With Huayra’s mid-engine placement, heck that exhaust is much more then just headers!!!
What the hell is up with those mirrors?!!??
The mirrors are just a ‘NO BUY’ for me. If I’m going to spend over 1mil for a car it wouldn’t be with those…..what? Look at the spec before making that statement? O.K. let’s look at ’em.
MY MY!!!
O.K. I’d buy it and rip the mirrors off…that ought to be good for 100th of a second off that 3.0, 0-60 timing.
The Monticello Motor Club in New York was built for the purpose of testing drivers and cars, but also designed to be safe for the novice first-timer. The road course has over four miles of track and is set on 175 wooded acres. This club puts on many …
There are very few new ideas in the world of high performance. But with modern technology, we can often revisit a clumsy, old idea and make it more efficient. Such is the case with compressed-air supercharging. The idea is simple enough. Compress and store a large volume of air into a high-pressure tank. Use a pressure regulator to control the air coming out of the tank, and step it down to a traditional boost pressure. Introduce the air on demand, and you have a killer supercharger that doesn’t create parasitic losses because the engine is not using power to drive it. Sounds simple enough, so what’s the catch?
As for the Great Eight Corvettes themselves, the museum’s board of directors, in conjunction with Chevrolet, has determined that only three of the eight cars damaged were in sufficient condition to be repaired. Chevrolet will oversee the restoration of the 2009 ZR-1 Blue Devil prototype, as well as the 1,000,000th Corvette assembled, a white 1992 convertible, at the GM Heritage Center. The third car to be restored is the black 1962 Corvette; Chevrolet has agreed to fund this restoration, which will be handled by a shop designated by the National Corvette Museum. The remaining five cars will be preserved in their current states, and will form the basis of a future museum exhibit.Speaking of the car’s damaged in the sinkhole collapse, GM’s executive vice president of Global product development, Mark Reuss, said, “Our goal was to help the National Corvette Museum recover from a terrible natural disaster by restoring all eight cars. However, as the cars were recovered, it became clear that restoration would be impractical because so little was left to repair. And, frankly, there is some historical value in leaving those cars to be viewed as they are.”
Preservation or restoration. That’s the question that faces anyone dealing with classic cars, and it’s the issue with which the National Corvette Museum is grappling in the wake of the sinkhole that opened up in its midst this past February. In the …
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) – A massive sinkhole that swallowed eight sports cars won’t be a permanent attraction at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky. The museum’s board voted Saturday to fill in the entire hole that opened up in February and …
I did drive the Renault sport in Italy last year and I’d have to say it was a blast!
100% Fun to Drive
SEAT Leon Cupra 265
The value option of the VW group’s bulging array of hot hatches. A point rammed home by the option of a 276bhp version (until recently a Nürburging record holder), which, at £27,210, could technically slot into fourth in this list. £25,690, 261bhp
Read Top Gear’s verdict on the SEAT Leon Cupra
Renaultsport Megane 265
If a comfortable ride and the option of a paddleshift gearbox aren’t important to you, this is the hot hatch of choice. Aggressive front differential makes it exciting enough for you to wonder why you’d want rear-wheel drive. And the new Trophy-R version nicked the Leon’s Nordschleife bragging rights. £26,930, 261bhp
Read Top Gear’s verdict on the Renaultsport Megane 265
Nissan 370Z
A proper, six-cylinder, rear-drive sports car for £85 more than a tarted up Renault Megane looks like the bargain of the century. And indeed, the Zed is a fun old thing. But the key word is probably ‘old’… £27,015, 326bhp
Read Top Gear’s verdict on the Nissan 370Z
Vauxhall Astra VXR
Like the Megane 265, a mechanical diff on the front axle endows the go-faster Astra with some properly engaging dynamics, though this is a blunter instrument than its French rival. Approaching 300bhp through the front wheels ensures torque steer aplenty. £27,270, 276bhp
Read Top Gear’s verdict on the Vauxhall Astra VXR
Subaru WRX STI
