The thing I wanted to know is how Rat Race came to be in the first place. It turns out that the premise is an ingeniously simple one: "We've always loved to travel, loved cars, and thrived on adventures. We bought an old Audi 100 "herring" a couple of years ago and went on a trip exploring Lithuania - mainly using uncharted forest roads. Our whole family, including the dog, had so much fun on this adventure that we charted our route then and there and organized the first Rat Race just a couple months after."
"Rat Race is a thoroughly unique event, mainly because the contestants use cheap old vehicles to complete the race," added the founders. "The contestants can examine their vehicle of choice by driving in plenty of different offroad situations - from meadows to forests, and from hills to fields; there aren't many tarmac roads in our routes!". Instead of tarmac and comfort, Rat Race promises "impressive offroad tracks and plenty of adventures." And by checking the photos on their official website - adventure is definitely just around the corner in the Rat Race.
And though it might seem like a fight-for-survival kind of event, the Rat Race founders assure us that "we set up each rig with a GPS tracker monitoring their adherence to official speed limits and tracking their location if they ever need some assistance." So see, it's all about fun and a healthy dose of adrenaline!
Naturally, I wanted to know more about the routes and the tracks that the contestants have to maneuver through, and the Rat Race founders have kindly told me more about it. "The routes are never the same and are different for each race. We either do downloadable maps or set up a roadbook for our contestants to follow. So no Rat Race is ever the same!" For those worried about safety while participating in Rat Race, there are some crucial rules to guarantee that. "Since the contestants use public roads during the race, they have to stick to road traffic regulations and keep right at the speed limit. If a crew is driving faster than that - they get faults, so driving faster doesn't necessarily secure you a better place." Sounds like probably the only genuinely safe car race ever - kudos for that!
In the words of the Rat Race crew, the event isn't about speed; it's solely about finishing the race and testing your driving skills on varied terrains. And it isn't such an easy task when you're driving an old, beaten-down vehicle! Also, there's a fun prize for completing the race - "we buy the winning crew's car at the end of the event for a fixed sum - 1000 euro (around 861 US dollars)." So, the cheaper you purchase it, the more you win.
Since we're talking about cars, I wanted to know which makes are the top winners and losers. It turns out that "the most popular make among our contestants is definitely Audi, and the least loved - BMW. There has probably been just 2 or 3 BMW's throughout the Rat Race history; maybe it's because they're meant for tarmac and not our offroad tracks." One of the top contestants of the race is an unexpected one - "an old, re-built, raised VW Golf almost came out as the absolute winner of this year's races!" Unsurprisingly though, old Subarus tend to always do pretty well, even without any special preparations. "There's also one team with an ancient Mercedes-Benz vehicle. It's so huge and heavy that it sails like a freight ship through all the mud, bogs, and slough. But, of course, the Mercedes isn't as pretty after the race as it is starting it!"
As you might remember, your narrator has a soft spot for old ‘90s cars, so I wanted to know if it's just some irrational nostalgia or if they genuinely built cars better back then. "I would agree that cars used to be built to be longer-lasting and more durable than the new ones. The carmakers adhered to different philosophies back then - they wanted their cars to last for 20 years or so. So they used better materials, never compromising on the quality of the parts." And you can still find such specimens serving their owners in African or Far East countries, even after their odometers flipped back to zero again. "These days, cars aren't built to last - it's all because of the consumerist culture. And if the builders of a car can save on something, they will." Of course, today's cars have much less negative impact on our environment, but to assure that kind of efficiency, "you have to add in plenty of devices, and everything that works tends to break down sooner or later. Old cars are pretty basic with fewer parts to crash, and that makes them more reliable."
When asked about their own favorite ‘90s car, the Rat Race crew lovingly remember their Audi 100 - "we never had any problems driving it offroad, it looked amazing, and the repairs were indecently cheap." They also noted that if a car built in the ‘90s lives to see our days, it's not without reason. "We really think that the Audis were amazingly durable - close to zero electronics, sturdy chassis, and basic parts made. You could repair such a car with the info given on the owner's manual; that wouldn't be possible with new cars, though!" the Rat Race crew also added that "new cars just don't have any soul." And I agree with that wholeheartedly!
