AUTO MANIA: by Dr. Iain Corness [email protected]

German GP this weekend

Nurburgring

Last year the German Grand Prix was held in Hockenheim as a cost sharing exercise with the (newer) Nurburgring for this weekend alternating with each other. However, apparently Nurburgring is still in trouble financially, so nobody knows what is happening next year.
Up in the Eiffel mountains, Nurburgring is close to Michael Schumacher’s home town of Kerpen, so I am sure he has done many laps of the famous “old” Nurburgring, which is much more memorable. Unfortunately, the days of the old circuit through the forest have gone, as far as F1 is concerned. Following claims from the drivers that the classic old circuit was too dangerous, this alternative five km circuit, with little character, was constructed in 1984, close to the original track. It is of interest to note that the first thing that the new generation of F1 drivers do on arrival at the circuit, is to shell out a few Deutschmarks to drive the famous old circuit, the Nordschleife!

Nobody could ever claim to be the absolute master of the Nordschleife, which is still used today for Touring Car and Sports car categories. Any driver who has driven on the old circuit speak in terms of awe of what is possibly the most demanding circuit ever constructed. And yes, I have driven it! Totally mind blowing! A circuit that keeps you on your toes for the entire lap. The laconic ex-F1 driver Aussie Frank Gardner, with a total disregard for political correctness, claimed it was designed by Adolf Hitler for Jewish drivers!
I will be watching from my perch at Jameson’s Irish Pub Soi AR, in front of the big screen, watching the dedicated F1 channel which has no ads during the race. Join me at 6 p.m. for a meal before the action starts at 7 p.m.
And will The Finger Vettel excel at his home Grand Prix? Will Mercedes draw rabbits from the helmet and win in front of their home crowd? We will know by 9 p.m. on Sunday night.

Forget the Chinese on bicycles - they’re on Cadillacs now!

Chinese Cadillac

Shanghai (Associated Press) - General Motors Co. executives broke ground for a new Cadillac factory in China to target luxury buyers in the world’s biggest auto market, though they said the segment would grow slower than expected this year.
Company leaders said they were optimistic about long-term growth in the luxury segment and have aggressive plans to expand Cadillac’s dealer network.
“Rising incomes per capita are going up. China’s a great market,” said GM CEO Dan Akerson. “We’re going to bring our high-end premium product here and we’re going to see how we run against the competitors from Europe and Japan.”
GM has made it a priority to increase Cadillac sales in China, where the luxury market is dominated by brands like BMW and Audi.
Speaking ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony for the plant, GM executives said they forecast China’s luxury market to grow by 4 percent this year, about half the rate they expected six months ago. For the overall car market in China, the company expects at least 8 percent growth.
Sales of luxury goods in China have slowed amid a crackdown by the Communist Party on government extravagance aimed at reducing corruption by officials, a major source of public anger that threatens the party’s legitimacy.
“I don’t think we should put too much emphasis on the fact that in the last six months in China the luxury market has gone down,” said Bob Socia, president of GM China. “Clearly it’s not at the level of growth we expected at the first part of the year.”
However, Akerson added that certain segments of the luxury market would grow faster than others and that it would take GM time to catch up.
“We just have to be agile enough,” he said. GM forecasts China will account for up to two-fifths of the global luxury auto market by 2020.
The executives did not say which models would be produced at the $1.3 billion plant in Shanghai’s Jinqiao zone, which will have a capacity of 160,000 vehicles a year and includes a research and development center.
GM currently makes just one Cadillac model, the XTS sedan, in China. Production began in February at another plant in Shanghai. It also sells the SRX sport-utility vehicle.
The executives reiterated plans to triple the number of Cadillacs sold in China to 100,000 by 2015 and quadruple its share of the luxury car sector to 10 percent by 2020. GM has said previously that it plans to launch one new Cadillac model in China each year for the next five years.
Socia said the number of Chinese Cadillac dealers will rise to 200 by the end of the year from 69 at the end of 2012.
Global and Chinese manufacturers are intensifying competition for increasingly prosperous drivers in China, the world’s biggest auto market by number of vehicles sold. Auto sales last year topped 19 million and analysts and automakers expect that number to rise to as much as 32 million by 2020 - the equivalent of the United States and Europe combined.

