The Joetwint Porsche 996 is scary fast. Twint scored a world record top speed of 231.4 mph in the Texas Mile, and at a recent run the Evolution Motorsports-tuned 911 managed to hit 224.711 mph, but it also had a bit of a spill. Hit the jump to watch video of the massively-boosted 996 take off like a rocket and reach speeds of over 200 mph in a matter seconds. The video would be impressive enough even if it were simply a standard run, but this clip has a bit of a surprise ending.
About 54 seconds in, the incredibly high speeds achieved by the 996 prompted the sunroof to pop right off. That's bad when you're going 85, but when you're cruising at nearly one third the speed of sound, it can be catastrophic. A few seconds after the impromptu top-popping, the 996 gets sideways and ends up taking an unscheduled tiptoe through the weeds. The video is pretty entertaining, but it's also informative. If you're building a world-beating track star capable of speeds of over 200 mph, don't opt for the sunroof.
It's against the law to drink and drive. And as we've seen time and again, the police don't care if you're driving a Ferrari or a motorized scooter; over the limit means under arrest. There is now one more person in the world who knows this undeniable truth first-hand. Dennis LeRoy Anderson was convicted of Driving While Intoxicated after being caught piloting a La-Z-Boy that was modded with with lawn mower parts, a stereo and a cup holder. No word on what actually happened to be resting in that cup holder when the La-Z-Boy left the comforts of Anderson's living room that night.
Anderson was arrested in the northern Minnesota town of Proctor after he crashed his La-Z-Boy into a parked car. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Anderson had a blood alcohol content of .29; over three times the legal limit. Sixth Judicial District Judge Heather Sweetland let Anderson off lightly, as she stayed the 180-day jail term in favor of two years probation. We're thinking the two years of probation pales in comparison to living the rest of one's life knowing that you were arrested for drinking and driving a recliner. Sad.
In less than a week, Bob Lutz will be joined by a few automotive journalists and a handful of regular Joes at the Monticello Motor Club in New York to race some fast sedans around a fast track to see if anything with four doors can outrun a Cadillac CTS-V. Sounds like fun. But, after reading through the preliminary list of applicants The General has accepted, it's looking more and more like the cards are stacked heavily in GM's favor.
The three participating journalists include Jalopnik's Wes Siler, who will be racing Lutz in a Jaguar XFR; Jack Baruth representing The Truth About Cars and freelancer and New York Times contributor Lawrence Ulrich. We have no idea what the latter two journos will be piloting, but we do know that four private car owners will bring along their personal contenders: a BMW M3, a BMW M5, an Audi RS4 and finally, a, um, Cadillac CTS-V.
According to GM's Cadillac Notes Blog, there's room for a couple more contestants... and we're really hoping that someone (preferably someone with track experience) steps up to the plate with a Porsche Panamera and something with AMG written across the decklid to turn this into a proper sampling of potential spoilers.
So, plenty of time has passed since General Motors first made the announcement that its Chevy Volt extended-range electric vehicle would score 230 miles per gallon on the yet-to-be-completed EPA testing procedure for such vehicles. Still, plenty of questions remain, such as How many miles per gallon with the Volt achieve after it has traveled the 40 or so miles necessary to deplete its battery pack?
Well, we still don't have an exact answer, which is partly due to the fact that GM hasn't yet finished developing the vehicle's complex software systems. In an interview with Fox Car Report Live, vehicle line directory Tony Posawatz sheds some light on the topic, saying that the Volt's sustained mileage will be "better than any conventional car, and we're trying to figure out how close, or if it will actually be better than any hybrids."
To put that figure into perspective, we'd imagine that means the Volt would fall somewhere between the 32 mpg rating of the Toyota Yaris and the 50 mpg rating of the Toyota Prius when running under charge-sustaining mode with an otherwise depleted battery pack. Whatever the case, don't expect this hot-button topic to go away any time soon.
The 1980s. The decade that gave us Knight Rider, Gobots, rolled jeans and poofy hair also produced a lot of lousy cars. There were a few good ones, too, and the 1986 Taurus is at the top of the list. The new-at-the-time Taurus was a near instant phenomenon as it garnered over 200,000 sales in its first year along with the Motor Trend Car of the Year award and a spot on Car and Driver's 10Best list.
We'd argue that the Taurus was a family sedan far ahead of its time, but even the best product doesn't move off the showroom floor to the tune of 200,000 units without great marketing. Well, at least great-for-1986 marketing. Hit the jump to watch a one minute long Taurus commercial from the Taurus' first year on the market.
