But wait, what’s that? Something red, distorted now in the heat waves, but growing bigger, coming fast..... whooooosh! A Ferrari Testarossa pushing the overheated air ahead of it like a locomotive and then vanishing just as quickly as it has come. Did we really see it or was it a mirage caused by the molten temperatures and brain-altering dryness? What in the world would a car like that be doing in a place like this?
You guessed it, it’s the Motor Trendies..... indulging our high-speed fetish again. This time, we were at Nissan’s Arizona Test Center, with its 5.7-mile high-banked track plunked down on what has to be one of this planet’s best approximations of a lunar landscape. We were here, blasting around in the premier performers from the three most prominent car-producing continents, to find out which car really is the undisputed fastest of the fast.
This time around, our radar gun focused on a good cross-section of the best high-speed production iron around, examples of the industry’s worldwide craft in high-speed touring cars. From Europe, the bastion of high performance street cars, we have the Ferrari Testarossa, BMW M6, Mercedes Benz 560SEC, and Porsche 928S4. From Japan, where high-speed touring is impossible but the quest for it isn’t, we get Nissan’s 300ZX Turbo and Toyota’s Supra Turbo. And from America, land of the world’s greatest road system and the worst speed limits, the selections are Chevrolet’s Corvette, Camaro IROC-Z, Ford’s Mustang GT, and Pontiac’s Firebird GTA. Noticeable by their absence: Lotus’ Turbo Esprit (no car available), Lamborghini’s Countach (ditto), Mazda’s RX-7 Turbo (declined our invitation), and Mitsubishi’s Starion Turbo (declined as well).
After untold logistical hours and thousands of Ma Bell dollars, all the cars, people, and equipment were in the right place at the right time to run these cars at top speed. Because of anticipated midday heat, we elected to do the high-speed runs at first light. Imagine the chaos, stumbling around in the pre-dawn blackness of the Arizona desert; first the Herculean task of getting 20 people organized and finding ATC before dawn, and then attending to all the last-minute details in the dark. But that’s another story for another time.
As the first hints of light outlined the Picacho Mountains to the east, the desert put on its best face, and every moving thing stopped to enjoy it. This special time borders on the ethereal, and, because of the brutal heat to come, the atmosphere now seems almost delicate. Sounds are muffled; everything here is poised, preparing in its own way for day. We came here to go fast..... so, let's do it.
The morning stillness was rudely shattered with the shriek of nearly 400 Ferrari horsepower at full song. Full song for the Ferrari Testarossa was 175 mph. The top lane at ATC is zero lateral g at 130 mph, so the Ferrari felt more comfortable with its left-side wheels between the upper lane line and the Armco barrier. The car wasn’t as stable as we’ve come to expect of Ferraris and was decidedly nervous at its top speed. The transition area, where the banking blends into the straightaway, required an especially delicate touch on the steering wheel. The big, flat-12 was perfectly in its element, sounding wonderfully Ferrariesque, exuding a racer-like feel with heavy, precise steering and tight control of body roll. The tachometer read 6700 rpm, and the speedo was rock-solid at an optimistic 310 kph.
Second fastest was the Porsche 928S4. At 165 mph, the Porsche was stable as an aircraft carrier. The supple suspension soaked up the small irregularities of the track surface, and directional stability was first-class. The aluminum V8 was smooth as glass, and the car was entirely vibration-free. Above 120 mph, there was distinct wind noise from turbulent air around the side mirrors, but otherwise the big Porsche made 165 feel like 65. Tach 5400, speedo 173.
Third was America’s world-class sports car, the Chevy Corvette, at 156 mph. We’ve run the Vette at top speed each year since 1985, and the results are remarkably consistent. The Corvette’s high-speed manners remain impeccable; it’s absolutely stable – it can be driven anywhere on the track without compromising its stability – and even at top speed, it feels like it’s loafing. This sensation is due, in part, to the slow-turning 350-cu-in. V8, which at speed is only doing 4400 rpm. The digital speedometer displays a dead accurate 156 mph, and the tach display reads 44 at 100.
