American Touge 2: Part 4 of 5

Great Read from Automobilemag.com

I, somewhat sheepishly, admit that I love wagons. I love the Volvo wagons, I love the Griswold family truckster and I especially love the S4 Avant and the BMW 5 Series Estates. What better way is there to pack up the family and head out on the open highway on a trip to nowhere?

I believe I am in the minority when I say I would much rather drive a nice wagon than any of the stupid bulky SUV's that plague our highways.

With this statement in mind please read this wonderfully well written article regarding the thinning of our wagon herd over the years in favor of the even stupider and more useless cross over and "Sports Activity" breeds.

Enjoy

Noise, Vibration & Harshness: The War Against the Station Wagon
Posted June 25 2010 05:40 AM by Automobile Staff

The days of smug Europeans sitting around espresso bars and open-air cafés tut-tutting American stupidity may not be over, but rest assured - insert sound of frosty can of Coors Light popping, followed by sophisticated guzzling noise - the days of Americans muttering about European densité have only just begun, at least if recent announcements by BMW and Volvo that they will stop selling station wagons in the U.S. market come to fruition. (Speaking of which, did you know that Coors cans now turn blue to let you know they're cold?! Snap! How dare anyone call a people responsible for a crucial technological breakthrough like this anything less than totally ingenious?)

The nominal culprit in the death of the sainted European wagon, of course, is that most tedious of automotive subgenres, the crossover. The crossover has been the worst thing to happen to the cause of driving excitement since the sport-utility vehicle began blighting the automotive landscape in the 1990s. But the real guilty parties are the carmakers themselves. Whatever they say about consumer preferences, automakers have spent years steering American consumers to crossovers, in which they've invested heavily through intensive marketing and preferential pricing. If manufacturers had put the same money toward station wagons, people would be buying station wagons. When you go to lease a BMW 5-series wagon and find out that you can have an X5 for substantially less, good sense often goes out the window.

To be clear, among European automakers, I blame the Germans first. They've consistently overlooked the fact that, although some Americans prefer their cars like their fast food - supersized - a significant portion of us appreciate German cars for their traditional European virtues, including the notion that cars can be quick, safe, and useful without being tall, heavy, or otherwise indiscreet. Turning their backs on the qualities that once made them special, the Germans are kissing off a part of their core audience and pissing off another: those rich enough to buy wagons in spite of the lack of price support. When you come across someone driving a new 5-series wagon today, you are looking at someone from a key, taste-making cohort, people who've spent real amounts of their own money for their car.

The Europeans' folly is clear, but to state the obvious, if the American people were monolithic, we wouldn't have started buying European cars in the first place; we'd still be driving the chrome-laden Detroit behemoths that once ruled the highways. If there weren't yawning demographic and taste divides in this land, half the country wouldn't be preparing to secede over their right to celebrate the Confederacy by brandishing assault weapons in church, while the other half demand that the particulars of safe gay sex be taught in the schools. And vive la difference- this country is big enough to support several different worldviews, no matter how insane. And long may it be so.

One of the more mystifying aspects of the Euro crossover trend, however, is how German luxury makers think that larger, less-efficient vehicles make any sense at a time when they are scrambling to meet stricter upcoming CAFE requirements. While pushing crossovers by massive subvention, they are conspicuously neglecting to offer a wide range of diesels and are simultaneously wringing their hands over fuel-saving gambits - such as an all-hybrid Mercedes-Benz S-class lineup and U.S. sales of B-segment models such as the Audi A2 and a Mini-based BMW - to meet the new standards.

Misreading the richly varied character of the American marketplace, European automakers are failing to embrace the exciting opportunities that fuel-efficient luxury cars and the small car's long-overdue march upscale present. In this observer's view, BMW, which has done so much to improve the automotive landscape in our lifetime, comes in for the greatest blame. Indeed, its recent parade of bloated crossovers have left us thinking that the company - whose controversial Bangle-butt 7-series I once even defended - has, after a long run of laserlike coherence, lost the plot.

Mercedes may have pipped BMW to the crossover market with its ML, the soft-roader whose primary selling feature - the largest three-pointed star in history - resided on its grille. The ML delighted many of the vulgarinos who could afford the freight, but with the X5, the Bavarians became crucial market makers, too. The X5 was admittedly the class of a disagreeable segment and sold well, but that didn't change the fact that it was and is an overweight indulgence that's the dynamic equivalent of taking a refrigerator and strapping it to the roof of one of the company's fine 5-series sedans before jacking it up for further degraded handling.

