Need a moment of zen today?  Then plug in your speakers, turn it up, and just listen to it. It’s a compilation of footage from the 2011 Rallye Legend Boucles de Spa, a gathering of classic rally cars that’s a yearly occurence.  Old (RWD) Escorts, stage-prepped air cooled 911′s oversteering wildly, just… just watch it.  It’s beautiful.

My goodness.  Feeling more in tune with your inner Chi now?  Not yet?  How about footage from 2010?  Take two and let me know how you’re feeling later.

It’s already too late to go see the action this year (it was held Feb 18-19), but for more info on the event you can visit the organizational page at Race-Rallye.be.  The language selector is at the top right!  Enjoy the rally sounds on this Tuesday afternoon.

]]> http://www.carthrottle.com/the-sound-of-classic-rally/feed/ 0 http://www.carthrottle.com/paris-2010-chevrolet-previews-cruze-hatchback/ http://www.carthrottle.com/paris-2010-chevrolet-previews-cruze-hatchback/#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:05:43 +0000 James http://www.carthrottle.com/?p=19369 GM has kicked the hype machine into top gear for the upcoming US launch of the Cruze, their competitor in the Civic/Corolla compact car class. If I were them, I would too: their history of making compact cars that aren’t totally horrible is… uhh, in fact they never have.  Vega!  Cavalier!  Sunfire! Chevette!  Cobalt!  Aaaargh!

But initial reviews of their upcoming Cobalt replacement, the Cruze, have been overwhelmingly positive.  The ground seems to be growing cold, somewhere far below my feet…  Well, unlikeliness of the situation aside, the Cruze is said to be a totally competitive, well-thought out and well-built car that’s ready to take on the compact class with everything it’s got.  And GM just dropped pictures of the other card up it’s sleeve today, an attractive 5-door hatchback variant that will be debuting at this year’s Paris Auto Show.

You can obviously tell it’s a Cruze from the front – if you ignore the show car glitz like the LED headlights – and barring some minor changes, this is what it’s going to look like when it hits dealer floors some time early next year.  So what have we got here?  Well, in my eyes, there’s a whole lot of Vauxhall Astra to be seen from the B-pillar back, and I actually see a bit of Mazda in the rear taillights.  Considering some of the crap GM has put their name on in the past, this is a remarkably cohesive styling job.  The kinked C-pillar is a bit derivative and there’s too much blank real estate on the back end, but it’s still a squat, well-proportioned little thing.

Expect the hatchback cruise to ship with identical powertrains as the regular model – including 1.8 ecotec, 1.4L Turbo, and some nifty turbodiesels – when it goes on sale next year.  And here’s hoping for a Cruze SS with the GM “LNF” 2.0L direct-injected turbo motor.  Sadly, it’s unlikely that GM will offer the Cruze hatchback in the US (since we clearly don’t like useful cars), because that would give it a leg up on competitors like the Civic, Corolla, and Sentra which are sedan-only.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed anyway…

I realized after posting the last article that one picture of a bunch of E30 M3′s simply isn’t sufficient for the magnificence of these homologation hooning specials.  While many of the box-fendered E30′s were simply stock survivors (impressive enough), some of them were remarkably perfect example of this rare racer-with-a-plate.

Now, I’m not 100% sure, but those look like E34 M5 “Ninja Star” wheels with black-painted centers.  Can’t say I’ve ever seen that before – it’s a good look for the E30, though.  There’s no way the paint on this one was factory – way too deep and flawless.  The red valve cover peaking around the corner of the hood is a nice touch, too – as is that beefy strut tower bracing.

And yes, gunmetal BBS RG-R’s look good on everything.  Moving on…

Considering there are a total of 5 of these cars in the US, it’s likely that this Z1 Roadster is the exact same one I saw a few months prior at the BMW Zentrum in Spartanburg.  It looks a lot better out in the daylight, although I’ll admit it’s still somewhat of an odd design – those hide-away doors are quite the party trick, eh?

On the other end of the Spectrum, the legendary BMW Isetta.  A fearsome performance car, if I’ve ever seen one!  These two were buzzing around the show all day, a coupe and a cabriolet, and they looked like they just slid  out of the factory.  Hard to believe BMW made these cars in the post-war period, but then again, when you’re trying to get an entire country back on it’s feet…

An E23 (first-generation) 733i – with a five speed manual trans. When was the last time you could buy a stick-shift Big Bimmer in the states?  This was probably a grey-market import car from the early 80′s – cloth seats and clutch pedals aren’t in vogue for pricey luxury cars now, and they weren’t back then either.  Still, pretty damn cool.  But let’s move on to what I’ve decided is my favorite chassis of BMW – the E28 5-series.

