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MOTOR
magazine's PCOTY - hot off the
press...
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Obviously
copyright prevents me from revealing too much.
Besides you can always go out and buy a copy of
January's MOTOR from your local newsstand any
time late December. For the car enthusiast, there
are certainly some surprises in store in Performance
Car of the Year.
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But for now, let's look at the most important
comparisons to be drawn from the PCOTY Winton
track testing day...
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CAR
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VITALSTATISTIX
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Winton
Laptime
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| MERCEDES
CLK63 |
2
door coupe 6.2L Dohc V8, 1680kg. $199,000
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1.42.75
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| SUBARU
WRX STi |
4
door sedan, 2.4L flat 4 Turbo, 1495kg. $57,000
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1.42.39
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| BMW
M5 |
4
door sedan, 5L V10, 1755kg. $230,000
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1.41.15
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| AUDI
RS4 |
4
door sedan, 4L dohc V8 AWD, 1650kg. $165,000
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1.41.12
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| PORSCHE
CAYMAN S |
2
door sports, 3.4L flat 6, 1340kg. $149,000
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1.40.00
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| BMW
Z4 M ROADSTER |
2
door sports, 3.3L dohc 6, 1410kg. $130,000
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1.39.84
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| BMW
M6 COUPE |
2
door Coupe 5L V10, 1710kg. $275,000
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1.39.31
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| LOTUS
EXIGE S |
2
door coupe, 1.8L s'charged, 935kg. $115,000
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1.37.46
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| PORSCHE
911 T |
2
door sports, 3.5L Twin Turbo AWD, 1585kg.
$327,000
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1.36.38
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| HYPER
RACER |
Non-gearbox
Superkart. 125cc. 160kg. $11,000
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1.31.66
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Now,
I know what you're thinking. I don't pretend for a second
that I wouldn't want a Porsche 911 Turbo or Audi RS4,
or the sweet V10 in those BMW M's. They are magnificent
pieces of engineering. Lucky me- at least I've driven
a few of them, and I hope they're owned by the right
people.
Apart from driving the ultimate in performance, think
of the status. Think of the looks from admiring passers-by.
Think of the ego massaging. Isn't that why you would
want one?
But
a couple of things; firstly, even if you had over a
quarter of a million K to blow- how would you ever enjoy
it on Australian roads raped by greedy revenue addicted
pollies? Secondly,
if you want to race or compete in such a car, properly
drive it in the manner for which it was designed, you
can add another six figure sum to the purchase price.
Cut
out the middle man. You can have a vehicle which will
get you onto the track and into competitive racing,
for a tiny fraction of the cost of something which is
actually slower!
So,
if you simply want to be noticed by people who only
like you for your car, start saving. If
you want to drive at phenomenal speed and compete with
others, get into superkarting!
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