2024 Lucid Air Sapphire at Lightning Lap 2025
Class: LL4 | Base: $253,400 | As Tested: $253,400 Power and Weight: 1003 hp • 5319 lb • 5.3 lb/hp Tires: Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS Elect; F: 265/35ZR-20 (99Y) LM1, R: 295/30ZR-21 (102Y) LM1
After setting an impressive 2:44.3 lap last year—a new record for EVs and four-doors—why is the Lucid Air Sapphire back, and how did it turn into the fastest car of the year? Tires. Lucid now offers R-compound Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS tires, tuned to Lucid's specifications, and combines the stickier rubber with updated calibrations to take advantage of them. This is the same tire Porsche fits to the Taycan Turbo GT, making the battle between the two top electric sedans about as even as they come, although the cars are quite different to drive.
"I think the regen braking just induced major oversteer in the Infield esses," testing director Dave VanderWerp reported to the Lucid team in the paddock after a particularly attention-grabbing moment. Calibration engineer Esther Unti instantly responded, "That's definitely a thing." This is a window into driving the Lucid, which is more raw than the Porsche, demanding skillful inputs from hands and feet. The looser handling setup is also deliberate to work the rear tires more and keep the fronts from overheating.
Speaking of heat, the additional tire grip is obvious, with lateral acceleration in Turn 1 increasing from 1.09 to 1.13 g's, which means the Sapphire can use more power out of every corner. This causes the battery to get too hot to make maximum output for the entire lap, so the engineers removed a dollop of power to stay just beneath the give point, which is why the Air's peak speed is down by 2.9 mph. But this only makes the Sapphire's 4.1-second improvement more impressive, as it's now in the hunt with the fastest cars we've ever run. For example, through Sector 3—Oak Tree, down the long Back Straight, and just past the tight right known as Bitch—the Sapphire is the second quickest in Lightning Lap history, a mere half-second behind the McLaren Senna and quicker than every other McLaren and every Porsche and Corvette we've run. Sure, the Lucid can hustle, but the brakes are even more mind-boggling, with a firm pedal that remained consistent no matter what we threw at it.
The Sapphire's time put it in 10th place on the all-time leaderboard, right in the supercar mix, where most entries cost more, all weigh at least 1650 pounds less, and none have a back seat. It's as if the Sapphire doesn't know it's a 5319-pound luxury sedan—we can't believe it either.
Back to Lightning Lap 2025
You Might Also Like
Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades
How to Buy or Lease a New Car
Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Appealing to the Head, Not the Heart: We Test the 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport
From the September/October issue of Car and Driver. The mid-size SUV has deep appeal, but it's not the emotional kind. The segment is vast and popular because the vehicles are practical. The Honda Passport is every bit as practical as its competition, but it is more than simply a carryall. It starts with the handling. Steering inputs are crisp, and while the Passport doesn't take to curves like a car—lateral grip for our TrailSport model maxes out at 0.80 g—it certainly isn't clumsy or trucklike either. The standard all-wheel-drive system includes a torque-vectoring rear differential to maximize available traction. The family-biased ride is comfortable, and Honda claims the body is stiffer—50 percent so, and more in some places. The newfound rigidity is evident even over speed bumps and in freeway cruising. The TrailSport trim is also remarkably quiet for an SUV on all-terrain tires, with a 68-decibel cabin at 70 mph. Those knobby tires are part of the TrailSport's off-road attitude. Increased ground clearance (now 8.3 inches), an improved approach angle, skid plates, and tow hooks give some credence to the rugged appearance. Regarding that practicality, interior space is plentiful. The front and back seats hold five in comfort, and every corner of the cabin seems to have been mined for storage—bring everything you've squirreled away in the junk drawer. The cargo hold swallows 16 carry-on bags behind the back seat. Folding the second row in our test vehicle creates an 83-cubic-foot area (just four cubes shy of the three-row Honda Pilot's) that'll take 38 carry-on bags. The powertrain errs on the side of practicality. The 3.5-liter V-6 added a pair of camshafts in replacing its predecessor's SOHC setup but loses the enjoyable VTEC verve. The engine climbs dutifully to its 285-hp peak at 6100 rpm, but there is only so much it can do; the new engine's additional five horses must contend with 545 pounds more Passport (4782 total). That's due in part to the long list of standard (and heavy) equipment—a panoramic sunroof, for example—on the $54,355 TrailSport Elite we tested. Flat-out, it'll hit 60 mph in 7.3 seconds; the last Passport did that in 5.9. The new six is more efficient, with better EPA ratings and real-world results. We saw 25 mpg at 75 mph, 2 mpg better than the old TrailSport. Despite a weight gain and unimpressive acceleration, the Passport's handling, refinement, and packaging make it a standout—just not an emotional standout. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Germany's Porsche is closing battery subsidiary Cellforce, reports say
