Have you taken a look at the current line up of Mercedes AMG cars? The sheer number of ludicrously fast cars is staggering. BMW has all of FOUR fast cars. The BMW M3, the M5, the M6 and the Z4 M. At last count, Mercedes has about 15-yes, that’s FIFTEEN-for 2008/2009 (not including duplicate models). Mercedes, if I may say so myself… I love whatever it is you’re doing. 2009 models after the jump.
2008 Models:
451hp Mercedes C63 AMG
507hp Mercedes E63 AMG
507hp Mercedes E63 AMG Wagon
518hp Mercedes S63 AMG
604hp Mercedes S65 AMG
503hp Mercedes ML63 AMG
493hp Mercedes G55 AMG
475hp Mercedes CLK63 AMG
475hp Mercedes CLK63 AMG Black Series
518hp Mercedes CL63 AMG
604hp Mercedes CL65 AMG
617hp Mercedes SLR McLaren (uses an AMG motor)
However I should make it clear that half the reason for such a large number of cars is that the AMG division uses, for the most part, about five separate power plants that are shared between all these cars. A 5.5l V8 (SLK), 5.5l supercharged V8 (G55), 6.2l DOHC V8 (CLS), 6.3l DOHC V8 (C, CL, CLK, SL, S), and a 6.0l SOHC V12 bi-turbo (SL, S, CL).
Continue reading ‘Has Mercedes’ AMG division gone power crazy?’
GMNext.com released a video earlier today of the new Corvette ZR1 doing a pull from 100mph to 200mph. Having watched the video, I brought out my trusty stop watch to get some incredibly unofficial performance numbers for the car. Heres what I found:
100mph to 150mph: 9.7 seconds
The Porsche Carrera GT (the reigning king of the Nurburgring) does 100 to 150mph in 10.4 seconds. So the ZR1’s time of 9.7 should give you a good indication of what the car will be capable of. Watch the video after the break and try to time it for yourself.
Continue reading ‘2009 Corvette ZR1: faster then a Carrera GT from 100mph to 150mph’
First it was reports of a 700hp Nissan GT-R V-Spec. Now it’s none other then the LA Times claiming that the Nissan GT-R is “within a second or two” of the production car lap record for the Nurburgring. Quick reality check: the Nissan GT-R’s 7:38 lap is 11 seconds off the production car record currently held by the Porsche Carrera GT’s 7:28 lap. [And if you consider the Pagani Zonda F clubsport a production car, then the GT-R is nearly 11 seconds of it’s 7:27 lap]
It matters a little, but not a lot, that the GT-R is within a second or two (7 minutes, 38 seconds) of the production-car lap record at Germany’s fabled Nurburgring. After all, most Americans think the Nurburgring is a lobster dish. Full article
It’s pretty outrageous to find articles this inaccurate in a newspaper as large as the LA Times. Perhaps it’s less outrageous as it is unnerving. Do these people even know what they’re writing about?
There is currently a very large battle raging for the title of fastest production car around the Nurburgring. For a manufacturer of a supercar, there is nothing more coveted. Porsche, the reigning king of the ‘Ring, practically designs their cars on the track. It wasn’t until fairly recently that other manufacturers outside of Europe started to take the Nurburgring more seriously; something you might could attribute to all of press coverage garnered by the Corvette Z06 when it put down a 7:42 lap a few years ago.
The participants include: Porsche (who will probably never give up the battle), Lexus (Toyota really), Nissan and Chevrolet. So where do these companies currently stand in their pursuit for the crown?
CONFIRMED:
7:28 - Porsche Carrera GT (company test driver Walther Roehrl)
7:32 - 2008 Porsche 997 GT2 (company test driver Walter Roehrl)
7.38 - Nissan R35 GT-R (company test driver Toshio Suzuki)
7:42.9 - Corvette Z06 (ALMS driver Jan Magnusen)
RUMOR:
7:24 - Lexus LF-A
7:25 - Nissan GT-R V spec (presumably company test driver Toshio Suzuki)
Chevrolet’s entry, the 2009 Corvette ZR1 hasn’t really put done any reliable numbers yet. The only numbers out there are of “low 7:40s” reported for a pair of engineers driving the ZR1.
Hopefully we don’t have to wait much longer for the LF-A, ZR1 and GT-R V Spec to make their times official.
Maybe I’m the last to know, but I just found out that the 2008 “Nissan GT-R” competing in the Super GT GT500 class is powered by a V8 VK45DE (the motor out of a Infiniti FX45, et al), as opposed to any sort of twin turbo V6 configuration you might except: IE, the VR38DETT out of the new Nissan GTR or the VQ30DETT out of the previous generation Nissan Super GT cars. Continue reading after the jump.
Continue reading ‘2008 Nissan GT-R GT500 uses a V8 VK45DE?’
I found this nasty little article over at Garage419.
Lamborghini An Enthusiasts Car? I Think Not.
As the headline states, Lamborghini is definitely not an enthusiasts car. A tool of marketing genius in the past decade? Yes. A playboy’s ultimate accessory? Yes. A rap moguls car? Definitely.
But to actually call Lamborghini’s something an automotive enthusiast would enjoy is utterly absurd. That would be like saying Gigli is something any movie buff would have in their collection. But wait Walter, it just looks so damn good! And with that I have to agree with you, but it stops there.
This guy must have never been a kid (or was born sometime during the 1950s). Most of–if not ALL of–my enthusiasm for Lamborghinis was sparked during my childhood (I was born in 1984). Call it marketing genius or not, but there was something about the absurdity of Lamborghini that spoke to me from the first time I saw one. Day dreaming of the Lamborghini Diablo was nothing short of a daily routine for me. I can still remember the day I first stood next to a Diablo SV at a Corvette dealership in Houston. I swear I must’ve stood there for twenty minutes just trying to visually absorb as much of it as I could.
As for the story of Lamborghini being formed to spite Enzo Ferrari? That probably had as much to do with my Lambo love affair as anything. There is nothing unremarkable about being told to piss off by Mr. Ferrari, and, in an act of revenge, building a cultural icon to rival Ferrari’s cherished namesake. That sort of grandiose and rebellious behavior was something I could easily relate to at a young age.
Continue reading ‘Garage419: Lamborghini is not an enthusiasts car’
I decided to use a 1/4 mile calculator to estimate the ZR1s potential in the 1/4 mile. Using a 3400lbs car weight and 620hp (flywheel), I came up with a 10.82 ET. For a test in accuracy I punched in the numbers for a C6 Z06: 3200lbs car, 505hp: 11.36. Those calculations are almost identical to real life considering that the C6 Z06s are consistently running 11.2-11.4s (stock with street tires) in the quarter.
Some of my calculations put the ZR-1’s 1/4 mile time in as low as 10.6. Obviously we can’t factor in traction issues, but I’m willing to bet these numbers aren’t far off.
THE 1/4 mile NUMBERS (ESTIMATED ZR1 TIMES):
1/4: 10.8@133mph (conservative)
1/4: 10.6@136mph (liberal)
Side note: I guarantee you that no magazine is going to get the ZR1 down the 1/4 mile in under 11 seconds. Most magazines generally make a mockery of the true acceleration numbers for performance cars. Just look at Edmunds, they managed a 12.1 in the C6 Z06.
Continue reading ‘Corvette ZR-1 Performance Estimates’
