Top Gear (US) s04e08 Episode Script
American Supercars
1 When you think supercars, you tend to think European.
But not so long ago, it was a different story.
Please excuse the gigantic grin on my face right now because I am driving a car I dreamed of just getting close to my entire childhood The 240-mile-per-hour all-American Vector W8.
Born in 1990, the W8 was the first U.
S.
supercar that could compete with the likes of Lamborghini and Ferrari.
It was so big for America to come out with a car like this To tell the Europeans, "you know, we're not afraid.
We can do this, and we can do it even better.
" And then it was gone.
So, what happened? Why is there no American supercar? W8 production stopped in 1993 after the company faltered, and only 19 were ever made.
It seemed like the American supercar dream was dead.
But across the country, a few boutique manufacturers have kept the dream alive.
So to find out how good these homegrown supercars are, we each chose our favorite and put them to the test against their European rivals.
Holy "Top Gear" told us to drive our American supercars to the starting point in Malibu, California.
To see who had the best one, we'd be competing in challenges, and Rut's first challenge was just to get out of the damn car.
You all right, big daddy? - Got it! - Okay.
Got it.
We could get, like, one of those chairs that gets people up the stairs.
Yeah.
You know, like, when they move the big dolphins from one aquarium to the other.
Yeah, like a cradle thing.
You just squirt water on his back.
- Keep him moist.
- Yeah, pull him around there.
Can you believe that I'm driving a Saleen S7? It might have been 10 years old, but, to me, the S7 is the perfect American supercar Naturally aspirated V8, 650-horsepower, 10-second quarter mile, and $375,000 back in 2003.
And its racecar design means that it creates enough downforce at 160 miles an hour, creates its weight It could drive upside down.
- Do it.
- I don't believe you.
I've heard that stat so many times about so many amazing cars, and nobody's done it.
Let me tell you something.
I've been upside down in a car many times.
You don't want to do it.
What's that? - I feel like I've seen that car before.
- You have.
I've chosen the Rossion Q1.
Rossion bought the rights to the noble M400, added luxury and refinement, but still kept the power-to-weight ratio of a track car.
For 100 grand, you get 450 horsepower in a car that weighs less than 2,500 pounds.
You are dead.
I'm dead?! You're driving that.
This is a Lucra.
Gentlemen, what you're looking at is a manifestation of American ingenuity.
Without a windshield.
Yeah, I didn't see that in the brochure, but it's cool.
Sure, my Lucra LC470 didn't have a roof, but it did have a 7-liter v8, generating over 500 horsepower, the car weighing just 2,000 pounds, and all that for just 135 grand.
This is pretty cool.
It's a cool-looking Miat a, ough.
This looks nothing like a Miata.
I like that it has the logo here on the side pipes, so that way, when you get out, it'll brand the car's logo right on your calves.
In the back of your calves.
Miata or not, it was time to start our journey.
We were told to head 100 miles to an automotive proving ground in the Mojave desert.
The winner would get his hands on a $300,000 dream car.
Mount up, gentlemen.
We're heading to the desert.
Do you have sunscreen in there? No, I got a roof.
Why would I have sunscreen? Ha ha! Oh, my goodness gracious.
Each time.
Each time.
Oh, wow.
As we headed to Mojave, we were given a lecture on what makes a supercar by the human fly.
It's got to be fairly exclusive.
It's got to be very fast.
It's got to take a concentrated hand to extract the most out of it.
And its performance potential has to be out of reach for most drivers.
Oh, what it also needs to do is inspire some sort of emotion from the driver.
It needs to feed the addiction that you have as a car enthusiast.
I picked this car because I really Ooh That was a big rock.
I picked this car 'cause I really wanted to know if it could live up to all the hype that the magazines gave it when it first came out.
Now, I'll admit, the driving experience of this car is really intense.
This is something that you really have to drive.
You're not just kind of driving it.
It is a full, intense driving session.
While Rut was busy concentrating, Adam was getting confused.
When you lift off the gas, that's either the exhaust note burbling or the car's crumbling.
I'm not quite sure.
Our route to the proving grounds took us across Los Angeles to Beverly hills.
And it was time for the first challenge.
One of the defining features of supercars is their ability to turn heads with their stunning looks.
To find out which of ours stood out the most, we had to park on rodeo drive and see which one of our cars had the most photographs taken in 10 minutes.
You just scared a kid.
You just scared a kid officially.
This kid to your right jumped.
Bless his heart.
Are you okay? You okay? It's a scary beast.
What can I say? But just down the street, we had some competition.
It was one of the greatest supercars ever made The $1.
7 Bugatti Veyron SS.
How would our cars do up against that? Wow.
I'll say that bugatti looks pretty good.
Bug boy was up first.
Okay, there's already a crowd formed here.
Unbelievable.
He needs theme music, doesn't he? He needs a scarf and a leather helmet.
Okay.
Count it.
It's 7 after.
He's got 10 minutes.
What's he doing? What's he doing? Here he comes.
Here he comes.
Cool goggles.
That's neat.
Were you skiing? Oh.
Goggles.
Were you just snowboarding? How long have you been welding? All right, so thus far, I see eight people.
What? Maybe nine.
Okay, you got to count by 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 Stop it! Those are people standing, not people taking pictures.
There's only eight there's nine people taking pictures.
Why are they standing there? The other people are just standing there 'cause they can't believe that that thing made it.
And that's time.
Time.
That's it.
All right.
25.
25 pictures.
You think that's something, wait till I pull the Saleen around.
Okay.
Go.
With the Saleen's racecar styling, I was feeling confident.
Look at this other lady is like, "can I help you get out?" They're taking a picture of him falling out.
They just got a picture of his plumber crack.
Hey, how you doing? Hey.
You know, so far the only photograph has been of you falling on the ground.
It was a tuck and roll.
I got two as I was pulling in, so count that.
Two? Whatever.
Look at them just flocking to it.
They're thinking, "ooh, is this a bugatti?" No.
Look.
Look.
He just got his son in the picture with him.
Oh, now he's going for the other.
Six minutes in and my Saleen was drawing people in like bees to honey.
I would say that I had more photos, but your photos are actually going up to the door and taking a picture with it.
Quality.
I'm getting quality pictures right now.
Too bad that wasn't part of the challenge.
Stop the clock.
What's the time? That's like 20.
Okay, so you got 20.
All right, 25 for you, 20 for me.
Respectable.
There's no chance you can beat that.
Wait right here, gentlemen.
Watch and learn.
Look at that How boring that thing looks.
I mean, it looks like a new-age mr2.
That's exactly right.
Not a single person standing around it.
Have you ever seen Bijan down there? Oh, my gosh, that place is insane.
Unbelievable.
Start the clock.
A lot of yellow in Bijan.
We're trying to find something to talk about because there is nobody around your car.
Are you kidding? Look at that! Nobody.
There's literally not a single person taking a picture.
You know why? - It's understated.
- All right? People are gonna walk by and go On the second look, they'll go, "wow, I had no idea! Rossion!" - "Oh, an mr2!" - No, I don't think so.
