Well, the put-up or shut-up moment has now passed for 77-year-old Lutz and, well, he didn't win. He posted a quite respectable 2:56:321. That was enough to blow away the privately owned BMW M5 (3:05:395) but the range of track-driving experience here today is huge. So we hesitate to read too much into those relative times.
Lutz was about 7 seconds behind GM development engineer and Nurburgring veteran, Aaron Link. He was about 5 seconds slower than the one earlier CTS-V driven by journalist Jack Baruth. Lutz also trailed the BMW M3 by about 5.5 seconds.
Lutz was driving a CTS-V with an automatic. Link drove a CTS-V with a manual transmission.
e90_m3 says:
12:29 PM, 10/29/09
77 years old and doing 2:56? Not bad at all...
hell much better than I can ever do.
ptcdawg says:
12:35 PM, 10/29/09
Pretty good driving for the Fellow, I would say...
stingray454 says:
12:42 PM, 10/29/09
Incredible driving when you think about it. Most 77 year olds I know are getting around with walkers, canes, or in a nursing home. Not ripping 2:56's at Monticello.
empowah says:
01:24 PM, 10/29/09
Wonder how that X6 M would do...
jederino says:
03:42 PM, 10/29/09
^^ I agree with you all above. Lutz is interesting because he grew up a couple generations prior to most of us here. He has a different perspective, he's done more and experienced more than probably most of us hope to achieve, and he's still relevant. Look at all the bristling from the Nintendo-set on this forum picking a fight with a great-grandpa. You gotta respect Lutz for that. He's a pimp-walkin' historical figure, and when young euro-files hear his challenge, they experience a virtual bitch-slap. It's great fun!
cr_driver says:
05:09 PM, 10/29/09
Props for Mr Lutz....of course being such a czar when it comes to cars, left him with a bunch of driving experience.
cwc1 says:
05:31 PM, 10/29/09
Why'd he drive the slush box CTS-V? Aren't manual transmission vehicles generally faster along a track, because the drive has superior control of what gear they want when? Even a paddle shifted manumatic still doesn't have the power transfer that a manual does - does it?
danielpund says:
05:46 PM, 10/29/09
cwc1:
Not necessarily. The car that John Heinricy took around the Nurburgring in less than 8 minutes was an automatic. It's clearly very fast with the added bonus of giving the driver fewer opportunities to make a mistake.
Dan