Awesome Racing

Reducing weight is one most important things you can do when it comes to performance cars. Automotive enthusiast ChrisFix wanted to see just how much weight could be stripped out of his BMW E46 3-series in preparation for track usage. He also tested the impact of the weight loss on acceleration and braking.

Outside of Bangkok, Thailand, adrenaline junkies pilot longtail wood boats with modified car engines that can make 500 hp or more. The boats can hit speeds upwards of 70 mph (112 km/h) as their captains steer inches from their powerful motors. CB Media offers a first-hand look at one of the world’s most bonkers activities.

We were fortunate to be among the first to take a ride in the 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance. Pro race driver Townsend Bell gave us a speedy tour of Texas’ Eagles Canyon Raceway, sliding deftly through the corners in the 472 hp V8-powered RWD sports sedan. The exhaust note sounds fantastic on this thing too.

Excited about the Indianapolis 500? Hy-Vee sure is. This is Hy-Vee’s second time at the Indy 500. Last year, the Midwest-based grocery chain sponsored one car with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and this year they’re sponsoring two drivers in the race.

Smartphone racing games often require tilting the screen to steer. While it’s not a bad control method, we prefer this clever design, which places the phone in a cradle that’s been rigged up to a metal frame and steering wheel. Though if your game requires acceleration or braking, that’s another problem.

Get ready to race with this arcade racer, which brings Hot Wheels action to consoles and gaming PCs. The game features crazy tracks with lots of loops, twists, and banks, with online multiplayer for up to 12 racers. It also has a track editor and livery editor for your car collection. Drops 9.30.2021.

The Dakar Rally is known as one of the world’s most challenging and dangerous races. Driver Benediktas Vanagas shared in-car footage of his Toyota Gazoo Racing truck from Stage 9 of the race, as he and his co-driver tore through a stretch of the route that runs along the Red Sea coast then into the desert. (Thanks Algirdas!)

The Martelli Brothers and Mad Media offer up a different take on off-road racing videos, contrasting the quiet and serene setting of Baja, Mexico with the high horsepower action of trophy trucks, buggies, motorcycles, ATVs and UTVs as they tear across the desert, catching air and throwing dirt everywhere.

It’s been a while since we got a Wipeout game, but it sure looks like players have a new one now. Despite having a different name, Pacer features the same breakneck, futuristic racing combat, and looks like a blast. It features eight single-player modes and online multiplayer. Out now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Strap in for a thrilling mountain ride in the 2020 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, courtesy of driver Kash Singh, who strapped a camera to the front of his turbocharged 2017 Ford Mustang GT. What makes the perspective even more exciting is how low the camera was mounted, offering a tremendous sense of speed.

Developed with professional race car drivers, this modular seating system is designed for serious racing sim fanatics. It features an angled, adjustable seat in nylon or leather, and sturdy metal stands that a steering wheel and pedals can be securely mounted to. Add-ons include a desktop, gear shift mount, and TV mount.

This stylized racing game from the creator of Absolute Drift lets you hoon about challenging courses in classic drift cars. The finished game will offer more than 50 cars, 60 stages, a career mode, weekly challenges, and online leaderboards. Best of all, they’ve released a short playable demo offering a glimpse of what’s to come.

YouTube channel 3Dbotmaker borrows a page from Jelle’s Marble Runs by creating a miniature racing series with high-quality production values and perfectly straight-faced commentary. The videos feature 1:64 scale diecast cars running a tricky rally circuit alongside teensy trees, rocks, and toy spectators.

Enjoy watching MotorTrend’s annual sports car showdown? Well, here’s something you’ll really like, a compilation of every World’s Greatest Drag Race from 2011 through 2019. Watch as awesome cars from Ford to Ferrari compete for straight line dominance. It’s a solid 23 minutes of automotive bliss.

Crash testing cars has saved countless lives, but with the forces that race cars regularly face, they need to be built very differently. Safety testing center IMMI shows off their Center for Advanced Product Evaluation with the tubular chassis of a sprint car. The tests include various wall crashes, and even a ceiling drop.

Headed to Sony PS4 racer Gran Turismo Sport, this concept for a single-seat track car has a sharp, futuristic look that takes Lamborghini’s distinctive angular styling and goes bonkers with the aero. The car’s hexagonal side windows were inspired by the stunning 1968 Marzal concept, but this design is anything but retro.

We already know that the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing F1 team is crazy fast at pit stops. But they recently were challenged to slow down and take their time. The big difference? They, their tools, wheels, and the car itself were all floating weightless in an Ilyushin Il-76 MDK cosmonaut training plane, 33,000 feet above earth.

Roborace is a new racing series with autonomous vehicles. Science reporter and smart guy Tom Scott scored some time with his hands off the wheel of one of these cars, while it did all of the work driving him around the UK’s famed Silverstone circuit. We’d love to see this at full speed, though safety concerns prevent that at present.

The $3.5 million, 1479bhp Bugatti Chiron Sport is theoretically capable of hitting 261 mph, according to Bugatti. But nobody outside of Bugatti themselves has achieved that. In this clip from UK auto mag Top Gear, editor-in-chief Charlie Turner attempts to hit that top speed on VW’s fabled Ehra-Lessien testing circuit.

These days, smartphone videos are ubiquitous. But there was a time when the only way to capture footage was with a mechanical film camera. Nick Shirrell of filmgrainandoctane shoots modern day auto races using an old Canon Super 8 film camera, then layers in vintage voice tracks. The results are wonderfully retro.

Tractors are typically slow-moving behemoths. Williams Formula 1 teamed up with heavy equipment maker JCB to prove that isn’t always the case. This Fastrac tractor packs a 7.2L diesel engine, making 1000hp and 1843 lb-ft. of torque, upgraded with a ZF 6-speed manual, and other racing enhancements. Its top speed: 103.6 mph.

Much of the year, Goodwood is a idyllic and luxurious UK Estate. But once a year, it’s transformed into the home of one of the greatest car shows in the world. While it’s best known for its Hillclimb event, these drivers want to get us excited about this year’s new drifting circuit.

Matt Damon stars as Carroll Shelby, and Christian Bale plays race car driver Ken Miles in director James Mangold’s (Walk the Line, Logan) true story about how two upstarts took on massive obstacles to go up against Enzo Ferrari’s dominant team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.

Snakeybus is a casual game best described as a combination of Crazy Taxi and Snake. Drive through the city to pick up passengers, and as you drop off people, your bus grows in length, resulting in some insane crashes if you’re not careful. Coming to Steam 5/10/19.

From the creators of Burnout comes another stupid fun racing game about driving onto oncoming traffic and slamming into your opponents. Dangerous Driving features nine modes in both single and multiplayer. Available for Windows, Xbox One and PS4.

Drivetribe shares the mythical story of Japan’s most infamous street racing group, the Mid Night Club. Founded in 1987, the club was allegedly composed of rich businessmen and had strict requirements and rules about speed, skill, and safety.