You're Daily Dose of Awesome - Ferrari F12 Berlinetta Launch Video

Now, for something they don't tell you in the video, this is the fastest road going Ferrari ever made. It's even faster than the legendary Enzo. However, when you think about those mental 730 Italian horses which lurk beneath the bonnet of the F12, it becomes a little less surprising. 0-100kph takes just 3.1 seconds, 0-200kph takes just 8.5 seconds, and given a little more time, a reasonably lengthy and preferably empty straight road, the F12 will reach 340kph. Its not just in a straight line that the F12 mauls every other road going Ferrari ever made either, because it's also the fastest road car to ever lap Ferrari's Fiorano test track.
The F12 uses the same basic engine as the one used in the FF, hence its a 6.3 liter V12. However Ferrari has made some fairly serious changes to the FF's engine to bring its power output up to a bonkers 730hp, which I don't really understand. But I'll tell you anyway, Ferrari engineers have tuned the harmonics of the inlet and exhaust, developed a new oil scavenge pump for the dry sump, and tested six or seven different types of injectors, the list is endless.
Reports are claiming this car is much friendlier than the 599 it replaces, because many were, sadly crashed due to cashed up playboys trying to show off, and, it didn't end well. Hence, the F12 is much easier to drive, if you're a bit ham fisted. But the main thing is, the wicked Ferrari V12 bellow still remains, and I want one. Badly.

Why the Germans have a knack for building great cars.

Many, many years ago, German, erm, competitiveness involved bad things, and lead to some events which people, understandably, don’t like to talk about now a days. However, the Germans eventually gave up on said unsaid activities after discovering said activities were not there strong point, and begun to brainstorm ideas for new activities which they could focus their competitive energies on. After many board meetings, and calculations, they happily settled on making some of the best and most advanced cars the world has ever seen.     

The fight for power amongst the various German automakers has involved many things over the years. The days of boasting in the school yard about how ‘my dad’s car is faster than yours’ are long gone, now it’s all about stereo wattage, or if you’re really geeky, Nurburgring lap times.

But still, the fight for power is about more than just lap times and hifi systems, it runs much deeper than that, to a place where speed and engine outputs rule, lap times and speed are more important than comfort and even the most powerful of car audio systems cannot be heard from the earths surface. Some of these ideas are just plain ridiculous, but to a German, it makes all the difference. For example, top speed – understandable given the lack of speed limits in Germany, stereo wattage – apparently German businessmen like Rihanna too, engine power output – everyone knows Germans like more power, and of course balancing handling and ride comfort – well this ones a bit iffy, because in recent times automakers, especially German ones, have become so obsessed with Nurburgring lap times that they consistently ruin the ride comfort, in order to go faster and faster around the ‘Ring. Many have protested, mainly old people and James Mays, that going a second faster around the ‘Ring isn’t worth ruining the ride comfort, and they are right. But Germans like to take their businessmen expresses to the track and rip big drifts too you know.

The average German businessman on his way to work in an M5

Many great things have come from Germany, the Bugatti Veyron for instance, or the Audi R8, BMW M cars, AMG V8s, Frankfurt sausages, and the best sports car in the world – the Porsche 911. And strangely enough, it all began with two blokes in a shed who felt like escaping their wives for a few years.

Now, I don’t want to bore you to death with a precise history lesson on the German auto industry, so to put I’ll put it simply. It all begun in the late 1870’s, with Karl Benz and his mate who headed down to their local hardware store, probably Bunnings or Home Hardware, brought some spanners and a couple of hammers and started work on an engine to power Benz’s coach. Together they developed the four stroke internal combustion engine, and in 1878 Benz fitted this engine to a coach he designed. In 1926 Dailmer- Benz was formed and produced cars under the Mercedes–Benz marque and in 1928 BMW produced its first car. The early 1930’s saw the birth of the Volkswagen project, a plan to build a cheap, and robust ‘peoples car’- which turned out to be a hateful, ugly and generally unpleasant little car called the Volkswagen Beetle, which begun production in 1945, and is still, in its basic idea, being developed and built today by an unexpected luxury sports car maker in the form of the Porsche 911.

1945 Volkswagen Beetle 

Ah yes, the iconic sports car, the 911 is basically a Volkswagen Beetle, because the 911 morphed from the beetle. Its engine was in the boot and still is, no matter how you look at it, the wrong place, and they are both rear wheel drive, and funnily enough they look quite similar. Porsche enthusiasts hate seeing their beloved companions compared to such a hateful machine, but without it, there could be no 911. 

Mercedes-Benz 300SL 'Gullwing' 

Anyway enough of the hideous Beetle, lets fast forward to 1954, when one of the most iconic and stunning German cars of all time was conceived, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL ‘Gullwing’ The 300SL was actually initially designed to be a race car only, but the racer received so much attention and admiration, that Mercedes couldn’t resist the temptation to build a road going version. Everything was perfect until they went to put the doors on. The engineers were completely stumped, because the tubular chassis of the race car came up the sides of the car, and so conventional doors could not be used. Then a few days later, down at the pub, after a few beers a bloke, as a joke – probably, said “what if we make the doors open upwards?” Little did he know he was about to create a trademark for the most iconic Mercedes-Benz ever made. This, so I’m told, happens in Germany quite often.

