LA964RS

Yes, by over 2 seconds. While the Lambo is some impressive kit, sounded like they had the RS all wrong...as it ran slower than the normal GT3 on the same course. Anyway, interesting article.

RR

I think EVO is just re-hashing the article AND figures from this months Auto Motor Sport which tested the SL at Hockenheim and Nurburg.

In the same issue, AMS lists all of the times at thr Ring and Hockenheim from all of their tests and yes it does say the RS ran slower than the GT3 and slower than the SL, BUT in that same list it also said that a 996 Cup Car ran slower than the 996GT3RS - which is impossilbe - so AMS's numbers are hardly definitive.

007GT3

Yeah, well at least one doesn't have to worry about their GT3 RS spontaneously combusting.

Nordschleife

Not impossible at all - think weather

R+C

SpeedGeek

Evo's article has nothing to do with Hockenheim or Nurburg. It's a SL vs. RS shootout at the Bedford Autodrome West Circuit.

Considering how much more you pay for the 997 RS over the 997 GT3, I think Porsche has not put enough effort into giving the RS a clear performance advantage. A GT3 with LWFW and bucket seats fitted is better value and gives up nothing but looks to the RS. I'm a little peeved at Porsche on this matter.

OldGuy

I dont worry about what Lambo does. I have never seen one at the track.

Nordschleife

I have, and they are beginning to get it together, the Gallardo is immensely capable.

R+C

OldGuy

Robin you know what I see with Lambo they have nice parts but the systems is not there yet. I agree they are getting there and they will only get better as engineering drifts all over from the Porsche VW group. But the systems needs polishing. I think they have more potential that Ferrari. Will Ferrari EVER get over having 5 pages of F430 for sale and not one over 3000 miles?

Nordschleife

What you say used to be true. The Gallardo is the first of ther new Lamborghinis, the Murcielago is the last of the old Lamborghinis.

The engine is designed by Audi and built at the Audi engine works, the Aluminium Space Frame chassis is an Audi component build at the Audi plant at Neckarsulm. From time to time cars are completely built in the quattro GmbH assembly halls at Neckarsulm. If you go into the Quality Assurance department at the main Audi plant in Ingolstadt you will see wall to wall Gallardos. The Gallardo is the basis for the new Audi R8, the V10 engine is used in the S8. The interior of the Gallardo is pure Audi.
Go into the Lamborghini dealership in Stuttgart, the yard out the back is full of low milage used Pcars taken in exchange for Gallardos. The Gallardo is beginning to do really well on the race track. Anybody who doesn't rate the car is in for a big surprise.

As far as Ferraris go, the depreciation on my one off special build Audi made a Ferrari look like an economic choice.

R+C

OldGuy

Robin you are much more in tune with the power curve than me. Since you are there right in the scene I assume you are dead on.
So is it Italian or German?

trumperZ06

+1 ... we had a yellow Gallardo @ VIR in July. That car's V-10 sounds great and is strong, down the straights. The pilot seemed a bit tenative, especially in the up-hill esses... so we never got a good read on the car's ability.

allegretto

Read the article a couple of weeks ago.

Was a study in why I never put any stock in rag stories. They spun the hell out of the Lambo, and made a pot of excuses about the RS not feeling right. Ended promising a shoot out and that the RS would fare better.

Senseless rubbish.

The Lambo pasted the RS however in feel as well as speed.

My problem with Lambos is that I don't want the attention, and the cars are so low with very poor visability out.

But my local dealer called me about the SL...

LA964RS

Got to agree w/SpeedGeek...you'd think the RS would be the raw cat's ***....but for a variety of reasons, I'm guessing you just can't put that kind of "street" car in the mainstream, and especially onto US streets.

I also agree some of the articles you read are poorly done, especially when they are doing drive comparos in the rain, etc....as the weather in UK is constantly ****e through 9 months of the year....but at the end of the day this comparo is what it is and is now simply a fact.

I'd like to see a propper shootout w/multiple copies of each going head to head. I just can't belive the RS would "not feel right" and be so difficult to drive....something is amiss.

allegretto

There you have it!

If the RS was really sub-par, just don't test it. But the way it was done tells us little. I'm not sure if was bad or was normal and they wanted to protect Porsche ad money.

Why bother doing a test and then say your results were not reliable? In my field you would be laughed off the dais.

SpeedGeek

>> Why bother doing a test and then say your results were not reliable?

Why not? They didn't go looking for a sub-par RS (if that's in fact what it was), that's just the one they were given. As long as the test was honest, and they documented their results thoughtfully and accurately, that's good journalism. Anything less is cencorship.

That RS may not have been quite right, but I doubt it could beat the Lambo SL anyway. It's gonna take the F430 Scuderia to do that.

And before anyone accuses me of Porsche bashing, I prefer the GT3 to the Gallardo. I haven't driven a SL yet, but hope to soon. I drive my brother's F430 a lot and in many ways I prefer my RS (996) even to that. But I think, in terms of track performance, the SL and Scuderia are both probably a notch faster than the GT3s.