Archive | July, 2010

>What is the Bugatti Veyron?

30 Jul

>To start, Bugatti Veyron is a noun.

From there, things are going to get a bit complicated.. Or, dare I, things get a bit nonsensical.

Bugatti Veyron Gran Sport


We begin describing the Bugatti with numbers. Let’s get started with the price first, something you should all feel more comfortable with understanding. It is a cool $170,576.90.

Wait, something isn’t right… Oh no! I’m sorry, how embarrassing– I accidentally moved it to the wrong decimal place. The starting price for a Bugatti Veyron is, in fact:

 
$1,705,769

I repeat, One Million Seven Hundred and Five Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Nine US Dollars. And get this, the company is still losing money for every car sold.

That’s not all. The latest special edition Veyron Super Sport is said to be, according to New York Time’s Wheels column writer, John Pearley Huffman (I did not make any of this up), priced at $2.5 MILLION!!!!!!! I’ll give you a moment to let that settle in.

But it’s true, isn’t it? You should always get what you pay for.  So what’s so special about this car, then, that it has the audacity to charge a price that is even greater than the stimulus amount granted to the schools of Orange County, California?

The first question we should ask when it comes to sports cars like the Bugatti is, “How fast does it go?”

We know it’s more than 250mph, but how much is that really? The Veyron can out-accelerate a cheetah to 60mph, reach a higher top speed than a Boeing AH-64 Apache Gunship Helicopter used by our Navy and, in a very interesting 2-mile drag race, it is also a very competent adversary against the British Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon.

I mean seriously, a W16 cylinder quadturbo engine?! When I first heard of those numbers, i nearly crapped my pants. The Veyron would crap itself too if it didn’t have ten radiators, only four of which are for the engine itself, to cool off.

No, she is not a midget nor is this photoshopped. Just accept that everything about this car is staggering and completely defies logic.

In spite of all the logic that it defies, we see that this car does exist for a purpose. The Veyron exists to be the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive production automobile in history. When the just-as-ugly Ultimate Aero SSC TT 123ABC decided to challenge the seat for top speed king, Bugatti Veyron answered back by doing what it does best, introducing the Veyron Supersport. It’s even faster, even more powerful, even more ludicrous and twice as expensive as the original.

In the last episode of Top Gear (half of you readers probably saw it before I had a chance to), presenter James May gave it a go in the Veyron SS. Upon hitting the magic number, attaining the Veyron SS’ terminal velocity of 417.9 kph (259.7 mph), Bugatti sent their factory test driver to take the car out again to do two runs, one at each direction of their oval test track, to average a top speed of 267mph. Now just to be clear, that’s a total of three maximum speed runs in a span of one afternoon and this car just kept on going.

But I hate them for it.

On one hand, I am more than impressed by the monumental engineering. The undertaking of such a vehicle is immense and in car terms, comparable to a Saturn V rocket or CERN Large Hadron Collider project. Unfortunately, on the other hand, I feel like all this marvel is always going to be in the hands of people that least deserve it:

>Toyota Sports Cars: "Moving Backward"

27 Jul

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carwalls.com

Recently, Toyota has been in the press for both good reasons and bad.  First, there was the “our-drivers-don’t-know-cars-or-care-about-driving-and-”unintentionally”-hit-the-gas” scandal which everyone and their mother had theories about.  Then, there was the release of the Lexus LFA which every enthusiast has had theories about…for 10 years.

Now, these two events only really apply to very specific types of people.  The unintended acceleration debacle played out in the cars of those who could care less about driving and treat their cars like appliances.  Lexus’ LFA supercar, which costs $375,000, may interest a few passionate drivers among us but let’s face it.  It is for the absurdly rich… and we, enthusiasts, probably already have our hearts set on other supercars that aren’t from companies like Lexus.

So, where is the Toyota for the everyday enthusiast? Where are the cars that can herald the arrival of technology from F1, WRC, or JGTC?  When will we see names like Supra, Celica, or MR2 again?



automotiveaddicts.com

Well, it would seem that Toyota is willing to start a new relationship with the petrol head demographic and wants to get back to basics with its FT-86.  If the name looks oddly familiar, it is no coincidence.  It supposed to bring back memories of the Corolla Sprinter Trueno, AE86, or Hachi-Roku, which was the performance version of a mid-80s Corolla with amazing flickability.  It’s the hero car in the animated series Initial D.

At first glance, this seems like a great idea.  Let’s make a low-cost, affordable sports car for first time buyers.  Then build more expensive sports cars for the customer to aspire to own.  This will build brand confidence and loyalty. Sounds like a great plan!

And it would be a great plan until the numbers are considered.  Autoblog has just reported that the mid-level coupe will be priced around $28,500.  There will be two engines that have outputs of 170hp or 230hp.  Other sources cite the car being 163 inches long and being a 2+2.

