Death of the Mustang – Almost

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If not for an outcry from loyal enthusiasts, the front-wheel-drive coupe we know today as the Ford Probe could have become the fourth-generation Mustang

When Ford put the Mustang on the market in 1965, it took the auto industry by storm. Until then, the notion of a sports car for ordinary people seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream for most Americans. Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for petrolheads to fall in love with the Mustang, an affair which shows no signs of ending any time soon.

The Mustang story is not without its share of problems. The oil crisis of the early 1970s served to suffocate the V8 horsepower of American cars, including the Mustang. The resulting second-generation Mustang II was a shell of its predecessor, and is often regarded as one of the worst cars that Ford ever made. Things would get better with the introduction of the third-generation Fox Mustang, but sales continued to slump.

By the mid-1980s, the rear-wheel-drive pony car was starting to look like a bit of an antique in comparison to the wealth of cheap front-wheel-drive coupes coming in from Japan. These cars, particularly the Acura Integra and Toyota Celica, were lighter and more efficient than the Fox-body Mustang, yet were still fun to drive in their own right.

The practical advantages of front-wheel drive were impossible for Ford executives to ignore when it came time to refresh the Ford Mustang for its fourth generation. By 1987, plans were underway to christen the fourth-generation Mustang as a front-wheel-drive car. Through Ford’s growing business relationship with Mazda, the “New Mustang” would have been based on the same platform used by the humdrum Mazda 626. But Ford reckoned that this plan would work since Mazda had already used this platform to create the MX-6, which proved to be a decent two-door sports car, albeit not a particularly exhilarating one. The relatively lightweight coupe would be nimble and efficient, powered by either a four-cylinder or six-cylinder engine. But NO 5.0 V8!

There was just one problem with this plan… Mustang fans wanted none of it.

When word got out that the future Mustang was about to get a FWD drivetrain, the outrage was immediate. Ford’s head office was inundated with hundreds upon thousands of letters from angry Mustang devotees. The message was clear: to give the Mustang a front-wheel-drive platform would be to ruin it. Save the 5.0!

Despite sinking a huge sum of money into the front-wheel-drive platform, Ford decided to cave to the demands of Mustang fans. Rather than kill off the Fox Mustang in 1989, as planned to do, Ford kept it in production in spite of mediocre sales volumes. But there was no way that Ford could let its investment into the Mazda-based coupe go to waste. So they decided to build the car anyway and market it alongside the Mustang. It was believed that this car, now called the Probe, would prove a point and handily outsell the old-school Mustang.

This couldn’t have possibly been further from the truth. When the two cars went on sale together, the Mustang easily outsold the Probe, despite having architecture that was over ten years old. Pleasing the people had paid off for Ford, and it proved that American muscle wasn’t out of fashion.

The same couldn’t be said of the Ford Probe. Although it was primed for international sales, the American cousin of the Mazda MX-6 would never achieve the fan base of the car it was supposed to replace. Maybe it was because it didn’t have a V8 engine. Maybe it was because it was an American coupe with front-wheel-drive. Maybe it was because it was named after something usually associated with proctologists.

In fairness, the Probe wasn’t a terrible car. But it certainly wasn’t a great one, either. After all, it was essentially just a boring family car with two doors and pop-up headlights. No amount of early ‘90s radness could save it.

As for the Mustang, the time had come to finally retire the third-generation “Fox-body” design. Amazingly, Ford once again considered a front-wheel-drive platform, this time based on the Escort. But that notion was quickly dismissed when Ford couldn’t find a way to fit a front-wheel-drive transaxle to its Modular V8 engine. Instead, Ford decided to heavily modify the old Fox platform with modern lines that reflected the true heritage of the Mustang. Codenamed “SN-95”, the fourth-generation Mustang hit the streets in 1994. Ever since then, Ford hasn’t looked back. Over ten million Mustangs have been built, and they’ve all remained true to their rear-wheel-drive, rubber-burning roots.

Who’s up for a 16 cylinder 1000HP Cadillac Concept Car

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Watch this Cadillac Sixteen concept car starting up and driving away. This one off car has a legitimate V16 engine (not two V8s bolted together), producing 1,000 horsepower and 1,000 lbs ft. of torque without the use of forced induction. With most engines getting smaller and adding turbo chargers, this normally aspirated 16 cylinder engine is a revelation!

