I went to the Dallas Car Show today, and guess what the Dallas Ferrari-Maserati dealership had on display. :D According to the sign, this is a 1999 F1 engine. It didn't give much more info than that, said it put out "in excess of 750hp". That looks suspisiously more than the 90' bank angle that everyone claims. They also had an Enzo, not quite as ugly in person as in pics, but still ugly. I was more interested in the 3200GT Cambio Corsa (which I hadn't seen in person, there are Ferraris in Waco) plus that was the only car at that display with the doors unlocked. :cool:
Pontiac Solstice concept, which was a bit underwhellming, not quite as nice as it looked in the pics i'd seen before. Maybe it was because of the angle or the color. Not bad, just not quite what I expected. They didn't have a GTO there, supprisingly.
http://pitstop.totalnfs.net/pics/dallas03.jpg
http://pitstop.totalnfs.net/pics/dallas04.jpg
http://pitstop.totalnfs.net/pics/dallas10.jpg
A car familiar to all SCGT'ers, expecially the view of the taillights. :D Panoz had a supprisingly large display, two street Esperantes, a cutaway of a street Esperante, (bottom pics) a GTR-1, (top two pics) and two racing Esperantes. Sat in one of the Esperantes, very nice car.
http://pitstop.totalnfs.net/pics/dallas05.jpg
Me heel-and-toeing in a Mini Cooper :D
Justin Martin
03-28-2003, 09:26 PM
Splitting up the post since I apparantly found the limit on number of images allowed in a single post. ^_^
http://pitstop.totalnfs.net/pics/dallas06.jpg
http://pitstop.totalnfs.net/pics/dallas07.jpg
These two shots are a cutaway of a VW W8 engine. This engine is unbelievably freakin' small. I thought it was a VR6 when I first saw it. It would probably fit in a Mini Cooper better than the Beemer 4 that's normally in them. In the first pic, you can see the right bank with two rows of two cylinders side by side, there's another bank roughly 60' or so on the other side. What was really incredible was the connecting rods and crankshaft, i've always wondered how they managed to put that many connecting rod on that short of a crank, well, those rods are probably only 1.5 centimeters thick! Unless they're using a really heavy flywheel, i'll bet that engine would rev quick.
http://pitstop.totalnfs.net/pics/dallas08.jpg
Chrysler Crossfire, pretty nice, hadn't seen a pic in this color, but still wish they'd kept the original front end style. This one's just not quite as distinctive. And I think the TT looks much better, though it looks better than anything made in thirty something years, so that's no insult to Chrysler.
http://pitstop.totalnfs.net/pics/dallas09.jpg
Me beside a "James Bond" Vanquish. This one was on display at the front, not sure who brought it or if it really was used in the movie, but I got my picture taken by it anyway. :D The other Vanquish was brought by the local Aston dealer, and lacked the heavy artillary. Their entire display was roped off, had one Vanquish and four DB7's. I really enjoyed looking at the Vanquish, I see just how far off both my and Martin Lep's models were. We both severely over-estimated how sharp the corners were on that car, there really are very few sharp creases on it, only gorgeous compound curves. Notice where the "sharp" line of the hood meets the grille, on my Vanquish that's a hard crease, but looking at it in real life, it should be rounded off. You just can't see it in pics. Anyway, I took some pics of it, mostly of various areas that I didn't get right on my model, nothing you guys haven't seen elsewhere.
I also took a few pics on the '04 Mustang concept, they didn't turn out well, car was on a rotating table and the pics are kinda blurry, this camera is bad enough about blurring under lights like these without adding motion into the equation. Car looks pretty good, though i'd lower the front bumper height a bit, it's too massive looking. Taillights are too big for my tastes too. The horse isn't centered up vertically either.
