Texas Mile Video Compilation

Hands down, one of my favorite motorsports events has got to be the Texas Mile. In short, it's a balls-to-the-wall test of acceleration and top speed.  You've got a full damn mile to accelerate as hard as you can, and when you're done they give you a slip telling you how fast you crossed the traps at.  It's held in a small town in Texas called Goliad on a mostly-abandoned airstrip, and it's currently in it's seventh year of existance.  Initially only 35 crazies showed up to see how fast their cars could go; this year there were 220 participants with 40 on the waiting list.  Over 1000 runs were made down the air strip over the two-day event, and each of them was epic in it's own way.  Seeing coverage on Speed:Sport:Life and Jalopnik made me A) decide that I've got to go to it as soon as I can, and B) decide to scour YouTube for some Texas Mile footage to share with you all.  Here are a few of the epic runs I found along with some details.  Enjoy!

(hat tip to Flickr user Zerind via S:S:L for the awesome intro image.  Wish I had one of my own...)

Boost Logic Supra Texas Mile Run

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xr58Fq9fwo

Hey, it's only a six cylinder, right?  This tweaked MKIV Supra Turbo sports a full Boost Logic engine build and turbo setup, and delivers and approximated 1295 bhparound 35 psi of boost.  Watch as the driver of this beastly machine wrestles with multiple-gear wheelspin to reach a terminal velocity of 246.2mph. Absolutely insane.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6mOkWuaAC0

Underground Racing Twin-Turbo Lamborghini Gallardo

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyj7D1zTSBc

Kind of a long video, but worth watching.  I don't know who Kyle is, but he's one lucky dude - two twin turbo Vipers and a twin turbo Gallardo?  Nice.  The video documents three runs in a rather over-dramatic fashion, but when the slowest run is 231 mph, it's understandable.  The sound of that car going WOT in first gear once he's out of the box is absolutely hair-raising.  V10 plus twin turbos?  You gotta love it.  Kyle managed an incredible 241.7mph at last fall's Texas Mile.  High five on that one, buddy.

EVOMS Porsche (996) 911 Twin Turbo

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0P6VDQ1YDs

This one's from the Spring 2009 run of the Texas Mile.  It's a previous-generation 911 Turbo tuned by EVO MS in Arizona.  This six-speed AWD Turbo car gets a face-punchingly violent launch and traps 231.7 mph.  Not bad for street tires and a full interior!  Also, don't those turbos sound like sex?

GM LS-X Powered Mazda (FD3S) RX-7

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C5gsNxe87U

I've always said it was intrinsically wrong to put a small-block Chevy motor in a car that originally came with a turbo rotary.  I'm man enough to admit, that at 196.2mph, I'm freakin' wrong.  Oh my god that thing sounds amazing.  This one's from the Fall 2009 event.

Heffner Performance Ford GT Twin Turbo

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnoT0vXVnsE

Heffner Performance is quickly becoming a name brand when it comes to slapping turbochargers on exotica that was already absurdly fast.  In this case, they converted a Ford GT supercar from it's natural supercharged 550bhp state to a 1000+bhp twin-turbo beast.  Best run: 222 miles an hour!  Most dramatic has to be the third run, where the driver of this rocketship gets a little too eager on the gas pedal and takes an agricultural excursion.  Man, that's a lot of boost.

Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V V700

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CydnislN9pM

Hennessey Performance Engineering loves to brag about the performance capabilities of their cars.  And when you've got a four-door Cadillac that traps 185.3 mph in the standing mile, I'd say you've got a damn good reason to be proud.  This one has the HPE V700 kit, which is basically a blower pulley and other bolt-on modifications.  God lord does this thing sound ferocious.

Subaru STI?!?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpIPdK7x8rE

I don't really think of Subaru STI's as being standing-mile drag cars, more like canyon-road annihilators or 1/8th mile dragstrip beasts.  Still, this massively turbocharged Impreza managed to do 189.5 mph.  Not a whole lot of details available on this run, but that's gotta be one of the fastest pancake-fours out there.

AMS Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nocza9UK6c

AMS Tuning's Lancer Evo managed to hit 228mph in the standing mile (a record for 4-cylinder cars at the Texas Mile), before blowing a piston through the block and catching fire on their last run.  The way this car accelerates is simply unreal...

MkIII Golf VR6, 208 MPH

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyt2h-tQDq8

There's clearly a whole lot of turbocharger going on with this black MkIII Golf VR6, because how else is a 12v VR going to trap 208mph in the standing mile?  Absolutely nuts!  HPA's twin-turbo 4WD R32 was only running in the 170's, making this all the more impressive with the slow take off out of the gate he got.  Crazy fast!

Hennessey Viper Venom 1000

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TXLMR74nmY

This run's from back in 2007, but I've got to show some love for the twin-turbo Viper.  Another Hennessey product going really fast, everyone act surprised...

Kawasaki ZX-14

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCZRovPZ80Y

Obviously not everything at the Texas Mile was sporting four wheels - some of the fastest stuff out there were two-wheeled crotch rockets of the Japanese variety.  This all-motor Kawasaki ZX-14 managed 218mph, which has got to be terrifying on a bike.

Turbo Suzuki GSX-1300R Hayabusa

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3a41kQepOo

Speaking of bikes, here's one that's even more extreme: a run from 2007 with a rider on a turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa superbike, doing 232mph.  Listen to that thing just howl flat out!  Totally nuts.  These riders have got the biggest balls of anyone ever.  How do you keep the front wheel down on a turbocharged 1300cc sport bike, anyway?

HPA VW R32 FT565 Twin Turbo

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXDTXTetvw4

This one's not nearly as fast as the other VR6 Golf in this post, but it sure gets off the line a whole lot faster.  The twin-turbocharged 565bhp 3.2 VR6 with Haldex AWD managed 169mph through the traps... not bad for the People's Car!  Also, I've never met a VR6 that I didn't love the sound of.  HPA Twin-Turbos are no exception!

For more information on the Texas Mile, you can visit their website here.  The next event will be held October 22-24th of this year, so if you've got the cajones, bring what you got and see how fast it can go!