Review Your Cars

Six hours of triple digit speeds wasn't the only story this past weekend on the Monterey Peninsula. Anticipating warmer weather this May vs. past races in October, it was still a little cold and windy. A hardcore race fan may watch the entire 6-hour race, but there is so much more going on the entire weekend. Be sure to check out Part 2 regarding all the other events taking place. RACE RESULTS: Most notable was the Highcroft Racing Acura HPD ARX-01C finishing in first place after starting at the back of the grid. It turned it's fastest time on lap 5 with a 1:14.441. Witnessing this lap in the grandstands at turn 4, my buddy and I looked at each other as the car flew by us, knowing were watching something special. This is the fastest turn and Acura states up to 131mph! The Acura battled the Mazda powered Lola B09 86 throughout the race, which interestingly qualified 2 seconds quicker. Unfortunately the oil filter blew with only 24 minutes remaining, causing the Lola to withdraw,

Last weekend marked the beginning of the 20th Anniversary of the California Mille. A 1,000 mile driving and social event for pre-1958 cars throughout Northern California. In the tradition of the Mille Miglia in Italy, it is more than just classics being driven around with a $5,800 entry fee. For the public, it is essentially a free Concours D'elegance at the Fairmont Hotel at Nob Hill in San Francisco. Participant cars are parked in front of the hotel and other gorgeous classics on the street. The variety and caliber of the cars is extraordinary. As a matter of fact, cars from the Palo Alto Concours were present as well. The beauty of event is these cars are not sitting in a garage undriven and unappreciated except by a few. They are gorgeous, mostly in excellent condition being driven hundreds of miles a day. Many of them do not have air conditioning, radios or other modern comforts. Somewhat like all the benefits and detriments of motorcycling come to think of it. In some cases,

Club Auto Sport in San Jose, California, the premier car condominium and club also hosts various automotive themed events throughout the year. On Friday, March 5th, the Art and Autos event was a, “An Exhibit of Fine Automotive Art and Auto Design.” The San Francisco Academy of Art Industrial Design School presented several futuristic automotive designs with models, story boards and illustrations. The director of the industrial design department, Tom Matano was the special guest. Known as the “The Father of the Miata sports car design”, Mr. Matano was the General Manager of Mazda Design and held other prominent positions within the company. Besides artwork on display, the automobiles are always pleasant to look at that are being offered by Premier Auto Sales. The condos that are open to public view offer fascinating views of collections, automobiles and artwork. Below is the press release from Club Auto Sport. Be sure to check out the free Showoff Saturdays car shows including today as

It's great when sedans crack the 12 second quarter mile mark at 108mph or more. But when they weigh 4,000lbs and are rated at 333hp, something doesn't add up. In this case, the S4 seems to be making approximately 70 horsepower more than advertised. Consider the following test results: Road & Track May 2010: 12.9 seconds @ 108.6 mph Road & Track January 2010: 13.2 seconds @ 106.8 mph Car & Driver October 2009: 13.4 seconds @ 106 mph With very aggressive gearing and AWD like the Porsche Panamera this would be believable from a 333hp 2-ton sedan. But these times have been achieved with 6-speed manual cars. Looking back to the 420hp RS4 that was also around 4,000lbs, this matches pretty well. Audi isn't lying about the weight either. The Road & Track car weighed in at 4,010lbs. A really quick pig, if you will. At 333hp, an all-wheel drive car needs to weigh around 3,300lbs to achieve those speeds. There is more parasitic loss with AWD vs. two-wheel drive powertr

A family member of NASCAR 'royalty" was reinstated by the Grand-Am series after traffic and drug charges against him were dropped due to a "jurisdictional technicality." What was observed and found is the following: Street racing, running a red light, swerving (okay, reckless driving), DUI and cocaine possession. J.C. France is the grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France. He is a race car driver in the NASCAR owned Grand-Am Road Racing series, best known for the 24 Hours of Daytona. His father founded the Grand-Am series. Early on October 8th, 2009 he was observed racing his 2007 Lamborghini against a Porsche Cayenne that is owned by his roommate, also "connected" with NASCAR and had similar charges. I wonder what they would have found at the home they share? France is quoted as saying the following at the scene to an officer: "No, this is a mistake for you. I'm a France, we own this city." A real class act and an ambassador for the

Q: What will be the upgrades for the 2011 Mustang? - John H., Los Gatos, CA A: John, the 2011 Mustang has significant engine horsepower improvements that vault it into top contention for both the V-6 and V-8 models. The 2010 model already saw an upgraded interior commented on here and the '10 GT has a suspension universally liked by those who have driven due to improved handling despite the archaic solid rear axle. Initial tests also show the braking to be excellent, not something the Mustang has been known for in the past. The V-6 model drops the ancient 4.0 liter motor for a modern 3.7 with dual overhead cams and variable valve timing and producing 305hp with 87 octane. Recent magazine tests have this car has a high-13 second quarter mile machine with a 29mph highway rating. This is a better car all around than the 2010 GT. Read more about it here with stats and specs. The big news is the 5.0 liter V-8 called the "Coyote" motor found in the GT model. Now making 412hp, i

