The Porsche Cayman S is very close to the top of our Lotto wish list. Chris Harris, in perhaps not his best review ever, does a pretty good job of explaining why.
You’ll enjoy this one.
Year: 2013
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Audi RS Q3 revealed
Audi has released information on the production-ready RS Q3, which will debut in Geneva next month. It’s the first of Audi’s Q series to wear RS badging and overall it looks pretty good, that’s if a balls-out smallish SUV floats your boat.
The RS Q3 is powered by Audi’s noted 2.5 litre inline 5 cylinder turbo, also found in the TT RS. Although in Q3 guise the five-pot has been reined in to produce 228kW/420Nm, down from 250kW/450Nm in the TT.
Despite a porky 1730kg kerbweight Audi says the RS Q3 can reach 100km/h in 5.5 seconds and, if you potter about slowly in front of your child’s school showing off to the other mums, you can sip fuel at just 8.8l/100km. That task will be made a bit easier, too, thanks to the standard 7-speed S tronic.
Last year Audi presented the RS Q3 concept and sadly from that model we’ve lost an exhaust tip and some power. The single oval tip doesn’t work as well in our opinion. Having said that, the styling of the RS Q3 is smart and straight from the Audi RS playbook. It’s squat appearance, accentuated by the 25mm drop in ride height, gives the RS Q3 a sense of purpose; even if it may not actually have one.
The RS Q3 is coming to Australia early next year and while Audi Australia is keeping mum about the price they have revealed it will be the first RS model sold here for less than $100,000.
Pencil in a starting price of $99,990 then.
We never did get around to finishing that review on the Q3 2.0 TFSI quattro we drove last year (shame on us), but up to about seven tenths the Q3 surprised with its general handling capabilities. Beyond that things became a little mushy. We expect the engineers from quattro GmbH will have sorted those issues to a degree, let’s hope it hasn’t come at the expense of general comfort.
Sergio Perez is finding his new digs at McLaren to his liking after putting the MP4-28 in the spotlight in Barcelona overnight.
The Mexican ace set the fastest time in testing on a one lap dash in the afternoon (1:21.848), which was posted on Soft compound tyres.
Once again Sebatsian Vettel and Red Bull were the team to beat in the morning (1:22.197), only to be pipped for the day’s best time in the afternoon session.
Kimi Raikkonen ate ice cream and watched his Lotus mechanics faff about with his gearbox in the morning before being rudely awoken to run 43 laps in the latter part of the day. He still managed the third fastest time (1:22.697).
It’s interesting to note the times from Day 2 are more spread out than yesterday’s, which saw Nico Rosberg head a quarter spread by only 0.35s.
There’s no comments from Perez on McLaren’s official test report, but the team, statement explained the day like this:
“As usual, the morning kicked off with a series of shorter runs, aimed at gaining the engineers a better understanding of the car’s track-to-tunnel aero correlation and its reaction to a series of mechanical set-up changes.
“Into the afternoon, the team ran through a number of longer runs – these were aimed at providing Sergio with a better understanding of the methods and systems that will be used by the race team during a race weekend, including cockpit switch adjustments and understanding radio messaging.”
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McLaren P1 hypercar to boast 903bhp
Ooh, it’s so exciting. The McLaren versus Ferrari road car bitch fight is going to be epic to watch.
Earlier today we brought word the forthcoming Ferrari F150 will be bloody expensive, bloody powerful and bloody exclusive. Now, we can fill you in on some details of the McLaren P1. Like the F150 it uses a hybrid system and all told the P1’s oily and electrical bits combine to produce 903bhp (916PS or 673kW).
How do the McLaren boffins do it? Well we’re glad you asked. The magic of two turbos helps to give the 3.8 litre V8 petrol engine 727bhp, while the lightweight electric motor provides a further 176bhp. All told there is 900Nm of torque to play with as well, 260Nm of that is available instantly thanks to the electric motor.
Of course, we’re not allowed to call it just an electric motor—Ron wouldn’t be so plain—rather we must refer to it as the Instant Power Assist System. It has its own steering wheel button. Also on the wheel is a DRS button which has been inspired by its F1 namesake and reduces drag by 23%.
As you can see from the image above the battery pack for IPAS is mounted forward of the engine. It weighs 96kg and is enveloped by the P1’s carbon fibre MonoCage chassis, helping McLaren keep the system’s overall weight to a minimum.
It looks like we’ll be getting at least one more official P1 update from McLaren before the car makes its full debut in Geneva early next month.
We’re yet to officially see the new Ferrari F150, the much anticipated successor to the Enzo. It’s expected Ferrari will produce only 499 F150s and according to Fiat CEO, Sergio Marchionne, the car is already sold out.
Not a bad effort for a car which will likely have an asking price of €1 million. That equates to $1.3 million of our money. Although, should any F150s find their way down under expect the driveaway price to be much closer, or even beyond, $2 million. Scary!
Still, in exchange for your seven figures Ferrari will oblige with an intoxicating 900hp supplied by a 6.3 litre V12 and HY-KERS electric hybrid system. Hmm, that sounds very tempting, shame they’re all sold.
[Source: Automotive News Europe]
Nico Rosberg has put Mercedes’ underwhelming efforts from Jerez behind him, along with everyone else, to put the F1 W04 on top of the timesheets after the first day of pre-season testing in Barcelona overnight.