I don't feel like they're gonna say that at all.
It wasn't going very well, so I activated my cloaking device.
Excuse me.
Did you know there's a Rossion Q1 right up the block? Yes! I can see it on your faces.
You're amazed.
Go ahead.
Go take a look at it.
A Rossion Q1 live in the flesh.
With the cloaking device activated, things began to look up.
Look at them looking.
See that? What's this crowd of people coming over from Bijan? See? Look.
They're all coming over.
Look.
Look at them gathering around.
Word's getting out.
Go ahead! Enjoy! Take all you want! It's a Rossion! Q1! I'm over 25.
I'm the winner.
With my Rossion winning the day, we left Beverly hills behind and headed to the Mojave desert proving ground.
What makes the S7 so cool to me is that this was just an idea that Steve Saleen had.
He'd been successful racing mustangs, he had a great relationship with Ford, and he decided to make an American interpretation of a European supercar.
It went from paper to a working car in 18 months.
And if you look at these three cars, it's hands down the best attempt at a supercar here.
The Rossion Q1 is based on the noble M400.
When noble decided they're not making anymore of them, Rossion bought the intellectual property and built the Q1.
They wanted to make a supercar you could use every day.
So they really paid attention to the interior, adding more leather and Alcantara®, power windows, and the ultimate in luxury a glove box.
As far as the ride, they seem to have struck a good balance between track performance and daily driver.
The suspension is not spine-crushing.
It's kind of comfortable.
And I guarantee I'm having a better ride than Tanner is.
Look at him back there.
He looks like a cartoon character.
Are you just baking in the sun back there? Are you okay, man? What did you say? The freakin' dirt is insane.
The cool thing about a proving ground is that it's a place where you go to prove stuff, where you get to push things to the limit.
Finally, we get to open this baby up.
I know it's got a ton of power.
I know it weighs nothing.
It feels a little squirmy, but I can't wait to get it on a road course and find out.
We arrived at the old Honda proving grounds.
Built in 1990, the facility stretches over 4,000 acres, and it has a 5-mile road course, straightaways, and a 7-1/2 mile oval.
How cool is this place? I've wanted to come here for years.
It's not like there's old Honda engines buried in the dirt or something that you're gonna find, you know.
Don't tell him that.
You're ruining the magic for him.
Look at this.
We can open these things up.
Hell yes.
What are we gonna do with them? A good supercar promises lightning-quick acceleration, so, to see which one of our American cars was the quickest, we're going to have a race Zero to 60.
- Zero to 60? - Three wide.
Hell yeah.
Not a problem at all.
What an absolute dork.
Oh, gosh.
Let's go for it.
Gentlemen In 3 2 1 Go! Coming up, we go head-to-head with the Europeans Come on, Adam! And one of us gets to put a $300,000 muscle car to the test.
We were in the Mojave desert competing to see who had the best American supercar.
My Rossion won the photo challenge, and now it was a zero-to-60 race.
In 3 2 1 Go! Oh, my tires are spinning.
60! There it is.
60.
Ohh.
I smoked them the whole way.
Well, that was easy.
Yeah, buddy.
I was spinning the tires.
I didn't get a good launch.
What happened, Rut? There's so much power, it just It spun the tires all the way.
- Did you stop when you hit 60? - Yeah.
This thing goes 65 in first gear.
I didn't have to shift at all.
I just went right up to the rev limit and then hit the brakes.
I mean, this basically means that the Lucra could potentially take on the Europeans, but those guys I don't know.
I can't hear.
Basically, it means I can't hear ya! That the Lucra could take on the Europeans.
Whether or not they could hear me, I easily won the challenge.
So with one victory each for Adam and I, we drove off to the other side of the proving grounds for our next challenge.
Gentlemen, we are standing above the longest straightaway here at the Honda proving ground.
Yeah, I think it's 1.
2 miles from turn to turn.
Okay.
What are we doing here? I'm glad you asked.
Oh, yeah.
"Contemporary European supercars pride themselves "on their build quality "and ability to safely reach their claimed top speeds.
"To see if your cars can do the same, "you will each have a mile "to hit your vehicles' claimed top speeds.
Closest to the top speed wins.
" Okay.
I mean, mine goes 200 miles an hour.
So does mine.
In that? No windshield.
Are you gonna wear a helmet? Yeah.
I'm gonna wear a helmet.
- Good.
- Just for the bugs, mainly.
Okay, so your top speed is 200 even? Yeah, that's what they say.
What's your top speed? 187, gentlemen.
I think I have an advantage for this one.
'Cause you have to get To 187 in a mile.
- 13.
- See that? - By myself.
- You did the math? - Yeah.
13 miles an hour slower.
Since it's a standing mile, and this is about two tenths away from the end, I think we should stay here and you should get a helmet.
I think you're right.
This, have no doubt, is going to be very scary.
No windshield at 100 miles an hour.
If you've ever ridden a motorcycle, it is extreme.
But with a motorcycle, you have a helmet, and, luckily, I do have one of those.
I mean, this isn't just about, you know, how hard you can press the right pedal, it's about the thing that makes you press the right pedal.
His balls.
No, his brain.
I was gonna say his brain.
All right, let me fire it up.
She's running.
That's 100! Here he comes.
130! Third gear already.
Third gear.
140! 150! 160! That's quick.
162 miles an hour.
Whoo-hoo! Wow! That was insanity! Oh, my gosh! - That was fast.
- That was fast.
Holy crimine.
That was loud.
Still has a head.
Get me out of this thing.
How freaking crazy was that? You okay? You all right? I feel like I just went to a Motley Crue concert.
That was deafening.
I think I lost hearing at about 85.
You went by like a bobble head was driving it.
So, how fast did you go? - Wow.
- What? Yeah.
That's fast.
Well, this means I've got to beat 162 since my car also says it'll do 200 miles an hour.
Whew.
Go get 'em.
Let's do it.
That was dangerous.
That was scary.
And fun.
My Lucra's 162-mile-per-hour run was 38 short of its claimed top speed, but not bad for just one mile.
Now it was time to see how Rut would handle supercar speed.
He's gonna freak out.
He's gonna go, "oh, my God!" And that's gonna be it.
"W-w-w-whoa! I got kids!" "I got kids! I can't do" All I'm thinking about is my wife and kids.
Maybe what we're gonna have for dinner, what we're gonna do next week for my wife's birthday.
And I've got to drive as fast as I can towards this bridge.
All right, you ready, big fella? Let's do this.
Oh, yeah.
All right, bring it, big daddy.
Here we go.
200 miles an hour in a supercar.
All right, there's first gear.
Okay.
Nice and easy there.
Okay.
Oh, it's starting to float around a little bit.
That's 100.
Here he comes.
Here he is.
Just a little red rocket.
Oh, that's 120, 130.
Holy Holy sh Whoa.
Slow down there, big guy.
Ohh! Slap your mama, that is fast.
Whew.
Whoo, I just used a half a tank of gas.
My speed of 160 was 2 miles per hour slower than Tanner's.