It's time for a change in the monotany of the Indy 500 pace cars. Not only that, GM does strange marketing moves. Repeating the Camaro for 2010 as the "pace car" which means extra stickers and badging like the silly Bumblebee, and it's again handicapped with the lower horsepower rated automatic transmission. Besides that, why is it brand dominated? Besides greed, this isn't about the fine Camaro, it's about relevance. The IndyCar series currently has seven drivers from the United States of the thirty listed. Not that this is a bad thing, but the only engine used in these cars is from Honda. That's right, Honda. Since Honda doesn't make a performance car any longer (S2000 and the NSX are dead) the pace car, if Honda powered should either be an Acura flagship or a motorcycle like the CBR1000RR or VRF1200F. Another idea, besides the greed oriented bidding process is to have different brands by judging. A how about a performance car of the year by a vote?

And from the mainstream media as well. Enough is enough, now they are being picked on. Toyota has faulty accelerator pedals and floor mats that are being recalled, that has been established and explained in my article here. What must first be clarified is that the problems caused unintended continued acceleration, not unintended acceleration. The pedals did not apply themselves. Now Consumer Reports gives a "Don't Buy: Safety Risk" because the stability control on two different 2010 Lexus GX 460 SUVs didn't activate at an acceptable level during intended induced oversteer (fishtailing). But no rollover! CR tries to put this in perspective by stating, "No other SUV in recent years slid out as far as the GX 460". Allow me to put this in real world perspective, "Millions of vehicles on the road don't have stability control at all." Whether this is a sensor calibration or software issue, it doesn't matter. It's good to bring it to Toyota

Part one is building of the Ultima GTR. Part two will be a test ride review. The Ultima GTR is very special vehicle. Essentially a tube-frame race car that happens to be street legal, it's a kit that must be assembled. However the end result is very impressive. Take a look at their website and see for yourself. In this case, Chris Julian, a brilliant medical device inventor with over 20 patents is making modifications and refinements during the over 3 year build process while running his company, Ridge Medical, Inc. And the good news it's almost done! The car is available as a kit for $41,000 which includes free shipping via boat from the United Kingdom. A rolling chassis is $89,000 but still needs an engine. In this case, a 505 horsepower Corvette Z-06 motor was found, still in the crate on Ebay. An ideal powerplant due to it's light weight, power and dry sump lubrication system for a low center of gravity. The rebuilt transmission is from a 1980's era Porsche Turbo wh

Think about where you go in the car around town for a minute. How close are your destinations? It takes too much time to walk but if you could run far enough it might be okay, right? Consider taking the bicycle. Statistically, over half of us need to more often. So take the bike, enjoy the scenery, save some gas (duh), stop sitting at stoplights and get some exercise. When you do, consider a bicycle to add function and form. But if you're going to be exposed to the elements and others, make it unique, fun and something to smile about. Dominick Guida of Behind Bars Inc. knows this and acted on his vision. Check out his workmanship and ideas in the slide show. His enthusiasm is contagious and the designs inspired me to write this article along with the initial suggestion from my pretty navigator. Driving is great. The effortless power, the comfort, adjustable temperature, music, flexibility to go far and fast are all very appealing. But sometimes it's just a waste of gas. All tho

Just over a year ago I wrote how the Ferrari 599XX missed the mark and I challenged Ferrari to make it right. Well they did a great job. The 599XX was excess that was only available to a chosen few, never driven in competition, less than 30 produced, not street legal. It was a Ferrari that couldn't be driven on the street and had no competition pedigree. Seemingly the very antithesis of what Ferrari stands for. Now the 599 GTO is a street legal work of art from Ferrari. It's European dry weight is reported at 3,296 lbs which doesn't seem so bad for a front engine V-12 supercar on a decent sized platform. US safety spec seats tend to weigh more than European seats but many owners may swap them out anyway. Also keep in mind most enthusiasts weigh their car with minimal gas in the tank. The Ferrari, with a 27.7 gallon tank (compare to 18 gallons or less for most cars) would mean roughly 172lbs of gas depending upon temperature. The Viper ACR will be dethroned as the King of th

Recently I had the opportunity to have a couple of rides in a 2010 Ford GT500. What I learned during that brief time was pleasantly surprising. I used to be "down" on the car due to the weight. And actually still am. It's woefully overweight at 3917lbs as tested by Car & Driver, not to mention a bit front heavy in terms of weight distribution. But Ford continues to revise the solid rear axle and has anyone ever said a low 12-second car isn't fun to drive if it's generally refined? The other reason I frowned on it was when it had excessive badging making it a Ford Mustang Shelby Cobra SVT GT00. The owner stated it's quite difficult to launch despite the solid rear axle (SRA) and weight. Managing a clutch and accelerator isn't easy with a car of this power on unprepped surfaces. Even Car & Driver managed a lousy 12.9 second ET despite a 113mph trap speed. I would suspect excessive wheelspin that shortened the distance of the track. The car should be