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Camaro SS spotted?
2008-03-16 22:23:00
Camaro5.com has done it again - this time *possibly* spotting a Camaro SS. Follow the link in the title above for more info. Note the even-lower-profile tires, and of course the stripes. Also note the *fake* hood scoop. There's nothing in it but white paint. Just like the Corvette Z06 scoop is fake (it lets some air in, but not to the filter element. Hence, it's fake).
More About: Camaro

The new Yamaha SHO engine
2008-03-15 11:17:00
Did you know that Yamaha is producing a new SHO engine? Sorry, it's unrelated to our favorite Taurus engine... except that it is from Yamaha. The new SHO engine is 1.8 liter DOHC 4-cyliner, EFI, 4-stroke with a one-peice block and head, and is supercharged. It's the largest engine ever offered in a PWC and Yamaha claims it accelerates from 0-30 faster than a Corvette Z06 (it's been tested at 2.2 seconds).  Specific power figures are well over the >215 HP range.  Follow the link in the title above to the Yamaha FX SHO site. 
More About: Engine

New Pontiac G8 commercial
2008-03-14 11:43:00
Nice to see that Pontiac is spending scarce advertising dollars to the new G8. That's one major difference from the recent GTO experience...  and is another reason why that car was a bust in the marketplace. Of course the GTO was technically very poor... one look inside the truck would convince you of the compromises that were made to get this car to the market. The new G8 has an all-new chassis that is fairly sophisticated and well tuned. It's also the basis for the upcoming Camaro... so you should watch this one closely.
More About: Commercial , Holden

Follow-up: story of the Cougar Ace from Wired magazine
2008-03-12 20:48:00
As a follow-up to my original posting in September 2006 of the accident with the Cougar Ace , where Mazda lost 4700 cars in a sea disaster, here's a great write-up of the story from Wired Magazine . Follow the link in the title above to the story. Since the original posting, and the salvage of the ship, Mazda has decided to scrap all 4700 cars that were recovered, abandoning the original plan to sell some of them as used vehicles.
More About: Story

The Anti-Jeff Fisher
2008-03-12 01:06:00
Obviously some other Jeff Fisher ... perhaps the anti-Jeff Fisher since I'm one of the ones who is responsible for wiping out the mammalian species by needlessly and thoughtlessly burning so much fossil fuel. I wonder how many mammals I killed when I dumped the clutch at 9000 RPM last week?
More About: Video , Anti

Speed Racer - the trailer
2008-03-11 21:47:00
I never particularly related to Speed Racer ... after seeing the trailer I think I'm more looking forward to Fast & Furious 4.
More About: Movies , Trailer

2009 Camaro prototype pictures
2008-03-11 00:34:00
Courtesy of Camaro 5.com we get some pictures of an early Camaro 5 pre-production prototype. This is the car we'll get, all ~190 inches of it. It's large, heavy, and the unsprung weight of the 20" wheels is unthinkable. Continue at the link for more information and lots more pictures.
More About: Pictures , Prototype

E92 M3 - market adjustment
2008-03-10 12:10:00
97 thousand dollars? You could buy three E46 M3s for that - each of which would be 98.9% as fast as the E92 M3. Or a Z06 which would eat it alive on the track. Or a fully loaded Nissan GT-R - which would beat the vette and tromp the BMW. Forget about it.............                                  
More About: Market , Adjustment

Expression Web v2 b1 versus FrontPage 2003
2008-03-09 21:54:00
In my initial testing, I quickly found wrong in both Expression Web v1 and v2. Note how the frame below renders in the editor. The image above is Expression Web v2 - and it's the same in v2. The image below it is the same frame under FrontPage 2003. Note that it shows correctly (truly WYSIWYG). The item in question is a table of three rows and several columns. The middle row is only 1 pixel tall. This is suppossed to be the yellow line down the middle of a highway ("driving", get it?). The gearshift knob is an overlay the the upper left corner. That may be effecting how Expression Web presents the editting window. Note that the site does show the page properly in IE 7 or 8, and any of those "other" browsers too.
More About: Microsoft , Versus , Frontpage

Microsoft Expression Web v2 - beta 1 testing
2008-03-09 21:29:00
I'm busy testing beta 1 of Expression Web Version 2. One page from my site is shown to the left. This just arrived this week, so I have not yet been able to test every feature, let alone try the new ones. After two days of testing, though, there is one thing very clear. My prior 2 installations of Expression Web Version 1 both suffered from occasional bombs... whereas Version 2 is (so far) 100% stable. My attempt this morning of incorporating Silverlight v2 "Deep Zoom" failed because of my own lack of knowledge about Silverlight. This would seem to be ideal to close-up zoom of the super high-res photos I like to put into this site. I'll clearly need more help before  I can implement this feature... There are more issues with Expression Web, and I'll go into those in the short term future.
More About: Microsoft , Beta , Testing , Microsoft Expression

