oldshurst442

Olivia Newton-John RIP Was never a big fan of Grease. I didnt get it then, I dont get it now. I think its more of a teenage girl thing. Then, in the '70s, when I was a teenager in the mid '80s and now as my daughter asked me if I am saddened by the passing of Olivia Newton-John. And I am not. And that is what I told her. Sure, I felt a little something for her passing... So I was curious to know how she knew about O N-J as the last time her pop music was any relevant, I myself hadnt reached my own teen years yet. And my daughter is not into music all that much. But ah... her and her friends did discover Grease somehow. She and her friends enjoyed the movie-musical... I liked her music. These 3 songs would be my favourite. No. Let's get Physical aint one of them surprise surprise. Surprise surprise, 2 out of the 3 songs are from Grease.... And the next one is from the '80s. And it aint Xanadu either Oh yeah, nearly forgot about this one. I like this one too!!! Alot even

Im happy that your Toronado was repaired properly and she is back on the road. I take it wasnt such a bad procedure as I made it to be. Thanx for the update!!! (as late as it was) ? The LEDs you went with rock!!! Im kinda starting to like this body style because of you. I never was too fond of these. The Riviera was the closest to say that I kinda liked, but not really, back in the day. But now, both the Eldo and Toro have become an obsession. Im seeing myself googling these more often to look at them and Im starting to appreciate their lines. Im kinda starting to prefer their body lines more than the G-Bodys.... Im starting to see some awkwardness to the G Bodies, but with these, I see the lines flowing more smoothly and coherently.

suspension symmetry or asymmetry, dampening rates, the kind of dampers to begin with, suspension travel. How low the car is to the ground, overall weight, weight distribution, center of gravity, how well the motor or engine transfers the power and torque to the wheels, wheel cambers, all just some of the factors that are involved in tracking... Some of those factors are equal and same solutions to both EVs and ICEs and some of those are advantageous or disadvantageous to each differently and separately but could use any and either factor in that track equation to compensate for the disadvantage. At the end of the day, a Model S Plaid, as a heavy Hellcat Charger do an excellent job at handling street legal speed cornering and do inspire confidence in accident avoidance maneuvers. However, they do the job somewhat on a track, but they aint the right tool to conquer the track races as both vehicles were NOT ENGINEERED TO DO ANY TRACK WORK. THEY BOTH LACK THE NEEDED HARDWARE, THE PROPER TRACK SUSPENSIONS... And quite frankly, the heft issue on both the Plaid and Hellcat could be overcome without even eliminating the heft part just by utilizing the necessary hardware. Of course knocking off 500-600 lbs on either would benefit them for plenty of things, not just tracking. Im not denying that. Its just that heft is NOT the deterrent its spoke of by SMK aka Alex with a skateboard platform EV...

yes. and nobody, me, is not saying otherwise. hence the word choice of masking the heft. But weight, *sigh* for the umpteenth time *sigh* is but 1 factor regarding handling. *sigh* The skateboard platform allows for all the heft be BELOW THE AXLES MAKING A VERY VERY LOW CENTER OF GRAVITY FAVOURING HANDLING AND TRACKING. plus the weight is so evenly distributed along the length and side of the vehicle all that is left to do is just an easy calibration of the suspension not having to factor for up front engine heft in a front engined car. even in a rear mid-engine car, the weight is still ABOVE the wheels instead of below. Traction is compensated by having the electric motors directly engaged to the driving wheels be it 3 or even 4. Software programming even allows for torque vectoring on ALL 4 wheels if all 4 wheels are able to be torquing..... Heft is just a factor in a myriad of factors in a tracking formula... yes, heft is a detriment to performance. NOBODY is denying that. Its just that a skateboard platform EV isnt really phased by that. An ICE track car has many more deficiencies that an EV has as an advantage... yes yes yes heft aint onee of them But HIGHER center of gravity and heft to where it aint optimal for an engine to be are what favours the EV... *phoque me its such a difficult concept to understand???*

Hey Alex... Stop the bullshytting once and for all. A Blackwing is engineered to handle with specific track suspension systems. The KIA EV6 and Model S are engineered just to be driven on the street. Low center of gravity does the rest. What it is that you dont understand? The Taycan, heavier and slower than the Model S is smooth on a track BECAUSE of the suspension... Are you dense? This is what a proper suspension for tracking Model S does... Id say it kicks the Blackwing's a$$... It aint the phoquing weight, Alex... weight is but one factor... The weight is below the axles. Low center of gravity, Alex... Argue with yourself now Alex! Im done with you.