For many the 70s were a blur, a crack pipe dream filled with rainbows and Kombi Vans. Not for the Germans though, while the world was out enjoying the 1970s, the Germans were hard at work, they weren’t interested in the Beetles (the musicians) or smoking a plant that grew from the ground somewhere in the Middle East, so I discovered. Because in the early 1980s the BMW 3 series, as we know it today, was born. Of course there was a BMW 3 series before the 1980s, but that car was a bit rubbish. It was a boring old rust bucket with wooden suspension, milk bottle tops for brakes, and a lawn mower engine. It was a death trap. These are not exactly the qualities that spring to mind when we think of the modern day 3 series, however before the 80s these were exactly the words which described the 3 series, unless of course you were a hippie German.. In which case you’re 70s 3 series would’ve definitely steered you into a tree and killed you long ago. 

E30 BMW 3 series M3 

With this in mind you could begin to imagine why everyone had a bit of a chuckle when in 1982 BMW claimed they had made a new and improved 3 series. Perhaps they replaced the lawn mower engine with a proper one, in which case the car would’ve been even more frightening than before. Well they didn’t do that, but they did give it proper brakes, proper suspension, and steering that the likes of Porsche and Ferrari would struggle to provide today, the body didn’t begin to fall to pieces if you accidentally drove through a light shower, and the engines, the straight sixes were free revving and simply magnificent, BMW had created an icon, and earned cult status among motoring enthusiasts worldwide. BMW was now on the map. As was Audi with its Quattro four wheel drive rally cars which were dominating the world rally stage and its first rally derived four wheel drive turbo rocket road cars which were both conceived during the late 70s and early 80s.

Audi Quattro rally car

By 1998, the German Automotive industry was massive, and its biggest contributor, the Volkswagen group, had grown so large, that its dietary requirements consisted of one or two car makers per day. In 1966 Volkswagen took over Audi, in ’86 it was Seat, in ’92 Skoda was scooped up, and in 1998 Volkswagen was especially hungry and took over Italian supercar maker Lamborghini, British luxury marque Bentley, as well as Bugatti, in recent times Volkswagen has had its eye on Porsche of which it already owns a stake, and VW has shown a keen interest in stomaching what remains of the pan roasted Porsche pork chop. 

When Volkswagen took over Bugatti in 1998, VW went a bit mad, because the CEO at the time called a bunch of the best engineers from the entire VW group into a room for a meeting. At said meeting the CEO announced that VW had brought Bugatti, and he wanted the engineers to build him a Bugatti which would have 1000hp and travel at speeds in excess of 400kph. The room was silent, until one man burst out into laughter, obviously thinking the VW boss was joking. Sadly he was fired immediately.

The whole world thought the VW boss was mad, insane, and just plain stupid. So to show the world he was serious about his elaborate plan to build such a ridiculous car, a year later Bugatti built a concept car to show at the 1999 Geneva motor show which was powered by an 8 litre W16 engine which produced, in the VW bosses eyes, a pretty ordinary 623hp. So Bugatti kept at work until they finally reached the magic 1000hp mark by using two twin turbo Audi engines. Their next hurdle was reaching 400kph, their initial design was 20kph shy of their target, and to achieve 400kph they would’ve needed an extra 200hp and they couldn’t just strap a Golf GTI engine on the back, more power wasn’t an option. To achieve their goal, the engineers begun to experiment with the cars aerodynamics, adjusting the ride height and using the air beneath the car to their advantage.

2005 Bugatti Veyron 16.4

In 2005, VW had done it; they proved all the pessimists and Gordon Murrays (Mclaren F1 creator) who had doubted and criticised them through the process, wrong. The final product was the Bugatti Veyron a car which produced 1001hp from an 8litre quad turbo W16 engine, it cost more than $1.2million, accelerated to 100kph in 2.5 seconds and reached a top speed of 407kph – which as it turns out can even be achieved by the slowest man to ever wear a sweater which has the same print as my grand mothers curtains – James May, and more importantly made it the fastest production car in the world. That was until some Americans rocked up in something called an SSC Ultimate Aero – which was basically just an engine and some wheels stuck together in some blokes shed. And being American it would only go in a straight line and just about spiral out of control trying to do that. It would also explode and crash if you so much as suggested it take a whiff of that corner in the distance.

2010 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport

The Germans didn’t like this and so in 2010 the Americans fame and glory came to an end, because Bugatti unleashed the Super Sport. It had even more power than the original Veyron, 200hp more to be precise, thanks to larger turbos, and it made extensive use of carbon fibre, so it weighed less than before. The Veyron Super Sport returned the top speed record to Germany by reaching 430kph – which is also achievable by a man in a bad jumper with no sense of direction, AND it does it all without spiralling out of control or exploding. It truly is the most extraordinary and magnificent car the world has ever seen. And it’s strange to think that the legendary Veyron is made by the same company who made the horrible Beetle all those years ago. 

The Germans have come a long way, from repeatedly loosing in said, unsaid activities, to Karl Benz creating the four stroke internal combustion engine in his shed, and creating some of the most iconic cars the world has ever seen, sometimes by sheer fluke, in the 300SL ‘Gullwings’ case, sometimes by spending the 70s on the sidelines while everyone else was seeing rainbows and Kombi vans, and often by complete madness, and almost always through being stubborn. 

Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 

And for this we can put up with the German automakers constantly competing on lap times, top speed, and stereo wattage, and who’s got the best frankfurts, because history tells us that German stubbornness, in the automotive industry will eventually lead to great things. The Porsche 911 is a perfect example, the engine has always been in the wrong place, but the Germans – being stubborn have slowly enhanced and improved the 911 experience, up until now where we have the 997 series GT3 RS, the most exciting raw driving machine in the world.   

