Here it is, the one we’ve all been waiting for. The Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG and the BMW M135i in the hands of Chris Harris. There’s no need for an intro, just strap yourself in for the next 20 minutes and enjoy the ride.
If you would like a few more words, head on over to PistonHeads.
Sebastien Loeb has laser etched his name into the record books yet again by setting a time at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb that may never be bettered. According to computer simulations run by Peugeot Sport the 208 T16 Pikes Peak had a theoretical best time of 8m 15s. But that wasn’t fast enough for Loeb, he posted a time of 8m 13.878s.
That’s fast right? Consider this, the previous Pikes Peak world record was set last year by Rhys Millen. His time? A comparatively laughable 9m 46.164s.
Okay, the 20km course has lost some of its charm and intrinsic difficulties now that it has been fully paved to the summit. But there was no gravel in 2012 either. Sebastien Loeb, we bow down before you.
After the break you can watch unhindered onboard footage of Loeb’s ascent. No commentary, just man, machine and the noises generated by his 875hp purpose-built attack weapon.
When we first saw pics of the Holden VF ute circulating at the Nürbugring we sensed it was little more than a marketing gimmick. And it looks as though we were right. With the VF SSV Redline ute Holden is claiming the title of the world’s fastest utlility vehicle at the Ring, a title which, until now, never existed.
Holden test driver Rob Trubiani was at the wheel during an industry pool test day and posted a lap time of 8:19.47, around 11 seconds better than their 8:30 target time. Holden says the car is a “product-correct engineering test vehicle” with its speed limiter removed and increased negative camber at the front wheels.
You can expect to see and hear a lot more about this lap when the VF ute goes on sale. For now there’s a decent gallery of pics and four videos for you to watch.
The main video shows the full lap with commentary from Trubiani, it’s actually quite a decent effort we have to say. Despite Trubiani’s claims that the ute’s electric power steering is the duck’s guts, to our untrained eye it looks a touch light and requires too much turn to reach full lock.
Chris Harris turns his hand to the Mk7 Golf GTI. He’s at the wheel of a base-spec 162kW model with a proper gearbox. Part of the GTI’s appeal is its understated nature. And yet, when a respected reviewer, such as Harris, takes an understated approach to his work what are we left with?
Just that, a question mark. Yes, Chris does say lots of nice things about the latest GTI, but where’s the passion and the gut feel that we normally get from his videos?
So, are we too comfortable with the Harris style, or has the GTI recipe become so familiar that it’s almost taken for granted? Like Chris, we’re going to leave you with a question mark.
[Thanks to Richard for the tip]
“The steering is superb… I just feel more connected.”
“Comfortably the best PDK that Porsche has ever made.”
They’re two comments worth taking away from Chris Harris’ exclusive review of the new Porsche 911 GT3. It’s worth noting that this is not a final production-spec car, but with almost 20,000km showing on the dials it is a GT3 that’s been worked hard over its very short life.
Electronic steering and the lack of a manual gearbox are two of things lounge room experts are lamenting about the latest version of the iconic GT3. Harris touches on both with his usual candour. He also covers what is lost or gained with the new 9A1-based 3.8 litre engine over the much-loved Metzger from previous generations.
You’ll enjoy this review, at least you should! And thanks, as always, to Drive for making their content so accessible.
Imagine this, you’re about to tackle the Nürburgring in a car powered by a 1.0 litre three cylinder engine. Hardly seems worth getting worried about. How fast can it be? Allow Chris Harris to tweet, fart and whistle his way around the Nordschleife and show you.
[Thanks to Tiaan for the tip]
In his latest video Chris Harris keeps it real, driving two British sportscars. One we yearn for ourselves, the other, well not so much.
First, Harris drives the Morgan 3 Wheeler. Good for him. We just can’t warm to it. It’s just a bit daft and we’ve heard better sounding sewing machines than that V-twin engine. It’s just one step too far down the oddball scale for us. You may disagree, and we wouldn’t begrudge you at all.
