You'll need 242 bhp and the streets of London! When I did the Tunnel Run scouting run late one night a guy pulled up next to me in a 997 Turbo and revved his engine so naturally I showed him how a car should sound... after he looked across and smiled his attention went straight to the lights... game on. Now from experience I know that to launch a Porsche turbo you have to get round the heavy clutch. This means you have to either be brutal by revving the nuts off it and dropping it sharply or try and get away cleanly and more slowly with a few revs then once the long clutch travel has finished, mash the loud pedal. The thing is most Turbo drivers know just how much a new clutch costs so the second option is usually the most preferable. But even this method is hard to get right.
Traffic light racing in London means you never get above 40 mph and if you get a better start you stand a chance. For 3 sets of traffic lights I got there first and each time he pulled up a smell of burnt clutch arrived just moments before. But the fourth set opened to a longer stretch with no cameras and no traffic and by the time I hit 50 he was a good 3 car lengths ahead and gone.
Still... it just goes to show that unless the faster car your racing has perfected standing starts you always have a chance up to a point if you know how to launch your Mini properly, but after that the Carrera 2 will smoke you unless you've got well over 300 bhp to play with. |