It was close at the top, though, with Rosberg (1:22.616) narrowly edging out Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus, 1:22.672). Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) enjoyed his first day behind the wheel in 2013, racking up 110 laps and the day’s third best time. While Sebastien Vettel (Red Bull) kept in touch, fourth quickest, some 0.35s off Rosberg’s best.
It’s probably also worth noting that the best four lap times were set on Pirelli’s medium compound tyres.
Pastor Maldonado’s first day out in the new Williams FW35 was not too shabby, finishing fifth best, although over 1.1 seconds off the pace.
Rosberg’s day didn’t start that well, with concerns over his car’s gearbox. You get the feeling it could be another mixed bag for Mercedes in 2013.
“We had a mixed day today with some laps lost this morning. However we were able to work through a good program this afternoon and, of course, it’s always nice to be quickest at the end of the day,” Rosberg said. “In general, I feel happy and comfortable in the car and it feels better than the last time we were here at this track. There is still some work to be done on tyre degradation and our program this afternoon was helpful in understanding that.”
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Williams unveils 2013 F1 car
The Formula 1 pre-season has sparked into life again tonight with testing resuming in Barcelona. Williams F1 figured they’d best reveal their 2013 car, the FW35, and here it is.
Williams is another team to save us the visual pain of the stepped nose. In all as much as 80% of the car is new compared with the race-winning FW34. Mike Coughlan, Williams Technical Director, is happy to have found improvements given the lack of regulation changes in the off-season.
“I’m pleased with the gains that we’ve been able to make with this car,” Coughlan said. “It’s a better, more refined Formula One car than the FW34 and I think everyone involved in the project can feel proud of the work they’ve done.â€
Young Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas starts his rookie season alongside the returning Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado. Bottas is looking forward to making the step from test driver to F1 racer and is eager to try his new wheels.
“We know we have improved our car from last season but I am looking forward to seeing how it compares on track,” Bottas said. “We have a busy test programme ahead but I’m really excited. The moment the start lights go out in Melbourne is a moment I have been building towards my whole career.â€
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BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo revealed
Well, it does look a lot better than the 1 Series. That’s probably not the best introduction for the new BMW 3 Series GT, first revealed a couple of weeks ago, but we’re not sure of a better way to introduce this F34 model to you.
To be honest we were ready to embrace this car, to like it, to try and win the inevitable haters over. Now, after seeing these pics and considering them for some time, we’re not so sure. Although, the more we see that image above the more the styling starts to appeal. But the lingering question that remains is, why wouldn’t you just buy an undeniably cool 3 Series Touring instead?
Oddly, to us, the GT is quite a bit larger in dimensions that the Touring. It rides on a wheelbase that is 110mm longer than the wagon, it’s a sizeable 200mm longer overall and some 81mm taller. It’s bordering on being quite a big car, then.
Inside there’s an extra 70mm of rear seat legroom compared with the Touring and 3 Series sedan. While those pretending they don’t actually want an SUV can rest easy sitting 59mm higher than their lower 3 Series brethren.
We can’t deny this should be an immensely capable machine; able to chew up the miles with comfort and driving pleasure. For now, though, we’re just going to have to sit tight and wait until we see one in the flesh before being able to cast a final judgement.
In the meantime we’d love to hear what you, our dear readers, have to say about the 3 Series GT.
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The Formula 1 cars of 1971
MotorSportRetro brings us this very cool illustration of the Formula 1 cars of 1971. Before the days of computer-aided design and 3D renders cars had to be illustrated by hand, which makes this image very cool on two fronts.
Follow the source link below for a larger version of the pic and we’ve listed the cars below, with links to more information.
- Brabham BT34
- BRM P160
- Ferrari 312 B2
- Lotus 72
- March-Ford 711
- March-Alfa 711
- Matra MS120
- McLaren M19A
- Surtees TS9
- Tyrrell F1 71
[Source: MotorSportRetro]
Following Helmut Marko’s controversial comments earlier this year saying that Mark Webber can’t handle pressure, Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz has assured Webber he’ll be treated equally.
Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, Mateschitz was asked if Webber would be given a fair shake of the sauce bottle and he replied, “I absolutely believe that and I’m certain that it will be so.”
The billionaire added, “Mark is at the same time a strong and charismatic character and an exceptional racing driver. It’s a fact that competition begins inside your own team. That means that the environment is tough but friendly, and that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
We suspect this will be Webber’s last year in F1 and if Mateschitz is true to his word, we hope Mark can leave the sport on a high.
[Source: Autosport | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
In news that strikes us as somewhat intriguing, amateur UFC fighter Adrian Sutil is apparently in the frame for the vacant Force India seat.
Having done his penance for causing grievous bodily harm to the CEO of Genii Capital the 30-year-old will take part in this week’s test program at Barcelona. Sutil had a seat fitting with Force India last week.
Sutil has been granted one day of testing in the VJM06 and he’ll be doing his best to win back his F1 career on Thursday. His chief rival for the job, Jules Bianchi, will take over on for the final day on Friday.
[Source: Force India]
YouTube guru Mattzel89 brings us more motor racing joy with his latest Racing in slow motion clip. For his latest installment he has gone back to the glory days of DTM racing in the early 1990s.