Quite surprised by this.

[Benji]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V96-AQ1FghI

More specifically the lap times Vs the Gallardo, I would have thought that although the two roadsters are down some 100-150bhp, they are also down some 1000-1200lbs in weight Vs. the Gallardo, that they would have been able to destroy the lap time of the Gallardo but only the highly customised '33 could best it.

Not bashing FFR at all I just thought that lightweight, powerful and properly designed kit cars could walk something like a Gallardo easily. What am I missing here?

[OnyxCobra]

hey don't forget in that clip they (the race car hire company) had THEIR driver in THEIR car on THEIR track in the Lambo, and the "Hot Rod" magazine had a "Professional" race driver that had never driven all three of the cars tested against it (and none of them owned by the magazine) - home ground advantage for the Lambo coupled with perhaps a desire to bring all the cars home in one piece and to make sure the Hotrod was presented in the best light? who knows
Great marketing for FFR though LOL

[Benji]

Yeah I had thought that maybe that was the reason why!

[Dan Babb]

The aerodynamics of the Lambo are way better than the Cobra too

[Benji]

The aerodynamics of the Lambo are way better than the Cobra too

Sure, although is that going to matter at the speeds that their small circuit can get up to?

25222

[FormulaGod]

The video shows nothing more than accentuates the fact that a home built car can run with a $200k+ supercar. It did its job well, I thought. The '33 RideTech does have some pretty extensive frame extension mods, though.
A track like this, aerodynamics has nothing to do with anything, really. On demand power, great handling, and aggressive braking wins all day. Typically a hundred pounds equals roughly a tenth deduction from a 1/4 mile time; it doesnt matter what you are driving. Pulling such a small car out of a corner with that much power without getting loose is key. Fun vid to watch, nonetheless.

[montyals]

The Gallardo is an AMAZING machine. As I've driven both cars at speed I'm not surprised by the results at all. Gallardos are unbelievable on both wet and dry roads/tracks. I've gone into tight corners at 70mph (AWD) in the wet in the Gallardo and it grips all the way out of the apex like other high performance cars on dry tracks. It's kinda like a rich man's Subaru.

The roadster is sketchy even on dry roads and even though I've driven a roadster 130 miles in a snow storm I'd never willingly take one out when its wet. Interior comfort in the Gallardo is like an old pair of your favorite shoes compared to the roadster. The roadsters still make me nervous, the Gallardo inspires confidence.

[Benji]

Sure, in the wet, I'd expect it to walk all of the FFR cars, easily. But this is Las Vegas! :D

I'm curious as to the exact details of the builds for the Coupe and the Roadster, I know a couple of them are/were Dave Smith's/FFR demo cars but I'm wondering what improvements can be made to the handling the would guarantee a win against the Gallardo.

It just surprised me is all, I realise it's not going to beat things like Radicals or hypercars like the 918/P1/etc but I just thought the Gallardo was easy money.

[Jeff Kleiner]

IMHO the first thing would be to ditch the Toyo 888s.

Jeff

[Benji]

Interesting, I thought R888's were the business?

[Jeff Kleiner]

Interesting, I thought R888's were the business?

I'm afraid you won't find many Challenge Series or road course guys holding that opinion. Consider this; when Toyo ceased production of their RA-1 and the R888 became the spec tire the upheaval was so great that they put the RA-1 back into production. It and the RR are now the spec tires for the series.

Jeff

[Benji]

Thanks for the info!

So as someone who I have seen who dabbles in racing his Roadster, what's your opinion of the video? How much potential is there to improve the handling of the FFR Roadster?