Well, At Least My Guy Won The Election...

I'm a little chagrined at the moment. Two nights ago, Barack Obama succeeded in doing something I didn't think I'd live to see, and I'm only 32. I couldn't be happier at the outcome of the national election, and yet I'm filled with disappointment in another area of my life. I can take some solace in the fact that 2008's F1 title race went down to the last corner, of the last lap of the last race. It's almost certainly the closest finish in F1 history, and it didn't go my way.

I'm not a fan of Lewis Hamilton. I'm a fan of a bunch of guys who will never be champion, but even excluding the likes of Nick Heidfeld and David Coulthard I'm still never happy to see Hamilton win. It may be that I've been poisoned by all the commentators who've been busy crowning Hamilton the greatest driver ever since a week after he showed up on the circuit. Certainly the man's accomplishments speak to a degree of talent, but his attitude, and his tactics leave me a little nonplussed. I'm not ready to have the sport I love revolutionized by a driver who cannot overtake without driving into the side of his opponent. Also, I'd like to see what he's capable of doing with a mid-field car, instead of one of Ron Dennis' specially prepared Lewis-mobiles.

And so I found myself hoping to watch balding, baby-faced Felipe Massa come out on top this year. In the absence of anyone interesting to root for, I chose the guy with a chance against Hamilton and Dennis. I had reason to be hopeful too because Massa showed great form all year, and an ability to tame Ferrari's notoriously tricky F2008 that team mate and 2007 champ Kimi Raikkonen never seemed to master for a whole race. Massa deserved to be champion just as much as Hamilton, maybe more as most of Massa's missteps this year came ion the form of mechanical failure, whereas Hamilton managed to crash himself out of a couple races. But by mid season, it wasn't Massa I really wanted to win.

I've also never been a real fan of Fernando Alonso. He's never really had the attitude I like to see in a champion, the self confidence that would border on smug if it weren't so obviously a statement of fact. It's a nebulous idea that can take many forms. From the quiet assurance of Jim Clark, to the instructional tone of Jackie Stewart, to the aristocratic demeanor of Alain Prost. Senna was my favorite in this respect. I'm not a fan who labels Senna "the greatest ever" in full ignorance of his record, but he was my favorite. I think it has more to do with growing up in a certain period than it does with Senna's actual ability. Alonso always seemed to have half the idea down. He won two championships on the trot, and was established as a farce to be reckoned with at the age of 25, but his attitude seemed mostly bluster, without the passion to back it up... could I have been more wrong?

Last season at Mclaren Alonso came in as the defending WDC and went home third, behind Hamilton. All season long Mclaren had been involved in a scandals and back room politics as Ron Dennis' "no team orders" policy came up against a desire to watch his protege succeed in his rookie year. Quite apart from the scandal with the Ferrari documents (in which Alonso may have had a part) the team had managed to center itself around its junior driver, at the expense of the champion on whom they'd spent a small fortune. It was not a stellar year for either Mclaren or Alonso, and they went their separate ways with a touch of bitterness. this year he was back at Renault, and thus was a non-starter as far as the championship went. I'll not mince words here, the car that Renault produced was a dud, a flop, a mobile chicane... it was almost a Honda. I started to think that 2008 could be the beginning of the end for the two-time champ.

And then something happened, Fernando drove the wheels off the car. It never finished that high, not at the beginning of the season anyway, and Fernando could be heard at the end of races whining about the cars lack of ability. But on track, he was showing the way home to a lot of better seated drivers in a way that made his complaining sound less like whining, and more like the facts of the matter. It's been a long time since I've watched a driver put in a better overall performance, especially in a car that didn't deserve the effort. All this effort on his part made the team listen, made them build a car worth going out and driving. The result was victory at Singapore and in Japan. Next year the rules change, and very little of this years development will be carried over. very little is certain in F1 anyway, but the new aerodynamic rules make the field wide open.

But with Alonso at Renault, I finally have someone I can hope wins instead of just rooting against Hamilton.

New Cars: Mexico To Build Super Car Italians Won't Build...

The Mastreta MXT is notable for being light weight, small, quick, and -relatively- cheap. It's also notable for being the first native born car from Mexico. It's a small sports car, though because it weighs only 900kg its performance is more super than sports, with 0-60mph taking under 5-seconds. It's not slow flat-out either, though 150mph is merely fast-hatch territory anymore. It may not be cute exactly, but its aggressive stance and chunky proportions aren't without appeal, but the way the front and rear halves come together at the roof needs attention.

