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August 13, 2016 zoomvroom Car Culture, Car Reviews, Gifts for the Car Enthusiast, New car info, The History of Autos, World News

The Perfect Balance of Street and Track in a Corvette

Some of you might know how the “Grand Sport” name for the Chevrolet Corvette. If you don’t, let me explain. In 1963, Zora Arkus-Duntov was hoping to build 125 lightweight, high-power homologation-special Corvette Sting Rays so Chevrolet could qualify for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. GM smashed that plan to smithereens after Chevrolet had built just five of the so-called Corvette Grand Sports. All five were quickly spirited under the table off to legendary racers with last names like Penske, Foyt, and Hall. All five cars were raced without any factory support.

Since then, Chevrolet has revived the Grand Sport name twice – once in 1996 and once in 2010. Both of those times, the badge meant special editions with beautiful bodywork, but no massive performance gain, unlike the 1963 Grand Sports. The 1996 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and 2010 Z06 would still outperform the Grand Sports. Of course, the 2010 Corvette ZR1 was still the most serious Corvette of that generation of Corvette.

Of course, Chevrolet’s engineers went hog-wild with the C7 Stingray Z06. It’s a combination of a massively powerful engine that has been described as one of the best-sounding engines ever (I agree), absolutely brilliant suspension, and enough computing power to sequence the human genome. Yet, it’s so approachable for the average driver that it’s truly mind-boggling. It also costs around $80,000. It’s a true giant-killer, especially with a professional driver. Even without a professional driver, this is not a car you want to tangle with.

The Z06 is also quite unlike the Corvette Racing C7.R that competes in one of the highest echelons of motorsports – endurance racing. The C7.R’s that quite simply walked away with the win at this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona actually make less power than the Z06 you can get on your dealership’s showroom floor. There’s no supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V8 shrieking under the hood of the race-winning C7.R – those drivers have to make do with a 5.5-liter V8 sucking air through a restricted air intake the diameter of a garden hose. Because power is handicapped by a rule book (which didn’t stop NASCAR legend Smokey Yunick), the Corvette Racing team wins races with unworldly grip and highly aggressive aerodynamics. Let’s put it this way – their strategy works well.

It’s interesting that the new Grand Sport, which is the mid-range model, lives up to the “street-legal race car” cliche. It’s got some of the best street tires in the world, aggressive aerodynamics enhancements, and stock engine. Oh, and it comes with a warranty, something most race cars can’t brag about.

Let’s start off with the tires – Michelin Pilot Super Sports are standard tires, or even stickier Pilot Sport Cup 2s with the Z07 high-performance option package, which are the same tires you can get on the Z06. They’re much wider than the standard Stingray tires (40 mm wider up front, 50 mm wider out back), which means that Chevy had to put the Z06’s massive, bulging fenders to clear the massive tires.

GM’s truly brilliant Magnetic Ride Control is standard equipment, as is the highly advanced electronic limited-slip differential, as are the Z06-derived chassis sports custom stabilizer bars and springs. You can pair the brilliant 460-horsepower, 465 lb-ft, dry-sump LT1 V8 with a fantastic 7-speed manual transmission or a pretty darn good 8-speed automatic, both of which come with the Stingray and Z06. What does the Z07 package add? Carbon ceramic brakes, and even more aggressive aero, mostly.

Now, let’s move onto the beautiful bodywork. It’s mostly borrowed from the Z06 part bin. However, it’s got Grand Sport-specific front fender vent inserts. What about from the Z06? It’s got the Z06’s wider track (how far apart the wheels are from each other), an open-mouth front grille, and big differential cooling vents on the rear fenders. The Grand Sport has a Z06-spec front splitter, front splitters, and wickerbill rear spoiler, all of which are finished in carbon fiber in the Z07 trim. Chevy claims that they all create downforce, but the Z06’s clear plastic Gurney flip isn’t available on the Grand Sport. Oh, and then there’s a Heritage package, which adds the traditional front fender hash marks, which are now connected in a horseshoe shape. I somehow forgot to mention that Chevy has more than the entire rainbow’s worth of body, hash, and full-length racing stripe combinations.

Inside the Grand Sport, there is badging depicting the 1963 Grand Sport #002 (the only roadster out of Zora Arkus-Duntov’s original five Grand Sports) on the floor mats, headrests, and on a dash plaque directly ahead of the shifter. The brushed aluminum halo on the right of the center stack has a subtle racing stripe, which is created by rotating the brushing pattern on the metal 90 degrees during the polishing process.

Chevy says that the Grand Sport will hurtle it’s way to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, and blast through the quarter mile in 11.8 seconds. I’m going to say that’s probably because the Grand Sport has much better tires than the Stingray does.

The Grand Sport weighs in at 3,252 pounds, which is 98 pounds lighter than the Z06. Because there’s no gigantic supercharger, the hood is lower, affording much greater visibility of the road.

Even with the windows up, the A/C on full blast, and the engine contentedly burbling along at 1500 rpm in one of the Grand Sport’s many overdrive gears, you’ll still easily pull over 1 g without the car breaking a sweat. You won’t either.

We’ll move onto the price now. The Grand Sport coupe starts at just a freckle under $66,500, which is a $5,000 premium over the Stingray. It’s also about $14,000 cheaper than a Z06. If you want to drop the top on any Corvette, plan to shell out an additional $4,000. Do you want the Z07 package? Give Chevy $8,000. Even if you buy the Grand Sport convertible with the Z07 package, that still gives you about $2000 to get some accessories, or haggling wiggle room.

The Z06 is a great car – don’t get me wrong. However, the Grand Sport was designed with a different purpose in mind. The Z06 is powerful in a way that you’ll rarely be able to enjoy. 650 horsepower is more than you’ll ever be able to use on the street – with one quick stab of the gas pedal, you’ll be well on your way to jail. On the track, it goads you into probing it’s incredibly high limits, all the while serving a main course of absolutely brilliant chassis tuning and suspension, with a side of driver aides for that moment when you push it too far. To do that on public roads, you’d better have a top-notch lawyer, a very good health insurance plan, and a glovebox filled with bribe money. OK, you can forget about the last part. Cops really don’t like it if you try and give them $20,000 in $1 bills…

The Grand Sport does something truly incredible. Chevrolet designed this car to have the same absurd limits as the Z06, but never leave you feeling like it’s a waste of horsepower because you can never floor it. While grip, balance, and power all work together, which is what makes low-power sports cars so fun, they become magical when you turn the dial up to 11.

What would happen if you put the optional Z06-spec Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires to your Corvette Stingray Z51? It’s obvious that sticky tires are key to making a good car handle well. However, good tires won’t work as well unless the chassis and suspension are dialed into those tires. Even if you somehow figured out how to make those tires fit under a stock Stingray Z51’s seductive bodywork (remember that the Z06 is three inches wider in the back), you still would have a lot of work to do. The ABS system wouldn’t be properly calibrated. Stability control intervention would be much more sudden, and the brakes would slow you down almost instantly because the Z51’s brake calibration is designed for less sticky tires. That means it would apply more brake than necessary. The electronic limited-slip differential wouldn’t perform as well, either. The suspension would also be woefully undersized relative to the massive amounts of grip that the tires generate, which would make the car feel sloppy.

