Monday, October 31, 2011
2011 Jaguar XKR Convertible
We really love the way Jaguar products drive. We really hate the touch-screen infotainment system and pretty much any other electrical item on the car.
I really love the way Jaguar products drive. I really hate the touch-screen infotainment system and pretty much any other electrical item on the car. The problem is with so much traffic clogging up the roads I'm forced to drive most days, I end up spending more time fiddling with the stereo than I do really driving. So I walk away less than thrilled.
Photo Gallery: 2011 Jaguar XKR Convertible - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine
Source: http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/editors_notebook/1110_2011_jaguar_xkr_convertible/index.html
Spy Shots: Mercedes SL-Class Strips Down and Shows off its New Grill
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Mercedes just finished up with the new generation of its SLK-Class, but recent spy shots of the Mercedes SL-Class show the company hasn’t wasted time preparing its next model. With a history dating back to 1954, the SL-Class is probably one of the more impressive Mercedes models, and its new generation will make it even better.
The SL-Class was caught testing yet again, this time wearing less camouflage than ever. Now we can see the more upright grille the company had to use due to European rules regarding pedestrian protection and the new exterior color that fits this sporty car perfectly. What we don’t understand are those hideously ugly rims Mercedes decided to use for the prototype. Hopefully, Mercedes will nix those for the final product.
For the interior, we expect to see many elements from the SLS AMG with plenty of leather and aluminum. Power will come from a wide range of power plants, starting with a 3.5 liter V6, going to a 4.6 liter bi-turbo V8, and ending with the wild AMG version sporting a 536bhp twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V8.
The new 2013 Mercedes SL-Class will go on sale in the third quarter of 2012.
Spy Shots: Mercedes SL-Class Strips Down and Shows off its New Grill originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 31 October 2011 13:00 EST.
Red Bull: Vettel never troubled for 11th win | 2011 Indian GP team review
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/B4i6gaXSIgg/
99 civic turbo auto-X
Sorry for bad pics... all I have right now at my disposal is a camera-phone, I'll see if I can find my actual camera somewhere.
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/982559.aspx
Cleaning old Model KIts!
After soaking an old AMT 29 Ford Model A Roadster circa 1963 in Purple Power for four days, I tried to scrube it clean with a nail brush and a tooth brush, but the foul grey/black grease that was caked on it still wouldn't come off. So I got some fresh clean Purple Power and put the kit back to soaking for three more days, and it finally loosened up the old caked on mold release. When I started scrubing some of that gunk came off in blobs of grease, and some of it I had to flake off with a sharpened hobby stick/narrow popsycle sticks they sell to use in craft stores. I finally got all of the parts clean, but the Purple Power basin, and the basin with dish detergent water were black with that gunk.
What I want to know is if any of you have ever had an old kit that was this hard to clean? I have cleaned up several copies of this kit in the past, and never found one this bad before. This was the Issue of the kit that had most of the AlaKart partsstill in it , including the Roadster Pickup body!
CHEERS!
Tom
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/984189.aspx
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Vettel shines as troubled Hamilton toils
In Singapore
In more ways than one, the Singapore Grand Prix was a microcosm of the 2011 Formula 1 season as a whole.
Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull produced another immaculate weekend, exploiting their blistering pace to take pole position and then quickly extend an advantage in the opening laps that they could then defend for the rest of the race, pacing themselves to their closest 'rivals'.
The victory, the German's ninth of the season, has effectively won him a second consecutive world title. Vettel has been either first or second in all the races bar one, in which he was fourth. To clinch the title, he needs to score only one more point in the remaining five races - and that's only if Jenson Button wins them all.
As he admitted himself with a wry grin after the race: "Obviously, it should not be a problem."
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It has been a quite stunning season from Vettel and his team - almost completely flawless while operating at a level no one else has generally been able to match.
He has won all the races he should have won, as well as the odd one that he perhaps should not. As every single one of his rivals was all too happy to admit this weekend, he fully deserves this title.
Vettel and Red Bull's superiority has had an interesting effect on his rivals.
McLaren's Button and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso have knuckled down, accepted that they generally have not had the car to challenge Vettel, and concentrated on doing the best they can with what they have.
The result is they lie second and third in the championship - ahead of Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber.
By contrast, Button's team-mate Lewis Hamilton seems to be battling inner demons, the exact nature of which perhaps even those closest to him do not understand.
Not for the first time this year, Hamilton wrecked his race with an avoidable collision with a rival. In Singapore, it was Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
Hamilton was trying to make up ground after losing places at the start when he was forced to back out of an attempt to pass Webber, who was slow off the line for the third race in a row.
The move on Massa was never on. Hamilton was on the outside and behind the Ferrari, and he simply made an error of judgment as they turned into the left-hander at Turn Seven.
He clipped the Ferrari's rear wheel with his front wing, and both their races were ruined there and then. Massa's right-rear tyre was punctured, and Hamilton's front wing damaged - and the stewards added insult to injury by giving him a drive-through penalty.
As he battled to climb back through the field from 16th place, Hamilton's frustration at the situation became clear in his communications with his team - again, not for the first time this season.