I agree to everybody's dislikes about this car.. I do like the colourful motifs in the interior though if not for the material choices. Cars are supposed to be fun. Cars have gotten depressing and drab. Lets get back to fun.

Nein.... UnpluggedPerformance super performance springs... Listen to what Pobst says through the ENTIRE video... Its the SUSPENSION that makes the difference...NOT the weight... Listen to what he does and says about EVs and THIS particular EV has its OEM suspension parts...remember, THIS EV is the heaviest of the EVs we are talking about, Alex... Notice, weight is NEVER mentioned?

nein. The EV weight is BELOW the axles MASKING the heft quite nicely... EVERY journalist, youtube influencer, tear down reverse engineer and especially race car drivers says so...and quite frankly, physics... Low center of gravity greatly improves handling and a skateboard EV platform is just that. Very low center of gravity no matter the weight. And because the motors are directly connected to the driving wheels with no transmissions and driveshafts to contend with, your talk is simply bullshyte.... why do you insist on spewing garbage talk. Should I start calling you Alex Jones?

7:42 EV Porsche Taycan Turbo and NOT the Turbo S HP for Taycan Turbo 670. Turbo S @ 750 Plaid @ 1020HP weight for the Taycan 5200 lbs versus the Plaid @ 4700 lbs for reference how a track specific ice car handles on the Nurburgring versus another that is not But the suspension is track specific. Watch the video and see how the Taycan is smooth on the track versus how rough the Plaid Tesla is. The Taycan is planted while the Model S is bouncing up and down and side to side sloppy all over the place. The Taycan IS heavier by 500 lbs. And still, the Model S Plaid was faster because of the HP difference. But the track suspension makes us see the difference between the two... But Porsche decided to use a less powerful Taycan... That is interesting... https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a29088855/porsche-taycan-turbo-s-nurburgring-lap-time/#:~:text=While the Turbo S makes,616 horses after that interval. for reference how a track specific ice car handles on the Nurburgring versus another that is not. The instructor in the Hellcat knows the track quite well and does and fantastic job communicating with the driver what to do, and ANYBODY that says the Hellcat cant handle twisties is just ignorant AF, but you could see the Hellcat is out of its element. But the Hellcat does NOT have track specific suspension... watch and analyze all videos @smk4565. You will learn something and will make you stop spewing garbage. It is your birthday TODAY. So HAPPY BIRRTHDAY. I give you the gift of knowledge!!!

About the N 74 or whatever Hyundai is calling it. Even though I am not feeling the look of it, I certainly approve of it and all Hyundai is trying to do with their EVs and especially their performance take on them..

The video just proves that the Plaid desperately needs appropriate track oriented suspension and tires. Its bouncing up and down and is everywhere on the track. PS: at 4700 lbs, it aint even all that much heavy, to be honest... It is an aluminum chassis and body after all...

To boot The CS loses MORE weight. Carbon fibre hood, etc. to lose an extra 250 pounds or so. Weighs in at a svelte 4000 lbs for a midsized, 4 door family hauling sedan. The Plaid simply doesnt care to shed ANY additional poundage. A carbon fibre hood, trunk, bumpers could eliminate some weight, but Tesla didnt do carbon fibre anything on the Plaid.. Tesla didnt build the Plaid to specifically go fast aound the 'Ring like BMW did the CS. Tesla just wanted to show Porsche and the world that an EV CAN go fast around the 'Ring.

