Audi Wins Wild 2014 24 Hour of Le Mans

The #2 Audi R18 of Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer, and Benoit Treluyer are your winners of the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 82nd running of the famous endurance race. This win gives Audi its 13th overall 24 Hours of Le Mans victory and fifth in a row. The #1 Audi placed second with the # 8 Toyota TS 040 rounding out the podium of a wild race that saw each of the three manufacturers take the lead at one point or another. Brand new rules for 2014 saw Porsche enter as the third major manufacturer, each one with their own take on a hybrid powertrain. None of the top teams were able to run a clean race with multiple mechanical and electrical gremlins along the way. In the end, Audi once again proved to be the best combination of speed, reliability, fixability and teamwork to add another trophy to its collection.

Toyota started with the lead and pulled ahead clearly showing more pace than the Audi and Porsche. Only a few hours into the race heavy rain created chaos on the track with a multi car accident forcing the #3 Audi out of the race and causing heavy damage to the #8 Toyota. Eventually the track dried and saw the #7 Toyota build up a nearly 3 minute lead over the #1 Audi thanks to quick running and a couple of safety cars. The #7 would go on to dominate the race until the 15 hour mark when it stopped on track during the nighttime darkness giving the lead to the rebuilt from scratch #1 Audi and a potential 10th career win at Le Mans for Tom Kristensen. However, that would not be the case as Tom found his #1 Audi stopped on track a few hours later. The #1 crawled back into the pits in need of a turbocharger change much like the #2 Audi needed a little earlier. This latest mechanical breakdown gave the #20 Porsche 919 the lead of almost two minutes with four hours to go but Andre Lotterer was flying taking huge chunks of time from the Porsche lead. A little more than an hour later had Andre taking over the lead as the #20 was showing a serious lack of pace even compared to its sister car. The slow laps continued for Mark Webber until the #20 slowed to a crawl on the track and crawled into the pits giving the rebuilt #8 Toyota the final podium spot. Only a few moments later the #14 Porsche came into the pits for a lengthy stop as well. The Zytek Nissan Jota Sport team took the win in P2 while the AF Course Ferrari 458 Italia took the GT Pro honors. Aston Martin took the win in the GT AM category.

First Impressions With Cars

Everybody knows how vital first impressions are with people, but it is interesting to consider what they mean with vehicles. More than anything the context and location of where you first see a car for the first time can have an impact on how your perceive its design. Did you first see it against a beautiful backdrop, a crowded highway or a shopping center. Did you catch a quick glimpse as you were driving and preoccupied with traffic or did you get a good look as it rolled by slowly as you walked downtown. Did you see a fully loaded model with the sports package and a deep loud color or the cheap entry level option? With this in mind, I saw the brand new Porsche Macan last week stopped at a light not looking at much in particular and not paying much attention to the vehicles around. A Cayenne was making a left that looked slightly strange and not until I saw the tail lights did I realize that indeed the Cayenne was actually the Macan. I had decently high expectations for the Macan as it promised to bring the sportiest proportions to the luxury CUV category. However, my lack of attention might have not given the Macan a fair chance to present its design. Before I even get a good look at it I already feel like I have made up my mind that it's only a slightly updated and shrunk Cayenne. Here is to hoping that the Macan is able to convince me otherwise. In related news, the Macan is EPA rated a slightly unimpressive 17/23 with either the 3.0 or the 3.6 twin turbo V6.

Wishful Thought: Bring Back Three Door SUVs

The BMW X6, an idea that still baffles on paper but every time you see one on the road it has enough design presence to make it work. BMW has sold over 250,000 all over the world since its introduction, enough to warrant a second generation in the near future, an X4 sibling and a few competitors. The ZDX was an almost immediate response from Acura that never caught on, but Mercedes has the MLC almost ready and the rumors always persist about Audi following suite. With automakers willing to take some risks in the SUV category it seems more reasonable than ever to bring back the 1990s trend of three door SUVs. Back in the day it seemed like you can order your favorite SUV in a three door version starting with the "short bus" RAV4 all the way to the full size Tahoe. The three door SUV was the 1990s equivalent of the five door coupe of today. Take your best selling product and sacrifice some practicality and reason for some extra style. The Range Rover Evoque is currently the best example of how dropping a door per side can add to an SUV's design. Judging by purely anecdotal evidence the three door Evoque has single digit take rate, but with more and more automakers implementing modular platforms it should be more cost effective than ever to produce a unique three door SUV. Not saying it's a trend that is bound to happen but I wouldn't mind if it did.

