← Back to the garageStock performance references
Original cars now accelerate to these 0–60 mph targets in the game, with full condition and oil, full throttle, clean shifts near 5,500 indicated RPM. Reaction time and the starting countdown are excluded. Upgrades, wear, missed shifts change the result. The car lot shows the original reference beside your current build’s simulated stats.
Period road tests varied with gearing, transmission, tune, load and measurement methods. These are specific reference configurations, not promises that every surviving example performs identically. Top speeds are healthy-car limits; a quarter-mile run may finish before reaching them. The gear controls and RPM scale remain simplified game controls, not a reproduction of each original gearbox.
| Car / reference | 0–60 mph | Top mph | Evidence / limitations |
|---|
| 1962 Shelby Cobra 260 | 4.2 s | 153 | Road & Track’s CSX2000 retrospective. Prototype test reference, not a claim for every production 260. |
| 1961 Jaguar E-Type 3.8 coupe | 7.4 s | 145 | Road & Track recalls its September 1961 test with the 3.31 axle. |
| 1963 Studebaker Super Hawk R2 | 8.5 s | 118 | Automatic / 3.73-axle Motor Trend reference reproduced in Studebaker 1946–1966: The Classic Postwar Years. Game shifting remains simplified. Studebaker National Museum documents the 1963 supercharged model. |
| 1963 US Ford Falcon Sprint, 260 V8 | 10.5 s | 105 | Provisional game targets. June 1963 Car and Driver tested stock 260 Sprints; these exact paired figures have not been verified from an original test. Distinct from the Australian XL six. |
| 1963 Corvette Sting Ray, 327/300, 4-speed | 6.0 s | 118 | Car and Driver, April 1963. Tested acceleration; estimated top speed with that car’s axle ratio. Test weight: 3,180 lb, represented as 1,442 kg. |
| 1963 Oldsmobile Jetfire, 4-speed | 9.8 s | 100 | Car Life, April 1963, data panel reproduced in this archive discussion. Uses the same test for both figures; other tests and automatic cars differed. |
| Porsche 356 B Carrera 2 GS coupe, 4-speed | 9.2 s | 122.7 | Road & Track reference reproduced by Stuttcars; acceleration also transcribed in the PCA Chicago September 1982 test index. Reference is the 1962 test of the 1962–63 configuration. |
| 1962 Corvair Monza Spyder, 4-speed | 10.8 s | 105 | Car Life test figures reported in this retrospective. Mac’s Motor City Garage identifies the acceleration test as August 1962. Motor Trend recorded a slower car; this is one reference, not an average of incompatible tests. |
| Holden EH 149 manual, 3.36 axle | 15.8 s | 85 | Modern MOTOR, November 1963, transcribed by the EH Holden Car Club. Standard sedan test used as a comparable reference for the game’s Special. Exact Special trim performance is not established here. |
| Australian Falcon XL 170 manual | 15.0 s | 93 | Provisional: figures from a model-specific specification transcription; original road-test provenance has not been verified. |
| 1940 Ford De Luxe, 221 V8, 3-speed | 18.0 s | 80 | Game estimate. Exact road-test performance has not been verified. The original Ford brochure supports the correction to 85 hp. The game no longer presents the previous 100 hp / 102 mph setup as stock. |
| 1937 Hudson Terraplane six | 26.6 s | 82 | Comparable-year estimate. Uses the 1936 sedan test cited in this history; it is not a verified test of the game’s 1937 two-door. |
| Nighthawk, fictional 185-hp V8 coupe | 11.5 s | 105 | Custom estimate. No factory “Nighthawk” existed in this configuration. These are plausible game targets, not historical measurements. |
| Sidewinder, custom supercharged 1932 roadster | 6.5 s | 120 | Custom estimate. A hot rod’s performance depends on its individual engine, gearing, weight and tires; there is no single stock factory figure. |
Race distances
Choose a quarter mile (402.3 m) or half mile (804.6 m). The same vehicles, driver behavior and engine-health rules apply over the whole distance. Rival time estimates include reaction and cooling lift-off. Winning either distance advances progression; each distance has a separate best-time leaderboard. Existing records remain quarter-mile records.
Competitors
Eddie drives a stock Holden EH, Ruby a stock US Falcon Sprint, the King a stock Super Hawk R2, Raven a stock E-Type 3.8 and Ghost a stock 300-hp Corvette. Vega drives a race-prepared Cobra 260: stage-1 engine, exhaust, cam and differential; stage-2 tires, gearbox and oil pump; stage-3 cooling. Driver names are fictional. Both sides use the same power, weight, shifting, wear and thermal rules. Listed quarter-mile times are simulations including reaction time, not historical test claims. No catch-up boost is applied.
Late-1963 parts
Turbochargers stay with the factory-turbo Jetfire and Corvair; the Super Hawk retains a Paxton supercharger. The Porsche, Jaguar, Cobra and Sprint receive naturally aspirated intake work. Retail nitrous kits and generic intercoolers have been removed from this setting; their saved purchase costs are refunded once per car. Performance gains and weight reduction are specific to the engine and body rather than identical for every car.
What remains a game estimate?
Modified performance, grip ratings, four-step shifting, engine damage rates remain gameplay models. Older leaderboard records used faster physics and are retained. Sources are linked for inspection; no magazine text or images have been copied into the game.
Competition and works upgrades
Nine rivals now include three modified drag specials after Vega. Stage 4 unlocks after beating Vega; Stage 5 unlocks after June. Engine, tires, gears, cooling, exhaust, oil pump, displacement, cam, carburetors and differential have five stages. Weight reduction, lowering and induction retain three stages. The final modified cars are gameplay builds, not factory performance claims.