you dont have a point. period. There is more to track times, than just overall weight being low. Low weight is just a single factor within a larger equation. One shortcoming could be overcome with another factor in the equation. And 1000 HP versus 600 HP is just one of those compensations. But you simply ignore the fact that the BMW M5 CS has actual steering, suspension and tires especially tuned for the track, and especially the Nurburgring as where the Plaid does not. The actual hardware, the steering and suspension, are not track specific engineered. To compensate, software programming does its best to make the Plaid handle the track cornering going in and out of and leading back unto the straights. Unlike the CS's hardware where the hardware is specifically designed to do so. On top of all that, the M5 CS is track tested specifically to run on the 'Ring to run fast times there. Which also means that the CS might not be so dominant on another track since different tracks have different characteristics. Anyways.... Also, the CS's tires are track specific tires. Th Plaid has go fast grippy tires for the street. And the result is ONLY a 7 second difference... Not much considering the Tesla's platform was primarily engineered to house a heavy battery and to be as efficient as possible for range, comfort, speed (in a straight line) for the street for daily driven purposes. The 5 Series BMW is a sports sedan known for cornering prowess. The M5 version of that is an even better sports sedan with even better cornering and the CS version is just a beast on the track because THAT is what its meant to do. All its hardware is meant to be a sports sedan for the street with very capable track prowess. The Plaid is simply NOT a track car. The Plaid is an EV to where most of the weight is perfectly and evenly distributed below the axles. A factor that benefits track racing. A skateboard EV platform allows for that. An ICE vehicle does not have that advantage. Weight is a disadvantage for an EV, but the skateboard platform, battery on the bottom, compensates for it. EV motors have instantaneous torque at any RPM, another advantage for EVs versus ICE. Easy horsepower for EVs is another advantage. The ONLY things that could be the same for both EV and ICE ARE the suspension and steering components. The BMW M5 CS chooses to have track oriented components while the Plaid does not. The 7 second difference does not come from the difference in weight of the two, its the track specific steering, suspension and tires... And possibly the engineering history of going fast around the track that BMW enjoys over Tesla. But not too shabby for Tesla's 1st attempt... You make it sound that EVs cant be competitive around the track because of heft, but the Plaid's 7:36 time around the 'Ring says otherwise...

Pathetic 'ole @smk4565 The Tesla Model S was never engineered as a track car. Th Plaid version neither. The Plaid was made just as a faster than a ludicrous mode P100D version to counter the Hellcat Challenger and Charger, in a straight line... In case you dont know, neither Dodge muscle car engineering is catered to track. Even less so to track on the Nurburgring. Pathetically, you are arguing about lap times of a sedan, the BMW M5 CS, that is SPECIFICALY engineered to track on the Nurburgring. The Hellcat Demon does track work though. Its just that it aint the kind of track that you are so stupidly arguing aboot. (CDN accent,eh) The Tesla's steering, suspension, software programming for acceleration is NOT engineered and fine tuned to do track work. Unlike the BMW M5 CS. The Plaid does have a track mode. It is software programming. It is accessible. But the steering and suspension systems are NOT specifically tuned to track and to track ON the Nurburgring. The tires used on the BMW M5 CS are track tires. The Plaid does use Michelin Pilot Sport 4S. But these are great supercar tires for the street. NOT the track... Weight distribution on the Model S is actually superior to the BMW M5 CS. Its heavier, the Tesla is, but if it had the suspension tuning and tires of the M5 CS, it be faster BECAUSE all that heft is BELOW the axles and PERFECTLY DISTRIBUTED... Remember, Tesla engineers just decided to say phoque it, we are going to track this car and in no time, got the Plaid Model S to do a Nurburgring run time of 7:36. Just like that... 7:36. It took all of BMW's rich history of tracking and engineering ultimate driving machines to do a 7:29 on a more powerful, more tuned version of the M5 to gain 7 seconds on the Plaid.... Which means the Plaid probably is faster aound the 'Ring than more than a handful of shyttyy German sedans ON THEIR FIRST TRY INCLUDING BMW M5s of the SAME YEAR as that track mode Plaid S. Why do you feel the need @smk4565 to discuss and argue like a teenager?

Lets wheel this in just a little bit... (Pun on words...reel versus wheel... This is an automobile site forum...) 1. BMW M5 CS is 7:29 on the Ring, so is the Porsche Panamera, both faster than Model S Plaid. I can't find a current E63 sedan time, the E63 wagon holds the wagon record at 7:45.... The Model S Plaid is 7:36 on the 'Ring.... BMW and Porsche lives on the 'Ring. Especially the M5 CS. Not too bad for an EV sedan when 'Ring times were a 6-7 year AFTERTHOUGHT on the same generation platform Model S from Tesla. The E63 wagon that was quoted because of some sort of German superiority is still slowler than the heavy Model S EV sedan than NEVER had ANY intentions of doing ANY kind of track... 2. The HUMMER, although its praised by its maker for being quick in a straight line, is not its primary role. Its an offroading monster, literally a monster as big as a Costco and just about as heavy as a Costco building... Offoading tires on it... And no, it shoudnt be allowed to have a watts to freedom acceleration as its not engineered to handle all that acceleration and stopping with 9000 lbs and off roading tires and no brakes to handle all those forces. When the HUMMER is acceleration watts to freedom, it is limited to 106 MPH by the computer though... BECAUSE of the lack of braking AND the type of tires it comes with... watch the video 3. EVs usually, inherently handle like they are on rails, well, the ones with a skateboard platform, because all the battery weight is below the axles beneath the rest of the passenger stuff..... The over all weight is greatly masked. The HUMMER is NOT focused to track, the HUMMER is focused on doing HUMMER things. Doing off road, but mostly, giving the owner the attention he craves. Look at me, Im an arrogant doouchee!!! And it succeeds in that 100000000000%!!! It steals the show away from a MB G Wagon and Lamborghini with ease!!!

