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Mini clocked by radar at 2100 MPH
2008-08-12 18:40:00
This is an old report from BBC dated April 9, 2004. It's for real... the police admitted their mistake. Now what happens to the rest of us when there is just a small mistake...? BBC article follows: Radar clocks Mini at Mach 3 speed  A Belgian motorist was left stunned after authorities sent him a speeding ticket for travelling in his Mini at three times the speed of sound. The ticket claimed the man had been caught driving at 3380 kph (2,100 mph) - or Mach 3 speed - in a Brussels suburb, a Belgian newspaper reported. However, police later admitted that a faulty radar had been responsible for the Mini's incredible feat. The police have since apologised to the man and promised to fix the radar. The incident took place in December, but only came to light when Belgian prosecutors were asked to follow up the unpaid fine. "We called the local police to find out what height the plane caught speeding along the Boulevard Lambermont was flying at," a member of the...

Porsche Nurburgring oil sump test rig
2008-08-12 17:21:00
Porsche Research and Development Center in Weissach, Germany built this special test rig to simulate cornering forces at the Nurburgring . It helped develop a new sump system for the latest 911s. Via courtesy of Porsche via Edmunds.
More About: Porsche , Test

Lotus to develop OMNIVORE Research Engine
2008-08-12 15:26:00
We don't see see the point of using bio fuel as an alternative source of fuel for combustion engines. It's become clear that ethanol production, for example, is taking resources away from food production and is in fact driving food costs up. Given serious over-population issues and increasing birth rates worldwide driven by ignorance and oppressive religions and/or politics, the last thing the world needs is increased food costs. "Sustainable" is the wrong word to use when it competes with food production. We also can't see this as having any viable production point for Lotus , especially given their production of the chassis for the all-electric Tesla. Cars like the Tesla are the future, along with hydrogen - and of course clean nuclear energy to support them. Instead, clearly Lotus Engine ering is taking contract dollars to support their engineering business. Lotus Press Release follows: Lotus to develop OMNIVORE Research Engine Lotus condu...
More About: Omnivore , Develop

Congrats Tesla - first two dealerships open
2008-08-06 19:55:00
Tesla has announced that their first two dealerships in California are open for business.  Roadster production is indeed proceeding, although at a slow pace until September when an upgraded powertrain and the new gearbox (finally!) will be ready to go and production will ramp to 100 cars/month. Online articles (suggest <right click> and <open in new tab>): Menlo Park  http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/1 9/tesla-motors-unveils-jaw-dropping-menlo -park-showroom/  L.A:  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/uptospeed /2008/05/the-tesla-roads.html  Meanwhile, the Governator of California has announced that the production of the upcoming 4-door Tesla "Model S" will take place in a new factory to be built in California: http://www.gov.ca.gov/press-release/10038 /
More About: Tesla , Open

The Future of blogging...
2008-08-04 12:04:00
Weird thoughts in the middle of the night. I knew I shouldn't have drank all that Coca-Cola  for dinner... The future, what will it bring for web creators and bloggers? Channel 10 shows us one possible future with a spherical version of Microsoft Surface. Sphere multi-touch computing After brain augmentation surgery becomes commonplace in about 30 years, I'll be directly connected to my Microsoft Surface computer and will be able to process information in multiple dimensions across multiple virtual processes. The future DrivingEnthusiast.net will be created on Microsoft Sphere by simply dragging images from the new Multi-Dimensional Explorer Version 16 via the power of thought and dropping them onto my site, attaching long diatribes and numerous arcane details automatically copied directly from my enhanced memory. My blog posting number 82,535,894 of April 1, 2054 will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Mustang SVO and feature 20 pages of di...
More About: Future , Blogging , The Future

New Competitive Views section on DrivingEnthusiast.net
2008-08-03 15:54:00
We've continued building the new Competitive Views section here on the DrivingEnthusiast.net network. First up is a comparison of new-age ponycars: the Mustang, Challenger, and Camaro. An extensive chart compares the specs of all three, and images illustrate the details and differences. High-res images (typically as high as 3000x2000 pixels is available) are available for detailed examination of technical features. As additional technical information and images become available, the section is updated. One look at the images below will tell you all about one of the most important differences between the new Camaro and the Mustang: the rear suspension. The Camaro obviously is a 21st-century product with it's independent rear suspension. The Challenger places well here, too, with a similar independent rear suspension (which Chrysler has not released any images of!) and a double-A-arm front suspension. What happened to the new Mustang's IRS? It was developed for produ...
More About: Section

