Vintage Drags, in Slow-mo

Since I've been sooo productive since getting to Chengdu (more on that later), I thought I would toss up a quick post about what I actually did do today instead of all the things I intended to do but didn't.

Basically, this involves drinking coffee all day, listening to good tunes from Big Blue Swing, doing some laundry in a very strange combination washer/dryer, and watching vintage drag racing videos.  This one in particular is pretty sweet.


Nostalgia Drags at 240 FPS from Matthew Macomber on Vimeo.

Check out the wrinkle of the sidewalls (they're drag tires - they're supposed to do that) at 0:58, a Mustang pull a serious wheelstand at 1:08, and the Gasser nose dive from an equally serious wheelstand at 1:20.  Pretty wild!

I've also been thinking about the repercussions being in China to witness the N7N9 flu and a crazier-than-usual North Korea... but those are kind of a downer and you can read about those things pretty much anywhere.  (The Sinocism blog is a good place to start if you want an insiders pick of the stories.)

Ford's 999cc of Awesome!

Ford's new global engine for the Focus and Fiesta (as well as several other Euro Fords) looks to be one of the coolest pieces of automotive engineering from any company in a long time.

The Fuel Economy of New Hybrid Small Cars, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, is pretty good.  The best of the bunch, of course, is the 2012 Toyota Prius 1.8L at 50 miles per gallon combined city and highway.  That's good, but the other cars in that class range from just 34 (Honda CR-Z) to 44 (Honda Civic Hybrid) combined MPG.

And while these 40+ MPG small cars will help you save at the pump, the hybrid system is still heavy on the scales and on the pocket book, making these cars significantly less fun to toss around in the curvies and to write that payment check to your bank every month.  Under ideal conditions, disregarding maintenance costs, and with a pretty cheap hybrid Civic, you would still have to drive over 86,000 miles to pay for the hybrid option in gas savings.  Many people who buy new cars will never keep them that long (especially in a hybrid when you have to pay for new batteries at around 70k, yikes!), and therefore should not spend the extra cash, just to satisfy their green enviro guilt.

But I didn't start writing this post to bash on hybrids.  If that's what you gotta do to sleep at night, you go right ahead. ;)  What I wanted to write about is Ford's miniature new powerplant for their smaller cars.  It's simply a marvel of engineering and the most power-dense engine Ford has ever produced.

Ford's new 1.0L EcoBoost three-cylinder.  Kinda close to nuclear fusion efficiency.  (Photo: Ford)

The mini marvel I'm talking about is the new for 2012 (2014 in the States) 1.0L 125 EcoBoost.  This little thing (the block is about the size of a sheet of notebook paper) packs over two horsepower per cubic inch (which is a whole lot, fyi) and motivates the Focus 5-door to 56.5 combined MPG. That's right, one-point-zero-liters (999cc to be exact), three cylinders, direct injection and a turbo charger can churn out 125HP and 147ft-lb of torque, while still only emitting about 185g of CO2 per mile driven.  Pretty impressive efficiency and a work of engineering.  Its exhaust manifold is even integrated into the head so the hot exhaust can be cooled by the engine coolant to prevent burning up the turbo under part throttle conditions; instead of the current method of cooling them with extra fuel - which is effective, but not very good for mileage.

Read the Ford Focus 1.0 Ecoboost Zetec review at Autocar.co.uk and Motor Trend's 1.0 EcoBoost European Spec First Drive and imagine getting 50 MPG in something that is actually fun to drive.  Then be blown away that this Ford 1.0 is ‘to get 177bhp’ in different trim.

If you read the above linked articles, I'm sure you've gleaned this, but the 1.0 EcoBoost gets the same power as the current 1.6L un-boosted gas engine, a bit less than the U.S. 2.0L (but with the same torque - the stuff you feel in your butt when you accelerate) and crazy, better-than-a-hybrid, good mileage.  I'm sure it won't be a rocket off the line, but the smaller and lighter motor between the front struts should make it nimble and easy to drive through the curves.

