CARSCOOP |  |
- Mustang GT Driver Nabbed Street Racing but Cool Cop Cuts Him a Break
- Wacky Race Features Honda Civic BTCC Racer and Honda's 130MPH Mean Mower
- Poll: Has BMW Pulled Off the 3-Series Coupe and 4-Series Name Switch Successfully?
- Past Beauties: 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer Concept Car
- How Does the Range Rover Sport Compare Against the Porsche Cayenne Turbo?
- Scoop: New 2014 BMW M3 Sedan's Interior Exposed
| Mustang GT Driver Nabbed Street Racing but Cool Cop Cuts Him a Break Posted: 13 Oct 2013 03:31 PM PDT  Can you guess what happens when you go all Fast&Furious with your ride in real life, and at the same time, don't care to pay attention to anything else on the road – including…a police car that's right behind you? Yes, you get caught, but we can say without any question, that this young man actually caught a break here, thanks to the forgiving police officer. There were three cars but the cop pulled over only the fourth generation Mustang GT driver who was leading the race and gave him his prize – two tickets. "I was right behind you guys, and you still took off!" the cop told the man, and then went on to say, "I'm cutting you a break here. What I'm doing is writing two citations, driving a vehicle in excess of speed that's reasonable or prudent, which is a $90 fine, and driving a motor vehicle intended to cause excessive noise, basically if your muffler is too loud for $70". The officer also handed him two warnings, one for racing and the other for negligible driving. We say, he should consider himself lucky…        |
| Wacky Race Features Honda Civic BTCC Racer and Honda's 130MPH Mean Mower Posted: 13 Oct 2013 02:01 PM PDT  You've seen The Stig driving Honda's crazy 130 mph (209 km/h) lawnmower on track, but now it's time to see how this mean machine stacks up against a real racing car. Powered by a 109hp 1.0-liter Honda VTR Firestorm motorcycle engine, the Mean Mower hits 60 mph (96km/h) from standstill in 4 seconds, so the folks from Auto Express thought it would be interesting to see how it would perform on track against the Honda Yuasa Racing Civic BTCC car. Powered by a 2.0-liter engine with over 300 horsepower, the Civic reaches a top speed of 160 mph (257 km/h). It's obviously faster than the lawnmower, that's why the latter had a 40-second head start. Without further ado, let's watch BTCC drivers Matt Neal in the Civic and Gordon Shedden on the lawnmower battling it out on Rockingham circuit. By Dan Mihalascu    |
| Poll: Has BMW Pulled Off the 3-Series Coupe and 4-Series Name Switch Successfully? Posted: 13 Oct 2013 12:28 PM PDT  Now that we have had a chance to take in the BMW 4-Series, by seeing the reviews and clicking through all of the photos, and even know what the new M3 coupe, the M4 is going to look like, albeit in 'concept form', a question arises. The question, rather informally put, is did they get away with changing the name? Are these new 4-Series and M4 models just as appealing as they would have been had they retained the traditional naming policy? Put in a different way: If you were in the market for a 4-Series-sized coupe or convertible, would the new name matter when making the final decision? Feel free to choose your preferred poll option, and don't hesitate to use the comments box. I don't want to influence the result here in any way, but what I will do is will bring the 4-Series Gran Coupe to your attention, since we're on the topic. It's not a 3-Series, but it's not a 4-Series Coupe, because that has two doors, right? It will cost more than both of them, and may get close to the 5-Series in terms of acquisition costs, and with a wheelbase only 48mm smaller, perhaps in terms of size, too. But what is it? Is it a relevant new and unique model that combines 4-door practicality with coupe looks and more interior space (length- and not height-wise) than a regular 3-Series, or is it just more confusion in an increasingly cluttered BMW range? I think it steps on the toes of the 5-Series a bit. By Andrei Nedelea  Poll: Was BMW's 3-Series Coupe and Convertible Name Switch to 4-Series Successful?          |
