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
There were many new cars revealed at this year’s New York International Auto Show. I was in attendance for the Preview Night last Thursday, where I had access to many new cars, both those revealed at the show and those from recent shows. Like every event I go to, I covered what caught my eye. As many of you may know, I don’t do news in the proper sense because I like to be a little more authentic. What follows are my impressions of the cars as I saw and experienced them at the show, and my opinions of them overall. Enjoy, and please let me know your thoughts on any of them in the comments.
Continue reading Impressions from the 2013 New York International Auto Show
It is no secret that cars have been getting bigger. In BMW terms, the current 3 series is the size of an old 5 series, and the current 5 series might as well be a 7 series (it’s on the same platform). Audis too have been getting larger, although not to the same staggering degree as BMWs. Many of us enthusiasts now long for the way cars used to be, wanting the compact size and similar packaging as models that are 10 or 20 years old. Audi’s new A3, which will be hitting US shores, seems like it might be exactly what we are yearning for.
Specifically I want to look at the Audi S3, the hot and spicy one that we all really want. Looking at the details, it seems very similar to the B5 Audi S4 of the early 2000s. A car that is well loved by enthusiasts despite some rather large flaws. On paper the B5 S4 looks like a great car, with a 250hp turbocharged V6, all wheel drive, a good suspension, all in the package of a typical sedan. However, these S4s have had some pretty serious reliability problems, including turbos that fail around 70k miles and quirky electronics. The B5 S4 is a great car if you have the money, and patience to deal with its issues, but I think we all wish it didn’t have those issues in the first place.
Designed by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, the SSK was Mercedes’ racing powerhouse from 1928 to 1932, winning a long list of significant victories, including the 1931 Mille Miglia in the hands of legendary driver Rudolf Caracciola. It also broke the pace record for the Mille Miglia at the time with an average speed of 62mph(101km/h). The SSK was seriously fast, in fact it was the fastest car of its time. Its top speed was 120mph (~190km/h), and the performance from its 7.1L straight 6 engine is still decently impressive by today’s standards. The key was its supercharger, which engaged via a clutch when full throttle was used. This design gave the power when it was needed (especially at higher altitudes, where air is thinner), but also helped keep the car reliable by not having the blower stressing the engine all the time. From what I’ve read, around 170hp was available before the supercharger engaged, and 225hp hit when the boost came on. I have also seen some reports of SSKs making as much as 300hp, so maybe in different specifications were used for different races. The car also had a massive amount of torque, with as much as 500ft/lbs available on those highest spec’d cars. Keep in mind, all of this performance is in a car with 1920’s technology, so tires, brakes, suspension, etc were all nowhere near the level of a normal modern car, and the SSK weighed nearly two tons. Racing back then took some serious bravery.
The SSK you see here was on display at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, during my trip to Europe last year. Regrettably, I don’t have too many details on this specific SSK because I was so focused on taking photos that day that I didn’t bother reading the signs. I do know there were only 30-35 SSks built, so it is very rare, and definitely worth a few million dollars.
I love looking at early racing cars because there is so much crude genius. All of the performance aspects of a modern car had to be developed, usually through trial and error, and driven by competitive spirit. The SSK was the pinnacle of automotive technology in the late 1920s, and it marks a significant moment in racing, as well as in the development of the automobile itself. Enjoy the pics.
Continue reading Mercedes-Benz Museum: Mercedes-Benz 710 SSK
On this episode of Drive, Chris Harris shows all of us not only his spectacular driving skills behind the wheel of AMG’s newest monster, the SLS Black Series, but also the lengths that Mercedes-Benz went to lighten up the big supercar to make it more athletic and more fun on the track. Take ten minutes off and watch this video–it’s ten minutes well worth your time.
-Albert S. Davis
The BMW 3.0 CSL is always a special car to see in person, but at last weekend’s Amelia Island Concours d’ Elegance, they had one of the Art Cars on display. This one was created by Frank Stella. It was the second of the BMW Art Cars, as well as the final 3.0 CSL Art Car. The car was roped off in its tent, so these were the best angles I could get, but I think the shots do the car enough justice. Enjoy.
Continue reading Amelia Island Concours d’ Elegance: 1976 BMW 3.0 CSL Art Car
For those of you unfamiliar with the GTD, it is quite literally a diesel version of the GTI. VW has recently been gauging potential demand for the car in the US, and has just announced, at the Geneva Motor Show, that the GTD will indeed make it to US shores.
You can see the tested specs in the video below, but in a nutshell the GTD will handle the same as a GTI, while trading a little straight line speed for around 30% better fuel economy. Going by EPA numbers for the GTI, that means MPG in the neighborhood of 31 city and 43 mpg highway, with an average around 37mpg… in theory at least. I don’t know about any of you, but I would definitely be willing to make that compromise, especially considering that the handling would still be phenomenal. The GTD isn’t exactly slow either, with 170hp and 258 ft/lbs of torque. It will lag a little from a GTI, but passing and merging will still be easy for it.
