So what did we learn from the US GP?
Well, for starters, Alonso certainly
generated some bad press for himself (and for
McLaren-Mercedes) before the US GP, claiming that he wasn’t
settled in at McLaren and that the English team favored his
young English rookie team mate. Words such as “dummy” and
“spit” immediately came to mind, after his poor performance
in Canada. He was a little better after the US GP, despite
his antics on the straight after being unable to make
Hamilton cede position, but if he were to put on a smiling
face and say what a great job the youngster was doing, the
world would love him for it. It would not mean that he was
giving up fighting for the title - which is a long way off
yet, with 10 races to go.
Nice
one, Ralf!
What can you say about Hamilton that hasn’t been said
everywhere else? He still impresses with sheer talent, and
his humble and non-aggressive nature off track. However, he
showed that he is not at all over-awed by the two times
world champion. He is ready for as much wheel banging as
Alonso can throw at him.
Another driver with a nose out of joint is smiling boy
Raikkonen. The expensive import to Ferrari has been shown up
(again) by baby face Massa. Kimi does not understand what
the word “team” means.
If Toyota were ever to need a reason to get rid of the
under-performing Schumacher, they certainly got it at Indy.
Another first lap bingle (or should that be ‘bungle’) by our
Ralf. This time saying that it was cold tyres or industrial
fall-out or something and it was just a “racing incident”.
Is there anyone that Ralf hasn’t hit in the past two
seasons? As one of the highest paid drivers out there, he
knows more than anyone that you don’t win races at the first
corner, you only lose races at the first corner. With big
brother gone, the Schumacher name will not mean much any day
soon.
Another classic monitor of driver performance is the
driver’s team mate. After all, you are in the identical car,
no matter what the driver might say. Some interesting
statistics here. After six Grands Prix, Trulli in the Toyota
has out-qualified Ralf 6-0. At the Williams camp, Rosberg
has out-qualified Wurz 6-0. At Tosso Rora Liuzzi has
out-qualified Speed (there’s an oxymoron for you) 5-1, and
even the dreadful Spykers have driver stats showing Sutil
5-1 over Albers. Team managers should have (will have) no
compunction over firing Ralf, Wurz, Speed and Albers. Those
four just aren’t performing. And when you remember that Ralf
commands a salary that probably exceeds the GDP of some
small emerging nations, would you be hanging on to him? Even
further up the grid, relatively inexpensive Massa has
out-qualified his expensive imported team mate, Laughing
Boy, by 4-2.
There were some good drives down through the field, and
Sebastian Vettel, at 19 years of age impressed. Very close
to Heidfeld, and for some reason there appears to be no love
lost between BMW and their lead German driver. I would not
be surprised to see a Kubica/Vettel pairing at BMW next
year, as Heidfeld’s contract runs out this year.
The other driver showing much promise was Sutil, getting the
Spyker up and into scraps with cars way above its station. I
would not be surprised to see Sutil in Toyota next year (if
Toyota continues).
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I asked you to check out this
photograph. I wanted to know what car it was. Clue: It was
driven by Hermann Lang. Those of you who thought it was
pre-war Mercedes were all wrong. It actually was a post-war
Veritas.
A few words about the Veritas marque are in order. This was
a post-war company started by an Ernst Loof, using initially
the BMW pre-war 2 liter six cylinder engine, and then later
a two liter built by the Heinkel aero company. Spece-frame
chassis and alloy bodies, they were quite advanced for their
day. Unfortunately, as part of the post-war reprisals,
German cars were not allowed to compete outside Germany, but
Veritas did well in local competition. They were expensive
and the marque died in 1953.
So to this week. Headlights have been the subject of much in
the way of government regulations. For example, headlight
design was hindered by the USA for many years as the
regulations did not allow any cover over the headlights for
aerodynamics for many years. This meant that early E-type
Jaguars did not have the cover over the headlights. However,
what I want to know this week is: who was the designer of
the first retractable headlights? No clues, sorry, this is
easy.
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Is this the fastest
street-legal coupe?
The Brabus SV12 S Biturbo coupe is claimed to be the most
powerful coupe in the world - it is also the fastest
street-legal coupe. With performance figures of 0 - 100 km/h
in 4.0 seconds, 0 - 200 km/h in 11.9 seconds and an
electronically limited top speed of 340 km/h this is
neck-snapping stuff.
Based on the latest Mercedes CL 600 model, the SV12 S
Biturbo coupe can be ordered as a complete turn-key car
starting at 178,980 euros (eight million baht on the
straight conversion and then factor in freight and duty) or
can be built based on your existing current CL 600 model
that you have lying around the garage unused.
