We all love viral videos. Sure, half of them are completely irrelevant to everyday life, but we can always find time to watch them. The following video is no exception, with it raking up in almost 2 million views in a couple of days, and it’s not surprising why.
A trio of citizens from Chicago in the U.S. managed to film a $225,000 Lamborghini Gallardo crashing into oncoming traffic and swiftly bursting out laughing, just like we did, even though thousands of dollars of damage was inevitably caused. After all, it’s always fun watching videos of supercar drivers who have no clue in how to control their mighty, Italian machines.
One of the most ironic things about the video is that the man filming picked that the Lamborghini owner was going to pin the throttle through the turn and then just seconds later, it all started to unfold. Whilst getting off the line quite slowly, the owner began to increase their speed through the corner (just like any other good driver does) but before straightening out, the throttle was floored and a split-second later, the tail begins to slide wide sending the Italian supercar into two stationary cars on the opposing side of the road.
All we can say is that we’d hate to see the driver controlling a rear-wheel drive car, as that obviously wouldn’t end well.
Check it out!
It’s no secret that things are going to change significantly in BMW ’s future line-up. For example, the future 1-Series will only include a hatchback version, while the coupe and convertible versions will be sold as a 2-Series. And, as many rumors suggest, the top version of the next 2-Series will be the M2. It will arrive one year after the standard model, so expect to see it sometime before the 2015 model year.
The future BMW M2 will be built on the new F21 platform and will be powered by a 3.0-liter six-cylinder turbo delivering about 350 HP. Rumors say that the new tri-turbo engine might also find its way under the hood of the upcoming model. Whichever engine is picked, it will be mated to an all-new DCT semi-automatic transmission. Also, like most of the upcoming BMW models, the M2 will feature the intense use of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic.
Give us your thoughts on the future BMW M2 by hitting us up in the comments section below!
Turn 10 Studios is preparing the next chapter in the Forza Motorsport history books with a new Horizon version. Forza Horizon will debut in Fall 2012 for the Xbox 360, and we already have an insight into the game with the box cover and first screenshot of the future game.
No other details have been provided, but the screenshot reveals that the new generation SRT Viper will be a part of the action when the game hits the shelves. The company has also announced that the new Forza Horizon will ditch simulated racing in favor of arcade action in order to one-up other famous racing games currently on the market.
"Forza Horizon combines the automotive thrills that Forza fans expect with a gorgeous open-road world that begs to be explored. "Our goal is to turn gamers into car lovers, and car lovers into gamers," Forza 4 director Dan Greenawalt said. "This is part of our DNA. That’s why we’ve been working on this series for more than 10 years. Our goal is to take people who play Skyrim and Call of Duty and make them in racing game players. That is why I come to work every day."
In the 1960s two of the big three, Chevrolet and Ford, each had their own secret weapons in the form of racecar drivers turned muscle car builders. Ford had the recently deceased Carroll Shelby modifying Mustangs for SCCA use and sale, whereas Chevy had the late Don Yenko modifying a wide array of their muscle cars, the most popular being the Camaro. Yenko also ran multiple Chevy dealerships where the bulk of his creations were sold.
In 1967 and 1968, Yenko was dropping 427 cubic-inch monsters from Corvettes into Camaro bodies and creating some of the most powerful Camaros of the era. One of Yenko’s crowning achievements came in 1969 when Yenko was tired of selling Camaros with limited warranties because of his modifications and convinced Chevy to add a 427-equipped Camaro to its special equipment ordering system, known as COPO.
This addition of the 427-equipped Camaro to COPO made it possible for Yenko to sell these cars with the GM-standard 5-year or 50,000-mile warranty. Yenko ordered a grand total of 198 of the Camaro 427s available from COPO. The total number of COPO Camaros produced and sold is unknown, but has been rumored as anywhere from 500 to 1,000.
With exception of the 427 jammed into the engine compartment, the Camaro 427s came from COPO with almost nothing identifying them as a special model; they even came with the old dog dish hubcaps on steel wheels. Yenko made sure to order his from COPO with 15-inch rally wheels, a front stabilizer bar, and a 140 mph speedometer. The rest of the customization was all Yenko’s doing.
Needless to say, these COPO-ordered 1969 Yenko Camaros are tough to come by, but Legendary Motorcar Company got its hands on one and had it up for auction on Ebay.
Click past the jump to read more about this COPO-ordered 1969 Yenko Camaro.
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McLaren has already confirmed that a successor for the legendary F1 supercar will be unveiled sometime in 2013. Codenamed the MP4-27, this future supercar has been caught testing a few times, and based on those images, we have prepared a new rendering.
As for the inner workings of the MP4-27, rumors say it will share a similar carbon Monocell structure as the MP4-12C and will be powered by a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 engine combined with a KERS energy storage system. So, for those that were hoping to see a V12 under the supercar’s hood, forget it; McLaren has confirmed that none of its future models will get V12 engines. However, even with a V8 engine under the hood, the MP4-12C will deliver impressive performance: 0 to 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds!
The McLaren MP4-27 will be built in a limited number of 300-500 units and will be priced somewhere in the $1 million area.
Technically, Ferrari debuted in 1929, but its official debut is recognized as 1947, the year that Ferrari began manufacturing street-legal vehicles. The 2007 model year marked the 60th anniversary of Ferrari’s street machine building life and the automaker wanted to make it a special one.