The highest-placed Japanese car came in 4th, but before we detail its performance, a word about artificial speed limiting. Some Japanese manufacturers choose to limit top speed of their vehicles by incorporating some manner of fuel cutoff in the engine management electronics. Reasons vary and include such things as: staying underneath a tire capability, some driveline components might be critical above the limit speed, etc. For the purposes of this test, we wanted to determine the real top speed of the vehicle, so we authorized the engineers to disable any artificial speed-limiting devices on the cars.
The fastest Japanese car was the Nissan 300ZX Turbo, at 153 mph. This car is a limited-edition model offered by Nissan and has been chassis-tuned specifically for performance. It was the only vehicle in the test into the red zone on its tachometer (5600 rpm) at top speed, and had that distinct, harsh jiggly feeling of a vehicle focused on handling performance. The high-speed performance of the Limited Edition 300ZX is undoubtedly attributed to its lower stance and improved European front airdam. The Nissan was predictably stable on the banking at speed, and the speedo was wound right against the stop at 150 mph.
The M6 was BMW’s nomination to the top-speed wars, and it settled into 5th place with a best lap of 149 mph. The BMW feels precise. It also feels like it was machined from a single block of granite. For example, at top speed, most cars’ tach and speedo needles are wavering slightly; not so the BMW. At top speed in the M6, the tachometer needle pointed exactly at 6500 rpm. splitting the 6500 mark on the tach face in its exact center, and it stayed there all the way around the track. Not a hint of instability on the banking, just straight and true on the selected course, the suspension doing its job with only the slightest hint of harshness. The speedometer read exactly 160 mph.
As the terminal speeds decreased, we were into the range where 1 or 2 mph make a difference in finishing position, with the remaining field spread between 149 and 141 mph. Driving the cars, it was frustrating not to be able to eke out an additional mph. We’d try everything; right up against the Armco high on the track and then slingshot down the banking onto the straight, or staying lower on the banking to avoid any effect from the tur-bulence off the Armco, etc. Of course, nothing worked, because when the power output of the engine is equal to the total drag. that’s as fast as the car will go. Period. The only thing we could do was pray for a tailwind.
Chevrolet’s Camaro IROC-Z stopped the radar gun at 148 mph and was the highest-placed automatic in the field. Using the same engine as the Corvette, the Camaro’s speed was determined by its high (compared to the Corvette) aerodynamic drag and some slight slight driveline efficiency difference. The IROC-Z had a distinctly noticeable wind rumble from the A-pillar area and some air leaks around the windows. The Camaro was quite happy at speed and was easy to keep pointed in the correct direction. The tachometer was wavering around 4500 rpm, and the speedometer was actually a little pessimistic at 146 mph.
Toyota was next up with 147 mph from its turbocharged inline six. The Supra was actually the most supple of the field and scored well in the stability department. Bombing along at nearly three times the legal speed limit was a yawner in this car; we kept looking at the speedo to make sure we were going fast and fiddling with the steering to try and get some excitement generated. Unperturbed, the Supra rushed along like it was locked onto some guidance device. This car is really confidence-building. Some air turbulence was evident from the mirrors, and if we had our druthers, the steering is a little over-assisted. but otherwise an excellent example of the art of high-speed motoring. The speedometer needle pointed dramatically at the brake warning light, while the big analog tach read 6150.
The 56OSEC was Mercedes’ choice for this foray and a good one, we feel, since the big V-8 makes such truly mouth-watering performance. The problem is the car has a lot of frontal area and sits high off the ground, both of which require serious power to produce high terminal speeds. The Merc had an aloof approach attitude seemed to be: "If you want top speed, I’ll give you 143 mph, and if you don’t like that — tough." At top speed, the driver exists in a sort of muffled serenity, isolated from any outside considerations, while the Benz conjures up 143 mph. All that scenery rushing by outside could just as easily be a film projected on the windshield. In line with this philoso-phy, the speedometer read a couple clicks slower than the actual speed at 138, while the tachometer pointed to 4700 rpm.