It’s a particularly old school way to get hold of a shed-load of power for not a lot of money, but there’s plenty to like here: stocky manual gearbox, rally kudos, simply enormous rear spoiler. Its heinous thirst betrays its £-per-bhp honours somewhat. £28,995, 296bhp
Read Top Gear’s verdict on the Subaru WRX STI
VW Golf R
The finest all-round hot hatch on sale also offers a very healthy amount of power and premium loveliness for its sub-£30k price tag. Hugely fun four-wheel-drive system results in a better modern-day take on the rally-rep Impreza than Subaru’s own WRX STI. £29,900, 296bhp
Read Top Gear’s verdict on the VW Golf R
Audi S3
Same engine as the Golf R, but Audi will take an extra £745 off you for demanding your German hot hatch has four rings on its front grille. Not quite as fun to drive as its VW relative, but it’s still the best S3 yet. £30,645, 296bhp
Read Top Gear’s verdict on the Audi S3
BMW M135i
The S3’s closest rival, and a car which delivers an extra 20bhp, priced at an entirely reasonable £10 each. The Beemer is also more entertaining, owing to its rear-wheel-drive chassis and sonorous six-cylinder engine. £30,845, 316bhp
Read Top Gear’s verdict on the BMW M135i
Volvo V40 T5
The least fun car in our top ten, the Volvo V40 is undoubtedly rather sensible in this company. But it’s a very pleasant thing, nonetheless. Its characterful five-cylinder engine is nearly ruined by a dim-witted automatic gearbox, though. £31,900, 254bhp
Read Top Gear’s verdict on the Volvo V40
Peugeot RCZ R
Further proof of Peugeot’s return to form. The RCZ R is not only ludicrously powerful for a car with a 1.6-litre engine, it will also oversteer like a exuberantly driven 205 GTI if you want it to. Who needs a TT? £31,995, 266bhp
I’m a GM fan. Have been since I was a kid and currently drive a C6 Corvette as my daily. I’m also a manual transmission guy so automatic transmission really aren’t a preferred option. Of course the new Corvettes has paddel-shifting which is state of the art, but what do I do with my left leg???!!!!
DETROIT – The all-new, GM-developed Hydra-Matic 8L90 paddle-shift eight-speed automatic transmission offered in the 2015 Corvette Stingray and Z06 enhances performance and efficiency, while delivering exceptional refinement and world-class shift responsiveness that rivals the world’s best dual-clutch transmissions.
In fact, in the 2015 Corvette Stingray, it enables a class-leading 29-mpg EPA highway estimate – a 3.5-percent increase in fuel economy over the previous six-speed automatic – and a quicker 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds, all while delivering wide-open-throttle upshifts quicker than those of the dual-clutch transmission offered in the Porsche 911.
“GM’s new 8L90 eight-speed automatic represents a rare win-win-win scenario for customers,” said Kavoos Kaveh, global chief engineer for eight-speed automatic transmissions. “It offers greater performance and efficiency, while weighing less than the transmission it replaces. That’s a rare accomplishment in the industry today – and one for which GM has been awarded more than two dozen patents.”
The GM-developed Hydra-Matic 8L90 eight-speed is approximately the same size and weight as the Hydra-Matic 6L80 six-speed automatic. Its 7.0 overall gear ratio spread is wider than GM’s six-speed automatic transmissions, providing a numerically higher …
I haven’t done a “Wrecked” piece in a while. These are fun articles to do. They include some history and specs for the highlighted car and a look at one that has quality parts still available.
You can find this featured car over on www.Parting Out.com. They have a unique system that pulls together quality used parts from all over Texas and U.S.
In 1972 the Mercury Cougar (rich cousin to the Mustang) took a different path from is roots as a classy coupe and began the move to the luxury side of the auto market.
By 1972 the Cougar series to flavors the Cougar and the Cougar XR-7. Body styles were 2 door hard top Coupe and 2 door convertible for both the versions. If you say “…hmmm I don’t recall seeing a convertible!” There’s a good reason for that. In 1972 only 1,240 Cougar verts were produced and only 1,929 for the XR-7.
Engine for the 1972 was the Ford work-horse power plant, the 351. It had a cast iron block, overhead valves, bore and stroke 4.00″X3.50″. Compression ratio was a low-ish 8.5:1 and topped with a two barrel carb it was able to knock out 163HP.
