Running The Numbers On The Acura NSX

The Acura NSX was likely going to be the most anticipated debut at the quickly approaching North American International Auto Show and with the cat out of the bag on the Cadillac CTS-V and the Audi Q7, Detroit is Acura's playground. We are only a few weeks away from seeing the final product and hearing the specs for the first time but many months away from actual performance tests making now as good a time as any to run some numbers on Acura's upcoming supercar contender, virtually. Going from a front mounted V10 concept nearly a decade ago, the second generation returns with a more authentic mid engine layout but with twin-turbos for the V6 and electric motors giving all wheel drive capability. The brand new, and seemingly unrelated to any current Honda V6, twin-turbo V6 is rumored to be around 3.7 liters in displacement. Similar sized powertrains make anything from 500 to a shade over 600 horsepower in various performance applications. Given Honda's history with turbo engines and a potential desire to reach some MPG targets with the hybrid powertrain it is hard to see a heavily boosted engine so something around 525 horsepower out of the V6 is a good basis. Nothing wrong with getting more than less here though. The RLX hybrid setup is good for an additional 67 horsepower towards peak output so when all is said and done a number of 600 combined horsepower seems very logical. Seeing the inherent weight penalty on the RLX hybrid with this setup it is hard to see the NSX dipping much below 3,750 pounds. Given the all wheel drive grip and the electric motor torque the NSX should be as quick as anything not purely exotic off the line to 60. Figure a time of 3.2 seconds or even slightly better to 60 and anything over 3.5 seconds would be a pretty big disappointment. The NSX should lose some momentum as speeds pick up going through the 1/4 mile in around 11.5 seconds with a trap speed of about 125 miles per hour placing it right in the middle of some very established competition. Competition due for replacement or thorough updates around the same time frame. It is game on for Acura and only time will tell if the newest NSX can ultimately deliver what promises to be 458 Italia performance for Audi R8 price and how it will play with the Z06, GT-R and 911s of the world.

Cars & Coffee Symbolic Round Two Highlights

Symbolic hosted another Cars & Coffee (and Krispy Kremes) event this past weekend and as always there were certainly quite a few interesting cars to check out. Along with the usual collection of Audi, Bentley, BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari and various other exotics there were certainly a few standouts in the Carrera GT, Bugatti Veyron Vitesse and the brand new Lamborghini Huracan. Follow the link for more photos and impressions.

Why You Should Not Fear Ferrari Expansion

The recent board room shuffle at Ferrari has a lot of people worried that Ferrari is about to embark on a dark path that ends with the prancing horse on a grille of an SUV or even worse, a crossover. The image is a hard one to accept but there is a strong precedence that great things can happen when brands think outside the box. Many of our favorite products, services and entertainment options exist today thanks to iconic tech and Silicon Valley companies that expanded their portfolios by entering previously foreign to them markets. Apple was a computer company first with limited success in other areas before it entered the portable player and phone business, the rest is history. Netflix was a DVD rental company before it started streaming and creating its own shows. Likewise, Amazon mailed physical boxes before creating its own products and digital services. Google was simply a search engine that has since touched just about everything and is even flirting with the auto industry. Even the comparably conservative Microsoft has expanded past software to much fanfare.

If Lamborghini goes through with the Urus it should not be faulted for creating an SUV, it should only be judged if it does not create the sharpest looking and best performing SUV out there. Likewise, Bentley should only be criticized if it does not produce the most luxurious SUV experience out there. Having already ventured off-road Porsche shows that sports car brands can certainly deliver the best driving experience in their new respective segments. Though perhaps it's best not to force your iconic design so strongly. The financial stability generated by the Cayenne has allowed Porsche to invest in its sports cars and indulge in dream machines such as the Carrera GT and the 918 Spyder. If automotive history is any indication we should all be grateful that Porsche and Lamborghini were not afraid to branch out beyond their humble origins in air conditioners, tractors and bugs.