I do have a car purchase coming up in the next few months, and this GTD looks mighty appealing. Fun, economical, and supposedly pretty comfortable, what’s not to love? No word exactly on when it will hit showrooms, but I can say that I will probably wait until GTD pricing is announced before I make a decision. If VW is smart, they will price it to start around $22-23k in an effort to steal sales from Ford’s Fiesta ST, Chevy’s Sonic RS, and Hyundai’s Veloster Turbo. To anyone else who is starting to look around, it may be worth waiting out.
Motor Trend recently got their hands on a GTD, and they did well to show the car’s appeal.
Evo Magazine gets the inside scoop on the new Porsche 991 GT3 at the Geneva Motor Show ahead of the car’s official debut. They asked all the right questions, pertaining to Porsche’s decision to the new GT3 PDK only, and other aspects that will affect how the car drives. The answers to all of the questions were pretty convincing, and I now have some high hopes for the new GT3 to be a fantastic, new age driver’s car.
-Nick Walker
This is my mom’s new car, Volkswagen’s brand new Jetta Hybrid. Her Volvo was rear-ended and totaled back in December, so naturally the car search began. For some reason this car managed to fly under my radar until just recently. There hasn’t been much media coverage, and it debuted quietly at NAIAS last year. I had been triaging, and test driving a few different options when my dad asked me what I thought of the Jetta Hybrid. That got me looking, and when I saw the details, I was pretty blown away. I went and test drove one the next day, and my recommendation was set. This was the car, and you will soon see why.
Hybrids have really caught on as a way of saving gas here in America. For most hybrids, the focus is on fuel economy alone, all in an effort to woo people with the showroom window sticker. The undisputed leader of the hybrid movement has been Toyota, with cars that are as much a political statement as they are a form of transportation. We all know the Prius, some love it, some hate it, but it has set the standard for the hybrid segment. Other carmakers, like Ford, have hybrids too, but they are basically copies of the Toyota’s design formula. Because of this, people tend to know what to expect when they see a hybrid, but Volkswagen has taken a different approach.
Continue reading Road Review: 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid (9/10)
The Mercedes R-Class is not the last word in anything. It’s probably a good example of a blue-chip company laying an egg at the worst possible time. Mercedes-Benz is a full-line automaker in most of Europe but in America, it’s better known for luxury cars. Of course, the top brass at M-B didn’t quite know what to expect when the R-Class came out. Made in Alabama and Mexico, it wasn’t a normal Mercedes. But, once AMG saw it, they couldn’t resist doing what they do best: shoehorn a ridiculous engine into it, put it on wide tires and lowered suspension, and sell it like sliced bread. Only this time, sliced bread sold like New Coke. Continue reading Secondhand Saint: Mercedes R63 AMG
Not sure if this is a genuine RSK Spyder, but I saw it in Switzerland, so it is very possible that it is legit. If it is real the car is quite, quite valuable. It was cool seeing this car on the street, and even among Zurich’s unusually high population of supercars, this classic Porsche stood out.
-Nick
The 335d was a bit of an oddball on the American market. It was the highest performing diesel version of the E90 3 Series, and BMW sought to see how Americans would receive a top range diesel car. Diesels are huge in Europe, but have a much smaller market share here in the States. Considering that, along with the fact that the 335d was a higher-end model 3 Series, it comes as no surprise that they were not BMW’s biggest seller. That means that today, here in 2013, 335ds are rather uncommon on the used market. It also means that we have to change the way we look at the car now that it is only available pre owned.
Those people who did buy 335ds will absolutely swear by them. To most uneducated Americans the notion of diesel power evokes thoughts of black smoke and the loud rattle of a dump truck. Anyone with actual experience in a modern diesel car will tell an entirely different story. They will tell you about the solid performance, and incredible fuel economy, about a car that both runs clean, and is great fun to drive. Diesels like the 335d are sort of a insider secret in America, those who know, know, and those who don’t know waste their money on (mostly) gutless hybrid cars.
I had driven a 335d once before, but only very briefly. I decided to go out and try another one for two reasons: First, to see how it fairs in the context of the used market. Second, to compare it to the new F30 3 Series that I reviewed recently. Lets face it, BMWs are very overpriced brand new, with all kinds of options that nickel-and-dime you to death. A smart car buyer knows that BMWs should be purchased secondhand, with low mileage and some remainder on the factory warranty. By doing this, you save yourself the vast depreciation that comes from spending so much on all of those fancy options, as well as the BMW brand mark up. I will go into the specifics of this for the 335d later on All you need to know for now is that 335ds are currently right in the sweet spot of the secondhand BMW market.
Mind Over Motor 