Formula 1 – The Unmuffled Auto News

November 22, 2015November 22, 2015 zoomvroom Car Culture, Gifts for the Car Enthusiast

The Best Sleepers Sold in America in the Past 25 Years

Many people like to own cars that are beautiful and naturally garner attention. They drive cars like Aston Martins and Jaguars. There are also a lot of people who can’t afford cars like those, but still want their cars to grab attention, so they drive cars like Subaru WRX STI’s and Ford Mustangs. Those cars are loud and proud of it. They grab attention through their noise. It just comes down to a matter of personal choice, and that’s fine.

Many people really like having a car that has great performance, but doesn’t attract throngs of people and law enforcement. Their cars of choice are seemingly Plain Jane cars on the outside, but that doesn’t mean that their performance capabilities are any less than something like an STI.

Here, in no particular order, are the absolute best sleepers that have been sold here in the past 25 years.

GMC Syclone/Typhoon: Some of my readers grew up in the 1990s. It was a technological revolution, and also a time of rebellion and shattering societal norms. GMC’s decision to build the Typhoon and Syclone was probably one of their best. 280 horsepower isn’t very much horsepower for a truck, but all the way back in 1991, it meant 60 mph in five seconds. That’s right on pace with a modern Chevy Camaro and Ford Mustang. Thank the 350 lb-ft of torque and the AWD system for that. Most people won’t know what they are looking at. They will see an old truck or SUV that is pretty darn small. That punk in the Honda Civic next to them will have no idea that it will blow his doors off at the stoplight. Trust me, you’ll have to have a bona-fide performance car to beat a Syclone or Typhoon in a drag race. Plus, they are very reliable – Jay Leno daily drove one for years without any problems.
One of the most legendary trucks, let alone sleepers, of all time. It looks so innocent!
Mercedes-Benz S600: Even people who know nothing about cars know about the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. They know it’s expensive and luxurious, but nothing past that, really. Most people probably wouldn’t even notice the W220 (chassis generation, just like people know generations of the Ford Mustang as the Foxbody, the SN 95, the S197 and S550) anymore. It still looks dapper, but at this point, it’s generic enough that it flies under the radar with ease. Only us car people will know what they are looking at. Any S600 is going to be quick, but the 2003 update made it something fearsome. The 5.5-liter twin-turbo V12 snarled out 493 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque. It’s the banker’s hot rod, just like the Hudson Hornet was in the 1950s. Oh, and if you put a straight piped exhaust on the S600, it sounds like a Formula 1 car.
While it still looks nice, the average person would brush it off as just another Mercedes-Benz. However, any Mercedes with these wheels will blow the doors off of just about anything.
Mercury Marauder: Ford’s Panther platform always had potential for performance, but Ford was always interested in selling Crown Victorias, Grand Marquis and Town Cars to retirees, limo companies, law enforcement agencies and taxi companies that they left most of the performance potential untapped to enterprising tuners. That all changed in 2003. The Mercury Marauder was a souped-up Grand Marquis that had a lot of parts borrowed from the Crown Victoria P71 (Police Interceptor Package). It also borrowed some go-fast goodies from the Mustang. Very few people could tell the difference between a Grand Marquis and a Marauder, but under the generic sheetmetal, the Marauder was something to be feared. It had a 302 horsepower V8 and a heavily improved suspension. It didn’t drive like a Grand Marquis or a Crown Victoria. The entire point of the car was to show the world “Why not?”
Doesn’t look like much, does it?
Volvo V70 R: Station wagons haven’t been the preferred method of kid schlepping in many years, which is a true shame. Even when they were popular, they weren’t cool. Any station wagon that has a Volvo badge on it is going to be recognized as safe, but nobody ever drives a Volvo aggressively. Now, chuck all of what I have just said out of the window. Never think or speak of it again. The Volvo V70 R had an inline five cylinder engine that cranked out 296 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque that went to the wheels via a Haldex AWD system. It hit 60 mph in under six seconds, which made it ideal for the dad who wanted a Mazda Miata with room for his wife and their kids and dog.
Saab 9-2X Aero: While the Subaru WRX is a great car in it’s own right, it’s the exact opposite of a sleeper. It’s loud and it attracts more attention than the cute girl in high school. If you liked how the WRX drove, but wanted something more toned down, look no further than the Saab 9-2X Aero. It used to be that there was no option like the Saab 9-2X Aero. Then some brilliant mind at GM decided that they needed to dive into the compact luxury car market. The result was the Saab 9-2X Aero. It was based off of the WRX, but the interior was much more premium, the car wasn’t nearly as loud, the looks were toned down, but at heart, it’s still a Subaru WRX.
It’s just a luxurious Subaru WRX. It’s really compact, which is great if you live in a city.
Mazdaspeed 6: In the midsize sedan segment, many cars will put you straight to sleep. The Mazda 6 has never been one of those cars, and as such, is always my first suggestion for a family sedan. Even though it’s fun to drive, it’s still nothing special at the end of the day. However, Mazda decided to throw practicality and sensibility out the window. They handed a Mazda 6 over to the brilliant minds over at Mazdaspeed, and let them work their magic. The result was a 270 horsepower, turbocharged, AWD sedan with a six speed manual. Pure brilliance. It could hit 60 mph in under 5.5 seconds, yet looked like an average Mazda 6 to the untrained eye. And yes mom, it still has all the practicality of a family sedan. It just happens to be far faster than any other family sedan.
It looks like just another family sedan. However, anybody who has read this post knows what’s up with this car.
Chevrolet Cobalt SS: The Chevrolet Cavalier was a truly terrible car. While it’s replacement, the Cobalt, was a vast improvement, it wasn’t a good car by any stretch of the imagination. It was an inexpensive car that catered to those who needed a brand-new economy car despite the fact that a three-year-old Toyota Corolla was a much better car. It sold well. Chevrolet somehow managed to redeem the Cobalt. The Cobalt SS was probably one of the greatest pocket rockets to ever race around. It was unexpectedly fast, and incredibly adept on any race course or autocross course. A 205 horsepower version came out first, but the real gem was the 260 horsepower turbocharged version. Even with a gigantic rear wing, nobody expects a Chevrolet Cobalt to be that fast. One way to make it even more of a sleeper is to remove the wing and put on non-SS Cobalt wheels. Talk about a sleeper of epic proportions!
It looks like just another Chevrolet Cobalt, but with big wheels. Acceleration is best achieved by flat-footing it (where you keep the gas pedal planted, and shift without lifting).
Ford Taurus SHO: While the original Ford Taurus was a great car, the original Taurus SHO (Super High ) is a legend in the performance sedan world. The current generation does not look at all like a performance car. It’s a comfortable cruiser and a good police car, but it looks like nothing special. Part of what makes the current SHO such a sleeper is that the automotive press basically wrote it off when it was introduced. Even in the SHO trim, it’s meant for being an effortless cruiser, not a canyon carver. This doesn’t mean that you should try and do a stoplight drag race with one. An SHO can hit 60 mph in just over five seconds to 60 mph.
If you’re a fan of fullsize sedans and the word stonking fast, look into getting a Ford Taurus SHO.
Chevrolet SS: Even though this is a list of sleepers sold in America over the past 25 years, the Chevrolet SS truly deserves to be on the list of all-time sleepers. How many cars can claim the accomplishment of having basically nobody know they exist? While some reviewers would consider it a flaw that the SS blends in with all of the boring cars, it’s actually a good thing. 99% of the people you pass in the SS will think it’s a Malibu, if they even notice it at all. They are wrong because it has a 415-horsepower Corvette engine, a six-speed manual and a magnetic suspension sourced from the Corvette. It’s the car that’s so anonymous that no cop will pull you over.
Really looks like nothing, doesn’t it? Here’s to hoping that the FBI has good taste in cars and starts using these!

