Jaguar F-Type Coupe, something to think about

     Jaguar, a brand that we’d probably associate with the rich, old and luxury-seeking homo sapiens. That fact remained until the F-Type was launched. It’s actually the convertible version that came out first followed by the hard top F-Type Coupe. Jaguar makes incredibly powerful engines except that there hasn’t been a proper chassis to prove it until they built the F-Type which is reasonably small compared to other cars Jaguar produces. It has rigid aluminium body structure which makes it a great platform for a light-weight and good handling sports car. It uses the front engine rear drive layout which makes it an absolute kick to drive especially after you see the power-train variants. 

     The variants are; a 3.0 litre supercharged V6 producing 340hp(450Nm), 3.0 litre V6 supercharged V6 producing 380hp(460Nm), and a 5.0 litre supercharged V8 producing 550hp(680Nm) which is available of the F-Type R version. The V8 engine used is the AJ133 torque-monster which is used in many other Jaguars but I think now it has finally found a chassis it can really excel in. All the engines are mated to an 8speed ZF gearbox which is arguably one of the best transmissions out there although a proper set of manual gearbox would make it such an occasion to have it in a car which profiled like the F-Type. Aside from the technical specs of the car, I must say that it is a very good looking one too. It has that beautiful and muscular look at the same time. Jaguar claims its state-of-the-art reduces lift up to 120kg when its rear-spoiler is automatically deployed at high speed. Some may dislike the rear ¾ look of the coupe but I think its absolutely fine in its own way and the shape somewhat reminds me of the Nissan 240Z which I absolutely adore.

Random share, Life lessons

The first great rule in life is to put up with things; the second is to refuse to put up with things; and the third and hardest, is to be able to distinguish between the first two. 


  ~ Sydney J.Harris

Farewell Baby Lambo!

     The best selling supercar of Lamborghini has finally come to an end in production. The Gallardo has been around since 2003 and has always been a great success to Lamborghini. They marked the ending of the production with a last Red Spyder Performante edition model. The baby Lambo has been around for 10 years now and its always a great sight to see it around, even better the noise it makes from the screaming V10 engine. Other car makers have leaped forward with much sophistication and technologies in their cars that it makes the Gallardo feel a little bit old. Despite so, you’d never have a Gallardo in any other way aside from the way it is, certainly not me. It is sad to see its production ending but all good things has to come to an end. The replacement of the Gallardo is probably going to be called the Cabrera and might feature in next year’s Geneva Motor Show.  

     We will miss you baby Lambo!

                 The last production Gallardo, the Spyder Performante alongside the Lamborghini Team

A great man's legacy will never die - Paul Walker (1973-2013)

    Little did I realize how much of an impact someone made in my life, until that person is gone. And that person doesn’t even know of my existence, probably. And I know for sure, many of you out there feel the same. The man I’m talking about is Paul Walker, star of my favourite movie franchise of all time, Fast & Furious. He died in a car crash driven by Roger Rodas, who also died in the crash. They were in a Porsche Carrera GT which hit a lamp post and exploded. They were actually taking part in a charity event to raise money to help the victims of the Phillipines typhoon. Paul wasn’t just a great actor, but such a humble, kind and caring person. The Fast & Furious movies have deepened my enthusiasm towards cars and Paul Walker was quite frankly my role model/idol. He is the reason I love the Skyline GTR, when I first saw him driving it in 2 Fast 2 Furious. He also is a co-owner of AE Performance, a tuning company which manufactures car performance parts and race-preps. I’ve always had the dream to open my own tuning company and knowing that he has one of his own just pushes me harder to motivate myself and achieve my dreams. I feel like I can associate with him in many ways possible. It was really devastating to hear the news of his departure from our world but I’m sure and I quote this from Vin Diesel that “heaven has just gained another angel”. He went too soon but thats life, purely unexpected things happen. In some ways, I’m happy he left in a Carrera GT, which he did mention before as one of his top favourite cars. There so much more to him but little I have left to say. The world really lost a great man and I wish to thank him for what he has done in the film industry as well as his great help and donations for charity. I pray for his soul to rest in peace. Amen.                         

                                  

Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

     The Ferrari 599 is a front V12 engine, rear-wheel drive GT car. The hardcore version which Ferrari then made, the 599 GTO was pushing out an incredible 660hp and it was just one of the most astonishing cars out there. Ferrari in the past have taglined some of their models by the Berlinetta name which directly means little saloon but don’t be fooled by their recent Ferrari F12 Berlinetta which carries that name. Its the replacement of the Ferrari 599 and it is smaller in size compared to the 599.

