That should make the power-to-weight ratio pretty similar to our 144-hp, 2,000-lb FrankenMiata. A stock Metro is a shocking bantamweight, though, hanging around in the 1,600-lb neighborhood. No, a CBR-powered Metro should be faster than a Metro-powered Metro, but it won't exactly warp space and time. That 12,000 RPM screamer you're getting all hot and bothered over makes, what, 120 hp? You'd laugh at any car engine with that output, and the car would still destroy the sportbike's measly 4 lb-ft torque output. Their specific output is astounding and they make sounds to die for, but relax that techno-boner a bit and the cold reality of their smallness slowly comes into focus. These are just some of our favorites.Modern sportbikes pack amazing race engine technology into convenient packages you can buy for a few hundred bucks (after some squid drops it, naturally). LeMons racing is not about winning, it's about teamwork and having fun.Īs you can imagine, there's a lot of creativity that goes into many of the themed cars, and over the years there have been some sublimely wonderful mechanical not-quite-masterpieces. Other awards can include the I Got Screwed Award, Most Heroic Fix, and Most Horrible Yank Tank. However, the grand prize is the Index of Effluency, which is handed to the car ruled as least likely to finish the race, or even score a decent amount of laps. There's also the Organiser's Choice award for the team that represents the friendly spirit of the race. Prizes are also handed out for things including the People's Curse for the car driven by the biggest jerks, which entails the car being ceremoniously destroyed.
#METROGNOME LEMONS DRIVERS#
Penalties aren't necessarily given in time and often also involve some sort of punishment such as having sardines dumped on the car's manifold, being handed a bunch of nuts and bolts of different threads and having to mate them all correctly before carrying on, being tarred and feathered, and sometimes if two teams come into contact on track the drivers are tied together and told to go and get food for the crew. Don't worry: You'll fit right in."įor LeMons events, the tech-inspection judges dress up in wigs and robes. An early flier sums up LeMons with a strapline that reads: "Bad Drivers.
#METROGNOME LEMONS SERIES#
A series where junk level cars are elevated into creatively decorated endurance racing machines. Over repeated meals in a Chinese restaurant in Berkley, California, with friends, the idea for an endurance racing series based on the $500 car rule was kicked around until it took shape into the absurd genius of the LeMons racing series.
The Double 500 was a 500-mile rally and the rule for entry was that the cars that entered could only cost a maximum of $500. The germ of the idea for LeMons started when he got involved in some cheap racing, including being part of the Double 500.
#METROGNOME LEMONS DRIVER#
On top of that, becoming a decent race car driver requires training and then hours, and hours, and then some more hours, of seat time which is expensive.Ī retired auto writer named Jay Lamm understood this. That is an ironclad fact and, unless you have a large excess of money, wheel-to-wheel racing becomes a full-time job in seeking sponsorship while keeping a car in shape, tuned, and trying to find that edge.
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