RPMGO Car Blog |
- Mission Impossible 4 Will Feature BMW’s Vision EfficientDynamics
- Aston Martin DB4, A Classic Beauty
- Top 10 Most Dangerous Races
- Cars We Hate Part 7 – SsangYong Rodius
- Infiniti’s international digital art competition
- Peugeot EX1 – Fastest EV On Nurburgring
- $299 DiRT3 Bundle, Available For Pre-Order
- New York Auto Show – Porsche Semper Vivus
- The highway or the wrong way
- Nissan Leaf Grabs “World Car of the Year” Award
| Mission Impossible 4 Will Feature BMW’s Vision EfficientDynamics Posted: 30 Apr 2011 05:03 AM PDT  BMW Vision EfficientDynamics It seems that the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics will be a star of the upcoming Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol movie, which will be launched on December 16th this year. A member of the Team-BHP forums managed to grab a spy shot of the concept on the movie's set. As a reminder, this concept previews the i8 model which will be launched sometime in 2013. The VED sports an advanced powertrain that uses a 3-cylinder 1.5-liter turbodiesel power unit along with two electric motors, generating 351 hp (356 PS / 262 kW) and 590 lb.-ft (800 Nm) of torque. It can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, and can hit a top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h), while averaging 63 mpg (3.7 liters / 100 km). On electric mode, the car can be driven for up to 31 miles (50 km). Source: Team BHP via Jalopnik via WCF Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Aston Martin DB4, A Classic Beauty Posted: 30 Apr 2011 04:12 AM PDT  Aston Martin DB4 I've always been a big fan of Aston Martins and the DB4 has to be the prettiest of them all. It was sold between 1958 and 1963, replacing the DB3. It was the backbone of great cars, like the epic DB4 GT Zagato and the Lagonda Rapide, another legendary design.  Aston Martin DB4 It was unveiled at the London Motor Show in 1958 and it was the first Aston Martin that was built at the company's factory in Buckinghamshire, England. It featured a 3.7-liter engine that was developed by Tadek Marek and it produced 240 hp. The DB4 featured servo-assisted disc brakes on all four wheels and its independent front suspension had ball-jointed wishbones and coil springs. The live rear axle also used coil springs with location by a Watt linkage.  Aston Martin DB4 The Aston Martin DB4 achieved the 0-60 mph sprint in 9.3 seconds and was capable of hitting a top speed of almost 140 mph. Not like it matters, but fuel consumption was rated at 14.7 mpg (16 liters / 100 km).  Aston Martin DB4 GT The lightweight, high-performance version was launched in 1959. Dubbed DB4 GT, it had enclosed headlights and a thinner aluminum body for reduced weight. In addition, the wheelbase was also reduced, which meant that most of the cars were not fitted with rear seats. The car was powered by either a 3.7- or a 3.8-liter engine, while the hp figure was rated at 302 hp. 0-60 mph was done in 6.1 seconds and top speed was 153 mph.  Aston Martin DB4 Vantage The DB4 Vantage was launched in 1961 and it had three SU carburetors along with special cylinder heads, allowing the power unit to develop 266 hp.  Aston Martin DB4 Convertible The convertible version was introduced in 1962 and it featured in-house styling quite similar to the Touring saloon. Only 70 convertibles were ever made, from a total DB4 production of 1110 units. Source: Wikipedia Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Posted: 30 Apr 2011 03:32 AM PDT
Let's start with the first days of racing and look back at the early 1900s for the Paris-Madrid race. Paris-Madrid Race
Organized in 1903, the Paris-Madrid endurance race consisted of 275 vehicles (59 were motorcycles) and they all started in Versailles and things went terribly wrong very fast. Taking into consideration that those were the early days of racing, spectators were not yet aware of the real dangers involved in this sport, so they crowded the sides of the course and 45 miles out of Paris, a woman was hit and killed by one of the competitors. The recorded number of deaths is seven, but probably there were many others who were killed during the race. Marcel Renault, who was one of the co-founders of Renault, died in an accident during the race, after being in the lead for several miles. Dakar Rally
Since it was introduced in 1979, the Dakar Rally has taken 45 lives. In this 700-mile trek, fewer than half the 435 entrants managed to finish the last race. To give you an idea of how dangerous the rally is, random shootings are nothing out of the ordinary. Add to this the difficulty of the road and you can figure out why it made it into our top. Motordome
