Ultimate Street Car Challege - The Test From Hell

This was the test from hell.

We gathered 10 of America's best cars in Los Angeles for two days of absolute automotive euphoria. During the 48-hour fiesta, we put each car through 14 tests ranging from driveability to fuel economy to all-out, on-track performance. We ran them on the chassis dyno, drove them on the racetrack and ripped them down the drag strip. Hell, we even gave a granny a ride in each, and allowed each owner to wow us with a gross display of horsepower.

The cars were also judged on their engineering and their presentation. Remember, these are street cars. They need to look good, drive well and get you there without leaving too many parts behind.

If you tuned in last month, you already know all about the cars. We covered all 10 with serious detail and reminded you that it was you, the readers of Sport Compact Car, who chose the 10 incredibly diverse vehicles from more than 70 entered. The cars you chose are the twin-engined 1998 Hyundai Tiburon owned by Michael McIntyre of El Paso, Texas; the 1996 Nissan Skyline GT-R (R33) owned by Justin Sykes of Torrance, Calif.; the 1999 Acura Integra Type R owned by Mark Allen of Jacksonville, Fla.; the 1994 Toyota Supra turbo owned by Mani Jayasinghe of L.A.; the 1990 Nissan 300ZX TT owned by Jason Kopocs of Vermilion, Ohio; the 2000 Nissan Sentra SE owned by Steve Mitchell of Torrance, Calif.; the 1972 Datsun 510 owned by Tod Kaneko of Torrance, Calif.; the twincharged 1985 Toyota MR2 owned by Mike Carwin of Poway, Calif.; the 1988 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 owned by Geoff Bennett of Annandale, Va. and the 1999 Ferrari F360 Modena owned by James Chen of Santa Fe Springs, Calif.

Don't look at us, you picked them.

Who won? Who has the ultimate street car? Who owns the bragging rights until we do it again next year? You'll just have to read on to find out. And speaking of next year, the entry form is on page 71. Does your car have what it takes? Do you? You know what they say, there's only one way to find out.

How We Scored ItFinding a clear winner from the chaos of this test meant inventing a fair scoring system. Thirteen of the 14 tests were worth 100 points, with the winner getting the full 100 points and the remaining scores based on how their results compared with the winner. The Gross Display of Horsepower test was only worth 25 points, but that didn't seem to slow anybody down. Points awarded are basically a percentage of the winning score. If the winner of the skidpad test measured 1.00g, for example, 80 points would go to the car getting 0.80g. (In reality, the winner made 1.092g, making 0.874g the 80-point mark.)

The same system was used on all the tests, including those, like the car show, that were scored subjectively by panels of judges. Those judges were allowed to form their own scoring system, which was then converted to our 100-point scale.

This relatively simple system reflects the true scale of some of the tests. On the road course, for example, the points spread was only 12 points, since even a full second gap on the road course is only about 2 percent of the total lap time. The point spread on emissions, however, was a full 70 points, showing how widely emissions can vary. Because there were so many performance tests and only one emissions test, performance still ruled the day.

Car ShowBecause most of us on staff live by the "if it doesn't make it fast, it sucks" school of automotive enhancement, we called in shine pros Kelvin Hiraishi, a Mazda employee partly responsible for the Mazda MP3, and Primedia employee Jay Friedman, who is well versed in the show scene.

It was quickly obvious which cars were prepared with obsessive-compulsive attention to detail, and whose financial and creative energies were just put into making the cars go. Only three points separated the top three cars, though the bottom car finished down 82 points. It's also worth noting that none of the cars wore any parts or modifications that hinder performance, like so many wings and heavy chrome rims.

Of particular note was the rotary-powered Datsun 510 of Tod Kaneko. Believe it or not, there does exist a perfectly straight 510, and it wore rich, deep orange paint to our challenge. Like a box of chocolates, the deeper you dig, the more goodies you find, executed with forethought and precision. Carbon fiber interior panels, a chrome-moly cage, custom sheet metal, even custom full carpeting-rarely is something this fast this nice.

The 300ZX also fared quite well, fitted with all the creature comforts you'd use on a daily basis or need to win an Import Showoff-everything polished and ported, anodized and powdercoated, loud and streaming video.

A Ferrari, of course, doesn't need to do much but sit there to elicit wood from passersby and competitors alike. Not content with Modena's stock product, James Chen threw enough carbon fiber at the Modena to build an F1 car. And as if the car is not a lemon by birthright, everything was color-matched yellow, from seats to subs, trim to Chen's Prada shoes. Only slightly sacrilegious, four 10-inch subs mask the tones of a beautiful Tubi exhaust. The 360 Modena was voted "the car I'd most like to drive home" by competitors.