Plug In Sports Cars Rated by the EPA

No long ago a hyper car's EPA fuel economy was nothing more than a specs footnote. These days however the owner and fan bragging rights might extend beyond acceleration and lap times and into EPA ratings. Earlier this year the Porsche 918 Spyder became the first plug in hyper car to be rated by the EPA to the tune of 20 mpg city and 24 mpg on the highway along with a gasoline equivalent of 67 mpg while operating solely on electricity. No longer is the 918 Spyder the only (almost) million dollar member of the plug in hybrid club as the McLaren P1 is now also officially rated by the EPA. The P1 is good for 16 mpg city and 20 highway and 17 in combined driving. It appears that while you can get up to 19 miles of plug in assisted driving from the battery, the benefits are so tiny that you will end up averaging only 1 mpg better driving as a plug in. For reference the McLaren 650S that uses a lower output version of the same 3.8 twin turbo V8 is good for 16 city and 22 highway, but of course the P1 blows it away performance wise. Thus the P1 does pretty well for greatly increasing performance while minimizing fuel economy loses. More impressive mpg wise, is the BMW i8 which is officially good for 28 mpg in the city and 29 on the highway as a hybrid and will deliver a combined gasoline and electricity usage rate of 76 mpg as a plug in in its first 15 miles. Of course the i8 is playing in the minor leagues performance wise compared to the 918 and the P1 but it's fun to compare regardless. It's unknown yet how well the last plug in hyper car, the Ferrari LaFerrari will do, but Ferrari has been able to harness the efficiency of the turbo to achieve an EPA rating of 16/23 for the California T. It's a decent improvement over the 14/19 rating of the original California.

Cars & Coffee: Symbolic Edition

Here are some visuals from this weekend's Cars & Coffee event from Symbolic. Symbolic is a Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce dealership in La Jolla. Symbolic brought over a few examples from each of their brands and together with cars from private owners there was a good selection of cool cars to check out. The highlight of the show was definitely the Bugatti EB110 in its signature light blue paint. It's not very often that you get to see a Bugatti, even more so one that's not a Veyron. The event was also the first time that I saw a Rolls-Royce Wraith in real life and I was pleasantly surprised about its design after absolutely hating its roofline in all the photos I have seen. Likewise I liked the design of the brand new M3, the M specific design elements looked pretty good in black. You can tell that it has the M treatment but they are not overdone.

Porsche 918 Is Officially Rated by the EPA

The official EPA fuel economy numbers are in for the 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder and not unexpectedly it scores quite a bit lower than other plug-in hybrids like the Volt, ELR, Accord and Fusion. Of course  it's not competing with those models but the Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and to a lesser degree the BMW i8 have not been rated yet so the comparison set is not perfect. The EPA predicts the 918 Spyder will be good for 12 miles on electricity and will consume it at a rate of 67 MPGe. This actually bests the 11 miles of the Prius Plug-in and just one short of the 13 of the Accord but all others have about double to triple the electric range. For what it's worth the four times I have seen the 918 around town it was always rolling silently on battery power. The 67 MPGe equivalent also trails all other plug-ins aside from Porsche's own Panamera and the Karama. Once the juice runs out the 918 is good for 20 MPG in the city and 24 on the highway as a hybrid, unimpressive for a hybrid until you consider that the gas engine is not a small 4 cylinder Atkinson cycle but rather a high revving 4.6 liter V8 good for 608 horsepower on its own. Still the hybrid numbers are better than the 20/21 that the Fisker managed. While somewhat arbitrary it will be fun to see what the P1 and the LaFerrari end up with if only to see which million dollar hypercar owner will have the most MPG bragging rights.

Modern Super Cars That Can Outrun Their Legendary Predecessors

Progress, the desire to always be better, faster and stronger is a brilliant thing. It gives us better cars every single generation and family sedans running to 60 under 6 seconds. Progress is particularly amazing when it comes to halo cars as the latest crop from Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Porsche are ready to blow our minds. However a more telling sign of progress is how each brand's "regular" super cars are now just as quick as their legends of yesterday.

Mercedes SLS AMG vs. Mercedes SLR McLaren

The SLR has a supercharger and more power than the SLS (617 vs. 516) but the SLS responds with two extra gears and double clutches. The end result is a tie through the quarter mile with both completing the sprint in 11.6 seconds @ 125. At less than half the price (200K vs. 455k) the SLS is a relative bargain. The only caveat is if you give the SLR a break because it was more of a GT than an all out super car but the identical acceleration is telling sign of progress. The halo SLS Black Series improves things further with an 11.1 @ 130 quarter mile.

Porsche 911 Turbo S vs. Porsche Carrera GT

Here we have Porsche's last generation halo car geared for track duty versus a turbo 911 with backseats and all. Thanks to all wheel drive, a twin clutch gearbox and turbo torque the 911 Turbo S is nearly a second quicker in the hole shot to 60, quicker to 100 and even through the quarter mile even if the better power to weight of the Carrera GT gives it a higher trap speed. The final tally, 10.8 @ 129 for the Turbo S (not even the latest generation) vs. an 11.2 @ 132 for the Carrera GT all for barely a third of the price.