Pete

I dont understand the emotive reactions regarding EVs and their lack of music making engine noises.... Last week, I was enjoying a nice quiet jaunt to a neighborhood park, all by myself, for a brief but necessary me time, when a 2012ish Hyundai Elantra drove by me at a snail's pace while I was walking and not a hint engine noise came from the car. I did hear the tires rolling, but no mechanical noises. The Elantra was as quiet as it could be, not just as a modern vehicle with quiet mufflers, but just as quiet as an EV is. Considering North American cars being bought are of the appliance variety, that triggered me...about this nonsense of engine noises and how the internal combustion engine makes music...because there are hardly ANY sweet sounding sports cars being driven daily anymore... When I got home, I got into my wife's ecoboosted Fusion of 1.6 liters of shytty 4 cylinders to see how quiet the Fusion is and I immediately said to myself what is it that we are going to be missing again? Certainly not the shytty 'ps' 'ps' blow off sounds of little turbos and muffled and restrained 4 cylinders that inherently sound like crap. The Fusion too is quiet at idle inside the cabin. A tiny wee of engine noise comes through. Its quiet on the outside too, although it wasnt as near as silent as this particular Elantra was. The V8 pick-up trucks do have a nice burble to them, but the mufflers today on them have a droning sound to them inside the cabin and anything less than full throttle is very very muted on the outside. Which in turn, comes to the reason why I made this post today... YESTERDAY, I served a young gentleman, a good looking bloke around 25ish, with a very very sexy young lady companion of his. I didnt notice the car he drove when he entered the restaurant, I didnt even notice the car being parked in the front while he and his lovely lady friend ate, but I certainly did notice his 2020ish Camaro ZL1 when he was leaving. I rushed outside to see it, he got out of his car when he saw me, laughing that I was like a little kid wanting to see his car. He started it up, drove away and the glorious LT4 was making these glorious sounds... Or so I thought... Although I did appreciate hearing this particular V8 and I long for a similar V8 myself, I dont have this sense of loss regarding Chevy small blocks, Mopar Hemis, Ford DOHCs and screaming Ferrari V8s and V12s when EVs rule the world. Dare I say, after seeing and NOT hearing soul sucking CUVs, day in and day out for the last 10 and even 20 years now, the occasional V8 I do see and hearing it that loud, now just makes me think its a relic of the past. EVs have got my juices flowing in other ways, including how our future is being shaped up with EVs in mind and the loss of a V8 and the smell of gasoline cant go away fast enough... I was listening to a Porsche Taycan review this morning And Porsche's electric motor 'whine' isnt a 'whine' at all. It sounds like a Star Wars space ship trying to go to hyperspace speed. And I think Im starting to appreciate that sound more than I do internal combustion engine noises. Maybe I still prefer a Hellcat supercharger whine over an EV whine, (GM's supercharger whine is similar to the Mopar's) and I maybe still prefer the good 'ole big American V8 burble, and let us not forget the Ferrari symphonies, but an EV motor whine does sound like the science fiction future we have all been promised since the 1960s, actually... Ironically enough, an EV sounds like a fossil fuel burning jet engine with its afterburners full on... Looking at Chryslers Jet powered concept as to why I say wee havee been promised this future since the 1960s... Also...robots.

^^^ Id put my money on it being a 1949 Ford.

Blazer SS EV for 2024 Yeah, Id take a Bonneville GXP over the Chevy EV. I like the EV part of the Chevy over the 4.6 liter V8 for the Bonnie. But I much much prefer the sedan part of the Pontiac versus the crappy CUV part of the Chevy.

