MoM Podcast 1: Going Driverless, the Pista and a fast KIA
Tag Archives: Automotive Technology
Reaction: 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV
$30,000 gets you 200 miles of electric driving. Well played, Chevy, well played.
It would seem the new Bolt EV is prepped to lead the way for the affordable AND viable electric car. The Nissan Leaf was a complete joke, people, this isn’t. Now let’s all hope there’s no “GM catch” to the Chevy Bolt down the line that will ruin it.
Likes: GM seems to have gotten the price and the range just right for what buyers have been yearning for in an electric car.
Dislikes: Marry Barra still seems to think it’s all about “beating Tesla”. Elon Musk wouldn’t have released Tesla’s patents to the whole industry if he didn’t want everyone to play his game. Her somewhat brawny attitude about beating Tesla makes me wonder if the mindset behind the Bolt is good GM or bad GM. Let’s hope they didn’t cut too many corners so they could be first to market in the $30K range, before the Tesla Model 3 hits.
-Nick Walker
2016 Chevrolet Cruze SPIED in Birmingham, MI!
As all of you know, Nick, Shane, and I were all out having a road trip through Detroit, MI this past weekend for the Concours of America at St. John’s. Before we did that, though, Nick saw the Cadillac CT6 pre-production car drive past our dinner spot at Duggan’s on Woodward Avenue. After checking out the car scene on Woodward later that evening, we drove over to Birmingham and looked for something to do. As it turned out, there was a camouflaged Chevrolet sitting on Martin Avenue, by the park. After shooting it, I took some time to figure out what it might be, and based on the size and shape of the windows, and the grille inserts, I’m pretty sure that this is the new Cruze. Considering GM’s headquarters is just less than 20 miles from where we were, it’s a safe bet that this is probably the Cruze. Continue reading 2016 Chevrolet Cruze SPIED in Birmingham, MI!
Drive looks at the epic wheels on the Koenigsegg One:1
Drive takes us inside Koenigsegg, this time giving us a look at the design and process behind their new One:1’s special carbon fiber wheels. As stated in the video, the wheels are one of the most important parts of a car to make light, but they also require a lot of strength. Carbon fiber seems the perfect material then. Enjoy.
-Nick
A look at the Koenigsegg One:1’s epic rear wing
Drive takes us inside Koenigsegg, this time showcasing the One:1’s revolutionary top (or rather front) mounted rear spoiler.
Enjoy
-Nick
The case for the diesel sports car
For the last eight years in a row, a car with a diesel engine has won the 24 Hours of LeMans. Seven of those eight victories belong to Audi, and Audi is a part of the larger Volkswagen group that has brought us such supercar marvels as the Bugatti Veyron, Lamborghini Aventador, and most recently, the Porsche 918 Spyder. If supercars are supposed to be “race cars for the road” then it is high time for VW to set the precedent for true oil-burning supercars and sports cars.
As it turns out, they’ve already come damn close a couple of times. The first one came in 2008 in form of an Audi R8 with a 5.9L Turbo-Diesel V12 under the hood. The second was a promisingly realistic diesel Boxster with a VW badge called the “Concept BlueSport.” In both cases demand was deemed to be too low, and the timing also happened to coincide with the global economic downturn. I agree that the climate was probably wrong for both models at their respective debuts, but having said that, the world has changed a lot in the last few years.
KAZ: Pushing The Virtual Divide – Gran Turismo Documentary
KAZ is an inspiring documentary on the story of the Gran Turismo franchise, and its creator, Kazunori Yamauchi. Gran Turismo 3 is the game that changed my life forever and catapulted me into my obsession with cars, so it was very interesting to see how Mr. Yamauchi’s passion in many was directly founded my own passion. It is contagious for sure.
The documentary is around two hours long, but if you have the time to watch it I promise you will be captivated and inspired. This is the sort of passion we should all pursue in our lives. Enjoy!
