Welcome to the Ultimate Street Car Challenge 2003. Or, as we like to call it, the best car test the world has ever seen.
The USCC is fiercely competitive, very hard work and a real car killer. To the victor, the rewards include a really big glass trophy, while the losers, well, the losers get smaller glass trophies and one free meal.
Regardless of the risk, for the third year in a row, 10 crazies* took up the challenge and agreed to meet us in Los Angeles for the two days of absolute automotive bliss that is the USCC.
The first day was spent at the headquarters of K&N Filters in Riverside, Calif., where the cars were put on the chassis dyno and judged by a team of experts for their presentation and engineering. We sampled their driveability, measured their fuel economy, checked their emissions and gave Grandma a ride in each.
The next day we hit California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., where the cars battled it out on the skidpad, the road course and the dragstrip.
Fifteen grueling tests in all.
If you tuned in last month, you already know all about the cars. We covered all 10 in serious detail and reminded you that it was you, the readers of Sport Compact Car, who chose the very diverse group from the more than 80 entered.
Who won? Who has the ultimate street car? Find out.
| This year, the 10 crazies are: |
| Machine | Man |
| 2002 Nissan 350Z | James Chen, Sante Fe Springs, Calif. |
| 1994 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX | Scot Gray, Agoura Hills, Calif. |
| 1991 Toyota MR2 Turbo | Troy Tuglio, Spotsylvania, Va. |
| 1996 Dodge Viper GTS | Paolo Castellano, Elburn, Ill. |
| 2003 Ultima GTR | Jay Esterer, Edmonton Alberta, Canada |
| 1994 Toyota Supra Turbo | Rich Eager, Havertown, Pa. |
| 2000 Audi S4 | Mark Quigley, Berlin, N.J. |
| 1997 Toyota Supra Turbo | Matt Andrews, Los Angeles, Calif. |
| 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX | Roy Narvaez, Los Angeles, Calif. |
| 1992 Nissan Skyline GT-R | Nick Wong, Chicago, Ill. |
We want to thank the sponsors of this year's USCC: Nitto Tires, Tokico, The Outlaw, Black Magic and ADR Design. It couldn't have gone down without them.
The Tests
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