Remko
03-29-2003, 06:59 PM
Nice pictures, nothing like seeing a Vanquish in the metal. =)^ It really is one of the most spectacular cars of these days. When I went to the RAI car show in Amsterdam this February, I got my first chance at seeing a real one too - not easy to get good photos of it though, with the crowd the car drew. Another thing that struck me is how big it is, makes the regular DB7s look lithe.
I still think yours and ML's NFS4 versions were quite accurate, especially if you realize photos were hard to find when you were doing yours. ;)
chris
03-29-2003, 10:06 PM
The actual Vanquish used in the 007 movie was apparently 4wd, 3 speed automatic, and used some old Ford V8 engine. That's all they could do, after all the other stuff they put in the car..
It's price was apparently a few million dollars. :eek:
The Maserati you talk about, the Coupé Cambiocorsa (since 3200GT is no longer built, it was the one with those little led tail lights that followed the shape of the edge of the rear panel)., I've seen quite a few times. Doesn't make it any less impressive, though. The shape is superb.
I don't think very highly of that new oddly named "Kubang" SUV concept.. A Maserati SUV?? It just isn't right, if you ask me.. :rolleyes: The new Quattroporte concept also looks a bit strange..
Very, er, different, from what I saw of it. Not like a 3200GT or a Coupé Cambiocorsa, that look great the first time you see them. It seems to hark back to the styling of the very earliest Quattroportes.
That motor show you went to, seems very uncrowded, or the building it is in is huge.. Big difference to the Sydney International Motor Show.. Only way to get a good look at the cars at the Sydney show is to try and obtain media credentials, and go on the Thursday or Friday before it all starts, or, battle the oppressive crowds on other days.. I swear, around the Ferrari stand, last year, especially where the Enzo, F50 and F40 were on display, you could hardly move! I knew better.. I got the photos from inside the stand, rather than battling with the hordes to try and get a photo or two. ;)
Holden Special Vehicles made a big error, with the HRT427 concept car (now in production). They stuck it on a rotating stand, and, didn't allocate enough space around it, so, obtaining good photos was impossible. Only closer up shots were possible, but, a photo of the whole side profile of the car was impossible.. Especially with all the other people, too.
One of them, a Japanese guy, was paying particular attention to it. He didn't appear to speak English, and, had this little Sony digital video camera, and, appeared to be filming some of the details of the car very carefully (and closely!), and, making copious verbal notes about what was being filmed, especially the brakes and front suspension.. (HSV had one wheel off the car, in order to display the brakes and front suspension design.) I wonder what Japanese car maker he worked for??
His actions weren't the typical admiring the car sort of actions, but, more, careful and thorough information gathering. Not very subtle, either.. ^_^
VQ
03-30-2003, 02:41 AM
THat enigne isn't the W8 engine itz the V10 diesel engine I have pics of it from the when i went to the motor show but I didn't upload it but it is the V10 if itz ne thing like the show in Melbourne.
Ne way Chris they had the HRT 427 and ne other Holden on the stands moving to quickly to get good shots as u can see here witht he HSV Maloo one tonner: http://v8shakes.racerplanet.com/vq/reduced/Dcp_0316.jpg and I also have some pics of the HRT 427: http://v8shakes.racerplanet.com/vq/reduced/Dcp_0320.jpg thats the engine, http://v8shakes.racerplanet.com/vq/reduced/Dcp_0321.jpg RH rear tail, http://v8shakes.racerplanet.com/vq/reduced/Dcp_0322.jpg Rear and thatz all the HRt 427 pics i have and also I have pics of the Crossfire: side: http://v8shakes.racerplanet.com/vq/reduced/Dcp_0311.jpg, rear: http://v8shakes.racerplanet.com/vq/reduced/Dcp_0312.jpg, front: http://v8shakes.racerplanet.com/vq/reduced/Dcp_0313.jpg. Thatz basically it for that good photos I guess. Actually I have some pics of the 9-5 Aero on there and the 9-3 dash cluster which i like a lot becuase of the turbo gauge look: http://v8shakes.racerplanet.com/vq/reduced/Dcp_0328.jpg
chris
03-30-2003, 08:28 AM
Oh, movement was no problem, since I just use a fast film (800 speed) in the SLR camera.
