The Stig is an intimidating character that even the most professional of racers can’t help but be in awe of. At least that’s what the Stig likes to think of himself. We can’t blame him for the lack of oxygen in his head. Lord knows how long it’s been since he last took that helmet off, but whatever you think of him, the dude is a polarizing figure that needs someone of equal stature to put him in check.
Enter Ken Block.
The world-class rally driver recently teamed up with Top Gear’s resident test driver for a promotional gig for Top Gear Australia magazine. The two are scheduled to be in the cover of the November issue of the magazine and you can expect that article to be a must-read.
Before that issue hits newsstands, though, Top Gear Australia bought a camera crew to a race track to film the two drifter extraordinaires participate in a one-on-one Hoonigan show in Melbourne, featuring Block’s Monster Rally Fiesta and the Stig’s ride-of-choice, the Australian-born Ford Falcon FPV.
Check out the video after the jump and wait for the dramatic climax in the end. There’s plenty of rubber-burning, tire-shredding action in this 90-second promo video.
This is what you call dedication and drive! Tasmanian driver, Jason White, was about four seconds behind in the final stage of the Targa High Mountain when he knew he had to put the pedal to the metal and make up time. White took his Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo Stradale to its limit where it literally burst into flames. While others would pull over and take care of the safety issue, White sped on knowing exactly the time he needed to underscore the team who was driving a Nissan GT-R.
Despite his fiery experience, White still took the top spot at the race, achieving a full ten seconds ahead of the pack. Luckily, the race ended right in front of the Mt. Buller fire station and his Lamborghini only suffered minor damages.
The whole world is going electric or hybrid, at least they plan to when all the kinks have been worked out, so it shouldn’t be at all surprising that the automakers of the world have hit the ground running with new technology. Even Australia is getting in on the action, and a small company by the name of Varley Electric is getting its turn. This automaker has just unveiled their evR450 - the first Australian electric supercar - at the 3rd annual Australian Electric Vehicle Conference.
The evR450 is powered by two locally sourced Ultramotive electric motors, each with 210 HP and 385 lb-ft of torque for a total output of 420 HP and 770 lb-ft of torque. This setup will sprint the car from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.8 seconds, while top speed will be limited to 124 mph.
The electric motors will take their power from lithium-ion batteries that will ensure an autonomy range of 93 miles, but this can be extended to 186 miles with a range-extension package.
The new evR450 will go on sale in January 2012 and will be priced at around $210K.
Back in 1969 Holden was unveiling its first concept car - the Hurricane. It was a a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-seat sports car incorporating a remarkable array of innovative features and technology, much of it years ahead of its time. Now the company has restored that concept as an experiment "to study design trend, propulsion systems and other long-range developments".
The restoration process has begun back in 2006 and is now finally ready for a first display to the public at the Motorclassica, car show at the Melbourne Royal Exhibition Building from October 21-23.
"The entire team has done a fantastic job in bringing this beautiful concept back to life,” Paul Clarke, Holden’s manager for Creative Hard Modelling said. "The Hurricane plays a crucial role in Holden’s story and the company has such a great sense of history and heritage that it was very important to bring RD 001 back to life. It’s been a challenging but incredibly rewarding process."
Hit the jump to read more about the 1969 Holden Hurricane Concept.
This is what happens when a concept car receives great praise; a production version, albeit a limited edition, soon follows. Last month, Ford Performance Vehicles introduced the FPV Concept at the Australian International Motor Show to tremendous praise. The fallout has resulted in a limited edition version of the car, called the GT Black.
Similar to the FPV Concept, the GT Black kept the all-black finish that made it so popular. It’s dressed in a Silhouette Black paint finish complemented by matte black stripe decals on the entire car, including the bonnet, front and rear bumpers, rear diffuser, rear wing, and even the upper and lower grilles. Heck, even the fog lamp bezels have been finished in black! Rounding out the exterior feature are a set of 19" five-spoke alloy wheels finished in - you guessed it! - gloss black.
Inside the car, there’s plenty more of that all-black treatment. The seats are dressed in black leather. The Interior Command Center comes in black and the gear shift badge found on manual transmission models also comes in a unique black finish. Suffice to say, the FPV GT Black Limited Edition does its name justice, wouldn’t you say?
Then there’s the engine, which we assure you doesn’t come in black. What it does come in is a 5.0-liter Miami supercharged V8 engine with an output of 455 horsepower at 5,750 rpm and 420 lb/ft of torque from 2,200-5,500 rpm.
The Boss GT-based muscle car will only be limited to 125 units with each model coming with a unique build badge and certificate of authenticity, making it a true special edition muscle car that should attract its fair share of attention.
After being announced back in March, two Ford Mad Max Interceptor concepts made their world debut at the Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne. The two concepts were designed by Ford Australia in cooperation with Top Gear Australia in order to celebrate the revival of the Mad Max action movie genre.
"We’re delighted that both our readers and the social web community have warmed to the car," TopGear Australia Editor, Stephen Corby, said. "The level of interest has really taken us by surprise, particularly with on-line media."
