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Driving: thats what its all about!Driving: thats what its all about!A site for automotive driving enthusiasts, featuring my interests as I see them: news and opinion about manufacturers of interest, significant enthusiast cars, and driving them hard and well. Ford, Evo, S2000, and more. RSS feeds. Articles
Yamaha SHO jet ski for 2009
2008-10-06 01:31:00 Yamaha owns the rights to the SHO name for engines, while Ford owns the rights for cars. Yamaha is not sitting down - their new 1.8 liter SHO supercharged engine in the jet ski shown below accelerates faster from 0-30 than a Z06 Corvette. Like Ford's original SHO engine, this one is very much worthy of the name. Follow the link in the title of this post above for more information. More About: Yamaha
SHO engine into Cobra kit car
2008-10-06 01:26:00 But wait - there's more. This time the SHO engine is put into a Cobra kit car. It's not a real Cobra, so what the heck...? On the other hand, the engine is far more modern than any of the iron lumps originally offered. And it looks the part of a true exotic - the SHO engine is an engine which you would be proud to SHOw. Follow the link in the title of this post for more images. More About: Engine
SHO engine into Cobra kit car
2008-10-06 01:26:00 But wait - there's more. This time the SHO engine is put into a Cobra kit car. It's not a real Cobra, so what the heck...? On the other hand, the engine is far more modern than any of the iron lumps originally offered. And it looks the part of a true exotic - the SHO engine is an engine which you would be proud to SHOw. Follow the link in the title of this post for more images. More About: Ford , Engine
Another SHO swap: this time into an MGB!
2008-10-06 01:20:00 We've been posting nearly every SHO engine swap we've seen - but to date there hasn't been as clean and professional a swap as this one. The SHO engine looks like a factory option under the hood of this 1972 MBG. Follow the link in the title of this posting to the owner's site for full details. Jolly Good SHOw! More About: Ford , Time , Swap
Freshened Miata MX-5 for 2009
2008-10-04 03:29:00 A freshened MX-5 Miata for 2009 was announced this week at the Paris show. This is the same basic car as has been on the market for the past 4 years, with minor improvements and a new nose and tail. A notable improvement is the Recaro seat option - which hopefully will make it to North America (Federal regulations permitting). The rest of the changes fall under the heading of "continuous improvement" in the best Japanese tradition. However - the Miata still doesn't have a real engine: while the manual transmission version finally receives a forged crankshaft this year (yikes, imagine that!>, the engine still doesn't make any real power. And Mazda 's recent excuse as to why the 2.3 Turbo engine (the location of the high-pressure pump for the direct injection system would need to be moved) won't be offered is a really lousy lie. It won't be offered because it would then put the RX-8 in the grave, and they can't have that with the flagship. Especially with yet an...
(Jeremy) Clarkson Island
2008-09-26 22:40:00 Reference: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/harryandpaul/ :-) More About: Island , Jeremy , Jeremy Clarkson , Clarkson
GREEN for Driving Enthusiasts
2008-09-26 14:25:00 Green powertrain technology for driving enthusiasts? Are we nuts? To the contrary: look at the specs for the new Dodge EV: 268 horsepower and 480 lb.-ft. from an all-electric powertrain in a lightweight sportscar. Similar acceleration numbers for the Tesla (but less torque), and it's in production today. These are just the first steps in adapting electric motors to the benefit of driving enthusiasts. Remember that electric motors make all of their torque from 1 RPM upwards...! This is new technology... lots of further development is needed. As with the current electric and hybrid offerings for "pedestrian" drivers, battery technology is the main obstacle and needs to jump forward - a lot. And designing a car from the ground up as an all-electric vehicle is a lot more optimum than adapting a present chassis so we shouldn't expect to see optimum offerings here immediately either. But work is proceeding... all-electric powertrains (and even electric ... More About: Driving , Green
Dodge EV all-electric sports car
