The New Breed

So it's been awhile since my last post. I had some internet service provider issues.
I am back now and have been coming up with and finding new ideas, so they are gonna start coming fast and loud. So let's get on with it shall we.

every few years the auto industry goes through a bit of a metamorphosis. Where allot of new cars debut with allot of new technology. Some times this tech and these cars blow everyone's mind and get people very excited for what is to come. Other times no one cares and things continue as normal.

The last time we had an amazing year that I can remember was 2005. That year brought the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, the current design generation of the Ford Mustang (which is in it's last year sadly), the Aston Martin DB9, the Ford GT and the Ferrari F430 just to name a few. before that I would say it would have had to be 2002 which saw the debut of Lamborghini Gallardo (which they should be replacing shortly), the Ferrari Enzo and a new generation of Dodge Viper.

Now however we experiencing one of the best years in automotive history to date. 2013 and for that matter 2014 in my opinion will change cars as we see them the forever. No longer will you have to put a big engine in you're car to make big power, The performance statistics we are used to are being shattered in spectacular fashion and hybrid technology will go from being a joke to save at the pumps to being a viable option to add useable power to performance cars in an economic way.

I cannot and will not try to name all of the cars that are debuting or going on sale in 2013 but I will discuss some of them that I find to be notable. Let's see, we have the Ferrari Laferrari, porsche 918 spider, BMW i8 and i3, volkswagon golf/GTI/GTD, BMW 4 series and M4 along with the new 3 series and of course the Mclaren P1.

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/ferrari-laferrari-vs-mclaren-p1-vs-porsche-918-spyder-geneva-2013-03-06

Honestly what can I tell you about these cars that you don't already know. If you read this blog than you probably try to stay on top of car news as much as I do but if you don't I will try to enlighten you.

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/ferrari-laferrari-vs-mclaren-p1-vs-porsche-918-spyder-geneva-2013-03-06

We are going to start with the mind blowing laferrari, This car is the spiritual successor to the exceptional and rare Ferrari Enzo. This car however will make the Enzo look somewhat shall we say archaic. For that reason The car is....well I'll be frank it isn't cheap 1.3 million dollars but when you look at what it's competing against that isn't so bad.

It is driven by something called the f70 f150 HY-KERS System which produces 963 horsepower. This is basically saying that they took the V12 from the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta (730 horespower) tweaked it a bit to get 789 HP and put an electric motor system on the back of it which adds another 161 horsepower.

This seems to be the way allot of hyper cars are going now. They take a big engine and instead of dropping a big turbo on it they supplement an electric drive unit. I think this is a wonderful use of the technology available for two reason.

1, It increases the fuel economy of an other wise 3mpg car to slightly more reasonable numbers.

2, If you strap a big turbo on you're car it will probably blow up if the engine can't handle it, and NOS is illegal for street use. we have not seen the reliability of such electric/gas drivetrains yet but I have high hopes. Plus you can say you drive a hybrid without being laughed at.

http://www.worldcarfans.com/111012430516/porsche-918-production-car-will-be-a-spyder

 As most of you will realize above is the new Porsche 918 spider. it's a little cheaper at just over a million dollars. It also has slightly less power at 875. It runs on a 600 horsepower v8 plus and electric drive motor to come up with it's total. The cool thing about this car over the Ferrari or the Mclaren is that unlike those cars this one can run on only electric drive if you so choose. I'm not entirely sure why a person who buys a million dollar 875 horsepower car that can do 0-60 in 2.8 seconds would want to drive in only electric mode (maybe it's a party trick) but to each his own I suppose. However having the ability to drive in pure electric does give the 918 a bit more daily drive credibility which could move it into the realm of the perfect car.

http://www.worldcarfans.com/111012430516/porsche-918-production-car-will-be-a-spyder

Now we arrive at my favorite of the hyper three, The Mclaren P1. This car is of-course 1.1 million dollars but that is no surprise by now. The tech in this car however is in my opinion more useful for a hypercar than that of the previous two cars in this post. It has a turbo charged 3.8 litre V8 that puts down 727 horsepower. Unlike the other two cars however where the electric motor works sepreatly but in conjunction with the gas engine, in this car the electric motor is attached to the driveline of the engine kinda like a supercharger it produces 34.8 psi of boost which in turn gives the engine another 177 horsepower for a total of 903. The electric motor can decouple from the gas engine and run on pure electric ( I know I said the porsche was the only one that could do that but the Mclaren can only run on pure electric for 6.2 miles so cut me some slack). My favorite part of this car though is the fact that it essentially has an electric NOS system. There is a button on the steering wheel that let's you instantly dump all 177 horsepwer into the engine for what I'm guessing would be a rather abrupt boost in power. That is just cool on a street legal car.

