Quote:
Originally Posted by TrackClub
I stand corrected: GT2 RS indeed has 265/325 tires.
Tire size *can* relate to car balance, but many considerations have to be accounted for first, like engine layout weight distribution wise, suspension set up and by all means differential tuning! And that's why Randy mentioned the latter vs tire sizes. Why his experience as a pro driver has *anything* to do with this? Because as a pro racer, proper car tuning is crucial to him and he knows a thing or two about the subject no doubt whatsoever. And he didnt even mention tire sizes. If those were "ideal solution" i think he would have mentioned it 
Changing camber on C8 didnt just "add oversteer" or "lowered the car's overall limit". To the contrary, the car went 3 seconds faster...How fast was faster? Look up 2min lap at VIR on 4S tires vs fastest laps sticky...
Now imagine what it could do on Cup2s...
Note that majority of race cars have highly tunable diff for a very good reason. At times, up to four of its components can often be adjusted individually: number of clutches, preload, drive and coast functions. Each making the car balance different depending on corner phase, driver inputs etc.
And Randy surely knows it. And that's likely why he suggested it.
Note the Carrera S (a car that a C8 is bench marked against) comes with 235/295 tires. GT3 with 245/305. The car that still officially holds a PRODUCTION (non modded) Ring record, Lambo SVJ comes with 255/355 tires. How's that for "balance"?
As to C8 being "only 2 seconds faster" than a C7: if i could go 2 seconds faster id be a friggin hero at the venues i run. I already pass many uber cars, including club racers on slicks, but extra 2 seconds would put me on a totally different orbit and on par with a completely different class of cars. Most importantly, that head to head test was done on street alignment the best i can tell. With track set up it could possibly be 5 seconds faster. At least that how i understand the comparos here.
As to Ford not caring about laptimes, i know this is their official corporate mantra, alas it is also a complete and utter BS. Why else would they upgrade GT350 to Cup2 tires as standard? To piss off ppl with higher replacement costs and poor longevity? No! To compete with 1le and have mags write about it. That's why.
Now about GT500 being a "muscle car"...dont know a single muscle car with full aero They clearly had a ZLE in their crosshairs as GT350R didnt quite cut it. Are you really not impressed that a measly C8 Z51 was only 1 second slower than the best that Ford can offer? Come on man |
Well that would be an assumption
As a pro racer his feedback is of course important but he has a crew to take car of the setup of the car (for him) based on his feedback. He wouldn't necessarily have to know about the details for each specific car..He wouldn't say things like "hey add more rubber, revise the MRC tuning" etc Like you said, the other things should be tuned to compensate those changes..like stiffer ARBs and/or, spring rates, different MRC or ABS tuning. That's where the GS or Z06 ( and their more aggressive Z07 variants) come in play, historically I mean. You may be right, they might not increase the front tire size about 40mm like they did previously but we just don't know yet, that would be another assumption. If the car understeers the easiest fix is to add more grip to the front so I wouldn't be surprised to see 285 or 295 wide tires up front, only time will tell.
For the sake of the staying on subject let's stick to C7 Z51 vs C8 Z51, because when we add other cars in the mix (Lambos, Porsche GT cars) they're much different cars and wouldn't tell us anything about the GM cars since like I said, Porsche also uses steering in the rear ..those cars and GM's cars couldn't be more different.
Btw, I think the reason why Ford clearly stated they're not interested in lap times (didn't announce official Ring lap times etc) is because they don't feel like they can compete with Corvettes or GM in general. To be able to tame that kind of power Cup 2 would be the bare minimum I think. So to answer your question, C8 is being 1 second slower than a GT 500 is not impressive for me because we already know the C7 GS can clearly beat both of them
Don't get me wrong I like everything I read about the C8 and I believe it has tons of potential but if all those crazy specs, better tires etc translate into only slightly better lap times than the C7 Z51 which is a car known with its poor track performance in OEM form, it'd make me think again. Who knows if the C8 GS is that good, I might consider getting one in the future too (just don't know if I would be happy without a manual and being underdog haha)
Speaking of tires, you know they used the old Michelin PSS tires on that C7 Z51 when they compared against the C8 Z51 with PS4S tires right? PS4S tires alone are 1.5-2 seconds quicker than the old PSS tires so I would really like to see back to back test with SS 1LE and C8 Z51, so far my money would go to C7 GS or SS 1LE for pure track performance.