Let’s see here, a ratty beat-looking mid-eighties 5 series with some nice wheels, faded trim, and a center-exit exhaust.  What’s that “Evil 5er” license plate about, then?  Well, swing around to the front end and find out…

How about a custom-brewed turbo kit strapped to the engine of your 535i?  The owner claimed the setup pushes 10psi through a hybrid T3 turbocharger, supported by M5 injectors and some other goodies – which nets mid-300′s to the wheels.  Wanna talk about a sleeper… damn.  I dig the Bosch diverter valve he’s using – at the end of the tube leading off the charge pipe that goes to the manifold – mainly because it’s the same kind my Saab uses.

I call this  next section “Rare E28 Alley.”  There were so many special E28′s here, I don’t even know where to start.  Let’s go basic first- this Hartge H5S has about everything you need and nothing you don’t.

Hartge may not have the name recognition in the US as companies like Alpina or Dinan, but they know their way around a BMW- this Hartge modified 535i sports a high-compression motor with a worked head and cams, headers and exhaust for a solid 240bhp.  It’s shockingly basic inside, too – no iDrive or BS, just cloth Recaros, a Hartge steering wheel, crank-up windows, and the sound of a howling straight six to keep you happy.

Perhaps not so basic and simple, this Alpina B7 Turbo falls more on the side of “utterly batshit insane; can I drive it?”  The Emerald Green paint is absolutely stunning, the Alpina wheels are – as I’ve already mentioned – totally perfect, and the classic pin-striping is pretty damn classy.

But more impressive is the view under the hood.  A lot more professional looking than the home-brew turbo 535i a few pictures up – there’s no element of “patchwork” to this turbo setup.  Why can’t BMW’s 335i turbo engine bay look more like this, and less like a plastic facemask?

And out of 278 B7 Turbos made between 1984-1987, what are the chances of seeing two in the same place…?

Of course you may have noticed the car the B7 Turbo is parked next to.  How freakin’ cool is this? A super-rare Turbo Alpina E28, and an E28 M5 parked door-to-door.  I’m in heaven!

How about something a bit more compression-ignition?  Ever seen a 524td?  No?  Well how about a 5-speed 524td?  Double no. They only imported these turbodiesel 5-series in ’85-’86, and the majority of them sold in the US came with an auto trans.  Rare, rare, rare.  Probably a nice car to drive, even if the 2.4L turbo motor only had 114bhp on tap – these E28′s were not heavy cars, remember.

Also filed under the “sleeper E28′s” catory is this early-eighties 533i.  While it looks like a bit of a beater track-rat on the outside…

…Under the hood is a different story.  The 3.2L M30 (181bhp) was jettisoned in favor of a 3.0L S50B30 out of a 90′s M3.  As if the weight reduction plus the extra 60 horsepower wasn’t enough, this M3/5-series hybrid is boosted with an Active Autowerks Supercharger setup – that should do the trick!

How about 6 E28 M5′s all sitting in one picture?  Oh my god, classic BMW’s… gotta love ‘em.  Also, it’s worth noting that the E28 M5/E24 M6 has the sexiest engine ever created. Don’t know what I’m talking about?  Here you go:

Mmmm… anyway, that’s about enough of the E28′s.  Let’s move onto the final showcase of this Beemer love-fest – the E24 6-series section.  As you can see, there was not a shortage of E24 love to be found.

It was an alarming number of M6′s in attendance, with only a handful of “regular” E24′s (as if there’s such a thing) in attendance.  The one in the middle of this picture stood out in particular – can’t say I’ve ever seen an E24 with a body kit!  Anyone know who makes this?

For sure, the E24′s a dated design – it goes all the way back to 1976 – but I think it’s aged more gracefully than it’s successor, the 8-series.  Although there were even some attractive 8-series to be seen at this show.

And after 2 posts and 40-odd pictures, that’s all, folks!  I shot close to 300 pictures at this event, so like I said – this is the highlight roll.  If you want full high-resolution versions of any of these, or are wondering if there any cars in the background I shot, just drop me a comment below.  In the mean time, drive safe and enjoy the ride!

It looks like Ford wants to get in on the game too, and this concept car – the Start, which debuted today at the Beijing Auto Show – is definitely a great start.  Sitting below the Fiesta size-wise, the Start still is packed with interesting stylistic and technical details.  Seeing as how this is CarThrottle and not Better Homes and Gardens, we’re going to start under the hood.

