curious just how much of a diff does a superior car make?

Cmike2780

I think it's easier to think of it in percentages. 70% driver, 30% car. For a squid, like yourself and many of us, 150hp is more than enough to hone in our driving skills on the track. That's why cars, like the miata are so great. It's relatively nimble around a track and pretty inexpensive. If you've ever seen Top Gear, just look at the times a novice put up in the "reasonably priced car" segment compared to the F1 drivers. This doesn't mean a Kia Cee'd driven by a pro is gonna blow past high powered Ferrari's around the same track driven by a novice, but it could make it interesting. The high performance car will pick up some of the slack of the unskilled driver, but it can only do so much.

In the OP's situtation though, squid vs squid. The GT-R driver has the clear advantage. I would venture to guess an experienced (intermediate) driver could probably put up the same track times in a Z as a novice driver would with some skill in GT-R. A pro in a Z would very likely beat it around the track. He'll know the track better, which would essentially account for huge chunks of time.

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