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President Biden says he took a Porsche up to 171 mph

President Joe Biden went on Conan O’Brien’s podcast, “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” recently, and he had a lot to say about cars. There’s plenty to unpack from the clip that you can watch above, but at one point he mentions that he recently took a Porsche up to 171 mph on the Secret Service’s private test track. Now that’s the kind of gearhead stuff we like to hear from politicians!

“I got a Porsche up to 171 mph,” Biden says while explaining how launch control works to O’Brien. Biden didn’t specify which Porsche model he was driving, but we’d bet it’s likely a 911. Of course, plenty of other Porsches are capable of 171 mph, so we don’t really know, but if any White House correspondents are reading, we wouldn’t mind if you asked Biden next time you see him.

In addition to Biden enjoying a Porsche at high speed, he said that he’s done the same with his 1967 Chevrolet Corvette, reaching 132 mph on the Secret Service airstrip test track. Biden even said that Jay Leno offered to buy his Corvette from him at one point for $144,000, but that he had to turn him down.

“They take me out to the Secret Service test track, which is an old runway. I got my Corvette up to 132 mph. It’s only a 327,” Biden remarks to O’Brien.

And speaking of Corvette news, we’ve already heard Biden spill the beans once on this topic, but yet again he makes the claim that an electric Corvette is on its way, and says it will do the 0-60 mph run in 2.9 seconds. That’s what the gasoline-powered C8 Stingray will do now with the performance exhaust, but we’re betting an electric Corvette would obliterate that time and be somewhere in the 2.0-2.5-second range.

It wasn’t just an electric Vette that Biden took to talking about, though, as he also claims to have driven an electric Ford Bronco.

“Oh and by the way, I drove one of those big Ford Broncos, electric. 4.9 seconds. Mine is 5.2,” Biden says making the comparison to his old Corvette.

We’re not exactly sure what he means by claiming to have driven an electric Ford Bronco. Such a vehicle does not exist from Ford currently, but there are restomods of original Broncos converted to electric power. There’s also the vague possibility that Biden has some inside scoop from Ford execs about future products, but it’s unclear from the interview. Regardless of the product implications, watching President Biden talk cars with O’Brien is an entertaining watch, so make sure you check out the video at the top of this post.

December 21, 2023 / Comments Off

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Koenigsegg details the madness of his Light Speed Tourbillon Transmission

We always tune in when Christian von Koenigsegg steps in front of the camera for another tour of his car company’s new technology and facilities. He’s obviously enthusiastic about what’s being designed and built in Angelholm, Sweden, but not overly so (not in his videos, at least), he’s talks about technology in simple terms, and, best of all, the stuff coming out of those factory machines is not only innovative, it’s beautiful. The fearless leader checks all the boxes again with this quick look at the new transmission and twin-turbo 5.0-liter V8 block going in the two-seater Jesko and available for the four-seater Gemera.

A quick refresher on the LSTT, or Light Speed Tourbillon Transmission. During Gemera development, engineers wondered if the Gemera could fit the TTV8 and Light Speed Transmission (LST) from the Jesko into an engine bay designed for the Tiny Friendly Giant (TFG) three-cylinder engine and Direct Drive transmission from the Koenigsegg Regera. The engineers answered that question in the affirmative with what’s now called the LSTT, the addition of “tourbillon” referring to a mechanical feature that makes a wristwatch more accurate. On top of giving the Gemera a huge boost in available output, reworking the LST for its new employment made it smaller, lighter, and better. It’s super compact form fits nine gears and weighs just 198 pounds including the attached starter motor; the eight-speed dual-clutch Tremec TR-9090 for the Chevrolet Corvette weighs 307 pounds empty in its lightest configuration.

A tour of the 5.0-liter V8’s rotating assembly shows Koenigsegg doesn’t skimp on artwork. The ceramic coating on the top surfaces of the forged pistons is etched with the Koenigsegg logo, the connecting rods are etched with the Koenigsegg name, as are the anodized timing chain guides. Christian says the entire engine is “under 200 kilos,” or 441 pounds. That’s not far off the 445-pound weight of Ford’s Gen 3 5.0-liter V8, but the Koenigsegg carries two turbos and their ancillaries. He also shows off bits like the 3D-printed thermostat, intake plenum, and Inconel exhaust manifold, all of it art.

After that, a trip to the dyno to see what the motor can do on E85 and on our own 91 octane. If you like mechanical bits and what they can do when cost is no object, you should have a watch.

November 29, 2023 / Comments Off

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Watch Rimac Nevera set a speed record of 171 mph — in reverse

The Rimac Nevera is an absolute beast. This 1,914-horsepower electric hypercar has been setting records left and right, from becoming the world’s fastest electric car, to tackling the Nürburgring in just over 7 minutes, and many more. So the folks at Rimac have had to get creative to find a new challenge, but find one they did. This time, the Rimac Nevera has set a Guinness World Record for the fastest speed in reverse.

This harrowing feat saw the Nevara back up at a top speed of 171.34 miles per hour. In the onboard footage below, you can see the view from the cockpit as the landscape recedes into the distance faster and faster. The vehicle data is interesting to watch, too, with the torque being distributed between the front and rear wheels, and the steering correction as the car drifts ever so slightly off the centerline. It’s all a bit disorienting.

