apologies if this is a repost

anyone see the October issue of EVO?

absolutely fantastic write up of independent test of these hypercars on the 'Ring.

(for the EVO bashers on here, the test was NOT commissioned or conducted by Evo, they were only there to cover the event.)

Driver for the test was Marc Basseng, who is a driver for Farnbacher I believe, has done Supercup in the past, and last year set the 'Ring record in a Pagani Zonda, that was held til it was broken by the ZR1.

anyway, cars included in the test were:

- Enzo
- CGT
- Zonda F
- Maserati MC12
- Koenigsegg CCX-R (900HP)

all cars apparently owned by the same guy, prepped & checked by Black Falcon (quite a respected Nurburgring focused Team,) with brand new tires and brakes.

the MC12 was quickest (7:24 and change), thanks mainly to its most race-car like aerodynamics and simpler suspension setup that didn't break down (see Enzo below).

second was the Zonda (7:24 and change)

third was the Enzo (7:25), which was impressive given that the electronic dampers failed, and the laps were completed purely on springs and downforce.

the CGT was second last, which was disappointing, but at 7:28, matched Rohrl's posted time in the car. significantly, it was quickest and had the highest G-loads in many of the corners, but simply didn't have the straightline grunt of some of the other cars.

finally, the Koenigsegg was last at 7:33 or so (sorry, don't have the article in front of me). the car was actually crashed badly during the test, Baseng commenting that the car was just evil to drive compared to the others. Massively faster in the straights, but that just wasn't enough.

anyway, quite an interesting article. i only wish it was longer.

on a side note, i don't have the weight of the Koenigsegg, but i think the power to weight ratio was comfortably better than many of the other cars there... yet it was the slowest car here. which goes to show that power to weight isn't everything-- especially on a long, complex track such as the 'Ring. the Maserati had less power than the Enzo (and I think even the Zonda), while being the same weight or heavier, and yet was quicker or as quick.