German sports car giant Porsche plans to close the majority of operations at its subsidiary Cellforce, a factory for high-performance battery cells. According to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, the sports car manufacturer plans to lay off around 200 of its 286 employees at the factory in Kirchentellinsfurt, Germany. The cuts suggest that, at best, a small research and development unit would remain at Cellforce's site. Porsche declined to comment on the reports, but Der Spiegel noted that a corresponding mass layoff was reported to the employment agency in the nearby city of Reutlingen on Wednesday. Porsche invested in Cellforce Group GmbH in 2021. At first, it was a joint venture between Porsche AG and battery cell manufacturer CustomCells. In an effort to establish Baden-Württemberg as a leading battery location, the state also offered €17 million in funding to Cellforce in 2022. Related Porsche reports significant plunge in European and Chinese deliveries Porsche to cut almost 2,000 jobs in Germany as EV demand declines In 2023, Porsche then took over the business entirely with the promise of producing high-performance battery cells on a much larger scale than previously planned. However, it was a short-lived ambition. In April this year, Porsche announced that it would not continue to operate the battery cell subsidiary independently. According to Der Spiegel, representatives from BMW visited the site at the beginning of August, and defence companies were also said to have been interested in the factory for developing batteries for military drones. Yet the latest media reports suggest that no new investors are on the horizon. The depreciation of Cellforce's production facilities is allegedly costing Porsche €295mn. Meanwhile, around 200 employees face unemployment because, unlike its parent company Porsche, there is no employment guarantee and no works council at Cellforce. All employees have been invited to a town hall meeting on 25 August, at the "Cellforce 1" building in Kirchentellinsfurt. Employees are also banned from taking holiday on that day, according to reports. Michael Steiner, Porsche's chief development officer and vice president, will address the staff. The closure of the battery business highlights fundamental challenges to Porsche's electric strategy, pursued by CEO Oliver Blume. Cellforce was intended to help increase the firm's EV sales and profits by allowing the manufacturer to draw upon its own high-performance cells. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
The 10 Most Exciting Cars at the Quail, From a Best-in-Show Ferrari to a Gullwing Cadillac
Two events define Monterey Car Week above all others: the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, which is the most prestigious car show in the world, and the Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, which has its own concours and, more significantly, where nearly every major automaker assembles to reveal new models and concepts. At this year's Quail, Cadillac, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, Corvette, Acura, Aston Martin, Bugatti, Infiniti, Koenigsegg, Lexus, and Pagani had among the biggest field exhibitions, showing new one-offs, few-offs, concepts, and production models for public consumption. Tuners and smaller marques were also represented, from Czinger to Ruf to Singer. That was all in addition to the concours, which featured scores of cars on display for competition in various traditional categories, as well as cars special to this year's event, including Formula 1 racers and cars celebrating anniversaries for Iso Grifo, the Shelby Mustang GT350, and the Ferrari F50. More from Robb Report The Last Ferrari Daytona SP3 Just Sold for $26 Million Prancing God: Ferrari's New F80 Hybrid Is the Best Car I've Ever Driven This New Supercar Has a V-12 Engine, Manual Transmission, and $4 Million Price Tag This year's Best in Show was a 1996 Ferrari F50 GT1, which was switched on and revved earlier in the day to the delight of onlookers, among a sea of other F50s. Tickets to the event are limited and run hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Attendees dress their best, sip champagne and coffee, and take in the cars and spectacles like, this year, a parade of IROC cars. The cars uniformly look their best, too, and while all of them are outstanding by some or many measures, our 10 favorites are below. Best of Robb Report The 2024 Chevy C8 Corvette: Everything We Know About the Powerful Mid-Engine Beast The World's Best Superyacht Shipyards The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht Click here to read the full article. Lamborghini Fenomeno Let's cut to the chase. This is the most powerful and fastest V-12 Lamborghini to date. The aptly named Fenomeno celebrates 20 years of the marque's Centro Stile styling studio's advanced and beautifully aggressive automotive design. Based on the flagship Revuelto hybrid, the Fenomeno is the latest in Sant'Agata Bolognese's Few-Off series, which includes the Countach LPI 800-4 debuted in 2021. The output of 1,065 hp comes from a 6.5-liter V-12 complemented by three electric motors—two on the front axle and one at the gearbox. That muscle, harnessed by an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, makes possible such metrics as a zero-to-62 mph time of 2.4 seconds, the ability to reach 124 mph from a standstill in 6.7 seconds, and a top speed of more than 217 mph. 