So, the world thanks Germany for choosing car making as its competitive energy focal point, and fixing the once a death trap 3 series, creating Quattro four wheel drive, AMG soundtracks, and a 430kph supercar that can be driven by even the most ham fisted of drivers, and still make the most advanced of drivers tingle and fizz with excitement.

The Germans have a word for it, which I think sums up the beauty of German cars perfectly – vollkommenheit.

To save you from Google translating that, it means perfection, completeness, thoroughness, absoluteness, polish. Very German. 

Audi Builds A Bicycle

Audi has recently delved into the bicycle making business, first by purchasing performance bike maker Ducati, and now by having a go at making its own bike. Although, this isn’t a bike for the average coloured gladwrap wearing, leg shaving bike rider because this is an electric bicycle.

Audi E-Bike

Like a conventional bike there’s a chain attached to some pedals which drive the rear wheel. But there’s also an electric motor located inside the central housing so the E-Bike can be driven with the electric motor or the pedals or both. In pure electric mode the bike can do 50kph which is impressive, or 80kph in hybrid mode which is, erm, alarming, even more alarming would be the lacerations on your shins caused by the wildly spinning pedals at 50kph, so luckily the crank arms lock into place when the electric motor takes over.

Doesnt look especially comfortable.. But looks cool.
Audi E-Bike  

There’s also a hilariously awesome Wheelie Mode, which uses all sorts of gadgets and gizmos to control power flow, adjust wheelie angles and stop you from falling off and making yourself look like a spanner, except you already do look like a spanner because you’re riding an Audi bicycle.. There’s also WiFi which connects to an iPhone app and logs your tricks.  

Stopping power comes from hydraulically controlled, vented disc brakes, which apparently cost $800 each. Ouch. The whole thing is made mostly from carbon fibre and plastic, even the wheels are carbon fibre, and all up it weighs just 21kgs. There’s also a 9 speed push button hydraulic gearbox for seamless gearshifts.

The price is unknown at the moment, however if a brake disc costs $800, I’m guessing it might cost slightly more than my old $100 Huffy..  

Silverstone Classic - 60 F40s In One Place

60 Ferrari F40s at Silverstone

Brilliant picture isn’t it? Many will have heard this year her majesty is celebrating 60 years of reign over the British Isles. And to celebrate, 60 Ferrari F40s, descended onto a frankly soggy, Silverstone race circuit to break a world record.

The world record parade of 60 F40s was held last weekend at the ‘Silverstone Classic’ a celebration of all things old, petrol infused, and generally brilliant.

Among the 60 F40s, there were some slightly overshadowed and comparatively insignificant vehicles present, 1980s F1 racers, D-Types TVRs and many other classics. Oh and SIXTY F40s!  

Audi R8 Face Lift - R8 gets cool new specs for it's face!

Audi has just released some pornography in the form of its face lifted R8 supercar. The R8 has always been a bit of a looker, and is now even better looking with some new round exhausts, slightly different tail lights, and some new glasses for each of the headlights. And as weird as that might sound, it somehow works well. Oh and there’s a new R8 badge to get excited about too.

Don't they look like glasses? 

The main styling tweaks, so we’re told, are a new front bumper, rear bumper which has some new and naughty looking circular exhausts - similar to the ones off the R8 GT protruding from its shapely rump, which means it looks a bit awesome. There are also new headlights – similar to the ones on the face lifted A4/A5 which resemble a pair of futuristic eye glasses, and new tail lights which look strangely similar to the ones they replace. Honestly you’d be stumped trying to spot the difference.

Take note of the exhausts. Oh and look at the new R8 badge!

Audi has however, been hard at work making some slight alterations beneath the skin, chief among which being a new seven speed S-Tronic double clutch gearbox, which replaces the old six-speed automated manual. Of course, the new gearbox will improve the fuel consumption slightly and ensures those cute and frankly terrifying polar bears can live a little longer. Acceleration is also somewhat improved, because the 316kw V8 now gets to 100kph in 4.3 seconds and the 386kw V10 gets there in just 3.6seconds – both now faster by 0.3 seconds. The V10 can now also achieve a top speed of 317kph, just missing the magic 200mph, maybe next time, or maybe the new R8 V10 Plus model will get there...

That’s right, there’s now an R8 V10 Plus, although it still misses out on 200mph. Shame. But it does get an extra 18kw and a carbon fibre seat, two of them in fact. The R8 Plus can accelerate to 100kph in 3.5 seconds, 0.1 seconds faster than the normal R8 V10, and benefits from a salad only diet. The plus has lightweight alloy wheels, less insulation and sound deadening, tuned suspension, and there are a couple of lightweight bucket seats inside.

Audi R8 V10 Plus 

Styling wise, the Plus doesn’t do a lot to differentiate itself from the standard R8 - subtly seems to be the theme at Audi these days.  The plus gets a carbon fibre front splitter, mirror housings and air vents, as well as a slightly larger rear diffuser, and the exhausts are painted black.

Essentially, the R8 was a very pretty car, and still is, now its just wearing some cool futuristic glasses.

1000 raging bulls roam the streets as Lamborghini’s 1000th Aventador roles off the production line.

It’s been a little over one year since the first Aventador was delivered to its, admittedly lucky owner. And two days ago, chassis number 1000 rolled off the production line, and was personally delivered by Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann to a German architect. The car was finished in suitably bold Argos Orange, of course.

The Aventador will join the Lamborghini fanatic’s stable where it will most likely plan evil things in conjunction with its Diablo stable mate, probably.

