This video from Forbes takes a look at what hackers can do with a car. If you are familiar with modern cars, you know that literally every part of a vehicle is run by computers. That makes all of those parts hackable. Now this isn’t meant to scare you — Not everyone on the sidewalk holding a cellphone is trying to shut off your brakes — but it is definitely an interesting thing to consider for the future.
-Nick
The SLS Electric Drive is the first electric car that can legitimately be considered a supercar. 750hp and 737ft/lbs of torque going through electronic all wheel drive means that this car will have some staggering straight-line performance. It seems the biggest surprise, though, was the torque vectoring system Mercedes has devised, which can actually apply negative torque to the inside wheels during a corner. Chris seemed pretty blown away by this car, watch the video to see. Enjoy.
-Nick
Ever wonder what stability control actually does for you? Autocar shows us in the new Lamborghini Gallardo by attempting some real world evasive maneuvers. Given the number of people that seem to crash cars like these, I think its important for us all to know what exactly we are giving up when we turn the driving assists off….. especially when driving someone else’s car.
-Nick
Another great video from Drive: Chris Harris pits his supercharged Audi S4 against the mighty, V8 powered RS4. This illustrates the merits of forced induction well. For just a few hundred dollars, you can make your car quite a bit faster than stock. Sure that naturally aspirated responsiveness is great, but I’m happy to trade that for easy, and massive, performance gains.
-Nick
Controversy isn’t rare when it comes to the automotive industry. There’s not a manufacturer on earth that hasn’t made something that, to put it nicely, didn’t quite stick. However, I think it’s fair to say that we’ve not seen such a controversial topic as Porsche’s new 991 GT3 for quite some time.
Now if you’ve for some reason had your head fully submerged in a pit of mud, let me explain why this new GT3 is so controversial. Recently, Porsche has been equipping it’s freshest sports cars with the company’s own PDK gearbox. Along with the new electric power steering, Porsche’s latest creations have received quite an earful of complaints from nostalgic Porsche fanboys concerning the paddle-shifters located behind the shining steering wheels. And when Porsche came out and said that the new GT3 would also be equipped with the PDK twin-clutch gearbox, the automotive world’s close followers erupted into an immense amount of complaints about the car.
Even after evo magazine released an almost twenty minute long interview with Porsche GT3 head Andreas Preuninger, and other online magazines also did their best to convince the growing population of groaning car enthusiasts that the car could still be great, many still remained unconvinced (keeping in mind that no one’s actually driven the car yet).
However, the new GT3 is not alone. It seems that the conversion of manual ‘box cars to semi-automatic, paddle-shifting machines is a growing trend in the realm of sports cars. Car after car, more and more companies are pressing on and equipping drivers with the flappy paddles as standard, and sometimes, it is the only option. So, taking this into careful consideration, what can be said about the future of the sports car? Where will manual ‘box cars be within the next two decades? Where will paddle-shifting cars be within the next twenty years? It’s a growing concern among many, and they’re all dying to find the answer.
Cadillac will be releasing the next generation CTS at the upcoming New York International Auto Show, but the big news is under that car’s hood. With the CTS Cadillac is finally jumping on board with their European competitors, and offering a strong turbocharged power plant. Specifically, Cadillac has strapped two turbochargers to their 3.6L V6 to make an engine that will compete with many of the European twin turbo V8s.
This new 3.6T is extremely important because it will make its way into all of Cadillac’s current cars. As of now, Cadillac has said it will be in the top-line CTS model, but below the V, which will still have a V8. The new 3.6T (slightly detuned) will also make it into the XTS, a car which I had criticized for having the wrong engine. The change to the 3.6T could make all the difference in the XTS, giving it a more relaxed, more powerful nature that is proper for a big luxury car. Also, heavy in the rumor mill, and all but officially confirmed, is the implementation of this new 3.6T in the upcoming ATS-V.
Continue reading Cadillac’s New Twin Turbo V6 Has Answered My Prayers
This is really, and I mean really, significant. I had heard the idea of replacing camshafts with individual electronic actuators for each valve in an engine a few years ago, but the folks at Koenigsegg have developed a tangible prototype. This video from Drive’s Inside Koenigsegg series shows the system close up. Christian Von Koenigsegg claims the finished system should see an increase of 30% for horsepower, torque, and fuel economy on a gasoline engine. So, look out in your driveway and do the math on your own car, and just think how badly you can’t wait for this technology to be in widespread production.
-Nick
Ok, the obvious answer for the best snow setup is to have an all wheel drive car that is equipped with snow tires. That’s what I personally have, and it is flawless in winter driving. This is still quite relevant though, if you can only have either snow tires or all wheel drive, then which is better?
Spoiler alert: the snow tires win. Truth be told, all wheel drive is far superior in snow for getting moving and for controlling your car in a skid. However, when it comes to braking and avoiding a skid by having grip snow tires are what you need. Too many people think all wheel drive does far more than it actually does in bad weather. It only helps you get traction when using the accelerator, other than that your car is just like any other car.
So the moral of the story is this: No matter what type of car you drive, if you drive it in snow, get some snow tires for the winter months. Safety first.
-Nick Walker
One of the biggest fears of any car enthusiast is being paralyzed, and not being able to drive. This video, from Jalopnik on Drive, is about Michael Johnson, a guy who was paralyzed in an accident, but has still managed to become a professional race car driver. Michael has a very real chance of making his way to the IndyCar series, all without the use of his legs. No joke, this may be the most inspiring thing I have seen in quite some time. Hopefully we will see Michael spraying champagne at the Indy 500 in the coming years! Enjoy.
-Nick
Here is a look inside the process of making a car as realistic as possible in the virtual world of Forza Motorsport. As an avid Forza player myself I found this very cool. Enjoy.
-Nick
Mind Over Motor 