Late Model Muscle Series is out of the gate - closed

[Drift2XL]

Welcome to the Late Model Muscle Series.

I have wanted to give the new cars their chance. So here it is.

The eligible cars for this competition are:
'07 Shelby GT500
'05 Ford Mustang GT
'00 Ford Mustang Cobra R
Dodge Challenger Concept
'06 Dodge Charger SRT8
Dodge Viper ACR
Chrysler Crossfire SRT6
Cadillac CTS-V
Vauxhall Monaro
Pontiac GTO
'02 Chevrolet Camaro SS
Lexus SC430
Lexus Foose/Millen IS430 project
Infinity G35
Panoz Esperante GTLM

Rules:
Cars must not exceed A Class 850 PI maximum.
Cars must weigh more than 3200 lbs. 3200 lbs minimum.
Cars must race on slick tires. There is no tire sponsor, so any brand you wish to choose. But must be slicks.
Cars must not have more than 575 horsepower. If your car is found to have more, expect penalties.
Cars are required to run only the FM front bumper, and FM rear spoiler. No FM rear bumper.
(Aftermarket rear bumpers and sideskirts are ok)
NO AWD SWAPS

I hope that these cars grow into another staple of the forum. So, in an attempt to help sort out which cars belong on which types of tracks. I am proposing a QR challenge. But I need to work on some other tracks other than the standards. So I'm going to try to switch up the tracks. To keep it fresh.

Tracks:
Power
Sunset Infield Short Reverse
Flowing
Suzuka East
Twisty
Mugello Short

Again the rules:
A850 Class max
+3200 lbs
slicks
Front bumper, rear spoiler. No FM Rear Bumper
Less than 575 HP
NO AWD SWAPS


Let's make this a fun challenge and really see what the newer cars can do.


Leaderboard:

Driver	Car	Mugello 2	Susuka E	Inf 2 Rev	LMMS QR
Drift2XL	Vauxhall Monaro	57.103	49.795	58.602	165.500
bimmerlovere39	Cadillac CTS-V	57.202	50.093	58.337	165.632
Drift2XL	Charger SRT-8	57.118	50.343	58.315	165.776
Drift2XL	Lexus SC430	56.982	50.633	58.222	165.837
Spiny Anteater	Crossfire SRT-6	57.239	50.347	58.300	165.886
Drift2XL	Crossfire SRT-6	57.321	50.428	58.448	166.197
bimmerlovere39	Cadillac CTS-V	57.868	50.126	58.527	166.521
Ske	Infiniti G35	57.298	50.235	59.031	166.564
Qmole	Panoz	57.557	50.025	59.239	166.821
Ske	Crossfire SRT-6	57.509	50.586	58.879	166.974
Spiny Anteater	Shelby GT-500	57.856	50.623	58.576	167.055
Drift2XL	Shelby GT-500	57.198	50.626	59.339	167.163
Ske	Cadillac CTS-V	57.680	50.464	59.218	167.362
Ske	Mustang GT	57.590	50.911	58.871	167.372
Fit4aking	Panoz	58.132	50.404	58.891	167.427
Ske	Charger SRT-8	57.658	50.561	59.383	167.602
bimmerlovere39	Infiniti G35	57.953	50.949	58.750	167.652
deadbeatdad	Mustang "Cobra" R	57.644	50.563	59.553	167.760
Fit4aking	Lexus IS430	57.937	51.111	58.774	167.822
Qmole	Camaro SS	58.041	50.567	59.239	167.847
Fit4aking	Charger SRT-8	57.943	50.756	59.214	167.913
Fit4aking	Camaro SS	57.975	50.862	59.359	168.196
deadbeatdad	Panoz	58.121	50.849	59.439	168.409
bimmerlovere39	Mustang GT	57.960	51.198	59.337	168.495
Hoplee	Viper GTS ACR	58.174	51.118	59.798	169.090
famousron	Mustang "Cobra" R	58.413	50.619	60.092	169.124
Hoplee	Challenger Concept	58.915	51.394	60.539	170.848
Blooze	Challenger Concept	59.828	51.776	60.786	172.390

[Drift2XL]

I just got through with the Shelby. Wow, this is going to be fun.