The company presented two 40% size clay models weighing in at around 130 kg (286 lbs) and dressed to the nines with all of the detailing and trim highlights. The two concepts were designed by Nima Nourian and Simon Brook and use industrial-strength weaponry like "tasers" mounted in the front of the cars to zap bad guys on bikes straight off the road. Other futuristic movie features include a titanium-lined body shell to interrupt police scanners and wheels with extendable spikes to shred enemy vehicles.
"It has given our team a lot of scope to really extend their imaginations The team has been able to get quite creative because the Mad Max car is not constrained by the normal design parameters imposed by a real-world vehicle."
Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) has unveiled the special edition "SV Black Edition" based on either ClubSport R8, ClubSport Tourer R8, or Maloo R8 models at the Melbourne Auto Show. This special edition will be offered in both manual and automatic transmissions and will go on sale in September.
The "SV Black Edition" will be offered with matte black detailing, a Vector hood scoop and fender gills, HSV’s bi-modal exhaust system, and 20-inch forged alloy wheels. For the interior, the Black Edition models will add a unique dash treatment, leather seats, and a leather-bound steering wheel, on top of the already generous E3 equipment list. A special Enhanced Driver Interface (EDI) system that will offer details on power, torque, manifold pressure, fuel, elevation, voltage, oil and air temperature will also be available.
The standard equipment list includes a reversing camera, park assist, and satellite navigation. There will only be 225 units built and, despite the "Black Edition" name, this special edition will be offered in Sting Red, Heron White, Alto Grey, Nitrate Silver, and Phantom (black).
Audi has just unveiled the special edition TT-RS S-Tronic on the Australian market. This model is equipped with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission which is usually priced at $8,460, but is being offered at no extra charge for the limited edition. So, basically, if you were thinking of buying the upgrade and you live in Australia, better make that purchase fast and save yourself the money because there will only be 45 units produced.
For some extra bang to your buck, Audi is also offering the TT-RS S-Tronic with a variety of add-ons, including a black exterior styling package, metallic paint, and 19-inch 5-arm Rotor design wheels in titanium finish. Other additions include a sports exhaust system, adaptive headlights, a BOSE sound system, an extended leather interior package, and an LED interior lighting package.
Under the hood, Audi has placed the usual 2.5-liter five-cylinder equipped with turbocharging and FSI direct injection. This engine will dish out 335 HP between 5,400 and 6,500 rpm and a peak torque of 331 lbs-ft between 1,600 and 5,300 rpm. The engine will be combined with Audi’s quattro permanent all-wheel drive and a high-performance chassis.
The S-Tronic transmission will also allow the driver to choose between two fully automatic shift modes, and a manual mode in which gears are changed using either the shift paddles on the steering wheel or with the selector lever.
From the Land Down Under, an Australian automaker is in the process of developing the country’s first supercar. Developed by Joss Development, the JP1 is a car that’s fast taking shape in time for its debut at the Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne from July 1 to July 10, 2011.
The car that’s expected to appear at the event is a final prototype model, leading to the first production version that’s slated to enter the market later this year or possibly at the start of 2012. The evolution of this car is a long time in the making, having made its original debut with the first prototype model seven years ago in Melbourne.
“We had an amazing reception for our JT1 prototype in Melbourne [in 2004], but building a car business is very involved,” explained JOSS Developments Technical Director, Matt Thomas.
Over the past few years, the company has continued to work on all aspects surrounding their operations, including building investments, working with technical suppliers, and putting in place the right group of people that will see to the car’s success when it’s officially launched.
Turns out, that time is fast approaching and Joss Developments is getting primed and ready to introduce to the world the first supercar to come from Australia.
It may have taken a while, but so they say: "better late than never".
UPDATE 06/28/11: Australian manufacturer Joss Developments Limited has released a new rendering of their highly anticipated JP1 supercar, together with the announcement that the car is finally ready to hit the stage at the Australian International Motor Show. Check out the rendering and notice that there’s a lot of new elements to the car, including the L-shaped headlight, that were different from previous photos released.
While the rest of the world enjoys a different kind of donut - one that involves a lot of glazed sugar - us gearheads only care about the kind of donut that results in burnt tires and lots of smoke.
So when we chanced upon this video of 57 cars doing a simultaneous donut in Australia, we couldn’t help but wonder whether this was some kind of world record. After carefully digging through the archives of the Guinness Book of World Records, we found out that this 57-strong exhibition of smoke-filled donut madness is in fact the record-holder for the most cars performing the same stunt simultaneously.
This public demonstration broke the previous record of 29 cars, which was set in Rendlesham, UK a little over two years ago on March 1, 2009. Less than a year later - January 23, 2010 - this 57-car simultaneous donut broke the record at the Queensland Raceway in Willowbank, Australia.
Actually, the original number for this whole meet was supposed to be 66 cars, but nine cars were left out from the final tally because they couldn’t perform donuts for the required time of 10 seconds.
Either way, a record’s a record at the end of the day. And even if 66 wasn’t the final number, 57 is still a pretty awesome sight to behold.
Check out the 29-car simultaneous donut in the UK after the jump.