Motordomes are considered the ancestors of the current NASCAR racetracks. They were small oval courses that were created by using steep bankings and wooden planks. Drivers achieved speeds of more than 120 mph so there were a lot of accidents happening. The most common ones involved cars and bikes that spun out of control, hitting the spectators. They were called "murderdromes" due to the reason that many drivers were killed over a single race only. Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans was first held in 1923 and up until now, it has claimed 129 fatalities, according to research group Motorsports Memorial. Probably the most tragic accident occurred in 1955 when Pierre Levegh, who was driving a Mercedes-Benz, crashed his vehicle into a grandstand, killing himself and 83 spectators. Baja 1000
The producers of the movie "Dust to Glory" consider the Baja 100 as "the most dangerous race in the world". This race consists of riders of dune buggies, motorcycles, along with other off-road vehicles that have to experience the dangerous of 1,000 miles of rugged terrain. Some of the fanatical spectators are known for digging ditches and throwing objects onto the course in order to obstruct racers. Mille Miglia
After the horrible things that happened during the Paris-Madrid tragedy, open road races were banned. The Mille Miglia was then born, which was a 1,000 miles long race, featuring powerful touring cars that raced along the highway from Brescia to Rome. The race became popular for its horrible crashes and extraordinary stunts, like the one Hans Herrmann pulled, when he approached the lowered train-track barriers at high speeds and after that he ducked in order to allow the vehicles to go under, immediately after seeing a high speed train coming by. The race was banned in 1952 when Alfonso de Portago, a Ferrari driver, blew a tire at a high speed corner, taking the lives of 12 spectators. Macau GP
Just about any type of racing takes place on the Macau GP, from touring cars, motorcycles to Formula 3. Taking into consideration that it was designed on city streets, there are plenty of tight corners and long straights where drivers reach very high speeds. Featuring narrow streets, it means that drivers don't have any run-off space for their cars so you can imagine what might happen. And bad things did happen as after its first year, accidents and deaths became common occurrences. Isle of Man Tourist Trophy
Imagine this: a bunch of very fast motorcycles that race on a small, 33-mile-by-13-mile island. Due to the fact that the race is held on very narrow streets with tracks lined by stone walls, no wonder that 180 people were killed since the race was inaugurated in 1907. The track was built for motorcycles and according to many people, over the years it has gotten more and more dangerous because motorcycles got bigger and faster. Nurburgring
It was constructed in the mid-1920 with four configurations (Gesantstrecke, Nordschleife, Sudschlief and the Zielschleife). The first race was held in 1927 and since then, 68 people died. Boasting an average width of 8-9 meters, it is way too narrow for racing events. Locals estimate that there are 3-12 fatalities per year. Carrera Panamericana
It ran from a southern Mexican west coast city towards Texas. It was organized between 1950 and 1955, and many people still consider it to be the most dangerous race of any type in the entire world. In 1951, two well-known Mexican drivers died, causing reactions of indignation and horror. Two years later, in 1953, a number of competitors died, along with Felice Bonetto who missed his own warning signs and when he entered the village of Silao, he was going at high speeds on rough pavement and he hit a building, dying instantly. The race was cancelled in 1955, after 27 deaths over the five years of the competition, giving it one of the biggest mortality rates per race in motorsport history. Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Cars We Hate Part 7 – SsangYong Rodius Posted: 30 Apr 2011 02:18 AM PDT  SsangYong Rodius The SsangYong Rodius has to be the ugliest MPV ever made. With those dopey eyes and the two-tiered rear, no wonder it was voted Britain's ugliest car. I don't think that this is a car safe for your kids because after a ride in it, they'll definitely have nightmares for a couple of weeks.  SsangYong Rodius The idea behind this grotesque design was to capture the "essence of a luxury yacht" so my question is: why didn't they tow it to the sea and leave it there? The guy responsible for these horrible looks is Ken Greenley, former head of the automotive design course at the famous Royal College of Art in London. With all due respect for Ken, he must have been drunk or temporarily blind when he came up with the design for the Rodius.  SsangYong Rodius Leaving the looks aside, the car is not bad at all, featuring Mercedes-Benz engines and an 11-seat layout optional, making it probably the most spacious MPV in the world. It was pretty cheap also, but when you buy a car, you don't look only at the spec sheet… This car reminds us of the Pontiac Aztek, another "beauty". Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Infiniti’s international digital art competition Posted: 29 Apr 2011 01:01 PM PDT