So how did Rimac find itself aiming the rear end of the Nevera toward such a record? “It occurred to us during development that Nevera would probably be the world’s fastest car in reverse, but we kind of laughed it off,” said Nevara chief program engineer Matija Renić. “The aerodynamics, cooling and stability hadn’t been engineered for traveling backwards at speed, after all. But then, we started to talk about how fun it would be to give it a shot. Our simulations showed that we could achieve well over 150 mph, but we didn’t have much of an idea how stable it would be — we were entering unchartered territory.”

It’s hard to imagine driving in reverse at such speeds, and as Rimac test driver Goran Drndak can attest, it’s an odd experience. “On the run itself, it definitely took some getting used to,” Drndak said. “You’re facing straight out backwards watching the scenery flash away from you faster and faster, feeling your neck pulled forwards in almost the same sensation you would normally get under heavy braking. You’re moving the steering wheel so gently, careful not to upset the balance, watching for your course and your braking point out the rear-view mirror, all the while keeping an eye on the speed. Despite it being almost completely unnatural to the way the car was engineered, Nevera breezed through yet another record.”

The $2.2 million Rimac Nevera is powered by four individual motors, giving it a total of 1,914 horsepower and 1,740 pound-feet of torque. Driving forward, it’s capable of 0-60 in just 1.7 seconds, 0-100 in 3.21 seconds and 0-200 in just under 11 seconds. It set a top speed record of 256 mph. Its 120-kilowatt-hour battery is good for 350 miles of driving range on Europe’s WLTP testing cycle.

November 7, 2023 / Comments Off

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Ride along with Rimac on a flying drone tour of its factory and offices

Croatian automaker Rimac has developed some of the world’s most impressive EVs, and the automaker’s joint venture with Bugatti promises to bolster that innovation with more money and engineering resources. As you might imagine, building mind-blowing cars doesn’t often happen in a makeshift factory, and Rimac recently released a stunning drone-shot tour of its manufacturing facility that shows its home base is as advanced as its cars.

Similar to the all-in-one factories used by Formula 1 teams, Rimac’s factory houses offices and administrative functions in addition to the production lines. That said, we’re not talking about a traditional auto factory here. Rimac’s factory floor is bright and spotless, with more of an operating room vibe than anything to do with auto manufacturing.

Though short, the drone tour gives us a surprising level of access within the facility. Some of the shots bring the drone awfully close to freshly built multi-million-dollar cars, of which a handful were shown in the video. We also get shots of the company’s dynamometer facility and quality control efforts.

Rimac is currently shipping the Nevera, a 1,914-horsepower electric hypercar with two gearboxes and a boatload of performance records that include a 0-62 mph time (100 km/h) of just 1.81 seconds and a top speed of 256 mph. It also set records at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Nürburgring this year, achieving the fastest production EV titles at both locations.

October 3, 2023 / Comments Off

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Watch a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 fall off the lift at a dealer

Here’s your hard watch for this Thursday afternoon: A Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible fell off a lift at the dealership, and someone caught the catastrophe on camera.

Posted on YouTube by Jason Grubb, the video starts with the Z06 already in the air. A few seconds in, the fall begins, and it almost looks like a video game glitch. The car falls toward the camera, so we get to see one of the lift’s arms cut through the fiberglass like a hot knife through butter. In a word, “pain” is what we all feel watching this supercar tumble to the ground.

The Vette hits the ground rear bumper first before rolling onto the rear tire. Its front end never finds the ground as the arm scrapes along the side of the body before it comes to rest half in the air half on the ground. The camera quality isn’t so hot, so it’s tough to tell the extent of the damages, but it’s safe to assume that it’s bad. Hopefully, the car can be repaired with a bunch of bodywork (and more), but seeing as we’re unsure which dealer this occurred at, it’ll be hard to know the Z06’s fate.

We’re also left to guess exactly what went wrong, but chances are likely that the Corvette’s lifting instructions (above) were not followed by the dealer. Comparing Chevy’s diagram to the grainy video, it looks like the rear jack may not have been placed far enough back in the spot that Chevy prescribes.

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September 21, 2023 / Comments Off

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Watch Alfa Romeo reveal its mid-engine supercar here live

Alfa Romeo is about to unveil its supercar that’s long been rumored and even teased at this point. You’ll be able to watch the video livestream above starting at 11 a.m. ET to see it all.

The mid-engine Alfa is rumored to be named “33” after the original Tipo 33 race car and feature a heritage-inspired design. Much of the car’s construction is reported to be shared with the Maserati MC20, though the powertrain is a bit of a question. There’s the Maserati Nettuno V6 that could be utilized, but Alfa’s 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 from the Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio is also available and could be overhauled for mid-engine use with more power.

Regardless of the details, this Alfa supercar is supposedly going to be built for an exceedingly short run consisting of just 33 cars. Tune in at 11 for all the details.

