In this month's Car and Driver is the annual lightning lap edition where they track various cars on the 4.1 mile Virginia international raceway (VIR). I always find this to be an interesting read. The Xkr- s had a lap time of 3:02.1, but they said it was a very hard car to drive Fast (great power and braking, but steering feel was not good and the pirellis would quickly loose grip after a lap or 2).

I think this is still a pretty good time. For comparison, a 2010 Xkr was 3:06.4, 2013 M6 3:04.7, 2011 Cts-v coupe 3:04.2, 2013 boxster S 3:04.2, 2007 Gt3 Porsche 3:01.8, 2010 v10 r8 2:59.5, c63 black series 2:58.0. Surprisingly quick this year was new 911 S at 2:58.9 and the camaro zL1 at 2:57.5. The 458 italia was smoking quick at 2:49.9.

Eventhough most of us don't track our cars, I find it interesting to see how our jags stack up to the competition. They are a blast to drive on a track, as anyone who has been to the R academy or tracks their car regularly can tell you.

 

Pirellis????? geeze...

They should have had Michelin's on it. Pirellis are crap. I've driven Pirellis on two different XKR's...they suck. I had two Pirellis completely disintegrate on my 02 XKR at 70 MPH on the interstate.

They would have had a better time with better tires.

 

That's a fantastic track, and a perfect one for revealing a car's ability...and the driver's! I think the article's comments were more about handling it at the limit on tires that lost grip after one hot lap, as opposed to dynamic handling issues with the car when driving it fast. It makes me think that while the Pirelli tires may have great street virtues, that they probably aren't as good a choice for *****-to-the-walls track use as some others were. For that use you always would choose a track tire, and I noticed some of the cars tested did have them.

I have the Dunlops on mine and have put a tremendous amount of heat into them running many consecutive hot laps and was amazed that they didn't get greasy like other high performance street tires I've tried in the past. I always had to buy race compound track tires for those cars, but have found that it's not mandatory with the Dunlops. They're definitely an expensive tire to chew up on the track, but I can drift it through high speed corners with all 4 tires just a screaming...and with complete control and no drama what-so-ever.

It posted a very respectable lap time, but I'd like to see the XKR-S track tested with a tire designed for that use, or at least one that would hold up for more than one lap.

I'd also point out that the XKR-S model's handling has been set-up for a fairly lively rear end that is easier to provoke to step out. An enthusiast driver would find this more entertaining/involving, and a very skilled driver may even find it faster, but I don't think this particular track is the best place for it. The up-hill esses is an important section to nail for a low lap time and is very difficult if the rear is a bit loose, as is the down-hill "Roller Coaster" that leads onto the front straight. Both have significant "pucker factor" as you focus on keeping the rear of the car from stepping out and passing the front!

Bruce

 

Very interesting. That 458 Italia is blisteringly fast!