Quote:
Originally Posted by returnofcc
And if Cadillac and Bob Lutz were confident, then they wouldn't have needed to bring their engineers and professional drivers along to make sure that the CTS-V didn't lose to an amateur in another car.
I can just imagine how it went
Bob Lutz after seeing Michael Cooper's run:
"Uh-oh, a 21 year old in his Bimmer just beat me and the journalists. We've lost........ to BMW.......again..........NO!!!!!!!!!!QUICK, BRING OUT THE RINGERS, WE HAVE TO BEAT THAT BIMMER! THIS IS CADILLAC!!!!!!!"
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by a_Username
I would reply... but you're banned so I win.  |
I'll reply anyway. GM is confident. We have no background on this guy, but we can be sure that this driver probably has more skill than the average amateur. I would go so far as to guess that he's been to several tracks and earned a few trophies in a few amateur divisions. The principle of the challenge still stands. The CTS-V is a beast. A guy in a BMW beat Bob Lutz, a senior employee of GM. Do we really expect GM's top personnel to spend their time racing? I'd rather leave them to running the company into the future rather than into the ground. Some people will claim that Lutz was too bold to offer this challenge. Some will say that his loss to this driver who's barely old enough to hit the bar for a victory drink after the challenge punctuates the failure of GM to deliver the fastest luxury sedan—actually, make that all-encompassing sedan, not just luxury—in the world. I would argue that this campaign has served an important purpose. It made even the great and respected automakers take aim at GM. Until Lutz issued the challenge, no one had a reason to beat his track time. They didn't have a chance to lose to a CTS-V; to realize its performance prowess; to discover that GM truly makes a world class performance and luxury sedan that makes the hyped M3 a frequent loser despite its record against other great products.
Lutz lost to a kid who probably has better reflexes and more recent experience driving at high speeds. As I said, Lutz has a job at GM that I expect he spends a lot of time performing. This doesn't spell out the end of GM. I'm not crying at night, and neither is anyone else who rightly thinks that GM truly competes with and oftentimes defeats the best. Without this challenge, this kid could not have so easily been so recognized for his exemplary driving by BMW. It turned out well for him. Without this challenge, the CTS-V might not have so many other companies desperately trying to keep up. It's a marketing campaign. It promotes a product. Without this challenge, and perhaps this single loss, none of us might be paying attention. In the end, Lutz still wins.