Office 14 beta coming soon?
2008-03-09 15:13:00
I've participated in every beta of Office and Windows since 1995... a few before that, and now Office 14 is apparently right around the corner.  Since Beta code isn't yet out... I've included a couple of charts showing some of the direction that will be taken. These types of charts are very typical of MS's development process; I've seen similar charts for every release of Office for many years. I'm looking forward to beta testing Office 14. As before on this site, when it's legally allowed I'll post images and impressions (I at one point had posts of over 500 images of Office 12 and Vista when they were in beta, organized as a "tour"). What would I like to see in the product? Here are a few examples: The Ribbon interface across the board. And not only in the core Office products, but in the related products such as Streets & Trips (which without the Ribbon is nearly impossible to use - in fact outright dangerous - when in the car alone) and of course Express...
More About: Microsoft , Windows 7

Testing IE8, beta 1.
2008-03-09 14:24:00
Just arrived, Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, beta 1. Seems stable, and fast. All the pages on my site apprear to form properly under it. Many new features worth exploring, including a new source code viewer. This is only beta 1, so expect further features as development continues.
More About: Beta , Testing

Autocar: GT-R vs M3 vs GT3 track comparison
2008-03-09 02:20:00
An Autocar test, brought to us courtesy of YouTube. Notice how poorly the new V-8 (m92) M3 does in the testing: it's heavy, has slow steering, terrible brakes (2 fast laps = an extra 4" of brake travel; third lap = brake pedal on the floor!), and it's not particularly fast (0-60 in 5.2 seconds!). The GT-R does of course win, despite being the heaviest (and not the most expensive). Note that this is the standard model of the GT-R, whereas the GT3 and M3 are special models of the existing lineup. When the GT-R V-Spec comes out in another year, the results will be even better in the favor of the GT-R.
More About: Video , Track , Comparison

S2000 sales in February 2008 grow 4.2%
2008-03-08 17:56:00
Bucking the trend, S2000 sales actually grew slightly in February . While still down considerably from the glory days earlier in it's product lifecycle, this is an improvement. Is this as a result of all-time record Honda sales, or as a result of the 2008 model year technical improvements? I would tend towards the former. Nevertheless, can the tiny sales of this car sustain it until an all-new S2000 is ready? Is there even a new S2000 in the pileline? Only Honda can qanswer that question...  
More About: Sales , Grow , February 2008

Ford EcoBoost Technology video
2008-03-03 15:34:00
Speaking of the Ford EcoBoost technology, Ford has thoughtfully provided this YouTube video covering the upcoming single-turbo V-6 Duratec. It's targeted to produce 340 HP and 340 lb-ft of torque. It will be found first in the Lincoln MKS, and later in a wider range of vehicles including the Taurus. There is also a twin-turbo V-6, although it's further out. And a single-turbo 4 cylinder. Note the timeline that is shown... several other interesting facts there including an upcoming dual-clutch transmission. It's unclear which market he is talkingf about for the transmission, it's already known that it will be offered in Europe. Perhaps it will start here as an option in the upcoming Verve, followed by the (finally!) European Focus? 
More About: Video , Technology

Mitsubishi to add Lancer hatchback to North American market
2008-02-29 18:22:00
Per the followoing press release from Mitsubishi , note that the 5-door hatchback Lancer wil be added to the North american market. Several other product tidbits are in also in the press release. And, note the PDF presentation slides link at the end. For North America, the emphasis will be on mid-sizer vehicles, so eexpect to see more Lancer Evolution polatform and technology sharing. MiEV and TC-SST are two technologies we'll see used far more widely. Clearly, Mitsubishi is very serious about it's recovery plan and is for the first time leveraging all of the resources of the entire company to this end. Including adapting their well-established and thought-out minicars to worldwide markets. Mitsubishi Motors Announces Mid-Term Business Plan: 'Step Up 2010' Tokyo, Japan, Feb 29, 2008 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (TSE: 7211) today announced a new mid-term business plan, called Step Up 2010, for fiscal years 2008 through 2010 (ending March 31, 2011)...
More About: Market , American