You will see this 1000HP Cadillac Concept Car’s engine interior, startup, driving away, and you’ll also see a Lamborghini Countach in the background driving away.

How not to drive a Ferrari 458 Italia

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At the time of this unfortunate accident, this now ruined 458 Italia had been loaned to a 26-year-old driver by Colorado supercar tour company Oxotic. It looks like the driver steamed into the bend a little too quickly, then tried to make the corner while braking, with predictable results.

The rental company, which uploaded the video, had the following to say about the state of the Ferrari:
“So the car basically had the entire passenger side damaged. every component. That rear flank is all aluminum and costs $38K alone and it was trashed! I wish I had taken more photos but I was not in the right mindset to do a full photos shoot. It was determined almost immediately that it was a total loss by the body shop and insurance company. Very sad.”

Porsche reveals a mid-engined 911 (race car)

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► Porsche unveils new 911 RSR race car in Los Angeles
► Eschews rear-engined configuration for mid-engined set-up
► Naturally aspirated flat-six develops 503bhp – with restrictors!

A new Porsche 911 RSR racer is always a big deal, but the latest RSR is a bigger deal than most – sacrilegiously, it’s mid-engined.

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To allow for an optimized weight distribution (which in turn allows for more efficient use of the car’s tires over the length of a racing stint) and more efficient aerodynamics, Porsche has taken a long hard look at the rulebook and, with a little ingenuity, pushed the 911’s flat-six into the middle of the car – ahead of the rear axle, for the first time since 1995’s 911 GT1 prototype.

The wheelbase, too, is increased over that of the production car – but both developments are legal within the regulations and key to a next-generation racer tasked with humbling LM-GTE rivals Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini and Corvette.

‘This is the biggest evolution in the history of our top GT model,’ says Porsche Motorsport boss Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser. ‘The new 911 RSR is a completely new development: the suspension, body structure, aerodynamic concept, engine and transmission have all been designed from scratch.

‘Honestly, it is a pretty fundamental change, and the car is completely different to the GT1 – that was a prototype. With the RSR we have stayed on the 911 platform and changed what was necessary. It was an important step for us, to come back and have a competitive car.

“Joking, I would say the ideas has been around since 2005! But we had some interruptions, some protests. I took over this role in October 2014 and this was the most important task. We made a decision in March 2015, and then the engineering started.”

While Walliser refuses to rule out a mid-engined GT road car, it’s unlikely – the established 2+2, rear-engined configuration works nicely in Porsche’s production 911s.

The RSR’s engine is the 4.0-liter motorsport naturally-aspirated flat-six: the old Mezger unit, which featured in the 991 RSR, is now fully retired. Breathing through restrictors to ensure parity withPorsche rival engines of all shapes and sizes, from turbocharged Ferrari V8s to the Ford’s twin-turbo EcoBoost V6, the RSR engine develops some 503bhp, transmitted to the rear slicks via a six-speed sequential gearbox (in a magnesium casing, naturally) and a three-plate carbon clutch.

Turbocharging was considered but discounted for its weight penalty and the adverse effect it would have had on weight distribution, the primary reason for the shift in engine location.

The revised engine layout has radically altered the RSR’s aerodynamics. Pushing the engine forward has allowed for a far bigger diffuser, while ‘swan-neck’ rear wing mounts, inspired by Porsche’s LMP1 prototype, confer a slight efficiency advantage since the more critical under-wing airflow is left free of strut-derived turbulence.

‘When you shift the engine you have the space in the rear for a bigger diffuser and there’s an aero advantage to that,’ explains Walliser. ‘That’s the second step that makes the concept stronger. It’s a significant advantage over the old car, though direct comparisons are difficult because of the different tyres.’

The RSR’s debut will be the US IMSA WeatherTech series opener at Daytona, the 24-hour heartbreaker that taught Ford valuable lessons about its then-new GT in January 2016. Like Ford, Porsche makes no bones about the RSR’s primary objective. ‘Reliability is the most important thing at the start, then we go after performance – everything must be sorted out for Le Mans,’ says Walliser.

CHEVROLET CORVETTE GRAND SPORT VRS PORSCHE 911 CARRERA S

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Watch the Corvette Gand Sport Take On the 911 Carrera S… may the best car win!