Ford has been saying since the 3.5L EcoBoost V6 debuted that it was going to be just one of a series of EcoBoost engines, and the Start is the debut of the newest, and smallest, member of the family.  Like all the other EcoBoost motors (3.5L V6, 2.0L and 1.6L I4′s) the Start’s EcoBoost motor uses Direct Fuel Injection and a relatively small, fast-spooling turbocharger.  But it’s a diminuitive 1.0L in size, and only has 3 cylinders!  Ford says this engine, which uses an iron block and aluminum head and crank case and has a 10.0:1 Compression Ratio, will make comparable power to a 1.6L naturally-aspirated inline-4 cylinder engine, but with much lower consumption and emission rates – perhaps under 100g/km of C02!  Power should be around 105-110bhp, so Ford’s Metric is right – that’d be about as much power as the non-turbocharged 1.6L Mini Cooper makes, but a 1.0L 3cyl with a tiny turbo would be considerably more efficient.

And thankfully, rather than some fiendishly complicated twin-clutch automated gearbox, the Start concept has… a six speed manual transmission!  So, a lightweight hatchback with a turbo 3cyl and a 6-speed manual… where do I sign?

Oh, but it gets better.  This has got to be one of the prettiest, most well-judged styling jobs Ford’s done in a while.  I will say that it looks more like a Smart Car and an Alfa Romeo Brera had a baby than any of the current Ford lineup (which I’m also pretty damn fond of, stylistically) but it’s certainly modern and clean without being boring and derivative.  I’m especially fond of the C-pillar treatment – a thin aluminum band runs in an unbroken arch from the A Pillar to the rear, and the roof bumps up to accomodate.  The way the rear glass wraps around and everything looks like it’s one piece is a welcome break from the traditional two-box hatchback look that the original Mini began (and the original Golf perpetuated) so many years ago.  The headlights and tail-lights are both super-thin strips of LED’s, which seem to be all the rage these days, giving it a squinty-eyed “I’m gonna punch you” look about it.  The clever styling is more than just skin-deep, though – the Start is built around a lightweight Aluminum space frame, and the body panels are deformable, recycled composites with the color pre-impregnated in, eliminating the need for painting.  This design keeps weight down, and simplicity up – a great thing, in my book.  I could do without the wheels – they’re way too big and over-done for a clean, simple car like this – but otherwise, it’s an A+ for me.

The inside of the Start is equally captivating.  The one-piece bucket seats look both strange and comfortable, and check out the matching headliner – pure concept car goofyness, there.  What’s really interesting is that LCD screen on the center console – sure looks like an iPhone menu, doesn’t it?  Ford says the Start, which has their new MyFord Mobile setup, is designed to integrate a smartphone and offer the same expandability through “Apps” much like Apple, Google, or RIM phones do today.  So rather than having a complicated hard-drive based computer and proprietary software, you’ll be able to just plug in your phone and go!  Pretty clever… if you’ve got a modern smart-phone.

Now, Ford says the Start is just a concept – there’s no production intent here – but they do say that the little 1.0L EcoBoost three-banger should be finding it’s way under the hood of a Ford near you soon.  Imagine, this kind of forward-thinking and high technology whiz-bang stuff from the company that just a few years ago was happy to sell Explorers with 302ci Windsor V8′s.  The world is changing, without a doubt!

This is the first time that US consumers will be able to choose a body style for their STI since the model first went on sale here in 2004.  The 5-door will remain in production, but now there’s a four door to chose from as well.  And being a four-door STI, this marks the return of the GSW, or “Giant Subaru Wing.”  It’s gaudy, it’s tacky, and it’s a crucial part of the STI’s identity – so I’m glad to see it back!

The engine is a carryover from last year, but when you’ve got an all-aluminum 2.5L turbocharged flat four spitting out 305bhp and 290lb-ft of torque, who’s going to cry about that?  Changes to the STI this year are all suspension-related.  Stiffer bushings in the front control arms and rear subframe, springs, and thicker anti-roll bars combine with lighter wheels (18 pounds less unsprung mass all around!) to make handling sharper and more responsive.  And of course the 14″ tall rear wing is supposed to contribute to high-speed stability.  I’d hope so!

The STI sedan gets the same beefy wide-body treatment as the 2011 WRX sedan, so it doesn’t look quite so much like a Corolla any more.  Another difference over the STI 5-door is the use of twin mufflers (rather than one giant one) which Subaru says will give the car a meaner, snarlier (is that a word?) sound – always welcome in an STI, thank you!

The outside appearance of the STI has been altered to provide some differentiation over the regular WRX, with a bunch of blacked-out trim bits up front and four large exhaust pipes out back.  I can’t say I get that – one exhaust pipe for each cylinder?  Couldn’t you save some weight and just do one big one?  Hell, the MKIV Supra had 6 cylinders and two turbos, but only one exhaust pipe to save weight.  At least it looks cool.