WHATIS DrivingEnthusiast.net?
2008-02-29 16:51:00
DrivingEnthusiast.net is a collection of several related sites. All are personally owned by me, personally paid for, and non-commercial (other than some limited Google and Amazon advertsing which helps pay the monthly ISP bill). What started as a simple site showcasing a couple of dozen high-res images of the IRS suspension under my '99 Cobra has grown into an enormous collection of ionformation covering a number of different brands and topics of interest. Physically, it runs on Windows 2003 Server, and is created with Microsoft Expression Web and FrontPage from a Windows Vista Ultimate/Office 2007 Ultimate dual-core workstation.  Blogs are created via Radio Userland. The "ABOUT" button will take you to a more detailed section, which I'm gradually filling in with the goal of helping readers leverage my experiences in order to create and maintain their own sites. While the site is gigantic, it wasn't hard to create thanks to FrontPage. Technically, I'm gradual...
More About: News , Website

BarryBoys: If you can't take a joke, don't drive one!
2008-02-24 14:00:00
For those very rare times when you have the patience to look at other peoples abominations, this site in the U.K. is the place to go. The following is just one of over 57,000 images on the site. It's a Vauxhall (GM) Calibra... or at least it was. Site: http://www.barryboys.co.uk/mx/ RSS feed: http://www.barryboys.co.uk/phpBB2/rss.php ?f=1
More About: Joke , Drive

Michael Ramirez: Michelle Obama
2008-02-24 01:47:00
I was absolutely disgusted to hear Michelle Obama say two weeks ago that for the first time in her life she is proud of her country... hopefully she and her husband will soon return to the obscurity they deserve.
More About: Politics , Michael , Michelle Obama

Ford and BMW to merge; 2010 Mustang benefits
2008-02-22 00:06:00
Bad news... as reported via the link above... The SVT M3 will be the first product on the street. Just as Jaguar and Lincoln often swapped styling elements, new division BMW has decided to adopt Ford retro styling clichés in order to grow market share in Thailand and the Philippines. Conversely, the new 2010 Mustang will have clear BMW influences... heck, it will use BMW parts to save money. To save even more money, and as part of Billy Ford's continued campaign against all things "Jac Nasser", the Mustang will go back to the S197 platform. The tooling for the S197 had been sent to Venezuela to be used for a new product there, but the dictator Chavez stopped the tools shipment at the entry port and sent it home saying he didn't want a "Yankee hand-me-down". Then the planned sale of it to Tata failed as well. So, it's back in the plan. A final production sign-off prototype is shown here, parked outside the palatial surburban home of Team Mustang C...
More About: Benefits , Merge

Bizarre German speed bump commercial
2008-02-21 16:11:00
Europeans often have the most bizarre - and interesting - commercials. I've posted dozens of them on this site over the years (see a link in the title of this post for a index of auto industry advertising posts on my blog).  This one doesn't take the cake... but it's right up there near the top. They are selling home improvement products... not that it matters in this case. The fate of the neighborhood speeder will surprise you. The link is here:   http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-my-a utomobilia/video-misc/speed-bump.wmv  ; (Windows Media format). Enjoy! Someone, somewhere, is probably working on one of these things to get me too...
More About: Commercial , German , Bizarre , Bump , Speed

JBA Dominator GTA Mustang up for sale
2008-02-20 16:26:00
The Dominator Mustang , built by JBA for a Road & Track shootout almost 20 years ago, is for sale (I'm not affiliated with it in any way). This is an interesting Fox-body Mustang and is worth a look, at least for historical puposes. Asking price: $41,000. Currently running with a 5.8 V-8 and T-56 (replacing the original 302, which used variously a Toploader 4-speed and a Doug Nash 5-speed). The car also uses SVO disc brakes (aka a mashup of Crown Vic cop car and Lincoln parts that had  also been used on the Mustang SVO, Lincoln LSC, and Sale en Mustangs). The original Capri hatch (alledgedly more aerodynamic) has been replaced with a Mustang hatch and large wing. I remember this car very well from my Mustang days in the eighties and early nineties. It was an inspiration for my own '91 GT build-up ( link to my 91 GT buildup page  ), although I didn't take it anywhere near this far due to Ford 's plans at the time to replace the Fox mustang with...
More About: For Sale , Saleen

Michael Ramirez: GM posts $38.7 Billion Dollar Loss
2008-02-19 11:25:00
        ; 
More About: Politics , Dollar , Michael , Loss , Posts

