A race you'd like to see

[scubasteve87]

I wanna see fully trimmed out F1 cars or LMP prototypes run the indy oval just to see how fast they could go.

[Rockefella]

Close off New York City. Put in Formula 1 Cars. Race. Rinse and repeat.

[Esperante]

Close off New York City. Put in Formula 1 Cars. Race. Rinse and repeat.

I've had this recurring dream in which Broadway was closed from Battery Park to Columbus Circle, at 54th st it went along the south border of the Park, turned south on Lexington, over to 42nd, under Park Avenue, over to Fourth Avenue, East on 41st, North on Park, along the Grand Central and under Met Life, then West on 45th to 5th Avenue, dwon to about 13th street or so, then veered West onto the FDR, where it continued along the North border of Battery Park and then met up with Broadway again. It was all conducted in chameleon green painted Panoz GTR-1 against this freak fleet of Type 52 Vokswagen Beetles.

I know, I have issues.

[Fleet 500]

I would like to see a race between a '69 Plymouth 'Cuda 340 and '69 Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3.
I got the idea from the magazine "Car Life." In fact they actually did race their test 'Cuda against a Road & Track magazine test car's Mercedes. To quote from the article:

"National pride made the challenge mandatory. A European manufacturer has gone into the supercar business, with the huge engine from the limousine installed in an intermediate-size sedan. When only Americans did this, the Europeans denounced to practice as vulgar. Now it is proclaimed as advanced engineering and the factory claims its new creation will put the hurt on America's finest

Another magazine, the name of which we forgot, brought one of these SuperGermans to the track on the day Car Life was there with Plymouth's pocket Road Runner, the 'Cuda 340. In the style of a Western shoot-em-up, we ambled over, and allowed as how the Barracuda isn't the fastest thing in Mopar's line-up, and the 340 isn't the biggest engine available in the Barracuda, but would they care to step over to the starting line, just to find out if...?

They would. It was a tought fight, but the 'Cuda won, three out of three. It gained a few feet off the line, and stayed there until both cars were in high gear. Then the 'Cuda pulled away, and kept on pulling past the 1/4 mile until both cars ran out of track.

Sportsmanship requires us to say here that the import was geared for cruising, not accelerating and that it was loaded with air conditioning and all manner of luxury equipment. But it cost something like $10,000 more than the 'Cuda and that's the point. The 'Cuda is a Ponycar in the Road Runner manner." (End quote)

Here are the actual track test performance figures:
(Car Life, Nov., 1968; Road & Track, Nov., 1968)

------------------------- '69 340 'Cuda----------- '69 Mecedes 6.3
Engine/hp/Torque-------- 340/275/340------------ 386/300/435
Compression ratio-------- 10.5:1------------------ 9.0:1
Curb weight-------------- 3,470 lbs--------------- 4,010 lbs
Transmission type-------- 4-speed manual--------- 4-speed automatic
1st gear ratio------------ 2.66:1------------------ 3.98:1
Rear axle ratio------------ 3.91:1----------------- 2.85:1
0-30 mph----------------- 2.8 secs--------------- 2.9
0-60 mph----------------- 7.1-------------------- 6.9
0-80 mph----------------- 10.9------------------- 12.0
0-100 mph---------------- 15.6------------------- 18.4
1/4 mile------------------- 14.93 secs @ 96.63 mph 15.1 secs @ 90 mph
Passing:40-60 mph-------- 3.4 secs---------------- 3.1
------- 50-70 mph-------- 3.4--------------------- 3.9
Fuel mileage, test cond.--- 12.8 mpg--------------- N.A.
- Normal driving----------- 11-14 mpg-------------- 12.8 mpg

[Turbonutter55]

London to Cannes, Jaguar XJR vs. M5 vs. Quattroporte vs. 300C SRT-8. No stops (cars refuelled from the air). Equal weight given to quickest finish and greatest comfort.

Land Rover Defender 90 vs. Hummer H1, on any off-road circuit. Prove the supremacy of British engineering!

[sunk]

Mini Cooper S vs Ferrari Enzo......
in the himalayas

also, a Dodge Charger vs Ferrari Daytona