While we think Rolls-Royce is unlikely to be selling an all-electric Phantom any time soon, the British luxury car maker has been putting its 102EX Electric Phantom through a whole series of tests ahead of a worldwide tour to ensure it behaves in an appropriate manner at all times. One of the most important series of tests undertaken by...
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In a remarkable show of gritty determination Audi’s only surviving car, Number Three driven by Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer, clinched victory in this year’s Le Man’s 24 hours race by a scant 13.85 seconds from the Number Nine Peugeot of Sebastien Bourdais, Simon Pagenud and Pedro Lamy followed by three other Peugeot’s that, at the end of the day, couldn’t crack Audi’s iron will to win.
The winning car was considered to be very much the junior team but the three drivers, led by Audi’s first female chief engineer, Leena Gade proved worthy of the task.
Following Rockenfeller’s horrific 230 mph accident late on Saturday night and running under the safety car for the best part of two hours, Audi’s sole surviving R18TDI never enjoyed more than a minute’s lead over their French arch-rivals.
Still the team and drivers kept cool heads, to the extent that Lotterer posted the fastest race time of 3 mins 25.29 secs on lap 229.
Despite brief showers on Sunday morning and the fact that the Audi’s were running one lap less between fuel stops never mind that the Peugeots were relentlessly cutting into their lead, Audi somehow managed to clung to a lead that was continuously whittled away as the morning wore on. With 35 minutes showing on the clock both the Audi and Peugeot had to make dash and splash pit stops, with the German car leading its French rival out the pits by just 7.8secs that was gradually stretched to nearly double as the seconds ticked away.
There was no hiding Audi’s sense of relief and joy at its victory and, equally, no hiding of Peugeot’s disappointment that, despite having four cars chasing one Audi down it still wasn’t enough to secure victory.
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That’s a tough choice, selecting between two iconic sports cars even if they’re separated by nearly half a century of automotive development.
On the one hand we have the E-Type celebrating its 50th birthday this year. I haven’t driven one for a good many years so thought it an opportunity to reacquaint myself with the car and rediscover what all the fuss is about.
My first challenge was getting in: at 6ft 2ins I am hardly triple X sized and I don’t wear shoes the size of small kayaks, but I found getting my legs and feet down the tunnel and round the steering wheel about as easy as threading a worm back down its hole. Furthermore once in place the massive steering wheel cut across my thighs to such a degree that I think I’ve invented a new Yoga position. And as for the pedals I felt as if I could operate all three simultaneously with either just my left or right Timberland. Oh yes, and I wish I’d opted for the convertible, at least with its hood down I’d have had enough headroom unlike the Hunchback of Notre Dame stance I was forced to assume.
Aside from that it was fine, the engine took on that strong straight six beat with a back rhythm of warbling carbs slurping in fuel and air. The gearbox was a bit iffy not aided by the long throw clutch.
But it was the cramped cabin and ergonomics – what ergonomics? – that left a not entirely good impression on me especially after I tried to extricate myself with all the grace and dexterity of a lobster trying to escape its pot.
Over to the Cayman R and it fits like a glove, a compact steering wheel, pedals ideally placed for heel ‘n toeing – if you want to show off that is, with modern synchros that’s not needed these days – a short, crisp gearbox throw and a rasping exhaust timbre just to the aft.
The ergonomics are ideal and its steering is arguably the best you can get in a performance car in this price bracket.
Fast forward 50 years and I wonder if the Cayman will feel just as arthritic as that E-Type did?
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The Renault-Nissan Alliance is opening a research office this month in Silicon Valley across from the famous Google Campus. The company says it will allow it to “capitalize on the region’s world class engineering talent and stay ahead of trends that are reshaping the way people interact with their cars.”
“The Alliance is at the vanguard of the auto industry’s shift to sustainable transportation. Having a greater footprint in one of the world’s headquarters for clean tech research will extend our lead further,” said Carlos Ghosn, CEO and Chairman of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, who is giving a talk at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) today.
Nissan says it will use the Silicon Valley office to focus on vehicle IT research, including graphical user-interface displays, in-car Internet connectivity and smart-grid research. An example of this is Nissan’s “Carwings” telematics system, a standard in every Nissan LEAF, which includes a touch screen display with maps of recharging stations and real-time reports on energy consumption.
Whether we like it or not many future cars will be developed in Silicon Valley. Think about it – a century ago engineers and scientists interested in helping the fledgling auto industry flocked to Detroit, Stuttgart, Coventry and other areas where early auto companies got started.
Tomorrow’s cars are likely to be largely devoid of many mechanical parts. Electronics are already the most important part of a modern car and will become increasingly so in the future.
