Recent Posts
The eagerly awaited first race of the new diesel sports car from AUDI AG draws ever closer: Audi Sport Team Joest contests the notorious 12-hour race at Sebring, Florida on 21 March with two Audi R15 TDI. The US endurance classic will act as stern test and dress rehearsal for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 13 /14 June 2009.
The new Audi R15 TDI is packed with numerous technically innovative detail solutions and differs significantly from its predecessor model the R10 TDI which was undefeated at Le Mans. The first tests with the new LMP1 prototype have been successfully completed.
"So far the R15 TDI has performed as we expected," explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "Now it must also prove itself in race conditions. Sebring is a particularly hard race and is therefore perfectly suited to reveal even the smallest of weaknesses."
Proven drivers sit at the wheel of the two new prototypes. One driver line-up is formed by defending Le Mans winners Dindo Capello (Italy), Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Allan McNish (Scotland). The Germans Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller and Marco Werner take turns at the wheel of the sister R15 TDI. Audi Sport Team Joest competed last year at Sebring in this formation.
Every new Le Mans Prototype from AUDI AG celebrated its race debut at the race track in the heart of Florida. In Audi's first ever sports car race in 1999
Audi Sport Team Joest claimed a podium position first time out with the Audi R8R. A year later the Audi R8 triumphed on its debut at Sebring. On the premiere of the R10 TDI in 2006 Audi landed the first victory worldwide for a diesel powered sports car in an important endurance race.
The brand with the four rings has won the 12-hour race at Sebring, which also forms the opening race of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), a total of eight times, the last time in 2007.
Forget the Aston, what 007 needs is a Ford Focus 1.6L Wagon.
If you are a spy and want to get about unnoticed (yes, spying is about NOT being seen Mr Bond!) then the Ford Focus Wagon is for you. This car is stealthy. This car is so stealthy that when I came back to it at the local shops, I walked straight past it. Twice.
At first all I could see was an empty space, but as I squinted toward the place where a car should be, a form suddenly materialised in front of my eyes. The unremarkable styling of the new model Focus and the dark colour of the test car do more to mask the Ford from view than all the technology that cloaks the stealth bomber.
The Russians would have won the Cold War if they had this kind of technology.
The looks of the new Focus are sharper than the previous model, more angular and definitely fresher than the original but less cohesive, less...focused.
The first Focus looked so great that it didn't change very much over its model life (almost 10 years!). Unfortunately for the new Focus its looks are eminently forgettable.
What the new car lacks in looks it makes up for in interior space.
Its amazing to see the change in vehicle sizes over the last ten years.
All the small cars (Focus, Civic et al.) have become medium sized and the mid-size cars have become bigger than the super-sized contestants on the 'Loser' show. Hell, the Mondeo I recently drove felt as big as an early EA Falcon.
But this increase in size is a good thing because it means you have a smallish car, with minimal overhangs that is easy to drive, has good visibility and is easy to park.
It can also fit an arse-load of essentials when you go camping, shopping or when making a mad border-dash with the back full of Bollinger and Eastern bloc women with funny names, who will try to rub you out as you drift off in a post-coital haze.
However with a bigger car you need more power to pull it and if the stealth of the Focus ever failed, and Bond was found out, the two mice under the bonnet would have their work cut out for them in a high-speed pursuit.
The lackluster 1.6 litre engine is as slow as Paris Hilton and not suited to an automatic transmission so it is no surprise that the Focus has piss-weak performance.
It would be a much better proposition with the Duratorq turbo-diesel and manual transmission.
This combo would be a little more expensive but its not only more powerful, it would use less fuel.
Fuel consumption in the Focus is a bit thirsty for its size with a combined test showing 8.4 L/100km.
This could however stem from the fact that you need to drive it hard to get up to traffic speeds, which is where the diesel would again be the better option.
The Focus is a very good car for those who need to address practical issues like carting kids, shopping and pets around.
It has a huge amount of space in the back to put things and the glove box is roomier than a supermodels lunchbox.
The interior is very nice for the price with comfortable seats, good ergonomics and controls that are easy to use and understand.
Despite feeling a little upright and flat, I really liked the seats in the Focus as they were comfortable and easy to get in and out of (am I getting old?).
The Focus is extremely practical and with the right engine could be a good choice for carrying a lot of stuff quite cheaply. You know that it wouldn't get stolen (stealth factor), but then again you might lose it.