Talk about putting a governor on the grins. And if that wasn't bad enough, BMW's latest infatuations, the X6 and the 5-series Gran Turismo, take the X5 formula and make it worse by chopping the rear roofline and reducing cargo capacity, making two hard-to-distinguish-from-each-other truck/cars less practical and even uglier. A whole new genus of inexplicable machine, the X6 in one fell swoop nearly undoes all the design good that BMW has done for the planet. That's because the rest of the world's automakers, ever slaves to Bavarian aesthetic sensibilities (can you name an Asian or American car company that hasn't cribbed from the BMW playbook in the last thirty-five years?), seem quite content to follow BMW down this rathole (see Honda Accord Crosstour and Acura ZDX, about whose ugliness I could write a book). Students of the industry will note that we've tread this path before. It was called the Pontiac Aztek.

The good news is that I've seen only three X6s on the road in the two years they've been on offer. BMW 5-series wagon sales may have slowed to a trickle, but the X6 has hardly set the world on fire.

Which is what makes the Volvo announcement that it will stop selling wagons here so inexplicable. Because all I ever see in the Boston-Washington, D.C., corridor are Volvo wagons. They're ubiquitous, iconic, beloved. The news that the company is planning to bail on them in favor of gas-slurping XC models makes about as much sense as an announcement that Johnnie Walker is getting out of the Scotch business and is betting the farm on diet cola, because research shows that people drink more of the stuff.

Hey, Volvo and BMW, please wake up. Your wagons are cool. If only they turned blue to prove it.

Written By: Jamie Kitman

Link: Automobile Magazine

CDC Autocross: July 10th at Woodbridge, VA

Hey guys,

The CDC Event will be held in Woodbridge again and here the event information:

SATurday July 10th Autocross

We're back at Hylton HS, in Woodbridge, VA for the next autocross on SATURDAY July 10th.

The address is:

14051 Spriggs Road
Woodbridge, VA 22193

Registration and tech inspection will be at 8:00 and will promptly close at 8:45 to try to accommodate the full field, while still giving 6 runs.  You must be DONE by 8:45.  So if you arrive at 8:00 you won't have a problem.  Don't arrive at the last minute.

The event fee for the Saturday autocross is $25 for members and $35 for non-members at this event.

On-line Reservation System
  
Member reservations (or participants that will join the club upon showing up) for any events can be made at any time.  Open reservations for non-members for this event begin Friday July 2nd. 

New Bar Code System

This year CDC is using a new bar code system.  Remember to have your car ready with the barcodes on the vehicle BEFORE the event.  Attached are the bar code instructions, driver barcodes, and vehicle index bar codes.

New Members

We will be accepting new members at this event.  If you plan to join the club at this event, you may make a reservation at this time by doing the following:

1.  Use "0" as the member number (a permanent number will be assigned to you after you join and you will get a temporary number for this event)
2. TYPE "I will be joining the club at this event" in the NOTES section when making you reservation.

The annual membership is $30 and is good for 12 months from the date you join.

Chris Harris Test Drives the Top Cars for Road Racers/Enthusiasts on Sale Today

My favorite auto journalist Chris Harris drives the best cars for track/road racer enthusiasts that's out today.  This guy is very passionate about his cars and he looks for the best driving experience rather than power and and brand names.  The UK-Spec Civic Type-R Mugen is absolutely rubbish. In typical Honda fashion, they keep all the good cars in Japan.  Too bad the S2000 is now discontinued :(

Hiromu Naruse, 67-Year-Old Toyota Test Driver Dies

HIROMU NARUSE MASTER TEST DRIVER TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION

Hiromu Naruse is Master Test Driver at Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in Japan.

Naruse joined Toyota Manufacturing Corporation in 1963 as a test driver with Motor Sports in the Technical Division where he test drove the Toyota 7 and the 2000 GT. In 1970, he was transferred to Switzerland where he contributed to the growth of Toyota Motor Sports. He participated in and won many races, as one of the first Japanese participants, including the Nurburgring and Spa 24 Hour challenges. He transferred to the Dynamic Performance Testing Group in 1975 and in 1979 became part of the Overall Testing Group.

Naruse helped establish Special A in 1984.

He also helped establish VDx in 1995 where the group was responsible for auditing and evaluating new vehicles. In 2002 Naruse joined Team N where he is responsible for special assignments.

Naruse's experience as a driver has included the evaluation and development of every Toyota sports car including the Supra and many hours at Nurburgring. He has earned the nickname "Nur-meister" and holds the top spot of Toyota's 300 test drivers.

The Automotive Enthusiast World has lost a great driver. Rest In Peace Naruse-san 

FF Squad's Katman runs a 2:05 at Buttonwillow

Extremely quick run but not as quick as the S2K Challenge guys that run under the 2 minute mark!