Bentley’s new Flying Juggernaut

Bentley GT Speed

The new flagship Bentley Continental GT Speed is powered by a twin turbocharged 6.0-litre W12 engine (the configuration teams two V6 engines sharing the same crankshaft), producing 460 kW of power and 800 Nm of torque, offering stupendous performance and understated refinement.
With an eight speed transmission, with selectable modes, choose “Sport” and the 2.3 tonne vehicle is claimed to sprint from 0-100 km/h in 4.2 seconds.
However, trying for drag strip times you can expect only 14.5 L/100 km, a high degree of thirst as well as thrust.
With an all-wheel-drive system assisting in getting all that power to the ground, the GT Speed has plenty of grip. The steering is weighty and reactive and the car is adequately agile, but it’s not exactly nimble through tighter sections of road. Part of that has to do with the sheer size of the car - 4.80 meters long and 1.94 m wide - and some has to do with the fact it feels quite heavy at the front end.
The car rides on 21 inch wheels as standard fitted with ultra-low 35 profile rubber, and adjustable air suspension. In its firmest setting you notice a lot more bumps and lumps, but for daily cruising the softest setting is very good.
Inside, the cockpit reeks of British class. Metal-look finishes are real metal, while wood is from a real tree. There’s half a herd of cows as well as carbon fiber in the interior.
Some parts come from the family VW parts bin, such as the engine start button, stereo touch-screen and color instrument display, but this is not a major fault.
Vital statistics
Engine: 6.0 liter turbocharged W12 petrol
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Power: 460 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 800 Nm at 1700 rpm
0-100km/h: 4.2secs 0-100km/h
Fuel use: 14.5 L/100 km (combined average)
Price? Very expensive, Veronica.

What did we learn from the British Grand Prix?

Well, we learned that sometimes the sun does shine in the UK. Rain was even forgotten about with the action packed race holding everyone’s attention - but most of it for all the wrong reasons.
History has repeated itself, it would seem. The farce that was Indianapolis in 2005 with exploding Michelins has now been replaced by the farce of Silverstone and exploding Pirelli’s. And this is after the highly publicized “illegal” Pirelli tyre test with Mercedes. With five tyre failures over the weekend, just what did they test, one wonders?
It would seem that Pirelli has mastered the manufacture of tyres that last 10 laps (if the driver is lucky), and have now perfected exploding tyres, which add to the drama of an F1 Grand Prix. A technological tour de farce!
So what will happen now before the German GP this weekend? Pirelli are promising a full investigation. The FIA are going to be holding their own investigation. And the drivers are muttering threats of a boycott.
Quite frankly, none of the above are going to cure the problem. There is a basic problem with the tyres, that will not be cured by administrators, the same people who brought on this short tyre life scenario, to ‘spice up’ the racing. Well done, FIA.
In the short term, let Pirelli use tyres from last year, which didn’t explode, while devising stronger tyres for the rest of this year. Some that might even last for half a Grand Prix! How radical concept is that?
And so to the racing itself. The final 10 laps were a blinder, but to get the cars so bunched up was brought about by manipulation, not by driver or team design, which cheapened it all from my ‘purist’ point of view.
Up to the first exploding Pirelli, it had looked like a Mercedes/Lewis Hamilton walkover, but with Hamilton rejoining way down the order, it then looked like a Vettel/Red Bull walkover, but after a few more Safety Car periods, the order changed again with more dramatic explosions.
Quote of the race day was eventual winner Rosberg (Mercedes) who said, “When Sebastian (Vettel) stopped, to be honest, I won’t lie, I wasn’t disappointed by that one.” And neither were 100,000 British fans at Silverstone, or for that matter, the majority of the fans watching in Jameson’s Irish Pub! “The Finger” exudes an arrogance that does not sit well with many people.
Mark Webber, who seemed much more relaxed now he has given a virtual finger to Red Bull, was unlucky not to take the win, another one lap and the trophy would have been his.
And you can never discount Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), who plugs away throughout the whole race and ends up on the podium almost every time. He has changed so much from being the Sulky Spaniard of a few years ago. We seem to say this every year, but his team mate Massa is crashing too many times, and surely this will be his last year with the Scuderia.
Driver of the day? With so much artificial meddling upsetting the natural order, it is difficult to say, but DiResta coming from stone motherless last to ninth must be in the running for the accolade.
With the German GP this weekend, Pirelli have had a week to find the answer. I predict Pirelli will fall on their sword at the end of the year, and we will see another manufacturer supplying tyres.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week, I asked which manufacturer of one of the supercars of the day, tried to fit a Moto Guzzi engine into a cheap runabout. What was this car? It was an Innocenti owned by De Tomaso, who also owned Moto Guzzi at that time.
So to this week. Dick Seaman drove for a continental team in 1937-1939. Who was the next Englishman to drive for a continental works team? And when?
For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].

Natter Nosh and Noggin

The car club meets at Jameson’s Irish Pub on Soi AR next to Nova Park. The next meeting is on Monday July 8 at Jameson’s at 7 p.m. A totally informal meeting of like-minded souls to discuss their pet motoring (and motorcycling) loves and hates (plus lies and outright exaggerations). Come along and meet the guys who have a common interest in cars and bikes, and enjoy the Jameson’s specials, washed down with a few beers. A couple of the members are scrutineers at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, so they may have some scuttlebutt about the F1 scene, with one having just been over to the US to watch the Indy 500. Always a fun night. Be prepared to laugh a lot at some of the antics of the members (when they were younger)! The Car Club nights are always on the second Monday of the month (not every second Monday)!