August 30, 2023 / Comments Off

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Likely Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 prototypes spotted in Colorado

Chevrolet is engineering its next hot Corvette variant, the process far enough along to get prototypes out on the roads. In May, spy shooters caught a gaggle of Corvettes in heavy camo cruising around Detroit with an escort including a Corvette Z06 convertible, a Corvette E-Ray, and a Porsche 911 GT2 RS. At least one of the camouflaged cars could very well be the coming ZR1, said to be due next year as a 2025 offering. Now YouTube channel Frim Autos has caught another group of Corvettes testing in Golden, Colorado. The same school of cars got caught at a different location in Colorado a few days earlier. The E-Ray and the 911 GT2 RS didn’t make the trip out west, but there was another Z06 among the field.

To recap, the ZR1 is basically a twin-turbo version of the naturally aspirated Z06. Instead of a 5.5-liter V8 making 670 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque, the ZR1 would make up to 850 horsepower and up to 825 pound-feet of torque. The engine code for the ZR1 will be LT7, one up from the LT6 in the Z06.

Corvette watchers have wondered if the ZR1 will keep the Z06’s flat-plane crank or if Chevy will go to a cross-plane crank with the addition of turbos. Engineers driving the prototypes in Colorado pulled out of the hotel parking lot with barely any throttle, so it’s impossible to detect the turbos much less the crank arrangement. What we tell from this video and the earlier photographs is that something interesting is happening in the frunk area. The vinyl camo on one of the ZR1s in the photos couldn’t hide Y-shaped lines below, while another prototype wore a raised flat panel over the frunk. The three prototypes in Colorado got the raised panel, but it’s affixed to the adjacent camo panels differently.

One school of thought believes whatever’s happening at the front could have to do with active aero devices. Another school of thought suspects the ZR1 could get an electric motor in front like the E-Ray and be all-wheel drive. The non-believers think Chevy is withholding active aero for the hybrid AWD Zora flagship, and that the E-Ray and Zora will be the two AWD Corvettes in the range.

Both spy sightings have shown the purported ZR1 wearing the cow-catcher front splitter and stepped rear wing from the Z07 package available for the Z06. The ZR1 will be available without those, two of the Colorado cars featuring a tamer front and and a low spoiler on the decklid.

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June 20, 2023 / Comments Off

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Watch (and listen to!) the Bugatti Bolide go flat-out on an airstrip

Development of the track-only Bugatti Bolide has reached a significant milestone. After finalizing the hypercar’s design and building the first prototypes, the French brand has started testing the model on an airstrip to fine-tune parameters like the amount of downforce it generates.

Power for the Bolide comes from an 8.0-liter W16 engine that’s quad-turbocharged to 1,578 horsepower — you know we’re talking serious power when the horsepower figure includes a comma. While this is the same basic engine that powers the Chiron, among other models, the major similarities between the two models stop there. Bugatti didn’t design the Bolide for street use so its engineers were unfettered by the regulations that shaped your daily driver. They focused on keeping weight as low as possible while designers created a race car-like body.

So far, the tests have confirmed what months of computer simulation predicted: the 3,200-pound Bolide can handle up to 2.5 Gs of lateral forces, meaning it can take a corner really, really, fast, and it generates up to three metric tons of downforce (that’s about 6,600 pounds) depending on the speed it’s traveling at. Bugatti explains the car’s front splitter helps achieve this downforce: air hitting the car gets compressed under the splitter and expands under the diffuser to create the suction that helps pin the Bolide to the pavement. There’s much more to it, and all of the aerodynamic add-ons are functional. The shape of the passenger compartment, which is narrow compared to the Chiron’s, was selected in part to maximize airflow to the side-mounted intercoolers. The door mirrors channel air to the intercoolers as well.

While the mirrors add drag, Bugatti explained that they make more sense than cameras because they give the driver a better idea of where they’re positioned compared to other cars. “Every technical consideration has been translated directly into an aesthetic design,” said Frank Heyl, the company’s deputy design director, in a statement. “Design and technology flow into one another in the Bolide,” he added.

Bugatti will continue testing the Bolide on race tracks around the world in the coming months, and it plans to begin delivering the car in 2024. If you’re not already on the waiting list, it’s too late: production is limited to 40 units and they’re all spoken for in spite of a base price pegged at €4 million (about $4.29 million at the current conversion rate). Alternatively, there’s a 905-piece Lego kit that’s not sold out and that only costs about $50 excluding tax. It doesn’t need to be tested on a race track, but we can’t guarantee it will provide three tons of downforce.

In addition to bringing the Bolide to production, Bugatti is busily developing the yet-unnamed model that will replace the Chiron. Details are vague, but Autoblog learned the model will use a plug-in hybrid powertrain and feature many new components, including the monocoque.

June 1, 2023 / Comments Off

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Lamborghini Revuelto gets its closeup, makes some noise

Lamborghini revealed the successor to the Aventador at the end of March. The new biggest, baddest bull from Sant’Agata is called the Revuelto, powered by a hybrid V12 designed to celebrate the most feral side of Lamborghini’s take on internal combustion while also providing everyday hybrid manners in the city and meeting global emissions regulations. The first public viewing happened at Auto Shanghai in April, the Revuelto taking its first European bow late in the month at Milan Fashion Week, where Lamborghini also showed versions of the 60th Anniversary Huracan models. Now we’re getting more details on the new V12 in Lamborghini’s own words, thanks a seven-minute video called “The Challenge.”

