FAIL: Traction Control Can Be Your Friend

I am one of the few people left that believes a true raw performance recipe is rear wheel drive + manual transmission + light weight = fun. That said, as much as I love rear wheel drive, you really need to know how to drive it properly. Get it right, and it’s one of the more satisfying experiences in life. Get it wrong, and you’re going to be making an embarrassing phone call to your insurance company.

Case in point, a lucky person found a nice road to take their BMW M6 for a drive on. However, the driver is either too inexperienced with rear wheel drive cars, or was foolish enough to take the traction control off when the road surface was obviously slick. If it was on, the system would’ve helped to correct the slide and a crash likely would’ve been avoidable. Either way, he sends the M6 into an over-steering drift which he (or she) is unable to do anything about.

The end result is an M6 in the ditch. The crash didn’t seem too serious, so I assume the driver was okay, but the damage to the M6, no matter how minor, is likely to cost an arm and a leg.

Let that be a lesson to everyone out there. Sometimes traction control can be your friend, despite how annoying and intrusive it can be. If you’re inexperienced or the conditions aren’t the best, you should probably just keep it on. FAIL to the M6 driver for not realizing that.

Sidebar, the exhaust note of the M6 before the crash was sick!

[Youtube]

Rush Limbaugh Knows Nothing About Cars, Has Opinion Anyway

If there’s one thing that drives me mad it’s when people who know nothing about a topic try to form an opinion on it anyway and then try to convince others that their opinion is right. This accurately describes Rush Limbaugh’s entire life.

If you don’t know who Limbaugh is, consider yourself lucky. If you are curious, well, let’s just say that he is an extreme right winged so-called political pundit who, for some reason, has his own radio show. As you can see by his picture, it’s obvious why no one wants to give him a  TV show.

Oh, and he’s also severely addicted to various pills. Nice.

On his radio show Limbaugh likes to talk about current events, of which he clearly does not follow or understand. Racist Rush, as I like to call him, decided to have a go at another topic that he is clearly ignorant about: Cars.

Specifically, Limbaugh decided to lay into the upcoming Chevrolet Volt. Limbaugh claimed that the Volt is stupid because it costs too much. I will admit, the $41,000 US starting price is about five grand more than anticipated, but since Rush’s hates the environment and will find any excuse in the book to slam efficient technology, he almost purposely failed to mention that the Volt can also be leased for a very reasonable $350/month.

He then declares that since there are government incentives on cars like the Volt of up to $7,500 off ($10,000 off in Ontario), there clearly must be no demand for cars like these.  Because it’s not like America was hit hard by the recession thanks to fools like your beloved George W. Bush and people need stimulus in order to buy new cars again, right Rush? Besides, as Autoblog pointed out, there were tax write -offs for Hummers and other huge gas guzzling SUV’s just a few years ago. How come you didn’t speak up against that then, eh Rush?

And to top it all off, and to showcase just how ignorant he is, Rush then decided to misinform all his listeners by proclaiming that the Volt is only capable of 40 miles (65 kms) then it runs out of juice. A little research goes a long way and if Limbaugh had the inclination or the wit to do so, he would’ve found out that the Volt can go an additional 300 miles on a regular gas engine when the electric motor runs out of power.

Now, I’ve been a bit critical of the Volt myself in the past, but I know cars. They are one of my few topics of expertise. And with that said, despite my minor criticisms, I still like the Volt. And I want it to succeed. I’m very eager to try one out for myself, mostly because I understand how it works and it’s intriguing. I would never claim to hate something without first understanding it. But that’s how Rush rolls and he is exactly what is wrong with society today.

You don’t like the Volt, Rush? Just pop a few more of those pills and the Volt won’t seem so bad, will it?

[Detroit Free Press]

Official: Porsche Will Build 918 Spyder!

YES!

