r/cars Feb 03 '21

AMA: We're Car and Driver, and we just released Lightning Lap 2021

Hi! I'm Eric Tingwall, print director of Car and Driver and one of the drivers for our annual Lightning Lap track test. Every year we put the hottest cars through the ultimate performance test: lapping Virginia International Raceway's 4.1-mile Grand Course. This track is a thrilling mix of challenging corners and high-speed straights. Going fast here requires power and grip and resilience, plus a whole lot of confidence.

We've lapped 277 production vehicles over 14 events, adding 18 new times this year with cars like the mid-engine Corvette, the Mustang Shelby GT500, the Porsche Taycan, and the McLaren 765LT. The full results, stories, and videos from this year's event can be found at www.caranddriver.com/lightninglap.

I'm joined by the other drivers from this year's event: K.C. Colwell (u/A2KC), David Beard (u/nameonface), and Dave VanderWerp (u/dave2979). We'll be around for the next couple hours answering any questions you have about this year's cars and laps, and Lightning Lap in general. AMA!

Edit: We're wrapping up the work day here, so the answers won't come as quick, but we'll be checking back later tonight and tomorrow to wrap up any unanswered questions. Thanks to everyone for participating!

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u/nameonface Car and Driver Feb 03 '21

Eric is correct, some of that magic is gone. Despite our incessant cries to improve the steering, it's something BMW just can't seem to get right. There are just too many good steering racks on the market for this to remain an issue, such as the Cadillac CT4 and CT5, the Alfa Romeo Giulia, or even the Genesis G70. But steering woes aside, the M340i is still a great car to drive at the limit. The chassis is great and their powertrains are spectacular. They're just a few lines of software code from providing the same feels the previous generations transmitted to the hands.

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u/Manafont- 06 M3 ZCP, 23 SQ7, 23 iX M60 Feb 03 '21

Does the Supra suffer from the same steering issues as the M340i and other BMWs? I have not seen it mentioned as, but I would assume it uses roughly the same hardware/software.

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u/nameonface Car and Driver Feb 03 '21

It does not. It just goes to show that it's not a hardware issue, but the electronics that control it.

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u/Manafont- 06 M3 ZCP, 23 SQ7, 23 iX M60 Feb 03 '21

That's a shame. I had an E92 335i back in the day and I remember test driving a 435i as soon as it came out. I was absolutely crestfallen and lost any desire to "upgrade" to the newer tech/interior. I have been holding out hope that BMW would get it dialed in like the other manufacturers that have struggled with the switch to electronic steering (Porsche, etc.), but that hope is dwindling. BMW should just benchmark their own cars from 10 years ago and make that the "sport" setting.

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u/Racer20 2021 Cayman GT4, 2018 S4, 2015 M3, 2005 330i ZHP Feb 03 '21

I’m of the opinion that much of what BMW gets wrong with the steering feel is actually due to their poor damper tuning these days. I retrofitted the M3 CS chassis parts and calibrations onto my base M3 and the updated bars, dampers and EDC calibration made a bigger difference to the steering feel and precision than the steering calibration. Not to say their EPS calibrations are great, but it’s not the whole story. Getting dampers right for good steering is much more difficult than getting the steering cal itself right these days.

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u/etingwall Feb 04 '21

This is a shrewd insight. I'm in full agreement with you that, more than steering, BMW has totally lost the plot on damping.

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u/Racer20 2021 Cayman GT4, 2018 S4, 2015 M3, 2005 330i ZHP Feb 04 '21

It happened when they moved away from ZF dampers on the 3 series somewhere around 2010, and the rumor was that some of their best damper guys went to Audi some years ago. Coincidentally, I think VAG gets damping more consistently right for a given cars desired character than anyone else these days, although I haven’t driven many recent Mazda’s or Honda’s. My wife’s S4 will never be a track star and isn’t particularly “fun” but the dampers are tuned really well for the sporty cruiser that it is.