Camaro Z/28 Nurburgring time = 7:37.47 !! [VIDEO]

[Cars and Tea]

It just hit me I have been looking at a 1LE/ZL1 steering wheel, I could get a Z28 wheel!

[maddoggyusa]

Did GM finally hire a pro driver? Guessing by the time I doubt it. 3 seconds at the Ring isn't a big deal guys.

instead of hiring a pro dirver, it's always this GM engineer wannabe race car driver doing the laps for weeks on end. Meanwhile Chrysler took a bone stock Viper out of a museum and handed it over to a pro driver and he smoked the ZR1 Ring time with like 2 days of testing. HIRE A PRO DRIVER!

[rtcat600man]

Originally Posted by maddoggyusa

Did GM finally hire a pro driver? Guessing by the time I doubt it. 3 seconds at the Ring isn't a big deal guys.

instead of hiring a pro dirver, it's always this GM engineer wannabe race car driver doing the laps for weeks on end. Meanwhile Chrysler took a bone stock Viper out of a museum and handed it over to a pro driver and he smoked the ZR1 Ring time with like 2 days of testing. HIRE A PRO DRIVER!

Hate to burst your bubble, but the guys who drive the ring for GM are RACE CAR DRIVERS, some of them just happen to be engineers too.

[Cars and Tea]

Yeah I doubt a multi-billion dollar car company lets an engineer who knows the tech of the car drive the car...

...I am sure they have professional drivers whose job is ONLY to drive

[toehead93]

Well I hate to break it to you but Aaron Link is a badas driver and a GM engineer and I bet that multi billion dollar car company gets a lot more input from a driver with the engineering background who will have more in depth understanding of perFormance dynamics then even a pRofessional drivers. It is like having aprofesional driver and professional crew cheif in one.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by Track Package

Yeah I doubt a multi-billion dollar car company lets an engineer who knows the tech of the car drive the car...

...I am sure they have professional drivers whose job is ONLY to drive

Did you watch that video of the Nurburgring time? You don't think it takes a lot of skill to drive at 160 mph on a wet track with tires that are DRY track tires??

[Cars and Tea]

Originally Posted by Doc

Did you watch that video of the Nurburgring time? You don't think it takes a lot of skill to drive at 160 mph on a wet track with tires that are DRY track tires??

i believe you are being sarcastic and agreeing with me? lol

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by maddoggyusa

instead of hiring a pro dirver, it's always this GM engineer wannabe race car driver doing the laps for weeks on end.

What makes you think engineers can't make good test/race drivers? Ever hear of Mark Donohue? Or closer to bowtie home, Mark Stielow?


Norm

[rtcat600man]

I can throw you another name too.

Mark Dickens. He knows how to drive, has a race car, and is one of the engineers.

[Cars and Tea]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

What makes you think engineers can't make good test/race drivers? Ever hear of Mark Donohue? Or closer to bowtie home, Mark Stielow?


Norm

Yeah but I would imagine the percentage is really low.

And many probably think they can drive because they made the car etc. (Ego)

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by Track Package

Yeah but I would imagine the percentage is really low.

Why would you think that? Engineers by nature tend to look for better, workable solutions to problems . . . kind of what you do when you're developing a race car, or a production performance car for that matter. Far more "hands on" than pure scientific research in some laboratory.

And many probably think they can drive because they made the car etc. (Ego)

I suspect you don't understand how engineers think. Most people who aren't engineers themselves don't. Most drag racers don't, either, which I can tell you from direct experience. It's . . . well, different. Much less emotional, for starters.

You're in luck here. Today I stumbled across something very applicable here in my alumni magazine. "It takes a technical mind to understand it" (4th column, under the left front tire), but you'll also note that he's not just another field-filler.


Norm
BSCE '70

[Cars and Tea]

You have to think of it like this...

How many people in the world work on computers daily (engineers) but how many are hackers? (drivers)

[JusticePete]

There are two types of GREAT drivers. There are drivers that run by the computer built into their derriere and do what they do by some type of magic. There are cyborgs that look human, but drive by calculation revised in milliseconds with absurd consistency making them hard to beat lap after lap . The rest of us fall somewhere in between.

The GM Performance culture has attracted and or created a number of excellent drivers / engineers or is that engineers / drivers? I consider it a privilege to call some of them friends. The track at the Milford Proving Grounds get a lot of use. They data-log every lap. You can't had behind your ego with lap times. You are faster than everyone else in the same car or you are not.

Where does ego come in with the GM engineer drivers? When you ask them who is the fastest GM employed driver on the track at Milford. They all want to say "ME!", but they say "that is hard to say. Different guys get in different programs..." It is the same politically correct corporate response, but their eyes tell a different story screaming ME ME ME ME. Everyone has an ego. Not everyone with an ego is an engineer or driver or both.

Adam drove the Z/28 because it was his job and he is damn good at it. Adam is a private person. He does his best work behind a keyboard and steering wheel, without any media attention and likes it that way.

[ShnOmac]

Originally Posted by JusticePete

There are two types of GREAT drivers. There are drivers that run by the computer built into their derriere and do what they do by some type of magic. There are cyborgs that look human, but drive by calculation revised in milliseconds with absurd consistency making them hard to beat lap after lap . The rest of us fall somewhere in between.

The GM Performance culture has attracted and or created a number of excellent drivers / engineers or is that engineers / drivers? I consider it a privilege to call some of them friends. The track at the Milford Proving Grounds get a lot of use. They data-log every lap. You can't had behind your ego with lap times. You are faster than everyone else in the same car or you are not.

Where does ego come in with the GM engineer drivers? When you ask them who is the fastest GM employed driver on the track at Milford. They all want to say "ME!", but they say "that is hard to say. Different guys get in different programs..." It is the same politically correct corporate response, but their eyes tell a different story screaming ME ME ME ME. Everyone has an ego. Not everyone with an ego is an engineer or driver or both.

Adam drove the Z/28 because it was his job and he is damn good at it. Adam is a private person. He does his best work behind a keyboard and steering wheel, without any media attention and likes it that way.

Good to hear from ya Pete!