September 9, 2015 zoomvroom Car Culture, Random

Why Racing is So Dangerous

Racing is inherently dangerous. It always has been. Deaths happen. The racing community is sad for a while, but they move on after a year or so.

The tragic death of Justin Wilson, a driver in the Verizon IndyCar Series, shook the racing community. Justin used social media religiously, and many of his fans felt like family.

Social media creates an artifice of closeness. People feel like they are part of the lives of that particular driver. This makes it harder for some people to process the death of someone they felt close to. Fatalities are still very common in the racing world. It’s sad, but it’s true.

Justin Wilson was an incredibly kind, good-hearted person who deserved only the best things in life. However, every race car driver makes a deal with the devil. That deal is that you can get killed, but you’ll die doing what you love. Racing might be safer now than it was five years ago, but it’s still incredibly risky.

The recent deaths of Jules Bianchi, a young French Formula 1 driver, and Justin Wilson, the caring, charismatic British IndyCar driver, have left me wondering if the danger that served as motorsports’ earliest appeal has run its course. Do we, as an automotive enthusiast community, have the gall to handle even more deaths?

Race car drivers in the 1950s through 1970s were modern day gladiators. Part of the reason that people flocked to the races was because of the danger element. The living legends of that era are the ones that survived. Surviving might be a greater accomplishment than any of the wins or championships that they hold. People don’t seem to accept the risks of their sport like they used to. A football player in the 1950s knew that he was going to have a traumatic injury because of the lack of safety equipment.

When Dan Wheldon died in 2011, people walked around the paddock like zombies. People seem to forget that these cars are 200-plus mph death traps that can kill you at any time. People just don’t seem to comprehend it. These cars have become so safe that people have become desensitized to death, and for older race fans (baby boomer age), it’s just part of the racing routine.

Many race car drivers in the 1950s through 1970s didn’t start a family because they didn’t want to leave behind a widow or young children. If you made it to 30 as an IndyCar driver back then, it’s the equivalent of being a front-line soldier who’s been there for 20 years. It doesn’t make what happened to Justin or Jules any less painful, but I think what has happened is that the sport has become so safe that people forget how far the sport has come.

It boils down to this: the marriage of speed, humans, physics, and competition will always produce tragedies. It doesn’t matter what motorsport you compete in. It happens in every sport. Some are just very well publicized. The percentages of deaths in various motorsports may have decreased dramatically since the 1950s through 1970s, but we can’t ignore the fact that death is a foreboding cloud that follows each and every driver. It’s never accepted nor welcomed, but it’s never outside the realm of possibilities.

It’s quite possible that the worst cliche in the world is that a driver died doing something they loved. Duh. If they didn’t love it, they would be doing something else. Nobody holds a gun to their head and tells them to go drive a race car. It doesn’t work that way. They’d much rather die in bed with the spouse of their dreams, not hit a wall at 200 mph or get hit by a flying piece of debris. These drivers don’t have desk jobs.

Being a race car driver is one of the most dangerous jobs one can ask for. Yet, these drivers are at peace with the danger. If they are comfortable with it, then we should too. There’s a racer’s mentality: Racers race, then they mourn.

Yes, we all mourn the losses of Justin and Jules, and I especially mourn the tremendous losses to their families. Jules was just 25, and Justin was 37. Justin left behind a young family. That’s the thing every married racer fears: leaving behind a family.

We would be kidding ourselves if we think that motorsports will ever be 100 percent safe. It has the capability to, but it’s just like being a soldier: you willingly accept the risks associated with your job. You don’t need to fear the reaper if you become a race car driver. Just keep it in the back of your mind.

August 25, 2015 zoomvroom Car Culture, Gifts for the Car Enthusiast, Random, The auto dictionary. Look it up here!, The History of Autos

Some of the Best Cars with V10s Around!

They have a great engine note. They have a lot of power. They come in sizes ranging from relatively small to large. Here are some of the best you can buy.

