The Mazda SHINARI is a pure design concept model of a four-door, four-seater sports coupe which perfectly expresses the ‘KODO – Soul of Motion’ design theme in a graceful and carefree form.
The Japanese word shinari describes the powerful yet supple appearance of great resilient force when objects of high tensile strength, such as steel or bamboo, are twisted or bent. It also refers to the appearance of a person or animal as it flexibly transforms its body to generate a fast movement. Within this movement, Mazda designers discovered the potential to realize ‘KODO – Soul of Motion’.
One glance at SHINARI stirs the emotions. Its form expresses the powerful movement of a lean body with highly developed muscles, supple but at the same time filled with tension. Mazda’s desire is to reach car lovers’ hearts and go beyond the notion of rational logic. This form purely embodies that desire.
BBC One East Midlands interviewed Lee Noble, talking about his history and latest supercar project, the Fenix, which he is preparing to move into the production phase.
The Leicester-based businessman hopes the Fenix supercar will fill a gap in the automotive market, as an affordable sports vehicle.
How was the ride? Check out BBC presenter Kylie Pentelow’s reaction after a passenger ride in a Noble M12 with Lee Noble.
Renowned designer and engineer, Lee Noble, and his co-director, Chris Murray, formed Fenix Automotive in April 2008 as a launch platform for Lee’s new supercar, due out in the second half of 2010.
During his time with Noble Automotive, Lee created perhaps one of the most iconic low volume supercars of the 21st century, the M12, which put his talents on the map to a global audience and won him a succession of accolades from the motoring media.
Fenix Automotive’s new car will help re-ignite the flame that was lost when the M12 ceased production. And while its design, drivetrain and chassis represent fresh thinking from Lee, the M12’s original purpose – to offer exceptionally high performance and exquisite handling for well below £100k – remains the same.
Chevrolet’s Unique Program Lets Drivers Create Their Own Corvette
The Corvette is as American as apple pie. Now owners of the iconic symbol can lend a hand in building part of their American dream, specifically a supercharged engine.
As part of the world’s most hands-on supercar program, the Corvette Engine Build Experience allows drivers to literally build the 638 horsepower engine that will power their car. Radio personality, Todd Schnitt is the first customer to take part in the program. At the Wixom, Michigan facility, expert technicians lead owners like Todd through the process one step at a time. When the engine is assembled, a personalized nameplate is added to the engine next to the builder’s name.
This is just one of the latest program offerings to Corvette enthusiasts. Owners can also watch their cars roll down the assembly line, pick them up at the National Corvette Museum and receive complimentary high-speed driving instruction.
Following the successful North American debut of the McLaren MP4-12C at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, McLaren Automotive will begin a launch tour of its selected North America dealership locations. Prospective customers will have the opportunity to see the 12C in the metal and speak to the team responsible for groundbreaking newcomer.
A Supernova Silver 12C, Titanium Silver 12C and the XP13 rolling chassis were presented to over 1,000 guests at the Pebble Beach event by a McLaren Automotive team including Managing Director Antony Sheriff and Design Director Frank Stephenson. Visitors to the McLaren Automotive display included Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger and world-famous car collector, Jay Leno.
“McLaren MP4-12C: The North American Debut” from the 2010 Pebble Beach Concours D’elegance
McLaren Automotive subsequently moved on to Beverly Hills and presented the 12C to prospective customers at its future McLaren Beverly Hills location on Wilshire Boulevard. On Thursday evening the dealership hosted a cocktail reception for approximately 300 guests followed by private viewings of the vehicle throughout the day on Friday and Saturday. Guests were able to get close to the 12C and the positive feedback from sports car owners in California can be seen in a short
On September 1st and 2nd the MP4-12C will be presented by Pfaff Automotive Partner, McLaren’s retail partner in Toronto, Ontario. Thereafter, a team of McLaren Automotive experts will visit the following new members of the McLaren family with the 12C:
McLaren Chicago: Lake Forest Sportscars
McLaren Dallas: Park Place
McLaren Greenwich (McLaren’s representative in the New York Tri-State area): Miller Motorcars
McLaren San Francisco: Price Family Dealerships
McLaren Tampa Bay: Dew Luxury Motor Cars
The Collection McLaren (representing the Miami market)
These dealerships will be eight of the initial ten launch retailers for the North American market. Two locations, Newport Beach in Orange County, and Philadelphia remain open but will be appointed in the coming weeks.
