You're entering a drag race tournament with 63 other competitors. It will be set up in a tournament style bracket (think March Madness), with the winner of Car A and Car B facing the winner of Car C and Car D, and so on. If you lose you are eliminated from the tournament.

The cars will be seeded by manufacturer listed quarter mile time, with the fastest car getting the highest seed and the slowest car getting the lowest seed. So, the fastest car would face off against the slowest car, the second fastest against the second slowest, and so on.

The caveat? You only get one gallon of gas to complete the entire tournament.

You're allowed to choose any production car ever made to race in this tournament. The other 63 competitors will get the same choice, but no one can have the same car. You won't know what anyone else picks until the tournament begins.

Which car would you choose?

4/21/2010 9:01:17 AM

well this is an interesting dilemma. you on drugs this early in the morning?

I would say something 4 cyl and turbo would have a good shot.. SS cobalt / srtbag4.. sr20 240sx?

I dont even know if a car like that could make 6 passes on a gallon of gas

4/21/2010 9:06:46 AM

It's quite possible that none of the cars could make it to the final round, and I'm not sure how to account for that.

4/21/2010 9:14:16 AM

can't do 6 runs on one gallon of gas in a production car? Seriously? I agree that a big v8 and the thirsty italian v10/12s may have some problems, but they can short shift the early rounds easily.

4/21/2010 9:22:23 AM

toyota prius.

the car doesn't have to be fast. however, it does need to be consistent. since the prius would be in electric mode at the staging lights it won't be wasting any fuel and the fuel burned during the race would be minimal keeping the e/t's closer.

4/21/2010 10:54:41 AM

Is there a cap below which it isn't considered a production car anymore? If allowable I might chose a Ford RS200 Evo (~20 made, factory conversions from stock RS200), or if not, then the "regular" production version of the RS200 (200 produced to comply with FIA homologation rules). Lightweight AWD turbo 4, 0-60 times < 3 seconds.

^You don't get points for leftover fuel, do you? Plus I think the Prius would be doomed anyway, it would be one of the slower cars and you'd be seeded against probably something top 10 in speed, and get killed in the first round. Even if the faster car eventually runs dry, you still get bounced in the first elimination.

[Edited on April 21, 2010 at 11:02 AM. Reason : d]

4/21/2010 11:00:35 AM

Just give me the production car with the fastest 1/4 mile.

I can make 1 gallon work just by pussyfooting the first 5 rounds.

4/21/2010 11:07:03 AM

^

4/21/2010 11:56:13 AM

Quote :

"toyota prius. the car doesn't have to be fast. however, it does need to be consistent. since the prius would be in electric mode at the staging lights it won't be wasting any fuel and the fuel burned during the race would be minimal keeping the e/t's closer."

Have you ever seen the Top Gear video where they drove a Prius as fast as possible around their track while a M3 followed, keeping pace? The Pruis got 17 mpg, the M3 19.

Thus, I don't think the Prius is a good idea.

4/21/2010 12:27:11 PM

Quote :

"Just give me the production car with the fastest 1/4 mile. I can make 1 gallon work just by pussyfooting the first 5 rounds."

But if you look at a tournament style bracket, assuming the higher seeds always won, the second race would have you facing a #8 seed, and the third race would have you facing a #4 seed. The fourth would be agains a #2 seed. I doubt there would be much pussyfooting.

4/21/2010 12:32:34 PM

a prius would get eliminated early because it'd face off against a Z06 or something in the first round

mine would be between an Evo and an NSX, whichever gets better gas mileage. super consistent launching, mid/low-13s every time.

4/21/2010 1:07:15 PM

Quote :

"But if you look at a tournament style bracket, assuming the higher seeds always won, the second race would have you facing a #8 seed, and the third race would have you facing a #4 seed. The fourth would be agains a #2 seed. I doubt there would be much pussyfooting."

Doesn't matter. You know the cars are going to make at least three passes on a gallon. So the 56 slowest cars are automatically out of the competition. So now it's a competition between the remaining 8 cars that are legitimately fast. By pussyfooting the first three rounds my car is going to (hopefully) outlast my competitors. The gas limit probably won't matter until the last race anyway and I doubt there is a huge difference in consumption amongst the top cars.

[Edited on April 21, 2010 at 1:43 PM. Reason : l]

4/21/2010 1:42:05 PM

I'd get a Tesla...

4/21/2010 1:44:56 PM

for serious though...

4/21/2010 1:46:08 PM

i'd go zr1. wouldn't take much to beat just about anything.

4/21/2010 1:46:25 PM

guess motorcycles are a no go?

4/21/2010 1:57:01 PM

I'm thinking probably an Elise.

4/21/2010 2:05:03 PM

4/21/2010 2:07:56 PM

Caterham R500. 0-60 in 2.88 seconds with the sequential gearbox

4/21/2010 2:13:14 PM

Do Sevens, Atoms, and XBows count as production cars?

4/21/2010 2:18:21 PM

Quote :

"Which car would you choose?"

Quote :

"guess motorcycles are a no go?"

I guess not :carlface:

4/21/2010 2:28:21 PM

^^I have no idea. I don't want to complicate this too much, but I would hope people would follow the same general guidelines as they do for the WRC.

