Rev To The Limit |
REV TO THE LIMIT
Chris Harris Thrashes The Jaguar F-Type Coupe R On Road & Track. Spoiler Alert: He Loves It.3/27/2014 Review of the Jaguar F-Type Coupe R. 550hp on Street and TrackJaguar‘s new F-Type Coupe is gorgeous, easily the best looking car on sale right now. There has been a flurry of activity recently, from when we announced the launch to a video roundup just a few days ago, there is a lot of excitment for this R model. The reviews have been coming steadily and everybody is impressed by the package as a whole. Perhaps the most important review for us hooligans is the one by Chris Harris. His verdict in the video above, as per usual is full of drifting, tire smoke and general, English shenanigans. You know, the sort of things that Chris Harris from Drive excels at. Actually, relative to Harris' other reviews, this one is rather serious. There's a good recap of the F-Type on the road, with Harris referencing the car's "great bottom" and "amazing ass," quite frequently. Surprisingly, Harris says the more powerful F-Type R is just "incrementally" faster than the 495-horsepower F-Type V8 S Convertible. Overall, aside from some minor quibbles, Harris has nothing but praise for the newest cat. We've got the entire video available below.
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2013 Best Car List According to Top Gear
Supercar of the Year: Ferrari 458 Speciale The Ferrari 458 Speciale is one awesome car. With a 4.5-liter V-8 that makes slightly insance 597 horsepower at its 9000-rpm peak you know performance won't be an issue. Some awesome technology has gone into this car. Engine changes like 14.0:1 compression ratio, revised combustion chambers, new pistons, shorter intake runners, reshaped intake ports, and higher lift on the exhaust and intake valves, along with a new carbon-fiber manifold and airbox all help boost power. The 458 also went on a diet and had shed some 200 pounds. The Speciale shifts faster, goes faster in a straight line and laps Fiorano track quicker than the standard 458 Italia. turns in quicker, and stops shorter. Thanks to an additional 35 horsepower and 200 fewer pounds, it is swifter than the car on which it’s based, in a straight line and around a track. Read our full 458 Special review. For its $22,195 base price, you’re getting a vehicle essentially identical to the European version, from the 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder to the autobahn-firm suspension tune to the single-spec Bridgestone Potenza RE050A summer tires. Well, there is one major difference: The Euro ST will only be a three-door hatchback, whereas the American ST will come only in five-door form. The spunky little ST is more important for what it says about Ford than what it does for the company’s bottom line. It proves that Ford isn’t without a soul, that somewhere inside that giant transnational monolith that pays the bills with pickup-truck sales, there are people who actually care about small cars The biggest misconception about the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series is that it's simply a higher-performing version of the SLS GT - a closer look, or better yet, a few hot laps on a high-speed racing circuit, reveals that is anything but the case. The engine mapping, crankshaft, connecting rods, valvetrain, intake, exhaust and cooling are all modified and the engine's redline bumps up from 7,200 to 8,000 rpm, which pushes output of the hand-built 6.3-liter V8 to 622 horsepower. The power steering receives a new ratio, a coilover AMG Adaptive Performance suspension is installed along with underbody braces, the track is widened, two-piece carbon-ceramic brakes replace iron rotors at each corner and a lightweight titanium exhaust is fitted beneath. The AMG Speedshift seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox is modified and an electronically controlled AMG rear differential lock ensures the power goes to the pavement. In terms of performance, nothing has been left untouched by the AMG engineers, and the car's performance is nothing short of spectacular. Brilliant engineers who were tasked with creating this uncompromising devil. It is one of my favorites. Read any review of the Corvette and you'll see the same list of compliments and complaints: great performance, terrible interior, or some variation thereof. The Corvette now features an aluminum frame, not just the higher-performance models. Instead of two uniformly thick, hydroformed rails, the chassis is now made up of five sections using hydroformed aluminum, cast aluminum, and extruded aluminum, with each section tailored to its purpose in strength and stiffness. Providing the go power is the latest update to Chevrolet's famous small-block V-8. Resurrecting the LT1 moniker, the updated engine displaces 6.2 liters and pumps out at least 450 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque. The improvements in peak power are modest, but Chevy says the power curves are greatly improved, with the new engine producing as much torque between 1000 and 4000 rpm as did the 7.0-liter V-8 in the Z06. The first roadster from Jaguar in 40 years, the 2014 F-Type was worth the wait. Thisconvertible is a thrilling blend of style, performance and luxury.
Featuring V-6 and V-8 power, the F-type debuts first as a roadster, but a coupe will soon follow. (Jaguar’s new turbo four-cylinder—essentially a Ford EcoBoost unit—doesn’t make the U.S. options sheet.) Both engines are supercharged, and the six is available in two strengths. The base F-type has 340 hp and 332 lb-ft of torque; the F-type S boasts 380 hp and 339 lb-ft. The top model is the V-8 S, which packs 495 hp and 460 lb-ft in its eight-pot ammo box. The V-6 S has a mechanical limited-slip differential. The top-of-the-line car gets an electronically controlled diff that actuates a multiplate clutch, depending on available grip. The brakes are progressively stronger as you climb the ladder, with the base car fitted with 13.9-inch front discs and 12.8-inch rears, the V-6 S upgrading to 15-inch discs at the front, and the V-8 S teaming the 15-inchers with 14.8-inch rear platters. |
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