Selling The Dream

As an enthusiast I thought a job as a salesman at a local BMW dealership would be my dream job. Aside from the long hours and all the waiting it essentially is. I get to drive all the newest and coolest BMW's, Audis and Porsches just so I can be equipped enough to sell them properly. If only there were a test track next door this would be the ultimate employment experience.



The one thing I have found is that most of the people that work at this dealership are, like most of us, budget racers working in an industry that we understand. We are the freaks that keep the companies we love in the books as legends of the track. Forget about the big name racers with huge budgets. It is the little guys that spend huge chunks of their paychecks on a few days at the track while also keeping their cars running healthy enough to drive daily that make these cars what they are.



Just off hand I know of five guys here who regularly drive their roll cage equipped autos to work everyday. Heck, my boss drives a 911 carrera with a roll cage and a racing seat with five point harnesses.



This might be where I belong. Hell if I can sell a few of my favored brand every month I can earn a living and have fun while doing it. With a discount on parts and labor I might just get my car prepped properly soon. In the meantime I will just sit back at my desk with the 550i and 760Li propped up strategically in front and bask in the joy of German metal while waiting for my next smiling face.



Keep the dirty side down and enjoy.



Selfless plug - if you are looking for a new or used BMW, Porsche or Audi contact me and we will make your dream come true.

American Touge: Part 3

Enjoy the Simple Things...

Enjoy the Drive 
By Justin Mascia

 

Let me start by stating that I am not a racer, drifter, or autocross driver. I would categorize myself as an admirer of the automotive experience. With that in mind I would like to discuss something that I think is commonly overlooked by auto enthusiasts, which is the feeling of driving.

To be clear I am not talking about the feeling of feedback from the car. Many car minded individuals can be overheard talking about how much a car tells them about the road or the suspension setup of the car. While this may be important to someone who is heading to a track for a weekend, it has been discussed to death. I am talking about the overall package of driving.

 A recent drive I took in a 1980 Corvette frames this idea very well.  Thanks to my fathers muscle car business I have been blessed by being able to drive at least one of every generation Corvette. The least joyous of these is the third generation, most notably post 1973 production cars.  Without getting into a history lesson about government regulation changes during the '70s suffice it to say sport cars from the middle to late '70s were lacking in power. If you were to ask anyone who knows me they would quickly tell you that I have never had a kind word for any Corvette from '72 until '82.  I laughed at the cars lack of power. I thought it was “sad” that so many of them were ordered as automatics.  However that all changed when a customer recently asked me to take his '80 Corvette for a short trip in an attempt to identify a problem. I grimaced a little then headed out for what I knew would be a dull drive.  

At first I started going through the mental checklist that many car guys go through when driving a car for the first time. I noted the complete lack of power, the soft feel of the steering, and other short comings. Then I noticed the shadow of the car to my left rolling over hillside.  I stopped scrutinizing the car and started to take in the experience I has having.  The car gave an input to every sense. The drivers view over the hood is very low and filled with the high fender flairs and the downward swoop of the hood.  You can feel a small amount of air through the T tops and the low slung seats held me tighter then some racing seats I have been in. The only other sound was the low rumble of the small block V8 (thanks in part to an aftermarket exhaust). 

To go along with the sensations the car provided I became aware of the beautiful country side that was passing by as the sun started to set.  As if to serve as the proverbial icing on the cake a local farmer had cut a hay field that day and the smell filled the air. For the first time in my life I did not want to stop driving a C3.

The Combination of all these small, almost ignorable factors added up to a driving experience that few cars that I have driven can match.  I know my 2007 Subaru WRX STi has never given that complete of a driving experience. I am usually too distracted by the simple joys of taking corners just right or practicing heal toeing.  The same can be said for big block muscle cars. The driver focuses too much on the earth shaking power to simply take in the experience.  In the case of the 1980 Corvette though the driver actually benefited from the combined total of the cars massive shortcomings. 

The simple truth is that without a lot of horsepower or superb handling to distract the driver a different value can be placed on vehicles.  I believe that this is an experience that almost every segment of car fandom overlooks. Tuner groups seem to always be overly concerned with fact sheets of cars. They want to know who turns a quicker quarter or which car did better on a skid pad test. At the other end of spectrum classic car groups are overly concerned with papering their rides to actually enjoy their driving experience.  Often times the older cars that could provide the feel I am describing are overlooked because of there simple nature.

 We all have to start from somewhere

So next time you are out driving and you pass someone in a Miata and your about to make some snide remark about his car stop and think about what he may be experiencing that you are actually missing out on. Take a leisurely drive through the countryside and simply enjoy the experience. Stop trying to apex like your Schumacher and simply go through the corner.

