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Kind of speaking to the previous discussion on this thread regarding power/weight and lap times. Here are a couple of my recent lap times in my E30 M3 GTS3 220whp racecar, which is ~200lbs heavy with respect to the GTS4 cutoff (I will pick up some more power and lose weight after sorting out the transmission which blew in my first race ever).
Track/Course: NJMP Thunderbolt
Best Lap Time: 1:32.8
Brakes: Wilwood
Tires (Size & Model): NT-01 with lots of heat cycles
Suspension: Bilstein GruppeN
Other Mods: ...
Track/Course: NJMP Lightning
Best Lap Time: 1:15.6
Brakes: Wilwood
Tires (Size & Model): Hankook Z214 medium compound DOT
Suspension: Bilstein GruppeN
Other Mods: ...
Seasoned E30 M3 racers say that the E36 M3 will pull away from the E30 due to higher low end torque (assuming well optimized cars for power/weight in GTS3). The runner ups I've seen are well worked up E36 M3s and they were about 2 sec faster than I am at Lightning (but I am heavy and my GruppeN suspension is pretty dated, but then, I am not in the fastest and most developed region either). I hear the dynamic is similar in other regions. I also hear the new winning setup is to enter GTS3 with an E46 M3, which have been reported to be about 2s faster than E36 M3s at Mid Ohio.
So although I think power/weight is a great first order parameter to consider for lap times and puts cars kind of within a reasonably tight range, it is not a very precise equalizer.
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