Car Loans
Yes, try this at home, kids, but
don’t try this in a mid-engined or rear-engined Porsche, plus a front-driver doesn’t really work, and remember: The more powerful the car, the easier it is to do. The 400-hp GTO shown here works nicely. Go to it!
Step 1: Depress the clutch with your left foot, and put the shifter in first gear.
Step 2: Put your right foot on the gas pedal, and, checking the tach, spool up the engine to about 4000 or 5000 rpm. (Hey, that’s a ballpark figure—different cars require different revolutions.)
Step 3: Abruptly lift off the clutch with your left foot, and transfer it to the brakes, but not so hard that you kill the engine.
Step 4: Carefully vary the pressure on both the brake pedal and the accelerator until the rear tires are smoking and you’re not moving. Listen for applause.
The tires were provided by Kumho. The new Ecsta MX-C drift tire is designed to give off red smoke, discombobulate your neighbors, and impress your space-case friends at the Dairy Queen—trust us, it works. Available from the Tire Rack (
). Your only problem is they cost $1995 per!
Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/05q4/the_keys_to_real_success_in_life-car_news
Since the arrival of the 2004 DB9, all successive Aston Martins from the V-8 Vantage coupe to the Rapide sedan have used the company’s VH (“vertical horizontal”) architecture. Developed during Ford’s ownership of Aston, the VH platform cannot be stretched beyond the size of the
. But Aston Martin CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez has a plan to bring back the
name on a large, Rolls-Royce Ghost–sized, luxury four-door. Developing a new platform would be prohibitively expensive and problematic for the small British sports-car maker, as the company is now owned by a group of investment companies that lack vehicle-development experience. Without help from another automaker, Aston would find itself unable to build the big Lagonda, a situation that sent Bez searching for a partner.
Aston first approached BMW and Mercedes-Benz, but talks with BMW broke down in early 2010. Discussions with M-B proved more fruitful; Bez ended up inking a deal with Mercedes late in 2010 that has Aston building the next Maybach. The agreement also calls for Mercedes to provide Aston with an SUV, some engines, and, possibly, a platform to replace the aging VH architecture.
Virtually unchanged since its 2002 debut, the Maybach is in desperate need of rejuvenation. Mercedes had been toying with the idea of killing the brand entirely, which led to on-again, usually off-again development of future product. As the economy has improved and the Chinese have warmed up to buying Maybachs, Mercedes has decided to give the brand another chance.
For profitability’s sake, the next Maybach will use the 2013 S-class’s platform and hardware, and will be built by Aston Martin in Gaydon, England. According to a source within Mercedes, making the Maybach in Gaydon instead of Stuttgart will cut production costs by about 50 percent, thanks to Aston’s small-batch know-how. In fact, an Aston-made Maybach is already under way, in the form of a concept car for this year’s Frankfurt auto show.
In addition to building the next Maybach, Aston will also pilfer the Maybach/S-class platform, engines, transmission, chassis, and safety equipment for its own Lagonda sedan. Priced from $350,000, Aston’s Lagonda will take on Bentley, Rolls-Royce, and, ahem, Maybach.
For the third joint project, the Germans will supply the Brits with the M/GL-class unibody SUV platform as the basis for a planned $250,000 sport-ute. The as-yet-unnamed SUV (hopefully looking nothing like the Lagonda concept from 2009, above) will have a 429-hp, twin-turbocharged 4.7-liter V-8, recently introduced in the Mercedes
, as well as diesel and hybrid options from Benz’s parts bin.
What is less certain is whether Mercedes-Benz will provide Aston with the platform and technology to replace Aston’s current VH architecture. Aston would like to be able to use the aluminum structure of the Mercedes SLS AMG and M-B engines for its next generation of sports cars; a final decision from Mercedes headquarters is expected to come in the next few months.
After the failed buyout of Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz has changed its partnership strategy. Going forward, Mercedes will seek partners rather than buying other brands outright. On the Aston side, CEO Bez seems to prefer cooperating with Mercedes and using its parts and technology rather than the alternative, which likely would include its sale to a Chinese company. It is rumored that Bez already has had to stave off a takeover attempt by one Chinese carmaker. But whatever happens, don’t call it a “merger of equals.”
Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/11q1/aston_martin_and_mercedes-benz_to_partner_up_for_future_maybachs_and_lagondas-feature
That which is great can still be improved upon, and so it is with the 2012
, which gets 14 additional horsepower from its top-spec V-6 and some small styling and equipment changes.
The revised direct-injection 3.6-liter V-6 now puts out 318 hp and 275 lb-ft of torque, thanks mostly to intake changes, including larger valves, revised ports, and a tweaked camshaft that keeps the intake valves open longer. (The same engine makes 323 hp in the updated
.) Compared to last year’s 3.6-liter V-6, this year’s iteration is nearly 21 pounds lighter; 13 pounds were saved by integrating the heads and exhaust manifolds, 2 pounds from a lighter-weight front accessory-drive cover and new connecting rods, and 5.5 came out from using a plastic intake manifold in place of last year’s aluminum piece. The base 270-hp, 3.0-liter V-6 carries over unchanged, and can still be mated to both a six-speed automatic and six-speed manual. The manual is no longer available with the 3.6-liter, however.
The 2012 CTS’s standard-equipment list sees Bluetooth added to all models and a blind-spot monitoring system to the coupe (good thing, because the two-door’s rakish roofline and wide C-pillars make for huge blind spots). A new Touring package is available with either engine and with any body style, and adds a dark-finish grille, metal pedal covers, dark wood trim, and V-style suede stuff covering the steering wheel, shift knob, and seat inserts. Polished 19-inch wheels and Recaro seats—disliked by most of us for feeling overstuffed and for rocking back and forth under braking and acceleration—come with 3.6-liter Touring models, while 3.0-liter examples get pearl-nickel-finished 18s and the regular seats, albeit now sueded. Sedan and wagon buyers who spec the pack get an extra-special bonus: chrome exterior door handles.
The line-wide cosmetic changes are less extensive. The grille sees new finishes and a revised Caddy wreath with “sharper colors,” and its mesh insert is flusher with the frame. That’s it.
The 2012 CTS sedan, coupe, and wagon go on sale at the end of this summer.
Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/11q2/2012_cadillac_cts_sedan_coupe_sport_wagon-auto_shows