OK....... well remember that CTS-V Challenge?

[toehead93]

Lets wait 56 years and see if that kit can beat Lutz's time then. Really, everone in the top 10 is a better driver than me. They are all ringers, so driver aside, the CTS wins.

[Zeus]

Originally Posted by a_Username

I would reply... but you're banned so I win.

[Rogue Leader]

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!!!!!!!"

Wow... he beat a 70 year old man in a Cadillac.... break out the Winston Cup!

[1320junkie]

Lutz won when he made the challege..that spoke volumes

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by 1320junkie

Lutz won when he made the challege..that spoke volumes

It was a very out-of-the-box marketing campaign. And no other company "officially" showed up, there were even a few who were going to come but backed out at the last minute for fear...or something.

I agree, though -- just by issuing the challenge, Cadillac has solidified its position as a serious luxury sports competitor.

[Black GT]

.CTS-V Challenge driver and M3 owner Michael Cooper gets pat on the back from BMW
by Jonny Lieberman (RSS feed) on Dec 14th 2009 at 5:29PM


Michael Cooper and his Cadillac CTS-V-challenging BMW M3 - click above for high-res image gallery

This guy. So, some of you no doubt remember the Cadillac CTS-V Challenge. If you don't, here's a refresher: General Motors vice-chairman Maximum Bob Lutz challenged any journalist to bring a CTS-V competitor to California's Laguna Seca where the 77-year-old Lutz would mop the floor with he/she and whatever fancy-pants, Euro sedan they done brung. Of course, the event got moved to New York's Monticello Motor Club, and to guarantee that the Cadillac didn't lose, GM brought in a backup pilot, John Hienricy, the company's noted hot shoe engineer and race car driver. And then every other manufacturer (Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar) decided not to play into GM's marketing ploy, and withdrew their cars' support.

To be frank, we here at Autoblog toyed with the idea of throwing our hoon-hat in the ring, but after Heinricy became Cadillac's ace in the hole, we figured the whole challenge was unwinnable (we've driven with Mr. Heinricy – he's that good). While it would no doubt have been fun, totally playing into General Motor's hands like that (by also losing), well, not so much. Luckily, privateer Michael Cooper and his BMW M3 wasn't in on our conference call.

Mr. Cooper showed up to the Caddy Challenge and laid down a 2:50.424, beating not only Bob Lutz's 2:56.321 in the way more powerful CTS-V, but our pals Lawrence Ulrich (2:53:026) and Jack Baruth (2:51:153), both of whom were driving the big supercharged Caddy. Not surprisingly, Heinricy blew the doors off of every single person, ripping off a 2:46.560. Probably while flossing. But let's not overlook young Michael Cooper, who with 142 less horsepower and a boatload less torque to work with came in less than four seconds behind John (ringer *cough* ringer) Hienricy.

BMW was so taken by Mr. Cooper's feat of good driving that they reportedly invited him down to their North American headquarters in New Jersey and gave him a BMW Performance Multifunction Steering Wheel. How else to thank the guy that tossed such an effective monkey wrench into GM's marketing plans? BMW installed the wheel in Cooper's M3 while he was given a ride in a special BMW Performance enhanced 335i Sedan. So, one more time, a hearty Autoblog congratulations to Michael Cooper and his Cadillac CTS-V challenging BMW M3. The one with the fancy new steering wheel.

Cadillac CTS-V Challenge: So Yeah, BMW Kinda Won

Let's be clear about something here: The CTS-V Challenge was not, strictly a fair race. It was a publicity stunt. Cadillac acknowledges this. Still, as a publicity stunt, it was a hell of a lot more fun than basically every other car-maker publicity stunt we've attended.

And it's a stunt that a young guy, who claimed to be a Skip Barber school graduate but not a racer, won in his BMW M3. His fast lap of 2:50:424 was the fastest single lap of any driver that wasn't a ringer (Heinricy, Link and Redman). No other CTS-V could touch him.

Here, for the record, are the final lap times of the day:

Mystery Driver (Johnny O'Connell), CTS-V, ringer, 2:45:537
John Heinricy, CTS-V, ringer, 2:46:560
Aaron Link, CTS-V, ringer, 2:48:902
Brian Redman, CTS-V, ringer, 2:49:596
Michael Cooper, BMW M3, private owner, 2:50:424
Jack Baruth, CTS-V, journalist, 2:51:153
Lawrence Ulrich, CTS-V, journalist, 2:53:157
Bob Lutz, CTS-V, The Bob, 2:56:321
Michael Mainwald, BMW M5, private owner, 3:05:398
Wes Siler, Mitsubishi Evo, journalist, 3:08:126
Chris Fairman, CTS-V, private owner, 3:14:292
Archan Basu, Jaguar XF, private owner, 3:15:670
Tom Loder, Audi RS4, private owner, 3:15:702


Read more: http://forums.motortrend.com/70/7881...#ixzz0ZtoXYA9c

[Bear]

Soooooooooooooo, which car made it around fastest?

[UCI CamaroFan]

Why is this in the Camaro General Discussion?