The Corvette Grand Sport essentially combines the Stingray’s naturally aspirated 460-hp V-8 with the Corvette Z06’s handling bits, including the fancy magnetorheological shocks. Meanwhile, the big news with the 911 Carrera S is its new turbocharged six-cylinder. Is the Chevy a better car than the Porsche? Watch the video below to find out and let us know which car you would pick in the comments section.

Godzilla or the next GTR?

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Rumor Has It The New Nissan GT-R Is Coming in 2018

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The current Nissan GT-R is still a monster. With a 545-hp twin-turbo , tenacious all-wheel-drive, and a zero-to-60 time that can dip below three seconds, it earned the “Godzilla” nickname long ago. But it has been on sale in the U.S. since 2008, and while the car has received plenty of mild updates since then, its familiar shape is getting a bit long in the tooth. That’s why word from Nissan’s chief creative officer Shiro Nakamura, hinting that the next-gen GT-R won’t hit until 2018, has us a little puzzled.

Speaking with Top Gear , Nakamura didn’t give any hard answers when asked about the new GT-R’s timeline. “Not yet,” he told the U.K.-based publication. “2018 at the earliest.” When Top Gear asked about the speculative renderings floating around the internet, Nakamura said, “Not one of them is close.”

That flies counter to . hinting at a 2016 debut for the next Godzilla. It does, however, seem to fit in with our hunch about Nissan’s Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo concept car , shown above. The concept, designed as a flight-of-fancy digital daydream that you can drive on your PlayStation’s Gran Turismo 6, sure has that GT-R family resemblance amid all its fighter-jet creases and gaping air scoops.

For his part, Nakamura isn’t denying that fact. Speaking about Concept 2020, he told Top Gear that the concept could hold some clues. “Maybe some elements from the front and rear, but that is a mid-engined car,” he said. “Mizuno-san [the leader of the GT-R program at Nissan] says the GT-R will always be a front-engine, 2+2 seater coupe.”

Porsche 718 Boxster Annihilates Mercedes-AMG GT & BMW M2

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There’s no doubt that Porsche’s new superstar is a feisty little monster. With aggressive looks, a powerful engine, and enough technology to power a spaceship, the Boxster 718 S is a proper sports car through-and-through.

This video by Motorsport Magazine is proof of that. The magazine’s staff headed out for a few hot laps at none other than France’s Magny-Cours world-class race track, which was home to the now defunct French Grand-Prix for decades. In case you’re wondering, Magny-Cours means “royal track.”

Among the fleet of cars being tested was a 718 Boxster S, as well as a Mercedes AMG GT, a new BMW M2, and a 911 (997) GT3. While you’d think that the baby Boxster is out of its league in this roster, you may rethink that once you see the lap times it put down.

Both the Mercedes, BMW, and obviously the GT3 are much more capable and powerful cars, which would lead one to believe they’re much faster. But as we know, all of those advantages may mean nothing on a twisty race track.

Nissan GT-R Hood FAIL at 180MPH!!!

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nissan-gt-r-hood-fail-at-180mphThis 1600+HP GT-R was traveling at 180+mph when the hood decides it is OUT! As you can see in the video, the owner tries using tape to keep the air out from under the hood, but it clearly wasn’t enough. The sheer force of the air at those speeds just RIPPED this hood right off the car!

2017 Corvette Grand Sport Runs 2:47.1 at Car and Driver’s 2016 Lightning Lap!

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Car and Driver just held their 10th annual Lightning Lap competition at VIR with 18 cars grouped into similar classes based on price. Think of this as the North American answer to the Nurburgring. Over the last 10 years, 201 cars have had the pants driven off of them on the 4.1 mile Grand West Course at VIR and this year, the 2017 Corvette Grand Sport was included in the LL3 class which also consisted of the 2016 Dodge Hellcat SRT, a 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4 and the 2016 Lexis GS F.

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The 2017 Corvette Grand Sport was tested with the seven-speed manual transmission along with the Z07 Performance Package and level 2 aerodynamics. Car and Driver called the 2017 Grand Sport “weaponized fiberglass” like the Z06 but “with a little less fissile material”.

Just a quick “Corvette” recap, both the C7 Stingray and Z06 have participated in previous Lightning Laps. The 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 ran a 2:53.8 while the 2015 Corvette Z06’s time was 2:44.6.