2009 Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro: The V8 version of the R8 came out in 2008. It was stunningly beautiful, and offered great performance at a reasonable price. The 5.2 FSI Quattro version added two more cylinders, 105 more horsepower, and even better looks. The 5.2-liter V10 was a slightly-detuned version of the Lamborghini Gallardo’s V10.
2005 BMW M5: The early 2000s were an era when manufacturers could shoehorn massive engines into big sedans without complaint. The 2005 BMW M5 is a relic of that era, and boy is it a good one! It bellowed and roared up to a redline of 8,250 RPM. This 5.0-liter V10 was derived from Formula 1, which is why it sounds so damn magnificent.
2006 Audi S8 5.2 FSI Quattro: This might be one of the ultimate sleepers. This big sedan is a beauty, but it’s a fast one. It got to 60 mph in a scant 4.8 seconds. The magnificent trim inside and out, plus the everyday utility of a large sedan made this quite possibly the best balance between work and play.
2006 Dodge Ram SRT-10: Need I say more than it was a truck that put down 500 horsepower stock? No, I don’t. Oh, and it’s engine came straight out of the Viper.
2003 Lamborghini Gallardo: The first baby Lamborghini was an absolute sweetheart. It was also the car that really saved the brand. It was an Italian beauty with a German heart. The engine started out as a 5.0-liter V10, but ended up as a 5.2-liter V10. It also spanned 10 years. It birthed countless iterations and special editions, while becoming a tuner favorite.
1999 Dodge Viper ACR: It had one of the biggest engines available when it came out, and that engine is still one of the largest around. It sounded more primal than mechanical. It sounds like a dinosaur fighting Slash. Yes, I know, I love to bash Slash.
2011 Lexus LFA: It doesn’t matter that this was a terrible supercar. It sounded like nothing else. Lexus teamed up with Yamaha’s musical instrument division, who tuned the engine note like a guitar. That would explain why it sounds godly. It was described by Lexus engineers as “the roar of an angel.” I think it sounds more like the roar of Satan.
2011 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI: It must be a good life to be a diesel V10. Good enough for U.S. emissions regulations to cancel sales on our shores twice. Yeah, twice. Thanks Uncle Sam. That being said, it had twin turbochargers force-feeding air into those 10 hungry cylinders.
2004 Porsche Carrera GT: Where do I start with the “Widow-Maker?” I don’t know. Yes, it has killed people, notably Paul Walker and Roger Rodas, but that was more user error than anything. This car can trace it’s heritage back to Le Mans and Formula 1 cars. That engine note is out of this world. It reminds me of the Bad Company song “I Can’t Get Enough of Your Love.” Except this is I Can’t Get Enough of Your Engine Note.

That’s all folks!

August 22, 2015August 23, 2015 zoomvroom Car Culture, Gifts for the Car Enthusiast, Random, The auto dictionary. Look it up here!, The History of Autos

Some of the Most Amazing American Race Cars

Racing is in America’s blood. We started off racing horses, which is still one of the most profitable forms of betting to this day. We also love boat racing, whether it be sailboats or motor boats. We also love racing planes. It should only seem logical that we decided to race cars when they came out.

Our country has created some of the boldest, most successful and boldest racecars in history. These cars are some of my personal favorites, and they only scratch the surface of America’s storied racing heritage.

Chaparral 2E: Chaparral’s 2D was a very successful racing chassis, the 2J earned immortality thanks to it’s snowmobile-engine-driven suction fans. The 2D was better than both combined. It ushered in the aerodynamics era thanks to it’s driver-adjustable rear wing (which was adjusted via a pedal in the cockpit) and it’s side-pod mounted water cooling system. It was pure Texan ingenuity. Every modern race car owes at least something to the Chaparral 2E.
1967 Gurney Eagle-Weslake Mk. 1: Dan Gurney was a true American racing pioneer. This is what I view to be his masterpiece. He also won a Formula 1 race in this car. That’s about as good as it gets, but I still love this car to pieces. The tiny 11,000 RPM V12 and styling that looks like a shark and torpedo are just icing on the cake.
Lotus 56: It’s not just another turbine-powered IndyCar. It was a car that solidified the basic shape of most high-level race cars from 1967 on out. It sent the cigar shape packing. It also had a one-speed automatic and AWD. While turbines and AWD would be banned from future IndyCar seasons, the shape remained and evolved. Even though it’s got a Lotus name and Peter Chapman modifications, it’s still basically an all-American STP-Paxon car.
2016 Ford GT GTE: There was no doubt in any car or race fan’s mind when this car rained on every other car’s parade at the Detroit Auto Show this year. It’s 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 has been proven in the TUDOR Championship series, Chip Ganassi Racing has had lots of success racing Fords and is ready for a new challenge, and what might be most important to those automotive fans who like to cook (like me) is the fact that the rear diffuser is big enough to chiffonade an acre of potatoes without trying. The fact that it is dressed up in a very patriotic livery makes it just that much more amazing.
Dodge Viper GTS-R Mk. 1: The original Dodge Viper GTS-R immediately proved that a big V10 is an essential asset in endurance racing. On it’s third outing at Le Mans, the SRT Motorsports team took a class win in 1998. Again in 1999 and 2000. You can’t forget the overall wins at the Nurburgring, Daytona, Spa, and the five (yes, five) FIA GT and two ALMS championships. Plus, the fact that it was incredibly intimidating helped.
Corvette Racing’s C5.R, C6.R, and C7.R: For 17 years, The Corvette Racing team has put three generations of increasingly amazing Corvette race cars on the track. All have had an “.R” designation, except the first, which was a “-R.” They have proved themselves multiple times. 1999 marked the first year of the C5-R, which snatched three class wins at Le Mans (among many other wins). The C6.R took seven thundering liters of American muscle around the world, and won many races. The C7.R just grabbed the GTE Pro class win at Le Mans, and that was one of it’s first races!
Panoz LMP-1 and LMP07: Many, many years before Nissan’s GT-R LM caused folks to scratch their heads as to why a front-engine endurance race car is a good idea, Panoz’s LMP-1 Roadster S and it’s less successful sibling LMP07 proved to the world that an endurance racing prototype does not need to carry their engine behind the driver. Neither car was wildly successful, but the LMP-1 certainly got into a few good battles with the BMW V12 LMRs and Ferrari 333 SPs to snag the 1999 ALMS team championship.
Ford 999: Henry Ford should go down in the history books as a stark raving lunatic (for several reasons) because he took the crude, incredibly dangerous 18.9-liter Ford 999 racecar to 92 mph (the equivalent of somebody taking a car to 300 mph today) – a world record – on a frozen lake. The frozen lake was the only place large enough to get the car up to that speed. It made a whopping 80 horsepower, a lot of noise, and had killed a man a year before. It was a brutish, outrageous car that put Ford on the map, even if he became known for utilitarian and economical Model T’s and the now-legendary 1932 Ford.
DeltaWing: No other American creation has so upset the normality of what race cars should look like as the Ben Bowlby-designed, Panoz-managed, Gurney’s All-American Racers-built DeltaWing. The car drastically reduced frontal area to reduce drag and fuel consumption. It worked, and even sparked a copycat (the Nissan ZEOD RC), even though it didn’t achieve any incredible success.
Cadillac ATS-V.R: Cadillac attained massive success for ten years with the CTS-V.R in the Pirelli World Championship Series. Now it’s the turn for the ATS-V.R to take the reins. It’s got some big shoes to fill. It’s got a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 making somewhere around 600 horsepower that sits somewhere between the massive fender flares and the huge extractor hood. Between this car and the Ford GT GTE, it looks like most, if not all, future American race cars will have forced induction engines.
Swift 007.i: The year 1997 was a lucky year. The team owned by Paul Newman and Carl Haas stopped running a Lola chassis, and switched to a chassis made by the American company Swift. The car had a Ford Cosworth engine, Goodyear tires, and an all-American driver in Michael Andretti. I should probably mention that it won it’s first-ever race outing. Talk about coming in with style. Oh, and I was born that year.
Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe: This is quite possibly one of the most beautiful cars ever made, as well as one of the most successful. Carroll Shelby needed to make the already-successful Cobra 427 faster, but that meant he needed a more aerodynamic body. He brought on legendary designer Peter Brock, who helped design the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. Brock designed a flowing, muscular body that still looks like nothing else on the track. The result was a smashing success. The car won the 24 Hours of Daytona, Le Mans, Spa, and countless other races.
Dodge Daytona/Plymouth Superbird: Mopar’s “Winged Warriors” made aero cars illegal in NASCAR. That should be telling as to how good those cars were. They packed quite the punch with their 426 HEMI engines and special aerodynamics packages. NASCAR outlawed aero cars after 1970. Buddy Baker campaigned a Daytona through 1970, and Richard Petty had one of his most dominant years in 1970 with his Superbird. It’s also one of the most iconic race cars ever.
1966 Chevrolet Corvette: The 1966 Chevrolet Corvette is one of the best race cars Chevrolet ever had. It had a walloping punch with it’s 427 cubic-inch big block V8, with the code-name L-88. This engine made any car it was in a true monster. It’s still fast enough to show a modern NASCAR stock car how it’s done on a road course. It’s like carving a statue with a hydraulic shovel.

