Anybody that has ever been a fan of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will attest that the event holds a unique place of its own amid the races in a calendar year.
For French automaker Peugeot, 1988 and 1989 were special years, as it scored back to back triumphs with Ari Vatanen and Robby Unser. The two drivers won Pikes Peak while driving a Peugeot 405 T16 Grand Raid, a car that gained notoriety for having a wheel steering system on top of its prevalent use of carbon Kevlar variant on its body to go with a new chassis made of sheet steel and tubular steel.
In tribute of those two successful runs at Pikes Peak, Peugeot released a special tribute video directed by Jean Louis Mourney called “Climb Dance”. Well, for those that haven’t seen the video, Peugeot has digitally-remastered the film, which not only means you can watch the whole thing over again, but you’re watching a version that’s more appropriate to the high-definition times of today.
Click past the jump to check out Peugeot’s new ride for the 2013 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb
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Last week, the Subaru Rally Team released episode 1 of its two-part "Launch Control" web series chronicling the exploits of the Rally America and the Global RallyCross seasons this year.
Subaru promised that episode 2 of the series would be released shortly thereafter and to its credit, the automaker lived up to it with the release of the the second episode of Launch Control today.
This time, the Subaru Rally Team USA find themselves in Michigan for the 2013 Sno*Drift Rally. The one-off ice and snow has been described as beyond treacherous, where the smallest of mistakes can prove costly for the driver and the team.
But despite all of that, the team is still competing with the best of ’em and drivers David Higgins and Craig Drew are competing against the rest of the field in a course that proves to be far more difficult than anybody previously anticipated.
Like episode 1, the series’ second episode is a must-watch for fans of Subaru, rally racing, and specially fans of both.
Click past the jump to watch episode 1 of Launch Control
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If there’s one thing we’ve come to know about a web series, it’s that you can’t miss any of it, especially if it’s about the auto industry. Just a few months ago, Koenigsegg had one and it was phenomenal. A few years ago, Chevrolet Racing had another that was equally entertaining.
This time, it’s Japanese automaker, Subaru, or to be more specific, Subaru’s Rally Team USA that is producing a web series. The web series is called "Launch Control" and evidently, it goes behind the scenes on how the team does in both the Rally America and the Global RallyCross seasons this year.
To get thing going, episode 1 of Launch Control introduces us to a man who definitely needs no introductions if you’re a fan rally facing: defending Rally America champion, David Higgins.
The episode takes us on an in-depth look at how Higgins prepares for an arduous rallying season from his home in Wales. In addition to seeing the defending champ’s preparations, we’ll also learn a little more about Higgins’ team as it prepares his car at the Vermont Sports Car in time for the opening of rally season.
The second episode is scheduled to be released on the first of May 1 so until then, check out the first episode of Subaru’s new "Launch Control" web series.
Even though it is new to the market, the Dodge Dart has already made its rally debut in the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship. For the 2013 racing season, this hopped-up Dart will once again return to the track with Travis Pastrana behind the wheel. Last year, the Dart scored its first victory in the fourth race of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Dodge hopes that the same success will also repeat this year and has sent two Dart racing cars in the competition. Unlike the standard Dart, the Dart Rallycross Car delivers a total of about 600 horsepower through an all-wheel-drive system. With the extra 416 horsepower, the new Dart Rallycross Car will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in under 2 seconds.
The new Dodge Dart Rallycross Car will be driven in the season opener on April 21st in Brazil.
Hit the jump to read more on the Dodge Dart.
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We’ve already seen three racing versions of the Peugeot 208, with the latest one being the Peugeot 208 R2 Rally Car. Well, now the French automaker is prepared to release the fourth racing variant in the form of the 208 GTi Peugeot Sport.
On the outside, you get the typical Peugeot racing livery, which includes: blue, yellow, black and red striping, a monstrous rear wing, and various sponsor stickers. You also get a set of black rims sized 18 inches wrapped up in racing tires. The entire car comes in at a svelte 990 kg (2,182 pounds).
Under the hood, the 208 GTi features a 1,600 cc turbocharged engine, which it borrows from its road-going variant. Depending on the racing regulations, Peugeot Sport will tune this powerplant to between 200 and 300 horsepower. The engine hooks up to a six-speed gearbox with paddle shifters. Keeping the 208 GTi fed with plenty of fuel is a 100-liter (26.4-gallon) gas tank, which allows this racer to stay on the track longer between fill-ups.
The GTi Peugeot Sport will make its racing debut at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in May. Unfortunately, Peugeot has not revealed any pricing details.
Setting a world record is no small feat, especially when you’re doing it in less-than-ideal circumstances.