2008-09-26 13:39:00 Chrysler has announced several electric models moving to production including an all-electric sportscar for Dodge . No gasoline engine is provided: it's solely powered by an electric motor. It makes 268 horsepower and 480 lb.-ft.!! As with all electric motors, the torque is 100% available from 1 RPM all the way up. Incredible! 268 horsepower and 480 lb.-ft.!! In an extraordinarily light car. This couldn't be done with an all-gasoline powertrain. This is a phenomenal announcement that goes a long way towards making electric vehicles for driving enthusiasts acceptable... desirable... advantageous... and one day the norm. Interestingly, the chassis is from Lotus. Where else have we seen Lotus platform sharing? The Tesla - which is a direct competitor. But one which has far less funding and engineering expertise. Could the Dodge EV be a threat to the Tesla? We hope not... because the folks are Tesla are heroes in our books for all the great work they've done and for all the en... More About: Sports , Electric
Chrysler offers double-clutch automated manual Getrag transmission
2008-09-26 13:23:00 Ford of Europe has already shown a double clutch automated manual transmission for production and now it's Chrysler 's turn. This unit should look familiar to readers of the DrivingEnthusiastiast network - it's a direct relative of the Getrag unit used in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. What about the North American market? Chrysler developed this for production with a diesel engine that won't be offered in North America, and there will be no equivalent engine developed or offered in North America. So we likely won't see this transmission for some time. But this offering still contributes to the development of the technology, which the state-of-the-art in transmission design today. Chrysler Press Release follows: Chrysler LLC Expands Use of Fuel-saving Dual-clutch Transmission Technology Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring are the latest vehicles available in markets outside North America with Chrysler’s new dual-clutch transmission ... More About: Double , Offers , Clutch , Manual
Buy American or Get Out?
2008-09-21 14:07:00 This one will hopefully be shot down in the courts - and furthermore it MUST be shot down. A free and open economy drives consumer choice, not "economic terrorism". If only Detroit would build something that American s want, versus something that residents of towns run by bullies and dictators decree, then Detroit would have a fighting chance to survive. Jim Fouts is NOT a patriot and he and his attitude are a large part of the problem. Article follows: Buy American or Get Out?A Detroit mayor tells his employees what car to driveBy KEVIN RANSOM | AOL AUTOS What Do You Think? DETROIT -- A directive recently handed down by a Detroit-area suburban mayor has ignited the latest round of a seemingly endless debate -- one that always burns with more intensity in the home of the Big Three than anywhere else. It's the debate that relates to cars and it goes something like this: "Buy American!" vs. "I'll buy what I want!" That debate sometimes, but not always, begins as a civil conversa...
Honda OSM Concept
2008-09-21 13:23:00 Honda introduced the "Honda OSM" concept in July at the 2008 British International Motor Show . Web speculation abounds as to what this is: either a hybrid FWD sports car or an S2000 replacement - or both? Very limited statements by Honda confirm that it is absolutely not an S2000 replacement. (whew!) Looking at the drawing, we can see follow-on elements from the current S2000, but it's also clear that this is a FWD car. Note the long front overhang and the minimal distance between the front wheels and doors - clearly not a front/mid engine platform. Note that Honda announced a few weeks ago that there would be several new hybrids coming soon and undoubtedly this is one of them. (reposted from a prior post, which spammers had attacked with comments) More About: Honda , Concepts , Concept
Welcome SHOForum.com members
2008-09-21 00:57:00 Looking over our site stats here at the DrivingEnthusiast network, we see a couple of hundred hits in the last month from the folks at the SHOForum.com forums. They are reading our comparison of our original '89 versus our '97. You'll find plenty of SHO information on this site - we were an enthusiast SHO owner twice. We've got information about these original SHOs, and much more including SHO engine swaps and projects. And while there may be another SHO around the corner from Ford (new Taurus, AWD, 3.5 liter twin-turbo with 340 horse/340 torque - but only if near-bankrupt Ford can afford to do it right), it will be tough to beat the originality of the first SHO (and the resulting owner loyalty). The original SHO was from a different Ford Motor Company, one that had a different set of problems (although not life-threatening) and some serious quality issues, but one who also knew that true (versus poseur) performance enthusiasts look for all-around &am... More About: Members
Edmunds GT-R: representative of them all?