If all this is beginning to sound just a bit like a Lotus Elise, you're really not that far off, at least in concept; and indeed, the MXT shares the little Lotus' features of a bonded aluminum chassis, and fibreglass body. It does without the Lotus' extreme take on the subject though, with an air conditioned, leather-trimmed cockpit. Add in its Ford Duratec power plant, and, too me, it reminds more of an Italian sports car of yore, the De Tomaso Vallelunga. And that can only be a good thing.

Ok, so I'm hoping that the new car does without the Vallelunga's ear-splitting noise levels, or it's flaky build quality. But if the car turns out to be half the handling paragon the littlest De Tomaso was, then Mexico will have done itself proud, especially as this is the kind of car for which Italy used to be famous, but which has been washed away in the past three decades beneath a wave of ever faster super cars.

Not a ton is known about the MXT at the moment, except that it will have 240bhp from a turbo-charged version of Ford's 2.0-liter Duratec four-cylinder, and that it should go at least as well as the company claims if that weight target is met. Should handle nicely too with manual rack and pinion, and double-wishbones at each corner.

Production will be limited as well with a mere 150 vehicles produced in the first year, with 80 of those being RHD. The price in Britain is expected to be around £40,000. Of course, US customers won't get the car at all as there are no current plans to certify it for sale in the market. I am though, really excited for this car, but I'm a bit concerned that the person shooting the video of the car testing could be bothered/afford to use a tripod... Still, it's a great start, and who knows, it may lead other sports car manufacturers in the right direction. Definitely one on which to keep an eye.

Nine Minutes Of (Someone Else's) Stupid Fun.

There's a legend about Japan, propagated by that movie about oversteering through the Japanese capital in a manner both fast and perhaps furious. The legend states that if you're car can progress at a rate faster than the Japanese mandated 111mph limit for production cars, the police won't bother to chase you while you're speeding. I have no idea if this is true.

What I do know is that this limit is of very little concern to owners of stock versions of Mazda's AZ1 because in stock form its little 660cc, 64bhp 3-cylinder will struggle to propel it anywhere near that speed. What we have here is a little different. It's sort of an open secret that these cars are capable of far more given to proper provocation and that power levels as high as 120bhp are possible. Now, I'm not saying that this car is tuned that high, but it's clearly faster than a stock AZ1.

It's a long video, but it made me laugh when I found it, and I thought I'd share it with you. Not a lot happens, it's just a car going down a Japanese expressway in the early hours of June 6th 1999... and listening to an amusing collection of soft-rock. The two times that the car sits at a light for 30 seconds or so while the driver listens to Hall & Oates' Maneater is either a fascinating glimpse into life in Japan in the late Twentieth Century, or the worst television show ever.

I'm not sure what's going on at the end there, though I think that gauge at the top has logged his top-speed of 192kph. Let's just be glad he turns the stero down before the Bonnie Tyler really kicks in.

Cause To Celebrate, If You're Very Rich That Is.

The article in evo. didn't start out well. Harry Metcalf had gone to Italy to see what the deal was with Ferrari's new California model. It's a car that has a lot of people worried because it looks, on the surface, to be a major step in the dumbing-down of the sports car. I myself have raised serious reservations in this very blog, and while I found some of them to be overturned by the article, it seemed to raise as many issues as it addressed. Harry liked the look of the car upon seeing it in the metal, and likened it less to a convertible, than to a coupe that has a folding roof.

The engineers at Ferrari had encouraging things to say as well, telling Metcalf that keeping the new car fun to drive was a high priority, giving a good account of their reasoning on giving the car a dual-clutch transmission. They also showed Harry the extent to which they went in keeping weight off the new car, which included structural use of Magnesium. They even went as far as to admit that many Ferrari's of late haven't done a good enough job of transmitting their voice to the cabin, and showed the steps they'd taken to correct the situation. All very encouraging.

But then they go to the exhaust. It's not the fact that the exhaust has been tuned to keep some of its racket from permeating the cockpit with the roof down, that's fine with me. It's that the exhaust outlets stacked under the rear bumper in their now familiar fashion, aren't real. The real pipes are placed deep inside the dummies, and are much smaller. It's not that I'm criticizing Ferrari for making smaller exhausts if that was what was needed for the car to function as desired, it's the jewelry aspect of the fakes with which I take issue. the car was designed from the start as a car that could reasonably be taken on weekend trips and a quiet exhaust on the highway is desirable for that kind of car, but this fakery just smacks of boulevard posing.

