Nic Case’s world record setting car cost him $4,000, has all-wheel-drive, has no brakes, makes 11-horsepower, and features a carbon fiber chassis.
Oh, and it’s controlled by a remote, and sits just a few inches off the ground.
Recently, the custom creation was clocked at 161mph on the track, though Nic’s confident that with a few tweaks, he can easily break the 200mph barrier.
Just don’t expect to buy one of these at your local Radio Shack!
How can you prepare a car for the types of punishment that a driver like Ken Block can dish out while performing Gymkhana 2?
The short answer is that you can’t, but the long answer is that you give it to the guys at Crawford Performance and let them trick, tune and test the car over the course of 43 days and 800+ man hours to build a certified, track ready, punishment seeking Subaru that will do just about anything that you ask it to.
Ferrari’s 599 GTB Fiorano is already a potent pony, so when the Italians decided to put their stallion through the XX program (which was responsible for cars like the Enzo FXX and the FXX Evoluzione) the ears of millionaires around the world definitely perked up.
The end result of Ferrari’s poking, prodding, tuning and trimming is called the 599XX, and it’s the fastest road car they’ve ever produced. (Though calling this a road car is a bit of a stretch.)
The ‘extreme track car’ bumps power to 700 hp at 9,000 rpm, and uses carbon fiber wherever possible to bring the weight down while increasing aerodynamic downforce. Other neat goodies include F1 style ‘doughnuts’ over the brake discs that improve aerodynamics and brake cooling, carbon fiber brake pads, and a whole host of active aerodynamic components they call the ‘ActiflowT’ system.
Like previous XX cars, the 599XX will be invitation only, so if you don’t already have a few Ferraris parked outside, this won’t be the next addition, but for the select few, Ferrari has created a car that will more than likely defy belief.
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.
Pictures of the mythical Pagani Zonda R have been floating around for some time now, but I was hesitant to post them because they seemed to be just that: mythical, made up of mostly renderings and drawings.
Well thankfully, the Pagani Zonda R is very real and very worthy of its mythical status, and is set [...]
With enough motivation (and time, money and beer), you can turn just about any car into the car of your dreams.
For Fourdin Auto Sport out of Belgium, that meant taking the 550hp, 7.0L LS7 V8 out of a Corvette Z06 and shoving it between the frame rails of a Chevy Matiz.
13 months and 1,500 man [...]