Instead of doing what many automakers do (see: Ford) by slapping “60th Anniversary” badges on every car that year, Ferrari chose to build 60 completely unique cars for the 2007 model year. To accomplish this, Ferrari took its existing 612 Scaglietti and modified it to create the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti Sessanta.
As we said, only 60 of these cars were ever built, so they are rather rare. Add in the fact that this bad boy was a whopping $424,480 in 2007 and you can tell that these cars were built for the true collector. If you are a true collector of Ferrari’s and would like to own one that very well may be the Ferrari to own in the next 20 to 30 years, this Sessanta is a safe bet.
F.C. Kerbeck, a dealer of luxury vehicles, is now offering you the opportunity to own one of these rare machines, as they have one up for sale in their showroom and on Ebay.
Click past the jump to read our full review on this vehicle.
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The Ferrari Enzo’s successor has been in the pipeworks for upwards of five years now and with its launch creeping closer and closer every day, additional details are being released frequently. The latest information to be released is in regards to sales of the car codenamed the ‘F70’ and just which markets Ferrari plans to targets with its latest halo car.
The U.S. has always been one of, if not the largest sales market for Ferrari. Ever since the brand’s inception in 1929, Americans have enveloped the Italian marque and as a result of this long history between duo, Ferrari aims to target the U.S. significantly. It also hopes it will be the car’s largest market when it goes on sale next year.
A company insider who was speaking to Bloomberg released the information as well as a few other juicy details including the new car’s rumored price of $850,000 in the U.S., which will put it right in the same realm as the incredible Porsche 918 Spyder. Even though the U.S. is said to be the F70’s largest market when deliveries begin in mid or late 2013, less than 100 units are expected to make their way here if the 399 units of the Enzo which were produced are a guide as to how many of its successor will be produced.
Ferrari expects the F70 to completely reshape the automotive industry as it should pave the way for other supercars to follow and if the rumors are to be believed, it’ll feature an incredible V12 engine pumping out 800HP by itself or 920HP when combined with the advanced KERS system.
A few days ago Audi has unveiled a pretty cool video presenting Audi R8 drifting as a tribute to their 500,000 German Facebook fans. Today the company has unveiled another video presenting the details behind the making of the first video.
The car was driven by Dindo Capello who talks about this impressive experience. He considers that the most difficult part was making the "5:"
"In the past, it would have been impossible to something like that without preparing the car for the event but now, with a Audi road car, you can do it."
The Audi R8 is powered by a 5.2 liter V10 engine that delivers 518 HP and 391 lb-ft of torque. The engine is mated to a seven-speed dual clutch S-tronic gearbox and sprints the car from 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and up to a top speed of 197 mph.
Over the years, we’ve seen almost every match-up conceivable to test both abilities of man and machine, until we stumbled upon the following video. Cars have shown themselves against other cars for years, and even a variety of motorcycles, but before now, we’d never seen a Lamborghini pitted against a strongman.
As a part of the 2009 World’s Strongest Man competition, one of the incredibly fierce competitors was put behind a Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT race car and had to hold it back for as long as possible, eventually holding the Diablo back for 6 seconds. However, before the game could get underway in earnest, the clutch of the R-GT broke and throughout the first half of the video, you’ll notice that the Murci is simply revving rather than pulling the man and utilizing all of its torque, so instead a Lamborghini Diablo racer was called in to get the job done.
The clock started when the famous supercar began to burn up its rear tires in a valiant effort to pull the strongman off his feet but it failed to do so until he let go at the 6 second mark. The occurrence of the wheels spinning may look extremely impressive, but the vast majority of the cars power and torque are lost during this spectacle and it would be a better representation of the car’s ability if it were all-wheel-drive and could access all the necessary power.
Nevertheless, it’s an incredible effort to hold back a car packing in excess of 500 horsepower for upwards of 5 seconds, and something you’re never likely to see in real life, so check out the video!
A lot of high-performance automakers have taken to spec-racing to show off their pride and joy exotics without having to worry about any sort of regulations. Racing series like these allows these exotics to be on their unchained best.
One automaker that has taken this route is Maserati, which is in the process of beginning the third season of the Trofeo World Series. Similar to what sister company Ferrari does on the Challenge Series, the Trofeo World Series features a field of specially prepared versions of the GranTurismo coupe, which has been upgraded with a new aerodynamic bodykit that not only reduces its overall weight, but does so to make it more competitive and race-ready.
According to Maserati, the GranTurismo racers are far better than their 2011 counterparts, having showed its improved performance in test sessions: 2.5 seconds a lap faster than the 2011 models.
All the cars that will compete in the Trofeo World Series have been made track-ready by a dedicated team of technicians, ensuring that all the drivers competing will be racing one a one-spec racing field.
Another new wrinkle for the 2012 Trofeo World Series is the inclusion of new legs in the calendar, including the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California and the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China, among others.
Anybody looking to bring the heat in the Trofeo series will need to pay €110,000 (about $140,117 at the current rates), excluding the race entry and test fees. For the four European stages, the price of admission is €70,000 (About $89,166 at the current rates), excluding fees, while private teams who want to bring their own cars will need to pay €35,000, excluding fees, for the entire championship and €25,000 (about $44,583 at the current rates), excluding fees, for the European legs only.