May 19, 2015 zoomvroom Car Culture, Field Trips, Random, Road Trips

What Makes the Monaco Grand Prix So Special?

Monaco has been called the casino capital of the world. It’s got a lot of wealth squeezed into just 499 acres. For reference, that’s almost five times the size of Disneyland. It’s also the oldest circuit of Formula 1, having been a track since 1929. The route is essentially the same as it was in 1929, which gives you a unique opportunity to see cars with nearly 1000 horsepower blasting around for first place. It’s also one of the few tracks where race cars get to run through the tight streets of a city.

For those of you who watch motorsports, you’re likely going to agree with me that the reason that people are drifting away from watching various races is that it doesn’t seem as exciting anymore. I think it has to do with the fact that the tracks are wide (they can usually take well over three cars at even the narrowest corner), and that the cameramen are getting pushed further away from the action. This last fact might seem trivial and stupid to you, but think about it for a second. Thanks to GoPros (I have nothing against them), automotive enthusiasts are getting used to punching in a search term into YouTube (again, nothing against it) and seeing POV videos of some motorcyclist or crazy driver blasting their way through traffic. You can put a GoPro on just about any surface on a car or motorcycle so that everybody can see the action. That’s all fine and dandy, but we need to do this in the professional racing world.

Many Formula 1 races are actually quite exciting, but they don’t seem like it on your TV. The tracks are so wide that it’s nearly impossible to get a cameraman close to the action. It just doesn’t seem quite as exhilarating as hearing that unearthly shriek coming towards you, the whirs and pops from the turbocharger, and the crackling downshifts sending flames shooting out of the back of the car. There’s only so much action a camera can capture when it’s 100 feet away from the action, instead of ten feet away.

I look forward to Monaco for this reason: it’s one of the few races left where I can feel like I’m right there, even if I’m several thousand miles away from the action. It’s the closest we can get to seeing a modern car whip around one of the most historic tracks in the world.

I feel that Formula 1 has turned into what NASCAR used to be. Think of NASCAR as the WWE Raw TV show, while Formula 1 is like watching a street fight. I know this might seem ridiculous, but if you were into watching wrestling, would you want to see a scripted and pre-ordained fight, or would you want to watch a fight where nothing is scripted or agreed to other than the fight itself?

NASCAR used to hold a special magic for me, and I only watch it at Watkins Glen and Sonoma Raceway now, as most of the drivers are inexperienced on road courses. I’ve talked to several friends about the boring, pre-ordained spectacle that NASCAR has become, even though it’s got just enough reality to make it somewhat worth following.

Formula 1 now holds that magic for me. NASCAR and Formula 1 used to be the bleeding edge of technology, and now it’s up to Formula 1 to do that. NASCAR today is this: you have a larger-than-life personality, put the pedal to the metal, and let Dale Earnhardt., Jr. or Jimmie Johnson take the win. It was a shocker to me when Kevin Harvick became the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. It was completely unexpected, and it helped me somewhat re-kindle my interest in NASCAR. Formula 1 is now truly a test of a driver, his team, and their car. If you want to make a big splash in the racing world, become a Formula 1 driver. I know that what I’ve said has been repeated by many automotive journalists, but it’s worth rehashing.

One last thought (promise!): Monaco is a place that should be high on the bucket list of every automotive and racing fan. It’s incredibly high on mine. I’ve always wanted to do a road trip through Europe of all of the great European tracks (Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Goodwood, Le Mans, Nurburgring, Hockenheim, Monaco, Monza and Imola) in a Pagani Huayra.