New Challenger high-res images available
2008-08-03 15:42:00
We've added a couple dozen additional super high-res images to Challenger .DrivingEnthusiast.net  (suggest <right click> and <open in new tab>). Look under the Production tab for images and text. This makes a total of >100 high-res Challenger images, all typically 3000x2000 pixels in size (with more to come). Use them to examine features in the most exacting detail, make desktop backgrounds, or screensavers. Choose your features when you order your own Challenger, and save the images for the long term as documentation as this car becomes a classic. All pages initially show the image in a 450-pixel thumbnail. Click on the image to go to the high-res image. Samples are below. Note that the Camaro and Mustang sections also have several dozen images of this size as well! How many of the >10,000 pages and >15,000 images on DrivingEnthusiast.net have you seen? You'll find this kind of attention to detail only on the DrivingEnthusia...
More About: Images , High , Dodge Challenger

Honda S2000 sales yields worst month in production history
2008-08-02 03:04:00
2001 S2000s Honda s were sold in the month of July, a time when sales for the year should be peaking. Instead, the S2000 has suffered it's worst month in production history. How much longer can this go on? A local dealer just sold it's CR for 30k even... apparently the CR model didn't help sales at all. What's wrong here? This is a reasonably economical car to own and it's a blast to drive. Are drivers so spoiled by luxury touches that they don't want a pure sports car anymore?
More About: History , Sales , Production , Month

Car Nut website
2008-08-02 00:53:00
Here's a website even more intense than mine: http://www.carnut.com  (suggest <right click> and <open in new tab>). His site focuses on classic cars and other vehicles. reserve a couple of hours for browsing thru his site, which fortunately is also indexed by Google.  He is truly a nut about cars. I linked the following picture from his site: it's a Duesenberg V-16 engine. You can see that it's technology is not unlike that of aircraft engines from the same era. Imagine what this monster sounded like when it started!
More About: Website

Music: Shut up and drive
2008-07-31 11:29:00
Nice '69 Mustang in dark blue. But what is that orange car?
More About: Music , Drive , Shut , Shut Up And Drive , Shut Up

Renault Alpine rumor persists
2008-07-28 16:12:00
As first discussed in my blog posting of November 2005 ( http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/s ec-blog/2005/11/27.html#a1037 ), Renault has been considering reviving the Alpine brand for the past several years. Discussion in the press on this possibility has recently picked up with the suggestion that 2010 could be the year the car debuts. References on web (suggest <right click> and <open in new tab>): http://www.themotorreport.com.au/6165/370 z-based-renault-alpine-to-be-revived-in-2 010/ http://www.eurocarblog.com/post/1044/alpi ne-to-be-made-in-2010-as-twin-to-the-mean -nissan-370z  http://tribes.cartribe.co.uk/kickapps/_20 10-Alpine-based-on-370Z/BLOG/83846/7276.h tml http://www.autospies.com/news/Renault-Alp ine-shares-platform-with-Nissan-370Z-3287 6/ http://www.pressportal.com.au/news/246/AR TICLE/2708/2008-07-27.html  Plans have apparently taken a step forward, coinciding with the major updates that were made to the Nissan FM platform and archit...
More About: Rumor , Nissan Z , Renault Alpine

Competitive Views - a new section on DrivingEnthusiast.net
2008-07-28 04:04:00
DrivingEnthusiast.net has been updated with a new section: Competitive Views   Competitive Views starts out with a chart comparing the specs of the Challenger, Camaro, and Mustang. There are also extensive high-res images and press releases for each car. In the future, further comparisons will be added for their suspension systems, engines, and more. Other cars will follow in the longer term - next up will be the Miata, S2000, and Solstice. DrivingEnthusiast.net is comprised of over 10k web pages and 15k images. This new section will consolidate detailed specs and high-res images across several separate sections - information which would otherwise be buried deep inside the site.
More About: News , Website , Section