Since Adam's top speed was only 187, he'd only have to reach 148 to win.
Adam, we've made our peace.
Have you? I'm ready.
And go.
Good lord.
Okay.
Here we go.
Coming up, will Adam live or die? Wow! We were in the Mojave desert testing three American supercars.
Adam and I had each won a challenge and we were now trying to reach our cars' top speed.
162 miles an hour! I hit 162 Whoo-hoo-hoo! Rut hit 160 Ohh! And now it was Adam's turn.
And go.
Good lord.
Okay.
Here we go.
There we go.
Good launch.
Come on, baby.
Was the Saleen just quiet the whole time until you just started, "rawr"? Just That's louder than the Saleen.
Over 100.
He's moving around with it already.
He's going for it.
That's it right there.
That's fast enough, Adam.
Come on, baby.
Get up there! Grab some of it! Let's go.
Fast enough.
Ohh! Wow.
That was quick.
Yeah, that I mean, that seemed fast.
I wasn't up here for the Saleen, obviously, but he was booking it.
The Saleen was More red.
How was it? It was fun.
Yeah? How fast? Oh! Yes! Wait.
It's a percentage.
See, you were closer.
Oh, wait.
Yes! Do the dance.
Do the dance.
No, I don't need to.
I didn't stretch.
But I think we established that somehow the Lucra, again, is more of a supercar than those things.
You know what? Unless it rains.
What's next? I've heard enough.
That's nice.
Let's roll.
You think it's gonna rain? We're in the desert.
The nice thing is, I'm so sweaty I'm just really sliding in the car now.
With Tanner leading two wins to my Rossion's one, it was down to me to win the next challenge and force a tie-breaker.
That challenge would take place on a road course a few miles away, which gave us a chance to reflect on how our cars were shaping up.
It may be hard to drive at times.
It may not be the fastest supercar on the road.
But you know what? I still think this is a brilliant car.
Is it a beast on the road? Yeah, it is.
I mean, think about it.
The S7R won le mans.
I'm basically in a tuned-down version of that car.
So it doesn't have the little prancing horse on the front.
It wasn't named after a bull.
Big deal.
It doesn't change the fact that I still love this car.
And if money was no object, I'd own one.
Despite his victories, Tanner was less convinced by the Lucra.
I'll be honest.
For being 2,000 pounds and 505 horsepower, this thing certainly is good at accelerating.
But I can tell just by jerking the wheel back and forth that it is gonna be a nightmare in a corner.
It's just that the front end moves so willingly.
The front suspension is really good.
But the back end doesn't necessarily have a clue what's up.
But holy crap Is it fun.
I'll be honest.
I'm getting a little disappointed with the Rossion.
We have this kind of homemade-y kind of kit-car-ish, "I made it in the backyard.
It's based on this other car.
" We're frankensteining stuff together.
If America was seriously considering getting into the supercar game, why don't they make a mid-engine corvette? Just build a beast to go up against Ferrari.
I think we just got to commit ourselves and do it.
So far, our American supercars had performed pretty well with impressive zero to 60 times and strong top-speed attempts over a mile, but we'd been testing in isolation.
Now it was time to find out how good they really were, and that meant bringing on two Italians and a German The $400,000 v-12 Aventador, one of the best Lamborghinis ever made; the $150,000 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, one of the best-handling sports cars in the world; and the $230,000 Ferrari 458 Italia, an instant classic when it was launched in 2009.
As a test of our cars' overall handling, we'd each race one of them over a 2-mile road course packed full of twists and turns.
Adam had decided to go first.
So, you're gonna put the Rossion up against the Ferrari 458, a 550-horsepower amazing supercar.
Arguably one of the better supercars built in our generation.
Totally understood, gentlemen.
The 458's not a supercar.
It's an achievement.
What are you gonna do, lay down? You don't go gentle into that good night.
You rage against the dying of the light.
Wow.
Whatever.
Two cars, one driver.
No.
Two cars, two drivers.
Well, there goes all hope.
This is gonna suck.
Right this way, stig.
Then Adam had an unusually bright idea.
This doesn't make any sense.
- Uh, Adam, question.
- Yeah.
- Why's he in the Rossion? - Look.
This is a fight about American supercars, right? Well, the best shot the country has ain't me.
It's him.
Sacrifice yourself for the good of the nation.
I like it.
I'm not doing this for us, gentlemen.
I'm doing this for the United States of America.
Ferrari's never gonna know what hit it.
All right.
Adam, thumbs up, you ready? Stig, whatever.
Here we go.
In three, two, one.
Go! Ferrari gets it off the line! Oh! Oh! The stig's gonna outbrake in the first corner.
Wow! The stig just blew right by me.
There he goes.
I'm losing! I'm losing! But I'm win But we're winning! This actually makes sense.
Adam's giving that car a fighting chance - 'cause the 458's a better car on paper, right? - Uh, yeah.
I want the Rossion to win, but I don't want to look bad.
Do you think it's gonna be close? Well, no.
I No, I think that stig's gonna walk him.
He's the stig.
Oh, this part's tight.
Here he comes, the stig.
Oh, my gosh! Come on, Adam! Come on! Go! Go, go, go! That wasn't even close at all.
That means the Rossion's pretty quick.
Ha ha! Fellas, I lost and we won! I don't know what that means, but I think this is all good.
No, you know what? You had a good idea.
I'm gonna follow suit.
Way to go.
It was America 1, Europe zero.
I'm gonna try to beat the stig in a Lamborghini Aventador with 700 all-wheel-drive horsepower.
There he is in the Saleen.
I mean, I want that car to win, which is why I'm in this one.
But I also did this because I really want to drive an Aventador.
Hey, Rut, how you feeling in there? Whew.
The only way to make this desert hotter is to get in a black car.
Okay, gentlemen.
Are we ready? I'm ready.
Come on.
Here we go in three, two, one, go! Come on, Rut! Whoo, I'm holding off the stig in the first turn! The power of the all-wheel-drive in the lambo is keeping the stig at bay.
Yeah! All right.
All right, that was impressive.
He's still leading.
Still leading going into the second corner.
What am I doing? Why did I pull in front of the stig? That's crazy.
Whoa, man! Ohh! Oh, right, there I go.
Oh, what gear are you in? Oh, oh, oh! Oh, the panels shift.
I went the wrong way.
Oh, my gosh! 700 horsepower in this car is amazing.
It's a pretty big lead with the Saleen.
Here he comes.
The Saleen's got it! Here they come, man.
The S7 is in the lead.
And the Aventador passes through.
See? It's perfect.
Rut loses, America wins.
- So, Rut loses - Yeah.
In the Aventador, but because he's a slower driver than the stig, the S7 happens across the line first.
Yeah.
I think it's a thumbs up.
Is it a thumbs up? Great job! Good job losing! Coming up, it's something I've wanted to see for a long time Tanner versus the stig.
It was the final challenge for our American supercars, a head-to-head race against their European rivals.
To give our cars the best chance of winning, Adam and I had the stig drive, and it worked.
Now Tanner's Lucra was up against the Porsche.
