https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaS7n6qKQe4
8.4 million and counting. That's how many views our inaugural "World's Greatest Drag Race" video has earned in the 12 months since it first debuted on our Motor Trend YouTube channel. Not too shabby, eh?
As we did last year, for "World's Greatest Drag Race 2" (creative title, we know), we lined up this year's Best Driver's Car contenders on a retired runway at the El Toro Marine Corps base and let them loose in an all-out run to the quarter-mile checkered flag. It's the perfect capper to our Best Driver's Car Week.
All of us here at Motor Trend hope you enjoy watching "World's Greatest Drag Race 2" as much as we did producing it. Without further ado, turn up the volume and let 'er rip!
THE CARS
Though we were down two cars from a year ago, this year's nine-car field was almost as stellar when it came to total horsepower and overall cost of the sheetmetal on hand. How does roughly $1.2 million and 4700 horsepower sound? Yeah, we thought so.
Here's how this year's BDC contenders stacked up against last year's:
2012 BDC Competitor Base Price (Rounded Up) Horsepower/Torque (lb-ft)
2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 $56,000 580/556
2013 Ford Shelby GT500 $55,000 662/631
2012 Jaguar XKR-S $133,000 550/502
2011 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 $383,000 691/509
2012 McLaren MP4-12C $231,000 592/443
2013 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series $106,000 510/457
2013 Nissan GT-R Black Edition $98,000 545/463
2012 Porsche Carrera S $97,000 400/325
2013 Subaru BRZ $28,000 200/151
Total $1,187,000 4730/4037
2011 BDC Competitor Base Price (Rounded Up) Horsepower/Torque (lb-ft)
2012 Audi R8 GT $201,000 560/398
2012 BMW 1 Series M $47,000 335/369
2012 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 with Z07 Package $77,000 505/470
2010 Ferrari 458 Italia $230,000 557/398
2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca $48,000 444/380
2012 Lexus LFA $380,000 552/354
2011 Lotus Evora S $77,000 345/295
2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG $187,000 563/479
2012 Nissan GT-R $91,000 530/448
2012 Porsche Cayman R $67,000 330/273
2011 Porsche 911 GT3 RS $140,000 450/317
Total $1,545,000 5171/4181
CAR CARE
One the biggest lessons we learned during our inaugural drag race was to hire a street sweeping truck to clear the runway prior to this year's event. A handful of cars suffered rock chip damage during last year's race and we didn't want that happening again.
For an extra layer of protection, we enlisted the help of our friends at Allegiance Aftermarket, distributors of PremiumShield and PremiumShield Elite clear film systems. National manager Earl Mangune and his detail-oriented team installed thin clear film on the front fascias of each of our 2012 contenders. Every film system -- prices range from $600-$1000 -- was custom cut and took 2-3 hours to install.
We had each windshield protected as well. There is minor blurriness after the film is applied to glass, but it proved well worth it. It's important to note that we only had the film on the windshield during the drag race and not on public roads. This year, not one of the cars had any noticeable paint or windshield damage.
Just as important as protecting each car was making sure we had extra rubber on hand. Another of our partners, Tire Rack, provided a set of OEM-grade shoes for the McLaren MP4-12C, Ford Shelby Mustang GT500, and this year's Best Driver's Car winner, the Porsche Carrera 911 S. The remaining contenders had an extra set provided by their own PR and engineering teams. Getting all that rubber to our numerous testing and photo/video locations required a competent hauler -- good thing we had an empty long-term 2012 Nissan NV2500 to stuff, making use of our considerable Tetris skills in the process.
THE TEST TEAM'S TAKE
Our ace test crew consists of road test editor Scott Mortara, associate road test editor and Motor Trend YouTube star Carlos Lago, testing director Kim Reynolds, and technical director Frank Markus. In any given year they'll gather instrumented data on hundreds of new rides, from the tiniest Fiat to the beastliest Lamborghini. More often than not, they're the ones who teach the rest of us how to properly launch a vehicle. Cars can be finicky, especially in multi-launch "World's Greatest Drag Race" situations.
I pinned down Mortara for a quick Q&A session after the BDC dust settled.
NM: Which of the contenders was the trickiest to launch?
SM: Well, all but the Subaru BRZ and Jaguar XKR-S had some sort of launch control system, which basically takes the driver out of the launching equation. But of the pair, the Jaguar was definitely trickier.
