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Virtual RV Gets a V8 Transplant, Goes All Out at the Nürburgring

Searching for fast RVs online won't render as many results as you would think. There are a few people who have taken on the Bonneville Salt Flats in a motorhome, and you'll also find a turbo-LS Winnebago. But perhaps our virtual endeavors will change that. We've set out to see how much fun can be had in RVs while tackling some of the world's most famous racetracks.
Virtual RV Gets a V8 Transplant, Goes All Out at the Nürburgring 35 photos
Photo: Autoevolution
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With RV Month in full swing here on Autoevolution, we thought of a crazy idea for 7's day. So we swapped a Mazda 787B, four-rotor engine inside of our digital Ford Motorhome. Then, we took it to the Tsukuba circuit in Japan and started drifting it around.

That turned out to be a fun challenge, so we decided we'd have another go at it. But this time, we opted to go to Germany for a fast lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Looking at an online video from the Green Hell, you'll notice that all sorts of crazy vehicles have lapped it before. That includes delivery vans, buses, and even motorhomes.

We also can't forget that almost two decades ago, the legendary Sabine Schmitz drove a Ford Transit van around the track in 10 minutes and 8 seconds. Now, we already knew that the stock RV we had access to was going to be very slow.

Weighing 13,338 lbs (6,050 kg) and with 305 horsepower at hand, lapping the 'Ring would have probably taken half an hour. So it was time to decide on an engine swap. It only made sense to choose one out of a German racing machine. While we did think of the Porsche 962C at first, we thought that something with a bit more grunt might be a better choice.

Virtual RV Gets a V8 Transplant, Goes All Out at the Nürburgring
Photo: Autoevolution
The twin-turbo 5.0-liter V8 engine used by the Sauber C9 could get up to 800 horsepower when running on full boost. With that kind of power, the C9 recorded a speed of 248 mph (400 kph) on the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans.

Weighing in at just 1,984 lbs (900 kg), driving this car in Assetto Corsa is not easy at all. With no assists, chances are you'll spin out by the time you reach the second corner on the Green Hell. So a good rule of thumb is to never go full throttle in first or second gear, and maybe keep some assists active if you don't have a sim rig at hand.

Using the Assetto Corsa Tuner to perform the engine swap, we knew we had to perform a few more upgrades to make our Ford RV driveable. Opting for an AWD setup was bound to increase stability and allow for a faster lap. Lowering its weight was also necessary.

We targeted 4,409 lbs (2,000 kg), although we imagine it could be difficult to bring a class C motorhome down to this level in real life. It might be feasible if you strip it down entirely and use lightweight materials, but it won't be cheap to go that far.

Virtual RV Gets a V8 Transplant, Goes All Out at the Nürburgring
Photo: Autoevolution
We didn't take the RV straight to the Nordschleife; instead, we thought we'd test it out at Mugello first. Right off the bat, turning the boost up brought with it excessive wheelspin and gearbox warning lights.

Using the Assetto Corsa Content Manager, you'll be able to change the tires on any given vehicle. As this is a Ford vehicle, we opted for a set of Ford Mustang wheels: 255/30/R19 up front and 275/30/R19 on the rear axle. For a few short minutes, we further reduced the weight to 2,204 lbs (1,000 kg).

After just two corners on Mugello, we realized that this had become sort of a drift machine again. But it was nowhere near as controllable as the rotary RV. Initiating the drift was as simple as it gets, but controlling it was impossible.

We pressed on, being extra careful with any throttle inputs. The lap time for the first lap of 3 minutes and 34 seconds. Turning up the boost to 100% helped shave another 30 seconds from the lap time. But taking the weight back up to 4,409 lbs still felt like the best thing to do.

Virtual RV Gets a V8 Transplant, Goes All Out at the Nürburgring
Photo: Autoevolution
It was now time to move on to the Nordschleife. We chose ideal track conditions, and we opted for tire blankets on the car before the start of the lap. It felt like a very exciting drive, but the video below will show you exactly how it unfolded.

With so much power going to the wheels, it often feels like the RV is AWD-drifting through the corners. Going hard at it, it's amazing that the body roll doesn't lead to the vehicle flipping over on its side. But it did almost come to that point entering the Karousel corner.

Of course, the more technical section of the track is the most difficult one. Choosing the right line is important if you plan to avoid going off track, but ultimately that might happen if you're pushing hard.

The RV goes up to about 130 mph (210 kph) in fifth gear, but some further tweaking might help increase that top speed. We went from start to finish in 10 minutes and 59 seconds, or 659 seconds if you will, but we might attempt to set a faster lap sometime soon.

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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
Dragos Chitulescu profile photo

The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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