2008-09-16 13:02:00 That's the big question this week. Follow the link in the title of this post to the complete set of reports of Edmund's experiences with their GT-R - good and bad (shown). Wholesale replacement of parts to track down a bug that can't otherwise be found is not a good quality statement. Are their problems representative of all GT-Rs, or are they just an isolated incident? The following picture is their GT-R a few days ago with the fuel tank and entire rear suspension/transmission/diff removed for replacement. Be sure to click on the picture in their blog to get a high-res image. More About: Representative , Edmunds
LIncoln Aviator - intake
2008-09-14 13:50:00 While I'm on my dead Ford thread, I'll say that I've always been a fan of the Lincoln Aviator - that is, the Lincoln version of the Explorer. Unique pieces include 4.6 DOHC V-8 (shared with the Marauder and Mach 1 - but with several unique pieces of it's own), unique front suspension lower control arms with larger brakes, an entirely different interior with unique seats and dash (the best seats ever offered in the Explorer family), and more. I've enjoyed driving them, and while they are significantly heavier they are a far better drive. Unfortunately, the EPA ratings were 13/18 - which doomed the vehicle (and why Lincoln canceled this instead of the massively over-blown Navigator is IMHO a large part of their problem). Following (just to get them on our site and saved) are some pictures of the unique intake manifold I encountered on the web. The MSRP price on the entire "dressed" engine is $4200. In their parts catalog, Ford doesn't show the co...
What will become of the Ford BOSS big block?
2008-09-14 13:15:00 The all-new Ford big block has been under development for several years now. At one point it was canceled, then later restarted. Earlier this summer, all work to put versions of it in the Mustang and F-150 was permanently canceled, with only use in the Super Duty a possibility going forward. So it's dead for Mustangs - leaving Ford out of the "big block" world. Instead, Ford will use a variant of the current 4.6 DOHC engine in 5 liter DOHC form in the re-skinned 2010 Mustang (or a year later, depending on corporate finances) and a version of the twin-turbo V-6 "EcoBoost" 3.5 liter DOHC V-6 (in 2010 or later, again depending). The only picture ever published with permission of the dead big-block was in a Roush drag Mustang, in iron-block SOHC cam form: However, some other pictures of this same iron-block SOHC engine made it out the doors: Now that the engine is dead, will there a plan put in place to offer it for off-road Mustangs via the after... More About: Boss , Block
Cindy McCain is a gearhead!
2008-09-11 01:42:00 Great story on ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/e60/news/s tory?id=3571491 - it seems that Cindy McCain is a gearhead - with personal lessons in drifting in Japan, competition, and attendance at the 4-day Bondurant school. Be sure to watch the video, shot in her garage! Who knew? What a great and positive attitude about life! Compare this to her opponent on the other side, whose infamous crowd of complainers blats out "God Damn America" and makes all of us who love our country absolutely sick!
New MINI commercial!
2008-09-10 01:45:00 It's been a while since MINI has given us a new commercial. Here it is now for your enjoyment... Check past MINI posts to see more commercials and advertising... including the all-time winner - the infamous bondage/Dominatrix advertisement from Canada: http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog /categories/miniCooper/2006/12/16.html#a1 912 More About: Commercial , Mini
Ford Ecoboost V-6 in testing phase
2008-09-04 12:54:00 It looks like Ford might have a home run with the EcoBoost V-6 engine... but we'll withhold judgment until we see how the engine actually fares under the hands of real-world customers. We've personally been burned too many times by Ford with SVT Cobras that were unusable in the Texas heat... despite extensive high-speed testing at the Arizona Proving Grounds. And while it might be argued that while that was indeed the "old Ford", that was also the Ford was wasn't facing bankruptcy, hadn't mortgaged the factories and Headquarters, and had as much development and testing budget as needed. And SVT was allegedly run by enthusiasts and the cream of the crop of top-notch engineers, who should have known better and who covered up their amateurish mistakes until recalls were forced on them. Fortunately, that particular bunch doesn't exist any longer in the "new" Ford. And good riddance. This is an interesting engine... out DrivingEnthusiast network has all... More About: Testing , Phase
GM to cancel Solstice & Sky...???!!!