SISR 59.688
Suz  51.801
Mug  57.795
      169.284

Shelby is a test of throttle control. I think I was sideways more than straight on a couple of the laps.

Sunset really lets you open it up. Suzuka is a test of balance. Mugello is a test of patience waiting to get back to the gas. And all of them require a little bit of guts for good times.

[Blooze]

So there I was, slithering to and fro, counter steering mightily, manipulating the throttle with the utmost care and then I noticed that my Ghost had a rear bumper...

CRAP!!

So I get to run all my times again.  I am plumb tuckered out already.  These antsy RWD cars are hard on an old man... 

$

[TheJohnNewton]

For clarification:

1) We must run the Froza front bumper and rear wing. 
2) We can not run the Forza rear bumber. 
3) Other body body parts are ok?  Other rear bumpers?  Side skirts?
4) Powertrain swaps?  E.g. AWD?

[Blooze]

Huh?  Which of those cars takes an AWD setup?

$

[TheJohnNewton]

The Infinity G35 can do AWD.

[Blooze]

Well, dang heck darn... I just sold one back to the game to get it out of my Garage...

Ain't that always the way...

$

[bimmerlovere39]

Infiniti G35 (RWD)
SISR: 58.750
Suz: 50.949
Mug: 57.953
167.652

[famousron]

Mustang Cobra R

Suzuka East:  50.619
Mugello Short:   58.413   
Sunset Infield Short Reverse:  60.092

Total:  169.124

[Drift2XL]

No on the AWD. Any other engine swaps are good. Just keep it under 575 HP. I want to keep them RWD.

Yes you can use non Forza rear bumpers and side skirts. A lightweight Cobra R build needs the rear bumper to cross over the 3200 mark. Barely

[Blooze]

Being as I am a sort of spokes-person for Honda and Acura in this region I do have a, what I think to be, legitimate question.  With the inclusion of the Infiniti and the Lexus, can we also include the 2006 Acura RL A Spec?  The thing weighs in at about 4000 pounds and really has no place to run.

$

[TheJohnNewton]

Camero SS
556 HP/517 lb-ft torqe
Weight 3265

SISR      60.119
Suz       51.285
Mug      59.269
Total   170.673

Probably could improve the times with a little more practice but I think I might try some other cars first.  I'll have to un-awd my G35 too.

[bimmerlovere39]

Being as I am a sort of spokes-person for Honda and Acura in this region I do have a, what I think to be, legitimate question.  With the inclusion of the Infiniti and the Lexus, can we also include the 2006 Acura RL A Spec?  The thing weighs in at about 4000 pounds and really has no place to run.

$

'Tis AWD, sadly.

[Hoplee]

Dodge Viper GTS ACR
460hp/500 lb-ft
3403 lbs (that's within one pound of the edge of 851 )

SISR 59.798
SE    51.118
MS    58.174
169.090

[Drift2XL]

I tried doing the 100% split on all the AWD cars. It still pulls the fronts some.

It ended up ruining the car. The loss in power from the AWD really killed the top end. And there was still some AWD push on entry. I could still feel the settled nature of an AWD despite the 100% split and zeroing out the front diff. In short, there is no substitute for RWD.

Blooze, the most stable cars I tested were the GTO, the SS, and the Monaro. And sticking the rear of the Cobra R with DF will work too.

Viper has waaay too much grip, so that one will stick better than the rest. But theres only one way to build it. It has no top end and no options to power it up.

Still, It acted like a Viper. I found myself catching it from time to time with the rear coming around and fast. But I was beating it like a Gov't mule too. No respect I show to the other cars, especially the Shelby. Did I say that car it a powerhouse already.

I could add the Charger in, the long wheel base slows down the activity of the rear. But it has a ton of power. It really didn't feel as heavy as the big curb weight it had.