The Range Rover Evoque offers a three door option

 

Even full size SUVs had the three door option

Everyone's favorite Audi Steppenwolf Concept

Acura Follows Mitsubishi Off The Beaten Path

Mitsubishi is a brand so forgotten that no one will even notice that we practically swiped their commercial, this had to be the thinking in the ad agency war room that created Acura's "The Clear Path Commercial" for the MDX.  That or perhaps it's an incredible coincidence as there is a chance that the MDX commercial was created before the Outlander ad came out but released later. Or the same agency did both ads. Regardless, both ads feature a CUV stuck in traffic making a sharp 90 degree turn and escaping the ordinary life of bumper to bumper for a road much more open and scenic. Notice the way both ads focus on the steering wheel to symbolize the departure. Of course, there is a huge difference as the Outlander turns left and the MDX turns right. Aside from that both have the CUVs "finding your own lane" and "beating the beaten path" thanks to their advanced technology.

Unpractical But Very Awesome: Side Exit Exhaust

Practicality and cost consciousness is often a strong enemy of function and style. And more often than not practicality wins out. One of my favorite functional yet completely unpractical design and performance elements is the side exit exhaust. There is just something about sacrificing convention and standards in order to gain some performance. The unique sound is a bonus also. Seen only on a few models now it's a treat to see this exhaust combination every once in a while.

Aston Martin Looks To Get Its Mojo Back

Aston Martin makes some of the most gorgeous automobiles in the world and has been doing so for ages. The brand has always been 007 cool but as of recent it has lost some of its mojo in the ultra luxury realm. Part of the issue is that sometimes too much of a good thing spoils everyone and Aston Martin has a lineup where every model is amazingly beautiful but they are all too much alike. Even for automotive aficionados it's a confusing lineup. The Vantage is the introductory model yet it's also available with the same V12 as all others, the Vanquish is a better newer looking DB9 yet the DB9 is still available for sale. The Rapide is the best executed four door coupe on the market yet one that is mostly forgotten. No matter how gorgeous your designs are you begin to lose an edge when you become too predictable. Audi, take notice. With that in mind enter the recently spied Aston Martin full size luxury sedan rumored to bring back the Lagonda name. It's unlike anything that Aston Martin has made since the last Lagonda and features more traditional yet very striking proportions. On it's own the design is promising enough if it was from any brand, but it's even more intriguing to see how the final product ends up looking when it has Aston's design reputation to uphold. Add the possibility of a much stronger powertrain courtesy of Mercedes and the new Lagonda shapes up to be a viable competitor to Bentley and Rolls-Royce. Just what Aston needs to jumpstart a historic brand getting a little stale.

The last Lagonda was very unique and some design cues look to transfer

Too Much of a Good Thing: When LED DRL Go Wrong

Though met with much skepticism at first there is no doubt that LED daytime running lights have become the most universally adopted styling element adopted by virtually every single brand on the market. A simple LED strip no longer cuts it in the competitive DRL market with every working to create a more distinctive and visually impressive design. Unfortunately, the one-upmanship has resulted in a few cases of DRLs that are simply overdone.

Cadillac CTS

Horizontal is the proffered DRL method for most brand and Cadillac would have already done well enough with a fairly simple vertical strip in each head light. In an effort to double the impact Cadillac literally added a second DRL strip integrated into the bumper right below the headlight to make a double decker effect that is two much of a good thing.

Land Rover Range Rover

The latest Range Rover is an evolution of a classic design with a seriously clean design that with almost no superfluous design elements. The only blemish on the clean sheet design are the head lights with DRLs that are too busy for their own good. As one the Cadillac the Range Rover would have done fairly well for itself if they kept things simple with just the outline of the headlight as the DRL but not content Land Rover added a loop that has no business being there.

 Audi A8

As the brand that invented the LED DRL, Audi continues to be one of the leaders in the head light design game, DRLs included. However, Audi misfired with the check mark shaped DRL pattern on the A8. Unlike the two previous offenders the A8 does not suffer from a design that is too complicated or too large but simply from a poor shape selection. The check mark looks good on paper but out of place on a car. The shape is distinctive and powerful in the rear view mirror but the overall impact isn't up to Audi's standard hence the pretty quick update to the A8 headlights with the refresh.