For those of you who have raced at VIR

[PDXStangDude]

Virginia International Raceway (Grand Course, 4.2 miles)

Car and Driver Aug 07, Lightning Lap!
Would you mind posting your lap times (preferably stock but if not that is fine). My friend has a Car and Driver and in the LL1 category (under $30k) they had three cars (MiniCooper S, Pontiac Solstice GXP??, and Mazda Speed3.

Lap times for the three were

Mini- 3:22
Mazda- 3:16
Solstice- 3:15

Now I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure the GT version of our Ponies could post comparable numbers...


Thanks....

 

[Penguin]

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/11755/the-lightning-lap-2006.html

The Cobalt SS’s supercharged Ecotec engine collaborated with an excellent gearbox to charge down the straights with authority. The result was a maximum speed of 117.1 mph and a lap time of 3:20.6 — four to five seconds quicker than the other front-drivers, the GTI and the Civic.

Amazingly enough, that performance made the Cobalt SS 0.3 second quicker than the 300-hp Ford Mustang GT. The Mustang was actually a couple mph quicker than the Cobalt on the straightaways, but the Ford suffered from weak brakes and a floppy chassis. After only two laps, the brakes started to give ground and the soft suspension allowed the car to move around too much to go quickly through the high-speed esses of Sector Two. The Cobalt averaged 4.7 mph faster through that part of the track. On the plus side, cornering grip and balance were decent. With more suspension control, the Mustang would have taken better advantage of these attributes.

 

[walter]

I can't wait to install my Watts link that's all I gotta say at this point.