What does this all boil down to? It’s more than a sloppy badge job, far more than a Corvette with some random Z06 parts, and more than a throwback to a legend. It’s the real deal, folks. This car isn’t tuned to within an inch of it’s life (and yours). This is a race car for the…wait, I don’t endorse illegal activities here.

February 23, 2016 zoomvroom Car Culture, New car info, Random, The auto dictionary. Look it up here!

The Cars Best Suited for Just One Task

A lot of time, cars will try and be good at everything, and fail miserably. They end up being great at nothing. The cars I’m going to list all aimed for one specific thing, and completely dominate it.

Alfa Romeo 4C: Putting Italian car reliability concerns out the window, let’s talk about what a wonderful car the Alfa Romeo 4C is. It’s the perfect dance partner for winding mountain roads. The sensible money would go to the Porsche Cayman. The Cayman is a wonderful car – don’t get me wrong there. It’s got fantastic power, an interior that would make any car proud, and is relatively affordable. Look at the Alfa Romeo 4C on paper. It looks like an awful car to own. Four-cylinder engine, manual steering, few creature comforts, and some interior trim pieces wouldn’t look out of place in a Chevy Spark. Drive it in the city, and you’ll want to stop it in traffic and run after the bus. But, take it out on a winding back road and you’ll never want to stop driving it. It’s got a guttural four-cylinder with a whooshing turbocharger, a quick-shifting dual clutch transmission, and who needs navigation or a radio for back road blasting?
Dodge Viper ACR: All it takes is one quick look to realize that the Dodge Viper ACR is probably one of the worst cars to drive on a daily basis. It’s got a massive rear wing, a thundering exhaust note that you can hear from a mile away, and it’s just a big car. It would be intriguing to see someone try to daily drive one, but my spine says let them do it! This car is built to keep up with racecars on the track, and set records. That’s exactly what it does. So far, it’s set lap records at 13 different tracks. Yes, 13 different tracks. Few street cars, save for hypercars (even those would have a serious run for their money), could have any chance of touching this car. The exhaust note might sound like it’s right out of a tractor, but tractors sound nice to me!
Dodge Challenger Hellcat: How can you not love 707 horsepower for around $60,000? If you expected Dodge to turn it’s burnout machine into some sort of corner carving demon, you should just press ALT + F4 right now. It’s got no interest in chasing Viper ACRs and McLaren P1s around tracks or canyon roads; no this car is the best for burnouts and drag racing (it ran 10.80 seconds in the 1/4 mile on street-legal drag slicks).
Jeep Wrangler Rubicon: The Jeep Wrangler has always been one of those vehicles that even non-car people love. It makes you feel instantly cooler, no matter what job you have, even if you never take it off-road. This is especially true in Rubicon form. Just promise me that you’ll take it off-road, because that’s where you WILL be cool. You don’t need to do anything to it to go just about anywhere in it. Just put some gas, friends, and a cooler full of cold drinks and some snacks, and you’re good to hit the trails.
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo: There used to be a time when the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo was one of the most desirable cars out there. It had cutting-edge technology that made it feel like you were blasting down a rally stage, even if you were just going to work. Today, unfortunately, that’s far from the case. With Mitsubishi’s announcement that they are going to be ceasing production of the Evo, and no significant updates to the car since it’s launch in 2008, it feels, like well, a car from 2008. However, that all changes when you get less traction. It doesn’t matter how old the car feels; it just feels right at home. That’s where all Evos have shined, and this one is no exception. Taking one for a spin down a dirt road will put a gigantic grin on your face.
Nissan Versa: Many people think that the Mitsubishi Mirage is the cheapest new car sold in the U.S., but they are wrong. The Nissan Versa starts about $1,000 lower than the Mirage. If you’re paying $60,000 for a luxury sedan, $1,000 is pretty insignificant. With a $12,000 car, that’s a lot. Then again, you don’t get much of anything for that price. You get air conditioning, ABS, and traction control, and a radio. That’s about all of the major things on the car. Still, it’s the best at being the cheapest new car sold in the U.S. Yes there are dealer wars to see who can sell the car for the least amount of money, but that’s always been the case.
Ram ProMaster: If all the cargo you carry home is takeout from Domino’s, then chances are likely that you don’t need a Ram ProMaster. But, if you haul a bunch of stuff around all day, every day, then the Ram ProMaster is a great choice. It’s got an incredibly low loading height, and a lot of space. With all the stuff you can carry in it, you’ll be catching a bunch of nasty looks from UPS and FedEx drivers.
Rolls-Royce Phantom: Set aside it’s hefty price tag for a minute. It weighs nearly 6,000 pounds. It’s far from a driver’s car. Even though it has a 6.8-liter V12, it’s far from a fast car. But, the Phantom chucks all of those notions out the window. It’s not concerned with any of those petty things. No, it’s by far the most comfortable car you could ever be in. It’s sumptuous leather seats have only the finest hides sourced from the finest tanneries in the world. It’s whisper-quiet. It’s also astronomically expensive.
Toyota Prius: Yes, I know what you’re thinking. I lost my mind a very long time ago! The Toyota Prius is the ultimate car for fuel economy. The new Prius is more fun to drive than the previous generation, but it’s no sports car by any stretch of the imagination. If you go with the Eco model, you’ll get an incredible 58 mpg city and 50 mpg highway. It also looks worlds better. The Prius has been a ground-pounder in terms of paving the way for every other mainstream hybrid.
Pagani Huayra: For outright beauty, the Huayra is untouchable. It’s also stonking fast, but there are few cars that you can just sit and stare at for days at a time. It has so many beautiful little details that you really have to look for. It’s the brainchild of the absolutely brilliant industrial designer Horacio Pagani, the man who helped revolutionize carbon fiber technology back in the late 1980s.
Ford F-550: This behemoth pickup truck is one of the heavyweights in the towing/hauling ring. It’s basically a step below an International TerraStar. It can tow up to 26,000 pounds, which is absolutely mind-boggling. The insane part is that it does it without really breaking a sweat. It also costs a lot of money, but if you tow and haul lots of heavy stuff around all the time, there is no better option. All you need is a Class C driver’s license, which is the same one for passenger cars.
Mazda Miata: For cheap thrills, nothing beats a Mazda Miata. It’s cheap, fights far out of it’s class, and wins. It’s slow in a straight line, but few cars can catch it in the curves. It’s also really nice to go for a late-night cruise with the top down in your Miata.
Dodge Grand Caravan: Like hauling people around, but don’t need a 12-passenger van? The Dodge Grand Caravan is your ticket. It’s got a powerful V6, lots of space, a nice interior, and is easy on the wallet. It’s probably one of the best vehicles to pile your friends in, and go for a long road trip in. Even the third row is usable for adults!

Tell me what your favorite cars at one specific task are!