'The performance jump from the Revuelto to this car is even bigger than the performance step from the Aventador to the Aventador SVJ,' says Rouven Mohr, Automobili Lamborghini's chief technical officer, adding that there's also '30 percent more downforce than the Revuelto, and 30 percent more cooling.' As for its distinctive pseudo-longtail profile, inspiration was drawn from the track-only Essenza SCV12 from 2020. Yet while the latter had 40 built, the Fenomeno will have a production limited to only 29 examples, each starting at $3.5 million. Bugatti Brouillard Otherworldly engineering and performance are usually the headlines with any new model release from Bugatti. When it comes to the Brouillard, though, the real tale to tell is its tribute to last century's golden age of coachbuilding. Sure, the staggering stats are all there, as this is basically a 1,600 hp coupe version of the Mistral roadster, which has a zero-to-62 mph time of 2.4 seconds and a blistering top speed of 273 mph. But the stylistic customization seems equally cutting-edge. 'The central focus for the design of this car was Ettore Bugatti's love of horses, and in particular, his favorite horse named Brouillard, of which this car is also named,' stated Frank Heyl, Bugatti's director of design, during the unveiling. 'We focused on more sculptural and reflection-based surfaces, and we deliberately avoided any hard crease lines . . . to give this a more organic touch, like the muscles flowing and surging through skin on a powerful thoroughbred horse.' The equestrian theme is truly showcased in the green-hued, carbon-fiber cockpit, where the depiction of horses runs throughout. Subtlycontinuing that motif is the use of weaved horsehair for much of the trim, complemented by wool for the seats and a striking tartan print on the steering wheel. The exterior features the signature horseshoe grille machined from a single block of aluminum, and a center line that extends in subtle relief from the front to across the roof—a contemporary take on the iconic seam found on the bygone-era Type 57 SC Atlantic. With the bespoke Brouillard, Bugatti has clearly let loose the reins on creativity. Gunther Werks Project F-26 Restomod Porsche 911s are becoming ubiquitous on the automotive landscape, but apart from Singer Vehicle Design's gallery-worthy reimaginations, few can compete with the rolling art from Southern California–based Gunther Werks, exemplified by its latest reveal, Project F-26. 'My childhood dream car was always the Porsche 935,' says Gunther Werks founder Peter Nam. 'With the last eight years of developing cars and building our Turbo, finally we had the platform to be able to build this car and make it a reality—an homage to the 935.' Nam also explains that it pays tribute to Lockheed Martin's F-26 fighter jet (a prototype that never went into production), doing so by incorporating a number of aeronautical design cues, including those applied to the rear wing and steering wheel. Propulsion comes from an enhanced 4.0-liter flat-six bolstered by twin turbochargers and an advanced intercooling system. The configuration gives the 2,700-pound (curb weight) slantnose coupe an output of 1,000 hp and 750 ft lbs of torque when using E85 fuel, and 880 hp on standard gas. That muscle is managed by the same six-speed manual transmission found in the 996 GT3, and tempered by a suspension that, according to Nam, 'adjusts 1,000 times per second.' Only 26 examples will be made, each with a base price of $1.45 million. Gordon Murray Special Vehicles S1 LM What do you get if you take what the world considers your masterpiece, set out to improve on it, then attempt to do so again. If you're the legendary Gordon Murray, the result is the S1 LM ('Special One Le Mans'). This is the first bespoke model from the Special Vehicles division of Gordon Murray Automotive (GMA), and it commemorates his 1995 Le Mans–winning machine. According to the team, the S1 LM shares similar underpinnings to GMA's T.50 an T.50s, but all the body panels are new, the naturally aspirated engine—making more than 700 hp—has been enlarged to 4.3 liters of displacement, and the entire car has a target weight of less then 2,100 pounds. 'It's really inspired by Gordon Murray's philosophy of lightweight; and in design, I love the similar approach of distilling DNA . . . timeless design, as little design as possible,' mentions Florian Flatau, the man who penned the extremely limited-edition model. 'It's taking the DNA of the original F1, like a family member, but really trying to become its own animal.' Only a concept version was unveiled at Quail, but the plan is that five of these bantam-weight beasts come to fruition, though pricing and intended performance specs have yet to be revealed. Hennessey Venom F5 LF When asked about the design brief he was given prior to embarking on Hennessey's latest dream machine, Nathan Malinick, design director for the Texas-based marque, quipped; 'Make the coolest manual hypercar of all time . . . so no pressure there.' The result of that directive is the Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution LF, a one-off variant to the Venom F5 model, which first appeared in production guise back in 2020. Although originally known as a tuner, John Hennessey had long been driven to create a car from the ground up. 