Most importantly, we’re getting a taste of the Revuelto’s sounds. A leaked trademark application in Europe from earlier this year put a clip of the Revuelto’s pure EV mode on YouTube. That video’s been banished, but at 3:10 in this new vid there’s a sample that sounds similar to the leak. It opens up a discussion of techniques the sound engineers used to represent the new frontier for the brand, that section ending with a short blast of V12 noise.

Technical officer Reuven Mohr runs through some of the special numbers defining the Revuelto: The carbon fiber “monofuselage” is composed of RTM, pre-preg, and forged carbon fiber and weighs 10% less than the previous carbon tub while being 25% stiffer; and the V12 makes 30% more power than the final Aventador while producing 30% fewer emissions. There’s also an animation of the new eight-speed double-clutch gearbox that houses an electric motor. Replacing the former longitudinal transmission placed between the cabin seats with a compact unit mounted behind the engine meant being able to move the engine forward. Mohr gives the impression the relocation enabled designers to add a proper, deep diffuser. However, the 2017 Centenario gave us a taste of what we have now, including the visible chunk of rear tire.

There’s so much more we’re still waiting to find out about the new Italian flagship, but you can start your studies with the video above.

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April 30, 2023 / Comments Off

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McLaren 720S successor teased with startup sound, rear view

A report from February this year pegged April as the official reveal date for the McLaren 720S’ successor, and it’s proven true. McLaren released a teaser on Twitter today, saying that the reveal of a new “benchmark supercar” is coming at 7 p.m. ET tomorrow, April 25.

This vehicle will undoubtedly be the 720S successor, which is currently rumored to be named the 750S. The teaser video associated with the news is a video clip in which the soon-to-be-revealed supercar is started up. You can hear the engine of the 750S fire up and idle for a few seconds before the audio is cut. Listen below.

Join us for the unveiling of the new benchmark supercar. 25 April 23.58 BST pic.twitter.com/0a6jBsTZd4

— McLaren Automotive (@McLarenAuto) April 24, 2023

The report about this new supercar suggested that the 750S will receive an updated version of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 used in the 720S. However, power will be raised to approximately 740 horsepower instead of the previous car’s 710 horsepower. The teaser footage isn’t very revealing, but we can see some red LED taillights appear out of the darkness in the video. They look similar in shape and size to the taillights on the 720S, but we don’t know what the rest of the vehicle will look like.

Make sure to tune in tomorrow evening to see what McLaren has in store for us with its next supercar that is following hot on the heels of the PHEV Artura.

April 24, 2023 / Comments Off

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Kimera EVO37 Martini 7 celebrates Martini Racing’s seven WRC trophies

Two years ago, Kimera launched its EVO37, a modern and thoroughly gorgeous tribute to the 1983 Lancia 037 World Rally Championship car. When Kimera put its EVO37 on the start line of the Sardinia Rally last year, the coupe wore the same Martini Racing Team colors used by the 1983 car. This year, Kimera is using a different Martini Racing livery to debut an evolution of the Kimera EVO37 that’s even closer to the original and celebrates the seven Lancia-powered Martini Racing Team World Rally Championship titles. The 037 won a single title, the last two-wheel-drive WRC entry to do so. The Lancia Delta S4 and its variations won the remainder. Company boss Luca Betti again worked with Miki Biasion, who won back-to-back WRC Driver’s Championships piloting the Lancia Delta, and Lancia engineers of the time to lighten and sharpen the EVO37 into the Martini 7.

Starting with the performance mods, the supercharged and turbocharged 2.1-liter four-cylinder now makes 550 horsepower instead of 505 hp, and 406 pound-feet of torque. Power heads to the rear axle via a standard manual or optional sequential transmission, but the gears have shorter, more rally-like ratios. Gawkers are invited to further appreciate what lies behind the cockpit thanks to the new quick-release lower bumper as was found on the Lancia 037 Evo 2. Undoing the clips shows quad pipes in a white ceramic coating matching the new paintwork that runs all the way up the exhaust runners.

The new carbon fiber aero package adds intakes behind the front doors, vents on the tops of the fenders, and additional descending steps in the engine cover surround. The new wheels recall the Delta Evoluzione, as does the passenger compartment, now made entirely from carbon fiber and getting the car down to about 2,425 pounds. The seats are inspired by those in the Delta S4, trimmed in blue perforated Alcantara with red stitching that matches accents on the door cards and ceiling. The gauges glow in fluorescent orange, the buttons and knobs laid out just as they were in the 1983 Lancia 037.

The pearl effect white Martini Racing Livery with blue, light blue, and red strips comes most resembles that of the special edition Lancia Delta Martini 5 and Martini 6 cars, produced in the early 1990s to celebrate the Delta’s fifth and sixth WRC trophies. The other obvious indications this is something different are the “World Rally Championship” script along the sides and “Martini Racing” on the rear spoiler.