When the original concept of this car was released it garnered rave reviews due to its aesthetics and the projected price point of $20,000.  Since then, many reports have come out saying that the car just isn’t feasible at that price and today we hear that a mid-level car will cost $28,500.  To assuage enthusiast fears, Toyota has said a smaller sports car will be released later to fill the $20,000 price point.


2011-hyundai-genesis.info

It’s at this point that it seems Toyota has lost any kind of connection with its non-toaster driving consumer.  Hyundai, a much smaller company than Toyota, has found a way to make the Genesis Coupe.  It sports a 2.0 liter turbo four that makes more power than the mill in the FT-86.  Oh yeah, it’s priced from $22,000.  At the other end of the spectrum, the Hyundai is available with a 300hp V6 which in my estimation is 70 more horsepower than the option in the Toyota.  The top of the line Genesis Coupe is listed at $32,000 which means the median would be $27,000.  All this was made possible by the corporate sharing of chassis and engines.


carguideweb.com

You could be saying right now “but Danny the FT-86 is a smaller car than the Genesis.” You’re right it is about 19 inches shorter which should make it lighter and more sporty.  Going in that direction, the FT-86 runs against the Miata which is only down 6 inches and 3 horsepower to the Toyota.  It would seem that the FT-86 is going to be underpowered and less agile than what most of the category has to offer already.  Remember that smaller Toyota for $20,000?  How much smaller can it get when the FT-86 is only 6 inches bigger than a Miata?  Not to mention there’s already the stigma attached to the Miata as being a “chic car”.


Toyota has recently shown that is can react to changing situations in a timely manner when it needs to.  At this point in the company’s history, it needs to prove that it truly cares about its customers and its reputation as a complete car company.  This attempt at a sports car for the masses seems to miss the point.  Hopefully, they can prove me wrong by the time it hits the showroom floor.

>Affordable Supercar Series (ASS)

20 Jul

>Lotus is a company that I highly admire. Throughout their existence, they’ve kept weight at a minimum to keep performance at a maximum. Until recently, their downfall has been their utter British “quirkiness” which makes older models about as reliable as a solar powered flashlight. If you’re willing to overlook these little idiosyncrasies for a supercar that is bristling with personality, won’t need a second mortgage, and can still hold its own against prancing horses and raging bulls.


Most of you would think of their most recent offerings like the Elise and Exige to make it into this column. Yes, they do generate astounding numbers and are very affordable (relatively). Calling one of those an “Affordable Supercar” is like calling Lady Gaga slightly off base. It’s true but everyone already knew that. Come to think about it, the Elise and Exige share a bit more with Gaga. They’re all stripped down and are only for the really hardcore fans.

Where was I? The Esprit is the next most qualified candidate in the Lotus line. In 1993, it got a major makeover and was graced with some curves to accentuate its sexy wedge shape. It still made do with a 2.2 liter slant four located mid ship but with the help of forced induction in the form of a turbocharger it made a modest 300 horsepower. By today’s standards 300 horsepower isn’t exactly earth shattering but also by today’s standards a car weighing just under 2700 pounds is mind blowing! Put those two numbers together and you find the sum is indeed greater than its parts.

It runs a 0-60 sprint in about 4.5 seconds, can pull .91g on the skidpad, and can dice the cones in the slalom at 61.7 mph. Throw on some modern performance rubber and those numbers still have room to improve.

How much coin does it take to get into this British bombshell? As of this writing, a 1995 model with only 18,000 miles on the clock is listed on Ebay with a “buy it now” price of $36,900. At that price, you won’t have to turn tricks like the “Pretty Woman” to drive one.

>Out and About

19 Jul

>This is not a real post, per se. It’s just a collection of some cars I’ve been able to catch on the road this summer. Enjoy!

Cadillac CTS-V

Mercedes SLR McLaren

Lamborghini LP670-4 SV

>The Big BP "What If" That Everyone Should Be Thinking About.

16 Jul

>Although BP has been saying that things are progressing (hopefully), the bottom line is that there are still ridiculous amounts of fuel in the Gulf.

This is what “Bobber,” a concerned, soon-to-be mother had to say:


A bit drastic… but valid point. Maybe not everyone takes the things found on Yahoo! Answers seriously, but believe it or not, this was not where I first encountered a person that voiced this concern!

The other day while I was on campus, I overheard a bunch of guys hypothesizing a similar theory. But instead of describing the details of the conversation in words, I’ve chosen to draw a highly accurate and scientifically correct painting using MS Paint.


In a nutshell, the BP oil spill doesn’t get cleaned up in time to avoid a tropical hurricane, which sends oil up its vortex, then gets struck by lightning in a terrible thunderstorm, igniting itself on fire.


