More here
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/10q3/2013_morgan_evagt-car_news
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Amusing "safety" feature
It seems my dad is/was considering adding a second Ferrari to his fleet. Since he already has a front engine V12 coupe, a mid-engine V8 spyder sounds like a good complement so he's been looking at some lightly used 360's. One in particular caught my attention, having a factory optioned fire extinguisher.
Now, full disclosure, I have a fire extinguisher mounted in my Porsche... But my Porsche is 37 years old, and judging by the amount of smoke that emanates from the engine bay after turning it off it seems that it could burst into flames at any moment (keeps me on my toes!). However the idea of a factory mounted fire extinguisher in a modern car is a bit concerning. Does Ferrari really expect their cars to burst into flames? Well, a quick google search seems to indicate this is a possibility.
However, I'm sure an owner would feel much better knowing he can confidently put out his engine fire with this
It's good to know that Ferrari holds their customers in such high regard as to give them a hand stitched top grade leather wrapped fire extinguisher. Owners can rest assured that they they will be cosseted in luxury even whilst dousing an engine fire.
Now, full disclosure, I have a fire extinguisher mounted in my Porsche... But my Porsche is 37 years old, and judging by the amount of smoke that emanates from the engine bay after turning it off it seems that it could burst into flames at any moment (keeps me on my toes!). However the idea of a factory mounted fire extinguisher in a modern car is a bit concerning. Does Ferrari really expect their cars to burst into flames? Well, a quick google search seems to indicate this is a possibility.
However, I'm sure an owner would feel much better knowing he can confidently put out his engine fire with this
It's good to know that Ferrari holds their customers in such high regard as to give them a hand stitched top grade leather wrapped fire extinguisher. Owners can rest assured that they they will be cosseted in luxury even whilst dousing an engine fire.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Budget cuts
UK police are going green! And getting in better shape too it looks like.
Unfortunately for the bad guys, it's just in good fun... I'm guessing this means he can still call actual police cars if needed.
http://www.asylum.co.uk/2010/05/24/have-the-cuts-begun-already-hampshire-police-unveil-pedal-power/
Friday, April 30, 2010
Quite Fast
Seems the Ferrari 599XX set a new record at the Ring recently... And this driver makes it look easy!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Blue Angel v. Blue Devil
The Corvette ZR1 is clearly one of the fastest cars on the planet, so Motor Trend decided comparing it to other cars was all a bit too boring and pedestrian. So they somehow or another got the Navy to race an F18 against it.
Seems the Chevy is a bit outmatched, but still pretty entertaining.
Seems the Chevy is a bit outmatched, but still pretty entertaining.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Blue Oval
Automotive News reports that Ford generated $2 billion in quarterly profit for 2010. The big news? They're actually turning a profit on each car sold! I remember a few years back GM lost an average of $1,200 on each car sold. But that was ok, because they thought they could just make it up in volume.
The only bad news for Ford is that they have over $30 billion in debt versus GM and Chrysler that have virtually no remaining debt, and Toyota that has huge heaps of cash laying around. Still, many of their newest offerings seem to be solid contenders, they avoided the stigma of bankruptcy, and Toyota is in a tailspin. It will be interesting to watch.
The only bad news for Ford is that they have over $30 billion in debt versus GM and Chrysler that have virtually no remaining debt, and Toyota that has huge heaps of cash laying around. Still, many of their newest offerings seem to be solid contenders, they avoided the stigma of bankruptcy, and Toyota is in a tailspin. It will be interesting to watch.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Coachbuilding
People who know me well know that I appreciate finely crafted, especially hand-made, stuff. There is so much more meaning to something when you consider a skilled craftsman or artist spent hours, days, weeks, or even months to create something unique.
Back in the days of Body-on-frame cars, before the advent of crash testing, and mass-produced "luxury" cars you bought your luxury car (from any of a great number of providers such as Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, etc) as a chassis and engine, then sent that off to a coachbuilder to have your bespoke body and interior fitted. This produced some of the most beautiful works of art ever created, and you could drive them!
For the most part, coachbuilding today is "dead". Only a few in-house specialists remain (such as Bentley's Mulliner) but the greats like Hooper, James Young, and Fleetwood are gone. So what's one to do if you want a modern car wrapped up in some gorgeous sheetmetal (or carbon fiber, or fiberglass or whatever)? Today I came across Delahaye USA, named after (but not related to) the legendary French marque seen only in museums, and A-list Concours. From the pictures their vehicles are absolutely stunning. It is also refreshing to see someone use an engine other than the ubiquitous GM small-block to power their creations. I'll take mine with the BMW-V12 please (or even better how about the twin-turbo Rolls-Royce V12 from the new Ghost?)
Back in the days of Body-on-frame cars, before the advent of crash testing, and mass-produced "luxury" cars you bought your luxury car (from any of a great number of providers such as Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, etc) as a chassis and engine, then sent that off to a coachbuilder to have your bespoke body and interior fitted. This produced some of the most beautiful works of art ever created, and you could drive them!