     But the small-ness stops there, everything else is just more and absolutely bonkers. 6.3 litre V12 pushing out 730hp(@8250rpm) and 690Nm(@6000rpm) of torque through its two rear driven wheels. It does 0-100km/h in 3.1seconds and over 340km/h top speed and redlines at 8700rpm. It uses the 7-speed dual clutch gearbox, similar to the ones in the California and 458 Italia but has short gear ratios to keep pace with the enormous power its transmitting.

    Despite being a front engine car, it has almost a perfect weight distribution with a 46% front and 54% rear. Aside from that, the F12 has quite an impressive aerodynamic efficiency where it was developed using CFD (computational fluid dynamics). First is the aero bridge which can be seen from the side of the hood that runs through the side fenders which provides downforce. The front splitter is also now a separate piece from the bumper which directs air to the rear extractor to keep the car planted to the road. A new system, the Active Brake Cooling system which works to reduce drag and also cool the brakes, but the cool thing is that the air ducts only open when the brakes are hot.

     The F12 uses the latest Ferrari 3^rd generation CCM3 carbon ceramic disc brakes and its more than sufficient to provide stopping power for this monster. The revised limited slip diff does its job to transfer as much power as possible while cornering the car.

     Although it may not be as good looking or sound as terrifying as the Lamborghini Aventador, the horse does all the other job much better than the bull without a doubt.

Its not a car to end all cars, but the one that will do it all with smiles. The Porsche Cayenne

                                                 
       Porsche Cayenne: probably not in most of our lists of dream cars but definitely one to consider about. After considering the aspects of this car which is a crossover or SUV or whichever way you’d call it, it is quite a definite all-rounder supercar. Here’s why. But before I get to the point, let me begin where it came from. The production of the Cayenne started off in 2002 with many engine variants to choose from; 3.0L V6, 3.2L V6. 3.6L V6. 4.5L V8 and 4.8L V8 for the first gen. You could get it in either petrol, diesel or both in turbocharged engines.  The 2^nd gen Cayenne come out in 2010 which is the current platform but undergoes some changes every couple of years. The new one looks very much better than the first gen model. It is shorter, smaller, lighter in weight, more powerful and has much more technology and efficient dynamics that brings it up to a whole new level. 

     When made a subject of comparison, its rival is the Range Rover which is kind of the celebrity and footballers car. You can see why they compare it to a Range Rover, its because its a luxury crossover with incredible abilities. The thing is, the Range Rover comes from a heritage of off-road vehicles, whereas the Cayenne doesn’t. It comes from a heritage of super sport cars. And with that said, the Porsche Cayenne has grown to be a much better car to have than the Range Rover, unless you’re a footballer. Because of Porsche’s background of creating sports cars as well as their involvement in endurance racing, all the technology and know-hows really contribute to their cars, and in particular the Cayenne. Despite being a heavy vehicle, it still handles like a sports car. I mean, you really can do power slides in it. All the suspension geometry and Porsche’s torque vectoring systems really does it job. Its not just the power but being an SUV, it needs to handle off-road well too. It rides 45 degrees inclined uphills or downhills without a problem and even goes 40 degrees sideways, literally sideways! There’s no questioning of its capabilities off-road as much as it can do on tarmac. And you get all these with a car that does 0 to 100km/h in just over 4 seconds. Of course you can choose the low line engines or the diesel variants for better fuel economy and cheaper tax payments, but if you’re going out to buy a Porsche, buy the one with the best engine. Get the turbocharged V8 with 550hp, with the fact that you have to pay higher maintanence and fuel but who cares about that when you ought to have a great driving experience. Its a car that does everything, it really does.   

                                     

The very special Ferrari 458 Speciale

     

What draws us people towards feeling attracted to a car? Hmm...definitely looks, powertrain, functionality, and I think heritage as well. Unveiled at the recent Frankfut Motor Show is the astoundingly eye-catching Ferrari 458 Speciale. This car ticks up all the boxes to what attracts us to a car (Except maybe functionality, probably because its not exactly practical but well, it functions alright). It is a new car but then again, it isn’t. Its based on, yes you guessed it right, a 458 Italia. The 458 Italia is an amazing car in every way; stunningly beautiful, sounds fantastic and its a Ferrari, so yeah its really fast. As it is, the 458 Italia simply looks absolutely amazing, one of the best looking supercars out there. And this Speciale version looks much more beefed up, sharper; like its been working out in the gym for a bit. The black stripe sandwiched in between two white stripes that runs over the car just adds to the occasion.

