Lets talk about cars/motorsports

@Greenmantle: Still kinda boring to me, but I live in the US, where we apparently get the more conservative styling. Seems like the Euro one is more radical.

@Cassie: That's because it was replaced with a true AMG car - the SLS AMG, which is going to get a smaller form: the SLC AMG.

Not as much as the previous generation: the 8th-Gen◊ model.

Ah, that's the one I recognize from Top Gear, I believe. I'm pretty sure the one sold here looks the same way it did several years ago.

I idolize the SLR for what its worth. Saying another car is in production to replace that is a stupid disgraceful excuse even for a company that perpetuates the world's finest automobiles

Although SLS is yet again an engineering marvel, SLR has the looks SLS can never have

What do you people think about the latest CLS and its AMG tunes?

edited 8th Mar '12 7:20:17 AM by Cassie

Well the CLS (think that is what Jeremy Clarkson drove in its ace custom AMG form in a recent eppy of Top Gear) looks even more uncontrollable than the old 911s used to be. And those had a reputation as the Grim Reaper's company car.

Putting that much power into only one set of wheels is just willy-waving as far as I am concerned. And expensive considering the cost of the type of tyres used by the car if you do manage to keep it on the track/road. Either cut the bhp and torque, or give the car an intelligent four-wheel drive system.

AWD is pretty sweet.

Especially when you have TWO engines in the car. One guy dropped a 3100 GM V6 into his Oldsmobile W-body, doubling his engine displacement.

http://www.oldsconnection.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=886

Pretty nuts. Of course, this meant adding a lot of weight - that's an entire engine, transaxle and half-shafts added to the car. Probably cheaper doing it this way, than rigging the car for one-engine AWD, though. Plus, if one engine goes kaput, you got a spare for limp-home mode.

I also recall a Hyndai dude dropping another engine into his Tiburon for giggles.

Well, there have been twin-engined Minis, used even in competition, and more than one twin-engined Mini Moke.

Nothing new about it.

Yeah but the twini mini would work nowadays. We have engineers working in the automotive industry now who would crack that piffling cooling problem. Through Technology and Science!!!!

Cooling problem? Bah, not an issue, just stuff more radiator into the thing and send coolant back and forth. Or have a secondary radiator in the rear of the car, with extra go-faster vents to direct air to it.

Fiero's had a front-mounted radiator for cooling the rear-mount engine, so it shouldn't be too much of an engineering nightmare.

Here's the twin-engine car I was looking for originally - a twin-blown Oldsmobile. Two 425 cubic inch V8's, blown. Cooling done by routing coolant through the tubular frame, which is pretty wild.

http://www.oldsclub.org/JWO/TheHairyHurstOlds/hairy_hurst_olds.htm

More pics of that car here - http://hursthairyolds.com/1966.aspx

What's funny is that it makes 2400 horsepower, but only does 11-second quarter mile times. Overkill, but who cares?

edited 9th Mar '12 11:36:15 AM by pvtnum11

It's a Mini — there's not much space to go around. There has been "another" one built recently from scratch, with two Minii Cooper S-spec engines. I've got it in a magazine, but that's all at the moment...

that is only if you are going to stick to the confines of the Mini's bodyshell. Instead of doing what the Williams company did with that absolutely mental Group B Metro.Even failing that, cooling systems are better than they used to be. Otherwise things like the Bugatti Veyron would never have got into production.

It can be done — here's that twin-engined Cooper S.

Now that is sweet, but how long can it be driven for without falling to bits?

A fair while, if you know how — mostly by letting the front engine "lead" the rear engine, and by being rather careful...

Oh okay.

Traction control would be a must - you will unload the front suspension when you nail the gas, and that leads to a loss of traction up front. That's why RWD is generally favored for straight-line acceleration, the squat-down improves grip at the rear.

ITT Porsches are bland and unchanging on the outside. Any Porsche owners out there? I don't mean to offend. Just stating my two cents about the looks

All right then: What's your favourite car that didn't reach the American market?

If you look at a Porsche 911 and you look at a Gen 1 VW Beetle, you are basically looking at the same sodding car. All that Porsche designers did to make the first 911 was to lengthen the body shell, uprate the engine and strengthen the chassis. And charged like wounded buffalo for it.

And they keep pulling the same trick. Mainly because people are idiots and believe them when they say that they have made thousands of modifications to the panels that make up the bodyshell.

Even more so for the Porsche 356 — you can even get kit-car replicas of the 356 based on the Beetle...

Can't believe I missed this. Rear-wheel drive is something else that the Porsche Beetle has with the Volkswagen 911 (and yep, I was trying to be funny.)

Yeah, the 356 is quite close in looks to the Beetle as well, I just have the opinion that it is even more blatant with the 911.

edit, doesn't stop me wanting a 959. I just lack the money to buy it, the skill to drive it, and the license to make it legal for me to do so, 8-)

edited 12th Mar '12 2:57:10 AM by TamH70

By the way, you do realise that Porsche owns VAG as well?

...and see what they own!

The Porsche 944 is a pretty fun car. They can be difficult in terms of maintenance, but I wouldn't mind having one. Of course, I believe the MR 2 has better ergonomics and handling, but that's just my take on it. As far as European roadsters go, I would have a hard time choosing either a Lotus Elise or a BMW Z4. I'd probably go with the Elise just because I can appreciate the suspension layout a bit more, and the lightweight chassis is a plus.

@Greenmantle: To answer your question, probably the Lotus Exige, now that they stopped selling it here.