The Aventador is the most powerful and fastest Lamborghini ever made, its 6.5 litre V12 produces a terrifying 700hp (515kw), which is enough to fling its passengers to 100kph in 2.9 seconds, reach a top speed of 350kph, create some brown stains on your passengers seat, and even shoot blue flames from its exhaust. Nice.

Lamborghini celebrated this production mile stone, by presumably throwing a huge party and destroying some rubber in a few Aventadors. Actually maybe not, since Lamborghini has increased production from 3 Aventadors per day to 4.5, in order to get cars to their customers as soon as possible, because there’s an 18 month waiting list.

Either way heres a picture of some Lamborghini madness.

Toyota 86 - Raw Driving

If you’re reading this, chances are you've heard of the Toyota 86, this car has taken the world by storm, a sell out success in a number of markets and a car enthusiasts have been lusting after for years before it was even released. And now its finally here, and we cant seem to escape it, Toyota 86 advertisements are everywhere, the television, social media, magazines and newspapers and various other media forms.

The slogan Toyota has chosen to use in all its advertisements is ‘Raw Driving’ – sound familiar? And so I thought it quite appropriate to write about the famed 86 coupe on this very blog entitled ‘Raw Driving’

For me, raw driving can only occur when the driver is only given the things that make driving more enjoyable, things like, a normally aspirated engine, rear wheel drive, manual gearbox are essential. And the 86 certainly ticks these boxes. The 86 is powered by a naturally aspirated 2.0l Subaru boxer engine with Toyota direct injection which uses magic and wizardry to produce a pretty ordinary noise and power output of 147kw and 205nm, but maximum torque is all the way up at 6400rpm, so it makes the driver work. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a manual gearbox and a limited slip differential. The 86 uses the same tyres you might find on a Prius which probably sounds like a recipe for disaster. But its actually brilliant because it makes the 86 incredibly tail happy, but so balanced and easy to control once the rear lets go. This is what raw driving is about, no turbos, double clutch gearboxes or big fat grippy tyres. Just a small rev happy engine, manual gearbox, skinny tyres and a well balanced chassis.

Toyota FT-86 Concept 

Toyota FT-86 II Concept

Never has anyone made such a fuss about a new Toyota, so what’s the big deal? Well Toyota since the Celica and MR2 ended production in 2005 hasn’t had a sports car in its model range up until now, and the 86 must be pretty good since Toyota engineers benchmarked the 86 against the Porsche Cayman, a car that costs close to $100k more than the 86, and its not like the 86 came from nowhere either, it was apparently born back in 2006 and Toyota has been teasing the world with 86 concept cars since 2008. Since then the world has seen two different concepts plus the final production version. The first concept caused such a stir, and sent the automotive world into chaos – Ferraris started to spontaneously combust – the 458 in particular, Porsche made an ugly sedan and Peugeots started to become pretty, so Toyota understandably couldn’t resist the temptation to do it again and so unleashed the Toyota FT-86 II concept in 2010.

Finally, in the early months of 2012, Toyota obviously became overwhelmed with hate mail from motoring enthusiasts demanding they begin production of the 86 and stop teasing everyone, because finally at Fuji raceway Toyota showed the world what all the fuss was over, but then thought it might be fun to make people wait some more and didn't let consumers have their cars until the 8th of June or 8/6, get it?  

Obviously there was a reason for such fuss, violence and chaos, that reason being the promises Toyota made before producing the 86. Toyota promised the 86 would mark the return of the fun and affordable rear drive sports car, which had been missing from the marketplace since the demise of the MR2 and Nissan 200sx. Toyota Australia also made a statement saying the price tag would most likely begin with a three, although they could not guarantee anything, suggesting the price could be around the $40k mark. And then, a few weeks ago, when Toyota Australia announced the price would begin with a two, more specifically it would cost $29,990, the world went completely mad, Toyota dealers grabbed their money and fled the country knowing there was a limited supply of 86’s coming to our shores, and the violence would return once supplies dried up.

Toyota 86 

Now that people have settled down, and the insane ones are being given proper care, I had the chance to drive the 86. Would it live up to the hype and my ridiculously high expectations? You bet.  Generally in modern cars there is an overpowering element, whether that be an engine, a chassis or the steering wheel, but not in the 86. Everything works in complete harmony, the engines power is perfectly suited to its chassis, the steering is remarkable for an electric system, and is probably the best system currently used in any production car, its perfectly weighted, very direct and provides plenty of feel and feedback, more in fact than the new Porsche 911. Find a twisty mountain road, turn all the systems off and the 86 will reward you like no other car can, it puts a big grin on you’re face. Suddenly everything makes sense, the benchmarked Porsche Cayman,  the low driving position, the centrally mounted rev counter – unheard of in a Toyota, the fact that the maximum torque is all the way up at 6400rpm, the little bumps above the front wheels so you always know where the front wheels are, and of course those skinny Prius tyres. All of these things make the driver feel so much more involved in driving the car, it makes you work for its performance. Changing gear yourself to keep the engine in its sweet spot is such a joy, as is sitting low in the bucket seat and feeling the car rotating beneath you. The skinny tyres mean its very easy to slide and immensely fun, you’re not going very fast but who cares. The 86 is all about power to rubber ratio and enjoyment, not 0-100kph times, although its 6.8 seconds to 100kph is quite brisk.

Toyota 86 Interior

The Toyota 86 completely changes what defines a sports car, most of us probably think big tyres, big power and big speed are what’s most important in a sports car, but the problem with this combination is you have to be going ridiculously fast when the rear finally lets go. And driving only becomes interesting at the edge of grip and control, and chances are if you do that on the road in a seriously powerful sports car you need to have the reflexes of Mark Webber, or you’ll crash and definitely get caught speeding and have your car crushed. Either way you’re $100k sports car will be ruined, not to mention you’re ego.