"Would you please give me some info on how I'm doing," he said, "what I'm racing for?"
Most people interpreted that as effectively saying, "Is it really worth me continuing with this?" Which is a surprising thing, to say the least, to hear from F1's most aggressive, attacking racing driver.
His team responded by reassuring him that he was fighting for a points finish, adding that there would definitely be a safety car that would further aid his cause - correctly as it turned out, although they were not to know it at the time.
Having been told that, Hamilton got his head down and produced what his team principal Martin Whitmarsh was "a great drive".
Whitmarsh added: "He did some of the best overtaking, some fantastic driving, to get back up into the points, so I think he should be given credit for that."
In that, Whitmarsh was absolutely right, but so, too, was he when he said: "He's a driver who wants to overtake in a hurry. Afterwards he'll regret that and maybe he could have waited another few corners."
Whitmarsh initially bristled after the race when he started to be questioned by the media about Hamilton's race, and his season.
When it was pointed out that this was not the first avoidable accident Hamilton had been involved in, and asked how McLaren and Hamilton could prevent such incidents from recurring, he replied: "If you stay in the garage, any accident is avoidable. Any serious questions?"
But as he was pressed on the same issue again and again, he finally admitted that the race "went badly", adding: "Undeniably this has not been a good year for Lewis Hamilton."
Indeed not. On the one hand, he has delivered two of the greatest wins of the season - his victories in China and Germany rank with any of Vettel's.
But the same driver was over-aggressive and incautious in Monaco - a fact Hamilton has admitted himself; collided with his team-mate in Canada; crashed out of the Belgian race after misjudging an overtaking move; and got into two altercations in two days with Massa in Singapore.
The one in the race followed him barging his way past the Ferrari at the start of final qualifying on Saturday, a move that prompted Massa to say: "I think he didn't use his mind. Again."
After their altercation in the TV interview area post-race in Singapore, Massa implied that if Hamilton kept driving this way, he would find it difficult to win any more world championships.
To which Whitmarsh countered: "I think he's wrong. Lewis is still a young guy, he's learning all the time. He'll win races and I'm sure he'll win more world championships."
Hamilton may indeed be young - but he is two and a half years older than Vettel, who is driving with a maturity way beyond his years. And many people in the F1 paddock feel that if Hamilton is to compete with Vettel in the future, he needs a change of approach.
No one wants to see him abandon the aggressive, charging driving style that makes him the most exciting driver in F1.
But there is no doubt he needs to find a better balance than he has done this year - or indeed in any of his seasons in F1 bar perhaps the first one. A better way, too, of coping with the frustration of not having the best car - which is what seems to be at the root of some of his behaviour this year.
Nor is it just Hamilton who has committed costly errors this season. McLaren have racked up a fair few as well.
"None of us are perfect," Whitmarsh said in mitigation. "The team has made some mistakes; we'll make more mistakes. We don't want to, but that's life. We're pretty open and honest about that. We have to try to get better, Lewis has to try to get better as a race driver."
The honesty and openness is admirable. The fact is, though, that Vettel and Red Bull have raised the bar this season to a level beyond their rivals' capabilities.
Such has been their superiority that even a flawless year from Hamilton and McLaren would almost certainly not have prevented Vettel winning the title - although it would have been a lot closer than it has been.
But however quick McLaren's car is in 2012, they are going to find it hard to beat Vettel and Red Bull if they and Hamilton keep performing like this.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/09/vettel_shines_as_troubled_hami.html
RAUH-Welt Begriff super wide body Porsche 911s for the street [video]
Japanese tuner Nakai-San shows his passion for Porsche by create completely unique editions for each customer.Preview: The 2012 Buick Verano is quiet. Will that be quite enough?
Source: http://blogs.automobilemag.com/buick-verano-is-quiet-is-that-quite-enough-11689.html
Force India VJM04 Launch pictures ( 8th of February)
Force India became the last Formula 1 team to unveil its 2011-spec car, the VJM04, during an online event on Tuesday 8 February 2011.
The first pics of the VJM04 were courtesy of a Force India photo shoot, so not many details have been ?inspected? by the media. However, one could clearly see that, like the majority of its rivals in 2011, the car features a high nose design, along with a reworked sidepod area and a new rear section. In addition, the car comes with a blade-style roll hoop design and a new front wing concept.
