From the Passenger's Perspective: 2000 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Cabriolet

Specifications:

Engine: 3.4L Flat-six

Transmission: 6-speed manual w/hydraulic clutch

Output: 300 Horsepower @ 6800 RPM

358 ft-lb of Torque @ 4600 RPM

Fuel Economy: Highway MPG: 25

City MPG: 17

 

 

 

 

 

The Porsche 911 is celebrating it's 50th anniversary this year, and of the generations, the 996 has been my least favorite.  The 996 generation was sold between 1998 and 2005.  However, a Porsche 911 is still a Porsche 911, and this particular one is very, very cool.

When I approached the black convertible Porsche I was surprised.  When i look at pictures of 996 gen Porsches, I think they look kind of boring (Compared to other Porsches).  But this one looks perfect.  The speed dependent rear spoiler, the twin exhausts, and the red brake calipers, all make this car a masterpiece of design.
As I step into the passenger seat, I am taken aback with the space.  This is a two seater sports car, and I have more legroom than in the Mercedes-Benz C300 I wrote about a while ago.  The dash, though flat and very 90s, is welcoming and simple.  The steering wheel appears to be perfectly sized, and the gauges remind you of the fact that you are in a sports car.
The day I tested this car was warm and pleasant, so I wanted to try some convertibles.  The Saab 9-3 I was in was a convertible, and I loved it.  This Porsche though is fantastic.  As the electronic roof lowered, the whole of the sky was revealed.
And then that beautiful flat-six started up.  Something about the flat-six sounds like no other.  It isn't the deep, baritone bellow you get from a V8, nor is it the high-pitched tenor of a V12.  Somehow the 300 horsepower flat-six just sounds perfect.
I noticed earlier that the peak horsepower was acheived at 6800 RPM, which is fairly high, but this car gains revs so willingly, and with that sound, amplified by the fact that it is right behind you, with nothing but the blue sky between you and it, you get instant acceleration.  This is a seriously fast car.  And though I can't drive it, I can tell you it is the best handling car I've been in.  It never loses grip, and that famous Porsche lift-off oversteer is non-existent.
Along with this performance, you get surprising comfort.  The seats are supportive, and the ride is good.  It's not just good for a Porsche, it's good for any car.  And looking at the MPG figures, it seems fairly economical.
This is a great car.  The only faults I can see with it is a fairly unimaginative dashboard layout, but is that really all that important when everything else is spot on?  Many people say the Porsche 911 is nothing more than a glorified VW Beetle, and it hasn't changed a micron since it's introduction.  But drive this one, and the skeptics will be put to rest.



This 2000 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Cabriolet is for sale now at Geneva Foreign and Sports in Geneva, New York for $31, 487.

 

 

 

 

 

 



From the Passenger's Perspective: 2005 Saab 9-3 Linear Convertible

Today I rode in my first Saab.  Not exactly a riveting milestone, but I was pleasantly surprised.  I was under the impression that the sensible now-defunct Swedish manufacturer made rather good, but boring, cars for very sensible people. Now all of this is true, except for the boring part.  Today is a very nice day, so I chose to ride in some convertibles.  This is just the second cabrio car I've ever been in, and I absolutely adore it.  Before I get to that though, some statistics.  The Saab is powered by a nice, quiet 2.0L inline-4 with a turbo, producing a modest, but adequate 175 horsepower and 195 ft-lb of torque.  It sends this power to the front wheels via a five-speed automatic transmission.  This is the smoothest automatic transmission I've seen.  You barely even notice it's there.  This may be an eight year old car, but the fuel economy figures are up to modern standards, at 22 city and 32 highway.
As I climbed into the Saab, I could tell this was a Swedish car.  All of the controls were arranged on the laser straight dashboard, in very sensible positions, and it was very well-equipped.  In my short stint inside the Saab, I spotted traction control and very cool flip-out cupholder, among many other buttons.
All of these things were overshadowed by two things.  One of which is the incredible comfort.  I liken the experience of going over railroad tracks in the Saab as like driving over railroad track made of silk and pillows.  And small rabbits. (Thats a joke, I don't suggest running over small furry organisms)  This is the most comfortable car I've ever been in, this including a Volvo S60 of the same year.  The other important aspect of the Saab is the electric-folding roof.  This opens up a whole new endless vista of blue sky.  In some convertibles, the wind and noise get to be unbearable, but in the Saab it is a welcome experience.  Its the perfect Sunday cruiser.

I love the Saab, its comfortable, easy to drive, sensible, and lets not forget access to all the world's skies.  As a passenger all you think about is the wind in your hair and the full cabriolet experience.
Oh.  Throughout this whole article I've said Swedish cars are very sensible.  I seem to have forgotten about Koenigsegg.....