Driving the 86, you feel all the sensations and pleasure of driving a sports car on the edge at a much lower speed that what you would normally in a more powerful animal. Don’t get me wrong, I love fast cars as much as anyone else, but in this day an age, where there’s a speed camera on every corner, the 86 renders them all pointless.

The only source for complaints comes from beneath the bonnet, many complain that the 86 doesn’t have enough power, I’m not one of them though, my problem is the noise that the boxer engine makes, it isn’t at all inspiring, it’s interesting, but it’s not a great sound. And the ride is a tad firm, but you wont care because its so damn good through the corners, trust me you will be wanting to find the longest and most twisty route to take to work, because it really will make you’re day. 

Toyota has done it, they’ve brought us the fun and affordable rear drive coupe as they promised, and I can tell you it was worth the wait, the violence, and the burnt to the ground Ferraris, because the 86 is even better than we thought it would be. We can even forgive Toyota for making the Prius now, because Toyota has brought us driving in its most purest and enjoyable form.

Toyota’s ‘raw driving’ slogan might be everywhere we look, but Toyota has every right to brag about its 86 coupe because it truly has captured all that is raw driving and what makes it special, and bottled it in the form of the Toyota 86. 

BMW 135i – Straining at the leash

Finally, after sitting on a boring motor way doing 100kph for nearly three hours watching hundreds of trees and a ridiculous number of police patrol cars fly by, we’ve reached the last stretch of road to our three day holiday destination and it’s not straight, and not full of smelly old Landcruisers piloted by old people who feel its far too dangerous to do the speed limit while towing a caravan or while driving a Honda. A chance then to exploit my ultimate driving machine. Its dark, I know there’s a river to the right of me and a small cliff face to the left, this should be interesting.

I’m driving a BMW 135i M Sport Coupe. Long name, twin turbo straight six engine up front, seven speed double clutch gearbox in the middle, and drive goes to the rear wheels. All boxes ticked for a serious sports car then. The engine in this car is a masterpiece, it’s a 3.0l straight six, with two small turbochargers, it produces 225kw and 400nm of torque, 0-100kph is dealt with in just 5.2 seconds.

During the three hours I spent sitting on the motorway with this car, I learnt a little more about its engine, and what makes it special. Real world usable performance, overtaking manoeuvres are a breeze, it doesn’t kick down a gear like a ‘normal’ car might, just squeeze the throttle, the revs increase by a few hundred rpm, feel an encouraging push in the back and watch the speedo tick around to 125kph, and the mere mortals in your rear vision mirror disappear, there’s no fuss at all. The reason for this is those two turbos and the flat torque curve, the full 400nm of torque is available from just 1500rpm and sticks around until the engine is singing a straight six symphony all the way up to its red line of 6000rpm.

Inside, it’s a nice place to be, the dials are all very easy to read, and the seats are very comfortable as well as supportive, although some might find the lack of cup holders annoying – the main one is taken up by the iDrive control and the back seat isn’t suitable for adults. The ride is the firm, although we drove on some pretty poor roads and found it tolerable.

There’s always the question of value with these cars, its just over $100k once you get iDrive and the double clutch gear box and a few other options, that’s a lot for a 1 series, but still $80k shy of an M3 which I think needs to be considered because the performance is very similar. Taking that into account, I think the 135i is pretty good value, M3 performance for 325i coupe money.  

So what was the last 30 minutes of driving like? The 135i was in its element on the snaking road, the steering so alive in you’re hands, the throttle so responsive, and the car so flat through the bends. The car felt like it was on rails on this road, there was very little body role, and not a hint of understeer. The throttle was so responsive with very minimal turbo lag leaving no evidence of turbochargers underfoot, or to the ear, this car sings like a straight six should and has the pace to match. But for me, the biggest surprise was the steering, steering the 135i provides the same sensation you would feel if you were to open the driver’s door and run your hand along the tarmac. It’s communicative, fast, well weighted and alive in you’re hands, providing a good amount of feel for what the front wheels are up to. When you’re really pushing the cars initial tendency is to oversteer, it’s got a completely different character to any other 1 series. With the addition of the twin turbo six, the 135i is like a puppy on wooden floorboards scampering about, it’s small, full of energy, a bundle of fun and always straining at the leash. There’s a subtle refined rage to this car, you can almost hear it saying, ‘when I grow up I want to shred my rear tyres, and catapult my passengers towards the horizon with ridiculous speed, but in a fun way’ – German humour for you.

My only complaint came from the next morning when I went to start the car out the front of our hotel. Foot on the brake, press start, and the revs bounce all the way up to 3000rpm, this is fine when you’re in the garage, but in front of the hotel it can be a little embarrassing. People stared and probably said some rude things, but I couldn’t hear them over the loud exhaust. I found it hilarious, although I can’t help but think those around me might have thought I was a dick.

But I soon forgot about that, because I was off to have another go on that windy road and enjoy the car some more.  

Nurburgring bankrupt? A cloud of financial trouble looms above the famous Green Hell race track.

For many, the thought of the famous German race track – the Nurburgring closing its gates sends a horrible quiver of fear up the spine. For years the best automotive engineers in the world have sought refuge from the confinement of their desks and laptops, to see their creations in action, to see how they would stand up toward the legendary 14 mile long race track. The Nurburgring is home to many a car makers, of which the likes include, Ford, GM, BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Aston Martin, and the VW group, the list is endless, they all bring their latest creations to see how they will fare against the Green Hell.

