TTAC Snags a Jag

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

The good folks at Jaguar have been kind enough pledge an XFR to the TTAC side for the upcoming first annual (?) Robert Lutz Sports Sedan Challenge. In principle. We still don’t know whether Lutz imagines his challenge as a head-to-head race or a hot lap time trial, and these are important factors in planning racing strategy. Not to mention expensive car-lending decisions. Still, if GM actually goes through with this on fair terms, we could have one of the CTS-V’s top competitors for a mount. And if Hyundai brass show up as is being rumored (let alone Sergio Marchionne in a Quattroporte), we could just have one hell of a spectacle on our hands.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Ktm Ktm on Sep 16, 2009
    Personally, I hope Subaru sends a 100 percent Ethanol-powered stock Impreza STi (fed by American corn growers) … with the resulting 425 wtq and 400 whp A stock STi will not make 425 wtq and 400 whp by simply retuning with E100. E100, though higher in octane, is basically racing fuel. Unless the boost is increased, timing changes are all that would occur when running E100. Changes in timing do not result in such significant gains.
  • Bumpy ii Bumpy ii on Sep 16, 2009

    "I still can’t fathom what Hyundai’s smoking unless they’re secretly planning to offer a well-tuned and boosted V8 Genesis on dealer lots by mid-October." There is the 5 liter supercharged Tau V8 that Hyundai was rumored to be playing with a year or so ago. I think it would be hilarious if GM's publicity stunt ended up being the vehicle for the debut of a Genesis Hammer.

  • Rollmo Rollmo on Sep 16, 2009

    Ok, I must chime in. For what it’s worth, Lutz most likely has a good chance to take this challenge against any comers, he is (was) a fighter pilot, the car is basically expendable (and a hell of a weapon) and he has nothing to loose. Anyone bringing their own ride would have to be thinking about not killing it. I would actually be a little disappointed if the car wasn’t a “ringer”, all’s fair in love and war, I would expect any challenger to do the same. I’d like to see the race run to the end of a tank of gas or something breaks. When SAAB did the “Long Run” in 1986 http://www.saabhistory.com/2007/05/16/saab-turbo-the-long-run-1986/ they turned over the vehicles that completed this 20 day full throttle non stop run to the press to drive. That’s guts; see if Lutz will do the same. Among other things, I would be looking for gutted and non functional power seats, gutted power windows, fake audio system, ( like the IKEA cardboard fillers ) no sound proofing, functional a/c system and that the cruise control switch isn’t hooked up to a one shot NOS bottle hidden somewhere in the frame.

  • NVHGuru NVHGuru on Sep 18, 2009

    I think making this an annual auto exec charity challenge would be even better. Each one has to donate a million bucks and the winner chooses which charity to donate it to (sorry Bob, GM’s pension fund doesn’t count!) I'd even pay to go and watch Marchionne, with a cloud of cigarette smoke coming out of his Quattroporte and old Ferdy trying to persuade them to let him use a Lamborghini Estoque or Bugatti Galibier prototype instead of the RS6 or Panamera S waiting in the transporter. Nobby Reithofer is ready in the M3 he chose over the heavier M5, due to the track layout. Dr. Z, under armed guard after rumours that some ex-Chrysler employees and Cerberus investors were going to pay him a visit, decides it would be safer to use an armoured Maybach 57S instead of the C63 AMG he planned on driving. Carlos Ghosn is sat looking rather dejected after realising that his M45 is seriously lacking in power compared to the rest of the field after unsuccessfully arguing that the GTR is a more direct competitor to the CTS-V. Next to him, Ratan Tata looks quietly confident in his XFR, until Christian von Koenigsegg arrives in his Saab 9-5X. Following several weeks of intense activity after buying the company, he has managed to launch limited production of a Koenigsegg-engined AWD version, pumping out 800hp and looks set to sweep the field…

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