Selection of Bridgestone tire ad videos
2008-02-14 23:17:00
1979: Bridge stone Super Filler Superman (in Japanese) 1980: Bridgestone Super Filler in Monaco (in Japanese) 1997: Forula 1: The Challenge 2004: Soul Sports 2005: Dog Suicide 2005: Well Be There For You 2006: Well Be There For You 2006: And the wheel goes round 2006: Saving Even The Most Ignorant Lives 2007: Soul Sports 2007: The Only F1 Tyre 2007: Bridgestone stunt driving 2007: Bridgestone All or Nothing: 1 2007: Bridgestone All or Nothing: 2 2007: Bridgestone All or Nothing: 3 2007: Bridgestone Adrenaline (Dubai stunt driving)
More About: Videos , Stone , Selection

More on the Bridgestone POTENZA RE-11
2008-02-14 22:47:00
Thanks to YouTube, we have a video report on the tire. Going on sale in the United States March 2008 (the Tire Rack will have them). See my earlier post about availability, and technical data (including comparison to RE-01R) in this earlier post: http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog /2007/12/31.html#a2279  We're running RE-01Rs on the S2000 for high-speed track use... and are very happy with them. As the data in the earlier post shows, this tire will be even better.
More About: Stone , Bridge , Bridgestone , Potenza

Motor Trend drives the Challenger!
2008-02-07 00:26:00
Now it's Motor Trend s turn to report on their first drive a few months ago. Follow the link above to the Motor Trend site for the full report. Some unique information here: seems that the Dodge engineering team has a "trademark" lane change test at 150 MPH and a lot of aero work was put into the car in order to make sure it passes. And that's assuming the Dodge product has an engine which would support 150 MPH - most Dodges and Chyslers aren't even close to that. This one goes  all the way to 175 MPH.
More About: Dodge Challenger , Challenger

AutoWeek drives the Challenger
2008-02-06 23:33:00
Now that the press is free to discuss their test drives of the Challenger last month, we get the full story about a miserably cold day at the Motorsport Ranch south of Fort Worth. What a coincidence, we were there the week before the press event and again just last weekend! Follow the link above to AutoWeek and the full story. Now here's the bad news: despite a wheelbase 4 inches shorter than a Charger, the car weights within 20 pounds of it at 4,140 pounds.  With a very similar weight distribution of 55.6/44.4 fr/rr. That's why 425 horses only yields a 4.9 0-60. It takes that much HP to move this much car. Compare and contrast to the porky Shelby with it's antique solid axle at 3980 pounds (coupe) and with 58.5% of it's weight over it's nose. Not only is it an antique, it has arthritis built in. It will be interesting to see what the similarly-sized Camaro weighs! Like the Challenger, it will also have an IRS -  although it will use struts up front. And, all ...
More About: Dodge Challenger

Honda S2000 sales in January flat.
2008-02-05 17:28:00
Honda S2000 sales are flat in January ... showing no postive delta from the model year 2008 uimprovements and the addition of the CR model. Sales are traditionally low in the wintewr months for this type of car... however use the spreadsheet to the right to compare to years past. Nothing is happening... while we'll certainly have a 2009 model year (given the investment in the car for 2008), it's difficult to see what could hapopen after that.
More About: Honda , Flat

Evo X more tuneable than Evo IX
2008-02-05 14:23:00
...according to Shiv from Vishnu Tuning: "today's results show that a tuned Evo X (with no additional bolt-on parts) makes as much power to the wheels as a tuned Evo IX with a full exhaust"  in this thread: http://forums.evolutionm.net /showthread.php?t=322616    Also, AMS has begun prototyping parts and echoed Shiv's statements:  http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.p hp?t=322293 - Part One - Stock http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.p hp?t=322326 - Part Two - Boost Control (they also test the flow of the Fuel pump)   Needless to say, it looks like the Evo X GSR is going to be quite tunable at least as long as we are talking the sub 400whp.  Beyond that is still in the learning curve...

"SVO" spoken here!
2008-02-05 02:20:00
24 years after I bought my original Mustang SVO, I'm still a big fan, and I've put several items on my website explaining that. My involvement with Ford started during college, when I had an old Mustang that just about literally rusted in half. My Mustang hobby took a turn for the better when  I bought a brand new (original) 1979 Mustang and took up road rallies, autocross, and then Open Track events. That led me to a gig helping with a race event at Nelson Ledges for several years, during which three of them Ford brought it's own development cars to race. The cars in two of those years were pre-production prototypes of the Mustang SVO. I worked directly in the pits with the Ford crew ands got to see everything and talk to everyone. I've written it up here: http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-ford /special-reports/svo/index.htm - and it includes pictures and other information which are unique to the web. The great race results of the SVOs and my talks with their engin...
More About: Spoken