Wednesday, October 28, 2015

2015 Lightning Lap: LL4 Class Spotlight

-Every year, we take the hottest performance cars to Virginia International Raceway for our Lightning Lap competition, where our editors turn lap after lap on the 4.1-mile Grand West Course in pursuit of each model's single quickest time. The contenders are grouped into classes based on price; here, take a quick tour of this year's LL4 class, which includes cars with prices between $125,000 and $244,999.-Of all the surprises at Lightning Lap this year, the AMG GT S ranks at the very top. We'd previously driven AMG's new sports car at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and left feeling that the car was capable but a bit cold to the touch. It struck us as a car that relied more on brute mechanical grip than handling finesse. First impressions aren't always right, however. The GT S's 2:51.0 lap alone is worthy of amazement, but what shocked us more was how much fun we had in AMG's latest sports car.-With the 4.0-liter V-8 tucked way back behind the front wheels, the GT S carries 52.7 percent of its 3698 pounds on its rear wheels. The turn-in grip is phenomenal. Some of that magic is likely due to the $2600 P71 Dynamic Plus package that tightens the chassis and adds negative camber to the front tires. P71 offers a choice of Michelins at no extra cost: Pilot Super Sports or Pilot Sport Cup 2s. Our car arrived with the maxi-grip Cup 2s that were good for 1.05 g's of gum-in-your-hair stickiness in Horse Shoe.-The chassis shines in the technical parts of the track. Directional changes are met with stability and grip, and yet the car reads as small and nimble. Every degree of steering is faithfully followed, and the Alcantara rim tells tales the Michelin Men need you to hear, which is especially important in the long, rhythmic corners of the infield where throttle and steering battle for control. READ MORE ››-Someone inevitably asks: Which one is your favorite? In this field of dreams, it's impossible to pick one. But if we had to drive one car as fast as possible for an entire tank of gas, it'd be hard to choose anything but the Porsche 911 GT3.-Racetracks make tires hot and greasy, force brake pedals to drop unceremoniously to the floor, and pitch temp needles into the red. But not in the GT3. It's the same car, lap after hot lap.-The GT3's apparent lack of mechanical stress instills in the driver a sense of trust and relaxation. Porsche's carbon-ceramic brakes feel impervious to heat, and the engine shrieks all the way to 9000 rpm again and again. Each shift from the dual-clutch gearbox is a muffled gunshot, and the steering is the best we've touched in a long time. It telegraphs exactly what is happening at the front tires and almost feels unassisted in its clarity and feedback. Yep, if we had to lap a track for 24 hours in France, we'd pick this car to do it in. READ MORE ››--

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