This car is currently for sale at Geneva Foreign and Sports in Geneva, New York at $11,392.





Car ID Help

This is a picture of my great-grandmother sitting in an unknown race car of sorts.  I have done lots of work, but established little.  It appears to be a handmade racer, judging by the fact that it has BMW front fenders, but a strange grille and no badges.  The grille seems to have been cut out from metal, again seemingly handmade.  I can tell you that the license plate is a New York plate, dated 1924.  I'd appreciate it if anybody could tell me anything more about this car.
Thanks.

WKA Road Racing at Virginia International Raceway

This past weekend was the second to last WKA Road Racing event, taking place at VIRginia International Raceway, in Danville, Virginia.
My first event was the Junior Sprint Lite race on Saturday.  The start to the race went poorly, and I set off 30 seconds behind the competition.  I worked my way through the field, and by the second to last lap I was 15 seconds behind first place.  Unfortunately for me, I was not able to catch up, and i finished second 11 seconds behind.  However, my best lap time was a 2:49.3, a full three seconds faster than the first place finisher.
Because the starts have been an area that could use improvements, I worked on keeping the engine running, at using the carburetor needle to regulate the flow of fuel into the engine.  This helped profoundly in Sunday's race.
I started well, coming into the first corner in second place.  I quickly overtook for first, and stayed there until the second to last lap.  The second place went by coming through the uphill esses, and as we went into the famed Oak Tree Turn, i went to the inside.  He went wide and over the rumble strips, allowing me to go by.  On the last lap, we went side-by-side through the esses and into Oak Tree.  I again edged him out through Oak Tree, maintaining the lead into the Roller-Coaster.  He went inside, I held him off through the last turn.  I came onto the main straight in the lead, and eventually won by 0.06 seconds, or about half a kart length.
The championship will be decided in early September at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia.

WKA Road Race at Virginia International Raceway Practice Day

The next stop in my kart racing career is here in a rolling green hills of southern Virginia right on the North Carolina border.  I'm currently leading the championship points in the two classes I run, and i plan to maintain my lead into the final race of the season at Summit Point, West Virginia.
Today was practice for my races tomorrow and Sunday.  WKA (the event, however, is run by the Woodbridge Kart Club) runs the full 3.27 mile course here at VIR, which is essentially a big triangle with some esses and hills thrown in.  It's more fun then it sounds...  As some of you may know, recently the iconic VIR Oak Tree, which looked over the hallowed Oak Tree turn at the south end of the course, fell down about a month ago.
Nevertheless, the track continues without its silent sentinel standing guard over the track. 
Not much happened today in practice, i learned the track in the first two sessions, then my crew and I (namely my parents and I) wanted to find some more strait line speed, as there are three long straits on this course.  We changed gears and such, found that my lap times actually went down.  That's pretty much all that happened, other than the engine cutting out on the final series of corners.
I actually couldn't figure out a conclusion to this article other than"I hope I win".  That should pretty much cover it.

The Difference Between a Hypercar and a Supercar

This has been of subject of literally no debate over the years, but I would like to change that.  You see, to a casual observer these two are basically the same.  Both are very fast, both are very expensive, and both are very loud.  Most people who care about this kind of stuff determine the difference by the figures.  There is no set line to distinguish between a hypercar and a supercar, such as it must get to 60 from a standstill in under three seconds to qualify as a hypercar.  An example of what most people would call a hypercar would be the Bugatti Veyron, for obvious reasons.  This is a car of mind boggling numbers.  It has 10 radiators, 1001 horsepower, and can reach speeds in the area of 250 miles per hour (look it up if you really want to know the exact number).  The Supersports version of this car can hit 270!  Now for an example of a supercar.  Most would say the Ferrari 458 Italia is a supercar.  It can still top 200, it goes around corners incredibly well and makes a hypnotizing noise while in the process.  But it somehow isn't as incredible as the Veyron.
But the way I see it, the difference shouldn't be in the numbers.  It should be in how the cars feels.  In order to be a hypercar, you must be laughing and enjoying yourself while driving it, regardless which way you're facing.  However, you are probably saying  "Oh well on that basis a Ford Focus ST is a hypercar then because it's fun to drive!", but no, I'm not finished.  A Hypercar must also exhibit a certain level of lunacy and ridiculousness.  The Italians tend to be very good at this, hence Lamborghini and Pagani (I know the owner of Pagani is Argentinian).  Cars that fit this bill include pretty well every Lamborghini, every Pagani, and the Spyker C8.  There are more, but i'd like to move on.
Now by now you may be thinking that somebody could still say an everyday car could be a hypercar by these standards.  To cure this, I've decided that a car must first qualify to be a supercar before it can become a hypercar.  Now becoming a supercar is still mainly reliant on numbers, so we'll stick to the established supercars.
So there, I've just given a comprehensive to a question nobody is asking.