Then there's the matter of weight. I'm not going to beat around the bush, the car is too heavy, and a pure hardtop version can't arrive soon enough. I think that most of the ridiculous 1700kg/3750lb that the car carries can be put down to that folding hard-top, and the extra bracing necessary for an open car. I'm sure Ferrari can make the car go, stop, and turn well enough despite this handicap, but it would have been better if they'd just ditched the nifty roof, and given drivers more purity.

There are a couple bright spots though, and they're not exactly little ones. The first is that Ferrari are planning an HGTC performance package for the car, which should enable it to hold it's own in track days, and which is somewhat unexpected given the market for the car. The second is still that engine. I have no doubt that Ferrari's first direct-injection power plant is going to be a belter, with great torque across the rev-range. The third though, is the best. Despite all previous statements, Ferrari are going to make available, a conventional manual gearbox for the car. This really is a great thing to hear as Ferrari's abandonment of the conventional manual was a blow to performance car fans everywhere, and had me scared of the potential trickle-down effect that might consign the clutch pedal to the history books.

Now all Ferrari have to do is bolt the roof one tight, and get rid of 300lbs of useless servos...

Thoughts On The Mclaren F1.

As I mentioned in a post a couple days ago, I recently got to ride in one of the most amazing cars in the world, the Mclaren F1. This is an opportunity that doesn't come along very often, so I thought I would take a little time to expand on whatever insights I could offer thanks to my brief and slightly overwhelming trip.

First off, my ride was, quite literally, around the block. So I'm not sure that I can glean much that hasn't been said by much more experienced hacks. I did though, for one instant, get shown that I had never, never been in a really fast car before. I've driven some cars with over 400bhp, and all wheel drive, but they're pale shadows of the acceleration offered up by the Mclaren. Nothing, I have ever felt, compares with the huge push of that BMW V12.

Beyond that, the sheer sound of going fast in the F1 is unlike anything I've ever heard. the car seems to have three settings, burble, roar, and overrun. The car can run just about everywhere through town without going above its fast idle. But when the throttle is opened more than a crack, the motor's whole tone changes, and everything starts to happen very quickly. the engine wakes up ans shouts its approval of the situation as the car is thrown up the road. We must have covered 300 ft before my brain caught up with what was going on, and I don't think the owner floored it. Second gear is demolished in an instant of noise and violence, and third seems to take no longer to run out. All the while the engine is yelling at you right over your shoulder; if you turn your head to the side, you can look right at it as it powers you along. The noise is just as powerful when the throttle is closed, with a series of percussive pops and bangs from the exhaust on the overrun. The sum of all this vocal talent is one of the richest, most involving rides I've ever had. though I do wonder what all that racket would be like day to day.

Another thing I can tell you about the Mclaren is that I don't fit in it. Working for several months at an 11-hour desk job has made me fat and weak, and the car's tiny passenger pods, mounted wither side of the driver are just not up to absorbing my increased mass. Maybe it's an insurance policy on the light weight of the F1; perhaps Gordon Murry didn't want passengers adding so much weight that they could affect the performance and handling, I don't know. What I do know is that a Mclaren is the best weight loss incentive I can think of; a person will do anything they car in order to fit inside and experience the unique sensations it produces.

It's a very attractive car too, and not one that looks its best in photos. I've always liked the way it looks, but at the same time, I've always preferred the beautiful, full curves of Jaguar's XJ-220, or the more alien angles of Lamborghini's Diablo, or Murcielago. In person though, the Mclaren attracts the eye with its better proportions, and more interesting graphic. It is also pleasingly small. I know that's not new information, but until you see it in person, it won't dawn on you just how good a packaging job the crew at Mclaren did. The Jaguar by comparison looks like acres of useless extravagance.

But the most profound thing I discovered while riding in the Mclaren, was a new understanding of the word quality. In many cars, as with all consumer durables, there is a tendency to take the idea of quality and tack it onto a product. The current Bugatti Veyron is an example of what I mean. While I'm sure it's a terribly capable thing, and that sitting in it must be a luxurious and indulgent experience, I'm convinced that much of what goes into the Veyron's feeling of luxury is facade. The cabin is swathed in miles of leather. Every control not wrapped in cow sees to be made of knurled and rare mineral.

But it's all added in later. In the Mclaren, most of what you come in contact with is made out of the lightest thing that could be found to do the job, and there's as little of it as can be made hospitable. Much of what you see, and touch is the bare structure of the car, and all of it interfaces with the mechanics as directly as possible. Those mechanics are also as light, ans strong as they could be made, and they're tuned to feedback as much of the road as you can take. it's this sense of quality being engineered into the tiniest of components, until it pervades the car as a whole, that sets the Mclaren apart from cars like the Veyron, and maybe even more so, the Spyker. there's now jewelry, not barrier between you and the parts of the car you came to enjoy.