So that is the three big hyper cars debut for the year, Now let's talk about some more affordable cars.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/08/16/bmw-m4-concept-monterey-2013/

 The BMW 4 Series. Ok let's get this out of the way first. The name M4 or even just the 4 series is stupid. The name is supposed to represent the 2 door variant of the sedan 3 series and M3. Think about this for a second they have a 4 door car called the 3 series and a 2 door car called the 4 series. Am I crazy, does that make sense to anyone else. I understand why they didn't call it the 2 series or M2 because that makes it sound like less of a car. However a 2 door car called the 4 series hurts my head.

Now that I got that of my chest let us get back to the matter at hand. That car is drop dead gorgeous. The specs are all speculation from sources I've read.

http://www.evo.co.uk/news/evonews/290449/m4_concept_is_the_new_bmw_m3.html

it looks like the car will cost a little more than the current m3, around 90 thousand (the current models base is a bit over 72 grand) the M4 will have roughly 430 hp from a turbo charged motor as oppose to the current model's 414 HP naturally aspirated unit. The M4 will hit 60 in around 4 seconds. All in all it is shaping up to carry the tradition of possibly the most well rounded car on the market today. I can't wait.....now if only someone would let me drive one and review it.

http://www.zemotoring.com/news/2011/07/bmw-i3-and-i8-details-specifications-video-gallery

BMW's electric baby's

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/i/i3/2013/showroom/index.html

These cars are really rather cool the i3 being a pure electirc car with a top speed of 93 MPH from a 170 horespower electric motor get's the little beast to 60 in about 7 seconds. That's not bad considering the Hyundai Veloster Turbo does it in 6.8. so the little electric beamer can hang with some hot hatches and it fully charges in six hours.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/go/first-looks/2014-bmw-i8-coupe

The i8 on the other hand is a bit of a different animal. It is a gas electric with about 362 horespower and will hit 60 in about 4.6 seconds. In this car the gas engine is a turbo 1.5 litre 3 cylinder unit with 231 horsepower, this drives the rear wheels. The front wheels are separately powered by a 131 horsepower electric motor that is available instantly from zero rpm. The electric motor alone can power the car up to 75 MPH. All told this car can get 95 MPG on U.S cycle gas. that is pretty awesome.

http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/driven/1211_2014_volkswagen_gtd/

The new Volkswagen Golf just landed and amongst the debut they announced some model's such as the next generation GTI and GTD. These will be coming in 2014 and 2015 respectively. I am going to focus mainly on the GTD today though because it's my favorite.

The new GTI will be an amazing car. They have redesigned it slightly and it will now produce 220 horsepower or 230 if you opt for the performance package (which for once actually means something). The new Golf GTD is where it's at though. This car combines awesome fuel economy, the looks of the GTI and the torque of a diesel, and IT'S COMING TO CANADA PEOPLE!
It has Volkswagen's new EA288 diesel TDI motor which produces 184 horsepower. This is less than the the GTI's 220 yes but the GTD puts down 280 lbs ft of torque! This means it will be amazing at what hot hatches are supposed to do. That is accelerate and get out of corner's, Let's face it you don't really buy a hot hatch for the top speed. A hot hatch is used as a wicked fun daily driver that can dust lookey loo's at stop lights so 280 lbs ft of torque is a god send. The best part, while you're having you're cake you can eat it to. For the GTD to get 35 MPG with a heavy foot shouldn't be a stretch and it all will costs 27 thousand dollars (cheaper than the GTI by about 4 grand). I think this just may be the perfect car, now Volkswagen better damn well not change their mind because I for one would be in line to buy this beast.

So that's it folks a little bit of a preview of what's to come. I am excited for the future of automobile's and you should be to. With electric motor's being used as NOS to a sweet diesel hot hatch the only way this could get better is if I lived in Europe.