Thanks to all those luck enough to afford a 918 Spyder writing in to Porsche. It’s because of that that Porsche was able to build a business case to build the 918 Spyder and now it has officially been confirmed. It will indeed enter production, albeit in limited numbers.

I think this is going to be the most significant car for the next five years, despite what GM may tell you about its Volt (see my post below for why I have doubts). While I appreciate the Volt and am very intrigued by it, I think Porsche is going to truely upstage it with the 918 Spyder. Being able to make a car that can get from 0-100 in 3.9 seconds, emit just 70 g/km of carbon dioxide all while getting 3 L/100 kms is astonishing. Mind boggling even. On top of that, the 918 Spyder will be able to keep classic handling abilities that Porsche is known for and will be quite the looker if the concept is any indication.

Pricing is the downside, but that’s the case for any supercar. It is expected to start around $650,000 US. Yikes. But considering the technology packed into it and what it’s capable of, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. Also this is likely the reason why it will be produced in limited numbers. I’d be surprised if Porsche was able to make any profit on it too, actually.

People are already saying that this could be the successor to the amazing Carrera GT. And if the history of the Carrera GT is any indication, the 918 Spyder should have no problem fitting in with the big boys.

[Canadian Driver]

Chevrolet Volt Uses… Premium Gas?

GM, GM, GM. What were you thinking?

Why would you go and develop a car that is supposedly going to be your saviour as well as an industry game changer for fuel efficiency and the environment and then go and make it require premium gas?

That’s like encouraging people to practice safe sex, yet charging them a premium to use condoms.

And the things is, I don’t even understand why the Volt would require premium gas. Why would a tiny 80 horsepower engine need a high octane output? I will concede, however, that’s it might be possible to get added efficiency by using higher octane for the Volt’s generator. And if it is, and it’s also the reason why premium gas is required, then you need to explain that to the public, GM. Because right now it looks kind of foolish offering no explanation for people to spend more money for your supposed halo car.

However, it’s not like you’ll be going through loads and loads of premium since GM claims you can go up to 65 kilometres on the electric motor alone before using a single drop of premium. It’s still a bit of a disappointment nonetheless.

[The Truth About Cars]

Bugatti Veyron Supersports: Fastest Production Car?

Top Gear took it to its top speed. Or what they thought was its top speed. Then they took it around their infamous track. Did it take pole position on the leader board? Click above to find out.

Oh Hi: 2011 Ford Explorer

After being more of a tease than Marilyn Monroe with teaser shots, Ford decided to finally release the 2011 Explorer for all to see.

The team at Ford had quite the challenge as the demand for SUV’s has dwindled significantly, let alone for the Ford Explorer which is now quite long in the tooth. The public just isn’t interested in gas guzzling, body on frame SUV’s anymore. Poor fuel consumption, harsh ride and horrible handling capabilities really just don’t seem appealing anymore (I don’t know why they were ever appealing in the first place).

So for the first time ever Ford has been the Explorer a unibody design on the same platform as the Taurus and Flex. It is, as Ford puts it, a crossover. However I always tend to use that term with caution, but we’ll go with it for now.

This new Explorer will initially get a choice of either a normally aspirated 3.5 V6 or a 2.0 litre four cylinder Eco-boost. These engines will be 30% more efficient regarless of which engine you choose.

For more info and pics, click here.

Nissan vs Germany Round 2

Recently Nissan has been becoming quite cocky as they have released ads taking jabs at three German companies known as being among the best for performance: BMW, Audi and Porsche.

Porsche didn’t take too well to Nissan’s new marketing approach as they threatened legal action against Nissan of using their logo without permission. I, on the other hand, said that Porsche should shut Nissan up by going head to head on the track. But anyway, technical legalities is definitely not stopping Nissan from digging at Porsche heals. Audi is also targeted again in this new round of advertising.

Nissan actually went out and bought an Audi TT-S and a Porsche Cayman S and is driving them around London with special messages to the public written on the side of each car. For the Audi, the message reads “More expensive, slower and less powerful than a Nissan 370Z”. The Porsche got branded with “I dream of being as fast as a Nissan 370Z”. Ouch.