NM: Easiest to launch?
SM: Without a question that had to be the Porsche. It had the quickest and easiest launch control of the group.
NM: How many sets of tires did we burn through during the filming of "WGDR 2"?
SM: We burned through a set in the Shelby GT500 -- that was a cinch. It went through its tires more aggressively during the drag race than during our hot laps at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which is understandable. But the real tire terror was the Mercedes-Benz Black Series. We killed two sets of tires in that one. It's a monster.
WHAT THE MAN BEHIND THE CAMERA SAYS
Lead videographer Jim Gleason wanted to be careful not to tinker too much with the formula that made last year's drag race so successful. We talked with him about what went into this year's production.
NM: How did you and the team want to build upon the success of last year's "WGDR"?
JG: For this year's race we wanted to keep things pretty much in line with what we did last year. Other than some new and improved equipment, we felt that there was simply no need to mess with the tried and tested formula. Drag racing on a runway filled with exotic cars is just plain cool.
NM: What did you learn during the filming of 2011's "WGDR" that you applied in 2012?
JG: For me, the biggest takeaway from last year's race was how poor of a job we did at capturing the sound of 11 super cars running at full song down a runway. In person, the sound was absolutely breathtaking. This year we purchased better sound gear. We've also been toying with the idea of releasing a second version of the "World's Greatest Drag Race" with no music so you can hear the cars better -- an unplugged version, if you will.
NM: How much footage did your team capture during "WGDR 2"?
JG: Hard to say how many minutes we captured, but my best guess has our total workload at about half a terabyte of data. That's just for the drag race portion of BDC.
NM: How many camera angles were shot during "WGDR 2"?
JG: Including our POVs, I'd say we shot at least 40 different angles.
NM: What the most difficult part of shooting such an event?
JG: The start! Getting all of the cars to leave the line at the exact same moment is surprisingly difficult. It's a simple task with two cars or even four, but with 9 or 10, it's a whole other animal.
NM: The easiest part?
JG: Getting volunteers from our staff to drive the cars. They came running!
Post Script: It's only August, and we've still got Best Driver's Car on the brain, which means we're already dreaming about 2013. Here are just some of the cars we'd like to throw into the ring: the turbocharged BRZ; the new Porsche Cayman; the Aston Martin Vanquish; the Jaguar F-Type and the Nurburgring Edition XKR-S with the massive wing, splitter, and flics; SRT Viper; BMW M3/M4/M5/M6; Cadillac ATS-V; SLS Black Series; Audi R8 V10 with seven-speed, dual-clutch S tronic; the 2013 McLaren MP4 12C; Ferrari F12 Berlinetta; and maybe even the Pagani Huayra. Hey, why not? See you next year.
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Lepek88 Aug 28, 2012
I love how Motor Trends tends to leave out the Corvette ZR1 out of both of the Greatest Races. A Subaru? Really guys! I bet next year they will put in a ZR1 but the rest of the cars are going to suck. The World Greatest Drag Race 1 and 2 wasnt really that great of a race.
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Rockdad Aug 28, 2012
Anyone know the music in the vid? Shazam doesn't.
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ne1butu Aug 27, 2012
So the GT-R and the Mustang was beaten by a $380K car and a $230k car. I don't think that's embarrassing at all.
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BMWowner Aug 25, 2012
wtf? how did a 400hp/350tq Porsche 911 beat 580hp/556tq Camaro zl1???? and it beat the jaguar sitting at 550hp/502tqCongrats Porsche,showing everyone that power isn't everything.Damn 12.0sec 1/4mile with 400hp?wow.
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xkaliber22 Aug 25, 2012
F**king cool!! You guys are lucky to be able to drive all of these cars!!!!
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mushy Aug 25, 2012
KMP has a point. the times and trap speeds of GTR, ZL1, and GT500 are from previous tests. not saying its staged or anything, this is the order they finish if you run them individually. just cant imagine 9 cars putting down their best times on a single run. Oh and the BRZ finishing 2 different ways kinda shows that it was multiple takes.