EDIT: As in "a minimum of 2500 cars of the competing model have to be built in one year, out of 25,000 for the entire range of the model."

[Edited on April 21, 2010 at 2:45 PM. Reason : ]

4/21/2010 2:43:13 PM

^that requirement actually rules out a whole lot of cars.

4/21/2010 4:18:59 PM

i'd choose a zr1 and take my chances with the gas. all of the slow cars would loose in the first round anyway.

4/21/2010 4:42:08 PM

^already called dibs!

4/21/2010 5:14:59 PM

So wait. This has to be a car where 25,000 of the range were produced that year? Shit, man...the last two cars I've owned don't even meet that requirement. Do they make 25K corvettes per year?

4/21/2010 5:29:38 PM

^ you really can't read can you...

4/21/2010 6:33:40 PM

The 500 hp versions of the

Caterham
or
Ariel Atom

Or the Caparo T1

(they are production cars)

FUCK the minimum production requirement.

4/21/2010 6:56:13 PM

I think I win with my Tesla.

4/21/2010 7:53:26 PM

okay, i don't understand why y'all are picking fast cars. or maybe it's because i've never seen March Madness. however, i was under the impression this was a bracket race meaning the closest to a dialed e.t. without going over wins. is that not the race in mind?

or, wait a sec., maybe march madness is basketball and the "bracket" y'all fucksticks are talking about is the one that is printed in the newspaper where you have to fill in each team by who you think is going to win?
i get it now. nevermind, i don't have a car. basketball sucks. no, i don't watch it. i thought we were talking about some real racing not some bullshit that involves dribbling a basketball down a dragstrip with a car of your choice without getting a spalding scuff on the paint.

[Edited on April 21, 2010 at 8:06 PM. Reason : -]

4/21/2010 8:02:46 PM

wat

4/21/2010 8:26:56 PM

I feel it should be pointed out that:

Natural aspiration is theoretically more efficient at extracting energy out of gasoline than possible with a
turbocharger at peak power output. It is only in terms of specific output that turbochargers improve
"efficiency", so unless your competition favors higher output levels per unit of displacement, going with a
turbocharger will likely result in a disadvantage.

When comparing the gas mileage of a smaller displacement turbocharged motor to that of a normally aspirated
but larger displacement motor, which produce similar maximum output, the turbocharged motor may
produce better fuel economy at partial load. That's often not the case either though, for example my C5
Corvette easily got 35+mpg on the highway, compare that to a 2 liter EVO for example at the low 20s. My 944
used to hit 30+ as well, none of my 944 turbos have come anywhere near that. On track fuel mileage is equally
dismal for the turbocharged cars from my experience.

Carry on.

[Edited on April 21, 2010 at 9:33 PM. Reason : formatting to fit the newly resized screen, thanks bigt!]

4/21/2010 9:32:32 PM

^ how do you explain BMW, MB, and Audi replacing their current NA M, AMG, and S/RS motors with smaller FI ones?

not only do they get the same max power (actually, more) and LOADS more torque, but also get around 20-25% MORE mpg.

even Ferrari is jumping on it for its future Enzo replacement.

4/21/2010 9:44:56 PM

^ because the engines aren't going full bore all of the time. If they were they would get worse gas mileage. There's a reason BSFC for n/a motors is a .45-.5 and fi motors are .55-.65. depending on super/turbo and how rich you should go to be safe.

4/21/2010 10:00:08 PM

Fuel economy at partial load can be reduced with smaller displacement/fewer cylinders, etc. (though this often
hadn't been the case). Packaging for the length of the engine may be another factor, and perhaps the ability to
base a higher output motor on a pre-existing architecture. In any event, what I've said can be directly verified
by research on the topic by many different scientists, it's not (just) my opinion, unless of course there's something
wrong with my recollection...

4/21/2010 10:01:25 PM

^^Bingo.

4/21/2010 10:02:19 PM

thanks.

i somehow missed the "partial load" in your post. makes sense with it.

also explains why when the germans announced they will be going with smaller FI inductions to improve efficiency i was like wait, that seems counterintuitive.

4/21/2010 10:19:56 PM

gearing has alot to do with your c5's gas mileage.. my ka24 240 got 27 hwy (4:10 gear) whereas the same car with the ls1 and a 3.91 gear got 33 mpg hwy.

Im starting to think that a faster car will carry the day. You can always sand-bag the first few races and just barely beat the competitor to save fuel.

4/21/2010 10:24:40 PM

Of course it does, but a small 4 cylinder with low compression probably doesn't make enough power to keep a car at 70mph @800rpm...

4/21/2010 10:53:05 PM

ok well if i can't have the zr1 i'll take the SSC Ultimate Aero

4/22/2010 8:31:59 AM

I still want one of these



I think they're still going to produce them.

4/22/2010 8:55:09 AM

Quote :

"As in "a minimum of 2500 cars of the competing model have to be built in one year, out of 25,000 for the entire range of the model.""

Oh, so "range of model" means during its lifespan. What a crappy way of stating something.

In that case I'm gonna pick the Dodge Viper. 8.3 liters of goodness. Okay forget that, less than 500 were sold last year. Corvette Z06 might be the one to go with.

[Edited on April 22, 2010 at 9:40 AM. Reason : k]

4/22/2010 9:38:38 AM