Ferrari F12 vs. Ferrari Enzo Ferrari

Perhaps the ultimate comparison considering that both feature the familiar Ferrari V12. The F12 benefits from engine development to deliver more horsepower per liter and more power overall with 731 horsepower to Enzo's only 650. This time the F12 is the GT in the pairing and it shows with its 4,000 pound curb is 750 pounds on the Enzo. The extra weight holds back the F12 but it nearly matches the Enzo through the quarter with an 11.3 @ 132 pass vs. 11.2 @ 136 for the Enzo.

McLaren MP4-12C vs, McLaren F1

It's a given that twenty years later the McLaren P1 would shatter the F1's performance benchmarks but it's amazing how close to the famed F1 the MP4-12C gets. As with the 911 Turbo S, the MP4-12C's turbos and super quick gearbox lets it outgun the F1 through 60 and even up to 100 mph. The F1 nearly catches up at the quarter mile and pulls ahead as speed climbs. The final tally is a 10.7 @ 134 quarter mile for the MP4-12C to F1's 11.1 @ 138.

How The Urus Concept Is Lamborghini Going Back To Its Roots

The public reaction to the Lamborghini Urus has been mostly negative and much the same as when the Porsche Cayenne first came out. Many are calling out Lamborghini for selling out and diluting the brand in a search for more cash even though Lamborghini made an SUV back when they weren't even in. Many are lamenting the fact that the Urus is not like the Aventador. Ironically though, the Urus could be the closest Lamborghini in decades to what Mr. Lamborghini imagined for his brand to be when he founded it. At the start and throughout his tenure at the helm, Ferruccio Lamborghini wanted his brand to build comfortable yet extremely fast cars. In fact he started branched out to cars from his tractor business because the Ferraris he owned were too noisy and too spartan inside and just plain not roadworthy enough. While Lamborghini would go on to become famous for its no holds barred mid engined supercars it was front engined tourers like the Espada that were more in line with what the company was intended for. While the Estoque would certainly fit Mr. Lamborghini's desire for a comfortable grand tourer even better, the Urus is still the closest Lamborghini to his ideal in years.

The Espada is what Mr. Lamborghini envisioned his company to be. source

2011 24 Hours of Le Mans

First Hourly Update
The Audis were slightly quicker on the track than the Peugeots and were able to save some time while refueling from the looks of it as they were running 1-2-3 about 15 seconds ahead of the nearest Peugeot after the first stop. Nearly at the one hour mark the #3 Audi of McNish was involved in a serious accident bringing out the safety car. Retiring early was the #009 Aston. Corvette is first and second leading the GT category after a timely pre safety car pit stop.

Second Update

After over an hour of safety car period to fix the safety barrier we are back to green racing with the number 2 Audi leading four Peugeots and the number 1 Audi in fifth after a nose change. The Oreca Nissan leads P2 while the #74 Corvette leads GT after separating from other GTs because of the multiple safety cars.

Third Update

With four hours and 57 laps complete the number 2 Audi leads the three factory Peugeots. P2 and GTE Pro leaders remain unchanged while the #60 Aston Martin leads in GTE Am.

With five hours gone by, the action on the track has calmed somewhat as the number 7 Peugeot is leading the number 2 Audi by 15 seconds but the two cars are running on different pit strategies.

A quarter of the way through the race the competitors are doing a good job getting through the traffic and battling the dirty race track. Current leaders in the classes are Audi, Oreca, BMW and the Labre Corvette.

Seven Hour Update

The number 2 Audi has been able to increase its lead over the chasing Peugeot to make a pit stop and still come out ahead. Corvette is first and second in GT Pro. The track is getting darker now.

Eight Hour Update

Nearly eight hours into the race the #1 Audi had contact with a GT Ferrari and crashed heavily into a barrier at extremely high speed, Mike Rockenfeller got out of the car on his own.

Nine Hour Update

We should be going to green racing soon after nearly an hour and a half delay, Rocky is said to be ok but is undergoing checks. Just heard a McNish interview and he is also ok after his earlier accident as well.

Ten hour update

After nearly 2.5 hours of safety car period we are back to actual racing with the #2 Audi at the front of the field as the sole Audi remaining. Mike Rockenfeller has called his parents and appears to have escaped his accident with minimal injuries. The emotions for the Audi team and its drivers are hard to imagine.

After the restart Audi leads by over two minutes while Oreca is first in P2 and Corvette leads the AF Corse Ferrari in GT Pro.

