How far we've come: Seemingly mismatched drag racing
I've been marveling lately at this new horsepower revolution we're in the middle of, and how it in some ways dwarfs the first one; the muscle car age. For those who haven't been keeping score, let's put some old and new classics on a hypothetical drag strip built from test numbers/statistics and have at it..
First race:
1969 Pontiac GTO "The Judge" vs
2009 Toyota Camry V6
The definitive muscle car versus the definitive family car. The Judge versus the desk clerk. Not much of a race here on first glance, just two good examples from two completely different genres of car. Solid Detroit Iron and Solid Japanese plastic.
They look even more disparate side-by-side on a track, and as the light goes green, the Judge builds up a just-right amount of wheelspin with a bit of smoke from the rear, as does the Camry with a bit of smoke from
the front, and the Camry pulls ahead notably. The rest of the race is the Judge slowly catching up - including at the finish line. The GTO is rolling a full 5 mph faster than the Toyota, but is a tenth of a second behind. A couple hundred more feet might even things, but the Camry gets the win.
Results -(0-60/E.T.@mph)
Camry - 5.8/14.3@93
Judge - 6.2/14.4@98
Maybe we just need a muscle car with a bigger engine..
Second race:
1970 Buick GSX vs
2009 Subaru WRX
Talk about disparate, now we've got 455 cubic inches versus 150. 510 lb-ft of torque versus 244. The GSX represents a bygone horsepower era for Buick, and certainly looks the part, while the Subaru resembles a rental sedan with a "look-at-how-Fast-And-Furious-I-Am" hood scoop.
But it all goes upside-down on the track; the Buick's rear wheels spool up a perfect launch just in time to see the Subaru lean back on its haunches and rocket away without so much as chirping the tires. It would take a persistent GSX driver to continue at this point - the Subaru is so far ahead that it looks like an eleven second car. And with both competitors keeping the throttle buried, the Buick crosses the finish line a third of a second behind and one mph slower, a solid win for the "Rex".
Results -(0-60/E.T.@mph)
WRX - 4.7/13.5@102
GSX - 6.5/13.8@101
Maybe the modern car entrant just needs a weight handicap..
Third race:
1966 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 427 vs
2010 BMW X5M
Well no example of modern cars would be complete without at least one SUV in there somewhere, and the Bimmer's 5,300lb curb weight gives one heck of an edge to the more than a ton lighter Vette. Plus the X5 is an automatic.
And it happens again; the Corvette driver is instantly treated to the view of the back end of a newer car pulling away without drama, but this time it's an SUV with a three-ton tow rating. The Stingray manages to match the BMW for speed farther down the track, but the big German box flies across the finish line a third of a second quicker.
Results -(0-60/E.T.@mph)
BMW - 4.0/12.5@112
Corvette - 5.4/12.8@112
Let's just skip to the big guns..
Fourth race:
1966 Shelby Cobra 427 vs
2010 Porsche Panamera
The race car driver's race car versus ..a sedan? Trying to race 4400lbs of grand touring leather and electronic gizmos against the ultimate stripped-down barely-legal racer? The Cobra's 6lbs per horsepower essentially created the 0-100-0mph test, so no sedans should need apply..
Except for this particular Porsche with the unsightly hatchback, which is all the Cobra gets to see from the moment the light turns green. The Cobra driver must ride the fine line between too much wheelspin and not enough RPMs, carefully feathering the throttle and minding the lateral sliding. Meanwhile the Porsche driver is not so involved; the launch control feature plus a sequential semi-auto transmission means you just mash the accelerator for a perfect launch, and leave it there for perfect shifts. The Cobra driver expertly eases off the throttle just slightly between gear changes, matching revs seamlessly while slamming the heavy "lunk-thunk" shifter into each gear right on time. The Porsche driver reduces the climate control temperature a bit, sips a beverage, and searches the XM radio for some fitting, upbeat jazz tracks, maybe some Charlie Parker. And about then the Porsche sails past the finish line a full half second ahead of the Shelby, and still faster.
Results -(0-60/E.T.@mph)
Porsche - 3.3/11.7@119
Shelby - 4.3/12.2@118
So that's an idea of how far we've come. And this doesn't take into account the huge discrepancies if one of these cars gets into an accident, or gas mileage, or reliability, etc. It's quite an era for cars we're in..