I’d love to hear your experiences of NASCAR/Formula 1, and why you agree or disagree with me on this. If you watch another form of motorsport that holds this kind of magic for you, please tell me in the comments section. I enjoy watching all of the off road racing in Baja and the desert. It’s entertaining, and it’s truly a test of a driver.

One of my friends from school wrote an excellent article about the loss of magic in NASCAR for him, and it’s worth a read, as well as this article. http://www.theoakleafnews.com/sports/2015/05/12/is-nascar-fading/

April 12, 2015 zoomvroom Car Culture, Random, World News

Robert De Niro is Going to Play Enzo Ferrari!

The legendary Hollywood actor, Robert De Niro, star of several blockbuster films, is going to play Enzo Ferrari in an upcoming biopic of one of the most legendary people in the automotive industry.

De Niro announced that this film will take top priority. Production is expected to begin soon. De Niro said, “It is an honor and a joy to tell the life of an extraordinary man who revolutionized the automotive world.”

De Niro will play the legendary Italian, whose team has been actively competing since 1929 as Scuderia Ferrari. Scuderia Ferrari started off running Alfa Romeos, then started building their own cars in 1947. They have gone on to win an incredible 16 Formula 1 Constructor’s titles since 1950. They have also won 15 Driver’s titles, 222 races, and you get the point. They know their stuff.

The film is going to be produced by former photographer Gianni Bozzacchi, owner of Triworld Cinema, and will work with De Niro’s Tribeca Enterprises company.

According to Bozzacchi in an interview with the Italian newspaper, Il Messaggero, “The film will be titled Ferrari and will be based on an epic story. It will have a high budget and will cover a wide span – from 1945 to the eighties in a twisted game of eras and episodes.”

Robert De Niro isn’t the only big name working on this film, as Clint Eastwood has been approached to direct the film. Bozzacchi claims that Eastwood was “very interested” but wanted to read the script. It is unclear as to whether Eastwood read the script or not.

The writers of Oliver Stone’s Nixon, Steven Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson, also have links to the movie.

The film is expected to hit theaters in 2016. I can’t wait to see it! Look for a review of it as soon as it hits the big screen!

January 27, 2015 zoomvroom Car Culture, Humor, Movie Cars, Random

The Top Car-Killing Movies!

Just about everybody knows that breaking stuff is fun. When directors get gigantic budgets and a car chase to shoot, sometimes they go overboard. These movies destroyed the most cars – the numbers are crazy!

Ronin (1998): Yes, Ronin was a good movie. One of the many cool parts about it? Director John Frankenheimer was a former amateur racer. He enlisted former French Formula 1 driver Jean-Pierre Jarier and 300 OTHER stunt drivers to film the insane chase through Paris. The result? An epic eight-minute chase sequence that deserves a spot in the car chase hall of fame. Oh, and they destroyed a mere 80 cars. That’s nothing compared to other movies on this list! Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVaNBrYLvFg
Bullitt (1968): Yes, it is riddled with some funny errors – the 1968 Dodge Charger loses five hubcaps from four wheels over the course of the chase! However, it is still one of the greatest car chases ever produced. People are still making their own versions of it almost fifty years later. The iconic Highland Green big-block Mustang fastback reached speeds well over 100 mph on the hilly streets of San Francisco, sometimes even with the legendary Steve McQueen behind the wheel! More than 80 cars were destroyed during the filming of the movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vNvc9n1ikI
Gone in 60 Seconds (1974): Director, producer, stunt driver, and star of the original Gone in 60 Seconds H.B. Halicki was given a tiny $150,000 budget, but the movie has now grossed more than $40 million. He drove the original “Eleanor” – the tastefully customized 1973 Mustang (to this day, one of the best-looking Mustangs ever) throughout the chase scene. Somebody else from the crew would drive the car throughout the rest of the movie (cameraman, actor, etc.). Many of the bystanders were members of the public – there was no money for extras. Some of the crashes were completely unscripted, which makes the movie that much better. When Halicki clipped another car at 100 mph and spun into a lamppost, he ended up in the hospital. The crash ended up in the film. Gone in 60 Seconds destroyed 93 cars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMz3g1x75pU
The Blues Brothers (1980 and 2000): The 1980 version of the film held the record for the most cars violently destroyed until the 2000 remake, which smashed the record (pun intended) by a whopping ONE car! For the 1980 film, 60 used police cars were bought for $400 apiece, fitted with reinforced frames. Almost all of the cars were unusable by the end of filming. The 1980 version destroyed 103 cars. The 2000 version decimated 104 cars. This is the 1980 version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMagP52BWG8 and this is the 2000 version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDEFL2fLGIE
G.I. Joe (2009): Yes, it is an awful film by every account. It also happened to briefly hold the record for most cars destroyed in a movie (112 cars). It beat The Blues Brothers (2000) by eight cars. Maybe blowing up stuff isn’t as exciting as we all thought it was as kids. That being said, enjoy the gratuitous automotive destruction at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0GBhbu-0aQ
A Good Day to Die Hard (2013): Sometimes, it’s best to leave the best alone. Some movies don’t need a sequel, let alone four. Die Hard is one of said movies. Sadly, 25 years after Bruce Willis “killed” Alan Rickman (the guy who played Snape in the Harry Potter movies, kids), we are talking about the fifth and worst Die Hard yet. Willis and the cast somehow destroyed 132 cars and badly damaged an incredible 518 cars PAST their 132 dead brethren. That being said, the car chase is good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWNie0rdXlI
The Junkman (1982): Have you ever heard of The Junkman? I hadn’t either until now. It’s the crashiest film you’ve never heard of. Directed by H.B. Alicki, the crash-hungry director of Gone in 60 Seconds, it reportedly killed more than 150 cars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIh_IbxIrr8
Fast Five (2011): All in all, over 1000 cars have been destroyed since the first Fast & Furious. That’s more than one a minute in total film time. 260 cars were destroyed in Fast Five. However, Fast & Furious 6 used about 400 cars, with few surviving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-4zZBGfF98
Matrix Reloaded (2003): Somehow, the folks behind Matrix Reloaded managed to kill 300 cars loaned to them by GM. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSPAPeO17Zk
Transformers 3 (2011): By definition, every one of the 532 cars destroyed were ready for the junkyard – they were all donated to director Michael Bay because of flood damage. They needed to be scrapped by law anyways – why not destroy them violently? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSPAPeO17Zk

Well, that’s my list! I hope that you enjoyed it, as well as the chase scenes. I recommend you watch this song while listening to “Rockin’ Down the Highway” by the Doobie Brothers. It seems fitting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drg50H3nNAk

December 12, 2014 zoomvroom Car Culture, Random, The History of Autos

What Era of Motorsport Was the Best?