Ford losses 8.7 Billion - and accelerates transformation plans
2008-07-24 16:05:00
Ford announced an enormous loss today for the 2nd quarter. The loss was larger than expected at $8.7B. Ford also announced that it is accelerating the move to small cars by stating that a total of 6 small vehicles form Europe would be manufactured in the Americas for our market. Only 3 of the vehicles were named: Fiesta, Focus , and Transit and these three had already all been announced. Two of the remaining three will probably be crossovers, and the third is speculated to be the Mondeo. However, the Mondeo overlaps with the Fusion - so how Ford will work this out remains to be seen. An updated Fusion will also come out next year, with enhanced engines and a hybrid powerplant for the first time. Past examples of European Fords brought to North America were all de-contented from their European counterparts. The European Mondeo for example, was an up-market product in Europe but was de-contented for North America as the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique. Now that small cars are impor...
More About: Ford , Explorer , Plans , Capri

AWD Miata prototype spotted?
2008-07-23 18:10:00
Spotted in California near the Mazda Design headquarters. Could be a prototype for an upcoming all wheel drive version of the Miata ...    ... or it could just be some redneck hayseed with too much time on his hands.  Talk amongst yourselves....   ;-)
More About: Prototype

Challenger vs Challenger: 1970 vs 2008 - Jay Leno has them both
2008-07-22 17:17:00
Challenger vs Challenger: Jay Leno 1970 RT vs 2008 SRT.   1970 Challenger R/T - 426 Hemi, dual-quads     vs   2008 Challenger SRT8 - Jay picks up the very first new Challenger in California, #4 production! An excellent set of videos from Jay Leno 's Garage, with lots of video footage of both cars. These can't be embedded, so visit this page for both videos: http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video _categories.shtml?cat=30492 (suggest <right click> and <open in new tab>)  
More About: Dodge Challenger , Challenger

2010 Camaro Press Introduction and specs
2008-07-21 22:18:00
You have to hand it to Chevrolet... they beat the Mustang again, hands down. When you compare the standard 300-HP V-6 engine in the Camaro to the lowly 210 HP V-6 in the Mustang... ther eis no comparison. When you compare the standard across-the-board (all Camaros, all options) 6-speed transmisisons (auto and manual) to ye old T-5 in the V-6 Mustang (a transmission that literally dates back to 1983) and the 5-speed autos and manuals in the other models - saving the 6-speed manual only for the Shelby - there is no comparison. And, of course, the Camaro has a standard IRS... something that Ford designed for the Mustang and then dropped at the last moment. Chevrolet press release follows: FOR RELEASE: 2008-07-21 Chevrolet Unveils The 2010 Camaro - A Fun, Efficient Sports Car For The 21st Century   function SetValues(){var getx = 'window.event.clientX'; var gety = "window.event.clientY";} .wordtodisplay{font-family:arial; font-size:16px; color:#ff0000; cu...
More About: Press , Introduction , Specs

Official 2010 Camaro specs now available
2008-07-21 21:40:00
GM has released the specs, along with a nice document that describes the upcoming car. http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-gm/c amaro/2010/camarospecs.pdf  (suggest <right click> and "open in new tab>) Full specs, colors, and extensive images are on Chevy's own site: http://www.chevrolet.com/camaro/  (suggest <right click> and "open in new tab>) And, if you're wondering how it stacks up against the new Challenger, as well as the existing Mustang, try this comparison chart: http://challenger.drivingenthusiast.net/s ec-competition/index.htm  (suggest <right click> and "open in new tab>). The V-8 Challenger gains a 6-speed manual and limited slip diff in 2009. The Mustang remains unchanged for a shortened 2009 model year, then gets a re-skin for 2010.
More About: Camaro , Official , Specs

What happened to the Brembos on the Camaro?
2008-07-20 20:06:00
Looks like the bean counters have hit the Camaro ... it's lost it's rear Brembo calipers and gone back to a single-piston caliper. Look at the 1st picture below of the production Camaro SS: small 4-piston Brembos on the front only. And compare that to the 2nd picture of the Camaro testing at the Nurburgring several weeks ago - larger front Brembos and 4-piston rear Brembos. Rotor sizes have also been downgraded - particularly at the rear. And lest you think that rear brakes don't make that much difference, remember that the Camaro is a 52/48% fr/rr weight balance car - unlike the grotesquely obese Shelby at 58.5% in the front (same as most front wheel drive cars!). So, yes, a 4-wheel multi-piston braking system would have made a phenomenal difference for the Camaro. So, either the bean counters made a last-minute cut in production spec, or the Nurburgring car wasn't production-based, or the Nurburgring car was a higher level car such as the supercharged Camaro Z28 - w...

