the corners and uneven pavement, many at above 100mph, and that's why the old GTR at 485hp? was able to still produce awesome times. Laguna seca is all about stop, start, stop start, ie brakes and straight line acceleration. The thing is too heavy, and not powerful enough for this circuit to be as fast as the ZR1. Same scenario for the Z28, and why it got killed by the more powerful GTR this time

Needs wider grippier tires and no under steer. Its plenty fast in a straight line. Maybe they could have put it on a more serious diet as well.

Wouldnt say that, The times compared to its "Main" time, Certainly dont fit, However, The AMOUNT of time and effort play a HUGE role in getting that time, 1000s of laps, In perfect condition, Optimal car setting with it own engineers, Lightest load possible, A pro driver who is both VERY familiar with both the track and the car to the T, All that put together will make a MAJOR improvement on any track, Give those same conditions of every car tested there, And your looking at HUGE improvements on every lap.

Alot of people only see ONE lap when comparing cars, Ad its the Nurburgring, Which i dont know whay, Its still only one track.

Nissan is so full of shit with their nurburgring times. that's all i gotta say.

I'd have the stingray too, but as a toy, the 4c is quite something. However if you lived in the states or canada... you'd have a lot more fun in the C7. you need mountain roads and tight turns to really have fun with the powerless steering of the 4c and all the lightness

$Flab

Yeah it is really nice to see a car thats actually really light, Hell light today is 3400lbs....The nimbleness you get from a nicely setup up light car is lie no other, The 4C is a good car, But id have to disagree on Italians curves, Looks good, Sounds good, But at a US price id rather have a Stingray, But no complaints about the 4C, But a manual would be better for me.

BR2+
Yeah I would. Normally I instinctively choose the manual car, but there's something special about that 4C. I agree that the STI is all about driving, & speed, but I feel the 4C is even more so. It's soo stinking light! The only knock I have against it is that it's DCT only. But everything else about it makes me want to drive it, and quickly!
Plus, it is absolutely beautiful, Italians always have the best curves ;)

STI is great, but it's quite a nerdy car with all the computer settings and lots of understeer. At the end it's out-muscled.

@Flab

You would put the 4C ahead of the STI?..Really?

Its great they have an ACTUAL low weight car that has the qualifacations of a "Real" SpotrsCar, And alot less driver interference then ALOT of cars today, But id still stick to putting the STI ahead, Its no light car, But it focuses on driving, Road and track, And in all conditions, Wet, dirt, snow, tarmac, rocks, laser fields, etc, And has a nice manual, Which i think is a huge part in driving a "Drivers" car. That is what this competition is "SUPPOSEDLY" about..

see you keep getting your words wrong. Hard braking, turn in and exit on full throttle is usually in SLOW corners. Fast corners are dab of brakes and carry as much as speed in and out of a corner.

The GTR was let down because of its weight and less aggressive tires. Low speed cornering is all about mechanical grip. And no, the difference wasn't 4-6mph, and in the end the GTR was 2.3s faster right? I recall turn 6, the Nismo was the fastest of all cars

And excuse me. how is being the fastest, (faster than the Turbo S), "underwhelming" ? BECAUSE it's a slow corner stop brake turn accelerate track, it's all about power to weight, brakes and putting the power down. A ZR1 is much more powerful still, and much lighter, and has bigger brakes and more stickier tires... If the Nismo were faster than a ZR1 at this track I'd say that would be ridiculous. The Nismo can't stop faster, it can't accelerate faster, and all the bends are taken at similar speed.

Feathering the accelerator and holding a high-speed bend is not the same as: hard breaking, turn-in, hit the apex, and power-out of a fast corner... There's a magnitude of difference between the two.
That was my whole point to begin with.
The GT-R is prone to under-steer. Watch the Z/28 and GT-R Nismo side-by-side. This is obvious by turn 2 where the Z/28's lowest speed is 4-6mph faster than the Nismo's.
Laguna Seca is full of turns like that... That's why it's losing ground, and turning out underwhelming laptimes.

I beg your pardon... "anything faster than 80mph" is not a corner? It's THOSE that really matter in terms of aero and how well a car is set up. A 35mph corner will be taken at 30-40mph whether you are in a Ford Fiesta or a Formula 1 car. A 100mph corner taken in a GTR can be taken at 80mph in a family car, and nearly 200mph in a F1 car.

The "corner" you said turn 1 is virtually taken flat out on every car so downforce never really played too much of a deal.

Top gear showed exactly what the GTR was good at... keeping the speeds up in the fast corners. Where a GTR did 100+mph no car could match it. Laguna seca is all about slow corners, point squirt, accelerate, brake. so the 1700kg is never going to be helpful.

@ BR2+
I completely agree, I'd switch the 4c and the STI in your list, but other than that, I agree....
But knowing MT they'll just award the 911 again...

@Saxy,
Turn1 is a really fast blind hill that Randy took at over 130mph, turn4 he took at nearly 80mph, and turn5 was well over 60mph. Anything faster and it's not really a "corner" anymore, just a long sweeper.
Plus Laguna Seca doesn't have any chicane's. GT-R's always excelled at direction change, and corner exit, and usually where they gain the most ground.

Yeah areo helps at any speed, but in terms of "significant" differences it'll be considered no. A car that generates 250kg of downforce at 300kph will generate about 25kg at 100kph. That's not gonna do jack about 1700 kg of weight. On the other hand, simple stickier and wider tires can easily give you 10-20% more grip.

In theory the only chance of the aero helping on this track is the braking ar areas

I have no doubt that they will choose the 991 Turbo S hands down.
According Randy's comments, i see no flaws on it. My choice for a best drivers car will always be a RWD car (Z/28 for me in this case). I was expecting a much more from the F Type R that i think is the most beautiful at the contest by far.

well i'm no fanboy either, but aero doesn't really work at low speeds. in fact it doesn't really work until you're above 100mph,and this track is full of slow corners.

that's not true. Aero helps at any speed, and it increases when you are going faster cause of the amount of air passing through.

Zit just me, Or is this years lap times seem.....Slow for all the cars?..I was expecting alot more fro just about every car this year.

maybe... but then the 918 just did a 1:30...

btw, i also reckon the best drivers car will go to the Z28 because it's virtually cliche for it: manual, good grunt, balanced chassis. But the Z28 is 1700+kg, and the alfa which is like 1000kg and has no power steering, being super nimble, although not super fast (skinny tires too), is refreshing of what a true sports car should feel.

My guess is, z28, alfa, 911 in that order. 918 is not in the competition, and not like it needs to be

Maybe its a preproduction prototype idk

Stiffer is not always the answer. Sometimes too much sway bar will mess things up.