As with the first iteration, Kimera will make just 37 of the EVO37 Martini 7. We hope those light bars are part of the package, because it would be criminal to drive this without them. Kimera didn’t release a price, but somewhere north of the 480,000 euros ($533,700 U.S.) of the original is a good place to start dreaming.

April 23, 2023 / Comments Off

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Lamborghini applies to trademark V12 hybrid sounds in EV mode

Lamborghini is sprinkling various European intellectual property offices with bits of its future V12 super sports car it wants to protect. The internet continues to dig those bits up. After a couple of spy specialists found line drawings of the hybrid V12 coupe filed with the World Intellectual Property Office in North Macedonia, CarBuzz dredged up a sound clip of the V12 in pure electric mode filed with the European Intellectual Property Office. Spy shots have showed the car will come with a City Mode that’s expected to enable battery-only motivation. The audio clip appears to present three modes of the electric driving sounds required of all electric-capable vehicles to warn pedestrians of the EV’s approach.

CarBuzz believes the first sample was made under steady-state driving. It sounds a little like dark ambient ASMR with some wind in the background, like something from Atrium Carceri or Metatron Omega. The second would be under acceleration, the sinister electric symphony rising in pitch then fading as the unheard V12 internal combustion engine takes over. The last clip would be the reverse, as the V12 gives way to the battery again.

There’s nothing amiss in any of the sounds, but we find ourselves thinking there’s nothing especially Lamborghini about them, either. That’s not a slight against the crew from Sant’ Agata, that’s a statement about what the future of hybrid and electric supercars could mean to us everywhere outside of a highway or Cars and Coffee. It could make Dodge’s Fratzonic Exhaust that much more interesting assuming the production sonics match what we’ve been told, and a recent Ferrari patent shows a rival group of Italians trying to forestall roads full of computer monitor noises with a “sonority current.”

January 23, 2023 / Comments Off

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Alfa Romeo teases 6C supercar taillight

Alfa Romeo’s latest reboot takes its next steps this year with the arrival of the refreshed Giulia and Stelvio to the U.S. market, and the debut of the new Tonale. The Italians primed the pump with an Instagram video celebrating 2022 and asking if we’re ready for 2023. At the end of the vid, Alfa Romeo answers its own question with, “We Are.” And as it’s clear to see, the first “e” is a brand new font we’ve not seen Alfa use before. Everyone expects this is a taillight from the supercar that brand chief Jean-Philippe Imperato starting hinting about last year, intel coalescing around the name 6C. If that ends up being the name, the new supercar would complete the trilogy of 2007’s 8C and 2015’s 4C.

If Evo can be believed, the 6C will borrow much of its tech spec from the Maserati MC20. Even more unexpected, Evo says Alfa Romeo will advertise the halo as a bridge between its internal combustion era and its electric era, so the supercar will be offered with ICE and EV powertrains. An electric MC20 is on the way, so the plan won’t be a tough jump. The most unexpected bit is when Evo says the Alfa Romeo supercar will use Maserati’s in-house Nettuno V6 designed for the MC20, whereas most believe Alfa plans to go with the 2.9-liter V6 used throughout its lineup and in other halos like the Giula GTA/Am. If Evo is correct, this is sounding like another 8C, that car based on the Maserati GranTurismo and using Maserati’s Ferrari-based engine of the time.

It’s a bit of a challenge to reconcile Evo’s report with some aspects of what Imperato said in an interview with Autocar. The honcho told Autocar, “It’s 1969 [the Spider] since the last time Alfa Romeo was stamped on a chassis” and it would be “a cool thing” to see again under his watch. We don’t envision that happening to the Dallara carbon fiber monocoque chassis designed for the MC20. Imperato also said the automaker’s still fine tuning the business case and that “the positioning is ongoing.” If Alfa Romeo were nabbing the $260,000 MC20 practically wholesale, the only positions are super spendy supercar and wildly spendy supercar. Lastly, the all-electric MC20 Folgore isn’t expected until 2024, the Alfa supercar at the end of 2023. It’s hardly believable Alfa Romeo would be allowed to electrify that chassis before Maserati had a chance to get it out and crow about it.

Whatever Alfa’s new halo ends up being, Imperarto said he’d like to tell the world about it in March.

Back with the regular range, Autocar said that from this year, every year that Alfa posts good numbers will unlock the ability to introduce a new model on top of the ones already planned through 2027. The current product plan includes the crossover below the Tonale in 2024, otherwise known as Alfa’s version of the European-market Jeep Avenger, as well as a larger SUV thought to replace the Stelvio in 2026. and a new-generation Giulia in 2025. For the boss, annual success means the chance to please Alfisti with products like a new Spider or Duetto — although they’d be all-electric.

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January 4, 2023 / Comments Off

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McMurtry Speirling blitzes the (metric) quarter-mile in 7.97 seconds

In August, the McMurtry Automotive Spéirling set a new overall record up the 1.16-mile hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed with a time of 39.14 seconds. McMurtry took that Goodwood car in its Goodwood spec to one of Carwow’s open-air studios, this one at the Millbrook Proving Ground, so the YouTube channel could climb all over the single-seater and run its trademark acceleration tests. The Millbrook runs yielded a 0-60 run of 2.09 seconds and a standing quarter-mile time of 8.64 seconds using an independent GPS measurement device. But the strip was wet, leaving presenter Mat Watson unsatisfied. To get his satisfaction, Carwow transported the Speirling to the Silverstone circuit, hiring the track and a jet-powered dryer truck to lay a grippy line down the Hangar Straight. Those finer conditions allowed the Speirling, in the video above, to blitz the 0-60 in 1.4 seconds and the quarter-mile in 7.97 seconds.

