Back in the nineties, Sony released the PlayStation game that changed console racing games forever: Gran Turismo. It was spectacular in its realism, with detailed graphics and seemingly true-to-life handling of the numerous cars it was possible to sample. But then, in 1999, they released the follow-up, GT 2, and we were introduced to real tracks to play on.

Very quickly one track became the favorite, the mighty Laguna Seca, and it did so by virtue of one corner - the Corkscrew. A sharp left after a rising blind crest, a drop down at an impossible angle and a swooping right, that was the Corkscrew; it tested games players to the limit, especially when driving one of the ridiculously powerful cars included in the game. I am still proud of the fact that I did eventually learn how to get the Toyota Le Mans car through the Corkscrew without careering off for a meeting with the barriers.

But what is it like in reality? How does the game compare when you are in a powerful car attempting a quick lap at Laguna Seca?

Thanks to Top Gear and YouTube, we can find out. Have a look at this clip - Jeremy Clarkson trying to get a Honda NSX within reach of a respectable lap time.

I never liked Cadillacs until I came to the States. That event coincided with some of the best cars ever made by Cadillac - it was as though they put on a special effort just for me. And I am a complete convert; in my opinion, Cadillacs are now the best looking and most desirable of all American cars.

The Cadillac Sixteen, a design exercise from 2003, is the essence of all that has been good about Caddies ever since. Styling features have influenced later models and the car itself, with its 14.6 liter 16 cylinder engine, is the perfect combination of sports and luxury. It looks a brute and, thankfully, it is. No wonder Cadillacs today are serious contenders for the motorist’s checkbook.

Here’s what Top Gear had to say about the Sixteen when they tried it (lucky blighters).

How often have we watched motor racing on the television and thought that everything seemed pretty slow? The braver of us may even have ventured that we could do better in our tuned-up road burners with the go faster stripe. It is hard to judge speed when watching it on a screen without peripheral vision to give us a reference point.

The Top Gear team performed a revealing test, however, pitting a standard but sporty car against a rally car and a Formula 1 racer - and the results are even more staggering than we can imagine. Have a look at this clip and be amazed at the speed of the F1 car.

In October last year I wrote of the Ferrari 250 GTO, the classic GT car that sets the standard for all the others. At the time, I was unaware of YouTube but have been digging around and found several clips that enable us to experience the GTO more immediately.

Listen to the sound of twelve cylinders working in sweet harmony in these clips, the throaty voice of six twin-choke Weber carburetors, the awe-struck voices of the onlookers. It may be a forty year old design now but it still reigns supreme.

Tuning a 250 GTO with a little road test afterwards.

Just a GTO - it’s enough!

And this is what it sounds like in its natural home, the track.

And here’s an interesting little clip:

The Ferrari 250 LM, the mid-engined car that replaced the 250 GTO. Almost as desirable…