Anyway, this motor is Europe only for now, of course, but I can't wait to give one a test drive when they hit our shores.  I'm also curious how our 5,000 foot elevation will effect the turbo motor compared to the serious tole the thin air takes on naturally aspirated motors.

Happy Birthday, Mustang!

I know I'm a day late on the draw here on the blog, but I was on time on Twitter, so I shouldn't be accused of just being unaware.  Anyways...

Happy Birthday to the Ford Mustang!


First released on April 17, 1964, and still going strong 46 years later, the Mustang was a true game changer for Ford Motor Company and for the American auto industry as a whole.  Ford single handedly proved that you could offer one car that appealed to both housewives and teenagers, and do it affordable and successfully. 



The Mustang was a wild success from the very beginning, selling 22,000 units on the first day alone.  Now over eight million Mustangs have been sold, and in 2005, it was even named the Canadian Car Of The Year.

I've driven several Mustangs over the years, from the first generation models up to my 2008 GT, and I can definitely see why they draw people like moths to a flame.  The classic proportions, accessibility, comfort, performance, and aura of cool that just oozes from every body panel make these a true American classic.  And for 2011, it looks like Ford is prepared to hit another home run with the return of the "5.0" badge to the front fender. The competition had better watch out!  Autoblog calls it A Game Changer, and for $20,000 less money, Jalopnik speculates that it might be better than a BMW M3.  The entire 2010 line has even been recently recalled for being too cool. 

So anyway, happy birthday, Mustang, and good work, Ford.  Here's to another 46 years.  I wonder what a 2056 Mustang would look like?  I suppose it depends on who is in charge of the EPA.

Bad-ass 3-D scanner and printer

Also known as a rapid prototyping machine. This thing is sweet.

NextEngine's 3D Scanner

Everything you need to scan and digitize 3D models at a reasonable price. Made in America.

Isn't GM was loosing market share? Not in Russia!

Evidently Reuters' Russian correspondent is not terribly familiar with American auto makers, that, or there has been some major restructuring going on that I somehow missed.

In the article "Russians laud size, not fuel economy at car show," published this morning at Forbes.com, Simon Shuster (apparently not the publishing house owned by Viacom- which is spelled differently anyway) seemed to claim that General Motors ("Chevy" to you normal folk) makes both the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Ford Focus.

...visitors on press day flocked to be photographed in front of GM's Jeep Grand Cherokee...

General Motors, whose fuel-efficient Ford Focus is the best selling foreign car in Russia...

[emphasis mine]

Now, they may do things a little differently over in Mother Russia, and I know they have a bad reputation for copyright, trademark, and patent violations, but I am nearly positive that Chrysler makes the Jeep Grand Cherokee and that Ford makes the Focus. I keep track of this sort of thing.

Silly Ruskies, cars are for capitalists! As is copy editing, apparently.

Proof that people can't drive

Finally, here it is: Laboratory proof that people can't drive.

Japanese scientists recently tried to replicate "shock-wave" traffic jams in a laboratory setting and succeeded.

These types of traffic jams are the ones that seem to occur for no apparent reason. You'll be driving along, minding your own business, and all of a sudden there's massive gridlock. And by the time you get up to where you think there should be an accident or a gigantic sinkhole in the road, there is nothing at all.

Watch the video to see it happen before your eyes. This must be what the helicopter traffic people feel like!

Via Autoblog via New Scientist

Redunkulous Bugatti Veyron @ 253 mph!

Ever wonder just how fast your car can go?

I did.

Until I looked it up in the manual. My 2005 v-6 Mustang will go 113 mph before the computer tells it "no". I still do wonder just how fast it could actually go without computer intervention, but there are good mechanical and legal reasons for me to not explore that.

But that's just a 210 horsepower Ford.

The folks over at British TV show Top Gear decided to find out just how fast a 1001 hp Bugatti Veyron would go. How's 253 mph grab ya? Check out the video.

Bugatti Veyron at top speed

How friggin' awesome was that, eh? Not bad for $1.3 Million.

I think I'll stick with my 'stang.

Obama's got a Hemi!

After Barack "the Magic Negro" Obama berates Detroit auto makers for not keeping up in the fuel efficient tic-tac economy car race, the truth comes out: Obama's got a Hemi!