From the Passenger's Perspective: 2013 Audi A3 Hatch Euro

This Audi ended up being our rental car for our trip to Switzerland.  We were originally supposed to have an Alfa Romeo Giulietta, but that didn't happen.  So we went to look around and found a BMW 1 Series.  It turned out that it was a 120d (we didn't want a diesel), and a rear light was out.  I recommended we rent a Fiat 500L, or the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante over in the corner.  Neither of those things happened and we rented a 2013 Audi A3.
One good mark for this car is looks, up until recently the A3 looked kind of boring, but now that the front end has been altered to look more sinister, it looks better.  The interior though is a different story.  The front passenger seat is uncomfortable, there really aren't enough controls, you basically get a radio and climate control.  I do like how the radio comes up from the dashboard, though in Switzerland we didn't know what they were saying.  Another thing on the radio, it chooses to come on when ever you start the car, which is annoying.The controls do look nice in the interior, and the air con dials have a quality feel to them.  The whole car does seem to be quality.  You know that all of the car is put together with the utmost precision.
One thing that this car has that no other car on this blog has is an electronic parking brake.  This turned out to be a bad thing, as it took about two minutes to figure it out (alright alright we didn't use the owners manual), and it makes a really annoying sound when you engage it.  Sounds a bit like a spaceship that needs some work.
On the driving front, i can report that it has enough power.  We overtook a lot on the roads of Switzerland and this car had the power to do so.  It even handles nicely, though the signature Audi understeer is still present.  However, the steering does feel (I was told) disconnected.  The driver of the Audi said he would much rather be driving a Mini on the mountain passes of the Swiss Alps.
The handling may not be 100% spot on, but this does make for a ride that is very nice.  This is rather spoiled when you are in the seats for more than half and hour.  The driver's seat especially is a problem and the driving position is uncomfortable.  I didn't have enough room in the passenger's seat. The back seats aren't as bad, but for some reason the ride is much, much worse.
As far as space, it isn't too bad.  We managed to get quite a lot into the back.  We did notice that the car we were supposed to have rented, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, may not have been big enough.  We definitely loaded the Audi up.  The Alfa probably couldn't handle all of it.
So the Audi may not be a rival in performance to say, a Mini, however it is a bit more day-today.  Though it doesn't do that very well either.


Specifications:
Engine
2.0L Turbocharged I4
200 Horsepower @ 5100-6000 RPM
207 ft-lb of torque @ 1800-5000 RPM
Top Speed: 144 MPH
Emissions
Tons/yr C02 @15k mi/year: 7.8
EPA Greenhouse Gas Score: 7
Mileage
EPA Hwy: 30 MPG
EPA City: 21 MPG
Range Hwy: 435 miles
Range City: 304.5 miles

From the Passenger's Perspective: Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

When I arrived at this year's Geneva Foreign & Sports Benefit Car Show, i didn't expect to be getting any material for one of these articles.  I was wrong.
About a month ago, i wrote an article on the C63's younger brother, the C300.  When i approached the C63, the first thing i noticed was the 6.3L V8 badge on the side.  That's about twice that of the C300, and 2.3 Liters more than anything I've ever been in.  The second thing i noticed were the AMG alloy wheels, the subtle rear spoiler, and the front aero adjustments.
Then, as i stepped inside, I noticed the carbon fiber trim, as opposed to stainless steel (or plastic made to look like stainless steel......) in the C300.  It's interior is pretty much the same, except for one detail.  In the standard C300, when you open the panel on the dashboard you get a screen that displays the radio and a knob down on the center console to control it.  In the C63, when you open the hood, a larger screen folds out with more stuff than the standard.  Then, when you press off (or something else i forget) the whole thing folds back in and the panel slides over it unaided.  I discovered this on accident when I pressed the button while reaching for something else.
Earlier in the day, i heard somebody leave in the C63, and they gave it the beans out onto the road.  It sounded incredible, sort of a deep screaming grumble.  When we pulled out, on the other hand, the driver immediately slowed down and got very scared (my mother).  Unfortunately, we were never able to give it a full throttle blast, mainly because we would have ended up in a ditch.  But this car is fast.  I can tell.  Another incredible thing I observed was the comfort.  The seats were great, they wrap around you so you don't fly out the window when you go into the ditch.  It is also, and this surprised me, more comfortable than the C300. 
This car is really incredible, and it can be yours for $46,000 (at least what i was told, it may be different now) at Geneva Foreign & Sports in Geneva, NY (I'm not trying to advertise..........)