Out of a 113 contestants - My son and I have narrowed it to 32 die-casts.
A few surprises:
Not all cars are made for all tracks. Seriously. The Dodge Ram 1500 got stuck and the M2 Machines' Cadillac managed to make it past the line just enough to record the lowest score of 61. Although, I feel that the M&M truck wins the failure race by stopping within an inch of the sensor:
On the box for this "Digital Speedometer" it reads:
Speed Measurement Is Only An Approximation
And yet nowhere, anywhere on the box or in the instructions or fine print, does it state what unit of measurement is being used. This leads to tragic Amazon reviews like this...
The boys put the basic track together and then started adding accessories, and this speedometer is by far their favorite. They started recording speeds for various cars, and moved it to various areas on the track to try and get higher speeds. They recorded one of the small cars going 584 MPH!
No, your kid's die-cast car did not reach the speed of a Boeing. I don't know a lot about physics but if 3+ year olds could get their toys within shouting distance of breaking the sound barrier, they may not be considered toys. Or they might be labelled for 8 and up.
Wheels made less of a difference than I expected as both the "Faster Than Ever" cars failed too make the top 32. Although they were close.
Matchbox's Superfast line also failed to have much of an impact.
In Number 4 position is The Homer. No, really.
Rubber tires seemed to slow down almost everyone, except for the Johnny Lightning VW Split-Window Single Cab, which secured 2nd overall. It is JL's only die-cast to make the top 32.
Hot Wheels absolutely dominated (of course its their track..as well as inscrutable measurement system and the vast majority of die-casts were Hot Wheels).
Short wheelbase cars were probably the fastest to launch, but most could not stay on the track. A 3 crash rule was instituted. 19 went out with DNF.
Could've been a contender.
Now the top 32!
You can even see them in bracket form here! http://challonge.com/lald
In order from top speed:
BMW Z4 M (HW) at 576 "units of speed"
VW Split Window Single Cab (JL)
Corvette Stingray -Green (HW)
The Homer (HW)
Scion xB -Color Change (HW)
BMW 2002 (HW)
in White. Blue and Orange did not score high enough to make this list.
Batman Tumbler -Most Recent Movie Version (HW)
Porsche 993 GT2 (HW)
Toyota Supra Falken (HW)
Sillouhette -Redline (HW)
Twin Mill (HW)
Cadillac CTS Wagon (MBX)
F1 Racer (HW)
Ferrari 512M (HW)
Plymouth Barracuda Formula S (HW)
Fast Fish (HW)
'90 Honda Civic EF (HW)
Mercedes SL (RealToy)
Scion FR-S (Tomica)
Jaguar XJ220 (HW)
Mazda RX-7 (Tomica)
Twin Mill 3 (HW)
MK11 (HW)
'87 Lamborghini Countach -Color Shift (HW)
Fun note on this one: I have owned it since childhood and always assumed it was pink, but after sitting out in the afternoon sun it turned white!
'82 Audi Quattro (MBX/Lesney)
Lamborghini Estoque (HW)
Renault 5 Turbo -Blvd w/Real Riders (HW)
Batmobile -TV (HW)
Lambo Gallardo Police (MBX)
Porsche 928 -Superfast (MBX)
'68 Cougar Eliminator -Mainline (HW)
Hammerhead -US Soccer (HW) - with 423 "speed"
Tune in tomorrow for the Losers' Tournament and Day 2!