I know a couple guys that drove for them, rode along with one of them at an autocross. They aren't even competitive drivers for the most part (some of the dudes were +3 seconds or so on most courses). No idea how they decide to hire some of these people.

All these reviewers care about is race track performance. They dont mention a word about how it takes the bumps or how comfortable the seats are or the sound system.
They get some car out on a track at 130 mph and complain about the brakes or the oil system not handling that...Who drives that way in real life?

And the MX5 came second! For a car that is not an all out straight line performer, it shows what a "balanced" car can achieve. I think the 370Z should drop around 100 kilos and just watch the benefits. As Colin Chapman once said, "power is good in a straight line, but less weight is good everywhere".

The Evo should have been disqualified just for sheer ugliness.

Do they use different guys for the track test though? I know Consumer Report guys are the same. They do okay, but not really fast, at least I don't know if I trust them for any hard testing.

I have the same exact timing equipment as car and driver, my car was 6mph down the straight as they were at vir. I know my tires are better, but not 6mph faster. I am not a pro or anywhere close to one either. Just take everything with a grain of salt and not worry about it.

For the lightning lap, they have a bunch of people driving the cars. A lot of variance in skill level, which is why comparing times across cars isn't necessarily meaningful.

gets a 7 on least fun to drive come on!

Best Handling Car under $40k, Car&Driver - Page 3 - evolutionm.net

:stirthepot:

:wtf2:

You sir are evil! :tiphat:

At the end of the day, I am sure they know enough to make it around a lap. Even if there is a difference, I don't believe it is that big. It's definitely a good reference, but not sure if I swear by it.

That's kinda how I look at it-- it is a rough idea. But you can look at your log data vs theirs, and judge for yourself how solid the guys are.

All I know is that properly track prepared the Z has beaten STi's and Evo's alike at just about every track I've been to, and it hasn't been due to driver. There is more power, more tire and less weight which is pretty much always going to result in lower lap times.

I don't recall the last time I see a stock EVO on the track. Everyone I have seen has more $hit done to it than Heidi Montag.

Also another thing I learned. There is always going to be someone or something faster, you will live a lot happier if you don't worry too much about it.

Perhaps, but I'm not EvilRob.

Eh, that's a bit too broad of a claim to make. That said, the one source of same-driver-same-track times does show the 370Z ahead of the Evo X FQ-300 by 0.7 seconds.

List of Top Gear test track Power Lap Times - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I don't know if it's a GSR or MR though.