That’s why WRC racer, Mads Ostberg, deserves a raucous round of applause after setting a new world-record for the longest ever jump on snow by a rally car. Driving a Ford Fiesta WRC, Ostberg managed to fly his little race car over 60 meters (196.85 feet) in Trysil, Norway.
The World Rally Championship corroborated the record, posting Ostberg’s record-setting jump on its official Twitter account.
While the record is in itself an impressive accomplishment, it still fell way short of the overall jump record of 82 meters (269 feet) that Travis Pastrana accomplished a few years back when he jumped into a barge in the middle of the sea back on New Year’s Eve 2010.
Still, Ostberg’s attempt is impressive in its own right, considering the circumstances he had to deal with in order to set the record. Like we said, give the man his due props.
Check out Pastrana’s record jump after the, well, jump
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Racer, stunt driver, and television host, Tanner Foust, has had a lot on his plate recently. But even though he’s being thrust to juggle all these responsibilities, the man still can’t get away from doing what he does best: rally racing.
Recently, Foust unveiled his newly dressed Ford Fiesta ST rally car, which made its first public appearance over the weekend at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Dressed in the familiar black and yellow paint scheme of sponsor Rockstar Energy Drink, the new rally car gets a host of added designs. Particularly standing out is the red and orange splash on the car as well as new sticker liveries bearing Foust’s sponsors, including new partners Illest as the new apparel partner, ODYSSEY battery, and Horizon Hobbies, which will produce Foust’s own line of R/C cars.
It is expected that the rally car will be powered by a 1.6-liter EcoBoost turbo four engine with an output of 197 horsepower and 214 pound-feet of torque.
The model itself is based on the recently launched Fiesta ST Global RallyCross Championship that was first unveiled at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show. Foust is one of three drivers that will get the first dibs on the cars with the other two being Brian Deegan and Ken Block.
For now, it’s Foust’s turn to showcase his new rally ride, which he said will focus more on pure rallycross. What that means is that you can expect to see Foust and his new rally car compete in the X-Games, the Global Rallycross Championship and the European Rallycross Championship.
At the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, Opel will be unveiling not one, but two Adam concept cars. We already showed you the Adam Rocks Concept; now it’s time for the Adam Rallye R2 to have its face time.
Built in compliance with FIA R2 regulations, the Adam Rallye R2 comes with a number of special body components Opel picked from its OPC product line. The most notable, at least when you look at the rally car closely, are the quick-release catches on the hood and tailgate and the under-ride guards on the front and rear.
Inside, you can expect a host of rally-spec interior components, including an integrated safety structure, HANS-compatible SPARCO Competition racing seats, a cockpit with an LCD gear indicator, control light and MONIT trip computer, a central control panel, a map reading light and an electric fire extinguisher.
As far as the engine is concerned, the Adam Rallye R2 is powered by a 1.6-liter ECOTEC 16V engine with variable camshaft phasing that produces 185 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque when adjusted to its racing configurations. In addition, the rally car also carries an adjustable chassis setup with asphalt and gravel settings, providing the kind of traction and handling needed for a rally car. The car’s brakes are taken care of by a hydraulic ‘fly-off’ handbrake to go with Brembo four-piston front brake calipers.
Full details of the Opel Adam Rallye R2 will be unveiled at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show.
Who is Tyler Witte? Just like you, we have never heard of the guy before watching this video. In short, he is a 25-year-old driver from Cincinnati, Ohio. “Okay, why is he featured on Top Speed” may be your next question. It’s because he is our kind of guy: he has an incredible passion for cars and most importantly, he developed the car of his dreams from the ground up.
His car is not the best car we’ve seen, as it’s just a Subaru Impreza that he "bought from a friend," but the fact that he invested tons of his own money into transforming that car into an amazing rally racer makes him a man cut from the TopSpeed cloth. Yeah, there are better cars out there that teams with millions of dollars have built, but to see a man without a silver spoon in his mouth pull this off is inspiring.
Everything he did on the car, he did by himself; from bending, cutting, notching and welding the roll cage to assembling the transmission’s guts.
You can see the results of his hard work by watching the above video that includes some fun obstacles and stunts at a private rally facility. We wish Mr. Witte the best of luck!
You only achieve a certain level of respect from the rest of the automotive world when you somehow end up in a precarious situation and, instead of letting a crash get the worst of you, you rise above it and soldier on.
That’s exactly what happened to the people behind the wheel of this Local Motors Rally Fighter. During the recent Parker 425 off-road race in Arizona last week, as the driver of the Rally Fighter somehow performs a memorable front somersault after hitting a bump on the desert trail. The Rally Fighter initially landed on its rear after the 360-degree flip and somehow, thanks to gravity, the racer got back up on all fours and sped away detached hood and all, as if the whole scene was planned all along.
Now, that’s how you turn a potentially horrific crash into an episode people will be talking about for years to come!