Anyways, the revised 2011 STI sedan (and 5-door) will both go on sale this summer in the US.  Pricing is expected to remain about the same as the 2010 models, and there will be a Limited package available with leather seating and a sunroof.  Other goodies standard on the STI include a head unit with bluetooth compatibility and a USB port, an auxiliary jack and satellite radio capabilities.  If you’re feelin’ extra pimp, some silver-coated 18×8.5″ BBS wheels are available – sadly not in gold, though.  And of course the good stuff like the variable torque-split center differential and intercooler spray button remain for when you’re feeling a bit Colin McRae.  Glad to see Subaru’s still sticking to their roots!

Let’s talk numbers for a minute.  The regular Sonata uses a 2.4L 16v I4 with gasoline-direct-injection to produce a healthy 198bhp and 189lb-ft of torque, which is more than any of the four-cylinder competition in it’s class, all at an “are you serious?” 35 highway MPG.  That’s impressive in it’s own right – they’re out-Honda-ing Honda itself with those numbers.  Now, when the new Sonata debuted they said “No V6 this time” and everyone kind of shook their head and said “why?”

Turns out they had a trick up their sleeve.  Rather than a heavy, thirsty V6 Hyundai has gone the turbocharging route, seemingly to great effect.  The 2.4L GDI Theta II motor gains a twin-entry turbocharger that huffs 17.4psi(!) of boost into the all-aluminum four-cylinder, and the power numbers are damned impressive.  274 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 269lb-ft of torque in a wide spread between 1,800-4,500 rpm mean there’s no waiting for a turbo to spool, just gobs of torque low down where you’d want it – and where a big V6 used to deliver it.  Of course, never that low down.  What’s more impressive?  This 9.5:1 compression ratio, 1.2 bar of boost turbo motor will happily sip on 87 octane fuel.  Other neat features include a stainless steel one-piece exhaust manifold/turbo setup and an electronically controlled wastegate for more precise boost management.

Mated to a 6-speed automatic developed in-house by Hyundai (with paddle shifters! in a Sonata!), this impressive engine will deliver estimated fuel mileage numbers of 22 city/34 highway.  Let’s see, a big sedan with a powerful turbo motor that gets almost 35 mpg on regular gas?  What’s the catch?  Well, for one thing – no stick shift.  For another thing… err, actually, I can’t think of anything else.  With a power-to-weight ratio of 12.2lbs/bhp the Sonata turbo has better numbers than any sedan competitors in the class, and it’s even better than the V6 Camaro – for real!

What else do you need to know?  According to Hyundai, the Sonata turbo (available in SE and Limited trim levels) will come in under $25,000 “well equipped.”  Quite what that means remains to be seen, but that much performance and economy for that little money would have been a pie-in-the-sky dream 10 years ago – who would have bet back then that Hyundai was going to do it?

Called the STI Cosworth CS400, the 400 will stand for how many ponies reside under the Cosworth/Impreza’s hood.  Cosworth hasn’t released any details on how it’s packing an extra 100 horsepower in it’s 2.5L turbocharged horizontally-opposed four, but I’d bet  on better breathing and cooling along with more boost.  Peak power of 400bhp comes at 5,750rpm, which is 250 lower than the stock STI’s power peak.  Cosworth hasn’t released torque specs on the CS400, but I’m going to venture a guess: a lot.  We do know there’s going to be a free-flow exhaust to let out that nasty Subaru snarl!  Cosworth says the upgrade will shave a crazy 1.5 seconds off the STI’s 0-60 time, dropping it from 5.2 seconds (pretty fast) to 3.7 seconds (hello, Lamborghinis!)

Besides the copious amount of extra power, the Cosworth STI will benefit from chassis modifications.  An upgraded, lowered and adjustable suspension will make the sort-of-flabby STI go around corners faster, and a special AP Racing designed brake system (355mm rotors with 6-piston calipers up front) will bring all that throbbing horsepower to a stop.

Beyond that, the Cosworth CS400 will have some redesigned bodywork so people know you spent a ton of money on it, along with Cosworth badges and interior tweaks.  Cosworth will only be making 75 of these super-subies, which will go on sale some time in June, and whether it’ll be UK-only or for all of mainland Europe is also up in the air.  We’ll let you know more as soon as we do!

Well, no more!  Today, images of the 2011 WRX leaked out ahead of it’s debut at the 2010 New York Auto Show, and the improvement is drastic.  The main visual difference are the STI-style flared fenders, which increase the track width 1.5″ in the front and rear.  There’s also a new blacked-out grille that’s way more attractive than the old one, and various and sundry other small changes.