To keep it consistent, the stig would drive the Lucra.
While Tanner wanted his car to win, he had his pride.
It's not like me to just not go out and try to win.
On the straightaways, it's gonna be hard to hang with that thing.
But in the corners and braking, that's what Porsche is legendary for.
That is what the GT3 RS is all about.
And today, it could be a Lucra-eating machine.
You think it's true stig's Danica Patrick? Could be.
All right, Tanner.
You ready? Ready here.
Stig, I'm just gonna assume you're ready and not acknowledge me at all.
- Okay.
Here we go.
- Here we go.
In three, two, one, go! Oh, it's a pretty even start.
Oh, he's gone.
Oh! That Lucra is fast.
I'm taking him on the outside! Oh, Tanner's in front again! Oh, he's right on me! Oh, now I'm holding him up.
This is bad.
In the corners, I can get him.
But on every single straightaway, he just bites back.
Oh, the Lucra! He's sliding everywhere.
The stig is really working for it.
Oh, the power of the Lucra! Oh, no! I love it, but I hate it! There he goes.
He squirted in front of me.
Oh, the stig's got him.
It's so fast with all that horsepower! It's unbelievable! I'm gaining on him in the corner.
I can get him before the last turn.
This is two dudes that don't lift professionally.
Steer through it.
Here they come.
Here they come.
Oh! Oh, he's really sawing at the wheel.
Ohh! Ohh! No! The Lucra takes it! That was awesome! Why are we standing here? I don't know.
How was it? I feel dirty.
Why? I mean, I know that it's kind of a win Yes.
But I lost.
Here's the good news.
You lost, America won, gentlemen.
You have to admit these American cars are cool, but they still have a long way to go.
For example, would you not still choose this over the Lucra? Well well, if you're gonna rely on it on a daily basis, of course.
Would you choose the 458 over the Rossion? All day long, baby.
Now, here's the weird thing.
I'd still choose that Saleen over the Aventador.
I realize that the Aventador's a superior car.
I get that, but I don't care.
Sometimes that's what a supercar's about.
It's about saying, "you know what? I don't care.
" So, what'd we learn here? I think we learned that the American supercars' attempts are cool.
They're cool cars.
But they've got a long way to go to try to compete with the European supercar.
No.
Not what I was actually getting at.
What we learned here is that I won.
Love it.
That's true.
Yeah.
I mean, that's not what I learned.
I didn't learn that, either.
I knew that.
Yeah.
Wait.
Here comes the burning.
After proving that my American supercar was best, I was off to claim my prize.
It was another high-performance car.
This one was a little more muscle than supercar.
When you think "Mercedes," you think of words like refinement Elegance Conservative mid-level accountants.
But recently, they must have had some sort of midlife crisis, put something in that funny little German pipe and smoked it.
But unlike Bill Clinton, they inhaled because they've gone and made this.
This is the Mercedes SLS amg black series.
And, yes, it is bright yellow.
Black is the name they give to the very special performance versions of their performance cars.
And it lives up to its name 'cause this $300,000 car is very bad in a very good way.
Okay, here we go.
The first test of the muscle-car credentials of the SLS had to be a zero-to-60 run.
Zero to 60 in 3.
6 seconds, 198 mile-an-hour top speed, and the sound is unbelievable! This is a Mercedes? It just pulls like a freight train, and it's glorious! The Germans have no speed limit so they can enjoy this stuff.
Good lord, why don't we have autobahns? Oh.
Seems a little ridiculous to call it a muscle car, but if you think about it, the SLS already started out as a v-8 fire-breathing monster.
Then amg put carbon fiber everywhere, opened up the exhaust, made it out of titanium, lost 150 pounds on the car Making it faster.
It's what a lot of companies do here like shelby, Saleen, hennessy Add power, lose weight.
It's simple, really.
So, the SLS black will be right at home revving at a red light on main street, U.
S.
A.
, at 2:00 A.
M.
But that's where the similarities with the all-American muscle cars end.
Mercedes prides themselves on high-tech innovation and limitless research budgets.
That means that this muscle car should be able to do what other muscle cars can't do Corner at high speed.
So, to find out, I headed for the hills.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, this is a proper road.
Southern California's highway 74, which eats ordinary muscle cars for breakfast.
Coming up, I put the SLS black series to the test when I try to cover 10 miles of one of America's most dangerous roads in less than 10 minutes.
We've been in the California desert competing over which was the best American supercar.
My Lucra had won, and that meant I got to drive a German muscle car Mercedes SLS AMG black.
It had proven itself in a straight line, but now I was going to test its cornering ability in a 10-mile suicide run with hairpin bends and 100-foot dropoffs.
And to make it interesting, I was gonna try to do it in less than 10 minutes, which would mean averaging at least a mile a minute.
Okay.
Ahead of me, we have 10 miles of twisty, gnarly road.
But against that, we have carbon ceramic brakes.
We have 622 horsepower.
We have thousands of Mercedes and AMG engineers who built a machine to do one thing, and that is to devour that 10 miles in one gulp.
And stop me if I'm smiling too much.
Here we go.
And we're off! Good lord! Whoa! I'm doing something so dangerous! I love it! Whew.
Feel like I'm riding a giant yellow dragon through the gates of hell.
3 miles in and I'd managed to average 75 miles an hour.
I was ahead of schedule.
Now we're getting out here.
Traction control is completely off.
Still a few electronics going on with a Oh, my gosh.
Hello, ABS How's your day going? It felt like I was breaking the laws of physics.
I was already 6 miles in and still had over four minutes on the clock.
But the mountain wasn't giving up.
It wanted blood, and it called in the rain gods.
Now, rainy conditions, of course, are not ideal, especially when working with dry-weather tires that like to be right up to temperature.
But the wet is a place where you really look under the skirt of a car and really see what it's about not to be too graphic.
Rain or not, there's no turning back now.
Don't forget, yellow is the color for danger.
This bumpy roadAnd this rain it's the right color.
Good God! Oh, God.
It is just the twitchiest thing at speed.
I'm not sure if it's just a problem coping with the amount of grip that the tires create or what, but [Bleep.]
It's scary.
I had a mile to go, but the rain had slowed things down so I had to cover it in less than a minute.
Here's the last turn.
I had done it.
Incredibly, the SLS had managed to beat the clock.
Driving at these speeds and these conditions in your average car would most likely be your last time behind the wheel.
But Mercedes has made it possible.
And this is not a simple car.
It's raw.
It's pure.
But it still is electronically controlled.
There's a little hesitation when you lift off the throttle.
There is controls that are always a part of your driving experience.
So, essentially, what Mercedes has built is about the smartest muscle car on the planet.
The SLS black is, indeed, a stunning and outrageous achievement not just because of its all-in-one performance package but more because it represents that big car companies still have the desire in what they can do when they want to push the automotive envelope.
And that brings me back to the American supercar.
Boutique shops are doing their best to compete on a world scale, but what about the big three? It's been since 2004 when the Ford gt came out as a world-beating supercar that we've done that.
