Ferrari has already confirmed two things for its future. The first to come was the fact that it will soon feature a V-12 hybrid drivetrain dubbed the HY-KERS system. The second thing that Ferrari confirmed was the fact that a new Enzo-like vehicle will debut in the coming years boasting this HY-KERS system as its power plant.
Some snooping around also produced that this new “Enzo” may bear the F70 name. Currently, the details on this upcoming F70 are scarce, at best, and all we have seen in the form of visuals on it are some spy shots of its testing mule, which looks more like an Italia 458 with poorly placed metal slabs bolted onto it. The same rings true for the interior. What we do know is that in an effort to reduce weight, the F70 will include some carbon-fiber panels.
We also know a good deal about the 6.3-liter V-12 HY-KERS (Hybrid-Kinetic Energy Recovery System) that will power it. Starting with the internal combustion side; this engine will be as efficient as possible, using multi spark technology – a series of cooler sparks as the piston travels upward – that assures that no fuel goes to waste by the spark plug igniting multiple times before the each cylinder hits top-dead-center. This combustion engine links to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
On the electrical side, you have a series of components working together for optimal efficiency. On the backside of the seven-speed trans, you have a high-power traction motor. This motor electrifies the seven-speed trans, adding to the power the engine delivers to it. Attached to the gasoline engine is an auxiliary generator that charges the batteries, as needed. Lastly, on top of the transmission is the hybrid power unit, which features two inverters and a smart cooling system.
All of this crazy technology plops down a whopping 920 combined horsepower and a 0 to 200 km/h (124 mph) time of 6.5 seconds. This also drops the CO2 emissions by a whopping 40 percent, 10 percent more than the initial tests.
We will continue to keep you updated with additions to this review, as more info becomes available, so stay tuned!
For those of us fortunate enough to live in the U.S. or U.K., we are all aware that there is no such thing as a debtor’s prison, regardless of what some overzealous collections agent trying to hit their monthly bonus number might say. Well, in Dubai things are a tad different, as people who cannot pay their debts get thrown into the slammer.
This results in expats that fall into debt problems in Dubai fleeing the country and leaving their indebted property to bake in the not-so-pleasant desert sun. That is exactly what happened in the case of this $1.6 million Ferrari Enzo. The British expatriate purchased this machine and, according to reports, ran into issues with traffic citations that he couldn’t afford, so he fled the country, leaving the Enzo to bake for about 20 months in a parking lot.
Dubai authorities finally found the vehicle and impounded it faster than it can hit 60 mph. Now this million dollar supercar is heading off to the Dubai police auction, along with 23 other luxury cars, and will like fetch a nice sum of money for the Dubai authorities. The other 23 cars have fines attached to them ranging from Dh98,300 to Dh100,000 ($26,766 to 27,229), meaning the highest total the fines can be is $626,267. It is more than likely that the Enzo alone will sell for enough scratch to cover that amount. Sounds like a sweet business move, huh?
How can they do this? Well, in Dubai, the police have the right to seize and auction any car that is abandoned for six months. Chances are, they focus mostly on luxury cars, leaving rotting and sunburned econo-boxes to continue to take on more sand and sunlight. But, who are we to judge?
So, if you would like to snag up a sunburned and sandblasted 1-of-399 Enzo, just head on over to Dubai and get a 30 day visitor’s visa (free for U.K. and U.S. passport holders), pay the Dh110 ($29.95) fee to get into the auction, and bid away.
UPDATE 04/30/2012: Sorry, folks, but this dusty Ferrari Enzo is NOT for sale. Dubai police have spoken to Emirates 24/7 and have stated that the cars "have been seized as part of evidence from various crimes such as robbery, and are not for sale."
Last week, we announced the debut of Behind The Smoke Season 2, as we watched Dai and the Falken team get ready for the upcoming Formula D season, after Dai took home the championship last year. Episode 2 just hit the web over at GT Channel and we have the video (above) here for you.
In this episode, Dai is getting ready to take on qualifying for the first race of the season at the Streets of Long Beach circuit. His first run, netted Dai about an 81, which was where he wanted to be. On the second run, Dai pulled out a 90.5, which allowed him to qualify 6th for the upcoming race.
In all, this episode is chock-full of all types of sideways action with tons of beautiful tire smoke. What’s really sweet is these guys put a camera inside the car, facing the front, so you can really see what Dai sees as he whips his 240SX around the track. You get some real kick-ass audio of the engine working away in those shots too. We also found out that even the reigning champ of Formula D gets scared sometimes.
While you’re watching, keep an eye out for three quick cameos by the bearded and fearless drift fan, Bil Baldwin. Let us know in the comments if you see him and the times that he appears on the screen.
Crank up those speakers and click "Play" on the above video. It’s 11 minutes of smoke and squeals that you won’t regret seeing!
