ISPYA718

I’ve had my Spyder now for just a couple of days to thrash it about. I’m impressed so far by lots. But none more so than with the handling of my 718 Spyder. Cornering and twisties just amazing. No wonder - Just checked the MT Figure 8 times and also came across an article of how MT was so impressed with C8. They were so impressed with the amazing cars that the c8 beat on their figure 8 test that they published a short article - Link below. But it didn’t beat the 718 Spyder Figure 8 test. It ran a 23,0 flat. Amazing. Spyder in great company. Here are the links.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/2020...-amazing-cars/

https://fastestlaps.com/tracks/motortrend-figure-8

Jawnathin

To be fair the C8 was tested using Pilot Sport 4S tires while the 718 Spyder was on Cup 2s.

Nonetheless an impressive performance and results for both cars.

ISPYA718

But other differences too that don’t favour Spyder -Coupe vs Convertible- it was .3 of a second.

DFW01TT

Fair point, but the power differential is also a fair point and it's hugely in favor of the C8.

wizee

Power to weight ratios aren't that different between the Spyder/GT4 and C8 since the C8 is heavy, but the C8's short gearing and low end torque help it accelerate very well. I'm curious how a PDK GT4 or Spyder would compare in their test. I don't know how much if any gear changing happens in their figure eight test.

Anyway, the GT4 and Spyder are probably the best handling new cars for sale under $200k.

Jawnathin

There are many platform differences that favor one car over another in tests like these. Weight, transmission, horsepower, etc. Tires standout because they are separate component from the car with a major effect on performance and are easily changeable.

The Spyder has outstanding results but if you’re going to compare it against the C8, know that a car on a track tire has an advantage over the car on a summer tire on a track test.

wizee

Certainly. It’s also important to note that not all Sport Cup 2 or Pilot Sport 4S tires are the same. Manufacturers customize them heavily and tweak them for different use cases. For example, Porsche’s Sport Cup 2 N1 tires on the GT4/Spyder have more tread depth and better wet performance and road noise, but worse dry grip, than Chevy spec Sport Cup 2 tires used on the C7 Grand Sport and Z06.

Thus, for a truly apples to apples comparison, you’d need to compare using versions of a tire that have not been customized by the car manufacturer.

Jawnathin

That is true and variants of the same name tire can have meaningful differences in performance. The Corvette Z models tend to run an aggressive version. I remember when they first started using Cups it caused quite an uproar and debate when they were achieving incredible lap times compared to competitors on less sticky tires. Now every manufacturer uses a sticky tire for track testing and lap times

Though my perspective is that even if they aren’t exactly the same tire, as long as they’re in the same performance category they are similar enough to be comparable. i.e. Trofeo R vs Cup 2

DFW01TT

The Spyder has almost a 5% deficit on power to weight vs.the C8 and the difference in time is <1.3%. The PDK Spyder will smoke the base C8, but there are many faster C8 variations to come.

Jrtaylor9

There were a few strange items in the article/results (That have nothing to do with the spyder punching above its weight): 1) why are they comparing new cars to cars a decade old and 2) why is the 997 gt2rs time slower than the 997 gt2 (among a few other comparisons that don’t make a ton of sense)? However, point taken that the 718 spyder is in some good company.

GrantG

Isn't a Figure-8 test pretty much the same as a skidpad test that tests both left and right turns? Seems like little more than a test of tire grip.

wizee

It’s a bit of a nonsense comparison. Similar to old Nurburgring times, figure eight times for modern cars aren’t directly comparable to older cars because the old cars were tested on old tires from their era. If you give the old 997s the Sport Cup 2 R tires from the 991.2 GT2RS and GT3RS, they’d be a lot more competitive with today’s cars. Similarly, while a 718 GT4 may be as fast around the Nurburgring as a Carrera GT with 2005 tires, a CGT would blow a GT4 out of the water with modern tires.

With that said, it is clear the Spyder is in good company when it comes to grip with the stock tires.

Sort of. Their figure eight consists of two circles of 200ft diameter, their centres positioned 500 for apart. For roughly half the circles’ circumference, it’s just a glorified skidpad test. However, there is also some acceleration and braking going on when switching between the two circles. It’s mostly a test of tire grip, though it’s also affected a bit by suspension geometry, and acceleration/braking.

Croc999

Common, so Camaro SS 1LE did better time than Spyder - will this make you prefer it over Spyder?
Ferrari 812 Superfast is slower - does it make it a worse car?
This is so much things in whole car driving/owning experience than lap time here and there.

ISPYA718

No it doesn’t. Despite any numbers I would still prefer the Spyder. For me, the Spyder is a brilliant car. The point of posting - and its been said many times before the GT4 Spyder is not a numbers car- was because MT were so impressed with the C8’s performance on the Figure 8 that they went to trouble of writing and publishing how impressed they were. I thought that was interesting. They are both ME cars with NASP. Meanwhile the Spyder posted a better time without the fanfare. The corvette is at the top of the performance tree at GM so yes there will be other variants to come that will be even faster. For the GT4 Spyder, it is not Porsche’s top car, as Farah says it has to deal with “Cayman complex”. It is fettered- the corvette isn’t.

JAhmed

They didn’t post that article because they were impressed with the performance. They posted it because it gets clicks/views.