One Hour Left to Halfway

Almost halfway done with the race and the #2 Audi continues to lead by around two minutes. The #41 Zytek Nisan has captured the P2 lead while the Corvette team continues to lead the Ferrari in Gt Pro.

12 Hours to Go
Audi continues to lead over Peugeot by almost two minutes while the Zytek Nissan and Corvette lead their classes receptively.

Almost Sunrise
Night time racing continues at Le Mans with all of the teams fighting fatigue and waiting for the sun to rise once again. Audi continues to lead (but it looks like the number #2 is taking things slightly slower now) as the leaders remain the same from the last update.

Sunrise
As the sun has risen over Le Mans, the Peugeot has caught up to Audi and is only 2 seconds behind the leading Audi.

8 Hours Left
With eight hours left to go Peugeot is first and second but the third place Audi is only 35 seconds back after its pit stop. Greaves Motorsport has a two lap lead in P2 while Corvette continues to lead Ferrari in Gt Pro.

With a little over 7 hours left in the race the GT leading Corvette lost control and hit a Porsche and then both hit the wall. Safety car is out once again after another big impact and debris on track. Before the safety cars numerous cars were posting their quickest times of the race thanks to better track conditions.

7 Hours Left
The number 2 Audi is less than a second behind the #9 Peugeot and we have a battle on the track after almost 18 hours of racing, brilliant.

6 Hours Left
Audi has passed for the overall lead and now has a lead of about 15 seconds over the Peugeots.

5 Hours Left
The number 2 Audi leads by about 30 seconds over the 9 Peugeot, the number 7 Peugeot has front end damage and is being fixed in the pits. Looks like it's a two horse race for the overall win. Zytek Nissan leads by two laps in P2 while the Af Corse has a lap lead over the #73 Corvette. The Labre competition Corvette leads in GT AM.

4 Hours Left
Audi leads by almost a minute but the Peugeot of Anthony Davidson is trying to slow it down and not get lapped again. The Treluyer piloted Audi is on its fifth sting. Greaves Motorsports continues to lead in P2 by four laps now. Top two GT Pro cars are now on the same lap making things more interesting in GT. There are reports of small showers on some parts of the race track with a chance for rain in the near future. Just another element to make the race even more challenging for the drivers.

3 Hours to Go
Andre Lotterer leads in his number 2 Audi by over a minute as he continues to be blocked by the other Peugeots as he laps them. Corvette has taken over the lead in GTE Pro. It appears the rain never picked up and has not forced any team to use anything but slicks yet.

2 Hours To Go
The rain has picked up now with some teams running intermediates. The Audi has a minute lead at the front while Corvette has caught up and passed the Ferrari for GT lead. The #16 Pescarolo running fifth has crashed and is out of the race. Tire choice will be become interesting very soon, very much like in the Audi documentary, "Truth in 24"

1.5 Hours Left
With and hour and thirty minutes left Audi continues to lead by over a minute but is continually blocked by every lapped Peugeot it approaches. The race track is drying out and lap times are now falling.

55 Minutes Left
The race leading Audi has pitted for fuel but will need a splash and go to finish up the race. It looks like the #9 Peugeot will need a pit stop as well. We are in for an extremely close finish to the 2011 edition of 24 Hours of Le Mans.

25 Minutes Left
Audi has a 10 second lead after both contenders are fueled and ready to go. It might be starting to rain harder now.

Audi Sweeps Front Row in Le Mans Qualifying

For a race in which pole position means practically nothing Thursday's qualifying sessions brought a great show for the fans. The #2 Audi R18 piloted by Benoît Tréluyer set the quickest time of 3 minutes and 25.738 seconds around the 8.469 mile long Circuit de la Sarthe. The #1 Audi of Romain Dumas was only 0.061 of a second behind to secure an all Audi front row. The quickest Peugeot was the #9 which was just 0.272 of a second behind pole position. In fact in one of the closest qualifying rounds in recent years the top six competitors were all separated by under six tenth of a second. This year the brand new Audi R18 and the equally brand new Peugeot 908 are running as close together as the two rivals ever have setting up an extremely competitive race tomorrow. With the ACO mandated slow refilling for the diesel cars fuel economy will likely play an important role along with running a clean race with no driver errors or mechanical problems.

First in the P2 category was the #26 Signatech Nissan with a time of 3 minutes and 41.458 seconds while the #55 BMW Motorsport M3 GT took the top spot in the GT Pro category with a time of 3:57.592. The #61 AF Corse F430 was the quickest in the GTE AM category with a time of 4:01.282.

