C&D Lightning Lap Series: The Hottest Cars on America's Toughest Track

[Clark_Kent]

Lightning Lap 2026: The Hottest Cars on America's Toughest Track

It's that time of the year, and Car and Driver posted the 2026 Lightning Lap results. These results don't prove a ton, but it's still entertaining and something people look forward to each year. A few vehicles of note:

• The slushbox (and Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires) in the GR Corolla did it no favors and it ran a slow 3:07.1. The diff overheated...again. Disappointing that Toyota still hasn't corrected this. It's a known issue on a car marketed as a track car, and there is no fix. C&D decided to experiment and replace the factory rubber and wheels with lightweight Morizo Edition wheels shod in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, and the car performed very well. A superior compound and/or wheels are so underrated.
  • "We gave it a try, and the car came alive. Turn 1 grip jumped from 0.93 to 1.00 g, exit speed out of the Climbing Esses increased by 4.3 mph, and the lap time dropped to 3:02.5 (not as fast as the 2:59.6 an actual Morizo got in 2023). The all-wheel-drive coupler even seemed happier, no longer triggering its overheat warning."
• The 992.2 GTS ran incredibly fast. I haven't driven VIR in about 15 years, but mid-2:40s for the track configuration they ran is MOVING! Good to see the electric assist performed flawlessly and didn't overheat. Interestingly, you have to continue pressing the Sport Response button on the steering wheel to achieve maximum power. I suspect future generations of this technology will remove or at least limit the manual intervention required to extract maximum power from the motor.
• The Audi RS3 really caught my attention as I expected it to perform much better than where it landed on the leaderboard. Weight is a factor, for sure, but I didn't expect it to be in the same performance bracket as the FL5 on this track, especially with significantly more power, on an R-comp, and priced nearly $25,000 more. Not sure if that juxtaposition speaks volumes to the FL5s performance pound-for-pound or is an awful look for the RS3.

And finally, I would have liked to see the following cars in this series:

2026 Toyota GR Supra Final Edition
2026 Lotus Emira (V6)
2026 Porsche 911 Carrera T (992.2)
Rimac Nevera R

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