When we start digging into racing, drifting in particular, the fans really don’t garner much of our attention. That is until we meet the Santa Claus of drift fans that has both an awesome white beard and a brass set of ball bearings.
This bearded fellow, named Bil Baldwin, has made quite a name for himself at Long Beach Formula DRIFT events. He is not famous for running onto the track in just his Fruit of the Looms or anything like that. He’s famous for not fearing these speeding drifters, regardless of the fact that they are sliding just inches from his legs.
Yup, this long-bearded fellow stands at the edge of the wall coming out of a turn and allows the cars to get within six inches of his legs. Sometimes, as you can see in the above video, the cars even smash into the wall just before they reach him, sending debris flying toward this brave man. Like a well-trained boxer, Bil bobs and weaves out of the way of the soaring debris, then quickly looks back to the track so he doesn’t miss a second of the action.
He clearly is a brave soul and Formula D seems to be accommodating to his fame, allowing him to continue standing in this dangerous position, regardless of the safety issue. We all love racing and we are particularly enthusiastic about drifting, but none of us would put ourselves there.
So here’s to Mr. Baldwin and his white beard and overall jeans flowing in the draft from passing drifters. It’s only a matter of time before Formula D decides that it’s a little too dangerous for him to be there. Until then, enjoy the hell out of it, Bil.
Rumors about an open-top version of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 circulated for a long time now, but we were finally able to see the vehicle during its official launch at the Pebble Beach Lodge on August 16, 2008.
Called the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, the new Bugatti will be a roadster with a unique, removable roof. The open-top Grand Sport allows driver and passenger to feel even closer to the car’s breathtaking power. Those who consider the wind in their hair and the roar of a thoroughbred racing engine in their ears to be essential to true driving enjoyment will find their perfect motor car in this new Bugatti. Even with the top on the Grand Sport does not loose any of its fascination and conveys to the passenger a new exciting panoramic view.
Production began in Spring 2009.
Updated 01/27/2011: Bugatti came to the Qatar Motor Show for the first time ever and brought the 2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport along with them for the ride. It may be an old model, but it was the perfect occasion to reveal new images of the supercar, and to christen Bugatti’s first appearance. Hopefully they will grace us with their presence at future show! Check out the gallery to see the new pictures of the Grand Sport!
UPDATE 04/27/2012: Bugatti has unveiled a new video for their Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport showing the car in action with a closed roof. A second video presents the Blanc Noir version with an open roof. Enjoy!
A little while ago, we informed you that the Mustang will likely be heading overseas officially. That’s not to say that the Mustang hasn’t made it anywhere outside of the U.S., as savvy importers have always found ways to get these muscle cars into their countries.
Last year, The Mustang Club of Poland made a sweet video about their collection of `Stangs, proving that these muscle cars do make it to other countries and thrive. Now Brazil has gotten into the video fun by releasing a video of its own, commemorating the 11th anniversary of The Mustang Club of Paranà’s founding. Kind of a strange anniversary to celebrate, but so be it.
The video is pretty awesome, featuring Mustangs from multiple eras. The most shocking of the bunch was to see two, yes TWO, Mustang IIs in the film. It’s funny though, as all of the other `Stangs are burning up pavement, doing donuts, and burning the rear tires to a molten pile of rubber, the Mustang Pintos, err, `Stang IIs sit on the sidelines or drive leisurely down the road. We’ve gotta give them some credit for not being afraid to include the deuces in the film.
In all honesty this video was cool, but the Polish video was far more kick ass. Yeah, the Polish club’s video started off slowly, but severe tire roasting commenced about three minutes in and never stopped. Add in the fact that the Polish video was better edited and had cooler shots, it beats out the Brazilians.
Enough with the comparisons, you can judge for yourself. The Brazilian club’s video is above and you can see the Polish club’s video here.
Two weeks ago, we all had an LOL and OMG moment at the expense of Lotus, as a member of the failing company, which we assume to be head honcho himself, Dany Bahar, went berserk on Facebook. We all rant sometimes, but it was truly a high school-style “Wah” fest about who said what and so on.
As we put it after reading said Facebook post, which is still on Lotus’s site, the company that recently inherited Lotus from Proton, DRB-Hicom, would not likely deal with this immaturity too long. It rings especially true when you take into account that Lotus never turned a profit for Proton and currently has more than $316 million in debts.
Well, guess what… Reports have emerged that DRB-Hicom is actively shopping Lotus, and its money sucking black hole, to various Chinese companies. Things are obviously getting serious, as the U.K. government even put a hold on the £10 million (about $16 million) grant that it issued to aid in Lotus’ anticipated expansion out of fear of losing the struggling sports car builder to a Chinese company.
