2004 Ultimate Street Car Challenge

Until this year, the USCC skidpad test was a 200-foot testimonial to the unrelenting stick of Hoosier tires. Just like the dyno numbers, the lateral grip generated during this contest is wildly out of step with the cars we test the rest of the year. In last year's contest, only one car-the one with three video screens-pulled less than 1.0g. In most cases, it wasn't stellar suspension setup that made these big numbers, but gooey Indiana rubber.

We're tired of Indiana.

The Hoosiers were stifling creativity, masking bad setup and costing a lot of money. This year we decided we'd had enough. Sure, they're technically street legal, but we once managed to cord a set in just three days of freeway commuting.

With Hoosiers banned, this year's competitors actually had to choose their tires carefully, dial in the suspension and fight for the big number. And that big number came from the only car that managed a good number last year without Hoosiers. Matt Andrews held his Supra off the ground with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires for two years in a row. Both times (on different skidpads) they were worth a little more than 1.07g. Last year that was good for third place. This year it was a decisive victory.

A distant second on the skidpad, circling at 1.035g, was Nick Wong's Skyline GT-R. Surprisingly, the Skyline's caretaker, Sean Morris, and driver, Steve Mitchell, both insisted that we circle the pad with the car's sophisticated, computer-controlled all-wheel-drive system disabled. In rear-wheel drive, the GT-R felt strange.

As cornering loads increased, the car seemed to steer itself into the turn, making it hard to follow the line. During the engineering judging, we noticed this car was loaded with bumpsteer spacers, adjustable control arms and tie-rod relocating thingies. There's little doubt the roll centers, toe curves and all the geometric subtlety Nissan designed into the chassis were thoroughly whacked out by now. This setup probably worked brilliantly with all-wheel drive and the quicker corners on the track, but it felt unsettling going in rear-drive circles.

Before he even got to the pad, Brad Bedell's lead was so commanding he could have skipped the last three contests and we'd still have had to mail him a box of trophies. Instead, his mid-engine steamroller flattened yet another competition. MR2s are known for having an evil side on the pad, and with the extra weight of a supercharged V6 over the rear axle, we expected it to be even worse. The big engine's smooth, flexible power delivery, though, helped more than the weight hurt. Balancing a car on the edge of adhesion takes delicate throttle work, and the thoroughly sorted V6 did just what our right foot asked.

It's surprising that two EVOs can feel as different as the Buschur/RRE and Sparco cars. The Buschur/RRE EVO was eager to jump sideways at every opportunity, and willing to stay that way as its three limited-slip diffs put power to the ground. This plays well in tight corners like our skidpad. Sparco's car was dialed more toward high-speed stability, but that translates to "poosh" on the pad. As different as they felt, Buschur/RRE's 1.021g and Sparco's 1.018 g were nearly identical.- Dave Coleman

Test 13 Skidpad