How we test cars
Every car on the Raycin Lap Board is driven, not read from the game's files. We test them on the same dedicated tracks, the same way every time, and check every lap before it counts.
This page explains exactly how, so you can judge the results for yourself.
One lap, two numbers
Each test is a normal lap of a Test Track. That single lap gives a car two results:
Because the straight is part of the lap, every car gets a top speed on every lap, with no separate run needed. Every car arrives the same way: out of the same corner, along the same run-up, on the same flat road.
How it's measured: your game watches the car's speed frame by frame between the two checkpoints. The server then reads the same stretch from the lap's recorded path, ten times a second, and only accepts the figure when the two agree.
Why our Test Tracks look the way they do
A track decides what a test can tell you. Ours are built to these rules:
- Kept only for testing. Test Tracks are never used for normal races or with AI, so nothing about them changes between one car and the next.
- A flat straight for top speed. Downhill makes cars look faster and uphill slower. We pick the straight from GTA's own road data, measuring the road height along it, and choose the flattest stretches on the map.
- The highest speed counts, not the average. Cars accelerate onto the straight and brake for the corner at its end. An average over the stretch would mix both in; the highest speed reached does not, so where a driver brakes can't change the result.
- The same run-up for every car. The straight starts after a slow corner, so every car accelerates from about the same speed.
- Normal roads. No stunt ramps, boost pads or special surfaces, which change how cars behave.
- A real mix of corners. Slow hairpins and faster bends, so the lap time rewards a car that handles, not just one that's fast in a straight line.
Why the rules matter. We first timed cars over a 325 m stretch of the Interlude Test Track straight and took the average. When we checked the recorded laps, every car reached its highest speed early on and was already slowing for the next corner: an Adder peaked at 127.3 mph but averaged only 123.4 mph. So we now measure the highest speed along the whole flat straight, about 750 m. The lap has a faster stretch near the finish, but it runs downhill, so it isn't used.
What counts as a fair lap
A lap only goes on the board when all of these are true. If one fails, the lap is ignored and the driver is told why.
| A clean lap | No respawns, no skipped checkpoints, and the same car for the whole lap. |
| The real route | Every lap is checked against the track: every checkpoint passed in order, no jumps or teleports, speeds that are physically possible. |
| No driving assists | Nothing that helps the car round the lap. |
| A dry track | If it rains at any point in the lap, the lap doesn't count, because rain changes grip. |
| An undamaged car | Engine damage or a burst tyre at the line means the lap doesn't count. |
Like for like
Upgrades change a car completely, so cars are only compared with others at the same level:
| Stock | No engine, brakes, gearbox or suspension upgrades, no turbo and no spoiler. A spoiler counts because in GTA it adds grip on many cars. |
| Full upgrades | Engine, brakes, gearbox and suspension at their top level, plus turbo. |
| Part upgraded | Anything in between, kept on its own list. |
Paint, body parts and wheels don't change the level.
Official tests and everyone's laps
A car can look slow just because of who drove it. So the board has two views:
- Official tests: laps by Raycin's own testers, so cars are compared by consistent drivers.
- Everyone: the best lap any of our players has set in each car.
Lap time and top speed
Both come from the same test laps, and each answers a different question:
| Measure | The question it answers | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Lap time | Which car is quickest round a real lap? | The Test Track lap |
| Top speed | How fast does the car go on a long, flat straight, after the same run-up as every other car? | The highest speed on the lap's flat test straight |
A car that is fast in a straight line but slow round a lap is marked Straight-line car on the board. A car with a much better lap than its top speed suggests is marked Corners well.
Acceleration (0-60, 0-100) and drag times come from a separate Acceleration Test (F9 in game). It is a different test, so it is not mixed into the Lap Board.
Which speed is which?
- Top speed
- Our official figure. The highest speed the car reaches on the same flat straight of our test lap, every car with the same run-up. On the Lap Board.
- Run max
- The fastest point of one straight-line Acceleration Test run (F9 in game), shown with its 0-60, 0-100 and ¼, ½ and 1-mile times. Not our official top speed.
- Listed top speed
- Imported with the car data on the vehicle pages. Not measured by Raycin.
Our Test Tracks
Each map shows the lap in gold and its top-speed straight in purple, drawn from a real lap on the track.
Interlude Test Track
These results are independent tests by Raycin and our players on our own FiveM server. They are not official figures from Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive or anyone else, and Raycin is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Results can vary with driver, game updates and server settings.