Dodge, Chevy, Ford, come on.
We are ready.
But not so long ago, it was a different story.
Please excuse the gigantic grin on my face right now because I am driving a car I dreamed of just getting close to my entire childhood The 240-mile-per-hour all-American Vector W8.
Born in 1990, the W8 was the first U.
S.
supercar that could compete with the likes of Lamborghini and Ferrari.
It was so big for America to come out with a car like this To tell the Europeans, "you know, we're not afraid.
We can do this, and we can do it even better.
" And then it was gone.
So, what happened? Why is there no American supercar? W8 production stopped in 1993 after the company faltered, and only 19 were ever made.
It seemed like the American supercar dream was dead.
But across the country, a few boutique manufacturers have kept the dream alive.
So to find out how good these homegrown supercars are, we each chose our favorite and put them to the test against their European rivals.
Holy "Top Gear" told us to drive our American supercars to the starting point in Malibu, California.
To see who had the best one, we'd be competing in challenges, and Rut's first challenge was just to get out of the damn car.
You all right, big daddy? - Got it! - Okay.
Got it.
We could get, like, one of those chairs that gets people up the stairs.
Yeah.
You know, like, when they move the big dolphins from one aquarium to the other.
Yeah, like a cradle thing.
You just squirt water on his back.
- Keep him moist.
- Yeah, pull him around there.
Can you believe that I'm driving a Saleen S7? It might have been 10 years old, but, to me, the S7 is the perfect American supercar Naturally aspirated V8, 650-horsepower, 10-second quarter mile, and $375,000 back in 2003.
And its racecar design means that it creates enough downforce at 160 miles an hour, creates its weight It could drive upside down.
- Do it.
- I don't believe you.
I've heard that stat so many times about so many amazing cars, and nobody's done it.
Let me tell you something.
I've been upside down in a car many times.
You don't want to do it.
What's that? - I feel like I've seen that car before.
- You have.
I've chosen the Rossion Q1.
Rossion bought the rights to the noble M400, added luxury and refinement, but still kept the power-to-weight ratio of a track car.
For 100 grand, you get 450 horsepower in a car that weighs less than 2,500 pounds.
You are dead.
I'm dead?! You're driving that.
This is a Lucra.
Gentlemen, what you're looking at is a manifestation of American ingenuity.
Without a windshield.
Yeah, I didn't see that in the brochure, but it's cool.
Sure, my Lucra LC470 didn't have a roof, but it did have a 7-liter v8, generating over 500 horsepower, the car weighing just 2,000 pounds, and all that for just 135 grand.
This is pretty cool.
It's a cool-looking Miat a, ough.
This looks nothing like a Miata.
I like that it has the logo here on the side pipes, so that way, when you get out, it'll brand the car's logo right on your calves.
In the back of your calves.
Miata or not, it was time to start our journey.
We were told to head 100 miles to an automotive proving ground in the Mojave desert.
The winner would get his hands on a $300,000 dream car.
Mount up, gentlemen.
We're heading to the desert.
Do you have sunscreen in there? No, I got a roof.
Why would I have sunscreen? Ha ha! Oh, my goodness gracious.
Each time.
Each time.
Oh, wow.
As we headed to Mojave, we were given a lecture on what makes a supercar by the human fly.
It's got to be fairly exclusive.
It's got to be very fast.
It's got to take a concentrated hand to extract the most out of it.
And its performance potential has to be out of reach for most drivers.
Oh, what it also needs to do is inspire some sort of emotion from the driver.
It needs to feed the addiction that you have as a car enthusiast.
I picked this car because I really Ooh That was a big rock.
I picked this car 'cause I really wanted to know if it could live up to all the hype that the magazines gave it when it first came out.
Now, I'll admit, the driving experience of this car is really intense.
This is something that you really have to drive.
You're not just kind of driving it.
It is a full, intense driving session.
While Rut was busy concentrating, Adam was getting confused.
When you lift off the gas, that's either the exhaust note burbling or the car's crumbling.
I'm not quite sure.
Our route to the proving grounds took us across Los Angeles to Beverly hills.
And it was time for the first challenge.
One of the defining features of supercars is their ability to turn heads with their stunning looks.
To find out which of ours stood out the most, we had to park on rodeo drive and see which one of our cars had the most photographs taken in 10 minutes.
You just scared a kid.
You just scared a kid officially.
This kid to your right jumped.
Bless his heart.
Are you okay? You okay? It's a scary beast.
What can I say? But just down the street, we had some competition.
It was one of the greatest supercars ever made The $1.
7 Bugatti Veyron SS.
How would our cars do up against that? Wow.
I'll say that bugatti looks pretty good.
Bug boy was up first.
Okay, there's already a crowd formed here.
Unbelievable.
He needs theme music, doesn't he? He needs a scarf and a leather helmet.
Okay.
Count it.
It's 7 after.
He's got 10 minutes.
What's he doing? What's he doing? Here he comes.
Here he comes.
Cool goggles.
That's neat.
Were you skiing? Oh.
Goggles.
Were you just snowboarding? How long have you been welding? All right, so thus far, I see eight people.
What? Maybe nine.
Okay, you got to count by 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 Stop it! Those are people standing, not people taking pictures.
There's only eight there's nine people taking pictures.
Why are they standing there? The other people are just standing there 'cause they can't believe that that thing made it.
And that's time.
Time.
That's it.
All right.
25.
25 pictures.
You think that's something, wait till I pull the Saleen around.
Okay.
Go.
With the Saleen's racecar styling, I was feeling confident.
Look at this other lady is like, "can I help you get out?" They're taking a picture of him falling out.
They just got a picture of his plumber crack.
Hey, how you doing? Hey.
You know, so far the only photograph has been of you falling on the ground.
It was a tuck and roll.
I got two as I was pulling in, so count that.
Two? Whatever.
Look at them just flocking to it.
They're thinking, "ooh, is this a bugatti?" No.
Look.
Look.
He just got his son in the picture with him.
Oh, now he's going for the other.
Six minutes in and my Saleen was drawing people in like bees to honey.
I would say that I had more photos, but your photos are actually going up to the door and taking a picture with it.
Quality.
I'm getting quality pictures right now.
Too bad that wasn't part of the challenge.
Stop the clock.
What's the time? That's like 20.
Okay, so you got 20.
All right, 25 for you, 20 for me.
Respectable.
There's no chance you can beat that.
Wait right here, gentlemen.
Watch and learn.
Look at that How boring that thing looks.
I mean, it looks like a new-age mr2.
That's exactly right.
Not a single person standing around it.
Have you ever seen Bijan down there? Oh, my gosh, that place is insane.
Unbelievable.
Start the clock.
A lot of yellow in Bijan.
We're trying to find something to talk about because there is nobody around your car.
Are you kidding? Look at that! Nobody.
There's literally not a single person taking a picture.
You know why? - It's understated.
- All right? People are gonna walk by and go On the second look, they'll go, "wow, I had no idea! Rossion!" - "Oh, an mr2!" - No, I don't think so.
I don't feel like they're gonna say that at all.