Back in the '80s commercials were all about the jingle, and this Taurus spot is a real toe tapper. And you won't have to count how many times the words Ford and Taurus are uttered, because we already did (seven Ford and 10 Taurus mentions). Fair warning: If you watch this ad you may be brainwashed into thinking that the Taurus is the American car that has exactly what you've been looking for. It happened to Neff, and it could happen to you.
Who says Twitter is good for nothing? Making fun of derivative Chinese car designs (cough Geely cough) is like shooting fish in a barrel. Only the barrel has no water in it, is only six-inches deep and you're using a shotgun. Still, we're thinking this Jianghuai sedan might be taking a cake or two. Obviously, the front end is a bit much. And looking at the car in profile, the Jianghuai isn't just influenced by the Infiniti G35 -- it is the G35. Stare harder at that C-pillar if you don't believe us. But why completely rip off one car when you can jack two?
The Mazda Sky D diesel and Sky G gasoline engines are meant to bring "everlasting blue sky" to oversee "sustainable Zoom-Zoom." Both utilize low-friction engine blocks, direct injection and piezo-electric injectors. The Sky G is fitted with a "highly functional variable valve timing mechanism," and the Sky D gets a 2-stage turbocharger besides.
Together with technologies such as the Sky Drive 6-speed transmission, i-stop, regenerative braking and lighter vehicles, these lumps will form the core of Mazda's goal of a 30% increase in fuel economy in the coming years.
Ford has been trying to offload the Volvo brand since December of 2008, but after years of rumors and speculation those 10 months feel more like a decade. China's Geely has been speculated as the number-one bidder for the Blue Oval's Swedish luxury brand, but a report by Bloomberg asserts that the long-awaited accord could be shelved due to concerns over Ford's intellectual property.
Because Volvo is so tightly integrated into Ford's product development, any buyer of the safety-minded car maker would have inside knowledge of the Blue Oval's future product plans and access to its latest and greatest technology. The buyer would also have direct access to Ford's vehicle architectures, since so many are shared between itself and Volvo. If Geely does in fact purchase Volvo, those platforms, which pass both European and U.S. crash test standards with flying colors, it could give China's largest automaker a better chance of entering the coveted U.S. market. And helping Chinese automakers enter the States probably isn't at the top of the list of things Ford wants to do right now.
U.S. and European automakers have had their hands full in attempting to curb China's lax intellectual property rules. Some vehicles built by Chinese automakers and sold in the land of the Great Wall are nothing more than carbon copies of vehicles from American., Japanese and European automakers... save for a new logo. Ford is also dealing with the case of Xiang Dong Yu, an ex Ford engineer who stole 4,000 sensitive and confidential documents from the Dearborn, MI-based automaker. The sticky-fingered engineer reportedly pilfered the documents in an effort to get a job at Shanghai Automotive but he was instead hired by Bejing Automotive.
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Earlier this summer, we caught whiffs of rumormill pandering that Mugen was planning to launch a high-performance version of Honda's Civic Type-R. Those rumors are now facts as the well-known tuning firm has just announced that the Ultimate Civic Type-R is headed to a European country near you for a pocketbook-stretching £38,599 (that's $64,000 at current exchange rates, not that it matters).
Included for that whopper of a bottom line is a horsepower boost to 237 from the stocker's 198 along with a welcome 10-percent torque improvement across the rev range. New pistons, camshafts, intake manifold, and a stainless exhaust system are responsible for the added ponies while a completely revised suspension system with limited-slip differential take care of the handling mods.
Rounding out the package are a bespoke bodykit with a monster wing out back and forged alloy wheels capping four-piston mono-block racing brake calipers. Want one? Better get all your ducks in a row in short order – Mugen is only planning on building 20 Ultimate Civic Type-R hatchbacks.
Can you image a VW-badged Panamera? What about a 911-based product from Wolfsburg? It could happen according to Porsche CEO Michael Macht. Autocar reports that Macht says, "Porsche needs to become a strong pillar of VW," and part of that means sharing platforms and components. The two companies have been on a rocky collision course towards merging for years, and now that the deal is all but done, the business of identifying synergies between the two companies is on.
Porsche apparently is not worried about diluting its brand image by sharing platforms with VW, even if that includes the iconic 911. What they won't be sharing, however, is engines. Macht made it clear that "Engine development is a core value for Porsche." At the moment, the only Porsche model with an engine that wasn't developed in-house is the V6-powered Cayenne.
Putting aside your feelings about whether or not Porsche sharing its platforms with VW is a good idea, what are some positive results that can be imagined? A Panamera-based Phaeton? A 911-based Audi speedster? A Boxster-based production version of the VW Concept BlueSport?