-Nick
Everything you want to know about the McLaren P1
Capitalizing off of their immensely successful video review of the McLaren P1 last week, now over 750,000 views, Drive has released the full conversation between the always entertaining Chris Harris and McLaren Chief Test Driver, and extremely lucky bastard, Chris Goodwin. This is some hearty car nerd stuff for sure, but definitely worth the watch if you are into this stuff.
-Nick
Test Driven: 2014 Infiniti Q50S Hybrid (10/10)
Infiniti just seems to want to watch the world burn. For some reason they deemed it a good idea to rename their whole entire lineup, for no reason whatsoever. Every Infiniti is now named Q, with some meaningless number. The car you see here is the new Q50, the replacement for the current G37 sedan. As the replacement for the G, which is surely Infiniti’s best selling model of all time, the Q50 has big shoes to fill. This one isn’t an ordinary Q50, though, this is the much-anticipated Q50 Hybrid. So in addition to filling the G37’s shoes, the Hybrid must also make a case for itself in some new territory.
Briefly looking back, the G35 was the car that really launched Infiniti into what it is today. It was based on the same platform as the Nissan 350Z, making it a true 4-door sports car. What resulted was the car that gave the BMW 3 Series its most formidable challenge to date.
Boy has the world changed a lot since the G35 first came out. The emphasis in the luxury market is now on multitasking, both from the car and from the driver. A car needs to be comfortable, but also sporty enough for you to weave in and out of traffic at 90mph while you’re updating your Facebook status and texting your friends. The pure focus on driving is all but dead at this point, even BMW has made that obvious. While luxury cars must still be dynamically capable, and “fast”, the priority for most buyers is now on cool gadgets and hypothetical fuel economy numbers.
Looking at the Q50, especially the Hybrid, it is easy to see that it is a car built for our modern world. I must confess, that when I actually drove the car, I knew very little about it. Since my drive, I have been doing a lot of research to help with this article, and I am finding that the Q50 Hybrid may, in fact, be one of the most interesting cars on the market.
Continue reading Test Driven: 2014 Infiniti Q50S Hybrid (10/10)
One of the best looks at speeding laws I’ve seen
We all dread speeding tickets, yet most of us willingly speed everywhere we go. In truth speed limits, everywhere outside of towns and neighborhoods, are far too low. Cars have come a long way, and the government should, if they were concerned with actual public safety and social function, be doing studies to find the optimal speed limit for each road within their jurisdiction. In reality, though, governments, care very little about actual public safety or the practical functioning of society. They are far more concerned with preserving the massive revenue that is brought in by traffic fines. Because of this, the speed limits have remained too low, allowing the cops to literally pick any motorist out of the pack to get a citation.
While I doubt anything will be done about this issue soon, the above video, “Speed Kills Your Pocketbook”, makes a valid and intelligent point. Enjoy.
-Nick
Porsche 918: 78mpg and a Nurburgring time of 6:57
Fuel economy isn’t usually a concern for supercars, but Porsche’s new 918 Spyder will supposedly show a Prius what’s what. Back when Porsche first released the 918 Spyder concept, they claimed it would be able to do 78mpg — the world laughed at the idea. Well now, with the production car finally released at the Frankfurt Motor Show , they are holding fast to that claim, so one must presume they have done a few tests that confirm it is possible.
The 918 Spyder can also produce 887hp, but certainly not at the same time it is doing 78mpg. Yes, the choice will be yours from the driver’s seat. While I’m sure that few will actually bother trying to best a Prius in MPG with that sort of power on tap, it is nice to know you can if you want to. The 918 Spyder allows you to have your cake and eat it too, and that is not something true of most similar such cars.
Continue reading Porsche 918: 78mpg and a Nurburgring time of 6:57
Evo Magazine: Analogue Supercars
This may well be the most incredible test Evo Magazine has ever put together. With the onset of modern supercars, and the digital age, they wanted to take a look at some of the best old-school “pure” supercars. McLaren F1, Pagani Zonda F, Porsche Carrera GT, Ferrari F40, Ferrari F50, Noble M600, and Lamborghini Murcielago LP-670 SV, oh yes, prepare yourself for some epic.
Mind Over Motor 