The engine is based on the turbocharged Mercedes 600 12
cylinder engine and represents the most powerful
street-legal V12 engine in the world producing 730 hp / 537
kW at 5,100 rpm. If you think the power is impressive, wait
till you see the torque! 1,320 Nm at just 2,100 rpm, which
is limited electronically to 1,100 Nm, or otherwise it would
just screw the end off the crankshaft or something equally
as diabolical.
To get this kind of power from your ‘cooking’ model Benz
600, there is a special Brabus stroker crankshaft which
along with a bigger bore and correspondingly sized forged
pistons, increases displacement from 5.5 to 6.3 liters. The
cylinder heads are precision machined and four new camshafts
are fitted, two new exhaust manifolds, two larger
turbochargers, a high efficiency intercooler and a high
performance exhaust system with metal catalysts and low back
pressure. And that is how you get 730 brake horsepower! And
apparently, the engine is green as well, passing the
stringent Euro IV emission limits.
Power is transferred to the rear wheels via a modified five
speed automatic transmission. The optionally available
Brabus locking differential optimizes traction.
The body trim was developed in the wind tunnels with the
front apron reducing lift on the front axle and improves
engine and front brake cooling due to its large air inlet.
The rocker panels and rear apron were also developed in the
wind tunnel.
Wheels are also special Brabus items and you get the choice
of Monoblock light-alloy wheels with diameters of 18, 19, 20
or 21 inches. The largest tire/wheel combination features
9Jx21 in front and 10.5Jx21 on the rear axle.
Ride height of the two door is lowered by millimeters.
Brakes at the front are 380 x 36 millimeter discs and
12-piston aluminum fixed calipers. The rear features 355 x
28 millimeter discs and six-piston aluminum fixed calipers.
That is about enough to pull up a McLaren-Mercedes F1 car.
Of course you can personalize your Brabus with everything
from scuff plates with illuminated Brabus logo or an
ergonomically shaped sport steering wheel to an exclusive
customized interior crafted from soft yet durable Brabus
Mastik leather and the finest Alcantara.
The automotive world is your oyster, when you have very,
very deep pockets. Make that very, very, very deep pockets.
In the meantime, we can dream.
Brabus SV12 S
Biturbo
Forget the Touareg,
here’s the Tiguan
I am sure that somewhere down in the Volkswagen basement is
a section dedicated to making up ridiculous names. The
Tiguan is the latest. Mind you, there are similar
departments in all auto manufacturers. Who would call a car
an X-Trail, Outlander or Captiva, for example?
VW
Tiguan
However, be that as it may, VW will be releasing the Tiguan
in Germany very shortly, and to the world at large, shortly
after.
Tiguan is a compact SUV, in the mold of the BMW X3, Lexus
RX, Honda CRV or the new Mercedes-Benz GLK/MLK. If it’s not
silly names, it is incomprehensible acronyms. Did you know
that CRV is supposed to stand for ‘Comfortable Recreational
Vehicle’? You can dream up what you like for GLK/MLK (none
of mine are printable).
Tiguan will be based on Golf mechanicals - just as the X3 is
based on BMW’s biggest seller, the 3 Series.
According to VW, Tiguan will have ground-breaking
electronics and chassis systems, which include “a completely
new generation radio and navigation system” and an off-road
mode, which “activates an armada of assistance systems at
the touch of a switch”. Apparently this needs a 30 GB
hard-drive and 400 MHz PC processor controlled via a
6.5-inch colour touch-screen. And you will probably have to
press “Start” to stop, like most computers!
You will also get vital off-road electronic functions under
one button, including hill-descent control, throttle pedal
mapping, the activation of differential locks, a
loose-surface ABS mode, “hill climb assist” which prevents
clutch damage up hills and “gear preselect” which offers
optimum engine braking in automatic versions. Does this
sound a little like i-Drive? I hope not!
Perhaps the most interesting feature, however, is what’s
called Park Assist. Hailed as “the world’s first park
steering assistant to be installed in a SUV”, it
automatically steers the Tiguan into a parking space. Like
the Volvo concept, you may be able to hop out and tell it to
“Go park yourself!” Or something similar.
Volkswagen says all Tiguans offer “highly dynamic driving
characteristics”, “excellent ride comfort”, “neutral to
lightly understeering handling” and “an unusually low roll
angle”. It’s claimed the Tiguan will set new class standards
for dynamics, comfort and active safety. We shall see. Until
then, it sounds just like the claims for any other SUV.
