Car vs. CBR600RR

[DevilsTonic]

Street Legal Ariel Atom takes CBR600RR in the corners!

http://www.openwheelers.com.au/videos/Top_Gear_Ariel_Atom_2_Full_segment.mpg

:hump:

[Mista Black]

be forwarned... it's 41.4MB... but cool :D

[The Black Knight]

41.4MB downloaded in 1min 24sec :)

$40,000USD Car vs $8000.00USD bike. I still find it hard to justify only a 4 second lead for almost 4 times the amount of money. Then again Top Gear are bias towards cars, the last video I saw of them was a Porsche vs R1 and they lambasted bikers in that segment.

Would have been better if they used a 1000cc bike. GSX-R1000 would have been perfect. Would not have had the acceleration problems the RR did.

Also I'm still waiting for these wimp car guys to put a car up against a bike on a big track. It's convinent they only run on piddly go kart tracks. A track that is at least 2.0 miles or bigger. They like to take away a bikes capabilites by not using tracks with straights or big sweepers.

The dude from Top Gear also kills me. I'd have to say that he doesn't need to be on a bike. He's afraid of leaning over, wearing a helmet to mess his hair, and crashing. Yep I think it's time for the old chap to start using the ladies room.

Cars vs Bikes debate will go on forever. I'll always be a bike guy and continue to be one, until they can make a car that cost $11,000 and have the same performance that my bike does. Oh wait that will never happen.

[#1Townie]

they did thing with a f1 car bike and a drag boat or somthing like that...
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/51275/fifth_gear_boat_vs_f1_vs_bike/

[Slo]

Got a buddy in CO Springs that has an Aerial Atom on order, can't wait to hitch a ride in it.....

[Slo]

Pilot!!!!! Ya need to take me for a ride in the EXIGE.

Funny when you kneel down and your still taller than the car.

[Mista Black]

Also I'm still waiting for these wimp car guys to put a car up against a bike on a big track. It's convinent they only run on piddly go kart tracks. A track that is at least 2.0 miles or bigger. They like to take away a bikes capabilites by not using tracks with straights or big sweepers.
The fastest street legal (production) vehicle I'm aware of ever running the big track at Nurburgring (which is over 14 miles long with plenty of straights, sweepers and tight curves) is a Carrera GT (7 min 32.44 sec), more than 15 seconds a lap faster than the fastest street legal (production) bike I'm aware of (7 min 48 sec). I've never seen a number, but the Enzo is said to be faster than the Carrera GT. The fastest car ever at the track was a Porsche 956 race car at 6 min 11.13 seconds. The bigger the track the faster the bikes will get left by the truely fast cars.

[The Black Knight]

As far as I know Mista Black, now this isn't released yet though should be soon. At least by the end of 2006. Ghost Rider is supposed to have beaten one of the fastest times set there. Supposedly 7min 30sec range. A couple of posts on his forum had him mentioning this.

I know in one of his previous video releases he managed to lap 8m 20sec at the Nurburgring and that was with him and his friend doing alot of wheelies and messing around a bit.

Obviously on top speed a cars aerodynamics will come into play. Of course a $600,000 Enzo should beat a $11,000 GSX-R1000, at least I would hope it would for all that money.

All I was saying is that these races are usually rigged. They get a flunky rider and pit them against a good car driver.

In Summer 2005 Speed Magazine(Road & Track affiliate) they actually performed a fair race if not a bit more bias towards the cars because of the mods on the Nissan Skyline. The used a Le Mans racer/Porsche Cup Cort Wagner for the cars and Doug Chandler for the two bikes. The contestants were a heavily modded Skyline and a stock Z06 Corvette vs a Superstock ZX-10R and a stock ZX-6R

At the end of the day all that Doug Chandler really needed was the ZX-6R he managed to go 2 sec faster then the Skyline and 11 sec faster then the Z06. When he took the big ZX-10R out he punished the cars even more. Was 5 sec faster then the Skyline and 15 sec faster then the Corvette. Point was that Chandler was on a Superstock ZX-10R which had limited mods. The Skyline basically was a GT car. Had motor work, high end brakes, blah blah blah. Alot more was given to the car then the ZX-10R and Chandler still managed to spank it by 5 seconds. Z06 didn't even have a prayer. The track used was Buttonwillow.