This idea is simple: What era of motorsport was/is the best? What drivers were/are the best? What motorsport was/is the best? What cars were the best? What track was the best?

For me, I can’t choose just one. 1960s Top Fuel drag racing was the best of the 1960s. There were plenty of big names competing against smaller names, many of whom have been lost to the sands of time. Some of those names we are familiar with – Don “Big Daddy” Garlits, Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen (anybody who’s ever had a large collection of Hot Wheels has/had models of their cars). Their cars were spectacularly fast (Garlits was the first to break 200 mph in his Top Fuel dragster), and they always put on one hell of a show. I’m going to say that Lions Drag Strip in Long Beach, CA was the best. While I never visited it (it closed in 1972), it is rumored to have been one of the best drag strips ever. If you’re into Facebook, look up “THE GLORY DAYS OF DRAG RACING.” It’s a closed group, but they will let you in. It’s got a lot of great vintage photos. Read their rules before posting something.

Another great one for me was 1980s Formula 1. Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Mario Andretti, and the late Clay Regazzoni. It was a fierce era of turbocharged cars with well over 1,000 horsepower duking it out on the fastest tracks on the planet. BMW had cars with 1,400 horsepower and manual transmissions (yes, you had to take your hand off of the steering wheel in a tight corner in a powerful car to shift). Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost simply dominated the sport until the tragic death of Senna in 1994.

Finally, I’m going to say that 1980s-current off-road racing is great. I mean, who doesn’t like watching Ivan “Ironman” Stewart bombing around Baja in his Toyota trophy truck? Or for those American car fans, how about Robby Gordon and his HUMMERs from a long time ago? To me, it’s the most entertaining form of motorsport, and I’ve been hoping to travel to Baja to watch the Baja 1000 for a while.

Here are some of my favorite pictures to prove it.

October 21, 2014 zoomvroom Car Reviews, Gifts for the Car Enthusiast, New car info

Which Modern Ponycar is the Best?

Modern ponycars have progressed a lot in the past 50 years. While the Ford Mustang started the ponycar craze, the Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger have caught up (and surpassed it) in many ways. If you are looking for a new ponycar, I hope that this post will help you.

2015 Ford Mustang: The 2015 Ford Mustang is pretty groundbreaking. It’s the first Mustang to come from the factory with fully independent front AND rear suspension. Most Mustangs that had IRS (independent rear suspension) were factory hot-rod specials (Mustang Cobra, SVO, etc.). Not any more. The 2015 Mustang comes right off of the assembly line with IRS in any iteration. Previous generations of Mustang used an antiqued live rear axle circa 1964. Going over a bump or around a curve was not for the faint of heart. Axle hop is scary, especially if you happen to be going at a high rate of speed. Motor Trend recently tested a 2015 Mustang GT, and found that it weighed a whopping 196 pounds heavier than the previous generation. While this certainly isn’t Ford’s first foray into IRS with the Mustang, the rear end bobbling around while on the gas is not fun, and neither is massive understeer when the gas is let off.

However, that’s NOT how most Mustang drivers are going to drive their car. IRS pays off big time when you’re cruising in any car. The IRS is worlds better than a live axle when you’re cruising. In previous generations of Mustang, one small bump was enough to make you think that the semi in the lane next to you would be the last thing that you’d see. Think about how much you drive on the freeway. It’s a lot, right? Heavier is often better on the freeway. Not for fuel economy, mind you, but for cruising. You just feel more planted to the ground.

Powering the Mustang is Ford’s fabulous (and famous) 302 cubic inch V-8 (5.0 liters). It’s lightweight, aluminum, and it’s got a lot of power. It’s got 435 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque, thank in no small part to the previous-generation Boss 302’s valves, springs, connecting rods, and crankshaft. Part of what makes this engine so fun is the fact that it loves to rev. It doesn’t rev high, but it revs better than a pushrod V-8 has any right to. A big part of a muscle car is driving around with the windows down and listening to that sweet thundering bellow that these engines make. Ford’s 302 sounds good…once you put an aftermarket exhaust system on it. I’m going to hedge a safe bet that 2015 Mustang owners will go straight to the muffler shop right after the warranty runs out. Putting that power to the ground is either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic. Go for the manual. It automatically makes a car more fun to drive. Trust me. I drive a stick.

The base engine is a high-revving 3.7-liter V6 borrowed from the Interceptor Utility. It’s a good engine, but my first choice is the 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine. It’s small, but it’s got a turbocharger on it. I know that a turbocharger does not a car make, but it does in this case. Here’s why you should get the Mustang EcoBoost: Lower weight, better fuel economy, and 320 lb-ft of torque. Getting the EcoBoost Mustang also shaves a massive 96 pounds off of the front of the car. Listening to the EcoBoost Mustang is fun, thanks to an amplified exhaust note. It’s got a series of growls and pops, and when you pop the hood, you hear whooshes and whistles from the twin-scroll turbocharger.

Stopping the porky Mustang is a set of big Brembo slotted disc brakes. Brembo makes probably the best brakes in the world. They never overheat or lose stopping distance. The brakes on the Mustang are almost 15 inches tall, and they work great, stopping the overweight pony in just 107 feet. By no means is the EcoBoost Mustang meant to be a replacement for the Mustang GT – the Mustang GT is a completely different car. It’s just meant to be a fun alternative to it.