July 8, 2015 zoomvroom Car Culture, New car info, Random, The auto dictionary. Look it up here!, The History of Autos

How the Lamborghini V12 Has Evolved Over the Years

Lamborghini is perhaps best known for it’s screaming V12-powered supercars that seem to defy physics. Here’s how these screaming machines have evolved.

1966 Lamborghini Miura: The first Lamborghini supercar was the Miura, which debuted in 1966 at the Geneva Motor Show. It was the first of the big Lamborghinis. Of course, the big ones are the ones that scare you just by unlocking them. That’s how you know a car is fast. The Miura made 350 horsepower, which was more than enough to move a car that weighed under 3,000 pounds.
It’s one of the most captivating designs of the 20th century, especially in red.
1969 Lamborghini Miura S: It was basically a facelifted Miura with an extra 20 horsepower. Oh, and Miles Davis crashed one when he was high on cocaine. A man very revered in the racing world, James Glickenhaus, pulled the high and bloody Davis out of his totaled Lamborghini.
Lamborghini really delivered with this one…
1971 Lamborghini Miura SV: The final iteration of the Miura brought the power up to a then-absurd 385 horsepower, and lost the frilly eyelashes that previously surrounded the headlights. Lamborghini also came up with what was then a novel idea, splitting up the lubrication for the gearbox and transmission.
This was the best iteration of the Miura. The most power, lightest weight, and all of the kinks were ironed out.
1974 Lamborghini Countach: The curvaceous Miura was replaced by the blocky Countach, a car that looks like it was designed by a high school geometry student. It was a good car, but it was not without it’s flaws. Visibility was like looking out of a concrete bunker 50 feet below the ground. Another complaint was that the car was a much better pinup than it was a car. Just about every boy in the 1970s had a poster of a Lamborghini Countach hanging on his bedroom wall. The first version of the Countach had no massive wing and 370 horsepower.
1978 Lamborghini Countach LP400S: The LP400S lost 20 horsepower, but it also got wider wheels. The 1974-1977 models had skinny little wheels and tires that had no grip to them. That famous gigantic rear wing was an option that looked super cool, but cost you 10 mph.
1982 Lamborghini Countach LP500S: Just about the only change to the 1982 version of the Countach was the introduction of a 4.7-liter V12.
1985 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 QV: This is my dream Countach. The engine was a 455-horsepower 5.2-liter V12. Interestingly enough, when Lamborghini switched from carburetors to fuel injection on the very same engine, horsepower dropped to a still-impressive 414 horsepower.
It should be obvious why this is my dream Countach…
1988 Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary Edition: It was mechanically identical to the LP5000 QV, but it had a body that Horacio Pagani (yes, that Horacio Pagani) redesigned. It was a love it or hate it design, and most people fell on the side of hate. I don’t know why. It’s still blocky, but it’s a good looking car.
1990 Lamborghini Diablo: Marcello Gandini started the design, and Chrysler’s Tom Gale finished it. It had a 5.7-liter V12 cranking out 492 horsepower. It’s top speed was a then-diabolical 202 mph, which exceeded the initial target by six mph. It didn’t come with power steering.
I’m not sure I’d want to go 202 mph in a car with no power steering, especially with no electronic nannies to save me.
1993 Lamborghini Diablo VT: The Diablo VT was the first AWD car from Lamborghini. It could send up to 25 percent of it’s power to the front wheels, which drastically helped it’s traction. It also had redesigned intakes to improve cooling, a new interior, and various cosmetic changes to differentiate it from the “base” Diablo.
1995 Lamborghini Diablo SV: The SV was supposed to be the most diabolical Diablo out there. Because of this, it had 510 horsepower and RWD. It was also the cheapest Diablo available, which really doesn’t make sense.
Yes, those wheels are stock, and super cool!
1995 Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster: It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a Lamborghini Diablo VT with an electric folding carbon fiber top. Power went up to 530 horsepower for 1998.
1999 Lamborghini Diablo: The 1999 model was the first year that the Diablo didn’t have pop-up headlights. Instead, the SV model, which was the base model, had the same headlights as the Nissan 300ZX. I’m not joking. It also got a new interior, ABS, and power was now at 530 horsepower. The Diablo VT got the same upgrades.
1999 Lamborghini Diablo GT: Talk about absurd. The Diablo GT was basically a race car for the road. It was stripped down, the bodywork was substantially different from other Diablos, and it had a new 6.0-liter V12 making 575 horsepower. It was incredibly fast.
Looks can be deceiving. It might look somewhat similar to the 1995 SV model, but it is very different.
2000 Lamborghini Diablo VT 6.0: The final iteration of the Diablo got a redesign that made it look much smoother, thanks to Audi’s purchase of the company. The more subdued design, coupled with the engine from the Diablo GT made it a much better car to drive and look at.
2002 Lamborghini Murcielago: Yes, I know that it means “bat” in Spanish, but it is still a very intriguing car. Don’t let the name get to you. It was the first V12-powered Lamborghini to be designed and engineered in-house. It had 572 horsepower, and was only available with AWD. It also made extensive use of active aero and active cooling to keep the exterior of the car relatively clean-looking. It was also the first time that an automated manual transmission was offered in a Lamborghini. A roadster followed in 2004, with an overly complicated manual roof.
2006 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640: The big Murcielago now made 632 horsepower from its 6.5-liter V12, and it had a slightly revised body. Carbon ceramic brakes were an option, just in case you really wanted to show how well your supercar could stop.
2008 Lamborghini Reventon: The Reventon was essentially a rebodied Murcielago LP640. It was inspired by fighter jets, and as such, had creases and angles galore. It had an interior like a fighter jet cockpit, which meant it was extremely cramped, but it had a unique TFT display, instead of analog gauges like the Murcielago. Lamborghini only built 21 coupes and 15 roadsters.
2009 Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV: The fastest Murcielago ever to leave the Lamborghini factory doors was the LP670-4 SV. It had 661 horsepower, a heavily revised body, a stripped interior, and came standard with a massive wing. The wing limited it’s top speed to 209 mph. The optional smaller wing brings the speed up to 212 mph, but also provides less downforce. You could get it with either the clunky automated manual or a true six speed manual. I really want to have one with the big wing and the six speed. Help me find one!
How can you not want something like this, especially when it reeks of awesome?
2012 Lamborghini Aventador: The Aventador picked up where the Reventon left off. It’s all creases and angles, and is one of the most intimidating-looking cars in the world. The 6.5-liter V12 pumps out 691 horsepower, and sends power to all four wheels through one of the worst transmissions ever. It can never replicate the same shift. You either get shoved back into your seat, or you get an imperceptible shift. For something that costs so much, it should have a good transmission. A roadster is also available.
2013 Lamborghini Veneno: Like the Reventon, the Veneno is another extreme styling exercise. Lamborghini really went all out this time in terms of design and price, as the car cost upwards of $4 million. There are four coupes (one is in the Lamborghini museum), and nine roadsters.
The styling might be quirky, but the performance is not.
2015 Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SV: This might very well be the ultimate Aventador. It’s certainly the fastest. It proved itself by going around the legendary Nurburgring racetrack in 6:59. It’s just seconds off the Porsche 918 Spyder’s lap time of 6:57. The SV has 750 horsepower, AWD, heavily revised aerodynamics, and is 110 pounds lighter. And yes, Lamborghini has confirmed that they will make a roadster version of it.
And there you have it. The latest in a long line of high-performance cars. This is the most diabolical, yet civilized of them all.