For the most part, coachbuilding today is "dead". Only a few in-house specialists remain (such as Bentley's Mulliner) but the greats like Hooper, James Young, and Fleetwood are gone. So what's one to do if you want a modern car wrapped up in some gorgeous sheetmetal (or carbon fiber, or fiberglass or whatever)? Today I came across Delahaye USA, named after (but not related to) the legendary French marque seen only in museums, and A-list Concours. From the pictures their vehicles are absolutely stunning. It is also refreshing to see someone use an engine other than the ubiquitous GM small-block to power their creations. I'll take mine with the BMW-V12 please (or even better how about the twin-turbo Rolls-Royce V12 from the new Ghost?)
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Insane
This one pretty much speaks for itself.
Lotus Exige with 600+HP
http://www.hennesseyperformancestore.com/venomgt.html
Lotus Exige with 600+HP
http://www.hennesseyperformancestore.com/venomgt.html
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Quite some time since my last post here. What with getting ready to move, attending weddings and such I haven't found a whole lot of time to post.
In any event, There's been quite a bit of anticipation over this newest Bentley, and apparently this video is among the newest releases. The engine has always been the most fascinating part of a vehicle to me, so this is mesmerizing. And I haven't even seen the video with sound yet! Don't be surprised if I comment more soon.
In any event, There's been quite a bit of anticipation over this newest Bentley, and apparently this video is among the newest releases. The engine has always been the most fascinating part of a vehicle to me, so this is mesmerizing. And I haven't even seen the video with sound yet! Don't be surprised if I comment more soon.
Friday, February 12, 2010
of Toyota
Even though I'm a long time and well known Toyota hater, I have to say I'm actually starting to feel sorry for them. First the unwanted acceleration in practically every car they make, then brakes in the Prius, and now I'm hearing about the Prius accelerating out of control when on cruise control (irony?)
The big question here is... are their cars really THAT bad, or is this just exponential loss of consumer confidence? Could it be that nearly every car they make is defective?
My theory is, as we all know, once you KNOW there is a problem it's quite easy to become extra picky about any other minor problem. Granted, a car accelerating when on cruise control is a pretty big problem, but why didn't we hear about this before the big recall? Same thing with the brakes. It seems people were happily driving along in their Prius with the funky brakes for years, but now that there's a big recall on accelerators people think "hmm, this doesn't seem right". Not that there's anything wrong with that. Consumers should be critical of their cars. For most people a car represents the second most expensive thing they own, so you should be happy with it!
It's hard to say what the long term result of this will be. For my part, I hope only that it helps level the playing field. The Japanese car industry can make mistakes just as well as the Americans or anyone else. Although, at the end of the day I expect the biggest benefit will be realized by Hyundai/Kia.
The big question here is... are their cars really THAT bad, or is this just exponential loss of consumer confidence? Could it be that nearly every car they make is defective?
My theory is, as we all know, once you KNOW there is a problem it's quite easy to become extra picky about any other minor problem. Granted, a car accelerating when on cruise control is a pretty big problem, but why didn't we hear about this before the big recall? Same thing with the brakes. It seems people were happily driving along in their Prius with the funky brakes for years, but now that there's a big recall on accelerators people think "hmm, this doesn't seem right". Not that there's anything wrong with that. Consumers should be critical of their cars. For most people a car represents the second most expensive thing they own, so you should be happy with it!
It's hard to say what the long term result of this will be. For my part, I hope only that it helps level the playing field. The Japanese car industry can make mistakes just as well as the Americans or anyone else. Although, at the end of the day I expect the biggest benefit will be realized by Hyundai/Kia.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Forty-Eight
Well this is supposed to be a car-blog, but I admit to having a certain fascination with 2-wheeled things that sound like Harleys... and have the scars on my leg to prove it... But anyway, I got an e-mail from Harley announcing their new Sportster. Not really sure where the "Forty Eight" name comes from but it looks pretty sweet! Pretty similar to my "Nightster" but a smaller tank, fatter front end, forward controls, different engine finish, and some trim differences.
Nice!
Nice!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
What is a "Luxury" car?
Here's an interesting topic that's open for feedback and debate. One of the forums I frequent, GMInsidenews.com is often abuzz with discussion on what Cadillac should do to be competitive and relevant. Also keeping in mind that there is still Buick which also claims to be "luxury". The question is, what is a luxury car?
At one end of the spectrum we have BMW which bases it's marketing on "fun to drive", and pretty much invented the popular concept of the "sports sedan" (Jaguar and probably others were doing it first, but it was BMW that really took the idea and ran with it). This section values communicative steering and a taut chassis. Typically this is paired with a performance oriented engine and RWD.
The other end of the spectrum, or so I'm told, is Lexus. I have never driven a Lexus but from what I hear the idea is to have the driver in total isolation from the world around. Apparently in this category and engine isn't expected to have any "getup" and FWD is perfectly acceptable.
Then of course you can get into "ultra-luxury" such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Maybach. But I'm mostly concerned with the most general definition of a luxury car.
