FYI, The particular article that I am referring to was in the January 2001 issue of Road and Track, the title of the article is "Battle of the Brands".
The "hired shoe" was Steve Millen (yes that Steve Millen of IMSA/Le Mans fame) so lack of driving skills was
not an issue.
The cars tested were:
Ferrari 550 vs 360
Porsche Turbo vs Boxster S
Acura/Honda NSX vs S2000
BMW Z8 vs M Roadster
Mercedes Benz SL500 vs SLK320
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 vs Camaro SS
Laptimes
Ferrari 360 2001 Modena 2:07.65
Corvette Z06 2001 2:08.39
Ferrar 550 2001 Maranello 2:09.25
Porsche 2001 911 Turbo 2:10.73
BMW Z8 2001 2:13.30
Acura 2001 NSX-T 2:14.15
Mercedes Benz 2001 SL500 2:16.05
Chevrolet Camaro SS 2001 2:16.46
BMW M Roadster 2001 2:17.28
Porsche 2001 Boxster S 2:17.46
Honda 2001 S2000 2:17.66
Mercedes Benz 2001 SLK320 2:20.87
0-60:
Ferrari 360 2001 Modena 4.3
Corvette Z06 2001 4.6
Ferrar 550 2001 Maranello 4.7
Porsche 2001 911 Turbo 4.0
BMW Z8 2001 4.5
Acura 2001 NSX-T 4.9
Mercedes Benz 2001 SL500 6.2
Chevrolet Camaro SS 2001 5.5
BMW M Roadster 2001 5.4
Porsche 2001 Boxster S 5.6
Honda 2001 S2000 4.9
Mercedes Benz 2001 SLK320 6.7
Slalom:
Ferrari 360 2001 Modena 67.4mph
Corvette Z06 2001 67.1mph
Ferrar 550 2001 Maranello 62.8mph
Porsche 2001 911 Turbo 4.0 67.8mph
BMW Z8 2001 62.3mph
Acura 2001 NSX-T 62.1mph
Mercedes Benz 2001 SL500 60.0mph
Chevrolet Camaro SS 2001 60.0mph
BMW M Roadster 2001 63.0mph
Porsche 2001 Boxster S 65.6mph
Honda 2001 S2000 65.9mph
Mercedes Benz 2001 SLK320 63.6mph
The NSX laptimes are very consistent with what I have seen at Thunderhill.
You can ask any of the many NorCal NSX owners who have ever driven their cars wether or not he/she has been anywhere close to 2:14 on their stock NSX at Thunderhill.
I've been to Thill more than 40 times with my heavily modified NSX, with R-compounds, a Big Ass wing, Vented Hood, NSX-R suspension, swaybars, intake, header, exhaust and putting down 270rwhp the best that I can manage is a 2:06~2:07's so knowing that a
bone stock 360 Modena can do 2:07's is very humbling to say the least. Other race prepped NSX's with significant weight loss, engine mods and street tires, can barely get into the 2:05's (look at the NASA Open Track challenge laptimes for reference)
I roll my eyes everytime that I read these kind of posts because there are folks who simply refuse to accept reality.
Any NSX owner who is honest and has been on the track with a F360 with a good driver would
know that the F360 handles better out of the box than a NA2 NSX and probably even better than the NSX-R.
If you believe that a 2002+ NA2 will make up 7 seconds because of a slightly wider rear tire and a "so called" stronger engine that many folks are referring to, then you are really drinking the cool-aid
And to everyone who keeps quoting BMI stuff, get a life
, you guys are total fanatics who take everything that BMI writes/produces as gospel without even thinking (visualize some zombies..)
Learn to drive the NSX at the limit on the track and then you should honestly asses the capabilities of the NSX against other cars instead of just bench racing all the time