There isn’t anything that great to see is a donor car like this one:
Lot of parts on this car. Hard to find glass and any of the light lenses.
Good fenders and doors and intact rocker molding – a huge plus
Here is the best part. Rear bumper..will need re-chroming but the taillight lenses took to be in good shape!!
1971 429 XR-7 on E-Bay. A bit tired but has some nice options. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercu…item4ac46cf6e3. 1972 Cougar,XR-7. My Cougar 2003 Focus SVT My SVT …
“Will it play in Peoria?” asks the age-old question about how Broadway shows would be received in Middle America. Well, apparently Tesla Motors plays well in Beijing. It’s part of Tesla chief Elon Musk’s grand plan, of course.
The California-based maker of the battery-electric Model S has delivered about 1,000 of the vehicles in China since shipments started there in April, Bloomberg News says, citing Dougherty & Co. analyst Andrea James, Barclays Plc analyst Brian Johnson and Wedbush Securities analyst Craig Irwin. Tesla also started shipping its first right-had drive Model S sedans to the UK in June.
It is estimated that all those deliveries helped push Tesla’s second-quarter global vehicle deliveries close to the 7,550 mark, which is more than the company forecast and would set a new quarterly record (Tesla’s second-quarter results will be announced later today). It would also mark about a 45 percent jump from Tesla’s 2Q sales a year ago.
When running a business, having to throttle the hype for a new product isn’t such a terrible problem to have. That’s exactly was Tesla is doing with its Model X SUV, which is slated to go on sale next year. During a quarterly earnings call (transcript …
As we get closer and closer to the 2015 Mustang getting into customer hands, we are also starting to see more previews of the various aftermarket Mustangs that will be built. We’ve earlier shown you versions from Saleen, Steeda and Galpin Auto Sports, and now we can show you the newest one from Roush. The company today released a photo with the outline of what is presumably a 2015 Roush Mustang on their Facebook page, although with the exception of the 5-spoke wheels it’s impossible to tell some of the design changes.
Roush didn’t offer up much information either. They simply said to “keep a close eye on our page during the coming weeks as we start to pull back the curtains and reveal what Roush Performance has planned for the 2015 Ford Mustang.”
From the looks of the image we suspect the photo is real and not just a rendering like other previews. This wouldn’t be a huge surprise, as Roush has close ties with Ford and often collaborates on engineering. In the past Roush has had early access to create parts for the Mustang and often is first to market with their aftermarket version. We fully expect to see a Roush Mustang in the next couple months, so stay tuned!
While we don’t know anything about the 2015 Roush Mustang, we do have the shadowy image above that teases the next generation aftermarket tuned Mustang and thanks to my very questionable photo editing skills – we have an even better look at the fine …
Are you a fan of Top Gear? I am! Have been since it’s been on cable. Of course we don’t travel in the same circles, Rut has his Fox Sports gig(covering motorsports) beside all the Top Gear filming and promo events and I’m a wannabe writer, covering the automotive world. So it’s highly unlikely we’d cross paths and sit down for a car discussion. Unless????
That is what’s so great about the age we live in. On my twitter account (@restortation) I’m a follower (among many) of Top Gear and guys (Tanner, Rut (@rutledgewood) and Adam). Just luck let me catch a Tweet by Rutledge that mentioned that he had a Facebook event today where fans could chat with him.
So I closed my office door (yeah I was at work) and joined the crowd on Facebook. I actually got a few questions answered. Here they are:
Write a reply…
Tim Sweet: Who finds the cars you use in the show? Private individuals?
Rutledge Wood: I have found almost all the ones I’ve used…but I’m not in LA to go test drive them. We have some amazing producers that bust their butts for us. Huge support team…but we find most of them online. Craigslist, Auto trader, and even a few on ebay
Tim Sweet: Thanks…great!!!!
Tim Sweet: So who is the STIG…I won’t tell anyone….? Rutledge Wood: honeslty…I have no idea. They wont talk to me. Never seen them.
Rutledge Wood: I want them to give me a hug
Tim Sweet: Everyone wants to hug the STIG
Tim Sweet: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. I got to get back to this ‘work’ thing I do every day…my C6 needs a super charger!!!! Take care!!!!