That certainly is a way to get around the legalities that Porsche set out. BMW was not targeted this round, but I’m sure Nissan has something special in mind for them.

[Nissan via Top Speed]

Oh Hi: 2011 Heico Sportiv Volvo S60

Even though the 2011 Volvo S60 is not officially available for sale yet, that hasn’t stopped tuning company Heico Sportiv from having a go at Volvo’s latest stylish offering.

They took the standard T6 engine and boosted output by 30 horsepower. As a result the Heico Sportiv S60 develops 330 horses and 300 pound feet of torque. In addition, Heico Sportive revised the front facia, gave it some big gunmetal coloured wheels, and a rear diffuser with a quad tailpipe set up. Nice.

They also plan on reconfiguring the exhaust and suspension to more sporting tastes. If they give it a six speed manual transmission too, I’d say they have a winner. I’ll take mine in the matte black pictured above too!

[Autoblog]

Test Drive: 2010 Audi A3 TDI

By Kevin Harrison

I was driving behind an old Mercedes-Benz diesel a while back and I have to say, it was about as desirable as playing strip poker with your parents. It was just awful.

I actually had to turn my radio up because that diesel clatter was making my ears bleed. Then, despite being 30 degrees outside, I had to roll up my windows because the exhaust coming out of the tailpipe had a rather black/purple-ish hue that would make even Stephen Harper concerned about its effect on the environment. On top of that, the smell was less agreeable than a hockey player locker room after the second period.

For the first time ever, I finally started to understand North American tendencies. Diesels of the past were terrible.

Since then, many automakers have refined diesel technology, most notably Volkswagen. Even though most automakers bailed on the idea of bringing diesels back, Volkswagen stuck with it, leaving them with virtually all the market share. Not a bad move. BMW and Mercedes-Benz have followed suit with each brand offering a small dosage of their diesel technology for open minded North Americans.

Volkswagen has expanded the technology into four of their models. But what if you want a little premium with that oil burner? Well, for the first time Volkswagen has made its famous TDI engine available in the Audi A3. Is it worth it?

Read the rest of this entry »

Save The Manuals!

This is the best thing ever!

Car & Driver has noticed what I and every other sensible person has noticed for a while now. Manual transmissions are going extinct.  Only 10% of cars on the road are manual transmissions! Cars that used the be available with manuals, no longer are. And as Car and Driver puts it, a big reason why is because of “Hollywood douchebags”.

Check out the hilarious video above where Car and Driver pleads to save the manuals in a PSA style ad. Also check out their website to see what you can do.

Consider Car Driven to be a 100% supporter of this initiative!

[Car and Driver]

Art in London

Good. God.

I never wished I was in London this bad in my life.

[Youtube]

Bargain: 2011 Volkwagen Jetta to Start at $15,875

Whoa! I was not expecting this.

Volkswagen Canada announced today that the 2011 Jetta will have a starting price of $15,875 in our market. That’s over six grand less than a base 2010 Jetta!

Thing is, though, you get pretty much the old Jetta set up. That means that 2.Slow litre four cylinder engine making 115 horsepower. You also get the torsion beam suspension which, lets face it, is about as refined as Kid Rock. Also a 5-speed manual is the order of the day instead of a six speed. Despite all this, this will probably work well for Volkswagen, specifically in the Canadian market. VW has been selling the Jetta City in our market for a while now, which is essentially a facelifted previous generation Jetta. And it’s selling well here.

But if all that sounds too underwhelming for you, don’t worry, there will be more powerful Jettas available too. I’m even hearing a revival of the GLI is planned as well. The TDI Highline will be the most expensive Jetta at around $26,000 until the GLI arrives.

[Volkswagen Canada]

And The Cheapest Hybrid Award Goes to…

The Honda CR-Z.

