Virtual Road Test & Car Racing Games

Welcome to the Virtual Road Test, an innovative new way to watch - and interact with - the tests we perform at the track. Here you'll be able to come with us to the dragstrip, slalom, and MT Figure Eight course, and watch three different simulated versions of the Mustang and Camaro battle it out at their performance limits from any perspective you choose. Specifically, you can select to watch these rival ponycars in either their V6 specifications; in their projected mid-level versions (Camaro Z28 versus Mustang Boss 330); or in their ultimate guises (Camaro ZL-1 against Mustang GT500). For more on how these simulations were created, please see our May, 2006 issue. But to begin, please briefly review the operating instructions below to understand the basics of how you'll operate each animation once each download is complete. Done? Okay. Now first click on an animation link and choose to either save the file or just open it. After that, just wait for the download to complete (trust us, it's worth it). To our Mac users: sorry, but you'll need to find a friend with a PC as the animations are presently unavailable for your platform.

For more information on the digital smack down between the 2009 Chevrolet Camaro and 2009 Ford Mustang, pick up a copy of the May 2006 issue of Motor Trend Magazine, on newsstands beginning April 6, 2006.

Animator Hints (see image above on left)
1 Click on 'File' to save a jpeg image of the screen action at any time. Click on 'View' followed by 'Multiple Results Window' to find new options for the animation's center of attention.

2 Click on the tab at the base of the view screen to expand the 'View Orientation Controls' (this is an alternative to the mouse).

3 '20 fps' means 'twenty frames per second'. This can be changed to enhance viewing realism (caution though: first see number '6').

4 The horizontal slider lets you scan through the animation to any time you wish.

5 Be sure 'Loop' is checked so that the animation will replay.

6 The 'Performance Gauge' should be green for the animation to play at real speed. If it is red, or partly red, try lowering the frame rate to improve the player's performance.

7 'Ghosts' is a function that repeats the preceding action up to 19 times at following distances selectable by the adjacent slider. Caution though - only very fast computers can utilize this capability, and we suggest leaving this selection at the '0' default.

Shift-left-click lets you select your own viewpoint.

For more information about the animator, please visit http://www.carsim.com/mt/