Life In The Cave: Gran Turismo: The Ranking Cars

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Gran Turismo: The Ranking Cars

Below are the cars which ranked as the top ten fastest around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's interior F1 track.

#10: Ferrari Enzo

Engine Displacement: 6000 cc
Power: 912 brake horse power
Torque: 600 foot pounds

The Enzo is a cool looking car for sure, but it's style is a bit flashy and over the top for me.

#9: Nissan GT-R

Engine Displacement: 3800 cc
Power: 856 brake horse power
Torque: 661 foot pounds

When you think of Nissan, you probably don't think of speed. However, the $90,000 GT-R is an absolute amazing speed-freak for the money. It comes from a long line of dominant Japanese racing cars titled the Skyline. I was excited when Nissan decided to bring the Skyline to America a few years ago. I really like this car.

#8: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

Engine Displacement: 6200 cc
Power: 793 brake horse power
Torque: 672 foot pounds

I think this car has amazing design and style, though I really don't care for the gull-wing doors at all.

#7: Lamborghini Murcielago

Engine Displacement: 6500 cc
Power: 873 brake horse power
Torque: 578 foot-pounds

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge Lamborghini fan. They are fast but again, they are just too flashy for me. And they have a ton of understear under heavy braking.

#6: Audi R8

Engine Displacement: 5200 cc
Power: 898 brake horse power
Torque: 577 foot-pounds

I like the R8 a lot. I like how the front looks like a standard Audi A6. I've seen a few of these driving around Carmel and they are sharp-looking cars.

#5: Chevrolet Corvette ZR1

Engine Displacement: 6162 cc
Power: 892 brake horse power
Torque: 830 foot pound

I've always been a big Corvette fan and I really, really like this ZR1. Overall I like what Chevrolet has done with the design and this thing is an absolute beast on the track. This car did a 7.26 lap stock at the Nurburgring which is amazing. With a MSRP greater than $110,000, this 'Vette is starting to get into super-car price range. Regardless, I'd love to drive one, or own one. Maybe for my mid-life crisis...

#4: Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

Engine Displacement: 5434 cc
Power: 936 brake horse power
Torque: 847 foot-pound

You have to hand it to Mercedes: They take risks with the designs of their super-cars. I think this splits people into either loving the look or hating it. I don't particularly care for the look of this car, though it is quite fast. Of the two Mercs on the list, I like the looks of the SLS AMG better. Both have the dumb gull-wing doors, though.

#3: Pagani Zonda

Engine Displacement: 7000 cc
Power: 868 brake horse power
Torque: 759 foot-pounds

The Zonda is a cool car for sure, but it definitely has that 1980's super-car styling. The only thing the above picture is missing is a blonde woman in a fluorescent bikini.

#2: Ford GT

Engine Displacement: 5400 cc
Power: 882 brake horse power
Torque: 756 foot pound

I've seen two of these cars in real life and they are very sharp cars, though I'm not a huge fan of the racing stripe.

#1: Bugatti Veyron

Engine Displacement: 7993 cc
Power: 1256 brake horse power
Torque: 1067 foot pounds

The fact that the Bugatti Veyron is included in this time trial is completely unfair. Everything about this car is over the top. The price - greater than $1,000,000. The engine has 16 cylinders and 4 turbos. The result? Speed so quick it is dumb. The top speed, in case you were wondering, greater than 265 miles per hour. The car is a bit clunky through the corners, but whenever you have a straight and those 4 turbos can fully kick in, the result is breath-taking speed. I actually think this car is a bit ugly, but you can't deny its speed. This car is so quick it's absurd.

THIS JUST IN: I was able to get my hands on a McLaren F1 last night and despite have 350 less brake horse power than the Veyron, it turned a lap around Indianapolis a full second quicker than the Veyron. the McLaren F1 was manufactured in 1994 and held the record for the quickest production car in the world for many years. It has a naturally aspirated engine and is very light, with a horse power to weight ration of nearly 1:1 (in kg). I thought it would challenge the Veyron but was shocked to see that it was a full second quicker. Absolutely amazing.