In order to pull this off, they’ve teamed up with Designboom ad they’ve challenged designers and car lovers around the world to showcase their talent. Infiniti even expects interactive digital artworks and the interesting thing is that these will be displayed in the new centers that the auto maker is opening around the globe. The registration is free, but still required. The first theme that Infiniti challenged the participants to cover is “Inspired Performance“. Here’s a video from them, explaining the concept of the competition: Click here to view the embedded video. For more details check this link. Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Peugeot EX1 – Fastest EV On Nurburgring Posted: 29 Apr 2011 10:00 AM PDT  Peugeot EX1 Peugeot's EX1 concept racer was able to beat the Nurburgring track record for an electric vehicle, managing to finish a lap of the 20.8 km track in 9 minutes and 1.338 seconds. Behind the wheel was Stephane Caillet who managed to clock an average speed of 85.9 mph (138,324 km/h). The previous record was beaten by more than 50 seconds. The French automaker said that they will share a couple of photos and a video with this performance. Stay tuned. Source: Peugeot via WCF Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| $299 DiRT3 Bundle, Available For Pre-Order Posted: 29 Apr 2011 09:30 AM PDT
The third iteration of the very popular DiRT video game franchise will be launched on May 24 this year. A copy will set you back $59,99, which sounds a little bit steep if you ask me, but looking at the price tags of other video games you'll notice that it has just about the same pricing. If you are willing to spare $299, GameStop has a cool product bundle for you: a copy of the game, plus a Traxxas Ken Block R/C Ford Fiesta. This is very good news for those that already wanted to buy the radio-controlled gymkhana machine as you basically get the game for free. Click here to view the embedded video. Source: GameStop via MotorworldHype, YouTube, AutoBlog Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| New York Auto Show – Porsche Semper Vivus Posted: 29 Apr 2011 09:00 AM PDT  Porsche Semper Vivus Trivia: Which is the world's first hybrid car? The answer is the Porsche Semper Vivus, built by Ferdinand Porsche himself in 1900. The car you see in these color pictures is not the original model, but a $750,000 reproduction. The original model is represented in these black & white shots.  Porsche Semper Vivus The Semper Vivus (Latin for "always alive") works very similar like the modern Chevrolet Volt. The battery pack provides juice to the hub-mounted motors, and two single-cylinder engines step in to drive two 2.5 kW generators, managing to keep electricity flowing when the batteries are dead.  Porsche Semper Vivus With the batteries full, the car can be driven for up to 25 miles (40 km). After the 3.5 hp engines kick in, the Porsche Semper Vivus can travel for an additional 100 miles (160 km). With a top speed of 35 mph, it was pretty fast for the early 1900s.  Porsche Semper Vivus (Original) The car's tires were chiseled from solid blocks of rubber, which was the only way to support the 3,700 pounds weight of the car.  Porsche Semper Vivus (Original) The reproduction of the original model started back in 2007 and after three years and $750,000, the end result is quite impressive. I wonder what would have happened if Ferdinand Porsche decided to stick to these hybrid powertrains. Source: Porsche via Wired Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Posted: 29 Apr 2011 08:36 AM PDT
Then you go out and see that behind the wheel is… … a 20 year old woman. Yes, women like her give good women drivers bad names. But still, we can’t quite figure out how she managed to end up on the wrong side of the highway. Click here to view the embedded video. Via Carscoop. Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Nissan Leaf Grabs “World Car of the Year” Award Posted: 29 Apr 2011 08:30 AM PDT
A panel consisting of 66 automotive journalists from 24 countries awarded the Nissan Leaf with the "World Car of the Year" award, calling it "the gateway to a brave new electric world." This award also validates the promising future of EVs, despite the fact that at the moment there are some issues with the range and price tag. Looking at the other competitors, the accomplishment of the Nissan Leaf is truly remarkable, managing to beat extremely popular cars like the BMW 5-Series, Audi A8, along with other 34 cars from all over the world. The funny thing is that the Leaf wasn't able to win in the World Green Car category, finishing in 3rd place, right behind the BMW 320d and the Chevy Volt. The 2011 World Car Design of the Year went to the exquisite Aston Martin Rapide. The World Performance Car of the Year award went to the beautiful Ferrari 458 Italia, who managed to pull ahead of the Mercedes SLS AMG and the Porsche 911 Turbo. Source: WCOTY.com Post published on Rpmgo.com |
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