Motorsports Drag Racing

The Tesla Model S packing 416 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque has garnered another accolade: World Record for the Quickest Production Electric Car.

At the 2012 SEMA Show, Chevrolet unveiled its 2012 COPO convertible, which just fetched a nice $400,000 towards charity at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. 

Chevrolet went in an unexpected direction with its final two drag-strip specific COPO Camaros, the last of which it just unveiled at the 2012 SEMA Show.

Ford Racing is revving things up by introducing a brand-new livery. The color scheme will be a prominent addition to all cars supported by the company and powered by its engines.

Plenty of exotic supercars made their way to Russ Beach Smith Falls Airport to take part in the ‘Race the Runway 2012’ charity event that raises money for the Russ Beach Smith Falls-Montague Aviation Museum. At the event, millions of dollars worth of exotics took part in a 1/4-mile drag race on the paved runway, with an electric Tesla Roadster turning in the best time of the day.

Back in late August, Toyota announced its custom vehicle build-off featuring four of its drivers: Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Antron Brown, and Alexis Dejoria. Each driver has now selected their Toyota vehicle and the shop at which it’ll be built, and the customization has begun. 

Toyota’s racing division (TRD) is hosting a custom vehicle build-off to raise money for charity.

Last week, Chevrolet began delivery of its COPO Camaro, with only 69 ever to be sold for all drag racing enthusiasts nationwide. And just like that, one of them has conquered the quarter mile in 8.88 seconds.

It doesn’t matter what side you fall on, the muscle car wars have never been hotter now that Chevrolet has officially begun delivering its COPO Camaro to owners. 

The COPO Camaro is a purpose-built car, meant for straight line racing. Buyers are offered a special engine build experience, an opportunity that famed race team owner Rick Hendrick took advantage of.

Drag racing just isn’t what it used to be these days, but records are still being set with some more noteworthy than others. This is one of those records, as an Ecotec-powered four-cylinder drag car has set a record for fastest four-cylinder quarter mile with a 6.71 @ 207 mph.

While the factory Chevy Camaro ZL1 can’t quite keep up with the new Ford Shelby GT500, the Lingenfelter Performance Engineering ZL1 can.

The well-established parts manufacturer became the first to break the 200 mph barrier in a brand new ZL1, topping the speedometer at 202.67 mph at the Continental Tire North America Uvalde proving grounds in Texas. That’s not all this particular ZL1 has done, breaking the 10 second barrier with a 10.79 @ 134.36 mph at Muncie Dragway a mere two weeks after the vehicle came out.

Lingenfelter will be offering three different performance packages to ZL1 owners and enthusiasts looking to keep up with the GT500’s performance. Power upgrades range from 630 to 700 hp, a significant increase from the factory 580 hp and 556 lb-ft of torque figures.

“The Lingenfelter crew couldn’t be more excited to make history as the first 2012 ZL1 Camaro to exceed 200 mph, and to celebrate this victory on the heels of becoming the first company to run a ZL1 in the 10s,” said Ken Lingenfelter, owner of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering.

Watch a video of the Lingenfelter Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 taking on the quarter mile after the break.

While the full-size dragster still prefer to burn alcohol, Traxxas will sell you a miniature, radio controlled, electric dragster for your amusement.

This 1/8 scale model features Traxxas’ ET-3s brushless motor, which allows this little dragster to hit speeds of upto 70+ mph, which is seriously fast for a projectile that can run into your ankles.

Currently, the only body style offered is based on the Ford Mustang, but you can choose from four different color schemes, each depicting an actual NHRA Funny Car replica dragster.

257 miles per hour is fast. Hitting 257 mph in one mile from a standing start is just crazy.

The standing mile is a test of machine to see just how fast a car can go, within the confines of exactly one mile. The previous standing mile record was set at 223 mph, by a 2006 Ford GT. This past weekend the record was broken, by another Ford GT, which hit a top speed of 257.7 mph in one mile.

The Ford GT in question was tuned by aftermarket company Hennessy, and ran the standing mile with a twin-turbocharged 5.4 liter V8. The exact horsepower is not known for the car, but John Hennessy said at the event, “2000hp is a pretty safe bet.”

The GT ran in the street legal class, making it that much more impressive that a road ready car could hit those kinds of harrowing speeds.

Also running at the Texas standing mile, among others, was a fourth generation Camaro. The Camaro pulled off an impressive 253.1 mph standing mile run. Not quite enough to best the GT, but not bad at all.

Watch the videos below of the Ford GT and the Camaro running the standing mile.

Don’t lie. You’ve always wondered what it would be like to watch different generation Batmobiles go at it in a good ‘ol classic drag race. The folks over at Super Power Beat Down made that a reality by taking the 1989 Batmobile and pitting it against its 1966 predecessor.

Obviously in the sake of entertainment, you shouldn’t hold much merit to the results. Especially since there’s some creative editing at the end for the slow-mo clip that reveals the winner. Nonetheless, the 1966 Batmobile was built off a C4 Chevrolet Corvette with an estimated 300 to 325 hp thanks to a fuel-injected small block, while the more recent ’89 is powered by a carbureted Chevy small block and has closer to 285 hp or so.

So who wins? And what more could you really ask for in a video clip? Cute girl for a host, a pair of Batmobiles burning rubber and well, the end result that is always entertaining.

Watch the Batmobiles fight it out after the break. Be warned that the end of the video may not be safe for work – it’s your obligatory girl in a bikini clip.

[Source: MSN]

Watch  “Wild Thang” at the National Hot Rod Racing Association spit up flames during the 2012 the organization’s Winter Nationals.

Heed our warning, if you stare to long, the video starts to have hypnotic effects. Especially if you’re a gear head.

Check out the full video below.

Mercedes-Benz drag cars are pretty rare. But how about a Mercedes-Benz minivan drag car?

Down in Australia, one enthusiast was determined to go big, go bold and be different, and to do so he got his hands on a Vito van and turn it into a complete drag car.

From there, it was gutted and changed into a full tube chassis race car packing plenty of carbon fiber body components and a 632-cubic inch big block Chevy powerplant. Combine that with a full drag setup suspension and wheelie bars, and you know this thing means business.

While most everyone would probably be pointing and laughing at this absurdity making its way to the Christmas tree, the ensuing massive burnout hints that this naturally aspirated (for now) Vito has more than meets the eye.

It’s already done some impressive 9-second passes and it could be entering the 8-second territory once the nitrous gets hooked up.

Check out a video of the Vito tearing up the drag strip below:

Chevy gave everyone a pleasant surprise at the 2011 SEMA Show, unveiling a new-generation Camaro COPO Concept, ready to take on the NHRA Eliminator drag racing class. The engineers involved with the COPO Concept project took their new baby out to Bradenton Motorsports Park out near Tampa, Florida for some test runs and it’s looking very promising.

Unfortunately no actual times were mentioned in the video as the Camaro did some shakedown runs down the quarter mile. But the behind the scenes look throughout the video shows off what the team is working on as they’ll surely make the Camaro a competitive 9-second drag car. It’s worth mentioning that the team is testing multiple different engine setups in order to find what’s best.

Check out the video of the Camaro COPO Concept after the break.

Up on eBay is an extremely rare 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429, packing just 2,219-miles on the odometer with a starting bid of $185,000. The ’69 Boss 429 is one of just 858 made during a two-year production run.

Ford officially announced its 2013 Mustang Cobra Jet at the 2011 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Orlando, Florida, ready to roll into NHRA’s Stock and Super Stock classes and start dominating. The 2013 Cobra Jet will be limited to just 50 units and orders can be placed at a local Ford dealer where it’ll be first come, first serve.