this week, we revealed the results of our annual lightning lap track event, which puts the hottest new vehicles of the day through the stress test that is virginia international raceway (vir). this got the window shop crew thinking: for $35k, which used car would get us around vir the quickest today? ideally, we'd want to find something that could turn a lap in under 3:04.0, the current lightning lap record for sub-$35,000 vehicles, set by a 2016 camaro v-6 1le.
contributor john pearley huffman, who was a little under the weather this week and not his shouty self, selected a 464-hp hellion: a primo cadillac ats-v sedan. pearley actually found two ats-vs, but the second one looks like someone applied rhino lining to its exterior. we tried to convince him that this isn't show worthy, but you'll get to see it anyway.
testing director dave vanderwerp, who hasn't been on the show in months, put forth a high-mileage 2014 camaro z/28 that sent our jaws to the floor. two of us picked chevrolet corvettes because when you want to go fast on a track on a budget, the answer is pretty much always corvette.
the sole non-gm choice came from contributor jonathon ramsey. his 2013 bmw m6 features a 560-hp twin-turbo v-8, and depreciation that has brought the once six-figure price down to $35,000.
if you've watched before, you'll know that we regularly spend a lot of time obsessing over random details, such as what kind of tires the owner put on the car. this week is no different. expect a lot of tire talk. so much tire talk. you've been warned.