'The Venom F5 is the only thing that we've ever built that was like a clean sheet of paper,' Hennessey told Robb Report in an interview five years ago. 'We took everything that we knew and liked from the previous 29 years and tried to put the best of all of our know-how in the all-new car.' And he has not stopped the refining process. According to the official press release, this LF features an all-new carbon-fiber tub and 6.6-liter twin-turbo V-8 that makes more than 2,000 hp. Remarkably, that engine is paired with a six-speed manual transmission controlled via an H-pattern gated shifter—proof that analog still has powerful allure. And while this is a unique commission, it's an example of what can be expected from Hennessey's new special-projects division dubbed 'Maverick'—a moniker befitting the founder himself. Ferrari F50 GT1 This 1996 example of Ferrari's legendary F50 won Best in Show at this year's Quail, a departure from last year's Best in Show winner, a 1937 Delahaye Type 145, which was more typical of Best in Show winners at the Quail, which have historically all been cars much older than 1996. Supercars are also not typical winners at concours, and many wondered if the F50 winning this year represented perhaps a generational change for the Quail, and maybe even concours events as a whole. Or perhaps this F50 is just a truly outstanding car, powered by a naturally aspirated V-12 that makes 739 horsepower mated to a six-speed manual transmission. It was built to beat the McLaren F1, and just three of them were made. Its sound alone is transporting. Lexus Sport Concept Lexus was not expected to show its Sport Concept at the Quail, so it was a surprise when that's exactly what it did. The Sport Concept might even be the successor to the LFA, which is one of the greatest cars ever made. The Sport Concept looks a lot like a concept that Lexus first showed a few years ago, that was 'electrified' back then, though with this latest version Lexus did say how it would be powered, whether by electric motors, an internal combustion engine, or both. A different Lexus supercar under development, called the LFR, is thought to have a hybrid V-8 setup, so it wouldn't be a surprise if the Sport Concept was all-electric. Regardless, the car looked ready from the outside, a low-slung, two-door stunner. Cadillac Elevated Velocity The Elevated Velocity was also a surprise, but in different way, in that it is an off-roading, performance SUV that sits high from a brand not necessarily known for any of those things. The Elevated Velocity is a version of a protoype Cadillac showed last year, called the Opulent Velocity. The wheels are 24 inches, the gull-wing doors are a conversation starter, and the all-electric powertrain is likely to be very fast, though Cadillac did not reveal any performance numbers. On the other side of Cadillac's field exhibition was its Celestiq, an all-electric sedan that is expected to start at around $340,000, in a play for ultra-luxury that may or may not have Rolls-Royce and Bentley worried. The Elevated Velocity is something else, a vision of Cadillac that is ready for a race in the desert. Cadillac is also, of course, racing in Formula 1 next year, signalling a few different directions for a brand that has been a bit aimless for years now. The Elevated Velocity is one direction we hope will stick. Czinger 21C Czinger was one of the bigger presences at the Quail this year, seemingly determined to compete with players it considers rivals, including bigger names like Gordon Murray Special Vehicles, Koenigsegg, and Bugatti. To that end, Czinger has been busy in recent times setting various speed records with its 21C, a seven-figure price hypercar, several of which were on display Friday. Czinger 21Cs are built primarily for the track, though the 21C V Max drops the rear wing to enhance aerodynamics for straight line speed instead of downforce and grip. As such, it also looks more restrained than the maximalist 21Cs that attract more attention. In this shade of green, the 21C V Max might even be considered classy. At a place where there is a strong incentive to look loudest, this 21C looked among the best. 1967 Toyota 2000GT This 2000GT was one of just a few that were sold new in Switzerland, one of just 84 left-hand drive models that were ever built, of 351 2000GTs that were produced in total. This 2000GT was also a class winner at the Quail, proving, as it did when it debuted in 1965, that it could compete and beat supercars made by American and European manufacturers. In person, what's surprising about the 2000GT is how modern it looks, even 60 years later. It wasn't exactly considered a supercar in 1965, but that was also an era when the word supercar was not used and abused. Today, it's a super car by any measure, and onlookers at the Quail agreed, as it attracted a steady stream of admirers. Judges agreed, too.
