Sure, not all of us have the fortune of being able to compete in the Tire Rack One Lap of America Presented by Grassroots Motorsports–this year's event is slated for April 30-May 7–but if you did get the chance, what car would you enter?
[The 3500-mile contest that isn’t about the cars | One Lap of America]
A low-slung coupe …
It's basically a tarmac rally with really, really, really, really, really long transit stages and really, really, really short special stages. So, yeah. Rally car.
But I can't drive well enough to bang off a quali lap on a strange track after only a couple of laps (or ever, but we won't talk about that) so I'm going to lose anyhow. So then it all comes down to surviving the transits. And that means comfort.
So:
In reply to Keith Tanner :
The beauty of the human race is that logic can mean different things to different people.
The downfall of the human race is that logic can mean different things to different people...
I agree with Keith's line of thinking. New Ecoboost Mustang with a manual trans should do it.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I'll co-drive. I've got a fair bit of experience wheeling entirely unsuitable cars around a road course.
If I was to pick a car to do it I'd go comfort over speed. Like..... an Azera or Sonata/Optima. But for now, I'll just take the E36 M3box
When we did this a few years ago we had the same philosophy as Keith, so we bought a Mercedes CLS63, a car designed to cross continents in comfort and pace. It was amazing, we said that we won all the transits, and had more sleep than we expected. The car did a great job on track, commensurate with our skill.
Yeah, I’d also go to win the party. Take Keith’s Caddy and, if needed, install good shocks, brake pads and give it an alignment. (I ran Konis on my '75 Catalina wagon–totally worked.)
It's got brand new shocks! Not much aligning to do with that stick axle. The brakes might need a little attention but hey, it's only 3 laps and you don't HAVE to do them all.
I'd probably take the E38, throw some better brake pads on and stuff as much tire under the fenders as I could (at least square 275s, if not bigger). Or at least as much as the front end can handle without becoming too obnoxious on the transits.
After doing the event in 2018, I came out to spectate for 2019. I saw genius from a team of Canadians from Toronto.
2018 Dodge Durango SRT. A capable vehicle but the genius was the 20ft toy hauler/camper they towed behind it. Warm, dry and comfortable at the tracks would go a long way to reduce fatigue. Genuine food preparation would also reduce fatigue. Less loading and unloading of the car constantly...just unhook the trailer.
A Dodge Durango SRT has a towing capacity of something like 8,000 lbs so I imagine pulling it behind for transits didn't add that much fatigue.
I would like to take my gm 3.9 v6 powered rx8. Comfy enough, lots of storage for stuff and should do well on track.
In reply to John Welsh :
That the one that bent all the wheels?
When I did One Lap in 2007 I brought my 2001 Audi S4 avant. Worked great, had plenty of space for people/stuff, was comfy on the transits and did pretty well on track.
If I do it again and I want to use what I already have in the garage, I'd have to go with this
I'd probably put the stock muffler back on it to quiet it down on the transits. Otherwise it does transits comfortably, can tow the tire trailer with stuff and will eat up the track portions quite well. It's also almost 25 years old, so I could potentially compete in the Vintage Foreign category with it
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
I dont know about bent wheels. Wheels of truck or wheels of trailer?
The factory Durango was 1st, 2nd was the Toronto Durango and 3rd was a Jeep Trackhawk for the SUV class. I didn't look at the finishing for all events but all 3 ran the last event so seems none of them dropped out.
This, because it is what I have.
Also it has been assembled to work as a GT/Track car. One Lap is on my bucket list, but it may also be in a co-drivers car, a similarly prepared 17 Mustang GT.
In the Porsche world, everything seems to be climbing to astronomical prices except for 1st gen Panameras. I have a good friend with one and as far as I can tell they're comfortable, reliable, and faster than you would expect. That would be my weapon of choice for OLOA.
This has been one of my favorite games for a while. Back in the day, the goal was to get to the event early so you could grab some sleep before hitting the track. I am not a fan of tents or the ground, so I want something that I can sleep in. I also want to avoid a trailer and the inevitable blown tires and broken axles that seem to plague me. I want to be fast enough on track to have fun, but I know I am not going to beat anyone so I don't want to sacrifice too much in the name of speed. That's why my picks have a common theme:
I thought Seth's CTS-V was a pretty darn good choice. Competent on the track and excellent on the transits. Plus, you could sleep in it if need be.
In reply to APEowner :
Also, room for a tuba.
By comparison to OLA, the Targa Newfoundland (for the first decade) was about 1000 miles of transits and 400 miles of closed stages over 5 days. Very different balance. We had to put up with being in the car for 14 hours a day or more, but you could sacrifice the over-the-road comfort more in the name of performance. Also, the transits were smooth while the stages were rough.
I've always wanted to do the One-Lap. The time to do so though, has probably passed.
I wanted to run it in one of the first cars that I built. I call her Ruby. I know that it's not practical. I know that I wouldn't be competitive. I wanted to do it for fun.
I just registered Ruby in NY. Licensed, insured and ready to drive.
The upside of running Ruby is that any rain would keep you awake :)
I really want to run my Midlana when it's done. It would have similar driver alertness features to Ruby.
There was one year that a team entered a similarly open vehicle, and were getting so far behind on sleep that Brock told them to miss the next track event and just go straight to the one after so they could get some rest already.
Also something about having to Rain-X the INSIDE of the windshield. Which was also the only glass or other roof structure of the car.
In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :
I'd second the fast estate approach.
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