Quote:
Originally Posted by Crushinator
I was just analyzing the videos of the Z/28 and also the ZR1 driven my Jim Mero in 2008. I wish someone could/would make a video of those two runs side by side. The ZR1's time was a 7:26.4. So 11 seconds faster than the Z/28. But if you watch closely, at the point it starts raining on the Z/28 video, the time is roughly 6:10. At that exact spot on the track, the ZR1 is at 6:07. About 3 seconds faster. By the end of the long straight, under the bridge, the ZR1 is at 7:05 and the Z/28 is at 7:15.5. Granted, the ZR1 hit a higher top speed of 170 vs 157 for the Z/28. But it's pretty clear the Z/28 lost a good 6 or 7 seconds because of the rain.
Al Oppenheiser was quoted as saying "We’ve actually run Z/28 times that are significantly faster than the one we published in the video, but we respect the gentlemen’s agreement, and to protect our integrity, we don’t publish a time that we can’t verify with a video."
I think it's pretty clear the Z/28 is more than 4 seconds faster around the Nurburgring than the ZL1. And would certainly be in the low 7:30's if not high 7:20's.
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this is a good testament of what difference good tires make. case in point: original ZR1's time of 7:26 vs a second run of 7:19 on the Cups. No doubt a dry run for a Z/28 would be faster, but I don't believe it would be of a 6-7 seconds margin, as the rain only affected 2-3 turns and I don't see the driver getting out of the throttle on the last straight. I wish GM published that second run, video or not. I don't think anyone would have an issue taking their word for it. As far as the ZL1 vs Z/28 at the Ring (or elsewhere), it is apples to oranges as both cars come with substantially different tires from a factory. Slap a set of Trofeo Rs on the ZL1 and the gap might disappear in a big hurry. At least it will be reduced vastly, that's for sure. In any case, both are superbly capable cars.