Those are both record times for Carwow, displacing the Rimac Nevera from first place. Watson previously ran the Croatian battery-electric hypercar to 60 miles per hour in 1.9 seconds and the quarter in 8.6 seconds. The Pininfarina Battista claimed the production-car record for 0-60 acceleration at 1.79 seconds.

There’s a few hundredths worth of gray area in the comparison for now. The Nevera is a production car, the Speirling most definitely is not. McMurtry is developing a road-legal production version that’s likely a couple of years away. Watson set his Speirling times with the fan car’s custom slick tires, the rear pushers being 240-section. So far as we can tell, the all-wheel drive Nevera travels the world setting times on its production tires, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, 275-section in front, 315-section in back.

The Speirling’s waiting to spring a big surprise, though, since its Goodwood gearing limits top speed to 150 mph. Watson said the Speirling sat at 150 mph for “approximately three seconds” of that blazing quarter-mile time. Fyi, the English quarter-mile is 400 meters, or 1,312.3 feet compared to our 1,320-foot quarter-mile. At 150 mph, it would take the Speirling about another 0.04 second to do the U.S.A. drag. Drag Times ran the Nevera to an 8.582 quarter on a prepped track in the U.S. in August.

Although we wouldn’t expect a different finishing order than Carwow established, getting the street-legal Speirling and a Nevera on the same track on the same day on production tires would tell us how close the two cars are.

Before the runs, Watson gets instruction in the Speirling’s methods from chief engineer Kevin Ukoko-Rongione and company test driver Max Chilton. For instance, two fans provide the roughly 4,400 pounds of downforce, but it’s a redundant system; Ukoko-Rongione said that although both fans runs together, a single fan can provide most of the car’s downforce. It’s worth watching the buildup because this is a fascinating car.

December 27, 2022 / Comments Off

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Ferrari teases Purosangue exhaust note before September 13 debut

We’ve been talking about a Ferrari SUV for more than five years, when ex-CEO Luca de Montezemolo said the Maranello automaker would never build one and then was let go not long after. We’ve known there would be a Ferrari SUV for four years, when the brand’s product road map ID’d what would come to be nicknamed the Ferrari Utility Vehicle. Barring a late switcheroo, we’re betting on the official name to be Purosangue. During a year of teasers and spy videos, at last, we have less than a week to see what all the fuss has been and will be about. On September 13, Ferrari shows its new four-door, four-seat family car, and teased the arrival with a clip of the exhaust note.

You heard it here first.
More will be revealed on the 13th of September.#FerrariPurosangue #Ferrari pic.twitter.com/xQOTpdJBiM

— Ferrari (@Ferrari) September 6, 2022

Although muted, we expect that sound to be emerging from a naturally aspirated V12, the engine CEO Benedetta Vigna confirmed the Purosangue will offer. It’s possible Ferrari’s twin-turbo V8 will join the options, but we don’t know if or when that happens. With spy videos showing what appears to be a slightly lifted wagon-esque form, the Purosangue’s focus on road manners could vault it to the top of the competitive set in the horsepower column. The company’s 6.5-liter V12 makes 819 horsepower in the 812Superfast, easily besting the 697 in the Aston Martin DBX 707 and the 657 horses in the Lamborghini Urus Performante. Even Ferrari’s twin-snail V8 would clear the bar, that engine producing 711 hp in the F8 Tributo. Or, it’s possible Ferrari could turn the wick way down, aligning the Purosangue with its tourers, the 611-hp Roma and 612-hp Portofino M convertible.

Sounds like no matter the specs, the Purosangue won’t be the easiest Ferrari to get into for reasons beyond the current industrial snarls. A Ferrari presentation during Capital Markets Day this year explained the Purosangue’s “yearly average contribution to shipments will remain below 20% over its lifecycle.” Volume that low indicates a cap enforced by the company; SUVs introduced among other super sports car makers have run directly to the top of the brand’s sales charts. We will not be surprised to see that figure rise in the coming years, or Purosangue’s being flipped for obscene amounts over its entire run.

It’s quite the month for lusty cars, the Pagani C10 debuting the day before the Ferrari, the seventh-gen Ford Mustang arriving the day after.

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September 8, 2022 / Comments Off

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Pagani C10 teased before September 12 debut

The third movement in Pagani’s symphony of supercars is headed our way in an online debut from Milan come September 12. It’s called the C10 for now, which could be a provisional name, its full final name, or a portion of the final name; the Zonda that put the Modena manufacturer on the map launched as the Zonda C10, the codename for the Huayra during development was C9. Pagani posted another teaser of the coupe to Facebook, finally giving us hints of the thing in the, er, carbon fiber. The only surprise we can make out so far is the headlight treatment. Previous products have placed each light element in its own pod, the Zonda boasting three, the Huayra two. The C10 tucks its two headlight beams together under a clear cover.