[Captain Awesome]

Originally Posted by Black GT

.CTS-V Challenge driver and M3 owner Michael Cooper gets pat on the back from BMW
by Jonny Lieberman (RSS feed) on Dec 14th 2009 at 5:29PM


Michael Cooper and his Cadillac CTS-V-challenging BMW M3 - click above for high-res image gallery

This guy. So, some of you no doubt remember the Cadillac CTS-V Challenge. If you don't, here's a refresher: General Motors vice-chairman Maximum Bob Lutz challenged any journalist to bring a CTS-V competitor to California's Laguna Seca where the 77-year-old Lutz would mop the floor with he/she and whatever fancy-pants, Euro sedan they done brung. Of course, the event got moved to New York's Monticello Motor Club, and to guarantee that the Cadillac didn't lose, GM brought in a backup pilot, John Hienricy, the company's noted hot shoe engineer and race car driver. And then every other manufacturer (Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar) decided not to play into GM's marketing ploy, and withdrew their cars' support.

To be frank, we here at Autoblog toyed with the idea of throwing our hoon-hat in the ring, but after Heinricy became Cadillac's ace in the hole, we figured the whole challenge was unwinnable (we've driven with Mr. Heinricy – he's that good). While it would no doubt have been fun, totally playing into General Motor's hands like that (by also losing), well, not so much. Luckily, privateer Michael Cooper and his BMW M3 wasn't in on our conference call.

Mr. Cooper showed up to the Caddy Challenge and laid down a 2:50.424, beating not only Bob Lutz's 2:56.321 in the way more powerful CTS-V, but our pals Lawrence Ulrich (2:53:026) and Jack Baruth (2:51:153), both of whom were driving the big supercharged Caddy. Not surprisingly, Heinricy blew the doors off of every single person, ripping off a 2:46.560. Probably while flossing. But let's not overlook young Michael Cooper, who with 142 less horsepower and a boatload less torque to work with came in less than four seconds behind John (ringer *cough* ringer) Hienricy.

BMW was so taken by Mr. Cooper's feat of good driving that they reportedly invited him down to their North American headquarters in New Jersey and gave him a BMW Performance Multifunction Steering Wheel. How else to thank the guy that tossed such an effective monkey wrench into GM's marketing plans? BMW installed the wheel in Cooper's M3 while he was given a ride in a special BMW Performance enhanced 335i Sedan. So, one more time, a hearty Autoblog congratulations to Michael Cooper and his Cadillac CTS-V challenging BMW M3. The one with the fancy new steering wheel.

Cadillac CTS-V Challenge: So Yeah, BMW Kinda Won

Let's be clear about something here: The CTS-V Challenge was not, strictly a fair race. It was a publicity stunt. Cadillac acknowledges this. Still, as a publicity stunt, it was a hell of a lot more fun than basically every other car-maker publicity stunt we've attended.

And it's a stunt that a young guy, who claimed to be a Skip Barber school graduate but not a racer, won in his BMW M3. His fast lap of 2:50:424 was the fastest single lap of any driver that wasn't a ringer (Heinricy, Link and Redman). No other CTS-V could touch him.

Here, for the record, are the final lap times of the day:

Mystery Driver (Johnny O'Connell), CTS-V, ringer, 2:45:537
John Heinricy, CTS-V, ringer, 2:46:560
Aaron Link, CTS-V, ringer, 2:48:902
Brian Redman, CTS-V, ringer, 2:49:596
Michael Cooper, BMW M3, private owner, 2:50:424
Jack Baruth, CTS-V, journalist, 2:51:153
Lawrence Ulrich, CTS-V, journalist, 2:53:157
Bob Lutz, CTS-V, The Bob, 2:56:321
Michael Mainwald, BMW M5, private owner, 3:05:398
Wes Siler, Mitsubishi Evo, journalist, 3:08:126
Chris Fairman, CTS-V, private owner, 3:14:292
Archan Basu, Jaguar XF, private owner, 3:15:670
Tom Loder, Audi RS4, private owner, 3:15:702


Read more: http://forums.motortrend.com/70/7881...#ixzz0ZtoXYA9c

I didn't know that being an engineer qualified you as a Professional Driver...

[Kalenn]

You can find a thread already about this here: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56251

[Ravirn]

Originally Posted by Mindz

So a developer is now a professional driver? Didn't know that Aaron Link got paid to drive. I thought he got paid to design/create...

My cousin, Mike, is a development engineer for Chrysler in Michigan. He estimates that approx. 40% of his time is spent driving the vehicles he develops. Yep, they get paid to design & create. Can't do that without actually driving the vehicle, though. Mike's count is over 40,000 laps of Chrysler's test track.

So I asked him if he's a professional driver. Answer: "On Chrysler vehicles, hell yes". Aaron, like Mike, gets paid to design AND drive. I can't think of a better job.

[Ravirn]

Originally Posted by 1320junkie

I gave him a chance...Troll Hunter's Inc.........

[ckaram]

Originally Posted by UCI CamaroFan

Why is this in the Camaro General Discussion?

'Cause he drives a Mustang

[kaler]

So who is this guy? Mystery Driver (Johnny O'Connell), CTS-V, ringer, 2:45:537 According to Car and Driver he had the fastest lap in the CTS-V.

FYI.. For the guys that have never seen an almost 5 sec. faster lap on a race track its a fricken HUGE gap.Im just say'n