Jork Juggler posted:

Motor Trend had a race driver take a new Boss 302 for a few laps at Laguna Seca. It did a 1:40.2. For comparison, a '10 GT500 clocked 1:44.3, a '09 BMW M3 did 1:42.9, and a '10 Audi R8 did 1:40.8. I think Ford has perfected the live axle if their 4-passenger $41k car beats a mid-engined near-supercar around Laguna Seca.

dissss posted:

Leaving Porsche aside I'd say the similarities between Volkswagen and Audi products are pretty widely known and in some cases actually overstated.

All you have to do is look at the motoring section of a newspaper, if they've reviewed say an A1 they'll be sure to mention you could just get a more powerful Polo for less money. Ditto with an A4, they'll say the Passat is bigger and cheaper and mechanically the same (even though there are some important differences between the two). It gets even more complicated in markets where Skodas are available.

Then you have VW splitting the American Jetta/Passat off from the international versions - presumably this is an effort to add further differentiation by making them bigger and cheaper

Jork Juggler posted:

Motor Trend had a race driver take a new Boss 302 for a few laps at Laguna Seca. It did a 1:40.2. For comparison, a '10 GT500 clocked 1:44.3, a '09 BMW M3 did 1:42.9, and a '10 Audi R8 did 1:40.8. I think Ford has perfected the live axle if their 4-passenger $41k car beats a mid-engined near-supercar around Laguna Seca.

grover posted:

What type tires and what skill level drivers of those cars?

CornHolio posted:

Trip report: 2011 Kia Optima

dissss posted:

Leaving Porsche aside I'd say the similarities between Volkswagen and Audi products are pretty widely known and in some cases actually overstated.

All you have to do is look at the motoring section of a newspaper, if they've reviewed say an A1 they'll be sure to mention you could just get a more powerful Polo for less money. Ditto with an A4, they'll say the Passat is bigger and cheaper and mechanically the same (even though there are some important differences between the two). It gets even more complicated in markets where Skodas are available.

Then you have VW splitting the American Jetta/Passat off from the international versions - presumably this is an effort to add further differentiation by making them bigger and cheaper

SwashedBuckles posted:

From what I can remember of the article it was a professional driver, but I can't remember if they tried to match the tires between the two. Their main point seemed to be that you could have the track performance of an M3 for half the cost.

grover posted:

It's tough to compare lap times without knowing more. The Boss 302 was almost certainly driven by a professional driver for Motor Trend, and quite likely on r-comps and track prepped. For all we know, the R8 time was the owner taking it for a spin on street tires at door-jamb pressures and street alignment. Or do we know more about that run?

I don't think there's any question the Mustang will be more bang for the buck, but without knowing more, it's still tough to say which bang is bigger.

Reuters posted:

Porsche Reveals More Details About the All-Electric Boxster E
by Andrew Meggison

More information has been shared by Porsche about their prototype eclectic cars and the best news is they are being tested out on the roads today.

The Porsche electric prototype cars are being used as part of the government-funded "Model Region Electro-Mobility Stuttgart", which is a large-scale trial to study the everyday reasonableness of using all-electric vehicles. Of the three Porsche Boxster E electric prototypes two of the cars are rear-wheel drive (RWD) and one is all-wheel drive (AWD).

The AWD model uses two independent electric motors. These two electric motors act on the front and rear axles creating a combined output of 241 HP and a maximum total torque of 398 lb-ft at around 12,000 rpm. The company says the AWD model can go from zero to sixty in about 5.5 seconds and reaches a top speed of 124 mph.

By comparison the two RWD prototypes can go from zero to sixty in about 9.8 seconds and have a top speed of 93 mph. The RWD prototypes do away with the motor on the front axle and use the rear unit that delivers 121 HP and 199 lb-ft of torque.

The Boxster E prototypes come with a 29kWh lithium iron phosphate battery. The battery has a driving range of 107 miles and will take about 9 hours to charge however a fast charge option will be available. Boxster E prototypes weigh around 3,527 pounds, the battery weighing in alone at 752 pounds.

Porsche claims that the storage in the rear of the cars remains unchanged from other models and that there is even space in the front storage compartment. Additionally, both RWD and AWD models are equipped with Active Sound Design systems that give the diver acoustic feedback and doubles as sound to alert pedestrians and other drivers of the cars presence. Active Sound Design has been used on some BMW models to create a nice sporty sound of a V8 as opposed to a near silent run. An Active Sound Design system uses a series of microphones, signal processing, and the vehicles stereo system to emulate the sound of a motor.

