Impressive group of hypercars "drag" racing

[masraum]

These videos usually have too much commentary by some guy that follows these things around or wanders around car shows. This one is a bit different. There's no commentary, and they face off in a loosely organized drag race on a runway. Still, it's an impressive collection of cars including all manner of hyper cars and even some older cars like Merc 300SL and Ferrari 250GT. It's entertaining and scary to see some of the starts and bad driving. Fortunately, most of the cars have some sort of "just mash the gas pedal" mode, I think.

[HardDrive]

It really gives you a sense of just how fast a Veyron is when a Lambo SV gets a huge advantage off the line, and the Veyron easily closes the distance and goes ahead by 4 car lengths.

[herr_oberst]

It's embarrassing how few of the cars I can "name" on sight. I recognize most of them but nuance is lost. 16 year old herr_O would be mocking me.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

It's embarrassing how few of the cars I can "name" on sight. I recognize most of them but nuance is lost. 16 year old herr_O would be mocking me.

Some are legitimately obscure offerings.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

It's embarrassing how few of the cars I can "name" on sight. I recognize most of them but nuance is lost. 16 year old herr_O would be mocking me.

Yeah, I have the same issue. It seems like every year 2-3 new Lambo variants come out. Koenigsegg doesn't create nearly as many, but I'm not 100% up on those either (and I'm a huge fan). I think McLaren is similar.

Still, even if I don't know them all, they are still amazing. I'd love to have the kind of "problem" that it takes to have to decide which one I was going to buy first.

Hell, I'd be happy just to get a ride down a runway in one or two.

[A930Rocket]

Looks like a lot of drivers had a hard time getting off the line cleanly. I would have thought they would just press the go pedal.

[rusnak]

I'm obsessed with suspension alignment at the moment. Can you guys tell me why so many of these cars look to be running near zero negative camber? Even F1 cars run more negative camber than these street cars. I get the stiff chassis and suspension, but body roll is body roll.

[ckelly78z]

I loved seeing the Toyota 2000, and the Merc run.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by rusnak

I'm obsessed with suspension alignment at the moment. Can you guys tell me why so many of these cars look to be running near zero negative camber? Even F1 cars run more negative camber than these street cars. I get the stiff chassis and suspension, but body roll is body roll.

I think part of the deal is that different cars, suspensions, tire sizes, etc... do better with different amounts of camber. Also, if you aren't taking your car to the track or even pushing it hard on the street, you don't need that much camber, especially if the car has other attributes that give it huge grip.

I believe that as chassis and tires get wider and suspension gets stiffer, less negative camber is used to ensure that the tires have optimum traction in all circumstances. My understanding is that you can go overboard with negative camber and hurt other aspects of handling/grip (like braking and acceleration).

[masraum]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

Looks like a lot of drivers had a hard time getting off the line cleanly. I would have thought they would just press the go pedal.

Right, I noticed a couple of stalls on the line and then there was the Lambo that seemed to think a burnout was the best way to launch.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

I loved seeing the Toyota 2000, and the Merc run.

Absolutely. Very cool. I especially like how the Merc had a suit case and skis mounted on the trunk.

[pavulon]

Putting dark or black wheels on dark or black wedge-shaped cars makes it pretty tough to differentiate between them. I kinda hate black wheels but the OG Mennonites love them.

[GH85Carrera]

At least they went to a nice long safe runway and did it all legally, and not on the highway.

I guess the folks that own ultra expensive high performance cars can point and shoot them in a straight line and get to feel the power. Not something that any of those cars can do legally for more than a couple of seconds on the road.

[RANDY P]

it's all the rage to zero camber the rear for traction.

Pop culture is about straight line these days. Then again, these cars would be a handful on any track with most drivers.

[GH85Carrera]

Yea, the F1 cars are lucky to get 100 miles out of a set of 4 tires. Most people want to get several thousand miles. Well except the drifters, they think 10 minutes is a long lasting set of tires.

[Oracle]

Cars are fine.
But it really shows that rich people can't drag race.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Oracle

Cars are fine.
But it really shows that rich people can't drag race.

Hahah, correct observation. And I suspect more than a few of those cars have some sort of launch control that allows you to basically just mat the gas pedal and hang on.

[ErVikingo]

Originally Posted by masraum

Hahah, correct observation. And I suspect more than a few of those cars have some sort of launch control that allows you to basically just mat the gas pedal and hang on.

My car is not at that level (Audi R8 V10 Plus Gen 2) but yes, they have Launch Control. I'm not a drag racer but have launched the car manually and with the computer control. My best 0-60 2.6 vs the computer 2.4. I figure that the computer works its magic considering spin on each tire, deciding on torque transfer fr/rr, etc.

More fun to do it manually. I have the ability to switch every driver's aid through a "secret" combination of switch presses.

Drag racing is the new thing. Hard to drive anywhere without someone trying to race you on the traffic lights.

[Dantilla]

It looked to me that several drivers opted away from a hard launch, probably to save wear on very expensive clutches.
We're going to get to finally drive at max acceleration, in a safe environment, instead of idling slowly by the neighborhood Starbucks, with hoards of gawkers taking video.

Looks like it was about enjoying hard acceleration, rather than actual competition.

I have driven a friend's Lamborghini on the track several times, and have never gone full throttle in first gear. When entering the track, 1st gets gets it rolling, and only after the revs are climbing in 2nd to I slowly roll on the throttle.
Though well-engineered, why put that much torque on the axles/CV joints when it's not necessary?
Just hot laps, no trophies or prize money anywhere around. The guy wants his car back intact.

[pwd72s]

Reminds me of an old Top Gear show...the lads making the mistake of taking a trio of supercars to a USA drag strip...and getting smoked by the regulars. Clarkson, sad faced; "I don't think I like drag racing."