Semi-bump with semi-relevant information; apparently there's an exact formula that determines one's ranking in Mario Kart DS, as discovered a while back. Basically, it involves one's course points (10, 8, 6, 4, etc. per course) and a hidden scoring system which is broken down as follows:
+5 points for hitting a CPU with an item (not sure if this includes Mushroom boosts)
+2 points for a successful mini-turbo (ergo, snakers get *** rankings much more easily)
+25 for a rocket start
-20 for hitting a wall
-30 for hitting a course hazard (e.g. snowmen, Piranha Plants, fireballs, etc.)
-70 for falling off of the track
Points are also awarded based on each course's time, as well as for staying in first, and subtracted for time spent off-track without item boosts.
The final rank is given as follows:
Hidden Points | 40 CP | 36-39 CP | 30-35 CP | 20-29 CP | 0-19 CP |
1000+ | *** | ** | * | A | B |
700-999 | ** | * | A | B | C |
400-699 | * | A | B | C | D |
200-399 | A | B | C | D | E |
0-199 | B | C | D | E | E |
Less than 0 | C | D | E | E | E |
Not sure if a similar formula applies to Mario Kart Wii or not. I find it interesting that getting hit by items isn't penalized at all (except when it causes you to hit a wall, hazard, or fall off the track). The use of this system also means that if you get passed at the last second in the last race, then get a **-star rank, it would've been a triple had you not been passed. As such, I've lost a couple of double-star rankings that way.