2008-09-03 14:16:00 No sooner did we post about the current Solstice and Sky when word comes from GM Inside News that the next generation cars have been cancelled. Follow the link in the title of this post to the original article. As we wrote our post last week... one thing bothered us. The fact that we rarely saw a Solstice or Sky on the dealer lot, much less a new ones on the street. Could their terrible ergonomics and lousy truck-based transmission have caught up with them? And what are the ramifications of yet another Lutz failure?
Solstice-Sky Suspension
2008-09-01 23:08:00 We had an opportunity a few days ago to poke our heads under a Saturn Sky (identical to the Solstice ) and look around. We're not a big fan of the car because the ergonomics and design are about as appealing and well-done as a late-eighties Camaro.. Functionally there are some good elements - but bad they are hidden inside a body and seating position that you can't see out of or sit in... The front brakes are a decent size, although they look lost in the 18" rims. The rears are the problem - solid discs. The bane of road racers. The diff and single exhaust pipe (dual outlets on the turbo model). Note that the diff is finned aluminum - a very good move. Rear suspension - I was surprised to see Bilsteins on a base automatic-equipped model. Very nice. Rear suspension - note the aluminum upper and lower control arms. Very very strong - probably overkill for the amount of power the car has in it's current generation. Note the concentric bolt o... More About: Suspension
CTS-V at the Nurburgring
2008-09-01 01:21:00 Thanks to the GMNext blog we have a great video explaining how the record setting run at the Nurburgring by GM's own John Heinricy in a production-spec CTS-V was pulled off: You certainly haven't seen much in the DrivingEnthusiast network about Cadillac ... but that needs to change. Cadillac has it, Cadillac does it. Anybody who tests at the Nurburgring is good in our book. Note that the defunct SVT organization never tested there... and their absurdly overheating SN95 Cobras never could have survived for a single lap anyway.
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X - factory training videos available
2008-08-29 23:59:00 Evo X enthusiasts have found copies of these videos out on YouTube. Now, Evo.DrivingEnthusiast.net offers them in their original form, unadulterated. Plus, they're converted to .avi so that you can watch them on your PC or stream them to your HDTV. These are *very* large in size... probably too large to stream off the server. We suggest you <right click> and download via <save target as> for later viewing. Part 1 - Operating & Introduction; Engine; Engine Timing Chain Stretch Inspection (168mg) Part 2 - 5 Speed Manual Transaxle; 6 Speed Manual Transaxle; Super All Wheel Control (225mg) Part 3 - Brake, Wheel, & Tire Suspension; Rain Light Sensor; Head Light & Air Bags (116mg) More About: Videos , Mitsubishi , Factory , Training , Lancer
2003 Ferrari Enzo owners manual
2008-08-28 19:04:00 Think you would know how to drive this? Think again, it's a more involved than you might think. Download the owners manual for the 2003 Ferrari Enzo and get all the details: 2003 Ferrari Enzo Owners Manual (15mg, pdf)
Fast and Furious 4 in production!
2008-08-27 20:36:00 Fast and Furious 4 brings back the full original cast: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel (not a lot of offers these days...), Michelle Rodriquez (hopefully dry and well behaved, as well as over getting dumped in real life by Vin after the 1st film was completed), and the luscious Jordana Brewster. F&F 4 is currently scheduled for release on June 5, 2009 (date and full title subject to change). It's been in production for the past few months and the first trailer has just been released. View the new trailer here: Fast & Furious 4 trailer (.avi 26mg, fast connection required). While I liked the storyline in Tokyo, this time the story returns to the original characters. It's great to see them all back, and from the trailer We've seen the stories over the past few months about the STI that was built specifically for the film. It apparently has a leading role. We're not happy with the presence of muscle cars in the film... the old-school Charger m... More About: Movies , Media , Production , Fast
AutoWeek reports Chrysler may sell the Viper business
2008-08-27 17:31:00 AutoWeek reports that Chrysler is exploring "strategic options" for it's Viper product line. This means that like Ford (Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, and perhaps Volvo) and GM (hummer), the Viper business would be sold lock, stock, and barrel to another company. Chrysler has already said that it has no Viper product in the pipeline past 2012 and that the Viper would probabaly be allowed to die a slow death as finances allow after that. This new plan, if executed, would sell the Viper business to a third party and then support it with technology and engineering support. The news comes as an unpleasant surprise to Viper owners and enthusiasts, who always believed that the Viper business was profitable and would continue. More information: (<right click> and <option in new tab>) Autoweek Article: http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art icle?AID=/20080827/FREE/808279989/1508/ne wsletter02 More on DrivingEnthusiast.net network: Road Test: gen 2 V... More About: Business , Sell , Dodge Viper