Honda Racer is not the new S2000!
2008-07-19 15:17:00
Honda Designer Guillermo Gonzalez recently spent 3 months designing this new "Honda Racer " Hot Wheels model to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of Hot Wheels. Several other automakers also designed similarly wild models; each will sell for about $3. Note that this 20 liter (twenty!) 2400-HP V10-engined prototype with 32-inch wheels out back and 22 in the front would indeed make a fine "S20000". The envisioned 300 MPH top speed would put a complete and total end to those GT-R lap times at the Nurburgring... making them look little different from a those of a Stanza. But unfortunately it's not to be. We heard that Honda discovered that there would be a liability issue with the driver and/or passenger getting sucked out of the car as it nears it's completely illegal top speed. Presumably, experimentation with various wind deflectors didn't solve the problem this time...
More About: Honda

2009 Dodge Challenger high-res images and full specs
2008-07-19 15:00:00
Now available on http://www.Challenger.DrivingEnthusiast.n et: 50 super high-res images of the SE, R/T and SRT8 models, along with full detailed specifications and other information. Follow the link to our Challenger site and then go to the "Production!" section from there. 2009 is the year the Challenger reaches it's stride: there is a heavily revised base V-8 Hemi in the R/T, a V-6 in the SE, and the SRT8 gets the 6-speed manual and limited slip diff it needed in 2008. Samples follow:
More About: Chrysler , Images , Dodge , High , Full

Production Camaro Revealed
2008-07-18 15:47:00
Several sites beat Monday's planned introduction by GM by releasing sets of photos today. Autoweek has an overview here, with full details after next Monday afternoon: http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art icle?AID=/20080718/FREE/261484376/1528/ne wsletter01  However - as usual - the folks at Camaro 5.com have the full set of photos: http://www.camaro5.com/forum s/showthread.php?t=5171  and the specs of the first two engines that will be be offered: a standard 296-HP 3.6 V-6 and a 416-HP 6.2 V-8. The V-8 model weighs 3700 pounds and has a 52/48 weight balance. Furthermore, the V-8 has variable cylinder shut-off and with the 6-speed transmission will have extraordinarily low revs at highway cruising speeds. Like the Corvette with the similar engine and transmission, careful drivers will find high-20s on the highway. Both V-8 and V-6 models "blow away" the Mustang by a considerable margin. And rumor has it that the 2010 Mustang ...
More About: Production

Ford Probe still popular
2008-07-18 08:42:00
We were looking thru our site statistics this morning and noticed 10 unique visits from the Probe Club of the Netherlands ( http://phpbb3.probeclub.nl/ - suggest <right click> and <open in new tab>) over the past few weeks. Apparently they just discovered our site and blogs and had been going thru some parts of it looking at our material. There are also about a dozen Ford Probe club sites on the web from around the world - although only the folks from the Netherlands have found us so far.  We hadn't received any attention that we know of from Ford Probe enthusiasts before, but we do routinely get thousands of hits per month from groups dedicated to other oldie-but-goodie Fords such as the SVO and SHO. We've got a lot of unique material for those great cars on the site, as well as what is probably the web's largest collection of materials on the 2000 SVT Mustang Cobra R (which few people have dug out of o...
More About: Popular

SHO-Powered Wraith II
2008-07-17 12:55:00
From Auto week, July 18 1994. A Tennessee Corvette tuning company named Air Dynamics built this prototype of a mid-engine sports car that they intended to put in limited production. Owner John Watson intended to build about 6 per year at $100k apiece in 1994 dollars. Initially, the SHO engine was stock (225 HP, under-rated), although a 300-HP version was planned later. The Wraith II weighed 2600 pounds and was composite-bodied. It uses 18" wheels and rides on a 100 inch wheelbase for a total of 179 inches in length. Apparently none were built beyond this prototype. However, the basis for this prototype was the "Turbo Interceptor" from the movie "The Wraith" (a very early Charlie Sheen film). John Watson had planned to offer that car as a kit for $70k, so apparently the $100k "II" model included the engine and was complete. The Wraith from the movie of the same name is shown to the upper left. Currently, a new Wraith kit is being offered here: http://www.wraithinnovations.com/tu...
More About: Media , Ford , Week

