1 (edited by MurileeMartin 2009-05-26 01:47 AM)

Topic: Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys beat 5 of 9 BMW E30s

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/jalopnik/2009/05/CheeseEatingMonkeysInAction.jpg

So there you have it, folks: when shopping for your next Lemons car, the Peugeot 505 Turbo is a better choice than the BMW E30... even if the 505 only has third gear! You E30-ers on the Formula BMW (5th place), Pandamonimum Racing (7th place), Bavarian Beer Wagon (10th place), and B-Team (17th place) teams can breathe a sigh of relief that you didn't get humiliated by the 37th-place Force De Frappe Peugeot. If you're saying to yourself "Yeah, but that's three E30s in the Top Ten, mang!" keep in mind that most of the teams that did manage to beat the Stig's French Cousin were serious Lemons veterans with endless Altamont and Thunderhill experience (though the B-Team, who got extra-special tormenting from the Lemons Supreme Court due to their unwise decision to stay at the same motel as the Lemons crew while driving an M5, was made up of first-timers and did quite well to crack the top 20).

My prediction was for the 505 to beat 6/9 of the E30s, so I underestimated the Ultimate Driving Machines this time. Perhaps if the Cheese Eaters had brought a 504 instead of a 505... well, maybe next race.

Those of you who entered the contest on Jalopnik will get the results soon. Yeah, real soon. One of you wins something from Lemons HQ.

2 (edited by Pujo! 2009-05-26 10:22 AM)

Re: Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys beat 5 of 9 BMW E30s

I was hoping that we'd do a little better too but some shifter issues (fixed with bailing wire) on Saturday cost us 20 minutes and I cost us another 1/2 hour in the penalty box when a Mustang and I both went for the same space (thankfully with no damage to either car) and then on Sunday the shifter failed again and we spent another 40 minutes fiddling with it before driving the last 4 hours with nothing but 3rd gear. Overall I think we lost about 2 hours with our various problems but the car worked well when it was on track and you can bet next time we'll be better prepared with more spares so I don't think we've seen the end of the Peugeot vs BMW competition!

A 504? Surely you jest, a 504 would hardly be able to beat the Mystery Machine around the track much lest any BMW :-).

So Murilee, how did the MG and the Corvair do vs their competition? I know the Corvair suffered serious engine failure on Saturday and that the MG was on and off again several times with various issues but I'm not sure where they ended up in the final standings...

Re: Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys beat 5 of 9 BMW E30s

The MGB finished 39th, and the Corvair came in 98th. I haven't calculated where that places them in the contest yet, but it's pretty clear that the MR2s triumphed over the Chevy.

Full results are available here.

Re: Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys beat 5 of 9 BMW E30s

I think we got DFL with the Corvair.  Unless there were some people who didn't make it to the track or never got their car running...

Re: Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys beat 5 of 9 BMW E30s

Can someone explain how to read the "lap chart" part of the results? The numbers make no sense to me...

Re: Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys beat 5 of 9 BMW E30s

unsafe_jake wrote:

I think we got DFL with the Corvair.

Not at all! You finished 8 laps, which puts you ahead of one car that blew up during transponder testing, two others that we zapped with massive BS penalty laps, and the Yugo.

Re: Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys beat 5 of 9 BMW E30s

unsafe_jake wrote:

I think we got DFL with the Corvair.  Unless there were some people who didn't make it to the track or never got their car running...

Looks like you beat Knights of the Round Track which finished zero laps, Screamin' Haole Racing which ended up at -92 laps because of BS penalties and The Swine Flew which ended up at -219, also because of BS penalties.

BTW it was great meeting you guys at the event, sorry I couldn't help with the engine problems but I hope you can find another engine and make it to another Lemons race. PM me and I'll pass on my email address so you can ask me any Corvair questions you might have.

Re: Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys beat 5 of 9 BMW E30s

Pujo! wrote:

Can someone explain how to read the "lap chart" part of the results? The numbers make no sense to me...

Find your car number in a lap column, look to the left for your position on that lap.

You can see how your position varied lap to lap by looking at how your number moves up or down the column.

Chotus! Chotus! Chotus! Chotus!