Latest news with #MantheyRacing
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
2023 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Manthey Racing at Lightning Lap 2025
From the March/April 2025 issue of Car and Driver. Class: LL4 | Base: $256,260 | As Tested: $265,600 Power and Weight: 493 hp • 3186 lb • 6.5 lb/hpTires: Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R; F: 245/35ZR-20 (95Y) N0, R: 295/30ZR-20 (101Y) N0 To lean on the words of the late Jim Morrison, "This is the end, beautiful friend." With electrification of the Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman looming, this is likely the last suck-squeeze-bang-blow 718 we'll hear sing its way around VIR. And a glorious swan song it is. The 718 Cayman GT4 RS returns, this time fortified by tuning outfitter Manthey Racing. The special chassis and aero elements include dive planes, four-way adjustable coil-overs to replace the standard electronically controlled dampers, stiffer front springs, and a larger rear wing that together create a claimed 176 additional pounds of downforce at 124 mph. Plus there are carbon-fiber aero covers for the rear wheels. With the wing trimmed out, the 493-hp 4.0-liter flat-six screams its 9000-rpm soundtrack on the way to 155.5 mph on the Front Straight, 2.2 mph slower than the stock GT4 RS. The MR kit's braided brake lines make it easier for your foot to modulate the massive carbon-ceramic brakes that goad you to brake later and deeper than you thought possible. You can, and you do. With its lower ride height, Manthey's car is incredibly stable under braking, even when you haul down from 148 to 41 mph on the Back Straight to turn in to the tight right named Bitch. Revised alignment settings improve upon the already amazing stick of the standard GT4 RS. Grip through Turn 1 hits 1.23 g's, 0.04 more than the regular GT4 RS and near the top of the all-time list. If the rear end threatens to step out midway through the fast left called NASCAR Bend, don't worry. The connection between the steering and your brain is telepathic. Small inputs catch the rear end—the correction feels natural, repeatable, and heroic—and then you're back to wide-open throttle. All Caymans are easy to drive fast, and the Manthey kit adds speed without increasing difficulty. It's about the closest thing to a race car you can register at the DMV. In the Climbing Esses, a snaking set of corners that rise up a hill and are as treacherous as they are thrilling, the Manthey add-ons make going in at 139.1 mph seem like a fine idea. Perhaps you're wondering why this spectacular machine is 0.4 second behind the GT4 RS we ran a few years ago. Executive editor K.C. Colwell set the regular car's time under different conditions, and we couldn't quite match his very fast run in the GT4 RS. Comparing the laps, we see the GT4 RS and the MR model give and take throughout. The Manthey's 133-pound mass disadvantage could be a factor, but Colwell's lap was just a little cleaner, especially in the tight and technical areas. It's easier to get up to speed faster in the Manthey version, if not to squeeze out every bit of time. This is one of the greatest sports cars ever, and if the Cayman is leaving the stage, we say, "Encore! Encore!" 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!
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Hot Lap Commentary Videos Lightning Lap 2025
If you happened to be inside one of the cars at this year's Lightning Lap while our editors were hard at work setting times, you wouldn't hear much of anything beyond tires squealing and engines roaring. Having a conversation at speed isn't ideal, so that's what these commentary videos are for. You get to hear about the cars, the laps, and all sorts of Lightning Lap fun facts from the editors who went out there and put down the times. This year, we've put all five videos—four from our editors, and one from special guest driver Romain Dumas—in one convenient location. Throw on your HANS device and strap in. Mazda MX-5 Miata Club This was technical editor Austin Irwin's first year setting timed laps, and his enthusiasm is hard to hide. You might not think of the Mazda Miata as a make-or-break kind of car, but for Irwin, the pressure to set a blazing time was pretty high. The ND3's low curb weight, approachable power, and easy limits made it a great dance partner around the Grand Course configuration. See if you can catch the little giggle the camera picks up just before the three-minute mark. Subaru BRZ tS • Subaru WRX tS • Hyundai Elantra N • Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Rich Ceppos isn't just the director of our hallowed Buyer's Guide—he's also a driver with decades of track-hustling experience. And you can hear that experience in his rundowns; we'll never get tired of listening to him dive deep into the minutiae of braking zones and how to squeeze every tenth out of a car, whether it's brimming with horsepower or not. Stick around for the end of the video, where he digs into the trickiness of the Ioniq 5 N's myriad vehicle settings. Bentley Continental GT Speed • Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing • Porsche Taycan Turbo GT • Lucid Air Sapphire Now we're getting to the real spicy stuff. Testing director Dave VanderWerp was supposed to avoid gas cars entirely this year, but due to some last-minute staff kerfuffles, he ended up splitting his time between gas drinkers and EVs. If you've ever wondered about the intricacies inherent in slapping a Bentley around a track as quickly as possible, or how the CT5-V Blackwing's new Precision pack feels in practice, or how to actually get all the power out of the Taycan Turbo GT, your answers lie in the video above. Mercedes-AMG GT63 • McLaren Artura Spider • Lamborghini Revuelto • Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Manthey Racing The trick to getting Dave Beard to set a blistering lap time is simple: Tell him there's a grilled cheese in it for him at the end. Even if there isn't, he'll still make the magic happen, despite staring down some of the most menacing metal at VIR this past year. Dive in and find out why the Lamborghini Revuelto's insane power delivery turned the front straightaway into a whole nother corner. Ford Performance F-150 Lightning SuperTruck Pickup trucks come to Lightning Lap to do anything other than set lap times. But not the Ford Performance F-150 Lightning SuperTruck. Riding atop four electric motors making 2200 horsepower is a feat for no mere mortal. Thankfully, Romain Dumas is no mere mortal. The French racing driver joins us to discuss the truck and the utterly bewildering lap time he set with it. We're still trying to wrap our brains around it. Read 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!
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
View Photos of Lightning Lap 2025
read the full story Now in its 18th year, Car and Driver's Lightning Lap establishes benchmark lap times for the top performance cars across all price categories. VIR's grueling 4.1-mile Grand Course functions as America's Nürburging, and the lap times here provide the ultimate measure of a vehicle's overall performance. 2025 Bentley Continental GT Speed 2025 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing 2024 Hyundai Elantra N 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N 2024 Lamborghini Revuelto 2024 Lucid Air Sapphire 2025 Mazda MX-5 Miata Club 2025 McLaren Artura Spider 2024 Mercedes-AMG GT63 Coupe 2023 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Manthey Racing 2025 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT 2024 Subaru BRZ tS 2025 Subaru WRX tS 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!