Thanks Detroit Free Press for reporting this story and Jalopnik for picking up this story.

Alternative Energy Sources — A Quick Look

Here is a really good (and only slightly outdated) overview of many of the mainstream alternative energy sources being researched today, complete with both pros and cons, written from an engineer's perspective.

Toyota Less Tough Then Previously Indicated?

We've all seen the commercial on television where the new "full-size" Toyota Tundra pickup pulls a trailer up a ginormous see-saw and then screeches to a halt on the downhill side. Relatively impressive. [Not really, when you consider that most vehicles have about three times more stopping power than starting power, but I digress...]

But could the truthiness of this commercial be stretched a little bit?

Turns out that a higher-up at GM found out the truth / fine print of this ad and alerted his staff via email. This or course ended up on the internet (I found it at Jalopnik) for all to see. Good stuff.

Here is the full message:

Thought you might want to know this. Pass it along to your sales staff. It might help them to sell more vehicles. BTW.....attended the Minneapolis Auto Show kick off breakfast on March 8. Two of our Sandy trainers did a nice job explaining the Tundra ads. I would guess all of you have seen the stupid ad where the Tundra pulls a trailer up a steep grade (a 'see-saw'), and then barrels down hill and locks the brakes up just before the end of the ramp. Seen it? Yeah you have.

Couple things to keep in mind. The V.O. at the beginning of the spot says...."It's tough pushing 10,000 lbs up a steep grade". Myth: Toyota would like the audience to believe the trailer is 10,000 lbs. Fact: It's a 5,000 lb truck pulling a 5,000 lb trailer. A little slight of hand? You bet.

Then, on the way down the grade, the camera zooms in on the brakes as the vehicles comes to a screeching halt just prior to the end of ramp. Next time you see the ad....look for the 'mice type'. It indicates the trailer is equipped with electric brakes. Fact....the electric brakes stop the trailer -- not the truck. A little slight of hand? You bet.

And why does Toyota have bigger brake pads? They need them....their truck is heavier. Stopping distance between our truck and theirs is virtually identical. And why does Toyota have a 6 speed transmission? To improve their fuel economy....which is still 2 mpg less than ours.

And don't forget....their big V8 has one axle ratio -- a 4.3. Suck fuel much? Our trucks offer several axle options to optimize towing and fuel economy. Bottom line: OUR TRUCK IS BETTER! Spread the word.......we can all make a difference. [NAME REDACTED]

GM totally pwn'd Toyota there. lol.

'Brother Can't Drive'

Another Enzo bites the dust, this time at the obviously incapable hands of actor and comedian Eddie Griffith. That leaves only 398 Enzos surviving in the wild, er, some rich person's garage.

A much better video of the crash and some more explanation is available from Jalopnik, and an interesting and humorous article is available from AutoWeek.

In case you were wondering, yes, that car is... I mean was worth about $1.5 Million dollars. [Insert Doctor Evil here.]

Not Your Grandpa's Golf Cart

Most of us have driven a golf cart at one time or another; either on the golf course, around the campground, or in your uncle's back yard.

I don't think that I am alone in saying that it is not much of an exhilarating experience. They top out at about 12 miles per hour, struggle up hills, and have tacky upholstery.

But not these bad boys. Apparently the newest trend in off-road motor sports is tricked out golf carts.

Check out the video, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:


Yet another fun, pointless, motorized toy to sink grotesque amounts of money into.

The electric powered models use 96 Volt batteries instead of the original 36V unit, and the gas powered ones can borrow engines from snowmobiles and motorcycles.

Yowza.

Monday, Monday...

Is everyone used to driving in the snow yet? It has snowed for the last six weekends straight... and there's a change of snow again for later this week.

Plus it has seen unreasonably cold this winter. The same snow that fell around 20 December is still covering the majority of the ground. It usually warms up and melts everything off around here in the winter time, but apparently not this year.

I'm without my car today. It's approaching the end of its warranty, so I figured I had better take 'er to the dealership and let them look it over. I really hope this doesn't cost me an arm and a leg. One or the other I might be able to deal with... but not both.