Tony Joseph, McLaren Automotive’s Regional Director for North America said: “Each retailer on this tour will be registering customer interest in the 12C and it’s clear from the feedback at the McLaren Beverly Hills event that our prospects in North America really understand our brand and are looking forward to the launch of McLaren Automotive.”
“We look forward to delivering a great range of unique, innovative sports cars to customers in North America, with a network of McLaren Automotive retailers committed to delivering an ownership experience every bit as good and revolutionary as the 12C itself.”
North American retailers will begin selling the 2012 McLaren MP4-12C from summer 2011 with a base MSRP within a range of between $225,000 and $250,000.
Jay Leno is one of the world’s best-known chat show hosts and a renowned car enthusiast. When he ordered his new XJ, Jaguar followed the process from the first stages of build at Castle Bromwich to the vehicle handover at a Los Angeles dealer.
Jay Leno is one of the world’s best-known chat show hosts and a renowned car enthusiast. When he ordered his new XJ, Jaguar followed the process from the first stages of build at Castle Bromwich to the vehicle handover at a Los Angeles dealer.
Our race team has encountered our first design question for our car.
The Chevette is an economy car, and as such was never meant to be driven at speed. The speedometer only goes up to 80 and the engineer was being extremely optimistic about that number. With economy, light weight, and light duty in mind this car sports some extremely small brakes. There are disks up front and rotors out back, there is no brake booster, and neither half of the car sports cooling features for the brakes. This is not the recipe for a race capable brake system, especially an endurance race system that will see high temperatures for extended periods of time.
The rules for the endurance race series we plan to enter are pretty generous towards brake modification as that is an extremely important aspect of safety and racing. This leaves us with plenty of options.
A little bit of research on the intertubes has revealed that the Chevette and the Fiero front suspension are basically the same. This is an extremely easy brake upgrade to perform, but has a large drawback. The Fiero sports a 5 lug bolt pattern for the wheels, while the Chevette is a 4 lug. We ran different bolt patterns on the front and rear on our last car and it’s something we want to avoid. It complicates wheel and tire replacement at the track and forces you to spend more money on spare tires and wheels. Drilling the rotors for the Chevette bolt pattern is an option but adds to the price. I’m also unsure if any of the Fiero’s came with vented rotors, as information on the stock brakes are limited. It appears that in 1988 there may have been a model with vented rotors, though more research is required.
Retention of the stock rear drums is also up for debate. Rear disks would be be nice as we are more familiar working with disk brake systems and the upgrade would reduce the amount of braking duties the front brakes would be required to do. Putting too much rearward braking capability in the car can induce a tendency to lock up the rear tires, but the massive fuel cell we plan to mount behind the rear axle should provide a decent amount of weight to help prevent that possibility.
Addressing the brakes to handle the rigors of endurance racing is something that needs to be thought out, implemented, and tested to ensure trouble free performance lap after lap. This is an issue that we must carefully consider in the upcoming build process. Stay tuned for updates.
Our race team is continuing to make progress on the Chevette/T1000 endurance racecar.
We tackled one of the more undesirable tasks this weekend, gutting the interior. In this car’s case, the interior is pretty trashed after sitting for many years with the windows up. It’s basically turned the interior into a petri dish for mold, bacteria, and other nasty stuff. The best part about this job is that we will both be removing all of the disease-riddled interior and taking another step towards racecar status.
Click the link below to see how the transformation.
Most boys when they are young dream of two things: hot girls and fast cars. One of those fast cars typically includes the Corvette (though your situation may vary). I distinctly remember when growing up thinking about the Corvette, although it was not until the C6 (6th generation Corvette) introduced in 2005 that my interest was truly piqued. The Corvette has always been somewhat of a performance bargain, and that is still the case to this day. For the 2010 model year the question is simple – is the new Grand Sport Package all that and a slice of pie, or just another trim option not worth the price of entry? Let’s find out.