However, this could soon all come to an end, along with a number of historic race events held at the Nurburgring each year.

The Nurburgring has been under financial stress for quite some time now and today confirmed that its call for help from the European Commission was unlikely to be answered in the short term. This cry for help has come as a result of the group who manage the Nurburgring being 413 million euros in debt according to German newspaper Rhein Zeitung. They also noted that the state premier Rhineland Palatinate said “With greatest probability, bankruptcy would be applied for at the end of the month due to a lack of liquidity”

Things are looking bleak for the ‘Ring whose future is unclear, this is decidedly terrible news for any car fan. 

A recent run in with public transport authorities leaves me begging the question, why not just drive?

I’m on a train heading towards the city, and having just been confronted by the ticket inspector and fined $140, I’m wishing I was in a car, or some other form of transport, where the possibility of a ride to the city couldn’t possibly cost in excess of $140.

The reason for such an expensive journey, was a dud ticket validating machine, and some slight stupidity on my behalf, but lets not get bogged down in that issue.

My friend and I were all set for a brilliant day, so with hope in our hearts and the promise of cheap and reliable transport on the horizon, we headed to the station, blissfully unaware of the expenses involved in the use of public transport. We purchased our tickets, I stuck mine in a machine which apparently prints an expiry date on the ticket and ‘validates’ it, and hopped on the next train headed towards the city, completely unaware that I had just broken the law.

Approximately half way through our journey, I was wondering where the usual, lunatics, drug dealers, and just plain weirdos were – the train ride had been pretty tame up until this point. Then a rather stumpy man walks up to me, shoves his transport authority badge in my face like he’s watched far too many cop shows, and asks me to present my ticket to him. With nothing to hide I fetched my ticket from my wallet and handed it to the chap. He asks ‘why isn’t this ticket validated?’ completely shocked I told him I put it in the validation machine and that the machine must have failed. This line of communication clearly flew straight over the mans head, because he then begun to write me a fine of $70.

Now I’m sorry, but I don’t think that it’s entirely fair that I incur a fine because of a faulty machine, which is supposed to be maintained by the public transport authorities. And it gets worse too, because after the stumpy fellow was done pretending to be an FBI agent towards me, he begun to do the same for a near by lady, except this time, because the lady wasn’t carrying personal identification, he was going to take her to the police. She was petrified, borderline crying, and the stumpy fellow along with his fat mate, kept smirking like they had just lead a million dollar drug bust for the FBI. They were enjoying this.  

After this episode, I begun to wonder why do people use public transport? I mean, it’s expensive, full of murderers, drug dealers, pretend FBI agents, and generally unpleasant people. From my two experiences with public transport within the past twelve months, this is all I can gather, so you can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it is for me to comprehend why people use it every day, and what their life must be like. I’m guessing that after a year of public transport use, you would be either broke, or killed.

The only real reasons people use public transport, that I could think of are as follows,  a lack of knowledge on the operation of a car, or the belief that they are doing their bank balance a favour by taking the train each day. Driving a car is not a difficult thing to do, it doesn’t require a lot of skill, get some lessons and you’ll be fine. Catching the train every day is not fine. Because as I’ve already stated, it’s damn expensive, even if the ticket validation machine at your local station does work. Honestly you would spend less money filling up your car each day, plus it’s far more comfortable, safer, and there’s less chance of being fined or even pulled over by a pretend FBI agent if you drive.

So, get in you’re car and drive places, get away from the unpleasantness that is public transport, and enjoy all that is driving, the freedom, the involvement and the thrill.   

And for the love of god, if you do choose to use public transport for some odd reason, ensure you’re ticket actually validates, and don’t put you’re feet on the seats, that’ll cost you - $140 to be exact.  

Fake Ferrari's - My Opinion

A few days ago, I was on carsales looking at Ferrari’s, dreaming, as you do, when I stumbled upon a 2005 model F430 finished in Rosso Corsa paint, for just $55000. I thought to myself, there’s no way; surely this person just forgot to put a zero on the end or something.

Anyway, I click on it, and start flicking through the images. The first thing I noticed was the Ferrari badge on the back was absent, then I thought, it does look a little bit high, and the wheels don’t quite fill the arches properly, I knew something was up. I kept flicking through the images, until I came to the interior. Sprung. This car clearly was not a Ferrari, although the fake Ferrari key, engine cover and even prancing horse logos on the dials would suggest otherwise.

I scrolled down and read the description, only to find that this car was in fact a Toyota MR2 with some fibreglass body panels made to look like a Ferrari. This man was selling a Ferrari replica. This is when I begun to ponder whether it’s ok to do something like this.

I guess the seller might suggest it’s a bit like those fake Rolex watches you buy in popular holiday destinations. You know, the ones that you shake when you want them to work, and have people question why you’re making flamboyant gestures with your left arm. Or Elvis impersonators who dress up in full costume and have the dance moves to match. I feel this is ok, a bit of harmless fun, because a fake Rolex only costs about $30 and will probably stop working the moment you land on home soil, and the Elvis impersonator provides an experience which would normally be unobtainable for anyone.

However the fake Ferrari incident is a different case all together, because I’m guessing this car has cost in excess of $30 to put together, and to be honest, I don’t think there’s any real shortage of Ferrari F430’s around. 

And it gets worse, because the Toyota MR2 on which this example is based, was actually a very good car, and I can’t imagine it’s been improved with the addition of much fibreglass and some fairly large wheel spacers. And as I continued to read the description of the car, somewhere in between where the seller rattles on about how much a real Ferrari costs, I read that this car has cost the bloke who built it over $100k. This man has spent $100k ruining a Toyota MR2. And for that, I think he must be an Idiot.

