When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Other than making the buyer feel better, Ring times mean nothing to actual owners. I've spent 3 days, (yes, complete days driving that track, closed to the public, thank you BMW...) and all fast time around the rings shows, is what a driver with big hairy *****, immense talent, and no particular care if he wads up someone else's car can do...
If they put you in the car with the fastest Ring time, you aren't going to be within 2 mins of it...
Nissan has been the only manufacturer to go all in on ring times. 10 years later their still building the R35 because they haven't recouped their investment enough to build a new car. I doubt manufacturers are that worried about it. It might get you a few more sales, it's not going to make you. Most Corvette owners aren't driving them all that fast and certainly not on track anyways. The ZR1 has more than acquitted itself with the lap times at US tracks. And there is a new show in town anyways. The C8 is at the ring. Focus has been shifted. There is little to no chance based on this information that GM wants to set a ring time.
Other than making the buyer feel better, Ring times mean nothing to actual owners. I've spent 3 days, (yes, complete days driving that track, closed to the public, thank you BMW...) and all fast time around the rings shows, is what a driver with big hairy *****, immense talent, and no particular care if he wads up someone else's car can do...
If they put you in the car with the fastest Ring time, you aren't going to be within 2 mins of it...
Last weekend, the same friend who sent me Jim Mero's retirement announcement sent me a Facebook post from Jim's wife, Terri. The post was photos of the gifts Jim received for his retirement. One of the gifts was a large photograph composed of a lot of smaller photos. At the bottom of the large photo was 7 smaller photos of what seems to be all of Jim's Nurburgring times. I believe this because included in the photos and times were his 3 C6 times that we all know about:
2009 ZR1 7:26
2012 Z06/Z07 7:22
2012 ZR1 7:19
I have no idea what (S) means, but these are the times associated with the C7 photos:
C7 Z51 7:33 (S)
C7 Grand Sport 7:27
C7 Z06/Z07 7:10
C7 ZR1 6:57 (S)
The C7 times are very impressive, but, for the life of me, I can't understand why they were never made public.
Just to compare other lap times at Nurburgring's:
Camaro ZL1 1LE. 7:16.04
Camaro ZL1. 7:29.60
Shelby GT350R. 7:32.19
(S) probably stands for Slicks tires. If not I find it hard to believe that the Z51 would do 7:33 on stock tires. I whish since I have one and drove the Nurburgring this spring (but not near these times in traffic!) but I have my doubts!
It is a fantastic track with 73 corners and an altitude difference of 330 Yards! The car bottoms out numerous times around the track! It is not called The Green Hell for nothing.
St. Jude Vendor Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11
GM already has a test and R&D center at the Nürburgring - if the Ring times didn’t matter they would not have it there. Porsche, BMW, Jaguar, Aston, and more have facilities there.
Track testing can be done anywhere at any track in the US or outside to dial in a car to maximize performance.
The ring is a unique and is an extreme set of corners that would never be encountered on any man made track deliberately.
It is a brutal 13 mile mountain road with guardrails planted along side it.
Having said that, - what it is is a Motorsport challenge found nowhere on this planet.
GM has not been able to achieve near the times that Porsche and other serious sports cars. Porsche got Michelin to make a “street tire” that was really a race tire in disguise for their 911 GT 2 and GT 3 RS timed runs.
In contrast, GM brags about running with as delivered alignment, tires and totally stock boost etc. Porsche guts the car, turns up the boost and puts a race set up on the car driven by a pro race car driver.
We plan to change that.
We are using Pirelli Trofeo R tires and our total suspension upgrades and yes, like Porsche, we have upped the boost a little. Of course our dual inter cooler package which is also what has held the C7 Z06 back with high intake air temps.
I was told to get a “Ring Expert” to set the time. Well by the time I make my run, I will add 300 more miles to my 720 miles that I already have on the track.
I have been racing for 40 years and run against the same “experts” here in the US so no worries.
Now unless GM steps up and gives us some of their private time, like they did for Porsche, we will have to get our best time during a normal track day. We are signed up for the next 4 full track days. I also have a meeting with the track officials to see if we can get a good price for 30 minutes alone on track. They wanted $30,000 for 1 hour, which is out of the question.
We will see.
Our C7 Z06 arrives in Germany on Monday. I head over in 2 weeks and will stay there for 17 days.
Stay tuned .
THE car.
GM facility on site At Nürburgring
Stay tuned.
Last edited by LG Motorsports; 09-07-2018 at 05:57 AM.
(S) probably stands for Slicks tires. If not I find it hard to believe that the Z51 would do 7:33 on stock tires. I whish since I have one and drove the Nurburgring this spring (but not near these times in traffic!) but I have my doubts!
//Motors5
Doubt that highly. Corvette comes to the track to do engineering evaluations and then if they can, get a lap time. I have never known them to test with a race slick or non production tire. Now if you are talking about something like a the Cup 2 semi-slick tire, which is stock, then there should have been an (S) designation for the C7 Z06 and C7 GS time as both of those cars come on Cups 2s. Pretty sure the (S) stands for sector times, which means the couldn't get a clean full lap and just added up the best sector times from multiple laps.
The original ZR1 was run on the old PS2 tires, which are about 3 levels in grip below the current Cup 2 tires. Put them on the same tire and it isn't even close.
