This Subaru Budget-Build Outruns a Lamborghini Murcielago on the Track
Surely, an $11,000 tuned Subaru WRX wagon can’t beat a Lamborghini Murcielago. Right?
It's always fun to see a tuned, older sports car take on a newer supercar in a David and Goliath-style drag race. With tuning, even cheap older cars can be made to pack supercar speed for a fraction of the price. Obviously, there's more to a supercar than just speed but if it's just speed you're looking for, it can certainly be found on the cheap. The crew from Driven Media just proved it, with a budget-build Subaru WRX that was able to beat a Lamborghini Murcielago.
Their budget for the Subaru WRX hatchback was £15,000 ($18,153) and they bought the car for £4,000. After buying the car and fixing many of its issues, they went to work modifying and tuning it. They gave it a new clutch, coilovers, semi-slick tires, better brakes, stiffer anti-roll bars, they removed 136 kg (300 pounds) of weight, and tuned it to 304 horsepower. In total, they spent about £9,000 including the initial cost of the car, well under their budget.
A stock Lamborghini Murcielago makes 572 horsepower and, in this case, uses a quick-shifting paddle-shift gearbox. So it clearly had the power and speed advantage. And since both cars are all-wheel drive, there shouldn't have been much of a grip advantage for either car. However, being an older Lambo, it was a bit of a handful on the cold, damp track, which ended up slowing it down quite a bit.
While the Subaru was a handful of its own, it was more controllable than the Murcielago. The driver commented several times about how it felt like a rally car, sliding through most corners, but that made it more fun. It also felt faster from inside the car, due to the lack of sound deadening that was removed to save weight.
After driving the Lambo around the track, the driver's hands were shaking both from nerves and excitement. It seemed like a thrilling but also frightening drive. The Subaru also looked like a blast but in a safer way and the driver seemed to be smiling throughout the entire lap. That safer feeling led the driver to have a bit more confidence because he was able to beat his time in the much more powerful Lamborghini.
Driven Media's tuned Subaru is an impressive little track car and that's without even using their full budget. This proves that a few simple mods can make even an older, beat-up car just as much fun—if not more fun—than a six-figure supercar.
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