Take note of the fake key and dials. 

Now, understandably Ferrari’s are quite expensive, and I suspect the main reason this man has a fake is because he cannot afford a real one. But the sad part is he can (well not anymore I suspect) because after I continued to look at Ferrari’s I found you can actually buy a real Ferrari 360 (the F430’s predecessor) finished in Rosso Corsa paint, with an F1 gearbox and everything, for just over $100k.

This man could have had a real Ferrari sitting in his driveway, instead he’s stuck trying to sell a fake Ferrari (or ruined MR2, take your pick), I say good luck to him.

Needed a fake key, but couldn't justify the proper wheels?

Toyota Lancruiser - Goes Anywhere

When I was in primary school, there was one kid in my class who was bigger than everyone else, he wasn’t especially sporty, nor was he especially intelligent, he was just a nice person who would do anything for you.

And today driving the 2005 Landcruiser GXL V8 I am reminded of my old friend. The car has just ticked over the 200,000km mark on the odometer, and I’m told the only problem this car has had in its seven years on the road is the mirror light on the front visor failed once. But it feels as tight as it did the day it left the factory in Japan.

The car is powered by a 4.7l V8 developing 170kw and 410nm of torque, power is sent through a 5 speed automatic gearbox to all four wheels, a pretty good combination. The gearbox is always willing to kick down a gear into the engines sweet spot when you want it to, the engine has enough power to get the job done, and the fuel economy isn’t too bad either if you drive it conservatively. Toyota claims a 0-100km/h time of 11.3 seconds.

The Interior of the Landcruiser is typical Toyota, bland but everything is in the right place and easy to reach from the drivers seat. Although the button which activates the 4x4 system can be easily knocked by your knee, and as a result I often found myself driving with the 4x4 system on. The seats are comfortable and have enough support for this type of car. There is a massive amount of space in the Landcruiser; there are ample amounts of leg room in both the front and rear, the later easily capable of carrying three adults in comfort rather than the usual 2.5. The third row of seats are convenience, however if your planning on using this car to regularly carry 7 people I would suggest you look elsewhere. Overall its a very practical car, with massive amounts of space.

So what’s it like on the road? Well it’s a very big car, weighing over 2.3tonnes, on a smooth motorway or country road the suspension does a good job of controlling the cars mass and is well mannered, although the car can tend to feel a little too floaty. And while it feels floaty on smooth roads, on lesser quality roads every single bump can be felt in the cabin (this could be due to tyres). The steering is very light, which takes some of the strain away from tricky parking manoeuvres, since this car is 1.9m wide and almost 5m long. However that’s the only real positive I give to the steering because on the road it feels like its been taken from a boat, there’s no feedback, and its pretty slow to react, but most buyers wont be expecting Porsche 911 steering feel. There is quite a lot of body roll if you really push this car, as you would expect from a car riding close to a meter off the ground. In tighter corners the cars initial tendency is to understeer, however on a slippery surface it can be forced into a slight oversteer. The brakes are plenty big enough and provide enough stopping force for everyday driving, although the brake pedal requires quite a firm push to really stop the car. The car also features a system which locks the brakes on if you touch the brake pedal while going down a hill, I’m told this is for offroading, however I found it annoying while driving on the road.

What about off the road then? The Landcruiser has always been famous for it’s incredible abilities when taken off the tarmac, and this one is no different. Whether it’s sand, mud or loose rocks the Landcruiser just keeps on going. You take a glance at an obstacle and think ‘there’s no way it will get up there’ then you watch in awe as it proves you wrong. It’s unbelievable, and that’s the best praise I can give it. All of its faults while driving on the road can be forgiven if you do plan on using this car off road because it’s incredible; it makes it look so easy too. Other off roaders would have there engines screaming, and wheels spinning trying to do what the Landcruiser does with so much more class. It really is the ultimate off roader.

The Landcruiser is a very accomplished vehicle; it’s well mannered on the road, extremely practical, relatively comfortable and can do some pretty amazing things off road. It might like my old friend from primary school, be a bit big, a bit slow, and not exactly brimming with intelligence, but it gets the job done with no fuss, and it will never let you down – no matter where you are.  

BMW X6 M50d – Putting the sport back into SUV

We are on our way to Hidden Valley race circuit, not to drive a race car, a sports coupe or even a sports sedan; we’re driving a new kind of SUV from BMW. Well I say it’s new, but its not entirely, it’s a face lifted model with a new engine. We are here to drive BMW’s new X6 M50d SUV.

The X6 M50d is the first car to be launched under BMW’s new sub brand called ‘M Performance Automobiles’, essentially a new model line which sits between the standard cars and the full on M cars, such as the 1M, M3 and M5. These cars are not actually built by those who make the ‘proper’ M cars, although they borrow some parts off the M cars – mainly suspension components.  

The X6 has always been something of a lost cause in the BMW family, its problem being the X5, basically the two cars are identical beneath the metal, but the X6 is far less practical. For example; up until now it could only carry four people rather than the standard five, although there’s still not much head room back there, looking up at the windshield fixed mirror, and your likely to just see that sloping roof – rearward visibility is pretty poor, and the X6 has even less off road capabilities than its X5 sister thanks to standard 19inch wheels. So then, there’s not a lot to like about the X6.

It gets an M badge too!