December 17, 2014 zoomvroom Car Culture

The Vehicles That Forever Changed the Automotive Landscape

These are not the best cars ever made. Rather, they are the cars that have shaped modern cars. I hope that you enjoy my list. Please share any corrections if you feel necessary.

Ford Model T: This was the car that made the production line possible. It was also the car that made cars affordable to the American public. Ford produced well over 15 million of them before production ended in 1927. They are fairly simple to own, and they can keep up with city traffic if you want. With so many built, there are many clubs and associations for the Model T all over the country. Just look up “Ford Model T club <insert your area here>” on Google. I can practically guarantee you that there is at least one club that you can join if you are the new owner of a Model T. People drive them all over the place on tours. You can take one into Alaska if you so please. There are always plenty for sale anywhere between $10,000-40,000. If you want to daily drive one, all you need is a good arm to crank-start it, and some adjustments to the timing. Just retard the timing a big, be gentle with the gas, and you’ll have a car that gets up to 35 mph. That’s plenty good for most city driving.
1916 Cadillac Type 53: Every single modern car owes a lot to this Caddy. It was the first car EVER to come from the factory with an electric starter and a modern control layout, both of which we take for granted today. The Type 53 wasn’t popular with Americans or the world, mostly because of it’s price (about $3,000). However, the Austin Seven copied the Caddy and set the die for all cars to come. Yet, I still credit the Cadillac.
1932 Ford: This was the first affordable car available to the American public with a V-8 engine. It had a flathead V-8 making a whopping 85 horsepower. Today, that’s comparable to a car making 500 horsepower from a V-6 (not unheard of). Anyhow, it was affordable to some Americans. It became known as “The Deuce,” as did the third-generation Chevrolet Nova. It was the fastest affordable car of it’s day, which is why it was the escape vehicle of choice for Bonnie and Clyde. It’s unclear how many were made, but it’s estimated that well over 1.5 million were sold. Remember that Ford was selling these cars in 1932, right before the peak of the Great Depression! It became one of the most popular cars to hot rod. I want one, and we can call ourselves lucky that there are reproduction steel bodies, chassis (yes, that is plural and singular), and used engines aplenty. How’s that for cool? You can build your very own reproduction Deuce for about $20,000. It’s going to be so much more fun than that Corolla you’ve had your eye on.
Willys/Bantam/Ford Jeep: WWII veterans say that the Jeep was the vehicle that won WWII. They are right. It can still embarrass most purpose-built vehicles on a dirt road or in mud. It was the first 4X4 to be sold to the American public en masse, and it proved to be popular. After WWII, Willys decided to market the Jeep as an alternative to a tractor for farmers. Chrysler still rakes in hundreds of millions on new Jeep Wranglers every year. It’s truly an iconic vehicle.
1948 MG TC: This little wood-framed British roadster is what allowed such amazing cars as the Lotus Elise, Mazda Miata, and even the mighty Shelby Cobra to be. Every single great American racing legend – Carroll Shelby, Phil Hill, Richie Ginther, and many others got their start in an MG TC. On a winding road, this little car that only made 55 horsepower and 64 lb-ft of torque would simply run away from any American car, regardless of power output. Much of what we hold dear as an automotive enthusiast was started by this little car. It’s influence on every single sports car from 1948 on is immeasurable. It’s still fast enough to embarrass a modern Chevy Camaro Z/28 on a windy road. That’s pretty damn fast for a car that makes 450 less horsepower.
VW Beetle Type 1: It’s the single most-produced car in history. It’s an elegantly simple design that has stood the test of time better than most cars produced at the same time. It was the foundation for the legendary Porsche 356, Meyers Manx dune buggy, and VW Transporter bus. It was FWD, came as either a convertible or a coupe, had a tiny rear-mounted four-cylinder engine, and cost far less than any new American car on the road. It became extremely popular with people of all ages and demographics. Many new parents went out and bought a Beetle, and it would serve millions of families around the world faithfully for 20 years or more without major problems. Most new cars can’t say that. In the hippie movement, it became extremely popular. Once the off-roading community got their hands on one, the legendary Baja Bug was born. It is still fast enough to keep pace with a modern Trophy Truck in the horrible dirt roads of Baja, or the sand dunes of Pismo Beach. Almost every desert town in the world will have at least several Baja Bugs running around. It’s fast, sturdy, and capable, yet can be driven around town without complaining. And the best part is you can build yourself one for about $5,000! That’s not including a starter vehicle, by the way! My grandparents owned one. You probably know somebody who’s owned one.
Toyota 2000GT: This was the car that put the Japanese automotive industry on notice with the world. It was a more expensive alternative to the Jaguar E-Type, Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Thunderbird, Porsche 911, and the like. It’s achingly gorgeous, and only a handful were built. It’s also achingly expensive. Toyota proved that they could hang with whatever Europe happened to build. James Bond drove one.
Lamborghini Miura: It’s not the quintessential Lamborghini – that goes to the equally-amazing Countach, but it set the standard for supercars. It came around because Ferrucio Lamborghini wanted to build a better Ferrari. When Lamborghini was going to debut the Miura concept car at the Geneva Motor Show in 1965, they didn’t even have a body! They had a chassis with a V-12, a transmission, and wheels. That was it. However, the Miura looks absolutely stunning. It’s one of the most beautiful cars ever built, and every single supercar owes a lot to the Lamborghini Miura.
Citroen DS: When it debuted in 1955, it was the most technologically-advanced car in the world. It had hydraulic suspension, a streamlined fiberglass body shell, four wheel disc brakes, a twin-cam V6, and many other technological innovations. It was one of the first truly modern cars. One can compare it to the Tesla Model S. That’s how revolutionary it was.
1955-1957 Chevrolet 210/Bel Air: The Tri-Five Chevrolet’s are some of the most beautiful cars ever produced. My personal favorite is the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air coupe. The 1955 Chevy became forever immortalized with Two Lane Blacktop and American Graffiti. Yes, the sinister ’55 is the same car in both movies! The 1955 Chevrolet introduced the revolutionary Chevrolet small-block (Mouse motor) V-8 to the world. The 1957 Chevy Bel Air with the 283 cubic-inch V-8 and Rochester mechanical fuel injection became legendary on NASCAR tracks and dragstrips around the country. It was as fast the Jaguar E-Type 10 years later. I’m still wanting one!
Austin Mini: Alec Issigonis sketched it on a bar napkin. He never knew that it would become one of the most popular vehicles of the 20th century. Let’s forget that it’s a cultural icon for a moment. It was the first FWD car to come with a transversely-mounted engine (the engine was mounted sideways), which means that it’s the template for most FWD cars on the road today. It became a motorsports icon in everything from endurance racing to rally racing. It also became iconic in several movies – The Italian Job, The Bourne Identity, Mr. Bean, and Goldmember. It’s also a major cultural icon.
Ford Explorer: This was the vehicle that kicked off the SUV craze of the 1990s-today. It was based off of the lowly Ranger pickup, but had a comfortable interior and the second generation had good looks. It’s still a best-seller today. It’s popular with the off-road community because it’s a Ranger with more space for people. My parents owned one. You probably know somebody who’s owned one.
Shelby Cobra: Yeah it’s an obvious one for this list. Carroll Shelby took a British roadster, and put a small-block Ford motor from the Mustang into it. Then, he went hog-wild and put a big-block Ford into it. That catapulted the Shelby Cobra into automotive fame. Anybody who knows something about cars knows of the Shelby Cobra. It could hang with anything. It could beat a Chevrolet Corvette with the coveted L88 big-block V-8 in the curves and straightaways. It dominated endurance and road racing for a glorious 3 years before Shelby stopped production of it. It also dominated the NHRA Pro Stock drag racing class for a few years. Today, there are at least 20 different companies who will sell you a Cobra replica. Get a Factory Five replica. It’s Shelby of North America licensed, and it comes with modern mechanical parts, yet can still hang with a modern hypercar.