"Clutter," "dirty" and "poor finish" are highlights from the Tiburon's judging notes. Then again, who cares? The Tiburon is made to sprint like Ben Johnson and look like Fat Albert. Making the go-real-fast hardware conspicuous wasn't a priority.

At least the Tiburon wasn't described as "ghetto," a tag reserved for the nitrous-fed twincharged MR2, which finished last in this contest. This car's engine cover only gets popped for mods; time cleaning is better spent concentrating on not blowing the engine up with three power adders. Still, if the editors had to pick the car that most resembles their own cars, this would be it.

Grandma TestOur day was going as planned until a gawky resident of the neighboring Pretentious Palms Retirement Home took interest in our going-ons. "What ch'all doin'?" she squawked, the intoxicating scent of Vick's VapoRub drawing curious competitors. Realizing her audience had a good percentage of single young men with obviously disposable incomes, she related that she recently backed her '81 Grand Marquis through a Civic, and needed a ride to the market.

Flashing her handicapped parking placard like a smooth thigh, she quickly found takers in the crowd. We thought she was trying to make a quick escape from the home, but it turned out the Lawrence Welk Show reruns were cancelled and she was bored.

We figured heck, what better way to judge driveability than let an Amazonian crone in an orange Mumu have a go in each car? Grandma gave each car a score employing her finely tuned hemorrhoids-among other ailments-to judge ride, comfort and streetability.

Gramsy rated the Sentra the highest, noting it's "comfortable, just like my care provider's, but the paint is tough on my astigmatism." A close second for the henhussy was the 360 Modena because, "I've always wanted to get my cookies in a Ferrari."

"Good thing I'm wearing Depends," escaped from the lips of an ashen Mumsy as she wobbled out of the Supra, whose owner obviously did a stellar job demonstrating the progression of automotive technology since she drove her first rock. A highlight for the matron was her ride in the Mustang. Grams thought the owner was a true Southern gentleman and would have seduced him had something not felt amiss-he was "driving a Mustang without a nice, greasy mullet."

Of great mystery to the blue hair was the Skyline, whose driver orientation, she decided was a dirty trick to confuse hard-working Americans. Our darling of the Social Security system recognized the Type R badge from the many Type R Accords, Escorts and Civics she sees around town, and plans on ordering her next Crown Vic so equipped.

The 300ZX fared well under Grammy's scoring system, scoring many points for her being able to watch a movie without having to turn up her hearing aid. According to the Missus, the Hyundai "squatted and did its business like Grandpa with the Sunday paper." Our swinging senior liked getting in the MR2 about as much as having her colon flushed, placing it second from the bottom. Coming in dead last was the 510, which rode "only slightly better than an earthquake" and made the cotquean's hemorrhoids flare up like a Kuwaiti oil well.

Besides a faint odor in a couple of cars, Gran Mere left us with a sorta female perspective and promised to crochet a shift knob warmer for next year's winner. She even chipped in some Fixodent to repair cracked welds on the intake manifold ("Fast & Furious" reference). Turned out her vote played a decent part in picking our winner-next year, we'll provide the prune juice and hope she remembers to shave those cacti she calls legs.

Guru PanelThere's no quicker way to discredit your work than to show it to an engineer. Our panel of technical gurus consisted of Mitch Terry from AEM, Chris Weisberg from Magneson, Mike Welch from Road/Race Engineering and Jason Kavanaugh, a talented engineer who's currently between jobs.

Our panel poked, prodded, admired and criticized the cars from every angle, evaluating the engine, drivetrain, suspension, brakes, body and interior for functionality and quality of execution. Then they came up with an overly complex scoring system that we won't repeat here (because we don't understand it) and rated them.

It was little surprise Tod Kaneko's spotless Datsun 510 found itself at the top of the pile, but the number two finish of the Mustang raised eyebrows. Apparently the purposeful build-up of the Ford impressed our judges. Everything is focused on speed and reliability on the drag strip, with no effort wasted on frivolous modifications.

The Sentra scored a close third, thanks to its very sano turbo system and thorough performance-oriented approach to all the mods. Criticism from most of the judges focused on the disco paint job and the stock interior.

At the sad end of the score sheet was the largely unfinished and hideously complex MR2. Upon gazing unto the Toyota's cramped engine bay, Mike Welch noted "For every cool part, something else is rigged, hacked, twisted or leaking." These guys can be brutal.

The Hyundai, despite its massive performance, disappointed the panel. Most liked the concept, but the crude engine management, stock brakes and under-developed suspension offended their perfectionist sensibilities.