But that’s all about to change. The M50d is powered by BMW’s new 3.0l tri-turbo (you read that right) straight six diesel engine, which develops a simply astonishing, 280kw at 5250rpm and (here comes the bit that will blow you away) 740nm of torque. To put that into context, the new Lamborghini Aventador has 690nm of torque. Power is sent to all four wheels through BMW’s xDrive system. This monster of an engine is mated to BMW’s eight speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters, should you feel the need to pretend your an F1 driver in you’re two tonne SUV. Jump on the right hand pedal and you will hit 100km/h in 5.3 seconds, thanks to three turbochargers, two small ones which spool up nice and early to remove any evidence of turbo lag, and one big one to cram stupendous amounts of air into those cylinders once you get going. The results are pretty alarming, an SUV which will worry your average sports car in a straight line, yet carry five in comfort and only drink 7.7l/100km.

Special M50d badge

So then what’s this two tonne SUV like on the Hidden Valley race circuit? It is simply incredible. There you might as well stop reading now, because that’s all you need to know. This car somehow can defy the laws of physics. A two tonne car with its centre of mass more than half a meter in the sky should not corner anything like this car does. You would expect to throw this car at a corner, and watch it wallow around like a pig in mud, but it doesn’t, it stays flatter than physics says it’s allowed to, and its exciting too, even though it has BMW’s xDrive system which can send as much as 100% of power to either axle it will send its DTC system into a fit if you floor it on a slightly damp or non-straight road. It performs and excites better than any other SUV and even some sports cars, a sports SUV then? Well yeah, it is its a proper sports utility vehicle.  

In this industry, the term ‘sports’ is thrown around far to much, car makers claim their cars are sporty or they are SUV’s, to the point where even a Toyota Landcruiser can be classified as an SUV, a sports utility vehicle, sure its a utility vehicle, but its in no way shape or form sporty. The X6 M50d on the other hand, truly deserves its SUV badge, it’s an immensely capable car, it’s quite and comfortable too, and like every other BMW product, its interior is great – no fuss (as long as there’s no carbon fibre trim).    

So has the X6 shaken off its lost cause image thanks to a facelift and new engine? Well we’ll have to wait and see what the X5 M50d is like, if it performs anything like its X6 sister, I’m afraid not. 

The New BMW M6 – Big Bruiser or Big Cruiser?

I would imagine BMW’s M division became slightly nervous when they were given the task of turning the new 6 series into a proper M car. The problem is the old M6 was so good, it’s howling 500hp 5.0L V10 engine and well sorted chassis dynamics made it a proper drivers car. Its only real downsides were it was far too complicated to operate, although the M button on the steering wheel soon fixed that, and the styling didn’t please everyone. 

So to start off with, BMW seems to have eradicated these problems, as the new 6 series in my opinion is one of the best looking cars BMW currently makes, and instead of seven different settings for everything from gear change ferocity to suspension stiffness, there is now a more sensible three.

BMW claims they have been hard at work using light weight materials in order to keep this cars weight down as much as possible. However I can’t find any evidence to support this, even though this car doesn’t have the big heavy V10 from the old car and it has a carbon fibre roof (like its predecessor). This new car weighs a whopping 1850kg that’s 140kg heavier than the car it replaces. This is a very heavy car.

So then, has the addition of extra weight and the loss of the V10 engine tarnished the M6’s performance? Not a chance, the new car has a 4.4l twin turbo V8 with BMW’s twin scroll turbo technology, producing 560hp at 7000rpm and a massive 680nm of torque from as low as 1500rpm. The engine is mated to a 7 speed M-DCT double clutch transmission which sends power to the rear wheels in true M car fashion. Stamp on the noise pedal and you’ll hit 100km/h in 4.2 seconds, that is an incredible achievement given this cars weight. It’s good then that stopping power comes from enormous carbon ceramic brakes, which provide excellent stopping power, although the top of the pedal feels a little numb and could do with a little more feel.

Thanks to all the driver aids in this car, you can carve up a mountain road like the car is glued to the road thanks to the enormous grip the 295 section rear tyres provide, or press the M button and pull massive drifts thanks to the clever M differential and more than generous amount of torque that V8 has to offer. While this car is more than capable of some serious speed through the corners there’s no escaping that this is a heavy car, and it feels it, it never feels light on its feet and as a result it never feels agile or sporty even when the drivetrain is in its most aggressive of settings. And the steering even though it’s still hydraulic, it has a strange feeling, it’s not progressive. On centre it’s light and indirect, and only after a few turns does it becomes more direct. And this is quite daunting when you’re barrelling up a mountain road at high speed; you never quite know where the front wheels are and what they are doing. This then is not a proper sports car. It’s never exciting, sure it will pull big slides and go fast in a straight line, but that’s all irrelevant if it never excites the driver and puts a big grin on their face.

So if the new M6 is not a sports car, what is it? Well I can see how this car would make a great grand tourer, its big, very comfortable thanks to adjustable dampers, very luxurious and covers motorway miles with ease. And if that’s what you want in a car, I’m sure you will be very pleased with the new M6, the sheer amount of leather and quality of all the controls give this car real class.

This car then is trying to be something its not. The new M6 may look angry and like it might want to tear your head off, but make no mistake, beneath the aggressive exterior beats the heart of a big softy.

Its quad exhaust tips, carbon fibre roof and shouty V8 might scream sports car, but there’s no denying that like those who were given the job of creating this car; it feels too nervous through the bends to be a proper sports car.

But this car while it may not be the best at being a sports car, it looks great, is ridiculously fast, but comfortable as well, and it has the best interior of any BMW product in my opinion, and for most that’s enough.