Chevrolet El Camino: In it’s first generation, it was quite a looker. Chevy didn’t sell too terribly many of the Impala-based ute, but you’ve probably seen a few driving around your town/city. The second generation proved to be much more popular. It was based off of the massively popular Chevelle, and you could get one with the rare, coveted LS6 V-8. I remember reading an article about an owner of an LS6 Elco (a nickname for the El Camino), and he said that he has to drive it around with sandbags in the bed to keep it from spinning out. That’s what happens when you have a massively-underrated 450 horsepower and no weight over the rear tires. If you could get it to hook up, it would go through the 1/4 mile in 13 seconds flat at 125 mph. That’s about as fast as a modern sports car. I’ve heard driving one isn’t any different than driving a Chevelle, except for throttle modulation. Flooring it from a stop, even with the still-powerful 327 cubic-inch V-8 will give a glorious burnout. I want one.
1968-1970 Dodge Charger/Charger 500/Daytona: The second-generation Dodge Charger is one of the most beautiful cars ever built. It’s got muscular elegance. It had curvy “Coke Bottle” styling, and a plethora of engine choices. The base engine was the “poly” 318 cubic-inch small-block V-8 that stayed in production in one form or another from 1959-2004. The next step up was the 383 cubic-inch “Commando” big-block V-8. After that, it was the 440 “Super Commando” big-block V-8. One rung above that was the 440 Six Pack – a 440 with three two-barrel Holley carburetors. The top of the ladder was the mighty 426 HEMI “Elephant Motor” big-block V-8. The Charger 500 was designed for NASCAR, so it had a rear window flush with the body, along with other small aero modifications. The Daytona was truly legendary. Only 503 were sold to the general public, only 70 of which had the 426 HEMI. The rest had the 440 Six Pack. It was designed for NASCAR superspeedways, and it truly dominated. It looked comical with it’s 19-inch long nose cone and nearly two-foot tall rear wing. The only reason the wing was so high is that anything shorter and the trunk wouldn’t close! The Charger was catapulted into fame by The Dukes of Hazzard for one generation, and for the millenials, they were captivated by the supercharged 1968 Charger used in Fast & Furious.
Datsun 240Z: This little Japanese sports car wasn’t a smashing success, but it certainly left it’s mark on sports cars. It was light, looked drop-dead gorgeous, had a reliable, powerful engine, and a five-speed manual transmission. Very few cars at the time had a five-speed. All of that combined meant that it was a serious threat on a windy road. Today, they are becoming collector cars, which is a shame, as they are built to be driven. That’s not to be said that you can’t find a cheap one – you still can. Hot rodders who are enamored by Japanese cars, but love the power of an American V-8 put a Chevy small-block V-8 and some suspension bits in, and have one hell of a ride. My grandparents and dad owned one.
Audi Quattro: This AWD notchback with a turbocharged 5-cylinder engine was so successful on the rally circuit that AWD was banned from the sport for about 10 years. Stock, it’s not at all reliable (except for the first two years of production), but upgrading the engine internals will give you a strong, reliable, fast, and cool daily driver. It’s truly an all-weather car. I chose this car because of the impact that it had on rallycross and rally racing. Any car with AWD past 1985 would have been much worse if it weren’t for the Audi Quattro. My uncle owned one. He should have kept it and given it to me.
Ford Mustang: This was the car that started the ponycar craze. No matter how much Ford hypes it as a muscle car (and Chevy with the Camaro), it IS NOT and never will be. It is a pony car. The Dodge Challenger is a muscle car. Sorry Ford, but I’m just stating the truth. Don’t shoot the messenger. That being said, Ford introduced a whole new type of car to America. Buying a Mustang with the base six-cylinder engine meant that you were carefree but had to watch your cash. Getting it with the V-8 meant that you were carefree, but who cared about money – you only live once! Getting it as a convertible only reinforced that. The Shelby GT350 Mustang of 1965 was part of a deal with Hertz where you could rent the car on Friday, drive it to the racetrack on Saturday, race and win, go again on Sunday and win, and then drive it back to the rental lot. It was somewhat streetable, but it really did well on the racetrack. Carroll Shelby originally didn’t want to do it – he told Lee Iaccoca that “Lee, you can’t make a racehorse out of a mule.” Yet that so-called mule became a massive racing success. It’s still in production 50 years later. Many American moms went from a station wagon to a Mustang and never looked back.
Pontiac GTO: Originally offered as a package on the mid-size Tempest in 1963, the GTO took the thundering 389 cubic-inch V-8 from the Le Mans and shoved it into the considerably smaller Tempest. It was a smashing success, so Pontiac decided to turn it into it’s own model in 1964. It was much more popular that way, and the ultimate model was the 1969 Judge Ram Air IV. It came with the then-new 455 cubic-inch V-8 and a functional Ram Air hood (the Ram Air package came in four stages), a Muncie M-22 “Rock Crusher” transmission, and bodywork that let you know that you really were king of the street. It was truly stunning, especially in green. It went dormant for 20+ years before appearing as a rebadged Holden Monaro in the US. It wasn’t very popular. It’s probably because Ford launched the retro-styled S197-generation Mustang right around the same time. The 2004-2006 GTO looked nothing at all like any other GTO. It didn’t look very good. Nowadays, the modern “Goat” is popular with hot rodders who want to have all of the modern conveniences and glorious power. Some even take the body off of the GTO and put on a classic car’s body. Voila, you have a car that looks like a classic, but handles and drives like a new car. Plus, they are easy to put bigger engines in. Drifters are starting to find them. Beware.
Lexus LS400: This big Lexus was the car that sent Germany scrambling back to the drawing board. The LS400 competed with the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7-Series. The German cars were stodgy cruisers that were heavy, large beasts on the street, but smooth on the highway. The Lexus took that trademark Japanese agility and feeling of being a smaller car, threw in a buttery-smooth engine and transmission (the ads showed a champagne flute on the hood while the engine revved. The champagne never overflowed – or came close to that!), a sumptuous leather interior, and made it a fun car to drive. Lexus kept it in production from 1989-2000 in one basic form or another. It sold well, and is a completely bulletproof car in terms of reliability.
Chevrolet S-10: OK, I am a bit biased on this, but hear me out. The Chevrolet S-10 replaced the dismal LUV pickups of the 1970s in 1982. It came with an underpowered 4-cylinder engine or a more powerful 2.8-liter V-6. In 1988, Chevy added their new 4.3-liter V-6 to the S-10. It literally doubled the towing and hauling capacity, as well as making it a far more enjoyable truck to drive. My S-10 is a 1989 Tahoe model. That means that it was top of the line. It has a cloth interior, an AM/FM radio, air conditioning, and it has fuel injection (the 1988 model had a carburetor). You could get it as a regular cab or an extended cab. Bed sizes were a 5-foot bed or a 6.5-foot bed. That’s not huge, but for somebody in a crowded city who needs a pickup, it’s perfect. You could get it in 2WD or 4WD. Mine is 2WD. It was wildly successful, and you can still see a lot on the road. Some people are taking modern Chevy LS3 E-Rod engines (smog-legal V-8’s) and stuffing them into an S-10. They’re quite the sleeper.
Porsche 911 Turbo: When it first debuted in 1975, it was a total animal of a car. Lift off of the gas going into a corner, and you’d hit the guardrail with the backside of the car. You had to keep your foot in it. It made an underrated 276 horsepower (think closer to 350), had no ABS, a clutch that was so stiff that some had to literally push their leg down to depress the clutch, and a 5-speed manual transmission. It was a total monster of a car that dominated the racing circuits, but was completely and totally unstreetable. But, put one on a windy canyon road, modulate the throttle, and you had a recipe for speed. Porsche still makes it. However, it now makes a ridiculous 520 horsepower, and is truly the ultimate all-weather supercar.
Ford GT40: This was the car that dominated endurance racing during the 1960’s. It was the result of Enzo Ferrari refusing to sell his company to Ford in 1964. Henry Ford II decided to beat Enzo Ferrari at his own game on his own turf. Talk about owning a bully. The GT40 was aerodynamic, muscular-looking, and was built for racing. Ford built about 20-40 for the street (it’s unclear how many). The first models came with a Shelby-tuned 289 cubic-inch V-8 that made 300 horsepower via a tri-power (three two-barrel carburetor) setup and forged internals and an Isky cam. This engine was so durable that when Ford disassembled the engine after the season was over, it looked brand-new. Later models came with Ford’s mighty 427 cubic-inch FE-Series “Cammer” engine. This engine was the same one in the Shelby Cobra. It made about 500 horsepower. Both engines were mated to a four-speed manual. The GT40 simply dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Nurburgring. It was insanely fast, and it could be heard from over a mile away. It beat Ferrari at their own game for years, before the FIA changed the rules, and both Ferrari and Ford had to comply. Ford pulled out of Le Mans endurance racing for 20+ years and let Ferrari dominate.