2015 Chevrolet Camaro: Ever since it made a big splash in the ponycar segment in 2010, the Camaro has been an entertaining car. In SS form, it comes with a free-revving LS3 6.2-liter V-8 making 426 horsepower. It’s got visibility akin to a ski mask, but the burbling, rumbling engine note is almost enough to forgive the visibility. However, an engine does not a car make. The SS without the 1LE package understeered my dear friend at Motor Trend, Jonny Lieberman, right off of the track at Willow Springs International Raceway. That would be traumatizing for anybody. Not Jonny! He’s driven just about every current-generation Camaro, and the best he’s driven is the fire-breathing Z/28. I’m still jealous. For us mere mortals that don’t have $75,000 to spend on a Chevrolet Camaro, the SS 1LE is almost as good a driver’s car. It’s simply unflappable. You’re going to make a mistake before the car does, let’s put it that way. Why is that? Well, it’s got specatcular magneothermal shocks borrowed from the Corvette ZR1 and Camaro ZL1. This is the Camaro to (almost) end all Camaros. Jonny’s fallen in love with this car – for good reason. It’s just one of those cars that begs you to go faster around the next corner. I would kill for a Z/28 Camaro, but until then, my faithful readers will have to get me a SS 1LE.

2015 Dodge Challenger: The big news about the Challenger is the Hellcat. For about $60,000, you can have THE most powerful factory muscle car ever. It’s not as powerful as the current bunch of hypercars, nor is it as fast. But, it’s far, far cheaper. I mean, who doesn’t want 707 horsepower? If you can’t afford the Hellcat, it’s all good. You can get the Challenger Scat Pack. You can get a car with 485 horsepower for under $40,000! The problem with the Challenger is weight. It’s simply not a small car. It’s big, wide, loud, powerful, and it soaks up anything the road can throw at it with ease. It’s also 400 pounds heavier than the Camaro 1LE. You won’t notice the weight in a straight line because it’s got more horsepower than it’s rivals. The Challenger isn’t something you want to take in tight, windy roads. It’s just too big. It is, however, the car that you would want to tour the country in. The Hellcat is insanely loud – I’ve heard one at speed, and it sounds about as loud as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car. It’s that loud. Dialing the Challenger back into the realm of sanity is the Challenger Scat Pack. It’s got the 6.4-liter HEMI V-8 from the Challenger SRT8, and it just howls and revs to the heavens. It sounds like a mini Hellcat, minus the blower whine. Speaking of blower whine, the Hellcat got it just right. The engine was so loud that they had to put an amplifying cooling chamber in the supercharger itself to make it be heard. A job well done, Dodge. The Challenger is the car you want to take on a road trip. It’s big, comfortable, it can take two large coolers and luggage in the trunk, and it can take the kids, or two buddies easily in the back. Driving this with the windows down is the only way to drive it. You can just sit back and listen the the burbling, howling, crackling exhaust note that sounds right out of a vintage Trans Am race. Want to know what the Hellcat sounds like? It sounds like NASCAR, a Ferrari V8, a plane, and a Top Fuel dragster, with blower whine mixed in. It’s a haunting, addictive melody. It’s the car that you just want to cruise around in, revving the engine and doing burnouts and donuts in empty parking lots.

Overall, which car would I take? That’s hard to say. The Mustang EcoBoost is certainly a good choice, but you just can’t hear the engine itself very well. The Camaro Z/28 is an excellent choice, too, but it’s a stripped-down track toy that’s not meant for daily driving (case in point: air conditioning is an option). The Camaro 1LE is good, too, so I’d probably get the 1LE Camaro. The Challenger? Hellcat, Hellcat, Hellcat! It’s just the very definition of muscle car. It’s so powerful that when you’re going straight with ALL of the nannies on, it will still go completely sideways. Think of another modern car that can do that. I certainly can’t.

If I had to go with just one of these cars, I’d get the Hellcat. It’s the very definition of affordable performance, and even a tuner car Mustang with 800 horsepower won’t be the same. The most powerful Camaro offered is the 580-horsepower ZL1, which handily beats the 435-horse Mustang. Just go with the Hellcat and let me know when you get it! I’ll feature you, sing praises about the Hellcat (it shouldn’t be too hard), and never stop saying thank you.

P.S. Ford made the Mustang Cobra Jet (a factory drag-strip only special) until August, but there are some to be found at various racing dealerships or classifieds. I’ve even seen a few in Hemmings Motor News.

P.P.S. Chevrolet makes the COPO Camaro (also a factory drag-strip special). It’s got more engine choices than the Cobra Jet, and it looks pretty darn cool.

October 14, 2014 zoomvroom Car Culture, Random, World News

Why the NASCAR Fight Syndrome Needs to Be Treated

NASCAR is just about the highest form of motor sports in the U.S. I know that some of you will disagree with this but hear me out or forever hold your peace. Think about it this way – Formula 1 has only had a few Americans compete in it over the past 60-some-odd years. NASCAR is the American version of Formula 1.

There have been some gigantic fights in NASCAR over the years, but the one that really kicked it off was Bobby and Donnie Allison getting into a fistfight with Cale Yarborough in 1979 at Daytona. There have been some other big fights, notably the Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin pit crew fight a few years back. The most recent just happened to be a series of fights between Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, and Matt Kenseth.

Is NASCAR still NASCAR or is it WWE? Look at the picture and decide for yourself. Here’s the lowdown on what happened.

A restart with 63 laps to go sent Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth bashing eachother for the lead. Keselowski thought Kenseth was pushing him and didn’t leave a line toward the wall for Kenseth, who was, in fact, trying to pass him. Kenseth was forced into the wall and bounced into Keselowski, damaging both cars. While that’s not uncommon in NASCAR, what happened next was.

A restart with six laps to go gave Kenseth, who was a lap down due to his damage, a free pass, which means that he was no longer a lap down. You’re thinking score for Kenseth, right? Not exactly. On his way around the track, he somehow managed to “accidentally” drive around Keselowski’s nose (not his facial nose – his car’s!), damaging the car.

On the restart with two laps to go, Keselowski bashed Denny Hamlin in turn 1. Hamlin felt Keselowski’s push, and was enraged when he fell to 11th because of this. Keselowski lost his momentum (and his Top 10 spot), and fell to 16th place due to the now-extensive damage to his car.

You’re probably thinking, “Okay, that’s normal.” What happened next was more than abnormal.

After the race, Hamlin jammed on his brakes directly in front of Keselowski to show his immense displeasure. As a result of this, Keselowski floored the gas and tried to spin Hamlin. It didn’t work. He simply went right around Hamlin, clipping Hamlin’s rear bumper in the process.