While these prototype cars might not be winning any races, it is nice to see that Porsche is embracing all electric vehicles. As for when a polished and quick all electric Porsche Boxster E will be available to purchasers, the company is not saying.

grover posted:

That is just simply awesome. I home it gets cheap enough to use as a portable generator.

In other news:
I was actually excited about this, but I'm really disappointed in the specs. 3500lbs for 107 miles range? And that's probably city driving. How far at at 155mph, I wonder, could it even make it the whole way around the 'ring at top speed?

eames posted:

sanchez posted:

I guess the torque is limited to save the transmission?

KozmoNaut posted:

Lowclock posted:

It's probably more just BMW makes weird dyno charts.

sanchez posted:

I guess the torque is limited to save the transmission?

Fayez Butts posted:

Holy poo poo, rotary lovers! To be honest this isn't actually a car, but you, yes, YOU could have a little baby-sized rotary engine chargin' your gadgets!

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/06/tiny-rotary-engines-could-power-gadgets-with-gasoline/

Cream_Filling posted:

Who knows? Maybe by 2015 or whatever, this will be the start of a new roadster fad and even Hyundai and Kia will put out affordable Solstice/Sky cousins at 20k or under.

Q_res posted:

That's a really, blatantly obvious photoshop of a Pontiac Solstice. And not even a good one at that. I do wonder what an actual Kia roadster will look like

quote:

Bosses are calling it Kia’s MX-5. The fast-expanding company has earmarked a roadster in its future plans as it works to position itself as a “dynamic, sporting, fun brand” – and our images show what the car could look like.

European CEO Paul Philpott confirmed that a two-seater would be the preferred choice as a desirable sports model. “I’d like to have a Kia MX-5,” he said. “2011 and 2012 are about establishing the brand. But for 2013 and 2014, we’re thinking about halo models that stretch the company forward.”

Speaking separately, chief designer Peter Schreyer also backed the car. He explained: “The brand deserves a sporty car, like a roadster.” The German is currently applying the ‘tiger nose’ grille to the growing range, and the new car will get a more aggressive version, with a deeper grille, as our pictures show.

Philpott said the company was positioning itself as a younger brand than sister firm Hyundai. He added: “There’s a big programme going on right now: How do we best differentiate Hyundai and Kia?

“In the past, we have been too close together, but if Kia is fun, dynamic and more youthful, Hyundai is more about style and comfort: more upmarket. VW manages brands more effectively than most. If you think Hyundai is more like VW, Kia is more like SEAT.”

Bosses revealed that the new sporty two-seater would be based on the next generation Kia Soul, which will also underpin a junior 4x4 designed to sit below the fast-selling Sportage. “We’re looking at the market for a smaller SUV that is four-wheel drive,” said Philpott.

eames posted:

Porsche needs to drop the Boxster with it’s wannabe-911 image and revive a classic like the 356 or 914 as a small-ish electric car with a radically different design.
In any case, it sounds like its going to be a pretty nice city car.

I’m envisioning the Active Sound Design tuners of the future, where ricers take the sound unit out of the latest V12-immitating Ferrari EV, turn up the volume to 11 and put it in their Prius.

Throatwarbler posted:

How is either of those incorrect? The information is more or less identical on both.

Lowclock posted:

My whole point about those dyno graphs was that they're really really basic (and pretty much incorrect) fits of the real data which I guess would look impressive to someone who doesn't know what a dyno is. Here's an actual SHO dyno sheet.

Real (blue is stock with CAI, red is tuned)

vs.
Whatever this is supposed to be


I'm sure that BMW one is doing the same thing.

E: VVV Probably so they can use cheaper parts that are common with their other vehicles instead of having to make some stronger parts that would only be used on a fraction of their cars.

grover posted:

I'm still confused as to why these makers would be peak-shaving the torque curve to artificially limit power. Wouldn't MORE TORQUE be even better than an artificially low-but-flat torque curve?

Lowclock posted:

Here's an actual SHO dyno sheet.

Real (blue is stock with CAI, red is tuned)

grover posted:

I'm still confused as to why these makers would be peak-shaving the torque curve to artificially limit power. Wouldn't MORE TORQUE be even better than an artificially low-but-flat torque curve?

Lowclock posted:

My whole point about those dyno graphs was that they're really really basic (and pretty much incorrect) fits of the real data which I guess would look impressive to someone who doesn't know what a dyno is.