Yes, that is a young Harrison Ford standing next to one of the most iconic hot rods ever. It’s a 1932 Ford Hi-Boy (the body was lifted off of the frame so the frame could be tweaked). It has a Chevy 283 cubic-inch small-block V-8 with crackling sidepipes. This was the car that made me appreciate the little deuce coupe.

This is a fuelie 1957 Chevy Bel Air. It became known as the “Black Widow” because it only came in black with white tape stripes, a black-and-white interior, and the red center caps on the wheels.

This is a gasser. Gassers got their name because of the drag racing class they were in (B/Gas or blown/gas). They had big engines with no supercharger, or smaller supercharged engines. Look up “Roadkill Blasphemi” on YouTube for the build and cross-country blitz of one of my favorite cars – “Blasphemi.”

This is probably the ultimate Shelby Cobra. It’s called the “Super Snake” because it has twin superchargers on top of an already-powerful engine. Bill Cosby almost bought one, but took it on a test drive and thought he was going to die. Carroll Shelby bought it. Only two were made, but it was incredibly fast. It’s rumored that in testing the car hit 210 mph – in 1966! To me, it’s the ultimate factory hot rod.

This is a 1969 Dodge Daytona replica made by a host of the /DRIVE Network, Mike Musto. It’s one of my favorite cars ever. He took a 1969 Charger and turned it into a Daytona. It’s the ultimate cross-country cruiser. Just looking at it sends shivers down my spine.

The only stock part about this Mustang is the roof, A-pillar, and C-pillar. It’s the latest creation from the brilliantly mad folks at RTR and Hoonigan. Ken Block had it built. It’s got a stroked NASCAR-spec engine that makes 850 horsepower that goes to all four wheels. That’s right, this car is AWD. You need to watch “Gymkhana 7” if you haven’t already. It’s simply amazing.

July 11, 2014 zoomvroom Car Culture

The Greatest American Turbocharged Cars

Many people think that turbochargers belong in heavily modified import cars. Well, that’s partially true. Europe has turned out some impressive turbocharged cars, as well as the US of A. Here are America’s greatest turbocharged cars.