Previously Honda themselves held the honour with the very unimpressive and underwhelming Insight which starts at $24,900. Honda even scared Toyota with that price and had them scrambling to make a hybrid version of their Toyota Yaris so that they could take the cheapest hybrid crown. But I’m sure that idea took the back burner when the results were in on the Insight. Just terrible.

Well Honda has just released Canadian pricing and the supposed successor to the CR-X will start at $23,460 for the six speed manual or $24,290 for the automatic making it the cheapest hybrid available in our market. The CR-Z is also the first ever hybrid available with a manual transmission. Sweet!

But the numbers don’t seem so sweet on paper. I mean, being the successor to the CR-X means that you gotta hold your own in the performance department. And with a 1.5 litre four cylinder engine making 126 horsepower and 136 pound foot torque, well, it just doesn’t seem possible to be fun to drive.

But at least it will be really efficient, right? Nope. While its 5.6 L/100 kms city (6.5 for the automatic) is nothing to sneeze at, this is a hybrid! There are regular gasoline cars that can do those numbers.

So, basically the new CR-Z is going to be nothing special in either performance or efficiency. Way to go, Honda. Let’s just hope it’s better than the Insight.

Oh and by the way, I’m fully aware that the pic above is not the production version of the CR-Z. It’s just I think the concept looked so much better.

[Honda Canada]

Mercedes-Benz Reportedly Working on 9-Speed Automatic

This is just ridiculous.

In the car world, the automaker with the most gears for its automatic transmission is the same as the guy with the biggest penis in a room. It’s nothing more than an ego trip.

Autocar is reporting that Mercedes-Benz indeed wants other automakers to drop their proverbial pants and whip out the measuring tape because they reckon they are going to be the one with the most gears as they are developing a 9-speed automatic. NINE SPEEDS! WTF?

During my test of the BMW 550i GT, I wasn’t even able to make it up to the 8th gear. I would have been arrested and stoned to death on site if I had because I was able to get up to 180 kph in 5th gear alone at 6000 rpm. If I had gotten to the 8th speed, I probably would have been going well over 300 kph! And if you are a cop and you are reading this, then I was just joking about being able to get the 55oi GT to 180 kph in fifth gear.

But seriously, even if you consider having 8 gears for fuel efficiency in mind, it still doesn’t work. You never get to that point. You either need to adjust your speed because of a red light up ahead, or you are in stop in go traffic at rush hour. And on top of that, since it’s an automatic and therefore stupid, it can never make up its mind as to which gear it wants to be in. And then you’re just left with a jolty ride.

Mercedes, if you do indeed do this, you might win the biggest penis contest, but having a big penis is only useful if you have interested parties. And this could be the very thing that could draw customers away.

Think about it.

[Autocar]

Oh Hi: 2011 BMW X3

Behold, the 2011 BMW X3!

We’ve seen spy shots for a while now and after a test mule created a bomb scare in New York, BMW has finally released official images of the second generation  X3.

The new X3 is now wider, taller and longer – something not entirely unexpected thanks to the introduction of the X1 due out next year. The new X3 also gets a bigger signature kidney grille, a more square looking headlight cluster with halo lights standard and signature LED tail lights that are now more in line with the rest of the BMW family.

The X3 Xdrive28i (yes, BMW is still all over that new foolish name scheme) will feature a naturally aspirated 3.0 litre inline six making 240 horsepower and 230 pound feet of torque. This engine is likely going to be the one used in the next generation 128i and 328i as well. 0-100 will take 6.7 seconds, a half a second quicker than the old X3. The X3 Xdrive35i will make 300 horsepower and 300 pound feet of torque from BMW’s new N55 single turbo inline six. 0-100 will take 5.5 seconds.

The new X3 will feature an eight-speed automatic as well as updated everything from the struts, to the suspension.

Production is expected to start at the end of this year. No word yet on Canadian pricing.

For more pics, click here.

[Autoblog]