In terms of that other great love of gearheads everywhere, the watch, it's the difference between a Hublot Big Bang, and a Stainless-Steel Rolex Cosmograph Daytona. The Hublot is a fine thing, and both are totally unnecessary in a world where a Casio can tell time just as well. But in the Rolex, all the sense of quality comes from the machine itself. There is no mother of pearl, or tacked on carbon fibre; there's no frippery. It's just a machine, one that's been designed from the start, to do it's job better than any other machine like it on the planet. Likewise the Mclaren is just a car, one that just happens to be the best I've ever encountered. Not bad for around the block huh?

Thoughts On The New Lotus.

Well, my first thought is that Lotus need to get away from this whole E-name thing into which they've gotten themselves. I know, it dates all the way back to Chapman thinking that just using numbers to identify cars wouldn't work for the public and naming the Type-14 the Elite, but Evora (though certainly better than Eagle) is a bit of a stretch.

On the plus side, I think it's quite good looking. It's a little thing, which is pleasing in this day and age. It carries a reasonable air of luxury as well, which is a welcome return for Lotus; as much as I like cars like the Elise/Exige, the world isn't totally composed of smooth switchbacks, and sometimes you just end up sitting in traffic.

Let's talk about the styling for a minute. While many on the Internet have been complaining that the car is somehow too ordinary and perhaps uninspired, I tend to see it as pleasingly balanced in overall form, with some nice details that don't go far enough to overturn the understated air the car manages. It's quite low, and carries a strong profile, while details like the concave sills, the rear ducting, and the way the window lines come together to meet the roof at the same spot, are I think, particularly well accomplished. I've heard the front likened to that of the Lotus-based Tesla Roadster, but I can only think that to be a comment on the first picture leaked, because from other angles, the resemblance is lessened.

On the performance front, little is certain because Lotus are being coy on the matter. With under 3,000lbs being pushed by 276bhp and 250lb-ft from a Toyota sourced, 3.5-liter V6, the car should end up being rather quick without quite breaking into the super car league. That weight is delivered in spite of the Evora's aforementioned level of luxury and the fact that, despite being a mid-engine car, it's a 2+2 as well (though the rear seats are apparently so tiny that they fail to show up in press photos). In any case, less than 5.0-seconds to 60mph, coupled with a top speed in the 160mph+ range seem to be safe bets.


The luxury angle really is being played heavily by Lotus, even the photos reveal a cockpit that's one of the most stylish and complete in the company's history. Starting with much wider doors than the Elise that give access to high-backed Recaro seats and such niceties as an Alpine touch-screen entertainment system with Sat-Nav, ipod hookup, and DVD; all contained within an attractive sweep of dash, leading to an aluminum gauge cluster combining analog clocks with rather red LCDs.

The chassis is the first for some time that Lotus hasn't based on the Elise. Though still using the extruded and bonded aluminum that has become as much Lotus trademark as the steel backbone used to be, the chassis is none the less fundamentally different to the Elise and Europa and is the first application of Lotus' VVA (Versatile Vehicle Architecture) the Evora will employ the usual Lotus aluminum wishbones at each end, along with four-wheel disks and ABS.

So, it's a new car from Lotus, and that in itself is something to celebrate. It looks to be a good one as well, which is more important in many ways than being the lightest, or the quickest. Lotus can do those things already, it needs to learn how to make it's cars usable and reliable. The Toyota connection has undoubtedly helped the latter, though I for one do wish that Lotus had gone somewhere else for this V6 as both Honda and Nissan make better 3.5-liter engines, the Honda being especially nice. That motor does seem to be hung right at the limit of what can be called a mid-ship placement, and I'd be interested to read the weight distribution, but then, Lotus must know what they're doing. Right now though, I'm excited for this car. The price in Britain is something like $90,000, which seems a bit steep, but I wouldn't expect one-to-one pricing when it comes to the US. This is the first car in a while that might get me to think about something other than a Cayman or 911 if I come into that kind of money in the near future. It's pretty, it's light, it's quick, it's well done, and it's a Lotus. I can't wait.

One You Can't Buy Here, IV...

One of my favorite current cars about which to dream is Maserati's Gran Turismo S. It's a beautiful car, and the addition of the 4.7-liter version of the Maserati/Ferrari/Alfa Romeo V8 out of the 8C Competizione is reported to make up for the lack of grunt experienced in the "normal" Gran Turismo. It looks to be a new step in the resurgence Maserati has been experiencing in recent years and in most ways is the kind of car they should have been producing for years.

