I would say that most people would have a higher "comfort" level in a car around the track because of safety. However, I have pushed it to near my max trying to catch my S2000 lap times...(including a low-side at Streets of Willow )

Sure, most bikes can brake and accelerate faster in a bike...however for most tracks, you gain most of your time in the corners.

A bike only has 2 tires with the contact patch roughly the size of a credit card. A car has 4 tires which are almost fully utilized (depending on camber).

In addition, cars can take advantage of downforce (wings, lips, diffusers, etc.) to plant the car more during cornering. Theoretically, F1 cars have so much downforce, they can drive upside down...

Look at the lap times of the fastest guys in the AMA and MotoGP. Then look at various racing car lap times at the same tracks...you'll find that cars are much faster.

 

The S2000 cornered better? Wow! learn to ride man!

 

[QUOTE=screaminyellow,Jun 8 2007, 12:02 PM] The S2000 cornered better? Wow! learn to ride man!

 

I have no doubt that F1 and other purpose built cars can out handle a bike on the track. But i have an '03 GSX-R 1000 and I have faster lap times on that then I have ever gotten out of the S2000.

 

How about lateral g's... and watch out for those pesky trees...

 

Ok...to finally put this debate to bed...let's TRY and compare apples-to-apples...

First of all, I am 150% confident that an F1/Champ Car will smoke even the fastest MotoGP and AMA motorcycles on the same track (official lap times prove this), due to the utilization of aerodynamic factors such as wings, lips, diffusors, etc. Hopefully no arguement there...

That being said, let us try and compare PRODUCTION cars to motorcycles. After researching lap times in several SoCal tracks, looks like production bikes DO edge out production cars. This is based on NON-PROFESSIONAL clubs events such as open HPDE and SCCA, and magazine track day lap records (excludes open-cockpit cars that utilize aerodymanics). I also tried to compare street tires vs. R-comp tires. I could list all the lap times and quote my sources, but I don't have the time and patience...

Basically, given extremely experienced car and motorcycle drivers/riders, a bone-stock bike can usually edge out a stock car by a couple seconds, mainly due to a superior power/weight ratio.

However, these results are HIGHLY dependent on driver/rider skill. I believe that the learning curve for going fast in a bike is much sharper than the average car driver. This is probably the most important variable in this whole equation. So you throw an average car driver against an average bike rider, a car driver will probably have a faster lap time.

Plus throw in variables like price, of course a $10k bike seems more cost-effective than a $150k car in terms of lap times. Duh..

Personally, I have x5 more seat time in a car, than in my bike. My lap times are off by a couple seconds, but given time, maybe I can catch my S2000 times. Put me in an open-cockpit car with wings and diffusers, bye bye 600RR...

 

lets put a $13K car anything on the track and laugh.

 

Has anyone posted a link to this video yet?

 

The bike is far superior to any car - doesn't matter what is faster either. The freedom, oneness, etc, with the bikes is awesome. I sold my bike though as people in cars just do not see you and I did not want an accident.

The S2k is a close second, but nowhere near the same.

I had a 94 zx-9r with 135 RWHP for 4 years or so.

Same as this bike:

 

[QUOTE=RTZX9R,Jun 10 2007, 10:12 PM]The bike is far superior to any car - doesn't matter what is faster either.