That's right, the World's Greatest Drag Race, hosted by Motor Trend since 2010, has returned. Every year, these journalists ask big automakers for their newest, fastest and most entertaining sheet metal.
For the drag race portion of the event, the fun doesn't really matter. In fact, a manual gearbox and RWD drivetrain can be the exact opposite of what's needed.
We're disappointed with the 2015 lineup. Yes, we get to see the sexy styling cues of 10 new cars, but some aren't that that exciting. Let's take the Golf R, for instance: it's been around in Europe since 2013. Lexus RC F: we already know that it's slower than everything else in its segment. Mister Lieberman, what happened to the Aventador LP750-4 SV and the latest twin-turbo Ferrari 488 GTO?
In the absence of Italian competition, Mercedes and Cadillac cheat by bringing over two cars instead of just one. Does it help? Yes and no, but we'll get to that later.
There are only three cars that have a chance of winning this awesome drag race: the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, the Bentley Continental GT3-R and the Mercedes-AMG GT S.
Thanks to 650 horsepower and the same amount of torque, the Z06 is the biggest, baddest Corvette ever made. With a 0 to 60 time of 3.6 seconds and a quarter mile time of 11.4 seconds, it's not the fastest car in this race. That's why it loses off the line to the more technologically advanced Europeans. However, the sheer grunt of the supercharged V8 engine compensates later on.
The fact that it can reach 200 mph and win against the best cars from Mercedes or Bentley means that the Corvette is a bargain at under $100,000. In fact, it has everything it needs to overshadow the Nissan GT-R if you also take its track capabilities into account.
But the AMG GT S is still the big winner. The way it combines performance and handling ensured Motor Trend named it 2015 Best Driver's Car. Does anybody still think it's not a worthy Porsche 911 alternative?
We're disappointed with the 2015 lineup. Yes, we get to see the sexy styling cues of 10 new cars, but some aren't that that exciting. Let's take the Golf R, for instance: it's been around in Europe since 2013. Lexus RC F: we already know that it's slower than everything else in its segment. Mister Lieberman, what happened to the Aventador LP750-4 SV and the latest twin-turbo Ferrari 488 GTO?
In the absence of Italian competition, Mercedes and Cadillac cheat by bringing over two cars instead of just one. Does it help? Yes and no, but we'll get to that later.
There are only three cars that have a chance of winning this awesome drag race: the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, the Bentley Continental GT3-R and the Mercedes-AMG GT S.
Thanks to 650 horsepower and the same amount of torque, the Z06 is the biggest, baddest Corvette ever made. With a 0 to 60 time of 3.6 seconds and a quarter mile time of 11.4 seconds, it's not the fastest car in this race. That's why it loses off the line to the more technologically advanced Europeans. However, the sheer grunt of the supercharged V8 engine compensates later on.
The fact that it can reach 200 mph and win against the best cars from Mercedes or Bentley means that the Corvette is a bargain at under $100,000. In fact, it has everything it needs to overshadow the Nissan GT-R if you also take its track capabilities into account.
But the AMG GT S is still the big winner. The way it combines performance and handling ensured Motor Trend named it 2015 Best Driver's Car. Does anybody still think it's not a worthy Porsche 911 alternative?