It wasn't going very well, so I activated my cloaking device.
Excuse me.
Did you know there's a Rossion Q1 right up the block? Yes! I can see it on your faces.
You're amazed.
Go ahead.
Go take a look at it.
A Rossion Q1 live in the flesh.
With the cloaking device activated, things began to look up.
Look at them looking.
See that? What's this crowd of people coming over from Bijan? See? Look.
They're all coming over.
Look.
Look at them gathering around.
Word's getting out.
Go ahead! Enjoy! Take all you want! It's a Rossion! Q1! I'm over 25.
I'm the winner.
With my Rossion winning the day, we left Beverly hills behind and headed to the Mojave desert proving ground.
What makes the S7 so cool to me is that this was just an idea that Steve Saleen had.
He'd been successful racing mustangs, he had a great relationship with Ford, and he decided to make an American interpretation of a European supercar.
It went from paper to a working car in 18 months.
And if you look at these three cars, it's hands down the best attempt at a supercar here.
The Rossion Q1 is based on the noble M400.
When noble decided they're not making anymore of them, Rossion bought the intellectual property and built the Q1.
They wanted to make a supercar you could use every day.
So they really paid attention to the interior, adding more leather and Alcantara®, power windows, and the ultimate in luxury a glove box.
As far as the ride, they seem to have struck a good balance between track performance and daily driver.
The suspension is not spine-crushing.
It's kind of comfortable.
And I guarantee I'm having a better ride than Tanner is.
Look at him back there.
He looks like a cartoon character.
Are you just baking in the sun back there? Are you okay, man? What did you say? The freakin' dirt is insane.
The cool thing about a proving ground is that it's a place where you go to prove stuff, where you get to push things to the limit.
Finally, we get to open this baby up.
I know it's got a ton of power.
I know it weighs nothing.
It feels a little squirmy, but I can't wait to get it on a road course and find out.
We arrived at the old Honda proving grounds.
Built in 1990, the facility stretches over 4,000 acres, and it has a 5-mile road course, straightaways, and a 7-1/2 mile oval.
How cool is this place? I've wanted to come here for years.
It's not like there's old Honda engines buried in the dirt or something that you're gonna find, you know.
Don't tell him that.
You're ruining the magic for him.
Look at this.
We can open these things up.
Hell yes.
What are we gonna do with them? A good supercar promises lightning-quick acceleration, so, to see which one of our American cars was the quickest, we're going to have a race Zero to 60.
- Zero to 60? - Three wide.
Hell yeah.
Not a problem at all.
What an absolute dork.
Oh, gosh.
Let's go for it.
Gentlemen In 3 2 1 Go! Coming up, we go head-to-head with the Europeans Come on, Adam! And one of us gets to put a $300,000 muscle car to the test.
We were in the Mojave desert competing to see who had the best American supercar.
My Rossion won the photo challenge, and now it was a zero-to-60 race.
In 3 2 1 Go! Oh, my tires are spinning.
60! There it is.
60.
Ohh.
I smoked them the whole way.
Well, that was easy.
Yeah, buddy.
I was spinning the tires.
I didn't get a good launch.
What happened, Rut? There's so much power, it just It spun the tires all the way.
- Did you stop when you hit 60? - Yeah.
This thing goes 65 in first gear.
I didn't have to shift at all.
I just went right up to the rev limit and then hit the brakes.
I mean, this basically means that the Lucra could potentially take on the Europeans, but those guys I don't know.
I can't hear.
Basically, it means I can't hear ya! That the Lucra could take on the Europeans.
Whether or not they could hear me, I easily won the challenge.
So with one victory each for Adam and I, we drove off to the other side of the proving grounds for our next challenge.
Gentlemen, we are standing above the longest straightaway here at the Honda proving ground.
Yeah, I think it's 1.
2 miles from turn to turn.
Okay.
What are we doing here? I'm glad you asked.
Oh, yeah.
"Contemporary European supercars pride themselves "on their build quality "and ability to safely reach their claimed top speeds.
"To see if your cars can do the same, "you will each have a mile "to hit your vehicles' claimed top speeds.
Closest to the top speed wins.
" Okay.
I mean, mine goes 200 miles an hour.
So does mine.
In that? No windshield.
Are you gonna wear a helmet? Yeah.
I'm gonna wear a helmet.
- Good.
- Just for the bugs, mainly.
Okay, so your top speed is 200 even? Yeah, that's what they say.
What's your top speed? 187, gentlemen.
I think I have an advantage for this one.
'Cause you have to get To 187 in a mile.
- 13.
- See that? - By myself.
- You did the math? - Yeah.
13 miles an hour slower.
Since it's a standing mile, and this is about two tenths away from the end, I think we should stay here and you should get a helmet.
I think you're right.
This, have no doubt, is going to be very scary.
No windshield at 100 miles an hour.
If you've ever ridden a motorcycle, it is extreme.
But with a motorcycle, you have a helmet, and, luckily, I do have one of those.
I mean, this isn't just about, you know, how hard you can press the right pedal, it's about the thing that makes you press the right pedal.
His balls.
No, his brain.
I was gonna say his brain.
All right, let me fire it up.
She's running.
That's 100! Here he comes.
130! Third gear already.
Third gear.
140! 150! 160! That's quick.
162 miles an hour.
Whoo-hoo! Wow! That was insanity! Oh, my gosh! - That was fast.
- That was fast.
Holy crimine.
That was loud.
Still has a head.
Get me out of this thing.
How freaking crazy was that? You okay? You all right? I feel like I just went to a Motley Crue concert.
That was deafening.
I think I lost hearing at about 85.
You went by like a bobble head was driving it.
So, how fast did you go? - Wow.
- What? Yeah.
That's fast.
Well, this means I've got to beat 162 since my car also says it'll do 200 miles an hour.
Whew.
Go get 'em.
Let's do it.
That was dangerous.
That was scary.
And fun.
My Lucra's 162-mile-per-hour run was 38 short of its claimed top speed, but not bad for just one mile.
Now it was time to see how Rut would handle supercar speed.
He's gonna freak out.
He's gonna go, "oh, my God!" And that's gonna be it.
"W-w-w-whoa! I got kids!" "I got kids! I can't do" All I'm thinking about is my wife and kids.
Maybe what we're gonna have for dinner, what we're gonna do next week for my wife's birthday.
And I've got to drive as fast as I can towards this bridge.
All right, you ready, big fella? Let's do this.
Oh, yeah.
All right, bring it, big daddy.
Here we go.
200 miles an hour in a supercar.
All right, there's first gear.
Okay.
Nice and easy there.
Okay.
Oh, it's starting to float around a little bit.
That's 100.
Here he comes.
Here he is.
Just a little red rocket.
Oh, that's 120, 130.
Holy Holy sh Whoa.
Slow down there, big guy.
Ohh! Slap your mama, that is fast.
Whew.
Whoo, I just used a half a tank of gas.
My speed of 160 was 2 miles per hour slower than Tanner's.
Since Adam's top speed was only 187, he'd only have to reach 148 to win.