Ford Mustang SVO: The 2015 Ford Mustang has a 2.3-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, just like the SVO Mustangs of the 1980’s. The first turbocharged Ford Mustang showed up in 1979 with a 135-horsepower, turbocharged, 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine. It was an alternative to the downsized 4.2-liter V8 found in the Mustang GT. But, it wasn’t until Ford’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO, now known as Special Vehicle Tuning or SVT) got their hands on one that it became anything noteworthy. It came with a factory-installed Hurst short-throw shifter, revolutionary Koni adjustable shocks, ABS disc brakes at all four corners, a limited-slip differential, and a screaming, turbocharged 205 horsepower. Drivers even had the cool option of flicking a dash-mounted switch that allowed the car to run on lower-grade fuel for a certain amount of time. When it ended it’s production run in the late 1980’s, it was something to be feared. It looked especially menacing in grey.
1965 Chevrolet Corvair: Believe it or not, the Corvair actually had a go-fast option. It had two, in fact. One was the Crown Corvair, which used a mid-mounted 283-cubic-inch Corvette V8, and the other was a turbocharger bolted onto the engine. From the factory. It made 150 horsepower initially, but by the time the Corvair died, it made 180 horsepower. Unlike many other turbocharged cars, the turbocharged Corvair did not use a wastegate, the internal exhaust flap that opens at higher engine speeds to prevent over-spinning the turbine. Instead, Chevy engineers simply built enough backpressure into the exhaust system to prevent overboost and serious engine damage. Very few Corvairs with the turbocharged engine were ever made.
Oldsmobile F85 Jetfire: Oldsmobile was one of the early adopters of turbocharging technology. It released the powerful F85 Jetfire in April of 1962, and the car was something of a small success. It took the fabled 3.5-liter high-compression “Rocket” V8, cranked up the boost, and let it rev. It made a screaming 215 horsepower, and it was easily quicker than many naturally aspirated cars of 1962. Plus, owners got an ashtray-sized boost gauge in front of the shifter. The engine had problems with detonation, which is the process where the hot air-fuel mixture under pressure spontaneously ignites before the spark plug has a chance to ignite it. So, the Turbo-Rocket engine was fed a mixture of methanol alcohol and water (the same stuff fed to dragsters). This allowed the mixture to not ignite as quickly and get a higher octane level. Today, water/alcohol injection is commonplace in high-performance tuner car applications, but isn’t it cool that F85 Jetfire owners had to periodically fill their “Turbo Rocket Fluid” reservoir?
Buick GNX: If there’s a poster-child for American turbocharged cars, the Buick GNX wins, hands-down. The all-black, tire-smoking, Ferrari Testarossa-beating, quarter-mile waltzing Buick GNX was and still is a force of nature. Buick initially started turbocharging it’s anemic 3.8-liter V6 in 1978 for the Regal and the LeSabre, introducing the fast Regal Grand National line in 1982. It culminated with 1987 with the GNX. Buick purposefully underrated the crank horsepower at 276 horsepower, but dyno tests showed that the car made at least 315 horsepower at the wheels. This means that the car made somewhere close to 360-370 horsepower at the crank. It even beat the twin-turbo Callaway Corvette that I featured on my blog a couple of months ago in the quarter mile. The GNX would go through the quarter mile in the low 13-second range at around 125-130 mph. Just 547 GNX’s were built in 1987, each specially massaged by AMC/McLaren. Today, the turbo Buick’s are something of a legend, and many go for upwards of $30,000. The car was so successful on the street the Buick entered a naturally-aspirated V8 version of the car in NASCAR’s Grand National series (now known as the Nationwide Series), where it was extremely competitive.
1989 Pontiac 20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am: The all-white Pontiac Trans Am picked to be the pace car for the 73rd annual Indy 500 was completely different than the first turbocharged Trans Am, which was all mustache and no Burt. This 1989 force-fed pony car was something completely different. I liken it as the Pontiac storm trooper to the Buick GNX Darth Vader. Pontiac subcontracted an engineering firm to swap Buick GNX engines (made by Buick for Pontiac) into the Trans Am. But, the story doesn’t (and shouldn’t) end there. Anniversary-edition Trans Am’s got better-flowing heads than the GNX, stainless-steel headers, GNX-sized Eaton intercoolers, a cross-drilled Comp Cams crankshaft, and their own engine tuning higher up in the powerband. The net result was a car that officially produced 250 horsepower at the crank, but made closer to 320 horsepower at the crank. This marked a return to the horsepower-underrating days of the muscle car, started by, you guessed it, Pontiac. It was the fastest pace car ever in the history of the Indy 500, which is impressive, given the fact that many fast cars have been chosen since then.
Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe: The Beach Boys made the T-Bird famous with the line, “fun, fun, fun, until her daddy takes it away.” The T-Bird was fun until Daddy (the EPA) introduced emissions regulations that took the fun out of the T-Bird. By 1982, the T-Bird was a horrible, anemic shoebox of a car. Happily, 1983 saw the rising of the phoenix. It’s beak-like hood had twin nostrils that meant that there was a turbocharged engine underneath that pointy hood. Other than the amazingly 1980’s-FILA edition, the T-Bird Turbo Coupe was at it’s peak in 1987 and 1988. That was when stick-shifted version of the Fox-bodied T-Bird came equipped with a whistling 190 horsepower, four-wheel ABS disc brakes, and a limited-slip differential. Those nostrils on the hood, by the way, are functional, as they feed air directly to the top-mounted intercooler.
Shelby GLHS: It’s hard to find a car that has a shape that’s more square than the Dodge Omni. The blocky Omni had all of the sporting pretensions of a worn-out water shoe. Then, you hand the Omni over to Carroll Shelby. Early Omni GLH (unofficially Goes Like Hell) cars weren’t turbocharged, but by the mid-1980’s, America was becoming obsessed with the turbocharger. So, by the mid-1980’s, the Omni GLH had enough punch to beat any VW GTI of the era. For the 1986 model year only, 500 cars were further tweaked by Shelby to become the Omni GLHS (Goes Like Hell S’More), which was a 175-horsepower breadbox with more boost, better suspension, and factory options like a roll cage and heavy-duty oil cooler borrowed from the Ram 250 with the Cummins Diesel. Quite possibly the best part of the GLHS: The uprated top speed of the GLHS was too much for the regular 85 mph speedometer of the Omni, so Shelby simply added a sticker to the bottom of the gauge with increments up to 135 mph.
Shelby CSX-VNT: Another Shelby creation was the CSX-VNT, which was based off of the homely Plymouth Sundance and Dodge Shadow. Initially, the CSX-VNT packed 175 horsepower, and like the earlier GLHS, went like a bat out of hell. Shelby built a small run of 1,001 cars for the Thrifty rental car company with slightly less power. In the final year of CSX-VNT production, 1989, the CSX-VNT included some new, unique technology previously only seen on race cars – variable turbine geometry. Computer-controlled vanes moved to direct the hot exhaust gas stream to improve spool-up time. While it’s power rating remained the same at 175 horsepower, it had dramatically better response time in the low end, virtually eliminating turbo lag. The next time this technology would show up in the U.S. market would be in 2011, with the 997-generation Porsche 911 Turbo. That was more than 15 years later.
GMC Syclone: In 1990, Gale Banks Engineering cracked the 200-mph mark at the Bonneville Salt Flats in a compact GMC pickup truck with no turbocharger or supercharger. In 1991, the streetable version of that high-powered pickup showed up on dealer lots. It’s 4.3-liter Vortec V6 engine was turbocharged with the help of Gale Banks himself. It came standard with ABS and AWD, neither of which were options on the S15 Sonoma. You couldn’t haul much with the Syclone, unfortunately, as it was only rated to haul 500 pounds. Too bad, but you could still fill the bed with the egos of every single Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati driver on the road. This all-black, one-year-only mini-truck was the fastest-accelerating production vehicle in America for a few years, easily getting off of the line, thanks to the torque-rich engine and AWD. It got to 60 mph somewhere in the low 4-second range.
GMC Typhoon: A spin-off of the one-year-only Syclone, the Jimmy-bodied Typhoon was officially rated at 280 horsepower, though dyno tests showed that it made at least that at the wheels, meaning that it made somewhere around 320 horsepower at the crank. It could easily beat a Ferrari 348 off of the line and up to about 70 mph, when the 348 really got into the powerband. Just under 5,000 Typhoons were made between 1992-1993, and unlike the black-only Syclone, could be bought in a variety of colors. In fact, Clint Eastwood used to drive a Forest Green Typhoon around in his Dirty Harry days, where he would pull up to a stoplight and ask punks if they felt lucky. Most thought they were going to beat some middle-aged guy in his SUV with their Mustang or import car.
Dodge Neon SRT4: In 2003, Chrysler/Dodge’s Street Racing Technology (SRT) team got hold of the friendly-faced Neon subcompact car, and built what is still the car to beat for bang-for-your-buck performance. A frog-eyed four-door sedan with a functional front-mounted intercooler peeking out of the grille, the tiny Neon made mincemeat out of everything from a Porsche Boxster to a Nissan 350Z. Dodge claimed 230 horsepower, though dyno testing showed that the car made at least that much, if not more at the wheels. This means that the engine was making close to 280 horsepower at the crank. Something else that is cool about the Neon SRT4 is the fact that it doesn’t have a muffler on it. This allows it to have vastly better turbo flow. Resonators keep the volume semi-sane, but the Neon really makes a lot of noise when you give it some go-juice.
Chevrolet SS Turbocharged: Initially available only as a supercharged coupe, the Cobalt SS was always OK in performance testing, but it wasn’t going to set any records. Starting in 2009, the Cobalt SS came as either a sedan or coupe with a turbocharger bolted onto a small four-cylinder engine. It made 260 horsepower. Should you want a cool sleeper, if you aren’t afraid of the ignition recall, you can get a Cobalt SS, take the badges off, swap the big chrome rims for something more discreet (like the regular Cobalt rims), and you’d have the makings of a good sleeper. It had a no-lift-shift system – just keep your right foot floored so that you don’t loose boost – and you’ll see the quarter mile fly by in under 13 seconds, and will keep up with a Porsche 911 on a road course. Take it out to the twisties out on the road, and you’ll be able to keep up with a motorcycle, thanks to the tiny size of the Cobalt.

