Faster Than Ever is a special series of cars issued over 5 years.  These cars were released in tandem with the mainline cars.  There were 140 unique castings with 100 of them released in the initial two years (2005 and 2006).  The series is known for their copper colored wheels (known as FTE wheels) which also signify that the axle is nickel-plated.  This axle creates less friction enabling the wheels to spin more freely, resulting in cars that are faster.  These cars are highly desirable among racers.  In 2011 and 2012, there was a modification to the wheel design (called FTE2) which was not nearly as fast.

​I have 137 of the 140 different castings and multiples of a number of them (see the images below on my collection), especially the known faster cars.  Some of the more in-demand cars can be hard-to-find and expensive.  A few years ago, it was easier to acquire them and pay not much more than the mainline version, but that's changed.

​​Some racing details and organization:

• I race on a two-lane, 27 foot Magic Derby track (equivalent to about one-third of a mile).  The Derby track is 22% wider than a typical Hot Wheels orange track, allowing me to race more car sizes/scales.  
• I've applied graphite to the cars, which really brings out the speed potential for diecast.  I'll go into more detail on that in the future.  The FTE cars do improve with dry lubes applied, but perhaps not as much as other cars.  Graphite levels the playing field somewhat, but FTE's are still a strong set of cars.
• The times listed are the average of the best two times out of six races.
• 5-star performers are the most elite and there are only 84 of them out of all the cars tested as of April, 2024.  4-star performers is the next best tier.
• See the home page for more details on track design, testing, etc.

I also did some research on why some FTE cars are faster than others.  That's located within the Overall Rankings section.  I have not updated the research given my new track, but may do so on the future.

Fastest FTE Cars

Results summary:

• The FTE wheels and axles are superior to most wheel types.  Of my top 40 FTE castings, the FTE version was my fastest representation of that casting 36 times out of 40 (90%). 
• The FTE catalog has a number of fast cars, with the Cadillac V-16 (with an average time on my track of 2.496 seconds) reigning supreme and being a rare 5-Star car.  There are also 12 cars classified as 4-Star in this group.  So a good amount of speed.
• The speed potential is somewhat limited though given that the modest weight of the cars (average weight is 35.9 grams).  The 4 and 5-Star cars includes 11 Welterweights and 2 Middleweights.  Most of the Middleweights (Escalade, Titan, Hot Tub, 16 Angels, etc.) are not surprisingly among the higher ranked FTE's
• 5 of the top 15 Welterweight cars are FTE's with Cadillac V-16 at #3.
• My biggest surprise was the Way-2-Fast, largely seen as among the top (if not the top) FTE cars.  My best version generated a decent time (2.533), but that was a let down.  In fact, my 2000 Auto show version was my best Way-2-Fast with a strong 2.507 time.  I may try to upgrade the FTE version (although I have three of them) or work the wheels to see if something can be done.
• Of the 43 cars ranked as 3, 4 and 5-Star cars, 40 are from 2005 or 2006.  The 2009 through 2011 releases only generated 3 of the faster cars and none were higher than #32 ('08 Lancer Evolution).  So pretty much all the speed is concentrated with those early release years.​
• Audacious was a nice surprise with a strong showing at 2.513, despite being only 32 grams.  That's not far away from being classified as a Featherweight (30.9 grams max).

The four cars with an * means that the FTE was not the fastest version of that casting.  

FTE Collection pictures