The Mustang GT produced a terminal velocity of 142 mph. The Ford entry was way overgeared in 5th, and on 4-5 up-shift, the revs just fell into a terrible hole. After the shift, it took almost a full lap for the engine to claw its way back up to its 4000-rpm terminal speed. The car handled the banking competently, and the “small” V-8 was the Mustang GT’s strongest point. It sounded and felt like a competition engine, with its throaty intake moan and quick revving ability. Coming down off the banking, we noticed a little on-center wander from the Mustang, but otherwise it was the model of stability. The Mustang’s speedometer was buried, pointing resolutely at the MPH identification on the bottom of the speedometer face.
Pontiac’s GTA Firebird clocked in at 141 mph. The Firebird suspension and handling were real standouts. On the banking, at speed, the Firebird was so precise it was hard to believe. It was possible to place the car within inches of the desired spot on the track, and the steering was exactly linear. The whole effect was almost unnatural, and we found ourselves looking for ways to test our accuracy. At 135 mph, the driver-side window popped loose from the seal, making a dramatic increase in interior noise. At that exact speed, the airflow around the A-pillar created a low enough pressure to overcome the mechanical forces holding the glass against the seal. The precision handling and steering of the Pontiac Firebird made it a real pleasure to drive at speed, and the speedometer was equally precise, agreeing exactly with the speed radar gun at 141 mph.
The results of this day on the high-banked track were not unexpected. European cars are clearly the dominant forces in high-speed touring. Why are we not surprised? The fact that the cars can be used to their potential, on a regular basis, encourages innovative design, and all the European manufacturers have evolved models that will satisfy customers who demand a vehicle capable of safe, sustained high-speed travel. We can only envy the system that makes this possible.
Drivers in this country are taught that speed is inherently dangerous, which provides the foundation for the fascination with it. Unfortunately, most peoples’ concept of their vehicles’ ultimate speed gen-erally involves the art of lying, mainly because few people ever get the opportunity to actually go as fast as their cars will go. When they do sneak a quick blast down the road, anything remotely approaching 100 mph brings visions of blowouts. CHPs, and trips to jail, so they back off and estimate how fast “she’da gone. “Speed kills,” has been ingrained in our driving public for so long by over-
enthusiastic, hopelessly underinformed protectors of our society that anyone exceeding 55 mph has to deal with enor-mous guilt.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Before everyone starts that letter to the editor, understand, we’re not advocating a wholesale rush to blitz the nearest freeway at 125 mph. What we are saying is that one aspect of this test is a clear illus-tration of the capability of modern-day vehicles. We ran them all absolutely flat-out for many, many miles (everybody wanted a ride in the Ferrari), did numerous dragstrip runs, lots of maximum braking performance, all in 100-degree-plus heat, and, at the end of the day. we calmly drove them back to the hotel, in air-conditioned comfort, listening to the stereo. We didn’t have any blowouts, nobody died (or was even scared for that matter), was in any danger, or had to go to jail (just to the bathroom).
What does it all mean? One thing seems obvious: The vehicles are clearly capable of much higher safe speeds than our system allows. And one thing that’s not so obvious — it’s fun.
PONTIAC FIREBIRD GTA
GENERAL
Vehicle Configuration:.......... Front engine, rear drive
Engine Configuration:.......... V-8, OHV, cast iron block and heads, liquid-cooled
Displacement:.......... 5735 cc (350 cu in.)
Max. power (SAE net):.......... 220 hp @ 4400 rpm
Max. torque (SAE net):.......... 330 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm
Transmission:.......... 4-sp. auto.. O/D
Suspension, f/r:.......... Independent/live axle
Brakes, f/r:.......... Disc/disc, power assisted
Tires:......... 245/50VR16
Tire mfr. and model:.......... Goodyear Eagle VR
Overall length:.......... 4781 mm (181.8 in.)
Curb Weight:.......... 1577 kg (3473 lb.)
Base price:.......... $19,299