But a Caterham on the other hand. Now, that we like. True, there’s never been a Caterham or Lotus 7 with a decent looking backside. But who cares! The front is raw and purposeful, which matches the driving experience.
Harris describes the Caterham best when he says: “This is absolutely pure!”
Why don’t we see more Caterhams on the roads?
The GP2 series is one of the breeding grounds for Formula 1’s future stars. The opening lap of today’s race at Monaco shows a few of the drivers may still have a bit to learn about the art of racecraft.
A mass pile-up was sparked by polesitter Jonny Cecotto Jr who lost ground to Kiwi Mitch Evans off the line and then clipped the car of Fabio Leimer going into Sainte Devote. Chaos soon followed, as the video after the break shows. In all 14 cars were involved and the race was red flagged.
For the record Sam Bird won the race after the restart.
Still, at least this wasn’t as frightening as last year’s GP3 crash between Conor Daly and Dimitry Suranovich at the exit of the tunnel.
[Thanks to Wes for the tip]
Darren Heath is one of the best known photographers in Formula 1. And with good reason; he is very good at what he does. This interview, recorded by Mario Muth, affords us an excellent opportunity to learn more about what makes Darren tick.
Heath speaks for around 45 minutes, discussing all matter of things. Of course, it mostly centres on his F1 career. At times, for the photographers among you, it’s almost as if he is delivering a master class in motorsport photography.
Make the time to watch this, you will enjoy it.
Crawford Performance in the US has worked its magic on the Subaru BRZee. They’re the guys who prepped Ken Block’s Gymkhana I & II WRXs. After they finished laughing at the meagre stock figures produced by the blue Toybaru they put things right to the tune of 430hp/500ft-lb (320kW/680Nm). Nice.
Matt Farah from Drive went along and sampled the car to see what it was like. We’d like to have learnt a lot more about the details of the engine rebuild and perhaps some decent performance stats as well. But overall if you like the BRZ, you’ll enjoy this clip.
Porsche invited a select group of journalists to its Leipzig factory to bring them up to speed on the progress of 918 Spyder. Previously its weight was reported as being over 1700kg, now it’s claimed to be 1640kg. Before it had less than 800hp, now Porsche says there’s 887hp (660kW) to play with. It’s faster, too, so the claims suggest.
Project leader Frank-Steffen Walliser says Porsche isn’t responding to the gauntlets thrown down by the more powerful and faster rivals—LaFerrari (708kW) and McLaren P1 (675kW), but it’s hard not to draw any other conclusions. Yet, if Porsche wants to claim hybrid hypercar performance supremacy they still have a lot of work to do.
Porsche says the 918 can reach 300km/h in 23 seconds flat. That’s fast. But compared to the LaFerrari (15.0 seconds) and the P1 (sub 17 seconds) it is positively pedestrian.
More in depth analysis of the 918 has been given by Chris Harris (video after the break) and Autocar.
In his review for Autocar Greg Kable said: “With sufficient battery charge in E-Power mode, the Porsche relies on the front electric motor to provide propulsion at speeds of up to 93mph—which makes this Porsche’s first front-wheel drive car.
“Before the first lap is over I’m already gushing at the razor-sharp throttle response, the immense in-gear urge, the immediacy of the chassis and the searing V8 engine, which emits a spine-tingling mechanical shrill on the way to its 9150rpm limiter.”
Chris Harris was more circumspect, praising the car, but always with a caveat. It’s worth noting that the cars being tested are pre-production prototypes still to undergo fine tuning. It’s also worth checking out Harris’ thoughts below.
Here’s your latest Chris Harris fix. Today he’s at the wheel of the highly desirable Audi R8 V10 Plus, the equally wantable 997 Porsche 911 Turbo S and giant killing Nissan GT-R that’s been warmed over by Litchfield.
He tracks the cars around Anglesey, down the Bruntingthorpe drag strip and on the road. Whatever order you think these cars will be ranked at the end of this comparison, think again. Most of all have fun watching the verdict being reached.
Although, the results of the flat out drag race will probably be exactly what you expect to see. And, wow!