So Car and Driver did their annual Lightning Lap at VIR this last issue (Aug) and some of the outcomes were pretty damn impressive. With no surprise the Corvettes whooped *** proving yet again that that American's can make cars fast in more than just a straight line. The Shelby GT500 actually tied (roughly) the Porsche Turbo and the 335i Coupe bested the Z4 M Coupe and the Audi RS4.

The C6 also bested the Porsche Turbo and the C6 Z06 ran the fasted time C&D has recorded besting even the Ford GT time of last year.

C6 706 - 2:58.2
Porsche GT3 - 3:01.8
C6 - 3:03.6
Lotus Exige S - 3:04.5
Audi R8 - 3:04.6
Porsche Turbo - 3:05.8
Shelby GT500 - 3:05.9
335i Coupe - 3:10.5
Audi RS4 - 3:11.2
Z4 M Coupe - 3:11.7
Solstice GXP - 3:15.7
Mazdaspeed 3 - 3:16.0
Cooper S - 3:22.9

I'd love to know what Jeremy's hybrid C6/Z06 would do as well as Zoeb's modded 335.

 

It's almost not fair to even been in this one...

 

Why did they exclude the Evo or STi?

 

They ran an Evo MR the last time and its lap time was 3:13.5

 

Between the two, you’d expect the 335i to be more supple over bumps, have vastly more interior room, and be as refined as a Lexus. But what floored us was that the 335i’s best lap (3:10.5) was 1.2 seconds quicker than the M coupe’s. It’s a case of neutral handling over outright speed. Whereas the M coupe had understeer at turn-in that switched to oversteer at the exit, the 335i was nearly perfectly balanced everywhere and made up most of its time in the region between the braking zone and turn apex. The 335i does everything remarkably well, which is why many of us at Car and Driver think it’s the best all-around car in the world.

nice, I have the best all around car in the world