Keselowski then proceeded to drive into pit row as he chased down Kenseth, who was unbuckling his safety belts (a common practice among drivers after a race as they come near their pit box). He T-boned Kenseth, and then inadvertently hit the rear bumper of Tony Stewart. Stewart, who wasn’t going that fast, stopped his car, jammed it in reverse, and rammed into the front end of Keselowski’s car, destroying the front end. Keselowski, who was frantically trying to get away from Stewart, backed into Danica Patrick’s car.

Keselowski then untangled his car from the small pileup and drove past everybody and went into his garage. Hamlin followed him, making contact as Keselowski made his way into the garage, and stuck both cars together. Keselowski floored the gas in reverse so he could get away, leaving a massive, smoky burnout mark in the garage. He then drove across some equipment of the team’s that was laying on the ground to get to his car hauler.

The now-furious Hamlin climbed out of his now-stopped car first, and started storming towards Keselowski’s baby-blue Ford, which just so happened to be parked right in front of his black Toyota. A Hamlin crew member led him away from the cars and handed him a towel to dry his face off. However, as Keselowski climbed out of his car, Hamlin walked over to Keselowski’s car and threw the sweaty towel at Keselowski, hitting him in the helmet. Hamlin then ran over to the stunned Keselowski and put him in a bear hug and started to wildly shake him. After a few moments of scuffling among drivers and crews, Keselowski walked to his hauler.

Let’s not forget about Matt Kenseth. Kenseth wanted blood. He followed Keselowski and attacked him from behind as Keselowski was about to enter his hauler trailer. Crew members of Kenseth intervened after Kenseth put Keselowski in a headlock. Keselowski’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, put Kenseth in a chokehold and started to drag him away. Kenseth crew members immediately separated the two brawling drivers. During this encounter, Keselowski said, “You hit me under yellow. You hit me under yellow. You hit me under yellow.”

Here’s what Kenseth had to say about the incident. “(Keselowski) was doing something with Denny. The race had ended, and he’s running into cars on the cool-down lap. I mean, the race is over, and he comes down pit row and drives into the side of me. That’s inexcusable. He’s a champion, and he’s supposed to know better.”

After composing himself inside of his hauler for a few minutes, Keselowski gave a few words to USAToday. “When we restarted fifth with no right front on it, we fell all the way back to 16th and ruined our day. That gave us a big Chase hurt, which is unfortunate. Then, for some reason, after the race the 11 (Hamlin) stopped in front of me and tried to pick a fight. I don’t know what that was all about, and he swung and hit at my car, so I figured if we’re going to play car wars under yellow and after the race, I’ll join too. Those guys can dish it out, but they can’t take it. I gave it back to them and now they want to fight, so I don’t know what’s up with that.”

What Keselowski should have done would have been to take the high road and forget about it. Why give attention to angry people like that? Just let it roll off and forget about it.

Hamlin called Keselowski “Out of control. He’s desperate, obviously, and it’s either four or five of us are wrong or he’s wrong because he’s pissed off everyone…that was unfortunate. Matt was nearly out of his car, and he just plowed into Matt and then ran into Tony and then went into the garage and cleared out transmissions and did burnouts in the garage. Just acting like a dumb*** instead of a champion.” Hamlin also added Keselowski “Will probably try to wreck everyone” at Talladega next week. “He’ll just be out of control like normal. We’ll do what we’ll have to do to get in, and that’s the big picture.”

NASCAR’s vice president of competition, Robin Pemberton, said the sanctioning body had called Keselowski into the hauler. “We asked Brad to come in and talk to us a little bit and get his take on what went on in the closing laps of the race and the post-race incidents, so we’ve got that and we’ll talk to some other people,” he said, adding Joe Gibbs Racing mechanic Jesse Sanders was also called to the hauler for his role in the altercation.

Kenseth was angry about what Keselowski did to him on pit row (for good reason). “I don’t know if he was mad at me,” Kenseth said. “I had my HANS (safety device) off and my seat belts off and everything. He clobbered me at 50 mph. … If you want to talk about it as a man, try to do that, but to try and wreck someone on the racetrack, come down pit road with other cars and people standing around with seat belts off and drive in the side of me.”

Keselowski’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, blamed Hamlin for the entire incident. “I think Denny started the whole thing after the checkered flag,” he said. “Started pushing Brad around, and at some point we’ve got to stand our ground and not let that happen. From there, I guess some people got frustrated and the fight broke out.”

Kevin Harvick, the winner of the hotly-contested race showed that maybe NASCAR’s new Chase for the Sprint Cup Series Championship format had added pressure to the races, and that every moment matters. When asked if NASCAR might send hefty penalties to the drivers involved, he replied, “You’re crazy; they love it.”

NASCAR announced today that both Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski were both being penalized for their actions following the race.

Keselowski has been fined $50,000, and been placed on probation from driving for the next four races for violating the following penalties:

Section 12-1: Actions detrimental to stock car racing.

Section 12-4.9: Behavioral penalty – involved in post-race incidents

Stewart has been fined $25,000, and has been placed on probation from driving for the next four races for violating the same penalties. I disagree with NASCAR giving a penalty to Tony Stewart. In my eyes, Stewart did nothing more than what most drivers do – back into their car as a warning. Yes, he did ruin the front end of Keselowski’s car, which there was no need for at all. He would have been better off leaving it alone and going on to his pit. I feel that NASCAR was unfair in their penalty assignment, and should have given a penalty to Matt Kenseth. Kenseth’s actions, as well as the rest of the drivers involved, were highly unprofessional and childlike. His actions were foolish and will most certainly hurt him in the future. I feel that Keselowski’s fine and probation are completely deserved, and he needs to seek treatment for this. I understand that drivers in NASCAR are highly impulsive, but playing bumper cars with big-boy toys that can kill people is unacceptable and foolhardy. All of these drivers need to have more than a slap on the wrist and a fight among themselves. They need to talk it out to each other in a civil manner a couple of days after the incident, and I hope that we will see apologies from all drivers involved in this blemish on NASCAR in the near future.

Here’s the entire video of what happened.