The undisputed champion of hydrogen fuel cell SUVs at the Nurburgring has been crowned: the Nissan X-Trail FCV. The winning time: 11:58. Of course, it's the winning time because it's the only time -- a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle has never ran the 'Ring before.
After piloting the 120 bhp X-Trail around the world for two years, Nissan engineer Frank Eickholt, decide it was time to take it to the track. The €1.3 million X-Trail was apparently hampered by moist tarmac, so you can expect a redo at some point in the future. Just when you thought the 'Ring craze was as hot as it could get, here come the hydro-powered vehicles to... pour some water on it...
Since we're certain there wasn't an Autoblog function at the 'Ring this weekend, we haven't the foggiest what went on. Obsessive checking of the Nurburgring webcam yesterday did show that some kind of debauchery took place. Der Party left behind a whole lot of waste, rotting gently in the bucolic sunshine. Hopping on yesterday, we were expecting to see a barely discernible image of something rare or secret and undoubtedly super cool, but we're a little disappointed that all we got were pictures reminiscent of the aftermath of a raucous birthday party, pinata and all. A quick trip to Nurburgring.com doesn't show anything on the event schedule, either. Maybe Lemmy came down for a private party? What do you think?
The 1996 Toyota Celica is way too small to transport an entire fellowship from Rivendell to the Black Gate of Mordor, even if four of the companions are pint-sized hobbits. That's probably why Frodo and the gang ultimately decided to hoof it, and have you seen how much second-hand Toyotas are going for in Middle Earth? It'd be cheaper to pay an Orc for a piggy-back ride.
Yes, I'm a LOTR nerd, but even I have a hard time appreciating the artwork that adorns this Celica. A guy by the name of Jason created "The Precious" from his perfectly good tuned Celica that already had a nice color-changing paint job with what looks like a yellowy orangish base. Now every time Jason embarks on an epic quest to get more Ho-Hos from his local Quicky Mart, the whole gang rides shotgun. Characters from the Peter Jackson trilogy that make an appearance on Jason's sheetmetal include Frodo, Aragorn, his elvish hottie girlfriend (can't remember her name, so I'm not that huge of a dork), Gandolf the White, Saruman the White, the Witch King of Angmar and Legolas... twice. Who wouldn't want Elijah Wood staring back as you unlock your car door?
Fortunately my appreciation for the automobile supercedes my fondness for fantasy, so you won't find any creations of J.R.R. Tolkein on my car's quarter panels.
For you Cobalt fans, GM race driver and director of high-performance vehicle operations, John Heinricy, gives the 2008 Cobalt SS Turbocharged a sound thrashing on the Nurburgring. Even better, he talks you through it for much of the way. There's an interlude where he gets quiet, and if you didn't hear the car's tires squealing you'd think he was doing nothing more than going grocery shopping. So the car doesn't best the Nissan GT-R's lap time -- the track was wet, see -- but you can at least get a good idea of what the quite-capable Cobalt can do. That is, if you have a professional racer at the wheel. Follow the jump to check out the whole video.
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