Adam, we've made our peace.
Have you? I'm ready.
And go.
Good lord.
Okay.
Here we go.
Coming up, will Adam live or die? Wow! We were in the Mojave desert testing three American supercars.
Adam and I had each won a challenge and we were now trying to reach our cars' top speed.
162 miles an hour! I hit 162 Whoo-hoo-hoo! Rut hit 160 Ohh! And now it was Adam's turn.
And go.
Good lord.
Okay.
Here we go.
There we go.
Good launch.
Come on, baby.
Was the Saleen just quiet the whole time until you just started, "rawr"? Just That's louder than the Saleen.
Over 100.
He's moving around with it already.
He's going for it.
That's it right there.
That's fast enough, Adam.
Come on, baby.
Get up there! Grab some of it! Let's go.
Fast enough.
Ohh! Wow.
That was quick.
Yeah, that I mean, that seemed fast.
I wasn't up here for the Saleen, obviously, but he was booking it.
The Saleen was More red.
How was it? It was fun.
Yeah? How fast? Oh! Yes! Wait.
It's a percentage.
See, you were closer.
Oh, wait.
Yes! Do the dance.
Do the dance.
No, I don't need to.
I didn't stretch.
But I think we established that somehow the Lucra, again, is more of a supercar than those things.
You know what? Unless it rains.
What's next? I've heard enough.
That's nice.
Let's roll.
You think it's gonna rain? We're in the desert.
The nice thing is, I'm so sweaty I'm just really sliding in the car now.
With Tanner leading two wins to my Rossion's one, it was down to me to win the next challenge and force a tie-breaker.
That challenge would take place on a road course a few miles away, which gave us a chance to reflect on how our cars were shaping up.
It may be hard to drive at times.
It may not be the fastest supercar on the road.
But you know what? I still think this is a brilliant car.
Is it a beast on the road? Yeah, it is.
I mean, think about it.
The S7R won le mans.
I'm basically in a tuned-down version of that car.
So it doesn't have the little prancing horse on the front.
It wasn't named after a bull.
Big deal.
It doesn't change the fact that I still love this car.
And if money was no object, I'd own one.
Despite his victories, Tanner was less convinced by the Lucra.
I'll be honest.
For being 2,000 pounds and 505 horsepower, this thing certainly is good at accelerating.
But I can tell just by jerking the wheel back and forth that it is gonna be a nightmare in a corner.
It's just that the front end moves so willingly.
The front suspension is really good.
But the back end doesn't necessarily have a clue what's up.
But holy crap Is it fun.
I'll be honest.
I'm getting a little disappointed with the Rossion.
We have this kind of homemade-y kind of kit-car-ish, "I made it in the backyard.
It's based on this other car.
" We're frankensteining stuff together.
If America was seriously considering getting into the supercar game, why don't they make a mid-engine corvette? Just build a beast to go up against Ferrari.
I think we just got to commit ourselves and do it.
So far, our American supercars had performed pretty well with impressive zero to 60 times and strong top-speed attempts over a mile, but we'd been testing in isolation.
Now it was time to find out how good they really were, and that meant bringing on two Italians and a German The $400,000 v-12 Aventador, one of the best Lamborghinis ever made; the $150,000 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, one of the best-handling sports cars in the world; and the $230,000 Ferrari 458 Italia, an instant classic when it was launched in 2009.
As a test of our cars' overall handling, we'd each race one of them over a 2-mile road course packed full of twists and turns.
Adam had decided to go first.
So, you're gonna put the Rossion up against the Ferrari 458, a 550-horsepower amazing supercar.
Arguably one of the better supercars built in our generation.
Totally understood, gentlemen.
The 458's not a supercar.
It's an achievement.
What are you gonna do, lay down? You don't go gentle into that good night.
You rage against the dying of the light.
Wow.
Whatever.
Two cars, one driver.
No.
Two cars, two drivers.
Well, there goes all hope.
This is gonna suck.
Right this way, stig.
Then Adam had an unusually bright idea.
This doesn't make any sense.
- Uh, Adam, question.
- Yeah.
- Why's he in the Rossion? - Look.
This is a fight about American supercars, right? Well, the best shot the country has ain't me.
It's him.
Sacrifice yourself for the good of the nation.
I like it.
I'm not doing this for us, gentlemen.
I'm doing this for the United States of America.
Ferrari's never gonna know what hit it.
All right.
Adam, thumbs up, you ready? Stig, whatever.
Here we go.
In three, two, one.
Go! Ferrari gets it off the line! Oh! Oh! The stig's gonna outbrake in the first corner.
Wow! The stig just blew right by me.
There he goes.
I'm losing! I'm losing! But I'm win But we're winning! This actually makes sense.
Adam's giving that car a fighting chance - 'cause the 458's a better car on paper, right? - Uh, yeah.
I want the Rossion to win, but I don't want to look bad.
Do you think it's gonna be close? Well, no.
I No, I think that stig's gonna walk him.
He's the stig.
Oh, this part's tight.
Here he comes, the stig.
Oh, my gosh! Come on, Adam! Come on! Go! Go, go, go! That wasn't even close at all.
That means the Rossion's pretty quick.
Ha ha! Fellas, I lost and we won! I don't know what that means, but I think this is all good.
No, you know what? You had a good idea.
I'm gonna follow suit.
Way to go.
It was America 1, Europe zero.
I'm gonna try to beat the stig in a Lamborghini Aventador with 700 all-wheel-drive horsepower.
There he is in the Saleen.
I mean, I want that car to win, which is why I'm in this one.
But I also did this because I really want to drive an Aventador.
Hey, Rut, how you feeling in there? Whew.
The only way to make this desert hotter is to get in a black car.
Okay, gentlemen.
Are we ready? I'm ready.
Come on.
Here we go in three, two, one, go! Come on, Rut! Whoo, I'm holding off the stig in the first turn! The power of the all-wheel-drive in the lambo is keeping the stig at bay.
Yeah! All right.
All right, that was impressive.
He's still leading.
Still leading going into the second corner.
What am I doing? Why did I pull in front of the stig? That's crazy.
Whoa, man! Ohh! Oh, right, there I go.
Oh, what gear are you in? Oh, oh, oh! Oh, the panels shift.
I went the wrong way.
Oh, my gosh! 700 horsepower in this car is amazing.
It's a pretty big lead with the Saleen.
Here he comes.
The Saleen's got it! Here they come, man.
The S7 is in the lead.
And the Aventador passes through.
See? It's perfect.
Rut loses, America wins.
- So, Rut loses - Yeah.
In the Aventador, but because he's a slower driver than the stig, the S7 happens across the line first.
Yeah.
I think it's a thumbs up.
Is it a thumbs up? Great job! Good job losing! Coming up, it's something I've wanted to see for a long time Tanner versus the stig.
It was the final challenge for our American supercars, a head-to-head race against their European rivals.
To give our cars the best chance of winning, Adam and I had the stig drive, and it worked.
Now Tanner's Lucra was up against the Porsche.
To keep it consistent, the stig would drive the Lucra.
