2002 Ultimate StreetCar Challenge: Skid Pad

A simple white line painted on the pavement can be an amazingly powerful tool. Measure how long it takes to drive around the circular line and you have what amounts to a cornering dyno. It's just simple arithmetic to convert that time to lateral grip, measured in g. Driving around that circle at the absolute limit of traction isn't necessarily easy, and unless you do skidpad tests all day, it's not a very useful skill. Recognizing this, we offered up our own Dave Coleman, resident master of this most useless of skills, to do the driving. All the competitors took us up on the offer, with the exception of Michael McIntyre, who insisted that he, cocooned in Nomex from head to toe, be the only driver of the twin-engine Hyundai.

One lateral g, of course, is equal to the downward pull of gravity, and pulling more than 1.0g on the skidpad is a monumental task. Amazingly, four of our competitors broke that magic 1.0g mark. James Chen's Ferrari was the first, pulling 1.06 on the first try. Despite its rear weight bias, the Ferrari still understeered on the pad, and proved unresponsive to the mild throttle inputs that usually help rotate a car around the pad. Bleeding 5 psi out of the rear tires helped slightly, bringing the final score up to 1.082g.

Only one car--a Racing Beat Miata that pulled 1.10g on a much smoother, stickier skidpad two years ago--had ever offered more grip in one of our tests. The Ferrari's score looked untouchable.

Indeed, as car after car pulled up to the pad, nothing could touch the Ferrari and its gummy Hoosier tires. The Skyline showed up on Toyo T1-S street tires, and then suffered from an electronic glitch that would disable the all-wheel drive and active rear limited-slip diff in left turns. Since the score is based on an average of the best skidpad runs in each direction, this proved a crushing blow. The Skyline managed 0.956g, a score that could only be considered disappointing in this crowd.

Tying the Skyline in grip, but not in civility, was the turbo/supercharged MR2. First-generation MR2s have a reputation for being spin-happy, and keeping this car's back behind its front was an unparalleled balancing act. It didn't help that the MR2 had ultra-sticky Kuhmo

Victoracer tires up front and Nitto NT555R drag radials in the back, but the real problem was under the hood. Circling the pad is a balancing act of throttle and steering. You gently accelerate until the car starts understeering off the line, then ease off to bring the nose in or nudge the tail out, repeating the cycle all the way around the pad. Easing on with the MR2 meant a gradual build-up of boost, but there was no easing off. Even the slightest reduction in throttle would cause a dramatic stumble; all the boost would be vented and the car would spin.

Reaching 0.956g took persistence.

Mark Allen's Integra Type R showed what a proper set-up could do. As an autocross car, it's set up for just these kinds of long, tight turns, and from the first lap of the skidpad, it was clear the Type R was at home. Front-wheel-drive cars can get away with a unique tail-out cornering attitude, and Allen's car demonstrated this perfectly. It cornered on three wheels in what felt like a constant slide, and the gas pedal seemed to be connected to a string tying the rear bumper to the middle of the pad. A result of 1.046g is the highest we've ever recorded on a front-drive car.

We were sure all the most impressive performances had already passed when Tod Kaneko's 30-year-old Datsun rolled up to the pad. Yes, it's light. Yes, it has big, sticky Hoosiers. But its vintage suspension geometry has been known for its unforgiving nature since before most of our staff were even born.

Besides, the leader was a Ferrari.

But from the moment the lap timer flashed its first time, it was clear we had a new leader. The legendary hairy edge was still there, but there's a mountain of grip before you reach it. The 510's tail can be coaxed out a little, but go too far and no amount of opposite lock will save you.

Unruly or not, a Datsun just beat a Ferrari.