      The 458 Speciale houses the same 4.5litre V8 from the Italia but now it pushes out 597hp @ 9000rpm and 540Nm @ 6000rpm which showcases almost 35 more horsepower than the Italia. Ferrari engineers carried out specified refinements to the V8 engine to maximise its output as well as improvised mechanical efficiency. The engine now has an increased compression ratio of 14:1, optimised combustion chamber fluid-dynamics, new materials for some of the engine components, revised crankshaft geometry and intake system as well as a new cam profile. There’s a new algorithmic system named the Side Slip Angle Control (SSC) which calculates the amount of slide slip angle of the car to optimise the torque management in order to minimize oversteer and maximize cornering grip.  Changes are not just to its power station but there are lots of new trick stuff going on in terms of active aerodynamics for the 458 Speciale. There are lots of flaps, both vertical and horizontal in the front bumper that functions differently according to the speed the car is travelling to minimize drag coefficiency on the straights and maximize downforce in cornering. A new rear diffuser which also has an active aerodynamic is fitted and above the diffuser is one of my favourite changes to from the Italia, the tail-pipes!!! It now has a dual tail-pipe which looks absolutely magnificent compared to the 458 Italia. All those new changes has to have a better output. 0 to 100km/h now just take 3 seconds dead, 0 to 200km/h takes just 9.1 seconds and the Speciale tops up at 325km/h.

      There’s a solution if you don’t find this car interesting and want something else in its class. Ferrari’s counterpart, Lamborghini has made a limited edition of the Gallardo LP570-4 called the Gallardo Squardo Corse which is just another souped up version of the Gallardo. They’ve been making like millions different versions of the Gallardo already and Lambo need to make a freaking new Gallardo for god’s sake! The Squadro Corse has also been revealed in the Frankfurt Motor Show and its out in 2014. I suspect it to be very stripped out and just raw power just like in most special edition Lamborghinis. I reckon the 458 Speciale would be a very much better car to own and to look at actually. Beauty on the outside and an absolute beast lurking beneath it.

                                      

The 1140hp Swedish Mafia, The Koenigsegg Agera R

     Present days, car manufacturers are moving towards precision engineering, making cars faster, comfortable, techy and easier to drive. Take for example, the insanely well engineered and the wildly powered Bugatti Veyron with its 16 cylindered 8 litre engine alongside its 4 turbos. Looking at all the details on this car, it is just amazing how someone can come up with such an idea and actually make such a machine. In fact, they made it, and made it rather well. The Veyron is an icon for speed, making a record of 431km/h with the Veyron Supersport edition. Incredible numbers, incredible speed. Sounds like a car that is made for professional race drivers?  No actually, it isnt as wild of a car you might think it is. Its tame, it has an automatic gearbox even for daily driving. When driven around town normally, it is just a normal car, with a comfortable ride; even a grandma can drive it without a problem. It is like a normal Audi A6; comfortable, quiet, practical, except it is a bit big and fast......really really fast. 

          Somehow rather, I wouldn’t get one even if I had the money to buy it, aside from the fact that the 400+km/h speed isn’t quite accessible on our roads. What I’d get if I had a bank full of gold is a Swedish born Koenigsegg instead, the Agera R to be specific. Coming from a small car company in Sweden (when I say small, I mean compared to other car manufacturers out there) which was established just under 20 years ago. This company was started by Christian Von Koenigsegg, an optimistic man with a mission in mind. All the cars made by Koenigsegg were on the high power scale, trying to get on the top speed records. Their most recent model, the Agera R is just a giant leap forward. A fully Koenigsegg turbocharged 5 litre V8 engine that produces 1140hp and 1200Nm of torque, and has a new paddle shift operated gearbox that is a single clutch unit but has a new system that allows it to have an almost seamless shift times. The handling of this car is also said to be incredibly good thanks to its new triplex suspension that was designed by Christian Von Koenigsegg himself. According to car reviewers that tested the car, it seems the stability of the Agera R is amazing as it can accelerate up to well over 300km/h+ easily and brake in record time without the car wobbling around thanks to its massive carbon brakes (Record acceleration and braking : 0-300-0km/h =21.19s). The whole car is made from the best quality of carbon fibre called the prepreg with the chassis made from aluminium honeycomb which is both aluminium and carbon elements making the base structure incredibly stiff, strong and very crash absorbent. The uniquely mad doors that open vertically from previous Koenigsegg models also feature in the Agera R. Maybe it doesn’t sound as interesting or that the specifications aren’t that amazing. Well, you should watch how they hand build the cars and then you’ll get the sense that it isn’t just a powerful and cool looking hypercar they are making, there’s more to that ; in my words, a masterpiece. Most car manufacturers set a target for the car they would build, for example a targeted 700hp. But things are different at Koenigsegg, they take the car and push it beyond its limit, see what breaks down, fix it, and raise the bar higher and then fine tune it till its about just right. 

            Mr Koenigsegg himself said that they do not mass produce these cars. They take their time and build them in a way that can be described in two words, exclusive and exquisite.