GM is making some good stuff lately.

[BLINGMW]

thanks for the link. And just as I suspected, no mention of controlling variables, no mention of whose driving what, what the temperatures were, or if they were all on the same day, or anything. And big surprise, as usual, they didn't bother to control the largest variable, tires. As soon as I read this, I stopped:

"The naturally aspirated Elise (190 horsepower) that ran at VIR in 2006 scampered around the 4.2-mile course in 3:09.2 versus 3:16.6 for the supercharged version.
That earlier Elise was equipped with wider and stickier tires, which offset the SCÔÇÖs extra punch."

So yeah, put the good tires on the SC Elise and it would have wasted the Cobalt. Better yet, make some attempt to put everyone on similar compound tires with sizes the same or close to factory sizes, and it might have been a worthwhile test. But no-one does that (other than GRM). They act like the tires that come from the factory are a permanent part of the car. And the manufacturers know this, so ship the Cobalt with some decent tires that don't last particularly long and make some compromises in NVH and you win. Another useless, but expensive, test.