The good news beyond that is the return of the manual transmission, which wasn’t available on the Huayra. Eponymous founder Horacio Pagani is said to have discovered that some customers passed on buying a Huayra because of the omission. The C10 tease shows the six-speed row-your-own perched between the front seats, its linkage exposed like we used to see on Spykers. Note, the Huayra shifter featured an exposed linkage, but its rods and springs connected to an Xtrac seven-speed sequential gearbox. The C10 will offer a sequential transmission for those who want it.

Another AMG-sourced 6.0-liter V12 sits behind the cockpit, said to have been upgraded from the unit in the Huayra. The former car made 730 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque. The special edition Pagani Codalunga made 840 hp and 811 lb-ft. The C10 is expected to produce in the area of 880 horsepower and about as much torque.

The rest we’ll find out about next week. Spy shots of prototypes show what looks like a tasty blend of Zonda-specific cues within the overall flowing shape that recalls the Huayra. The front intake looks more like a Zonda, as do the scoop-less rear fenders and the triple taillights set at an angle in the rear fascia. The almost uninterrupted flow from front to rear, and the tailless rear end are all Huayra. The return of side view mirrors looking like lazy leaves and quad exhaust tips inset in a round opening establish more continuity. It’s possible the car goes back to the traditional door openings of the Zonda, forsaking the gullwing apertures of the Huayra. Pagani said the focus of this car has been weight reduction and handling, so we shouldn’t be surprised to see a curb weight below the 2,976 pounds of the Huayra.

There are only going to be about 300 C10s among all variants — coupe, convertible, and special editions — and every one has been sold. As if that weren’t the case with just about every seven-figure car nowadays, those of means will be especially keen to get in here since it’s thought to be the last pure combustion Pagani before the firm moves into electrification.

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September 8, 2022 / Comments Off

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Bentley Batur is the next Mulliner creation after the Bacalar

Bentley’s Mulliner personalization division launched the Balacar Speedster in 2020 — named after Laguna Bacalar in Mexico’s Quintana Roo state — and sold the limited run of 12 examples almost immediately at about $2 million per. With just four Bacalars remaining to be delivered to customers, and since the first rule of having a hit is having a follow-up ready, it’s no wonder that Mulliner will introduce its next small-batch, bespoke car in 10 days: At 8 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, August 20, during Monterey Car Week, the Crewe automaker will unveil the Batur.

Our invitation to exhilaration. This is where finely-honed bespoke craftsmanship and next-generation design meet. The #Bentley #Mulliner #Batur. 04:00 BST, 21.08.2022 pic.twitter.com/g0kV5K2ffJ

— Bentley Motors (@BentleyMotors) August 9, 2022

We know a couple of things about the Batur. It’s not clear what vehicle the model is based on, but we’re told it will be a “hand-built grand touring Bentley.” We’re going to guess this means the Flying Spur chassis gets the nod, because the next thing we know about the Batur is it “showcases themes and forms that will define Bentley’s future range of Battery Electric Vehicles.” Bentley’s first EV is anticipated to be a high-riding sedan sitting on Volkswagen’s SSP battery-electric platform, the even more luxurious follow-up to the Audi Artemis electric sedan that will introduce upscale versions of the SSP architecture. The short video shows a very Bentley diamond grille laid in with burnt orange accents.

The last thing we know about the Batur is that it’s named after another body of water, this time Lake Batur in Kintamani, on the island of Bali in Indonesia.

There looks to be quite a span between the Batur’s EV-forward design and the first Bentley EV. A report out of Germany in July said the VW Group continues to struggle with software for the swarm of battery-electric product the brand wants by 2030, pushing launches back potentially by years — issues that cost former VW Group CEO Herbert Diess his job. Audi’s retail version of the Grandsphere concept might not show until 2027 instead of 2024, and the first Bentley EV that was due in 2025 might face a similar delay.

August 10, 2022 / Comments Off

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Gordon Murray Automotive torture tests the T.50 hypercar

Prepping the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 for customer deliveries around the world means testing its systems and safety akin to that of a regular production car. For GMA, this mean taking validation prototype XP1 to Automotive Testing Papenburg (ATP) in Germany for a series of torture tests that would be comical if they weren’t so brutal on a real live $2.9 million coupe. As narrator Dario Franchitti explains, many of the tests are to ensure that the airbag deployment systems know how to tell one extreme circumstance from another, so the bag deploys in a crash instead of when the T.50 is launched into a gravel pile. Yep, that’s real. The T.50 was run at nearly 20 miles an hour into — and then up — a seven-foot pile of rocks. We have no idea what the test is meant to simulate but the T.50 aced it, beaching itself over the crest, its airbag un-deployed.