Mechanically, the biggest difference is that the WRX inherits the stiffer bushings for the rear subframe from the STI.  Otherwise, the only greasy important bits are the 17×8″ alloys which put some more rubber on the road – the benefit of those big flared fenders, obviously.  All this additional stuff only weighs 34 pounds more than the decidedly wimpy-looking 2010 WRX, and the extra grip and stability will certainly not be unwelcome.  Even better news?  All these changes carry over to the 5-door WRX as well.  The only real bad news is for STI owners, who are now going to have a hard time telling their cars apart from the more “plebian” WRX’s.  Ah well, life’s tough.

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Their cars have always produced fairly alarming numbers -- those early CC8S models cranked out 655bhp from a supercharged 4.6L V8, and the latest CCXR made an insane 1,107bhp on E85 -- and the performance was suitable scary.  The Top Gear boys found this one out the hard way, when the normally infallible Stig spun the crap out of an early CC8S on the TG test track.  Koenigsegg added a rear spoiler for additional downforce, affectionately known as the Top Gear Wing.

Anyway, out with the old and in with the new -- Koenigsegg showed off their newest model at the Geneva show this week, called the Agera.  It’s a further development of the old CC8, but with some significant changes on the outside and inside.  Most noticeable is the restyling (mainly of the front end) to give the car a more fluid, curvy appearance.  I have to say I’m a fan, but you don’t have to pull my leg to get my approval of a Swedish hypercar.  The Agera (which, by the way, is the Swedish verb for “to act” and is a foreshortening of the Greek word for “ageless”) gets fancy LED running lights up front, and hollow-center “donut” taillights in the rear through which engine bay heat is extracted.  Other nifty details include wheels designed to suck air away from the brakes for better cooling, and a unique interior lighting system that Koenigsegg calls “Ghost Light” -- which uses hollow machined aluminum switches with “nanotubes” that transmit light through the center.  It sounds like sci-fi to me!

Not so science-fiction is the engine bay.  It still uses the bespoke 4.7L V8, but ditches the twin superchargers for a more efficient bi-turbo setup.  Power output is extraordinary -- the Agera develops 910bhp at 7,250rpm, and maximum torque of 1100nM (that’s 811lb-ft!) at 5100rpm, with more than 1000nM (738lb-ft) available between 2680rpm-6100rpm -- this thing will have absolutely intense mid-range pull.

The brakes are, thankfully, equally impressive: carbon-ceramic cross-drilled and ventilated rotors at all four corners, a massive 392mm in front and 380mm at rear with adjustable ABS intervention for varying surface conditions.  You’ll need those massive brakes for the crushing performance.  Koenigsegg says the Agera can sprint from 0-100km/h in 3.1 seconds, 0-200km/h in 13.7 seconds, and a top speed approaching 245mph.  That top-speed number is slightly down from the biofuelled CCXR, but it’s also about 200bhp short of that monster.  Also of note: the Agera, which is only about 100bhp short of the Bugatti EB16.4 Veyron, weighs only 2,832 lbs- about half what VW’s crown jewel crushes the scales at.  Swedish minimalism at it’s finest, there.

The pre-production Agera will be making the rounds at auto shows, with production expected to begin last quarter of 2010.  If you’ve got a few million Euros sitting around and want to scare yourself half to death, I can hardly think of a better way to do it.

Meet the 2uettottanta, which is hard to pronounce but really nice to look at.  The bizarre name is a throwback to the original Pininfarina-design Duetto (which later came to be known simply as the Alfa Spider by most people), and the design is inspired by the early Spider 1750 Veloce.

Pininfarina sees the 2uettottanta as a future replacement for the current Alfa Spider, which hasn’t exactly set the world on fire with it’s dynamics.  It’s a return to form for the brand – the basic mechanical layout is a longitudinally mounted inline four behind the front axle, driving the rear wheels through a 6-speed twin clutch gearbox, which is all the rage these days.  This is as opposed the front-transverse engined front wheel drive current Spider, which isn’t an ideal layout for a fun-to-drive car.

The (theoretical) powerplant is a 1.7L gas direct-injection turbocharged unit, although since there are no pictures of it, it could very well be made of hopes and dreams.  Still, a small light turbo mill is more in character with the whole Alfa Spider thing than a big heavy twin-cam V6, anyway.  The concept has Alfa’s multi-mode “DNA” system which alters various mechanical subsystems to change the car’s feel.

Beyond that, uhh… pictures speak louder than words.  This car is 14 kinds of gorgeous, and you know it.  Cross your fingers that Alfa builds it.