The question that begs to be asked is who in their right mind would purchase Lotus for anything more than a few spare tires and a couple boxes of spark plugs? Of course, at this point DRB-Hicom just might find a better use for some spare tires and spark plugs than it can for Lotus.
There is likely some company in China that will pick up Lotus for just enough to cover its debts, then maybe attempt to revive its name. We will continue to monitor this situation as it unfolds and update you as new information comes down the pipe.
The Lamborghini Aventador’s newest rival will hail from...
We’ll give you a few seconds to mull this one over. Could it be Italy? Maybe Japan? China, India, Germany? Heck, maybe even Korea? Nope, this new beast will hail from all 7,827 square miles of the Republika Slovenjia, Slovenia to us English speakers.
Little known and fairly new supercar manufacturer, Tushek Supercars, recently revealed its all new 444-horsepower, Audi-powered Renovatio T500 at the Top Marques in Monaco, but that’s not the big news. The big news is this developing supercar manufacturer’s future plans of annihilating the all-mighty Aventador.
After Tushek completes its estimated 30 Renovatio T500 production models, it will turn its focus to the Forego T700 – yeah, weird name, huh. Tushek has some fairly lofty goals for this machine, including a sub-1,000 KG (2,204 pounds) curb weight, more than 700 bhp, and a gut-checking 3.3 lateral Gs (the average human can handle just 5 Gs).
This would place this new supercar squarely in the lead, when compared to the Aventador, in the all-important pounds-per-horsepower rating, as the T700’s rating would be about 3.14 pounds per horsepower and the Lambo’s rating is 4.96 pounds per horsepower. On a small scale that looks like a tiny difference, but in the grand scheme of things, that difference is humongous.
By our rough guess-timation, the Renovatio T700 would range in the 2-second area from 0 to 60 mph, about 0.8 seconds faster than the Aventador. The most impressive stat is the 3.3 lateral Gs that this car is expected to handle, as the Aventador can only handle 1.05 Gs on the skid pad.
We tend to take this all with a big grain of salt, as this is purely speculation by a company spokesperson at Tushek. Chances are that this car, if it makes it to production, will be about on the same level as the Aventador and it will not hold 3.3 Gs. There is no way that any production car can handle that amount of force.
It is still unknown if Tushek plans to sell this model in the U.S., but we are certain that some savvy buyers can get it here somehow when it arrives in 2013.
It seems like Chevy is so excited to release the SS model that it can barely keep a lid on the rumors and leaks. First, we had swirling rumors about the Holden-based SS model back in 2011. Next, there was the oddly timed registration of the SS moniker.
Some other experts have tried downplaying this by saying that the trademark mentions “SS” in a fanciful manner, meaning just the fancy SS badges. What these experts are overlooking is that all trademarks involving a sequence of letters almost always include “stylized” or “fanciful,” as you cannot just patent two letters.
Well, GM, or more appropriately OnStar, has dropped yet another breadcrumb and one Christopher Price – a Tech dude and OnStar subscriber – found it. As Price puts it, he was checking out his profile and decided to explore other OnStar features. He stumbled upon the list of compatible cars and oddly enough found 2014 models. He clicked on it and what happened to be positioned right between the Chevy Spark and Silverado? A non-existent model dubbed the “SS Performance.”
Does a strange computer glitch mean that the SS model is truly coming in 2014? We don’t really know. However, it is yet another brick that further solidifies the wall of rumors that began construction back in 2011. OnStar obviously caught onto the leak and quickly patched it up, as the 2014 model year is no longer on the site, but not before Price got a glimpse at another future name, the Cadillac ELR, which could point to an all-electric Caddy.
There is, of course, the outside chance that we are being tricked by a good Photoshop job, but our amateur eyes say it is the real deal. Then again, this could just be us getting our hopes up for a new muscle sedan from Chevy.
Iran may be ravaged by war and terrorism at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped Iranians from literally going mad over their automobiles. The small country in the Middle East is actually home to the 13th largest automotive industry in the world and as a result it only seems logical that car manufacturers would flood there in their droves in order to capture some of the market. Unfortunately however, that trend is reversing.
In recent months, Hyundai and Toyota both officially abandoned the country cancelling all sales, and the latest brand to exit Iran is none other than Porsche. The German brand was recently rated by consumers in the U.S. as the best German manufacturer for servicing, yet the ever-expanding brand has decided it’s in its best interests to also exit the country.
Don’t for one second however start to question why Porsche ever entered the Iranian market in the first place, as Iran contributes significantly to Porsche’s overall earnings. In fact, sales in its one dealership in Tehran reached $17 million in just the past few months, so this is definitely a big decision on Porsche’s part.
Even though Iran is facing much unrest, we are a little bit confused as to why Porsche has decided to leave so dramatically losing potentially hundreds of millions of dollars from possible future sales so hopefully, Porsche will release a press release soon with further information.
