Video Review - Supercar Shootout 0-100-0

Going from 0-100-0 sounds like a pretty exciting test to perform with some of Britain's best sportscars. And it's even more so when you realise they mean 100 miles per hour... 160 km/h!

The theme of this video is simple; take a professional racecar driver, a drag strip, comprehensive timing equipment and see how strong a bunch of Britain's finest vehicles accelerate and brake. The event is organised by America's Road and Track magazine, so the majority of the views are coming purely from a US perspective.

The video begins with some tame footage of the British countryside, including the "quintessential English village". The US staffers from Road and Track then introduce themselves one by one - including their professional race driver, Phil Hill. Phil is America's first F1 champion and - among other things - a three-times Le Mans 24-hour winner. We're not sure what he'd think of the video's back cover though. It reads: "..and even though Phil qualifies for a bus pass these days, he can put the pedals to the metal with the best of them"!

Focus then moves to describing the photography techniques and the data acquisition that's used during the two days. The crew use an in-car computer, in conjunction with a radar gun (which 'sees' a radar-wave reflective device attached to the back of each car). A quick specification run-down of each of the eight cars then follows - and we're into it...

The first vehicle to run down the track can be identified as a baseline reference. It's a Rover 200 BRM LE saloon - a fairly typical sort of vehicle rated at 143hp. As you could image, the everyday production car requires a fair distance to get from 0 to 100 and back down again - it "hits the aerodynamic brick wall". Its brakes, however, are very good and the car records a total time of 27.9 seconds. A graph of the car's acceleration and braking is displayed for this and all of the following vehicles.

Number two is the wonderful little Lotus Elise Sport 190. The 190 refers to its horsepower output - which makes for good acceleration in a car that weighs less than 770kg. One the first run, however, the Elise got very loose under brakes and if it weren't for Mr Hill's reactions, it would have swapped ends! A couple of subsequent runs (with the brakes up to temp) see it performing as expected. It blitzes the Rover 200 BRM. Another lightweight Brit follows - a Caterham 7 Superlight R. Producing 193hp at 7000 rpm, this hard-edged screamer takes a little getting used to. Its time is very similar to the Elise's.

Next up is, well, an oddball - the 3-wheeled Grinnall Scorpion. Using a BMW motorbike engine, this intriguing little beast lays some respectable times down the Santa Pod strip. Weighing 425kg, you can imagine how well the machine pulled up using its pair of Ford Mondeo front discs... Phil "didn't take it seriously at first" - he does now! And what best-of-the-Brits video would be complete without a Morgan - in this case, a current Plus 8. (Yes, they are still making them!) With a throbby V8, semi-elliptic rear springs and a live axle, the Plus 8 finds itself amongst a strange competition. It's not meant for this kind of thing - it's built for cruising English lanes. Indeed, Phil slags the Morgan for its "wicked wheel tramp" (which is plain to see on the footage). He pulls back, though, by admitting that it's not designed for performance competitions.

Then we move up a gear and slide into a new Jaguar XKR. Four litres of supercharged V8 bliss. You'll love watching how easy the XKR smokes 'em up, and you may also catch a glimpse of the smoking front pads once it comes to a halt! Is it quick? You bet. But is it quicker than all the previous cars? You'll have to watch the video!

Aston Martin supplies the next two vehicles - a Vantage DB7 and a Vantage 600. The DB7's a 6-litre V12 that really impresses. Phil loves it so much that he even takes his daughter for a ride! Time and time again, Phil works the AM's anchors. "It's a terrific automobile, it's got a great balance and it doesn't feel that huge," he enthuses. The Vantage 600, however, is huge. As you may not know, the 600 in its name means 600 horsepower - and 600lb/ft of torque. Yep, this twin supercharged V8 hauls hard! After some discussion with technicians on how to extract the most from it, Phil takes the US$400,000 machine and - well - you can guess what it does to the other cars! "It's a thrill to drive," surmises Phil.

Closing after vehicle number 8 is a quick run-down of the results - which car accelerated the hardest and which car could stop the quickest? Slightly irritating, however, is that all the cars come out almost a "winner" in their own right. Clearly, all of them are not. At least - by the end of this 53-minute video - you come away knowing which is the best (and worst!) of the Brits. Some viewers may find themself getting little bored towards the end, but this isn't a bad video. Camera work is mostly good and there's the right amount of music in all the right places.

It is available in PAL format only, carries a General exhibition rating and sells for AUS$32.80.