The other challenges drew a more direct line to real-world driving. There’s a 37-mph dash over Belgian cobblestones and another at the same speed over a speed bump, a simulated pothole strike for “anyone who has the misfortune of driving on UK roads,” and a mad dash over a fake railway crossing. The ramp test sends the 2,173-pound, 654-hp coupe flying off a 10-inch ramp at 43 miles per hour. The steel beam test simulates plowing the wheel face into a curb, this experiment breaking a tie rod and damaging a tire. Then there’s washboard at nearly 50 miles per hour, and finally, plowing into a “simulated wild boar” that weighs 180 pounds.

The man behind the machine clearly hasn’t forgotten how to design fast cars that protect their drivers. If Murray had given the T.50 a bit more ground clearance, it might make a decent bug-out ride for anyone who knows how to travel really light.

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June 2, 2022 / Comments Off

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European dealer working with Koenigsegg on a CC12 secret project

We tuned into James Walker’s latest episode on YouTube because The Supercar Blog reported there’s a special Koenigsegg on the way called the CC12. There isn’t much known about the coming coupe, just that was supposedly commissioned by a European dealer in ultraluxurious things called Carage. Upon tuning in to the 51-minute video, we discovered that Walker talks about the CC12 for maybe ten seconds (38:47) — he doesn’t even call it by the name written on the wall next to it, and the project is so secret that his host won’t say a word about it. Here’s the thing: The episode is called “The Best Garage in the World?”, and the answer might be “Hell yes.” We showed up for one car, we stayed because of all the amazing car stuff.

We’d never heard of Carage before, a dealer with showrooms in Lucerne, Switzerland and Marbella, Spain that specializes in “modern hypercars [and] unusually sporty vintage cars.” If a line could win an award for Swiss understatement, this is it. Walker tours just some of the Swiss facility, which is five floors and nearly 54,000 feet of luxury architectural space housing many millions of dollars in cars. The Koenigsegg room is designed to create Swedish vibes. The five cars parked inside it include CC8S Chassis #002, the first customer car of the first model Koenigsegg built, one of two Trevita’s with white carbon and clearcoat with diamond dust, and the Agera Prototype Chassis #077 that was not only the development vehicle for every evolution of the Agera, it was customized with a trunk.

There’s are a few rooms with Aston Martins (12:50) including James Bond’s DB10 (25:15), another with Ferraris, a modern Iso Rivolta (11:30), and the most magnificent tool and replacement parts sets we have ever seen (32:05) created for the Aston Martin DB4GT Continuation. Then there’s the garage, with the obligatory lifts and clean-room appearance. The garage also contains an indoor wash bay, because Carage washes every vehicle before working on it; there’s an exhaust vent on a rail that can be fitted to any vehicle in the garage; there are tire fitting and alignment machines in custom colors to match the garage; and a pump system to send used oil into a large containment tank beneath the garage. Plus the on-site carbon production and CNC machines. And other things. Carage is spectacular.

Back to that Koenigsegg CC12, though. It hasn’t been commissioned by Carage, it’s being built by Carage, CEO Kim Struve saying he’s working with Koenigsegg on the project, but he wants to show potential clientele what Carage can do. The form under the tarp looks like the CC8S that, earlier in the video, Struve says was bought “for a special project that’s going to be released in a year’s time.” But we can’t know if the two are related. What we do know is that Koenigsegg built just six examples of the CC8S, its name partly signifying the modular Ford V8 behind the cockpit. The re-engineered and supercharged 4.7-liter small block produced 646 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque. The automaker switched to CCR and CCX names after the CC8, never making a CC12. Whatever Carage is up to, we’re looking forward to it, and if the 12 in the name refers to the cylinder count, all the better.

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April 25, 2022 / Comments Off

391

Koenigsegg Jesko gets its turn to throw snow

Yes, it’s a tad bizarre to be posting winter testing videos in the middle of April, the same way it’s a little strange for it to be 38 degrees in parts of the Midwest this week. We can do without the weather, but we’ll take the videos, and here’s another — a counterpoint to a vid from a week ago. Rimac provided our last trip to northern Sweden, the Croatian hypercar maker there to test the Nevera in temperatures well colder than 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Two hours east of that, turns out Swedish hypercar maker Koenigsegg was testing its Jesko in the frozen stuff. The Swedes called their video Egg Hunt for obvious reasons, but there wasn’t much of a hunt, just a guy gathering giant neon eggs in the forest until the trail leads him to the Jesko. Seems the Swedish Easter Bunny might be way cooler than ours.

What’s cool about these two videos is they ask, “How do you like your ice dancing?” With four motors producing 1,914 horsepower and 1,741 pound-feet of torque to move 4,960 pounds, and emitting a gentle whine that can be barely heard above the soundtrack? Or with a 5.0-liter twin-turbo V8 producing 1,600 hp and 1,107 lb-ft to motivate 3,130 pounds and a Battlestar Galactica wing, emitting a roar that would have had the Easter Bunny apologizing to every hibernating bear and rethinking his egg hunt strategy? Take your time deciding, there’s no wrong answer. By the way, that wing and the power figure mark this as the standard Jesko on E85. The Jesko on standard gasoline makes ‘just’ 1,200 horsepower.

The Jesko and Nevera should be finding their way to the first customers shortly. Maybe next time they both vacation in northern Sweden, they’ll go together. That would be a video.

April 19, 2022 / Comments Off

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