EVO LAPTIMES FROM ISSUE 142 AND 143 - PORSCHE, ASTON MARTIN, AND LAMBORGHINI

Over the course of the last two issues of evo magazine there've been plenty of delicious vehicle reviews, tantalizing future cars, and drives to exotic locations. But tests of a vehicle's true capability at Bedford Autodrome's West Circuit have been sadly lacking. Four cars have made the jaunt around the West Circuit: two Porsches on a damp track and two V12-engined supercars in better conditions. Their laptimes?

Porsche 911 Carrera S - 1:36.6
Porsche 911 Carrera 4S - 1:34.2
Aston Martin DBS - 1:26.4
Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 - 1:22.9


Not only does the quicker Porsche 911 reap the benefits of all-wheel drive on a cool and damp track, the 911 C4S is also fitted with ceramic-composite brakes. Despite the 911's testing conditions, it's still shocking that the remarkable Porsche Panamera Turbo, a competitor for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, was ten seconds quicker at Bedford. Indeed, despite the conditions suffered by the 911 C4S, its laptime is a hair slower than an Audi Q7 V12 TDI, a lumbering SUV which enjoyed a dry track. 

As for the V12 cars, it pays to weigh less. A BMW M3 is quicker than the Aston Martin DBS. Though 1:22.9 sounds fast, a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 is faster still. The DBS and Murcielago are big cars ill-suited to the demands placed on them by a tight track. Their engines help them find a good spot on evo's laptime Knowledge, but it must be embarrassing to be that expensive and that much slower than much less enticing machinery.

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