That being said, I have a few small problems with it, not the least of which is that engine. I understand that economies of scale mean that it's easier for Fiat to base Maserati's new beginning on Ferrari's 430, but it irks me just the same. Maserati is a marque with a history as proud and evocative as any in Italy, and to have it share it's bloodline with a brand that was once its greatest rival is just a little sad. I love the new cars, and I'm glad that Maserati have finally found the capital to produce beautiful machinery again, I only with it were theirs. My second problem is the gearbox. I have no doubt that it is improved over earlier versions of the Cambicorsa but it should not be the only transmission option available. A Maserati is not a racing car, and need not emulate current racing machines. A six-speed, complete with clutch pedal would be nice.

And so it is that I find myself wishing once again that the US market had been recipient to that most elevated of the much derided Bi-Turbo lineup, the Shamal. the Bi-Turbo was not in itself a great car, though in many ways not as bad as rumor and history would suggest. It was an attempt, twenty years ago, to bring Maserati forward into the 80s with a car that could be made profitable at a time when the company's aging lineup of super GTs had it lumbering dinosaur like toward extinction. The new, twin-turbocharged V6, from which the model took it's name was a brave departure, and a considerable expense, for new owner Alejandro De Tomaso. The cars were unreliable though, and soon garnered a reputation for leaving owners stranded in ways that the BMWs they had traded in had not. The Bi-Turbo was effectively the end for Maserati in the American market, and even in Europe it was seen as a farce and Maserati became nothing more than an off-beat choice for those looking for something out of the ordinary.

That changed somewhat in 1989. After years of grafting on camshafts and valves, and increasing the displacement of the Bi-Turbo, Maserati uncorked what many at the time thought was the car the Bi-Turbo should have been all along. The Shamal would incorporate a new engine, still based heavily in Bi-Turbo design, but now a V8 of 3.2-liters (basically a Bi-Turbo 90-degree V6 with two cylinders added) that, along with being balanced dynamically, generated 325bhp and 318 lb-ft of torque. That grunt was sent to a modified version of the Bi-Turbo's trailing arm rear end (struts at the front) via a six-speed manual transmission and a limited-slip differential termed "Ranger" by Maserati. That grunt may not sound so high today, but remember, this was in the days when even GT cars could be made reasonably light weight; the Shamal came in at 3,124lbs (the Gran Turismo weighs over 3,900). the results must have been electrifying. Here, as if from nowhere, was a true performance GT from one of the most respected badges in automotive history.

Along with performance figures that put it firmly in the game (0-60 in around 5.0-seconds when a super car could do it in maybe 4.0, top speed north of 165) the Shamal featured a re-style of the basic Bi-Turbo shape by none other than Mr. Super car himself, Marcello Gandini, it even had the signature rear-whee larch cut-outs to prove it. Never a pretty shape, the Shamal is none the less a looker, with interesting proportions and bold, boxed arches. Only details like the (functional) spoiler at the base of the wind screen detract. The cabin was luxurious in the 80s Maserati mold, featuring that signature lemon-shaped clock in the center of the dash; almost every other surface was covered in wood or leather.

Best of all, this new Maserati Gt handled in a no holds barred, tail out kind of way. It was what is chauvinistically referred to as a "mans car" and it took a firm hand to steer it from the rear when all that torque hit the wheels. Here was Maserati's answer to a decade of criticism, a stunning GT that hit almost all the right buttons, and which, of course, was made in very limited numbers. It would be up to the later, V6 Ghibli to take Maserati's fight to the likes of Porsche, but that's another story. In all, only 369 Shamals would leave the factory before production was halted.

Of course I've never driven one, never even seen one in fact, but it remains one of the cars I most covet; one of the cars I'd import myself, just to sit it in my living-room on display. These cars deserve better though. They're made for crushing continents and deliver what must be a very special experience. They are also among the last Maserati GTs made before the total Fiat takeover and the "sale" to Ferrari, and thus are some of the last true Maseratis. today's cars are more advanced and their suspension design is certainly better in concept, but they don't rate as highly in handling, and I can't help feeling like something has been lost in the translation from Maserati, to mini-Ferrari.

Perhaps Performance Car Magazine summed it up best in period with this wrap-up on the Shamal, "Challenging looks, storming performance. Superb." Still fancy that Gran Turismo S? Alas, I've no other choice but to do so...