Then lets not forget the infamous Motorcyclist issue back in 2002 featuring a GSX-R1000 vs Z06 Corvette. Not only did the bike pull harder G's in the skidpad it also went faster in the tighter corners. I know Formula 1 cars can pull 5g's and what not. MotoGP bikes are lucky to get to 2.5g's in the corner. That's still alot more then most cars can pull.

I fall back on the comments Top Gear made about the safety. I hear it all the time from car guys as well. "well you can't fall out of a car" or "I have a heater, a stereo, and year round driving". So what!! I have knee dragging, wheelie popping and insane acceleration carnage and I wouldn't trade it for any car in the world no matter how fast it is.

I think that's what separates motorcyclist from automotive enthusiast. Motorcyclist are fearless, car guys are afraid of falling off. Motorcyclist wear full race suits and helmets, car guys don't like to mess up their hair and wear shorts and flipflops. Car guys like security, but motoryclist crave intensity.

Now I'm not talking race cars, because I know they are fast. I'm looking at dollar per performance ratio and fun factor. Stock vs Stock you can't beat a bike and I will always think that a good motorcyclist on a stock bike will always beat a good car driver in a stock car at the end of the day.

[Mista Black]

At the big track in Nurburgring the Z06 is incredibly slow compared to the fast cars (about 1 minute+ behind). The Audi S4 is only 2 seconds a lap behind it. The BMW M3 kills the Corvette there. As do the BMW M8, the Boxster S and the Viper, none of which are considered in the same class as the hard core Vette worshipers I know. And I doubt the Skyline would fair a lot better.

I never though the Z06 vs GSXR1000 test was far because Kevin Schwantz is FAR better on a bike than he ever will be in a car and the Vette just isn't up to speed with the truely quick and fast sports cars. Basically they pitted the fastest most kick ass street bike there is with one of the best motorcycle racers on the planet (at the time) against a moderately quick, not nearly the best handling car with a pretty good driver. That's not at all fair.

Pitting the bike (any street bike) against the fast cars will have the bike coming in 2nd at the big tracks. At speed downforce comes into play for the cars where bikes have vertually zero. You can put on sticker tires but so can the cars and they stil lhave downforce to play with. At the big track there are several street cars which run faster than the current fastest street bike time.

Dollar for dollar, I would never suggest anything but a bike (even a fairly slow bike like mine) to beat the hell out of almost any car on the road (or track). But looking at the maximum performance potential, bike are limited because they only have X amount of grip and that's all they have. Downforce can be added to the great sports cars with a few tweaks.

For my money I'll keep riding bikes. They are where the bang for the buck is at. But if I ever hit the Powerball, I'll also have a 996 GT2 in the Garage. It a lot more money but (properly driven) it'll leave any street bike there is down a twisty road.

As for Ghost Riders times at the big track, we'll have to wait and see....

But, as far as the little car that is the subject of this thread... I would love to have one; that is a kick ass little car for the money.

[The Black Knight]

Most definetely I wouldn't argue the downforce in cars vs bikes. Look at Formula 1 cars. Up to 5g's in the corners. That's insane. Though I do have to give the MotoGP bikes major credit for being able to come close to 2.5g's in the corners on a bike.

I read in a article on the net awhile back, that bikes today handle as well as they do because of upgraded suspension, but mainly because of the leaps and bounds tire technology has taken in the bike realm.

I would agree that Schwantz is a better motorcyclist. Though it isn't really a slouch in driving cars though. I know he's won races and so forth as a car driver. One interesting fact in the 2002 Motorcyclist article was Schwantz actually pushed the Z06 past it's .97g rating to a 1.01g measured pull on the skidpad. So he was pushing that car for everything it had and then some.

I think the ZX-10R and Skyline race was better and more organized with tons of data at the track and testing they did. I also like how they paired modified and stock together to get real world data on how these machines would perform under controlled conditions. I was glad to see the little $8500 ZX-6R totally devastate a $60,000 car in stock forms respectively. Any rational performance enthusiast would clearly choose the ZX-6R over the Corvette. Only one wanting to look good while cruising down the avenue would choose the Z06, sure it has power and performance. But I think it's primary goal is to make its driver look good.

I agree the Atom is one heck of a car for the money. It's price is roughly $40,000, I doubt you'd be able to spend that on a Corvette and get the same performance. Only drawback is it's a open cockpit car with the bare essentials. Wouldn't be much fun in the winter. And I will have to say it is one ugly little car. At least the Vette has some style too it. HAHA $60,000 for style, I guess whatever floats people's boats.