Justin Mascia is an author of Racer's Quarterly

Help a Fellow Friend and Reader. Vote for His EVO X

One of my good friends and avid reader needs your help guys. He has recently submitted his car to VividRacing's KW Coilover Giveaway Contest. Support your fellow member and vote for his car!

Link: CLICK HERE AND VOTE!

Building a Dodge Viper ACR-X

The attention to detail and other weight reducing engineering makes this car a bargain in the stripped supercar market.

Best MOTORing: Hot Version: American Touge (Part 2)

Oldie but Goodie. Enjoy Guys

The 78th Running of Le Mans

For those of you that braved the full 24hrs of Le Mans, be it at home on your couch or at the historic Circuit de la Sarthe, you were treated to a fantastic race with periods of great triumph and total devastation. Peugeot looked strong from the beginning with four cars against Audi's three. All four were power houses and after a full course yellow put the Audi's 3min back, it looked like Peugeot would have an easy win with the faster car. In GT2, the Risi Competizione and the now GT2 classed Compuware C6R were locked in an nose to tail battle that looked as though it would go all night long. But then Le Mans began claiming victims.

It started with the front running Peugeot having suspension failure that damaged the carbon fiber tub of the car meaning an early end to their day. 3 Peugeots....3 Audis left. The heated battle for GT2 was going strong but unexpectedly the Risi F430 had to come in with gear box troubles...the troubles proved more then the team was willing to fix and their day ended. The remaining three Peugeots ran strong through the night until the fairy tail started to crumble. The #2 Peugeot went out with fire billowing from is exhaust just before day break. The #1 Peugeot went out in similar fashion just a few hours to the end. 1 Peugeot....3 Audis. During Peugeot's charge, they made contact with the Compuware C6R causing total destruction of the rear end of the Corvette putting them out of the race. The crowns are falling.


With just 75mins to go, the final Peugeot of Team Oreca went out with a burst of flames from its exhaust pipe (sounds like a common problem to me) and with that, Audi had an "easy" 1, 2, and 3.


The final rankings were (First, Second, Third):

LMP1: #9 Audi, #8 Audi, #7 Audi

LMP2: #42 Strakka Racing HPD, #35 Oak Racing Pescarolo, #25 RML Lola

GT1: #50 Larbre Competition Saleen S7R, #72 Luc Alphan Adventures Corvette, #52 AMR DB9R

GT2: #77 Team Felbermayr Proton Porsche GT, Team Hankook F430, #97 BMS Porsche GT3 RSR

Molson Ice commercial with Bob and Doug McKenzie and Guy Lafleur

Since the Montreal Grand Prix is fast approaching I figured it only fitting that I feature a little Great White North in preparation for the upcoming coverage for the F1 race.

Enjoy!!

This is the first track test of the DP4 from Palatov Motorsport (www.dpcars.net).

It is intended for use on a kart track but one look at the speed at which this monster of a kart overtakes S2000's and Ariel Atoms on a full road course would lead one to believe that driving this on a kart track would be down right insane and somewhat stupid or absent minded.

The builders inspiration for the design was wrought from the experience of slapping a V8 into an Ariel Atom. If that isn't a barometer on how this tiny beast is supposed to perform than I don't know what is.

This mans disregard for the laws of physics as well has his disregard for human life and limb makes me want to meet him. There is nothing more exciting that driving an untamable beast just to see what you are capable of.

Any of you out there with $24k to drop on a kit should, by all means, grab one up and help this crazy entrepreneur reach his goal. (possibly of dying in a fiery kart crash)

Hell if you have $37k to waste he will deliver a completed one to your door with a 200hp 1200 cc motor and AWD for you to kill yourself in swiftly.

As always; keep the dirty side down kids.

Introducing Myself

Hi all.

As you have probably noticed there is a new name on the authors list and that is me. I am him here I am.

You will notice that I have a rather unorthodox style of writing and I pepper my columns with a bit of sarcasm and as much wit as I can muster without overdoing things and turning people off.

In the future I will be posting automotive randomness as well as rantings of an unemployed enthusiast.

A little about myself: Currently unemployed due to the economy, I am an E36 M3 owner. As anyone who has experience with the 36 you know that being unemployed and owning this car does not fit very well as they need labor and attention (read $$$) to run properly.

I am married with a ten month old child and two dogs. I also have a mortgage. I will often rant about my life and would like to inform you in advance about the minutae that is my life. As I type my son just woke from a nap and I have to run.

More automotive juiciness will follow. Til then. See ya later.

Remember to always keep the dirty side down and between the ditches.

24 Hours of Nurburgring

In 19500 Frames


24 HOURS IN 19500 FRAMES from tim hahne on Vimeo.

Disclaimer: You will need a powerful computer with a very fast internet connection to view this in High Definition. 

A Day in the Life of an Internet Car Forum