Month: September 2013

   

Cars Should Drift Before They Go To Heaven

crush

When an ageing car finally gets to that point where you seriously have to consider the pros and cons of paying out to get it through its MOT, sensible (most) people will bite the bullet and have it scraped or sell it for parts.

However, this was before the drifting phenomenon made it out of Japan and into the movies, and even forming its own race series (Formula Drift). Because drifting cars is the coolest spectacle on the planet, its vibe sliding (excuse the pun) comfortably into the BMX and Skate culture, everyone wants a go at it.

This is where you can save a car from the crusher and send it out in style – the equivalent of an elderly person discarding their walking frame and hopping onto a skateboard.

Of course, if you are looking for a learner drift car under £1000, it will need to be RWD and have some power. Cars like old Mazda MX-5s, Toyota MR2s and Nissan Fairladys are perfect and can be found very cheaply if work needs doing. If you type “drift car” into eBay you’ll also find BMWs and old Mercs, also good because of their modest power and RWD.

The car will definitely meet its maker whilst learning how to drift – either burning the clutch out or crashing – but at least it will enter the Pearly Gates backwards and in a cloud of tyre smoke.

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Equus Bass 770

I’m not quite sure where the “770″ comes from as the car’s specs don’t reflect this in anyway, but I will say I love the styling of this modern/old school muscle car. Although this beast’s heart is a 640-bhp Corvette 6.2-L V8 engine, its exterior has obviously been inspired by the Mustang fastback. It does manage to convey flashes of originality, especially with those fog lamps. Some say it’s a boring rip off, but I disagree; it’s a classic looking muscle car with the advantages of modern technology.

As far as performance is concerned, the Equus Bass 770 is far from boring. Equus claim a 200-mph top speed and a lightening fast 3.4-second 0-62mph – fancy a drag race with a Ferrari 458?

To stop this beast, Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes are required and they come as standard, as are magnetic dampers. The drive train taking al that grunt is a 6-speed dual-clutch auto.

As you’d imagine, a big car like this with those impressive specs, a monster engine and carbon-ceramic brakes is going to come with a substantial price tag. Because it’s hand-built, prices start at $250,000.

Check out this vid for more muscle car action:

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Happy to Tailgate

Tailgating makes me so angry; in fact it’s about the only road related act that drives me into gesticulating widely into my rear-view mirror. If I didn’t love cars so much I’d probably break-check the bastards and take the shunt.

But enough anger – check out the behind on this beauty. No words needed really… just ogle and admire such a classic and beautiful behind.

   

18 ‘Till I Die

Whenever I look around me I am saddened to see people around my age (35) conforming to the rules of society and giving into the ways of the family man – dreary grey economical diesels and people carriers. Some of these children carrying machines have window stickers: “Child On Board” or those stupid stick family decals. If this is the case, then I afraid it’s a lost cause.

I’d sooner force a baby into a glove compartment than actually pay money for one of these vehicles and drive it around in public. Which led me into thinking about writing a sensible article about fast saloons, a pragmatic compromise. However, whilst ruminating makes and models, I watched a movie called The Getaway. Although Disney babe Selena Gomez stars, it’s an above average chase, thriller movie. Ethan Hawke was pretty good too, but the star of the show for me was the Super Snake Mustang featured throughout the entire movie. Not only is this legend automotive eye candy, the directors and sound people actually synced and used the correct engine sounds for the driving scenes – the gorgeous V8 accompanied by the whine of the supercharger made for the perfect soundtrack.

“I need that whine in my life,” I thought. Although I love the sound of a turbocharger spooling and hissing, the whine of a supercharger gives the impression a jet engine under the hood.

So with the Child-On-Board-Mobiles and the pragmatic saloon alternative idea put on the back burner, I thought about writing something along the same lines: What supercharged car could you buy for the price of a new Ford Mondeo 2.0 EcoBoost 240 Titanium X Sport?

The Ford Mondeo is an extremely popular car in the UK, a perfect all-rounder. Even this faster 2.0 EcoBoost 240 Titanium X Sport is reasonably priced and not too expensive to run.

Specs: Price: £27,045 (est); Top speed: 150mph; 0-62mph: 7.9sec; Economy: 36.6mpg; Power: 237bhp; Torque: 251lb ft.

Now for the interesting supercharged alternative: 2008 Shelby Mustang GT

No, I haven’t gone mad… not quite. After a little surfing I found this 4.6-L V8 Mustang GT. I was surprised at just how many modern Mustangs were for sale here in the UK. People used to say owning an American car in the UK was crazy as they are so big and thirsty. But if you consider the rise of the 4X4s and the mums that drive them to the supermarkets, a Mustang isn’t so big.

This particular model boasts 450-bhp, a sports appearance package (Shelby front grill & front bumper spoiler, 20″ Shelby Alcoa wheels). It has only covered 18,000 miles, so is pretty much run in. Performance upgrades include Shelby racing front brakes and drilled front and rear discs, BBK Headers, a Magnaflow Exhaust, and a Hurst 5sp shifter. The best part is the Rousch supercharger; it looks extremely snug sitting on top of all that engine… and the price for all this? £24,995!

Okay, so the fuel consumption will take a bit of a dive and your partner is bound to hurt you, but for the sound of a super-charged V8, who cares?

