German Car Zone

Supercars are like castles: the best ones come from Europe. Right?

For sure, it's long seemed that way. The Euro stars have always played in a price and performance stratosphere that makers from other continents simply couldn't (or wouldn't) attempt to match. Sticker price, schmicker price: In the spirit of the old adage "speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?" the premier machines from rarified houses like Ferrari, Bugatti, Porsche, Lamborghini, and Aston Martin cost hella big. But they also run unlike anything else on the road.

Uh, just a minute. Scratch that. For 2008, Nissan launched its ceiling-busting GT-R, a twin-turbo manga-robot on wheels with a price under $80K but an exhaust boom that rocked ears from the Nordschleife to Maranello. And now Uncle Sam is also strutting in the white-hot spotlight all oiled up and pumped: For 2009 comes the all-new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, the most potent GM production automobile of all time, the best Vette ever, a star-spangled, supercharged sledgehammer in aluminum and carbon fiber with brakes lifted from the fastest road Ferraris ever built. Yes, it wears a base sticker that's difficult to utter in the same breath as "Chevrolet" -- more than $106,000 -- but the ZR1 also brandishes performance hardware straight from the parts shelves marked "No Compromises."

Clearly, the two new upstarts are begging to crack open a can of whup-ass in the hallowed halls of European-bred speed. Naturally, we're only too happy to help. We rounded up a GT-R and a ZR1 and headed off to the test track and five-mile high-speed oval of Chrysler's Arizona Proving Grounds with two of Europe's bona-fide superstars: the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano ("the finest all-around Ferrari ever," we said in July 2006) and the Porsche GT2 (which, in our May 2008 issue, we dubbed "one of the greatest sports cars the world has ever seen"). Along with us was former IndyCar driver and 24 Hours of Daytona winner Didier Theys (pictured below); he'd be our man at the wheel for a series of breathless, flat-to-the-floor top-speed runs, plus timed laps on the infield road course at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

For three unforgettable days in the Arizona and Nevada deserts it was War of the Worlds. And NORAD didn't even notice.


2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 vs Porsche 911 GT2 vs Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano vs Nissan GT-R - War of the Worlds Supercar Shootout - Motor Trend


M

So, who won??? I'd go for the GT2, closely followed by the 599.

My choice would be 599,GT2,GT-R and lastly the ZR1.

I think the ZR1 won followed by the GTB599. The GT-R came last.

The Dust Clears

So? Who wins the War of the Worlds? For sure, each car in this field qualifies as a superstar. The Nissan GT-R delivers 21st Century electro-wonder and shattering performance at a base price ($77,840) that borders on the unbelievable. The Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano offers succulent styling, shameless hedonism, peerless refinement, and speed and handling matched only by a handful of cars on the planet. The Porsche GT2, which Theys dubbed "the raciest in the bunch," churns out effortless speed (the variable-vane twin-turbo engine feels naturally aspirated, so smooth is its power delivery) and seems utterly bulletproof. You know you could hammer on it all day long and it would never complain. The ZR1 has a few glaring flaws -- including a fade-into-the-traffic-flow exterior and a cockpit lacking almost any signs of flying first-class -- yet by nearly every objective measure (and most subjective ones, too) this new Chevy expands the performance envelope for premium supercars. And at a fraction of the price of the European thoroughbreds. In the supercar realm, the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 rules.

America still sucks at the castle thing, though.


First Place: Chevrolet Corvette ZR1

Class-shattering power, race-car handling grip, monster brakes, and sweet control inputs leave even the bluebloods in this Chevy's wake.


Second Place: Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano

Costs huge, but delivers huge, too. Still one of the planet's finest sports cars. And when it comes to sex appeal, forget it: The Ferrari is the only one you'd choose for a date with Gisele Bundchen.


Third Place: Porsche GT2

The Rolex of sports cars: brilliantly engineered and bulletproof. Unreal speed, hellacious grip, and superb controls -- everyday drives become laps at Le Mans.


Fourth Place: Nissan GT-R

That a machine this incredible finishes fourth shows you how spectacular the other three really are. At the price, nothing comes close. And if you think Nissan is resting on its 480-horsepower laurels, stay tuned for Act II: GT-R V-Spec.


Results Page


Test Data



M

I'm sure this result would differ if it was done by a euro mag

The ZR1 is a favorite of mine, performance for little money but the 599 looks stunning in white!

They should've thrown a Scuderia and SL65 BS in there

you mean if this was an italian test winner Ferrari. Japanese test winner GTR and german test winner GT2 ??

^Yes

But seriously i don't think the ZR1 would win if this test was done by a German or a British car mag,AMS or Evo would rate the the GT2 or GTR above the ZR1 for sure