My Auto Racer

The question My Auto Racer answers is an old argument: which of these two cars is quicker? You pick both from a list of about 15,000 real models, choose an event and stage the race. The cars launch off a Christmas tree, and you can watch in 2D or in 3D with director, chase, in-car, bonnet, helicopter and orbit cameras. At the end there are time slips for 60 feet, the eighth and quarter mile and trap speed, plus speed traces plotted against time and distance.

Events go well beyond the quarter mile. Presets run from 60 feet to a mile, and there are custom distances, runs to a target speed, rolling starts and fixed-time races. A rank button runs every car in the database over the event you've set up.

The site is clear that nothing here is a measured time. Each car is built from its published curb weight, rated power, drivetrain and gearing, and the model then adjusts tire grip and delivered power until the car matches its own published acceleration figures. Both cars run in the same default conditions, dry asphalt at 68 °F at sea level with a one-foot rollout, which is what makes the comparison fair. Car data comes from accelerationtimes.com and cardata.wiki, both under CC BY 4.0, and each car card shows how many published points it was fitted to and how close the fit is.

Advanced setup lets you change surface grip from dry to wet, air temperature, altitude, headwind or tailwind, gradient and passenger load. The simulator adds a 75 kg driver to each car's weight.

It runs in the browser with no account and no ads, and the privacy page says the only things it stores are a few settings in your own browser, with analytics only if you agree. The 3D car models are credited to their creators. It suits car fans settling arguments, anyone curious how an old favorite stacks up against something new, and people who like seeing where a car's time actually comes from. It can't tell you what a specific car with a specific driver will do on a real strip.