Tag Archives | Speed

…It’s Tuner Tuesday: Porsche 911 GT3 RSR?

911 GT3 RSR Front

The 911 GT3 RSR is what happens when Porsche puts no limits on the things it can do in the name of speed.

Designed to be a pure race car, and built to run in the American Le Mans Series, the Nurburgring 24 Hours, and the GT2 class at international long distance races, it’s based very loosely on the 911, though you won’t find many parts in the GT3 RSR that you could swap between it and the 911s you see prowling the golf course.

911 GT3 RSR Rear

Seriously though, when changes from the previous GT3 RSR include “a lighter wiring harness to further improve handling” you know things have gone from intensive to excessive.

911 GT3 RSR Engine

The 4.0-liter, six-cylinder boxer engine makes 450 hp at 7,800 rpm up to a redline of 9,000 rpm, and a new multi-funciton display located above the dashboard indicates the optimum moment to change gears, if you can’t already tell from the engine screaming at you 9,000 times per minute.

Want to talk tricks?

911 GT3 RSR Interior

How about a programmable multi-function, onboard supply system control device, giving teams the choice of many individual functions, including an infinitely adjustable blinking frequency of the lights in the front apron, which helps to immediately recognize race cars when they enter the pits in the dark. For easier service under race conditions, the car even features an air-jack system with overpressure valve to life it in a pinch.

Only 20 of the new GT3 RSRs will be built, but at a price of $500,000, it shouldn’t be surprising why. Speed costs, and in the case of the GT3 RSR, you’re buying quite a bit of it.

[Porsche - 911 GT3 RSR]

…Cookie Composites make beautiful helmets?

Cookie Composites ROK

During an Australian vacation, I had a chance to stop by the Cookie Composites shop with a friend that’s an active skydiver so that he could pick up a new lens for his skydive helmet/camera rig.

Seeing this small company that operates on a global scale up close and personal really gave me an appreciation for their hands on approach and handmade quality. Each piece is made with precision and care, and they were happy to show us around even though we showed up at their door essentially unannounced.

Cookie Composites ROK Design

In 2006, Cookie Composites decided to reshape their brand, and hired a team of media and advertisement specialists to develop the brand’s new values. During that time, Ricardo Sa Freire was brought on to develop a range of new helmets that would translate those new values into a signature shape for their new products, and he shared that process online.

The ROK helmet is what came out of that process, and it’s a helmet designed for swoop canopy divers and base jumpers, with air intakes in both sides that are used to measure the speed through the sound of the wind.

Cookie Composites ROK Detail

Since the process behind the end result is no less impressive than what they created, it’s a fantastic read that gives you a glimpse into the world and work of a real designer as he creates a product that is designed to look good, save lives, and function in some of the most extreme environments imaginable.

[Cookie Composites]

[Ricardo Sa Freire]

[Via: NOTCOT]

…It’s Things Thursday: World’s Greatest Shelby Slot Car Racetrack?

World’s Greatest Shelby Slot Car Racetrack

Unfortunately, slot car racing is either too cheap, and its toy status quickly wears thin as it starts to fall apart and stops working, or it’s too expensive, and it’s not fun because you’re doing it as a hobby instead of an occasional fun activity.

However, The World’s Greatest Shelby Slot Car Racetrack looks to bridge those two extremes by creating a well-built track that you can set up at home and race for fun.

Featuring 63-3/4 feet of track, Neo Dymium ground-effect magnets and extra-long guide pins, the 1964 Daytona Coupes will whip around at breakneck speeds, but won’t launch off the track the first time you try and take a turn.

In addition, high-conductivity phosphor bronze shoes and a 22-volt power pack deliver speed and racability that you’re looking for, and that no track can match.

Get yours December 1st from Restoration Hardware.

[Restoration Hardware - The World’s Greatest Shelby Slot Car Racetrack]

[Via: Uncrate]

…The Grinch is ready to tow you?

Grinch

Distortion Boarding’s Grinch Winch and Snow Grinch are winch machines designed for wakeboarding, skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, and any other board sport where you need a little extra speed and momentum to pull off sick tricks.

With an adjustable hand throttle for varying the towing speed, a hydraulic brake for quick and easy stops, a rope friendly roller system that allows you to tow from almost any angle, and a 7 hp gas engine with 90:1 overdrive for top speeds of 25 to 30 MPH and deepwater starts, the Grinch is designed to be very user friendly.

With an adapter for a 2” receiver hitch on your vehicle, a tow kit for wheeling around, and the old school mounting method of just hammering the thing into the ground with stakes, the Winch is ready to go when and where you are, provided you can bring the necessary board skills to the table of course.

Just make sure your health insurance is in good shape before grabbing the rope, because this is one fun way to go down in a blaze of glory.

[Distortion Boarding - Grinch]

[Via: Gizmodo]

…Delicious looks delicious?

Delicious

Delicious (the social bookmarking site formerly known as del.icio.us that calls itself “the tastiest bookmarks on the web” and was also the father of the strange domain name), launched its long awaited redesign yesterday to help move the site beyond its late ‘90s style.

Though the underlying functionality is still the same, the new look and feel is designed to make it faster, easier to learn, and hopefully more desirable.

    Speed: We’ve moved to a new infrastructure that makes every page faster. This new platform will enable us to keep up with traffic growth while ensuring Delicious is responsive and reliable. You may not have noticed, but the old backend was getting creaky under the load of five million users.

    Search: We’ve completely overhauled our search engine to make it faster and more powerful. Searches used to take ages to return results; now they’re very quick. The new search engine is also smarter, and more social: you can search within one of your tags, another public user’s bookmarks, or your social network. Now it’s easier to take advantage of the expertise and interests of your friends, not to mention the Delicious community at large.

    Design: Finally, we’ve updated the user interface to improve usability and add a few often-requested features (such as selectable detail levels and alphabetical sorting of bookmarks). Our goal has been to keep the new design similar in spirit to the old one, so all of you veterans should be able to jump in without any confusion. At the same time, we’re hoping that newcomers to Delicious will find it easier to learn.

I’m a big Delicious user (http://delicious.com/cory411), but since I use the Firefox plugin, I rarely if ever visit the site.

Delicious Screenshot

However, with looks like this, I just might have to give it a second chance.

[Delicious]