When three of the guys behind the Tesla Roadster set out to build a motorcycle, you know it’s not going to be your run of the mill bike.
And you’d be right. The Mission One from Mission Motors wants to redefine the way we think of two-wheeled transportation by creating an all-electric motorcycle that performs as good (if not better) than it looks while creating zero emissions along the way. Using a combination of lithium ion batteries, a high performance electric motor, and an onboard computer system, the Mission One is designed to go 150 miles on a single charge and top out at 150 miles per hour.
Batteries have long been the limiting factor for electric vehicles, since they’re seen as heavy, large and expensive, but with Mission One’s lithium ion batteries, the bike can be lighter, cheaper, and carry more energy, and it’ll only take 2 hours to charge between fun runs. The bike also uses a regenerative braking system to gain back some of the energy typically lost during a ride.
On the performance side of things, the electric motor means you can tap all 100 foot-pounds of torque at any time from 0-60 mph, giving you a limitless torque curve that can pull you out of any tricky turn. Ohlins forks, Ohlins shocks, Brembo brakes and Marchesini wheels round out the physical components, while a real time wireless data acquisition system ensures that the rider knows at all times exactly what’s going on at the track and on the street.
The body itself was designed by Yves Behar of Fuse Project, the man behind the Jawbone headset, so it also looks as good as it performs. With angular lines, modern materials and a sleek, futuristic silhouette, it’s like a combination of a Ducati and a KTM that work well in all the right places.
If the bike of the future is calling your name, then give Mission Motors a call, because at just $69,000 the Mission One will be going fast in more ways than one.
Ever wish you had a car for the track and a car for the city?
Well then, BRABUS has got you covered with a matching McLaren SLR and ULTIMATE 112.
The Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR Roadster gets a full body and trim kit, as well as a custom BRABUS interior and engine upgrades to bring the power level to a respectable 650 HP. (0-62 in 3.6 seconds; Top speed of 211 mph.)
The ULTIMATE 112 (aka the “tender”), which starts out life as a Smart Fortwo, gets matching paint and interior, as well as a boost to 112 HP.
Now if they just made something to tow these with…
If the Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR Roadster just doesn’t do it for you, then maybe you need to check out the Brabus edition. (Or get a better sense of what does it for you.)
Featuring a new front spoiler made of exposed carbon fiber, a carbon fiber rear diffuser, 20 inch Brabus Monoblock VI wheels, special camshafts, a fuel cooling system, high-performance exhaust (the car is now up to 650hp from the supercharged V8) and a clutch-type limited-slip differential, the roadster will now get to 62 mph in just 3.6 seconds, with a new top speed of 209 mph.
Inside, there’s now custom leather trim, a flat-bottom sports steering wheel with integrated buttons for shifting gears, and carbon fiber trim for the dashboard, center console, and door.
Need more?
That’s just too damn bad, because it might not be possible.
If you’ve never been (given the chance, I think everyone should go), then picture this: More automotive eye candy than you can imagine, and I walked around for two full days and still didn’t see everything. It’s that big.
Though the name of the game is new and improved, and everyone is trying to one-up the next to grab that photographer’s eye, there were a couple trends that I noticed:
Orange is the new black. Orange was definitely the go-to color scheme for any car that was trying to show off, and even cars that were painted other colors seemed to have some sort of orange accent.
Bigger is better. To grab your attention, rims have now crossed the 30” barrier, and the more gaudy, the better. There were rims with TVs in them, rims with solid gold bars in them, rims with jewels in them, and rims that were painted just about any color you can imagine. If you can dream it, someone else can put it on a rim.
Heat-treated is the new chrome. To add to the wheel spectrum, many manufactures are now offering a “heat-treat” option, which takes your shiny new wheel and adds some color to it with a heat-treating process. I like the look, so I hope to see more of it.
Horsepower numbers need four digits to impress. With everyone pumping 300 horsepower out of their Civic, it takes something special to show off now, which is why many of the tuners were demoing cars that easily passed through the thousand mark in the horsepower column.
Conversions are big. Four door cars became two door, two door cars became four door, convertibles became single seat roadsters, and some cars just lost all hope of being original and simply transformed into something new entirely. There are definitely some automotive Dr. Frankensteins out there, and for the right funds, they can build you just about anything that you can think of.
Though there were many cars that impressed, my favorite car of the show was easily the Tractorri; a half Mustang, half Lamborghini concoction that looked like it just stepped off the showroom floor. The execution was flawless, and it was hard to believe that this car started out as two entirely different machines. Though I couldn’t decide if it should be called a Forghini Musardo, or a Lambord Gallardang, it was easy to decide that John Haugh (the owner of the Tractorri) is one lucky man.
Starting with a 2007 body in white Ford Mustang, the Tractorri soon began to take shape. The 5.0-liter, 520 hp Lamborghini V10 was midmounted behind the front seats, and then mated to the Gallardo’s four-wheel drive, paddle-shifted E-gear transmission, and Aluminum double wishbone suspension.
Other amenities include 8 piston front and 4 piston rear brakes, custom wheels, Lamborghini interior, PPG paint, and Gallardo taillights (to remind fellow drivers that there is a reason you’ll only ever see the back of this car).
If heaven has cars, then they all look like this, because the Tractorri was simply stunning.
I would gladly trade ten years off of the end of my life to be Jeremy Clarkson for a day.
Why?
Because the man gets handed the keys to some of the most exclusive cars in the world, and then gets paid to drive them. Hard.
We’re talkin’ tire smoking, opposite locking, pedal to the floor hard; and [...]
Though I doubt the world of the automotive spy photographer is anything near as glamorous as how it’s portrayed in “The Illusive”, it sure is a neat way to debut a new ride.
The film, which features the new SLR Roadster (among other Mercedes offerings), the Apple iPhone, and a Canon camera (“ideal brand partners are [...]