As you probably realise, in not a great fan of the digital, or, automatic cameras. I much prefer the extra degree of control that the SLR offers.
Funny that you should mention the Saab 9-5 Aero.. I saw one of those, but, it was no ordinary Aero.. It had this little Hirsch badge on it, and modified bodywork (subtle, and attractive), plus, seemingly different seats inside it, along with carbon-fibre trim on the dashboard, instead of the usual timber veneers, or matt-grey finish. The wheels appeared different, too.
It was also much faster than I'd expected, and sounded somewhat heavily tuned. I did some research, and discovered, that Hirsch seems to be the factory endorsed tuner.. Imagine them as Saab's equivalent of AMG or BMW Motorsport.
Seems that it has the inline-4 2.3 litre engine, and, turbocharging, but, 224kW, and 420Nm of torque. Those figures are quite a bit more than standard. The price is also considerably more expensive, at more than AUD$100,000.
I'm familiar with the Saab instrument clusters.. Their is a button you can press, for when you are driving at night, that will douse all instrument lighting, except that of the speedometre. They call it the "night panel" function. Not a bad idea, and one of the many neat little common-sense sort of gadgets that Saab includes with its cars.
With other more mainstream car makers, many of these handy little extras wouldn't make it throught the beancounters first cut.
With Saab, it's the little things, like the night panel function, or the 2 piece sun-visors that can shade both front windscreen and side windows at once, or the handy draws under the front seat, that make them easy to live with. Also good is Saab's common-sense approach to turbo engines, too. Saab seems to aim for good driveability, rather than going for the absolute most power and torque from a given capacity.
Justin Martin
03-30-2003, 09:45 AM
Chris, the Dallas show opens to the public very early Friday morning. ;) Luckily my college schedule allowed me to get there at opening, it started to get crowded at the end of the day. The Maserati is a very impressive car, though i'm not sold on the paddle shift technology. Granted, i've never driven anything with it, but still, call me a purist, but I think I would miss the pleasure of matching revs, heel and toeing, etc. I just like working the clutch. :D Of course, pretending to be Michael Schumacher has it's own pleasures as well, I presume.
Porsche had two Cayennes, regular and Turbo flavors, they looked pretty good from the back, and had a nice interior, but I still can't get used to the front end, expecially the Turbo model. The headlights and grille seem out of proportion. The Nissan Murano is a better attempt at making a SUV look good imho.
vq, yes, it's a W8. I counted them, eight cylinders in a W configuration, plus that's what it was badged as. The V10 diesel sadly isn't sold here, we need more diesels.
chris
03-30-2003, 07:08 PM
W8 and W12 apparently use common components. That was Ferdinand Piech's idea. They are indeed very small.
Their is distinct possibility of a Golf W8, as well, since the engine would fit, or a Bora (or Jetta, I believe you Americans know it as) W8, for that matter.
VQ
03-30-2003, 07:37 PM
Yeah but the passat barely fits the engine so doubt it would go in the Bora or Golf unless itz the MK 5.
chris
03-30-2003, 11:16 PM
Oh, it'll apparently fit. VW reportedly was developing a W8 super-Golf. The engine itself is apparently not much bigger than a VR6 (the narrow 15° V6 engine), and, they stuck that in the Golf, without too much bother.
BMW is apparently expecting it, too, and reportedly readying a rival to take it on, if needed.
Audi however has got other ideas.. They are readying a 260kW RS3! :eek:
I think that will blow all the other little hot-hatches (Alfa 147 GTA, Golf R32, Focus RS) into the weeds.
VQ
03-31-2003, 01:53 AM
Yeah iguess the R32 fits a 3.2 litre V6 in the bay and that isn't the VR6.
The w8 and w12 aren't racing engines really ne way.