Rams Eye The Track Guy

And by 'Watch', I really mean listen. The M4 may be a bit quicker and lighter and the Alfa has a Ferrari-derived engine... but how can you argue with the bark of a twin-turbo AMG V8? Just listen to it! For comparison, especially since Sport Auto tend to be a bit slower than manufacturer tests, the M4 GTS did it in 7:37 when tested by the same Sport Auto driver, Christian Gebhardt. Although to be fair, the M4 GTS is a track-special and was on much stickier Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, so it would actually be a lot closer to the AMG with similar tires. The absolutely magnificent 981 Cayman GT4 did it in 7:42 on the same PIlot Sport Cup 2 tires and the same driver. The AMG's time is actually a very respectable time for something that isn't pretending to be a race car. And it's the last old guard in its segment still firing on 8 cylinders. Follow Ram's Eye The Track Guy on Facebook and Instagram! View this post on Instagr

The last iteration of the Shelby GT500 that debuted in 2012 as a 2013 model year had 663 hp and a claimed top speed of over 200 mph. While some publications tried and failed to replicate the top speed claim, you knew that somewhere under specific conditions, Ford probably was able to crack 200 mph. If you were expecting the new one with "over 700 hp" to also crack 200 mph (I was), you'd be wrong. Ford is going to equip the new Shelby GT500 with a 180 mph governor, meaning the GT500 will be electronically limited with a top speed of 180 mph. That is, at least until someone fiddles with it like they do with BMW's and remove the 155 mph limiter. Thankfully, it appears that top speed has been sacrificed at the altar of track performance. A More Balanced Pony Car A Ford spokesman told me that "Ford Performance engineers and professional drivers have found the sweet spot to make the all-new Shelby GT500 as fast as possible at both road courses and the drag

The local chapter of the BMW Club of America - BMW Club Atlantic - arranges one or two Advanced Driver Training weekends every year (HPDE's). That's where I started high performance driving nearly 8 years ago and where I made great friendships so I always look forward to it. I was just getting ready for the driver's meeting at the last event when one of the event's organizers came to me and said: "We have someone who needs an instructor. Can you take on a second driver?" (I was already assigned another 'student'; a guy with a 525 hp Saleen Mustang. You can read my track review for that one here ). I said: "Sure," so they assigned me this new student and I looked for their car on the driver/instructor assignment sheet. It was a 2015 Golf. I assumed it was a GTI because that's the first one that comes to mind when you hear of a Golf on track. But I looked at it, and it was very clearly not a GTI. I thought it must be a 1.8 TSI, the

It wasn't long ago that Brabham announced that it was returning to competition with the BT62 to compete at the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and Le Mans. They also announced that they will be building a road-legal version of their mighty BT62, likely to qualify for the GTE class requirements so it can compete at Le Mans. Capitalizing on that, Brabham was planning on taking a BT62 for demonstration laps in the build-up to the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour race that's running this weekend, but they gave the people a lot more than a few hot laps. With minimal testing on Thursday and with just four laps on Saturday, conditions were good so the BT62 test driver Luke Youlden went for a flying lap. That flying lap set a new track record of 1:58.67. The lap time is a verified clocked time, but it is labeled "unofficial" because it wasn't set during a competitive session. The previous lap record was 1:59.29, set by an unrestricted Audi R8 GT3 race car last year in

The McLaren Senna is not just about horsepower, of course. There's a lot more that goes into it and you can read all about it here where I compare it to a Dodge Viper ACR (they're MUCH closer than you think). But if you've got your heart set on an 800 hp McLaren and you missed out on the Senna, Hennessey is happy to oblige. If you aren't familiar with Hennessey, it is an aftermarket tuning company based in Texas that is no stranger to American cars like Corvettes, Camaros, Mustangs, and Challengers, and even tunes some trucks and SUVs. Hennessey also is a bit of a "boutique manufacturer". Its last car - the Venom GT - set multiple world speed records (some unofficial) and it was based on a Lotus Elise chassis with a modified twin-turbocharged version of the LS7 7.0 litre V8 in the C6 Chevrolet Corvette Z06. In Hennessey speak, HPE800 typically means it will make at least 800 hp. Their HPE800 Camaro SS makes 804 hp. Their HPE800 Cadillac CTS-V makes

The original Ford GT40 needs no introduction. It achieved instant race car celebrity status in 1966 when it did what was thought to be impossible; give a humble American car manufacturer like Ford the opportunity to beat the elite Ferrari at Le Mans. Most people know the highlight of the back story too. To spare you all the details, Ford was moving forward towards a deal to buy out Ferrari. Ferrari was interested, but Enzo Ferrari wanted to run their open wheel division themselves with full liberty. Ford didn't agree and Enzo pulled out of the deal. Angered by that, Henry Ford (junior) wanted to show Ferrari that Ford could beat them at their own game so they went out to build a race car to win at Le Mans. What isn't very well known, however, is the fact that Ford struggled at first. Ford (naturally) went to established European manufacturers that had experience racing, likely expecting that the American racing builders would know nothing about winning at Le Mans. Unfortun