| Past Beauties: 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer Concept Car Posted: 13 Oct 2013 10:02 AM PDT  One of the concept cars displayed at the 1956 General Motors Motorama show was the Pontiac Club de Mer, a futuristic roadster that was designed by Paul Gillian under the supervision of famed GM designer and engineer Harley Earl. This particular study and other GM "Futuristic Dream Cars" of the time, pointed the way to cars of the future - or at least they tried to. GM built only one Pontiac Club de Mer (albeit a non-running mockup), but unfortunately it had it destroyed in late 1958. There was also a 1/4 scale model which survives to this day. However, there is another life-sized Pontiac Club de Mer in mint shape and fully functional. Built by custom car expert Marty Martino, who specializes in concept car recreations, the Pontiac Club de Mer was brought back to life as a replica using the chassis and powertrain of a 1959 Pontiac. The recreation is powered by the 1959 Strato Streak engine mated to the Jetaway Hydro-Matic 4-speed transmission. The body's inner structure is all steel and uses the 1959 Pontiac's inner doors, jambs, cowl sections, hinges and latches, augmented with square tubing. The OEM-style chassis is built using mid-sized Pontiac suspension clips with custom boxed rails. On top of the steel structure, Martino added an authentically sculpted fiberglass outer body that replicates the original design by Pontiac's Paul Gillian. The car features many unique details specifically crafted for it, including bumpers, lights and interior components. It is painted in the concept's original and unique Cerulean Blue paint, while the interior features custom-built leather-covered bucket seats and chrome finish on the one-off trim parts. The car took three years to build and was sold at a 2009 Barrett-Jackson auction for $110,000 (€80,980). By Dan Mihalascu           |
| How Does the Range Rover Sport Compare Against the Porsche Cayenne Turbo? Posted: 13 Oct 2013 09:01 AM PDT  The all-new Range Rover Sport is still, according to reports, not that sporty to drive, despite being lighter, faster and sharper than ever. It is then an improvement over its predecessor, but when it comes to its on-road behavior, tests suggest it still trails sharper, more focused machines of similar stature, like the Porsche Cayenne, which along with the BMW X5, are the class benchmarks for SUV handling on-road. While it may be common knowledge that Porsche's SUV is among the best to drive in its class, we don't think that many people associate it with acceptable off-road capabilities, even though it has them, as it was envisaged from the start to be more than just an autobahn cruiser, like the X5. The comparison was made by Autocar's Steve Sutcliffe, who pitted the Range Sport Supercharged against a Cayenne Turbo, driving them on track, on the road and off it. By the end of the test, despite the fact that the Cayenne proved to be just as capable as the Range off-road (despite having the wrong tires), while being better on road in every respect, he calls the test a tie, arguing that it's a matter of choice: one feels like a proper sports car on stilts, which can also go off-road, while the other is an evolution of the Range Rover Sport we are familiar with – if you liked the previous model, then it's for you. Nevertheless, after having seen this test, I'm all the more convinced by the Cayenne's capabilities, and no matter what the video says at the end, I found that these two cars are not tied, and the all-aluminum British SUV is a highly-competent, but not class-leading vehicle. By Andrei Nedelea    |
| Scoop: New 2014 BMW M3 Sedan's Interior Exposed Posted: 13 Oct 2013 07:51 AM PDT  If BMW's decision to release initial specifications as well as photos and videos of covered up prototypes of the M3 sedan and its coupe counterpart named the M4 is any measure, then we should see the final products in the following months. In the meantime, you can feed your curiosity with scoop shots such as this set of images from China that brings the M3 saloon's interior details to light. The prototype M3's cabin comes with select upgrades such as a thick rimmed steering wheel featuring the M brand's colors in the stitching, red needles for the instrument panel gauges, a DCT transmission with two pedals, (don't worry, a manual will be offered) and body hugging sports seats. In case you don't remember, BMW has officially confirmed that both the M3 and M4 performance models will get their mojo from a spanking new 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline six producing "approximately" 424hp (430PS) and 500Nm (369 lb-ft). You can read more about that here. Story References: Ifeng via Jalopnik & Autoblog-nl        |
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