Although Bond would be as likely to drive a Focus as quit drinking, marry Moneypenny and take up philately, it would be the perfect car for him to pick Pussy Galore up in without the missus knowing- Oh James indeed!!
Trawling through the cars section of ebay recently, I came across a 996 911 Carrera at a Brisbane dealer for only $56,000.
This is seriously cheap for a 996. It did get me to thinking that it was now a ten year-old car now (not necessarily a bad thing but noteworthy) and that when old 930s and even 911Ts from the 70's are still pulling 35 grand that this was a bit of a bargain.
Kilometres were on the high side (140 thou) but tolerable for the outlay.
While opening my wallet, hoping to see a winning lotto ticket to flutter out, I scrolled further down the page and froze in horror. The transmission was listed as 'automatic'. What kind of wanker would buy and auto 911?
A Carrera Cabriolet I could forgive for having a porridge-stirrer (no doubt driven by hairdressers) in place of a man's shifter, but a 'nine-elev' with a slushbox? Like Grandad said. "The world is going to hell in an auto 911". Damn straight Grandpa.
The saga of the GTi6 continues:
After receiving the red-light camera fine my mate confronted the mechanic who didnt deny he was driving but refused to pay the fine.
[ Click here to read more ]
I have a mate. Yes, really, and he bought himself a Peugeot 306 GTi6 recently.
It was a nice Pug, only 120k on the clock and the body in very good condition, at the price it was a bit of a bargain and the rarity (only around 50 sold in Australia) made it much more desirable.
Now, for those of you not in the know, the GTi6 is, or was the epitome of the 'hot hatch' genre depending on how you rate the Renault Clio Sport
[ Click here to read more ]
My mate Dave always used to say "In this world there are only two kinds of people. Us, and dickheads, so don't be a dickhead". I was never really sure what Dave meant exactly. Even though we were both maggoted, I never forgot what he said, more importantly I never forget the context of that conversation. We were talking about another mate who was a serial 'gunna'.
His name was Sean. Sean had an XD pano that he was 'gunna' do up. It was 'gunna' have a 460 big block in it. It was 'gunna' be green. It was 'gunna' have all the rust cut out by old matey down the road who was 'gunna' do all the work for a carton of beer. Unfortunately all of these grand plans never saw the light of day. Sean went as far as buying a slightly rustier panel van as a 'donor car' and then nothing more was heard of the project. When I asked Sean how the project was going, the response was always "Yeh, you know. But I'm gunna open a surf school with my uncle and
[ Click here to read more ]
Experimentation is great. I would have never gotten this far and had as much fun as I've had if I hadn't experemented. Let's see. There was the chilli infused beer that I brewed, not too bad actually. The 'flying to a foreign country with no job, nowhere to stay, and only $90' experiment was an interesting one, worked out quite well actually. The tomato sauce on ice-cream experiment didn't go down too well though. Nor did 'Operation Bushpig', which I can't tell you about iIt was a classified mission).
You often have to experiment to achieve anything in this life, outcomes could be positive or shithouse, that's the chance you take, but we learn fom these things. Anywaythis guy has that spirit of experimentation. Check it out.
[ Click here to read more ]
I have read Jack Brabham's autobiography many times over and every time I open the book I'm always facinated by how a young man growing up in the suburbs of Sydney could become one of the greatest racing drivers of all time.
It is truly an amazing, inspiring story, and a must read for anyone who believes, or wants to believe in the power that we each have inside ourselves.
Brabham won the F1 world title 3 times in 1959, 1960 and 1966. He is Australia's greatest racing driver ever in my book. Forget about the likes of Brock, Johnson or Lowdnes, Jack Brabham is the man
[ Click here to read more ]
I've never been especially concerned about fashion and styles in cars, music or anything. I'm the typical "I dunno art, but I know what I like" kind of guy. When I said I liked Dire Straits in year 4, the class as one made an "ewwww" noise and scrunched their faces as if they'd just licked a lemon arsehole. When I said I liked KISS, they all laughed, even my teacher. But I didn't care, I knew that I was right and they were missing out.
Anyway fast forward a few years to a small farm shed on the outskirts of the country town I grew up in. I was standing looking at this incredibly small purple Honda. I knew I had seen them before (a guy in high school had one) but I had never realised how cool they were. Now, here's where you say "ewww", ready? I was totally in awe of the pretty little Honda Z360 Hardtop.
These were the predecessor to the first series Civic which came in 1974-5
[ Click here to read more ]
|
|
Recent Comments
I've not commented on anything yet :(
|
Add Comments
Read More
Comments (2)