While Tanner wanted his car to win, he had his pride.
It's not like me to just not go out and try to win.
On the straightaways, it's gonna be hard to hang with that thing.
But in the corners and braking, that's what Porsche is legendary for.
That is what the GT3 RS is all about.
And today, it could be a Lucra-eating machine.
You think it's true stig's Danica Patrick? Could be.
All right, Tanner.
You ready? Ready here.
Stig, I'm just gonna assume you're ready and not acknowledge me at all.
- Okay.
Here we go.
- Here we go.
In three, two, one, go! Oh, it's a pretty even start.
Oh, he's gone.
Oh! That Lucra is fast.
I'm taking him on the outside! Oh, Tanner's in front again! Oh, he's right on me! Oh, now I'm holding him up.
This is bad.
In the corners, I can get him.
But on every single straightaway, he just bites back.
Oh, the Lucra! He's sliding everywhere.
The stig is really working for it.
Oh, the power of the Lucra! Oh, no! I love it, but I hate it! There he goes.
He squirted in front of me.
Oh, the stig's got him.
It's so fast with all that horsepower! It's unbelievable! I'm gaining on him in the corner.
I can get him before the last turn.
This is two dudes that don't lift professionally.
Steer through it.
Here they come.
Here they come.
Oh! Oh, he's really sawing at the wheel.
Ohh! Ohh! No! The Lucra takes it! That was awesome! Why are we standing here? I don't know.
How was it? I feel dirty.
Why? I mean, I know that it's kind of a win Yes.
But I lost.
Here's the good news.
You lost, America won, gentlemen.
You have to admit these American cars are cool, but they still have a long way to go.
For example, would you not still choose this over the Lucra? Well well, if you're gonna rely on it on a daily basis, of course.
Would you choose the 458 over the Rossion? All day long, baby.
Now, here's the weird thing.
I'd still choose that Saleen over the Aventador.
I realize that the Aventador's a superior car.
I get that, but I don't care.
Sometimes that's what a supercar's about.
It's about saying, "you know what? I don't care.
" So, what'd we learn here? I think we learned that the American supercars' attempts are cool.
They're cool cars.
But they've got a long way to go to try to compete with the European supercar.
No.
Not what I was actually getting at.
What we learned here is that I won.
Love it.
That's true.
Yeah.
I mean, that's not what I learned.
I didn't learn that, either.
I knew that.
Yeah.
Wait.
Here comes the burning.
After proving that my American supercar was best, I was off to claim my prize.
It was another high-performance car.
This one was a little more muscle than supercar.
When you think "Mercedes," you think of words like refinement Elegance Conservative mid-level accountants.
But recently, they must have had some sort of midlife crisis, put something in that funny little German pipe and smoked it.
But unlike Bill Clinton, they inhaled because they've gone and made this.
This is the Mercedes SLS amg black series.
And, yes, it is bright yellow.
Black is the name they give to the very special performance versions of their performance cars.
And it lives up to its name 'cause this $300,000 car is very bad in a very good way.
Okay, here we go.
The first test of the muscle-car credentials of the SLS had to be a zero-to-60 run.
Zero to 60 in 3.
6 seconds, 198 mile-an-hour top speed, and the sound is unbelievable! This is a Mercedes? It just pulls like a freight train, and it's glorious! The Germans have no speed limit so they can enjoy this stuff.
Good lord, why don't we have autobahns? Oh.
Seems a little ridiculous to call it a muscle car, but if you think about it, the SLS already started out as a v-8 fire-breathing monster.
Then amg put carbon fiber everywhere, opened up the exhaust, made it out of titanium, lost 150 pounds on the car Making it faster.
It's what a lot of companies do here like shelby, Saleen, hennessy Add power, lose weight.
It's simple, really.
So, the SLS black will be right at home revving at a red light on main street, U.
S.
A.
, at 2:00 A.
M.
But that's where the similarities with the all-American muscle cars end.
Mercedes prides themselves on high-tech innovation and limitless research budgets.
That means that this muscle car should be able to do what other muscle cars can't do Corner at high speed.
So, to find out, I headed for the hills.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, this is a proper road.
Southern California's highway 74, which eats ordinary muscle cars for breakfast.
Coming up, I put the SLS black series to the test when I try to cover 10 miles of one of America's most dangerous roads in less than 10 minutes.
We've been in the California desert competing over which was the best American supercar.
My Lucra had won, and that meant I got to drive a German muscle car Mercedes SLS AMG black.
It had proven itself in a straight line, but now I was going to test its cornering ability in a 10-mile suicide run with hairpin bends and 100-foot dropoffs.
And to make it interesting, I was gonna try to do it in less than 10 minutes, which would mean averaging at least a mile a minute.
Okay.
Ahead of me, we have 10 miles of twisty, gnarly road.
But against that, we have carbon ceramic brakes.
We have 622 horsepower.
We have thousands of Mercedes and AMG engineers who built a machine to do one thing, and that is to devour that 10 miles in one gulp.
And stop me if I'm smiling too much.
Here we go.
And we're off! Good lord! Whoa! I'm doing something so dangerous! I love it! Whew.
Feel like I'm riding a giant yellow dragon through the gates of hell.
3 miles in and I'd managed to average 75 miles an hour.
I was ahead of schedule.
Now we're getting out here.
Traction control is completely off.
Still a few electronics going on with a Oh, my gosh.
Hello, ABS How's your day going? It felt like I was breaking the laws of physics.
I was already 6 miles in and still had over four minutes on the clock.
But the mountain wasn't giving up.
It wanted blood, and it called in the rain gods.
Now, rainy conditions, of course, are not ideal, especially when working with dry-weather tires that like to be right up to temperature.
But the wet is a place where you really look under the skirt of a car and really see what it's about not to be too graphic.
Rain or not, there's no turning back now.
Don't forget, yellow is the color for danger.
This bumpy roadAnd this rain it's the right color.
Good God! Oh, God.
It is just the twitchiest thing at speed.
I'm not sure if it's just a problem coping with the amount of grip that the tires create or what, but [Bleep.]
It's scary.
I had a mile to go, but the rain had slowed things down so I had to cover it in less than a minute.
Here's the last turn.
I had done it.
Incredibly, the SLS had managed to beat the clock.
Driving at these speeds and these conditions in your average car would most likely be your last time behind the wheel.
But Mercedes has made it possible.
And this is not a simple car.
It's raw.
It's pure.
But it still is electronically controlled.
There's a little hesitation when you lift off the throttle.
There is controls that are always a part of your driving experience.
So, essentially, what Mercedes has built is about the smartest muscle car on the planet.
The SLS black is, indeed, a stunning and outrageous achievement not just because of its all-in-one performance package but more because it represents that big car companies still have the desire in what they can do when they want to push the automotive envelope.
And that brings me back to the American supercar.
Boutique shops are doing their best to compete on a world scale, but what about the big three? It's been since 2004 when the Ford gt came out as a world-beating supercar that we've done that.
Dodge, Chevy, Ford, come on.
We are ready.