So, now that I am beginning to drive my '10 XKR more (7600 orig miles) I found the ride on the original, 6 years old Dunlops just too harsh. With winter coming I purchased a set of Continental DWS 06 for the XKR and was on my way to the tire installer to get them mounted. The Dunlops were like new on the front but, were already at the wear limits in the back. So, I consider them pretty much gone for hard driving, mainly given the age of the compound.

Of course, on the way to the tire change I have to meet a Ferrari 458. It is a local car, I had seen it several times before. Red car with an Italian Red-White-Green longitudinal racing stripe. As I was still warming my engine over these narrow, winding canyon roads, the Ferrari passed me with the engine screaming at the top of its RPM range. Never been one to back off a challenge I upped the tempo to see how my heavy GT car matches up with an all out Italian canyon carver.

Likely having to do with the fact that my rear tires were shot, the definite tendencies in those very tight 2nd and 3rd gear turns were oversteer. Had to handle the throttle as if stepping on eggs, stabilizing the car before applying full throttle. Over a good 10 miles of very heavy driving the Ferrari would gain a few feet exiting a turn and I would gain it right back when able to give it the full 510 HP. The rear end of the XKR kept stepping out in the turns, limiting my ability to come out of the corners faster. I am sure both the tire issues and the well known tendency for the XKR variations for not being able to put power down on corner exit were at play.

After 10 miles we were still nose to tail, having a great time, while being ultra careful not to loose either of the cars into the canyons below. In retrospect, the Ferrari is the quicker car on these kinds of roads; visually it corners like a race car while my XKR does roll a bit too much, have a bit too much understeer on corner entry and the bit too much oversteer on corner exit. It was my decades of track racing experience the evened out the field today.

After the run, I had the DWS 06 mounted. On the way home over the same 10 miles of winding road I started carefully, aware of the need to scrub off the slippery top layer of new tires. After a few miles I upped the tempo. The DWS is a touch softer at turn-in than the Dunlop but, it feels like a very competent tire in the twisties. On the short straights where I was able to get it up to freeway speeds, it provided a much more compliant and quieter ride than the Dunlops. Hopefully I'll be happy with them, particularly with the arrival of the cooler fall and winter periods.

Picture is NOT the actual 458, just one I pulled off the web. BTW- my XKR is fully stock with no performance upgrades.

 

Very nice, sounds like a fun time!

The driver of the Ferrari must not have been very experienced (or not trying very hard) if he could not pull away from a heavy GT cruiser with suspect tires. That car is on rails and in the hands of the right driver should have been outstripping you in twisties. If your track experience allowed you to keep up his obvious lack of experience limited him!

If you were in the Ferrari and used your track acumen I bet you would have toasted any heaving touring M6/XKR/AMG!

 

He seemed to be a decent, if not racedriver quality, driver. I had to drive rather hard to keep up with him. Given the nature of the road, extremely narrow and tight lanes with zero runoff room, big dropoffs on one side, cliffs on the other, it is an intimidating road. Thus, we both had to keep something in reserve to prevent a potentially very damaging accident. Still, he was more familiar with his car since I have seen him for at least the last few years driving it. For me, this was likely the first time I really drove the XKR that fast.

Just looking at the stance of his car in the corners, you are correct, he should have wiped the floor with the big GT car with shot tires in the back :-).

Funny timing was that the manager of the tire installing place was asking me right after the encounter if I tended to drive the XKR hard. I said; "NO" which sounded funny right after tearing up the canyon but, for my history of ownership it was true. I simply don't push this car that hard, as I don't think it is well suited for such tight, winding roads that are in my neighborhood. For that , the 500HP, twin turbo 2600lbs RX-7, that I recently sold, was the perfect weapon. I am absolutely certain that I would have wiped the floor with the Ferrari using my old 7. Nothing in my many years of ownership could touch that car in the canyons.

 

That would have been funny to see, a hopped up RX7 killing a Ferrari! The other driver would be amazed at how badass a Mazda can be. I had a customer that raced RX7's. He swore by them.

 

My nearly identical version of that 3rd gen RX-7 ate Ferraris, Porches and everything else (streetcars) on the racetracks. I finally crashed it at Sears Point. The one I recently sold was a remake of that car with a bit more power. The 3rd gen RX-7 was an exceptional handler in stock form and mine were not stock. They pretty much had racing suspensions under them.

For a knowledgeable person it comes as no suprise when a highly tuned car will outrun even the highest priced stock exotics... which is why I never took up a street challenge when I owned two Lamborghinis. Did not wish to be humiliated by a highly modded Mustang or other :-). As a matter of fact I owned just such a modded Mustang with the Lambos and the Mustang would outrun the Lambos without breathing hard... then came the RX-7 which would outrun the Mustang without breating hard...:-).

I also very succesfully raced tube-framed race Mazdas, in SCCA GT-2 and GT-3 classes as well as in FM (Formula Mazda).

 

My 2010 XKR has been much quicker on the track than my Pantera for reasons other than horsepower and weight, both of which are far greater. Without power steering and many of the modern amenities like traction control, a terribly notchy 5spd gearbox (ZF), and a Ferrari style gated shifter, which requires that you look at it in order to find the right slot, the Pantera is just not as easy to drive as a car as modern as the XKR on a track. But on twisties through canyons where curves are a bit more spaced out, driving a lighter car (the Pantera is probably 1200 lbs. lighter than the XKR), with a 2nd gear that will rocket you to highly illegal speeds in no time can be quite a bit more entertaining. I am looking forward to getting the Pantera back in the next few weeks as it is undergoing conversion to fuel injection and having a built 351 Cleveland engine transplanted to give me 500 hp vs about 330 hp motor (now). It should then be non stop fun through canyon runs.

I had friends with the Mazdas and many of the instructors at track events still love using them.

Don't you just love older sports cars?

 

All so true, a purpose-built car can ourperform stock sports cars. A buddy of mine in college had a Camaro that was tricked out for high-performance, he had plenty of family money so no expense was spared. He would tell me how much he enjoyed toying with exotics on the interstate and, as he said, smoking them so that they woman can see how much cooler he is.

As I told him, I am pretty sure that lady was more concerned with the price tag than the bragging rights of performance! Just like you say now, you don't even bother with a street challenge, the pleasure of owning a high-end car is not always about being able to beat every other car.


You are right, older exotics vs new technology in any car is tough to compare. How many 500hp cars were there back when the Pantera was built? Probably none stock. Now it seems every car company has some 500hp coupe along with a sedan or SUV that shares the powerplant. But not many companies have a 3500lb (or whatever a Pantera weighs) well balanced car optimized for pure performance!

That will be cool to see how it does with the 351. How much weight will it add?

 

tampamark,
The original engine in all Panteras was a Boss 351 Cleveland. When I bought mine the engine had been replaced with a Boss 302. During the time we were installing fuel injection (right now) and were planning on "freshening" up the engine, an original "barn" find 351 Cleveland became available for next to nothing, and we decided to rebuild it and install the period correct engine. Weight of the Pantera, depending on whose specifications you believe was somewhere between 2750-2900 lbs. So power to weight ratio is just WILD at 500+hp.