Now I love my Planet Earth and all the creatures that inhabit it as much as the next person, but couldn’t we all agree that it would be awesome if the “fire hurricane” lasted for, say, at least 2 seconds just so that someone can snap a good picture of it?

If the oil can’t be used to propel our cars around, at least we’d all have awesome desktop wallpapers.


Smile! I hope this ridiculous post made your Friday.

>"The world’s most beautiful cars…

4 Jul

>

… almost always look like a naked woman lying on her stomach about to get up.” -unknown

I would have gladly taken credit for this quote, but let’s face it, we all know it was said by someone much more brilliant. If any of you know of its origin, feel free to leave a helpful comment.

Every once in a while, your favorite car magazines will do a cover on what they’ve nominated as the most beautiful cars in the world. 90% of the time, they’ve somehow managed to let you down by either not including one of your favorite cars or by putting in a car that you just don’t care for. Unfortunately, this may happen here too. If you really want a list that meets your expectations, it’d be easier if you just created your own.

Anyway, back to me. I imagine that industrial design may be one of the most creativity prohibiting fields within design. Oftentimes, designs are dictated by the boring philosophies of practicality and functionality. You’ve all heard the phrase “form follows function,” yes?

Even so, the humble automobile that started out as a tool for transportation, has become something that has transcended to lifestyle, culture, and won the affections of many.

Affection is wonderful. Affection has given upright utility a sprinkling of the irrational. But with a little extra addition of passion (Italian or otherwise), the flood gates opened and we witness the evolution of modern car design.

Through the decades, specifically starting in Europe and the United States during the late 1930′s, one shape overcame the test of time and became the shape we have all universally agreed upon as beauty.

A common misconception has been that the most important part of a car is its engine.


Take this picture of an 1918 Peugeot for instance. It suggests to me that it is as powerful as a locomotive, dramatically displays the immensity of its engine. All else is an afterthought.

Later, a new philosophy stated that, in fact, the most important part of the car is its contact points to the road– the wheels and tires. Car design paid close attention, and eventually devoted attention, to incorporating fenders that cover the wheels and suspension for better protection, aerodynamic fluidity and, of course, aesthetics.

1935 Duesenberg SJ Speedster


1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900


Italian “Pontoon”



1949 Mercury Coupe


American “Character Line”
This design pursuit gave fruit to two key design cornerstones. The “pontoon fender” and the “character line.” The majority of later design exercises have always been a combination of the two in varying degrees.

1955 Porsche 550 Spyder

1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa


1963 Ferrari 250 GTO


1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Coupe


1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback

Approaching the late 1960s, we enter the golden age of Italian car design and engineering.
Advances in fiberglass and metallurgy allowed for even more complex surfaces. In order to convey athleticism, designers offered the illusion of tension and bottled energy. No longer is it simply an attractive steel shell covering the mechanical bits. Inspiration created taut, firm skin, appeared to have stretched itself to its limit of tension across the car. What’s the result?

Yes you guessed it, the result is a car that looks like a naked woman lying on her stomach.

Through it all, the philosophy from the 1930s remained true in the 1960s– wheel fender arches are even more aggressively exaggerated, the engine still bulges through the bonnet.

Another notable event happened in the 1960s. A small Italian automaker was founded in the once quiet town of Sant’Agata Bolognese. You may recognize the name from their more recent efforts; Diablo, Murcielago, Gallardo. But in 1966, Lamborghini created their genesis, the very first mid-engined V12 Lamborghini. The Miura.

A sword has two edges, however. In the 1960s, car manufacturers were still in the experimental phase of aerodynamics and many were yet to master wind tunnel techniques. What does this mean? The rule of thumb for designers became, “if it looks slippery, then it is slippery.”

1967 Lamborghini Miura

1968 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale
1968 Ferrari Dino
Porsche 917

Ferrari 330 P4
Ford GT40
1990s Britain’s decade of Magnificence. The wind tunnel’s path of enlightenment.

Jaguar XJ 220


McLaren F1

Aston Martin DB7
2000s
Porsche Carrera GT

Ferrari F430

Aston Martin DB9
Alfa Romeo 8C Competitzione


Porsche Cayman S

Like many things, design can come back in full circle. For numerous reasons, whether it may be heritage, intellectual recycling, or what not, I do feel that the modern cars, while still thoroughly modern and innovative, borrow a lot from its predecessors.

Nonetheless, I am very amazed at how far and how successful the original Italian Pontoon and the American Character line have developed and evolved while still staying very true to its original intention.

Thank you all for reading this incredibly long post. In a century, there have been millions of cars that have been created so naturally there are numerous cars that have captured our hearts and inspired us.

To the Lotus race car fans, and Lancia Stratos fanatics, Acura NSX tuners, Rolls Royce connoisseurs and yes, even you BMW playboys, I have not forgotten about the contributions your cars have provided but I just couldn’t have possibly done them all.

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