German Car Zone

Road Ragers at the Nürburgring

It's the morning after the Nürburgring 24 Hours, the amazing racing marathon on the old, twisting Nordschleife where 220 cars race day and night. We're at Brunchen, everyone's favorite corner for race-watching, and it's rather like wandering downstairs after a party to be greeted by a living room full of empty beer cans and rearranged sofa cushions, except here we're parked up among, well, empty beer kegs and completely displaced sofas.

The cars that raced here are probably still ticking with heat and smelling of oil as they're being loaded onto trailers for the long trip back to garages scattered across Europe, but here we have their street-legal counterparts. Yes, the 2009 Aston Martin V12 Vantage, 2009 Audi R8 5.2 FSI, 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and 2009 Porsche 911 GT3 are for those of us who haven't raced at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, but who dream of doing so.

These are cars for people who place a premium on the driving experience, those who sometimes take the long way home from work. These are the cars for drivers who don't mind a slightly firmer ride, especially if it means they can be sure of hitting that drain cover on the long left-hander on the exit of the roundabout that's three miles from home.

To the Grid
Indicative of the breed is the 2009 Aston Martin V12 Vantage. With the Aston Martin DBS's V12 squeezed into the short-wheelbase Vantage, the engineers at Aston Martin's headquarters at Gaydon have created a truly wonderful car. It seems almost absurd that a body this small should be packing a 510-horsepower 5.9-liter V12. Aston Martin has been competing seriously at the Nürburgring 24 Hours for a number of years now and even has created the V8 Vantage N24 as a race replica, so the Nordschleife should be a home away from home for the V12 Vantage.

The Audi R8 4.2 FSI has already been a huge commercial success with V8 power, so the 2009 Audi R8 5.2 FSI's 518-hp V10 should make every road it travels turn to gold. The chassis has also received some minor adjustments, mainly to cope with the V10 but also to add a frisson of additional grit. We've eschewed the shift paddles of the single-clutch automated manual transmission in favor of the wonderful six-speed manual, and if the weather turns 'orrible then we expect the all-wheel-drive system to help this car simply walk away from the others.

The 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 makes even the mighty V12 Vantage seem under-endowed in the engine department. The supercharged 7.0-liter LS9 V8's 638 hp will open your eyes wide, but the torque is truly frightening — 604 pound-feet, and all of it available at 3,800 rpm. The ZR1 should be a force to be reckoned with in the corners as well, because weight has been kept down to 3,369 pounds by using carbon fiber for the front aero splitter, front fascia, hood and roof.

Finally, we come to the bargain basement end of the lineup with the 2009 Porsche 911 GT3, the least expensive of these cars. We know that no test of race-replica road cars is complete without this Porsche from which the 911 GT3 RSR is derived, but the engine has 80 hp less than its competition and barely half the torque of the ZR1. It will fight back with the lowest curb weight here of 3,075 pounds, but for once we don't think the 911 is going to have it all its own way.


Full Story: Edmunds - Aston V12 Vantage vs Audi R8 FSI vs Chevy Corvette ZR1 vs Porsche 911 GT3


M

Wow no contest a GT3 snatch!

1st Porsche
2nd Aston
3rd Audi
4th Chevrolet

No GTR this time?

Between these cars, it is a tough one for me between the R8 V10 and GT3, but I will give GT3 the nod. Lightweight road racers tickle my fancy me more than exotics.

GT3 Mark II will have a field day with the others on the Ring
Truly and utterly eats them all alive.

Not ZR1, but I still prefer the Porsche.

Interestingly this article is written by EVO's Henry Catchpole. He's besotted with the 911 GT3 in all forms and so his review is somewhat expected. He's also given the Vantage V12 a glowing report in the July edition of EVO.

The 911 GT3 is a pinnacle car - quite possibly the best of its kind at going fast whilst keeping the driver enthralled at the same time. It is a road and track burner and I'd have one in a heartbeat. In this area it has the greatest depth of talent.

However, sometimes one is prepared to sacrifice a little depth in one area, to give up a couple of seconds in the lap time for a car that has a broader range of appeal. And right now few sports cars have broader appeal than the V10-engined R8. From its beautiful cabin to the space age looks, from the snickety refinement of its controls to the charisma of a V10 that isn't unnecessarily over-endowed, the R8 V10 appeals to me in a much broader sense than the more focused GT3, the OTT Vantage and the simply terrifying ZR1. It really is a "car of the moment" for me.

I think the GT-R would have given the GT3 a better match than all these 3.

Come to think of it, so would a Ferrari Scuderia, Gallardo LP560 or Viper ACR.

The Corvette is such a "nobody" IMO. I would have to say the Aston, but the R8 is growing on me.

I would so much rather have a V8 R8 and V8 Vantage than these bigger engine siblings. I don't know but when you release a chasis with one engine and then improve upon it by only giving it more power and a bigger engine it doesn't have the same appeal and freshness, anticipation etc. of the very first chassis model and engine you originally launched, it pretty much dies down. Like releasing a film and then later on releaseing an uncut version never seen before footage on DVD, you just don't really care anymore since the original movie came out.