996.2 GT3 track test circa 2003/4

[blackmamba]

Bit of a long shot but I am trying to track down a magazine article in which Chris Harris and others compared a Caterham R400, 996 GT3 and Noble M12 etc at Rockingham. I think it is Autocar some time in 2003 or 2004.

Does anybody recognise the article / magazine?

Thanks

[g7jhp]

Thought I had it, but it was the Autocar PCOTY 2003 (23 Sept 2003).

[g7jhp]

Think the test was Autocar: Best Handling Car 2003



Obviously the MX5 won. I definitely had a copy, but must have been one I cleared out!

Edited by g7jhp on Sunday 13th December 18:39

[blackmamba]

Thanks both. Good suggestions but I don’t think those are the ones. Chris Harris wrote the piece and it included a Caterham R400 that wasn’t listed.

It also had this on the back



I am guessing it pre-dated the 2003 Best Handling Car feature as it included a few of the candidates.

[g7jhp]

g7jhp said:

Think the test was Autocar: Best Handling Car 2003

Did you open and read the link?

The test in 2003 was 26 cars split into types which whittled down to a smaller group.

[g7jhp]

From another website

Great "Best Handling Car" article in Autocar magazine


I've been in the UK for the past couple of weeks on business. I picked up Autocar's annual Best Handling Car issue, and had a great read. 32 cars were driven on the 1.7-mile infield circuit of Rockingham Motor Speedway. The driver lineup included a current F1 driver (Jaguar's Justin Wilson), a F1 test driver (BAR's Takuma Sato), the vehicle dynamics manager from Lotus (Martin Anderson), and two British Touring Car Championship drivers (Michael Bentwood and Phil Bennett).

There's execellent analysis and commentary throughout the article. Buy it if you can find it.

Anyway, here are the lap times:
Skoda Fabia RS 1:33.8
Ford Sport Ka 1:33.2
Vauxhall Astra GSi 1:32.0
Volvo S60R 1:30.5
Honda Accord 2.4 Type S 1:30.0
Peugeot 206 GTi 180 1:29.8
Jaguar XJR 1:29.0
Mazda RX8 1:29.0
Mazda MX5 1:28.9
Renault Clio V6 1:28.5
Mini Cooper S Works 1:28.5
Mercedes E55 1:27.3
Porsche Boxster 1:26.4
BMW Z4 1:25.7
Audi S4 1:25.2
Ford Focus RS 1:24.9
Alfa 147 GTA 1:24.8
Mitsubishi Evo VIII FQ300 1:23.4
Subaru Impreza Type C 1:22.8
Pagani Zonda 1:22.7
Lamborghini Murcielago 1:22.2
Radical SR3 LM 1:21.8
Westfield XTR2 1:21.8
Vauxhall VX220T Sprint 1:21.5
Lotus Elise 135R 1:21.0
Caterham R400 1:21.0
Noble M12R 1:20.6
Porsche 911 GT3 1:20.2
Gardener Douglas GDT70 1:19.5
TVR 350c 1:19.4
Ariel Atom 1:17.6
JP1 1:14.2

[blackmamba]

Magic! Thank you very much.

[BrotherMouzone]

blackmamba said:

Magic! Thank you very much.

I have 6 pages of it on jpeg.

Pm me your email and I will send them to you.

[blackmamba]

BrotherMouzone said:

I have 6 pages of it on jpeg.

Pm me your email and I will send them to you.

PM’d. Thank you, very kind of you

[BrotherMouzone]

Sent you two articles. Cheers

[Heathrow]

Looking at that list it must have taken balls of steel to set a very quick lap in a TVR T350!

Edgy little mistress by all accounts...