July 3, 2013 zoomvroom Car Reviews, New car info, World News

Does the New 2014 Mercedes-Benz S550 Have What it Takes to Rule It’s Class?

Let me know in the comments section if you think that the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S550 can become the car that can rule the uber-luxury class. I think it can, but then again, Mercedes usually does!

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class can sometimes go seven or eight years beforeinstituing a major refresh, redesign, or mechanical overhaul. But, it usually leads in terms of sales and looks. The 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class upholds that tradition, and it will likely be sold in droves – for a while. Then, all of the competing automakers will make newer, nicer, and possibly better cars. This segment is competitive. Currently, the S-Class, Lexus LS460, and Cadillac XTS are the segment sales leaders. The S-Class is likely to blow all of it’s competitors out of the water. It is just that good.

It is loaded with features that will make your jaw drop. This car isn’t yet another ordinary businessperson special with a cave-like interior. It will drive itself. Really, it will! It won’t drive itself completely, but it is semi-autonomous! It uses stereo cameras to guide it along the road. The name is awesome, as well: Traffic Jam Assist. No, it won’t send all of the rubberneckers to the grave. Only their own stupidity will do that. To activate this marvelous system, simply hold the brake pedal down while stationary, flick the Distronic (MBZ speak for cruise control) lever down, and give it gas. It will take you up to 37 mph. The cruise control is then set for up to 37 mph. It will follow the car ahead of you simply, smartly, and efficiently. It will do that until your speed increases or you take control of the steering wheel and pedals. Above 37 mph, it will still guide itself. Kind of. It will handle itself up to 125 mph, and it can bring itself to a complete stop at any speed if need be. Those stereo cameras are also able to read the lines in the road, and keep the plump S-Class in between those lines without any driver input. Above 37 mph, if you keep your hands off of the steering wheel for more than 10 seconds, then a loud BEEEEEP will sound, along with a flashing graphic instruction, until you place your hands on the wheel. But, that’s just Mercedes-Benz’s lawyers telling you to be a good driver. As long as you don’t take the S550 on any places where there aren’t any lines in the road (i.e. tracks and gravel roads), this car will take a person places where he/she has never gone before, all by itself.

There’s other zany technology stuffed into this car. Take the badly named Magic Body Control that is an optional active suspension feature. If you choose to order this, then the four-wheel air suspension goes away, and is replaced by oil-over-coil shocks. The “magic” part of that is that those same stereo cameras scan the road ahead to see if there is a pothole, a speed bump, or some roadkill. Given the right situation, the Magic Body Control is effective in a way that is quite simply effective, in a spooky sort of way. The result is one of the smoothest rides out there, this side of a Citroen or an old Buick Roadmaster. When you put the car in “Sport” mode, Magic Body Control is switched off, so you can hurtle around curves and crash and bang over the smallest road imperfections. But, that’s what makes the car so enjoyable to drive.

In the unlikely event that you will be in an accident, you will survive just about any crash. For those of you riding in the backseat (the place to be), there are inflatable seat belts. When the rear door is opened, the seat belt buckle receiver visibly rises. This is probably because most customers (think China) don’t wear their seat belts in the back seat. Once they buckle up for safety, the buckle will retract a few inches into the seat, therefore cinching the seat belt across their hips so they do not slide under the seat belt in a crash. Speaking of accidents, there’s a feature that will make any safety-conscious parent happy. It’s called Pre-Safe Plus. It actively and automatically prepares the car for a rear-end collision. What the car does when it’s about to be rear-ended (it has seven rear-facing cameras), it tightens all of the seatbelts (even if they’re not in use), applies the brakes completely, and, BAM. Applying the brakes for a full-ABS stop seems counter-intuitive, but it’s safer to not be moving when you’re hit. It can also “see” pedestrians and other cars. It reacts differently to both. When it sees a car cutting in front of it, the brakes are applied for a full-ABS stop. When it sees a pedestrian, the brakes are applied much earlier and gentler.

Even though it’s got enough technology in it to make a computer scientist have a heart attack, one of the best advances is in the interior. It’s truly the first German interior to really stand out from the British luxury brands (Bentley, Rolls Royce, Jaguar). Leather and wood gracefully snake their way throughout the stellar cabin. The interior designer said that these designs were influenced by swan wings. Let’s call this new technique “swanning,” okay? If You own the outgoing generation of the S-Class, you will know about those four rectangular vents on the dashboard. Six neat, circular vents have replaced them. Combine that with the clock, and the seven circles (vaguely) resemble the pearls on a woman’s necklace. I don’t ask. The head designer of MBZ’s interiors said that from now on, all vents in a Mercedes-Benz car will be round. I find it odd that the car that will be starting the round vent trend still has rectangular vents in the back. One other fun interior flourish are the speaker grilles for the Burmester audio system. They are covered in an impossibly complex pattern of tiny holes of varying sizes. If you have trypophobia, don’t look at it. For me, it becomes ever more fascinating when I look at the pictures.

The mechanical parts of the car are relatively unchanged. The seven-speed automatic is still their, as is the 5.5-liter, twin turbo V8. Power, however is better. It has been uprated from 429 horsepower to a more powerful 455 horsepower. Torque is the same at 516 lb-ft of torque.

Overall, the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S550 is the car to be measured against for full-size luxury. It’s powerful, it’s loaded with technology that will take it’s competitors years to catch up with, it’s beautiful, and it’s got German engineering. And German reliability. I want one. I won’t ask my readers. I know the answer. And it’s not yes.