Japan Car Blog reviews Top Gear 11.04 GT-R vs Bullet Train race
2008-07-17 08:28:00
The always excellent Japan Car Blog reviews the latest episode of Top Gear where Jeremy Clarkson raced a Bullet train across Japan. The Hamster and James May were in the bullet train and their journey also included a shuttle bus, another train, a ferry, and a ____________ (can't say, don't want to spoil the surprise or the great soundtrack that plays during it). Jeremy got the GT-R and a 400-mile route to follow from western Japan thru Tokyo and across the bay to the finish. Their blog includes low-res segments of the race: http://japancarblog.com/2008/07/top-gear- clarksons-ego-in-gt-r-vs-bullet-train/&nb sp;(suggest <right click> and <open in new tab>) or the entire episode is available via torrent sites. They also correctly point out that some of Jeremy's comments are culturally offensive. Actually the entire cast makes more than a few gaffes, and they all look tired and glad to get it over with. James May looks particularly worn out, or perhaps he is just...
More About: Movies , Reviews , Race

Weird Ad Wednesday: Honda Nudist Ballonists
2008-07-16 15:05:00
What comment could we possibly make about this ad?
More About: Weird , Honda , Wednesday

Speculation abounds on the next Honda S2000
2008-07-07 14:58:00
Current Japanese car magazines are discussing what a model year 2010 S2000 might look like, and have produced a speculative sketch: In my opinion, the sketch simply expresses current Honda styling trends, and certainly did not originate from Honda. Furthermore, the styling elements are a couple of years old, and Honda's design language will have advanced by then. Look at the upcoming NSX for the aggressive creases and angles that will define Honda performance cars going forward. You'll note, too, that the sketch includes provision for a folding hardtop (note the A-pillars), which has also been speculated on for the past several months. That supports the generally accepted theory that the car will compete against the Miata with a wider range of options and configurations. 2010 is probably too soon for the next S2000 - we would have seen spy shots of the car being tested by now. The next S2000 is not likely to be a simple restyle, since it wi...

Car & Driver: Five Future Mustangs We’d Like to See
2008-07-06 15:06:00
Car & Driver is starting to sound like themselves again after many years of churn... In a June article, they propose 5 special edition/future Mustang s they'd like to see. One includes a special edition Smokey & The Bandit model shown below. Follow this link (suggest <right click> and <open in new tab>) to the article:  http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_l ists/high_performance/features_classic_ca rs/five_future_mustangs_we_d_like_to_see_ feature__1/(page)/1
More About: Media , Ford , Future

DrivingEnthusiast network - consistent navigation
2008-07-06 12:52:00
The best-kept secret of DrivingEnthusiast.net is that it is actually a network of 5 individual sites: DrivingEnthusiast.net S2000Enthusiast.com EvoXenthusiast.com Challenger.DrivingEnthusiast.net CarMovieEnthusiast.com And that is the problem. Looking over site stats, we see that few people go from one site to the other. The sites were originally split apart because of different audiences: S2000 owners don't want to know about Fords, etc. (and the converse is even more true). And the Car Movie topic needed to stand on it's own. Hence, 5 individual sites. But the owner has interests across multiple topics, as do many readers. To solve the problem, we've added a blue navigation bar consistently across all 5 sites. This provides an indication of the other sites to readers, as well as consistent navigation.  Navigation around the network is easy. Each of the 5 websites has the blue navigation bar at the top of the site: Click on the&...
More About: News , Website , How To , Network

Did Top Gear plagiarize Ben Hur? ;-)
2008-07-04 21:14:00
Plagiarize - it's an ugly word. It means that you don't have an original idea and blatantly copy one from somebody else. It is, unfortunately, a situation that has occurred before on Top Gear . Top Gear started a new season in Europe last month and enthusiasts everywhere are working hard to see the broadcasts... by whatever means they have at their disposal (we don't want to know about illegally pirated copies and torrent downloads - perhaps if they'd skip the silly idea of attempting to recreate Top Gear for Americans and just send us the originals...????). Season 11, Episode 1 has a typical/Clarksonian stunt involving the cast building their own police cars (at a cost of no more than 900 pounds) and equipping them (500 pounds). So few quid doesn't yield much in the way of valuable police equipment... and of course the guys aren't trained in legitimate police tactics. So of course improvisation is the order of the day. That's where Clarkson makes his mistake... bl...
More About: Movies , Jeremy Clarkson

S2000 sales in June 2008 another disaster
2008-07-02 20:29:00
Honda sold 273 S2000s in June 2008 - the lowest figure for June ever. This despite an overall record month for Honda. The chart below shows sales since the beginning... the orange line at the bottom is 2008.  
More About: Sales , Disaster , June 2008