Fergie reveals Camaro SS front end
2008-08-22 14:36:00 The first official picture of the front end of the Camaro SS comes courtesy of an ad placed by GM in a Conde Nast supplement Fashion Rocks. No, we don't read that magazine and wouldn't go anywhere near it, but here it is. We've seen this front end before in spy pics - it differs from the base Camaro in the badging and under the bumper with a deeper and more forward air dam. Interesting that here we are several months before production - with pictures and specs of nearly everything. GM hasn't officially released any other detailed images of the SS, or under-hood engine pictures - but those will come. We'll probably have the complete details and images after the Los Angeles show in November. More About: Fergie , Front
Something Awful parodies Top Gear Challenges
2008-08-18 01:08:00 We're right in the middle of watching every single episode of Top Gear (that is, in the J.C. years, or Jeremy Clarkson - not the series before which goes back 20 years and has an entirely different cast and purpose) and noticed this of Top Gear's infamous Challenges that Something Awful produced. <right click> and <open in new tab> http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/top- gear-challenge.php It's right on - although there is one historical inaccuracy and one Challenge that has been obsoleted: 1) James May wasn't in Series 1 - he didn't come along until Series 2. 2) Big Foot truly exists - we read it on the Internet just this past week! The complete list, from Something Awful, follows (note that they are incorrectly using the term "season" - in Britain these are known as "series"): Season 1: Episode 7Hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May purchase three hatchbacks for under £1,000 apiece, then determine which is th... More About: Parodies
370Z caught on the street
2008-08-17 12:16:00 Head over to VWVortex and check out the 370Z that was spotted driving on the street. Per previous reports, the new Z sports the updated FM platform (with the ability to adjust camber all around - finally!) and the existing 3.7 Infiniti liter engine. It's also been said to be somewhat lighter, thanks to a shortening of the chassis behind the doors (all wasted space on the current 2-seat 360Z). The styling updates are controversial, starting with the fangs in the grill below the bumper line. The picture reveals the details of the new rear hatch, which is probably less expensive to produce but which clearly doesn't improve rear sightlines. And while nobody has seen it yet, we're willing to bet that the large brace underneath the hatch will be removed from it's present form. Note that the picture also reveals a true dual-exhaust system, a hallmark of the new FM platform. The current 350Z has a single exhaust system with dual tips. References: (suggest <right click> and ... More About: Street , Nissan Z , Caught
Did Best Car Magazine capture the next S2000? No!
2008-08-13 21:49:00 Best Car Magazine in Japan snapped two spy pictures of a clay or fiberglass model of a small sports car outside of Honda's R&D headquarters in Japan. It was apparently being hauled in on a pallet when somebody got lucky and snapped a photo (remember that in Japan, nearly every cell phone has a reasonably high resolution camera built in). Best Car speculates that this is next S2000. The yellow car is their own prediction of styling, the gray car in the photographs is the actual model that was found. You'll notice the two are entirely different...! Our opinion: this is NOT AN S2000. First, lets get it straight what a model like this would be used for. Designers create many alternative styling exercises during the creation of a new model. Some make it into clay, some go further and make it into a fiberglass stage. Often, several models are compared against each other in specially prepared rooms, where stylists, product managers, or executives can compare them agai... More About: Capture
ABC News: The Volt Revealed
More articles from this author:2008-08-13 19:38:00 This is interesting - I have been tracking several "green" developments on this site and in this blog with a special interest in future performance applications of electrically-powered cars (remember that an electric motor makes tremendous torque - and delivers all of it instantaneously). The future is electric and hydrogen... probably in that order. And the sooner we get a performance variation of these vehicles the sooner the general population of driving enthusiasts will embrace this powerful technology. Look for for us to start a "Green Performance" section on the DrivingEnthusiast.net network in the near future. More About: News , ABC News 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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