Specs: Price: £24,995; Top speed: 150mph; 0-62mph: 4.7sec; Economy: 20mpg combined; Power: 450bhp; Torque: 419lb ft.

   

Sleepers Have Got A Hold On Me

merc

Yep, I’m banging on about old Mercs again. Being a fan of Sleeper or Q cars, I couldn’t really  pass up the opportunity to write this post and perhaps prompt someone into buying and giving her good home.

After all, this is a real classic, one of the ‘last of the proper Mercedes’. The W123 is a timeless and over-engineered car quite capable of clocking up half a million miles if serviced correctly. This model – the 230E – wasn’t particularly fast, but then it wasn’t supposed to be; it was a solid car with a comfortable, reassuring and quiet ride. I owned the more powerful 260E with the inline 6, and although it was 20 years old, it was smooth, solid, no rattles, and all the electrics still worked.

Despite its lack of power, the 230E featured here as a trick up her sleeve in the form of a Mercedes 500E V8 transplant. Although there is some confusion regarding the previous model and its corresponding engine number (the M117 wasn’t installed into a 500E as the 500E received the M119), given a good servicing the M117 could probably achieve somewhere in the region of the 200+-bhp mark. The aforementioned 500E was actually called ‘the sheep in wolf’s clothing’ by the press as it could hit 62-mph in 5.5 seconds – no mean feat in 1990 for a big car.

The 230E pictured here would expect to hit 60-mph in around 12 seconds, the sort of car you’d expect to see a tweed-attired silver top trundling around town in for his newspaper and pipe tobacco.  With over double the engine displacement and with some modern bits and bobs replacing dated components, this sleeper could expect to match that of a modern hot-hatch. And let’s not forget this model is significantly lighter than the much larger 500E, so this is also a bonus.

The engine transplant was professionally undertaken, so no need to worry too much about that. I do wonder how the handling has been compromised, although I’m assuming this has been taken care of with stiffer front suspension.

It’s a bit scruffy, but considering her age, she’s in the initial restoration stage – she only needs the basics done to bring back to her former glory. If I had the space, but more importantly, an understanding wife (she doesn’t realise that cars have feelings too…) – I’d snap her up.

Here she is, the 230E Sleeper.

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The Coolest Drift Car Is A Diesel Estate

From my previous bickerings, you may already know I’m a fan of the older Mercs, especially the W123, W124 and the legendary 190e. You’ll also know I’m a massive drift fan, so sooner or later I was bound to come across this drifting W123 estate.

I clicked on the clip expecting your standard local drift run – after the first few seconds I quickly realised this old girl meant serious business. She doesn’t just drift, she drifts noisily and aggressively with much tyre smoke – all factors the judge’s take into consideration.

This fearsome creation boasts around 600hp & 1000Nm from a 3.0-l, 24 Valve, OM606 -98 Mercedes Turbodiesel Engine.

Check her out, she’s awesome.

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Three Decades Of Monster Trucks

King Kong

No matter what your sex, age or creed, monster trucks are the coolest things on the planet. If their over-sized features and cartoonish presence aren’t enough to entertain, the way in which these gargantuan vehicles move will leave you breathless. Despite the mass of hulking mechanical components and giant wheels, they are unbelievably quick, can traverse cars and jumps as though mere bumps in the road.

Like all motor sports, technology has played a massive part in the sport’s evolution from a simple car-crushing spectacle to the insane antics we see today at the Monster Jam championships. They’ve come a long way since the heyday of the Ford Bigfoot and King Krunch – although Bigfoot will always be the most famous monster truck and is still very much in demand, it doesn’t compete in the current Monster Jam series.

1975 Bigfoot

Initially used only in exhibitions, promoters TNT Motorsport saw the massive potential in Monster Trucks, and in 1988 the MTRA (Monster Truck Racing Association) was formed, and along with it came rules and regulations for construction and safety – the MTRA still play a significant role in the sport today.
I can remember watching Monster Trucks on TV as a kid – even in the UK there was a period when the series was televised.

Old School Elimination

In its initial concept, Monster Trucks consisted of an elimination drag race, where two trucks would try and beat each other over a course littered with stacked cars. Of course, this made for amazing viewing in the 80s, but the one thing that I loved more than everything was the Mud Bogging, something Monster Jam doesn’t feature anymore.

Mud Bogging

It was simple: a Monster Truck would take a run up and drive into a long pit of mud. The winner was the truck that could complete the longest distance. The combination of noise and the waves of mud being kicked up by the truck’s enormous tyres just did it for me – I ruined an RC monster truck doing this in the garden.

To compare the trucks of yesteryear to the high-tech beasts of today, you only have to watch a minute of film footage. If you look at the vastly different versions of the much-loved – and my favourite – Grave Digger below, you can see how far the concept has come.

Old & New

It’s the performance differences that are most apparent, however, and if you take a look at these two video clips, you’ll see just what I mean.

Unlike the previous racing formats, Monster Jam uses an X Games format, where each truck goes out and has to perform in a certain amount of time and is scored on entertainment and trick factors.

To enable a modern 5-tonne Grave Digger to pull off those enormous jumps requires a supercharged 540-cubic inch Merlin V8 and 1,450-hp. It’s faster to 30-mph on dirt than a Nissan GT-R on tarmac and will drink 8 gallons of fuel every 300 yards.

I don’t know about you, but I’m booking tickets for my wife – she’ll love it 😉 – and I to see Monster Jam live.