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.
Cactus
HalfDork
4/19/22 1:29 p.m.
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
Sonic
UberDork
4/19/22 1:57 p.m.
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.