Exterior
The first thing you notice about Corvette is that Chevrolet ditched the flip-up headlights (years ago). This gives the car a clean look day or night, and the projector lenses provide crisp cut off lines at night. The front end is low, with a slight plastic lip attached to the front clip (careful when parking!). Directly above the Corvette emblem is an air inlet like those found on Corvette Z06 and ZR1 models. Directly behind the front wheel wells are two gills topped with Grand Sport lettering. The rear quarter panels have a rear brake duct and the door handles are hidden (as with all C6 Corvette’s). The rear features four round taillights and quad exhaust tips poking out from the center of the car. The exterior is aggressive and taught. More then one person noted that the headlights reminded them of those on Ferraris, and I can see how they make that comparison. The Grand Sport hash marks on the front fenders I could go without, but they are not terribly gaudy. The soft top is power operated, however you have one latch inside to release before lowering. The top stows in the rear, eating into trunk space, which is surprisingly still enough for a nice weekend getaway (tested). The rear deck is clean and flat when the top is down. Overall, the exterior is good looking with an aggressive stance.
Interior
The interior of this car is such a love-hate drama. I love that it is functional. I hate that is dated. Let’s start with the functional part – with more then enough leg room, the interior is comfortable. The seats are comfortable for everyday driving and the ergonomics are excellent, with switchgear in easy reach and everything laid out nicely. The head up display is terrific day and night. OK, I am done with the good – now the bad. This interior has aged. The plastics are fine but nothing to write home about. The optional leather wrapped dash and door panels do their best to kick things up a notch, and it is an improvement. The electronics are another story. The $1,750 optional navigation system is disc based, not the newer hard drive-based system used in many of the current General Motors cars. You want to listen to your iPhone/iPod? Too bad, there is no USB port.
Want to use an auxiliary in? Nope not available. You pretty much need a radio transmitter to play such advanced devices. I realize that those things aren’t what this car is about….but come on, it is 2010!
I cannot decide if I am being too picky or unrealistic but I will say on a road trip down to Iowa I pretty much just settled for XM radio since I was not going to obviously listen to my iPhone. I would like to note that for 2011 I have heard the Corvette will get both an auxiliary port and USB port.
Just want to warn you, the center tunnel seems to get nice and warm, which you will notice if you rest your leg against it. Oh, and those comfy seats? They are comfy, but in no way up for what this car is capable of on a track.
So while comfy for everyday driving and highway trips, the interior is overall just fine, but it is definitely aging.
Powertrain
It is truly amazing how quickly any negatives I just previously stated fade away once you push the start button. The pushrod V-8 comes to life with a nice raspy burble. The 6.2 liter LS3 V8 pushes 436 horsepower and 428 pound feet (with optional exhaust), while six-piston brake calipers up front clamp down on cross-drilled rotors. The brakes shed speed off quickly. That power was put down (you sitting down?) through a six-speed automatic transmission. I will state that more Corvettes then you want to believe are actually sold with automatic transmissions.
A sad but true fact. Do not worry too much because we have paddle shifters (that might be out of a Malibu). I will say this, while I would personally never buy a Corvette with an automatic transmission, it behaved better then expected. It did what I wanted it to do 95% of the time. Still, I would skip that pesky $1,250 option. One option I would not skip is the $1,195 for that optional exhaust. Dual mode exhaust combined with a drop top is a combination for pure awesome.
The exhaust note is tame and deep when you mash the go pedal, until about 3,300 RPM and then the baffles open up and it sounds like the devil. You can not help but grin like an idiot. That is just it, while driving this car it hard not to smile. By the way, how many cars with 436 hp do you know of that are rated at 15/25 mpg? Try that in a Ferrari! In the city I averaged 15.4 mpg with plenty of spirited driving. On the highway trip down to Iowa I averaged 24.1 with the cruise control set at 77. That is nothing short of impressive!
The current Corvette has been on the market since 2005. That is over 5 model years, and we probably will not see the next Corvette (C7) until 2012 at the earliest (probably later then that). The first question is, does the Corvette still compete on the same level as it used too? It has certainly aged, yet it can still keep up with the best of them.
The base price is hard to argue with too, though the Grand Sport model I was in had a sticker price of $75,740. That is close to a brand new Z06. Part of that problem was the $16,210 in options. You could pare that down easily and still have a great performing car. I would say without a doubt the Corvette Grand Sport optioned lightly might be a better value then the base Corvette in many regards. So yes, it is all that and a slice of pie – just be careful on those options.
Full Disclosure- The review vehicle was provided by General Motors
After two 24 hour endurance races and over $750 in gas being used, our racing team has decided to re-asses our decision for what car to campaign. The Buick was a great car to run as an introduction to endurance racing, but it is just too heavy and sucks too much gas to be competitive against the RX7s and BMW 3-series cars that seem to dominate at most races. We needed to shed about a thousand pounds of weight and downsize the engine powering our car.