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BlackDynamiteNYC Aug 25, 2012
NICKThe Lambo and McLaren are running under 3 seconds 0-60The Viper probably would catch the GTR, but not those two. It would be playing from behind.The Lambo has AWD traction. The McLaren is about 300 lbs lighter than the Viper, but only gives up 50 HPBD
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NICKOO Aug 25, 2012
No corvette (camaro? are you kidding me??) and the wrong Porsche?? Next year I can't wait to see the dodge viper invited, I suspect that NA torque monster v-10 gets it done.
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M270A1 Aug 24, 2012
hahahaha loved BRZ there so funny.
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BlackDynamiteNYC Aug 24, 2012
KMPThe times and distances look pretty accurate to me.I call BS....BD
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Kendizzzle Aug 24, 2012
Does the BRZ actually have a slightly better launch than the Merc?
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KMPrenger Aug 24, 2012
You guys do realize that they do these runs over and over again...and the times you see in the paused video is not exactly the times they are running. (hence the distance between some cars is not accurate for the times shown at the end of the video)Just thought I should point that out for everyone :)
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BlackDynamiteNYC Aug 24, 2012
The Nissan is fading into irrelevance. When a relic like the Shelby Mustang is flashing it's lights to pass, it's time for a redesign, and a salad......BD
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tenderloin Aug 24, 2012
Cruzin The Shelby was closing. Trap speed was faster. You say the HP. I say $55,000 vs $100,000. Shelby does 200. Nissan? Not so much. Nissan is a great vehicle. Why trash the Shelby when figures show it was catching the Nissan.
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Cruzin4now Aug 24, 2012
Long live Godzilla!!!! That car is just mean. Some idiots below suggest the GT500 was catching it or could have. Stupid... Did you see the replay!!!!!!!!! There was at least a 5 car gap between the two at the line. What an bunch of idiots!!! A very distant 4th place finish for a might 662hp behemouth. It got beat - that all there is to it.
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British_Boy_007 Aug 24, 2012
The part with them revving at the end is just beautiful. The ZL1 sounds bad-ass, the McLaren sounds like a an angry mob yelling at you and the Lambo is simply violent. By contrast, the GT-R sounds like a Prius running in EV mode compared to the rest. Very disappointing.
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British_Boy_007 Aug 24, 2012
The average hp/car is 525.5. Thats pretty incredible. Last year's average was 470.1hp. If you don't count the BRZ, the average jumps to 566.25hp!
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frcastellanos Aug 24, 2012
just love it! what a bunch of dream machines. love the lambo aventador and loved the brz's performance at the end of the race :D
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GemLeKiH Aug 24, 2012
Had to listen to the exhaust notes more than once I loved every bit of it(the BRZ while not sounding very loud in the video sounds loud proud and great in person)
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red98cobra Aug 24, 2012
I agree with the results, but the Shelby(125.7mph) was catching the GT-R(124.8mph) that's what I like to see :)
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BlackDynamiteNYC Aug 24, 2012
BRZ at 6.3/14.9 isn't slow.....These cars are just freakin' fast!BD
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BTRDAYZ Aug 24, 2012
I now have 2 annual auto tests to look forward to. Car & Driver's Lightning Lap issue, and Motor Trend's Worlds Greatest Drag Race. But nothing compares to opening WGDR on a large screen and watching the video. It's CRAZY EXCITING!Next year, be sure to add Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. I also wondered how my little Audi TT RS might have fared!Great Job!
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Mad Money Blue 82 Aug 24, 2012
What a freaking race... One thing for sure, the GTR maybe a lil overrated now.. If it wasn't for that PERFECT awd launch, the Shelby would've taken it. Extremly disappointed in the launch of the Benz and the Jag.. The jags time pretty much matches a mustang GT. IMO... the best sound goes to the Benz and best effort with a good laugh goes to the BRZ whos invitation won't go un-noticed. It's just not a car for racers.. It may drive good but jeeze is that thing slow...
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The NABG Aug 24, 2012
nicely done! Loved the sounds of each (except maybe the BRZ)...
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Dash Rendar Aug 24, 2012
Oh my gawd I came so hard when they all started revving. That Benz. The Camaro. The Shelby. Hell all of them sound positively epic (well maybe not so much the BRZ)
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BlackDynamiteNYC Aug 24, 2012
The C63 AMG blew the launch, and was last off the lineGreat job by the McLaren! Almost beat King Kong!The Nissan and Chevy need to have a salad.The BRZ was last, but it was last in style! A true pimp til the very end.....BD
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