The Grand Sport has Pilot Super Sports, not Cup 2s. While Super Sports are better than Pilot Sport 2s, they’re not still street tires.
It is impressive the C7 Grand Sport is almost as fast as the ZR1 from a decade ago, but it’s not because of tires.
VIR is the track to win at and set times at. No need to ship a car overseas, no need to deal with the varying track conditions at the Ring, nor with the crappy weather, nor with the fact no official lap times can be done. The Ring will fade into obscurity with nobody but Porsche caring.
The Grand Sport has Pilot Super Sports, not Cup 2s. While Super Sports are better than Pilot Sport 2s, they’re not still street tires.
It is impressive the C7 Grand Sport is almost as fast as the ZR1 from a decade ago, but it’s not because of tires.
No you might want to check your facts, the C7 GS is available with the Z07 package which includes the Cup 2 tires. I guarantee that any lap times were done with the Z07 version. So yes, it is mostly due to the tires. The C6 ZR1 picked up 8 sec, mainly, going from PS2s to Cup 1s. I would bet going to Cup 2s would gain another 4-6 sec on a track that long. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...al-test-review
No you might want to check your facts, the C7 GS is available with the Z07 package which includes the Cup 2 tires. I guarantee that any lap times were done with the Z07 version. So yes, it is mostly due to the tires. The C6 ZR1 picked up 8 sec, mainly, going from PS2s to Cup 1s. I would bet going to Cup 2s would gain another 4-6 sec on a track that long. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...al-test-review
The laps done with Z07 packages are clearly marked as Z07. See original post:
C7 Z51 7:33 (S)
C7 Grand Sport 7:27
C7 Z06/Z07 7:10 <--------
C7 ZR1 6:57 (S)
This leads me to believe the lap time done on the Grand Sport is done with the standard NON-Z07 tires.
The laps done with Z07 packages are clearly marked as Z07. See original post:
This leads me to believe the lap time done on the Grand Sport is done with the standard NON-Z07 tires.
You do realize that the OP was just naming the cars in the picture as there was no offical statement with this picture that was taken from Jim Mero's wifes FB page? If they track tested the GS at the Ring it would be the Z07 package, no question.
St. Jude Vendor Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11
Originally Posted by pdiddy972
VIR is the track to win at and set times at. No need to ship a car overseas, no need to deal with the varying track conditions at the Ring, nor with the crappy weather, nor with the fact no official lap times can be done. The Ring will fade into obscurity with nobody but Porsche caring.
Ya Think? We all will fade into obscurity but on my way, I plan on doing some cool things including Nurburgring and some other things.
Yep, Life causes death and in 100 years no one will care. No one will care about anything we are talking about but we can all care about achieving our own personal goals.
Stay tuned for my totally insignificant attempt at Nurburgring that will be recorded with a precise in car camera with the start and finish points set in the camera system display with a GPS for all to see and forget as time passes.
(S) probably stands for Slicks tires. If not I find it hard to believe that the Z51 would do 7:33 on stock tires. I whish since I have one and drove the Nurburgring this spring (but not near these times in traffic!) but I have my doubts!
It is a fantastic track with 73 corners and an altitude difference of 330 Yards! The car bottoms out numerous times around the track! It is not called The Green Hell for nothing.
//Motors5
(S) means "segment times" were used for the lap time, so its a "virtual" lap time consisting of stitching together the fastest times for that car in each segment.
Basically it means that lap time was not set running a single continuous lap but the fastest times of each segment on multiple laps.
It's crazy that these times were not posted by GM. I would really like to know the reason.
IF GM releases an official time, they have to release the PDR. Nurburgring's back straight is a supercharged car's worst nightmare. 6 minutes of going all out, followed by a 1 1/2 mile straight.
When Sport Auto ran a 7:13.9 in a Z06 they got on to the straight at about 110 mph(178 kph). In a 1 1/2 miles they topped out at 177 mph. Why so low?
Either timing pull or horrible Cd, or both. 520 hp GT2 RS had the same top speed.
110 to 177 in 1 1/2 miles is not 650 hp.
Ya Think? We all will fade into obscurity but on my way, I plan on doing some cool things including Nurburgring and some other things.
Yep, Life causes death and in 100 years no one will care. No one will care about anything we are talking about but we can all care about achieving our own personal goals.
Stay tuned for my totally insignificant attempt at Nurburgring that will be recorded with a precise in car camera with the start and finish points set in the camera system display with a GPS for all to see and forget as time passes.
Funny how life is like that.
Lou G
Not an attack on you or your heading to the Ring. I wish you luck and hope you enjoy it.
I’m just touting the benefits of VIR as a comparison tool.
IF GM releases an official time, they have to release the PDR. Nurburgring's back straight is a supercharged car's worst nightmare. 6 minutes of going all out, followed by a 1 1/2 mile straight.
When Sport Auto ran a 7:13.9 in a Z06 they got on to the straight at about 110 mph(178 kph). In a 1 1/2 miles they topped out at 177 mph. Why so low?
Either timing pull or horrible Cd, or both. 520 hp GT2 RS had the same top speed.
110 to 177 in 1 1/2 miles is not 650 hp.
Honestly, the C7Z hasn't been putting up high top speeds at any tracks. It's partly drag, but the timing cut programmed I to these cars is very aggressive as well. That ring top speed seems in line with what we're seeing at other tracks.
09-06-2018, 07:30 AM
.