Renault-Nissan joins other companies in realizing the value of a presence in Silicon Valley. For example, back in 1998 the Volkswagen Group opened its Electronic Research Laboratory (ERL) in Silicon Valley. In 2005, with help from nearby Stanford University and Google, Stanley, an autonomous Touareg was born. It won the $2 million prize in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, by navigating a desert race course in Nevada without human intervention.
It’s a know fact that autonomous cars are already trolling streets in the area as software engineers fine tune systems readying them for our future use. So, if you see a Renault or Nissan with a driver without his or her hands on the steering wheel you’ll now know why.
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Designing a Ferrari certainly beats the homework assignments I remember from my college days. The Ferrari World Design Contest is tasking students with coming up with an extreme Ferrari supercar. Sounds easy, right? Except the folks in Maranello want the car to be extremely light, supremely fast and, in an added twist, also ecologically friendly. You can already guess that this involves more than tossing a high-revving Italian engine into a roadster with a red paintjob.
Of the original 50 design schools involved in the project, the selection process has winnowed them down to a final seven. These schools include: IED and IAAD from Turin (Italy), the London Royal College of Arts (UK), the European Design Institute Barcelona (Spain), Seoul’s Hong-ik College (Korea), the DSK Supinfocom from Pune (India) and the College For Creative Studies in Detroit (USA).
This second part of the design project will have students design scale models of their proposals. Ferrari wants particular attention paid to the cabin and special details – all while making sure the car’s functionality doesn’t suffer to any design whims. Winners will be announced in July, with awards including an internship at Ferrari. That’s definitely worth a few all-nighters, in my opinion.
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Answering a question no one was asking, Danish supercar builder Zenvo Automotive is taking the fight to Bugatti. The boutique automaker is bringing three examples of its mid-engine 1,250-bhp supercar to the U.S. market. The car, known as the Zenvo ST-1 50S, is priced at $1.8 million.
This actually makes the Zenvo a bargain of the hyper-exotic automotive world, since it’s roughly $600,000 less than a Bugatti Super Sport but offers an extra 50-bhp over the Bug’s 1,200-bhp. Heck, Zenvo even throws in a $49,000 Swiss-made watch to anyone who hands a check over for the ST-1 50S.
Of course, some bragging rights will be curtailed by the performance of the car. We’re not complaining about the (mfr. estimated) 0-60 mph sprint of 3.0 seconds. The Zenvo even looks pretty cool in photos, with its chunky lines and vicious-looking headlights and protruding grill.
But the Zenvo’s electronically limited top speed of 233-mph means the ST-1 50S remains 25-mph shy of the Bugatti Super Sport’s 258-mph v-max.
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Peter Brock has been awarded the International Automotive Media Award (IAMA) for Lifetime Achievement by the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan.
The IAMA for Lifetime Achievement award is in recognition of Brock’s 25 or more years in the automotive media. Brock has covered all kinds of auto racing, and his contributions to the craft also include automotive designs that have appeared in brochures, posters, and various other forms.
Having just returned to the U.S. from the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, Brock accepted the award and said: “I love participating and writing about all forms of competition and design. Long ago I found that true racers are special people; it matters not whether they are involved cerebrally with the basic concepts, the actual creative design and fabrication, or finally putting the results of those ideas to test on the track, each in his own way is seldom given to compromise. There’s great beauty in that kind of sacrifice; in striving always to be the best.”
Well said. And it’s an award well deserved for Brock, who then headed off to Pikes Peak for the annual hill climb this weekend.
For the record, Brock joins previous award recipients such as Chris Economaki, Brock Yates and the late David E. Davis. “It’s a real honor to be included in such an amazing group.”
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Finishing isn’t the only thing—but it’s way ahead of the next-best option.
The Nürburgring 24 Hours is like The Perfect Storm in a forest. Rain, shine, or snow, more than 220,000 racing fans, powered by the best beer in the world, gather for the most overwhelming, pagan auto race on earth. Wall Streeter Jim Glickenhaus, owner and patron of the privateer Ferrari F430–based P4/5 Competizione—about which you can read in tantalizing depth here—was a first-timer at the 2011 event, and he was awestruck. “It’s like Woodstock! People camp out in the woods for days. There are rock concerts. There’s a burning man [like at Burning Ma]! It’s unbelievable!”
Keep Reading: A Roar in the Forest: How the P4/5C Racer Battled Fate at the Nürburgring 24 Hours – Feature
We built it, we love it—did you expect anything less?
Date: June 2011
Months in Fleet: 6 months
Current Mileage: 18,334 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 15 mpg
Average Range: 270 miles
Service: $0
Normal Wear: $0
Repair: $120
Damage and Destruction: $566
It’s no surprise that we constantly fight over who gets to drive our long-term CTS-V. After all, a 556-horse punch is incredibly intoxicating, especially when it’s stabled in a station wagon and gallops through a satisfying manual gearbox.
Keep Reading: 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon – Long Term Road Test Update
