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
Few cars can match the romance, beauty, or allure of the Ferrari Daytona. I have seen a select few of these over the years and this wasn’t the only one in the area that weekend last month at Amelia Island, but it was the first car that I found myself actually chasing down all weekend. The Daytona came rumbling out of the parking garage while Nick was busy driving the Viper, so I had nothing else to do but watch the streets for interesting cars. I’d say it was worth me breathing like a pack-a-day smoker to get some pictures of this classic V12 coupe. It was a balmy 49 degrees while I was gaping at the Daytona, so the engine was putting out smoke and making everything smell nice and old. The yellow color especially set this car off from the gray skies and the gray backdrops of the parking lots and the Ritz Carlton. There’s no reason not to want a car as pretty as this in any weather, anywhere. Enjoy the photos. Continue reading Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona at Amelia Island
While out and about with my family on one of those beautiful spring Sundays, I caught this Ford GT rolling through New Hope, PA. The design is classic, and it never gets old seeing a GT in traffic.
-Nick
One of the stars of the Festivals Of Speed, Amelia Island this year was this bright orange Lamborghini Murcielago LP-670 SV. There were a number of flashy Lambos vying for attention on the show field, but somehow this “Super Veloce” edition of the Murcielago always seemed to stop people in their tracks.
This bull is a beast. With a 661hp 6.5L V12 under its hood, it can hit 60mph in 3 seconds flat, blast through the 1/4 mile in 11.2 seconds, and go on to a v-max of 209-213mph (depending on the aero settings). In addition to its incredible performance, the SV is a proper Lambo with all of the “machine guns” fitted, as Clarkson likes to say. It has that silly-awesomeness that seems to give it a strong gravitational pull on everyone’s attention. The SV is also an extremely rare bird with just 350 units produced, however there are rumors that as few as 186 units were actually produced before the factory had to be revised for Aventador production.
It is always awesome to be in the presence of a Lamborghini of this caliber. Bella Machina!
Continue reading Lamborghini Murcielago LP-670 SV at Festivals of Speed, Amelia Island
Drive takes us inside Koenigsegg, this time showcasing the One:1’s revolutionary top (or rather front) mounted rear spoiler.
Enjoy
-Nick
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.
Going off of the feature we did earlier today, it seemed prudent to share a recent episode of Jay Leno’s Garage where Jay gets behind the wheel of the Porsche 918. Here’s to hoping we find a way to try one out for ourselves sometime, but until then enjoy this.
-Nick
During the festivities of the Amelia Island Concours weekend, Porsche had their new 918 Spyder hypercar shown off prominently in the VIP parking section at the Ritz Carlton resort. Naturally it drew tons of attention from drooling spectators, as most of us Americans have yet to lay eyes on a 918 in person.
For those unfamiliar with the Porsche 918 Spyder, it is Porsche’s new flagship model. It utilizes a hybrid powertrain that nets 887hp at 8500rpm and will do 214mph, but get this, Porsche also claims it is capable of up to 78mpg if driven gently (not that anyone will ever want to do that). If, somehow, this is news to you, and you find your interest has been piqued, a 918 Spyder can be yours for the low, low price of just $845,000!!!
The more I learn about the 918 Spyder, the more I consider it my favorite among the current crop of hybrid hypercars, at least for road use anyway. We still don’t know which of the three is the “fastest,” but we do know that a 918 Spyder Weissach Edition made it around the Nurburgring in 6 minutes and 57 seconds, which certainly makes the 918 fast enough to get to work on time…. not that people who are buying this car have a boss to answer to. Until McLaren decides to just spill the beans on the P1’s Ring time, and until Ferrari stops hiding the LaFerrari from any form of objective scrutiny whatsoever, we will have to wait to see which one is “best.”
The Porsche is an incredible machine, though, and I think the fact that they haven’t held anything back about the 918 says everything that needs to be said.
What is it?
The SRT Viper, formerly known as the Dodge Viper, is the iconic American sports car for people looking to get more out life than a Mustang or a Corvette can offer.
Intended to be a modern incarnation of the legendary Shelby Cobra, the Viper was developed by Chrysler with the help of Carroll Shelby to try and decimate the Chevrolet Corvette in the early 1990s. Where the Corvette of the time had a 300hp V8, the Viper went for the jugular with a 400hp V10. That was just the beginning, and as you will see, things have gotten even crazier since.
But has the Viper become too crazy for the times? Those of you who follow the car industry will know that Viper sales are in the toilet, so much so that Chrysler has actually had to halt production and even pull its Vipers out of racing competition. The Viper could have a serious problem here, and its survival may well be on the chopping block as we speak. Having finally sampled a Viper for myself, I will will use my experience with the car to muse on why it is that the sales of this beast are struggling.
It may seem cold and heartless to us car enthusiasts, but sales are the end-all-be-all in the car industry, especially for low volume production cars such as this. Ferrari and Lamborghini no longer offer manual transmissions in their cars because, plainly, nobody bought them, and now the Viper may be facing a similar situation.
Drive takes us inside the new Koenigsegg One:1. The car is named after its power to weight ratio (1hp/1kg) and Koenigsegg claims it to be the first “megacar” because it produces 1 megawatt of power (1360hp). Great video!
-Nick
At the end of the morning after the Fourth of July, the mercury was slamming 112 degrees outside of Las Vegas, and it was nice and somewhat cool inside the tent with all the exotic cars I’d been driving. After prepping myself with a drive in a Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera, I had one car left. Thanks to the heat, the F430 Scuderia I’d wanted had gotten sunburned and whimpered back to its lair, but the newer 458 Italia in the tent was just tanning in the searing sun, ready for me to drive it. Of course I obliged, and found out what’s possible with a 562bhp V8 stuffed a few inches behind the back of my ears, other than making me nearly go deaf. Continue reading Ferrari 458 Italia Review, Al’s Take (GRADE: A)
We attended the 2014 Festivals of Speed at Amelia Island. There were some major cars in attendance with flavors to suit all tastes, everything from classic Ferraris to slammed VWs to the Batmobile you see above. These are the highlights of the event, and there is a lot more where this came from. Enjoy!
Mind Over Motor 