Technical specifications
| Chassis | Carbon fibre composite monocoque with Zylon legality side anti-intrusion panels |
| Suspension (front) | Aluminium uprights with carbon fibre composite wishbones, trackrod and pushrod. Inboard chassis mounted torsion springs, dampers and anti-roll bar assembly |
| Suspension (rear) | as front, except for trackrod and pullrod, and gearbox mounted torsion springs. |
| Engine | Mercedes-Benz FO 108Y 2,400 cc (146.5 cu in) 90� V8, limited to 18,000 RPM, naturally aspirated, mid-mounted |
| Transmission | McLaren Seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox with reverse gear, Electronic shift system |
| Weight | 640 kg (1,411 lb) (including driver) |
| Fuel | Mobil |
| Tyres | Pirelli P Zero |
| BBS Wheels (front and rear): 13" |
Force India VJM04 Launch pictures
Photos � Force India F1 Team
Ernesto Brambilla Vittorio Brambilla Toni Branca Gianfranco Brancatelli
Fiat 500 Alpha Bravo headed to SEMA
Built by Tribe Agency, the car has a two-tone exterior with a custom Inno rack and forged alloy wheels.Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto
Dominant Vettel coasts to Indian GP victory
Christian Danner Jorge Daponte Anthony Davidson Jimmy Davies
Massa fastest at Indian Grand Prix practice
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Leaked: Toyota FT-86 Brochure Spills Onto Internet
Source: http://rumors.automobilemag.com/leaked-toyota-ft-86-brochure-spills-onto-internet-83941.html
Massa calls for kerb change after crash | 2011 Indian Grand Prix
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/-ySpXMJPxCg/
Sauber C30 launch pictures (31st of January)
Sauber F1 Team launched their 2011 challenger, the C30 at Valencia on 31st Jan'11.
As compared to its C29 predecessor, the new racer comes with more aggressive sidepods and a single mounting for its rear-wing (rather than double mounting), while also incorporating a blown diffuser. In addition, it has been confirmed that the car will be fitted with a Ferrari-developed Kinetic Energy Recovery System starting with the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
?We want to finish in the points regularly and clearly improve our position in the FIA Formula 1 constructors' world championship,? stated his intentions the very owner of the team Peter Sauber. ?2010 marked the 41st year of our company history and one of the most difficult.?
He insisted that after a difficult campaign in 2010, the team is now committed to progress.
?Never before had we faced such reliability problems, but we managed to overcome them in the second half of the season. We implemented some well-considered structural changes. The appointment of James Key as Technical Director already bore fruit last season, and he is now in charge of development of the Sauber C30-Ferrari.?
Technical specifications
| Chassis | carbon-fibre and honeycomb composite monocoque |
| Suspension (front) | Upper and lower wishbones, inboard springs and dampers, actuated by Sachs pushrods |
| Suspension (rear) | as front |
| Engine | Ferrari Type 056 2,398 cc (146.3 cu in) 90� V8, limited to 18,000 RPM with optional 60 kW (80 hp) KERS naturally aspirated mid-mounted |
| Transmission | Seven-speed semi-automatic carbon-fibre sequential gearbox with reverse gear electronically-controlled, quick-shift Limited-slip differential |
| Weight | 640 kg (1,411 lb) (including driver) |
| Fuel | Shell |
| Tyres | Pirelli P Zero |
| OZ Wheels (front and rear): 13" |
Link
Sauber C30 ? Launch Detail and Analysis (Scarbsf1's Blog)
"Development was held back last year as the team focussed its resources on the new car, which first hit the wing tunnel in May. This switch in resource was partly the reason the exhaust blown diffuser was not developed in 2010. Their new car sports just such a device, with an interesting twist. Otherwise the car is largely a logical evolution of the already quite advance concept of the C29. With Key having sorted the Ferrari engine installation problems and the cars ride height sensitivity which blighted the teams early season last year, Now the team can expect a strong run in the midfield for 2011."Sauber C30 launch pictures
Photos � Sauber ag
2012 Hyundai Elantra Limited
After testing the all-new-for-2011 Elantra earlier this year, we applauded the liberal amounts of style and equipment Hyundai had brought to its compact sedan.
After testing the all-new-for-2011 Elantra earlier this year, we applauded the liberal amounts of style and equipment Hyundai had brought to its compact sedan. However, the colors the Elantra is dressed in make a big difference in showing off the car's seductive design, both inside and out. This 2012 tester was painted in a drab grey exterior hue -- named titanium grey metallic -- and the leather-trimmed interior was done up in varying shades of grey and black. The monochromatic color scheme sucks the life out of what is otherwise a very aesthetically pleasing and well thought-out interior. It feels drab. Our previous tester had a snazzy cream and black interior that was just as lively as the car's spunky powertrain. An all-black interior is also available that looks a little sportier, thanks to the metallic trim pieces standing out in contrast to the ebony leather.
Photo Gallery: 2012 Hyundai Elantra Limited - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine
Source: http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/editors_notebook/1110_2012_hyundai_elantra_limited/index.html
Noise, Vibration & Harshness: It Ain't Broken, It's Fixed
It's exhausting to hear the chattering classes blame our lack of a coherent and forward-thinking energy policy (or just about any other policy) on a broad systemic dysfunction.
It's exhausting to hear the chattering classes blame our lack of a coherent and forward-thinking energy policy (or just about any other policy) on a broad systemic dysfunction. "The system is not working!" they whimper, shaking their heads in disbelief, saying it's another example of the decline of sense and civility in our public discourse. Critics rail against policies brazenly favoring the oil industry -- tax breaks, subsidies, and a regulatory climate just this side of whoopee -- making it sound like environmental degradation was part of the founders' original intent. This makes the critics one part sad, one part angry, and three parts ripped off, not unlike the way my son Milo behaves when a battery-powered toy craps out at an inopportune moment.