So how well did the Grand Sport do on the Grand West Course? When it was all said and done, the 2017 Corvette Grand Sport ran a 2:47.1 at the Lightning Lap. That time totally obliterates the competition both in the LL3 class ($65,000–$124,999) and most of the LL4 class ($125,000–$244,999) too.

Yes, the 2017 Corvette Grand Sport outperformed several higher-priced competitors like the 2016 McLaren 570 S, the 2017 Acura NSX, the 2016 BMW M4 GTS and the 2016 Audi R8 V-10 Plus. The 2016 Porsche 911 GT3RS was only 0.1 seconds faster while the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR clocked an impressive 2:44.2!

Here is the video of the Lightning Lap and make sure you stick around to the end as we love the driver’s reaction when he crosses the finish line!

Here are how each of the cars finished in the 2016 Car and Driver Lightning Lap Competition. In addition to the regular classes, Car and Driver also includes a few oddballs which this year included an electric car from Tesla.

LL5 ($245,000 and above)

2016 Ferrari 488GTB – 2:45.1
LL4 ($125,000–$244,999)

2016 Dodge Viper ACR – 2:44.2
2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS – 2:47.0
2016 McLaren 570S – 2:47.4
2017 Acura NSX – 2:50.2
2016 BMW M4 GTS – 2:52.9
2017 Audi R8 V-10 Plus – 2:56.1
206 Jaguar F-type Project 7 – 3:02.2
LL3 ($65,000–$124,999)

2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport – 2:47.1
2016 Porsche Cayman GT4 – 2:54.0
2016 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat – 3:03.5
2016 Lexus GS F – 3:05.9
LL2 ($35,000–$64,999)

2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R – 2:51.8
2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE – 2:54.8
2016 BMW M2 – 3:01.9
2016 Ford Focus RS – 3:03.9
2016 Audi TTS – 3:07.7
Concept Car

2016 Lexus RC F GT Concept – 2:43.2
Race Car

Copeland Motorsports Mazda MX-5 Miata Cup Car – 3:06.4
Electric Car

2015 Tesla Model S P85D – 3:17.4

A couple of last observations on the Lightning Lap competition. Car and Driver provides a page of historical results as well as some other interesting data about the cars it has tested over the years. One thing we found was that the Corvette Z06 and the Grand Sport were 1-2 out of all the cars ever tested as having the highest grip in Turn 1 (The Horse Shoe). The Z06 was 1.20g while the Grand Sport recorded 1.19g in the Horse Shoe. Z07 for the win!

The Corvette’s little brother, the 2016 Camaro 1LE was also tested and it ran a very quick 2:54.8. It was second in its class to the 2016 Ford Shelby GT350R at 2:51.8. That Mustang time does beat the 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 time at 2:53.8 so look out Stingray owners next time you see a GT350R on the track.

The Charger Hellcat SRT placed last in the LL3 class but it was also the heaviest car at 4564 lbs to ever run the lightning Lap. A diet and some better rubber would probably shave some time from the big boy.

INSANE Camaro crash at 200MPH!!! – Driver walks away

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Don’t try this in just any Camaro… This is the type of video that nobody wants to see in the racing world. This sport is incredibly fun, but it also comes with a risk when traveling at high speeds. It’s important to take the proper precautions and equip your vehicle with the right safety tech in case “shit happens.” Nacho Bernal has made dozens of high speed passes in his QMP Racing Engines LSX436 Twin Turbo Camaro SS tuned by Cunningham Motorsports, pushing nearly 1800HP to the wheels! He’s an experienced driver who understands that no matter how good of a wheelman you are, you’re never too good to skip out on making your racecar SAFE. The Camaro had a custom 6 point roll bar by Deeds Performance, both driver and passenger wore Snell rated helmets and strapped in with G Force 5 point harness.

This is why both men were able to walk away from a devastating roll that crumpled the car almost beyond recognition. Airfield racing events covered by NARA and have safety tech forms each registered car must complete, there are fire and EMS crew on site, and the runways used are smooth and clean to provide the best environment possible to test the limits of these cars.

For those who like to go fast this is the place to do it in a controlled environment that is much safe than the street! Coincidentally Nacho was able to set the Camaro half-mile world record at 195mph before the car spun around. His car may be gone but he walked away in perfect health and a 1st place 6th speed class trophy!