The 79th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans starts at 3 PM local time or 9 AM Easter/6 AM Pacific. Stay tuned here for an hourly blog updates. Catch the race on Speed and on the Speed online stream here. Listen to the entire race with Radio Le Mans and stay up to date with live timing and scoring. Follow the race for the lead even closer with special access directly from Audi
and Peugeot.

Ferrari FF

Company press releases often throw around the world "revolutionary" as if they are indeed planning a revolution, but instead they are usually just hyping up their latest econobox which is just as boxy and economic as all the others. In the case of the Ferrari FF (Ferrari Four) the use of the word is actually justified as the 612 Scaglietti replacement is a significant departure from everything the brand has done before. Ferrari's new four seater is its first four wheel drive hatchback, perhaps the first modern vehicle actually deserving of the much overused term shooting-brake. In any case the FF is probably one of the largest hatches in the world at 193 inches, this gives the Ferrari four seater 16 cubic feet of luggage capacity. In what is probably a first for Ferrari the rear seats fold to give you 28 cubic feet of carrying capacity making the FF the first Ferrari approved for Costco run duty. Four wheel drive is another new technology to the Ferrari brand. Ferrari claims that its patented 4RM four wheel drive system weighs only half of a typical all wheel drive system. Powering the FF is a 651 horsepower direct injected 6.3 liter V12. Interestingly enough that is the same power output as the Ferrari Enzo with an additional 19 lb-ft of torque, an excellent example of technological progress. The addition of direct injection and a start-stop system (a first for a production Ferrari as well) gives the FF a 33% bump in fuel economy when compared to its predecessor, a two wheel drive car that had 120 fewer horsepower. The performance of the FF will undoubtedly be superb, however the biggest water cooler talk about the FF will be its styling. Reminiscent of the cult status Z3 " the Clown Shoe" Coupe in its profile the styling will be a hot topic for some time. Mostly because it is just too unusual to see a 300,000 dollar+ hatchback. Whatever your opinion of the styling it is refreshing and laudable to see a company pushing the boundaries of design when they could have easily followed their traditional formula and still sell every example that they made. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if people are willing to buy a 209 mph hatchback or if they will go for something more conventional like the Lamborghini Estoque sedan.

Best Looking Modern Engine Bays

With the ever growing trend of manufacturers adding more and more plastic into the engine compartment it's become significantly rarer to find modern vehicles with visually appealing engine bays. However, there are always exceptions to all trends and there are new vehicles out there with great looking engines and engine bays. Without further ado here are the best looking modern engine bays.


Ferrari 599 V12



Audi RS4 V8



Chrysler SRT8 V8



Bugatti Veyron W16



Ford Mustang 5.0 V8



Ferrari 458 Italia V8



Mercedes Benz 6.3 AMG V8

Lamborghini Gallardo LP-550 Balboni vs. Ferrari 458 Italia Drag Race

Two of the finest sports cars of the world face off in a drag race.

Ferrari 458 Italia

Ferrari has released a batch of photos of its latest creation, the 458 Italia. The Italia is the replacement for the F430. Unlike the California, the 458 Italia is a pure performance machine. Like the California, the 458 also gets a direct injection V8, that's put in front of the rear wheels like it was in the F430. Ferrari says that the 458 is a "massive leap forward" from the F430. The massive leap forward begins under the huge glass rear window, where the new V8 is good for 562 horsepower and 398 pound feet of torque. Significantly better than the F430's 490 hp and 343 lb-ft. Thanks to direct injection the fuel economy is also improved and C02 emissions fall 24%. The new V8 gives the Italia almost identical engine specs to its nearest competitor, the Lamborghini Gallardo LP-560. However, the Gallardo's power figures are probably very conservative based on its 130 mile per hour quarter mile trap speed. Nevertheless, the 458 Italia should be able to keep up with the Gallardo and Ferrari quotes 0-62 mph in 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 202 mph. The 458 also takes a giant leap forward with styling, breaking away from the F430 and the 360 Modena. The 458 might remind many of the Enzo, especially form the side and the rear. Compared to the F430 the Italia has smaller air intakes upfront while the headlights have been squished form the sides and feature LEDs. At the rear two lights replace the 4 seen on the F430. The tailpipes migrate to the center and there are three of them. Ferrari states that a lot of the design of the Italia comes from aerodynamics. While this is good for downforce, the design isn't as good looking as the F430. However, if you were not a fan of the F430 you will likely appreciate the Italia more. Still, the 458 promises to raise the bar on performance and that's what Ferrari should really be about in the first place.