November 17, 2025

Cheating VS "Optimizing" Manufacture Test Data — The Carmudgeon Show w/ Cammisa & DTS — Ep 213

50 minutes

Whether it's going racing or producing zero to sixty times, many car manufactures have spent decades doing whatever it takes to get a competitive edge on their performance figures. But in a world of democratized speed where your average EV truck or SUV can do an 11 second quarter mile, does anyone still value the numbers? And at what lengths will manufactures go to keep their performance figures competitive?

===

This episode of the Carmudgeon Show is sponsored by Vredestein Tires:

https://www.vredestein.com/

===

Before digging into the data, Jason discusses his recent trip to the Wednesday Night Drags at Sonoma Raceway - garnering some rather unusual attention in his MK3 Volkswagen Cabrio with the almighty 2.slow . Upon laying down several solid runs, he finds his mid 18 second quarter mile times are far more lethargic than what Volkswagen reported in period.

This prompts the larger discussion at hand - historically speaking, do manufactures cheat or "optimize" their test data? Jason brings in his own previous findings, first by exploring the testing of his MK1 Volkswagen Scirocco, and wondering how his test figures could be more than a second off from the official numbers.

More glaring however is the data from Jason's in-period testing of the Ferrari 458 Speciale and 458 Italia, as well as the 599 GTB - the likes of which far out-performed cars in magazine testing vs. cars that were delivered to real-world customers.

All this and more, on this week's episode of The Carmudgeon Show.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

...more