For me these are some things that I would expect in a "luxury" car. Unfortunately nobody really makes this short of Rolls-Royce.
1) Part of the definition of luxury is "excess": A Luxury car should have the finest materials, or at least materials that are far above "average". Expect high-grade "aniline" leathers, and real wood trim. Also, emphasis on "real" materials. For instance a door handle that looks chrome should be chrome plated metal, not plastic.
2)The interior should be nearly silent. Some pleasant exhaust noise etc is OK, but road noise and wind noise is totally unacceptable. At cruising speed (60-80mph) all passengers should be able to carry on a conversation at normal household levels.
3)Ride should be tuned for comfort. frost heaves, expansion joints, and rough pavement should not be noticed by the cars occupants. Anything short of a speed-bump or pothole should be completely smothered, and even those events should be barely noticed. With today's availability of active suspension systems a vehicle with this type of tuning should still be able to have acceptable handling. I don't expect a 5,000lb luxury car to handle like a Porsche, but I shouldn't have to slow down to take a turn on the interstate.
4) While I don't care to take a luxury car drag-racing, the engine should have adequate torque to accelerate the car effortlessly within the normal operating range. If I need to accelerate from 60 to 80mph to pass someone on the interstate it should happen without drama. This means no downshifts for "passing" acceleration. Back in "the day" Cadillac typically had the largest engines GM offered. These days, the most powerful Cadillac has a de-tuned Corvette engine. (In 1957 Cadillac had a 390c.i. engine while the Corvette had a 289)
While this is possible with a FWD platform (Cadillac installed a 500ci engine with FWD), as an engineer, I believe that RWD is preferred in almost any case, and especially with a high-torque engine.
What do you think?
At one end of the spectrum we have BMW which bases it's marketing on "fun to drive", and pretty much invented the popular concept of the "sports sedan" (Jaguar and probably others were doing it first, but it was BMW that really took the idea and ran with it). This section values communicative steering and a taut chassis. Typically this is paired with a performance oriented engine and RWD.
The other end of the spectrum, or so I'm told, is Lexus. I have never driven a Lexus but from what I hear the idea is to have the driver in total isolation from the world around. Apparently in this category and engine isn't expected to have any "getup" and FWD is perfectly acceptable.
Then of course you can get into "ultra-luxury" such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Maybach. But I'm mostly concerned with the most general definition of a luxury car.
For me these are some things that I would expect in a "luxury" car. Unfortunately nobody really makes this short of Rolls-Royce.
1) Part of the definition of luxury is "excess": A Luxury car should have the finest materials, or at least materials that are far above "average". Expect high-grade "aniline" leathers, and real wood trim. Also, emphasis on "real" materials. For instance a door handle that looks chrome should be chrome plated metal, not plastic.
2)The interior should be nearly silent. Some pleasant exhaust noise etc is OK, but road noise and wind noise is totally unacceptable. At cruising speed (60-80mph) all passengers should be able to carry on a conversation at normal household levels.
3)Ride should be tuned for comfort. frost heaves, expansion joints, and rough pavement should not be noticed by the cars occupants. Anything short of a speed-bump or pothole should be completely smothered, and even those events should be barely noticed. With today's availability of active suspension systems a vehicle with this type of tuning should still be able to have acceptable handling. I don't expect a 5,000lb luxury car to handle like a Porsche, but I shouldn't have to slow down to take a turn on the interstate.
4) While I don't care to take a luxury car drag-racing, the engine should have adequate torque to accelerate the car effortlessly within the normal operating range. If I need to accelerate from 60 to 80mph to pass someone on the interstate it should happen without drama. This means no downshifts for "passing" acceleration. Back in "the day" Cadillac typically had the largest engines GM offered. These days, the most powerful Cadillac has a de-tuned Corvette engine. (In 1957 Cadillac had a 390c.i. engine while the Corvette had a 289)
While this is possible with a FWD platform (Cadillac installed a 500ci engine with FWD), as an engineer, I believe that RWD is preferred in almost any case, and especially with a high-torque engine.
What do you think?
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Will they or wont they?
Now another reversal on GM's claim that the G8 platform is dead in the US. Apparently now they are talking about making a civilian version of the Chevy Caprice police car, which is based on the Holden Commodore. This has flip-flopped so many times that no-one believes anything yet.
In other news, I'm getting ready to head off to the North American International Auto Show this weekend. Should be a good time, though I'm already disappointed in one of the main vehicles I wanted to see. The Cadillac XTS was supposed to be an amazing new design, but to me it looks like a cross of a Buick LaCrosse and a Chrysler Sebring with a Cadillac grill.
In other news, I'm getting ready to head off to the North American International Auto Show this weekend. Should be a good time, though I'm already disappointed in one of the main vehicles I wanted to see. The Cadillac XTS was supposed to be an amazing new design, but to me it looks like a cross of a Buick LaCrosse and a Chrysler Sebring with a Cadillac grill.
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