The AMG ONE is a complete failure. The one market that would get exposure and it doesnt get sold here because it cant meet emissions. Despite it being a 1.6 liter engine aided by electric motors... Producing only 1000 horsepower. Like I said, an iron block ancient V8 produces about that much horsepower, without the aid of electric motors, it got humongous displacement at 6.2 liters and that even meets emissions... Race engines have tight tolerances. Because of that, its foolish to make them into road cars. road cars need to be daily driven and not taken apart after each race to tighten up tolerances again. All other OEMs KNEW THAT and were NOT foolish trying to ANSWER AND SOLVE a KNOWN engineering obstacle THAT NOBODY asked to be solved to begin with... Mercedes didnt even solve that riddle either... Money and time and energy FOOLISHLY spent... Wanna fake it, buy a Mercedes!!!

The Corvette will. Porsche and Ferrari too. ALL EQ sales and they barely beat the Taycan... 20 000 orders to be filled and delivered shortly. And when that happens in the near future, EQ EVs will lose that much more market share... Wanna fake it, buy a Mercedes!!!

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a38054133/2023-corvette-z06-chassis-engineering/ After two years of watching the Corvette Racing C8.R dominate the track, General Motors has finally pulled the cover off a proper roadgoing variant. That car is the new C8 Corvette Z06, which shares a similar 5.5-liter flat-plane V-8 engine with the C8.R, known as the LT6. And while that 670-hp piece of naturally-aspirated art deserves much of the attention, the new Z06 also packs plenty of racing pedigree under the bodywork. In order to learn more, Road & Track sat down with the people behind the new Z06 to further discuss the improvements made to the car’s chassis ---------------------------------- https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a38224296/chevy-corvette-z06-gt3r-revealed/ Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3.R Customer Race Car Will Be Available in 2024 Customers will soon be able to race the C8 Corvette Z06 GT3 race car that uses the same chassis as the road car and a modified version of the 5.5-liter V-8. Chevrolet Racing will offer a Z06 GT3.R customer race car starting in 2024. It uses the same aluminum chassis as the C8 Z06 road car and a modified version of the 5.5-liter flat-plane-crank V-8. Customers will be able to race in the IMSA WeatherTech Series and other GT3 racing series with the Z06 GT3.R. The Chevrolet C8.R race car’s 5.5-liter flat-plane-crank V-8 engine laid the groundwork for the engine used in the new C8 Corvette Z06, which returns to its purist heritage for 2023. And things are only heating up for Corvette racing because the C8.R will be replaced by this new Z06 GT3.R starting for the 2024 season, and a customer racing version will be available, too, just like BMW, Ferrari, McLaren, and Porsche, to name a few, have done for years. ------------------------------------ And that is the Z06 to be faster than the AMG ONE around The 'Ring costing millions less to buy and race... What a joke Mercedes marketing and engineering are at this juncture. Wanna fake it, buy a Mercedes. Wanna be real, drive and race a Corvette.

It cant pass emissions therefore it sucks for a road car. US emissions SHOULD be strict. Euro emissions should be stricter as European cities had and still have a greater smog problem than American cities do. The fact that the AMG ONE cant pass US emissions just proves that Mercedes engineering is sub par to every one else. Not very well engineered to be driven daily on public roads... Spewing all kinds of polluting emissions. Like their diesels. Their engineering coudnt make it work. "In order to preserve the unique character of its Formula 1 powertrain, we have concluded that meeting US road standards would significantly compromise its performance and its overall driving character. We have taken the strategic decision to offer the car for road usage in Europe, where it meets applicable regulations." They needed that R&D money for EVs. Mercedes execs even admitted to the AMG ONE being a mistake... Their EVs lack design and best of the best engineering so their specs could outshine others, but clearly all that money and energy went into that drunken mistake of a mess... "even Mercedes itself admitted that the idea to move forward with the AMG One was a drunken mistake - that's how challenging it was to make a road-legal car with a Formula One engine.'" My favorite brand (2 of them) both went out of service a while ago. Now if we are talking about the Corvette... well... Chevy engineers took a race engine and fit that one into the new C8 Corvette. All 5.5 liters of V8 power and made THAT emissions legal. One that could be driven ANYWHERE in the word DESPITE it being a V8 with a huuuuuuge displacement of 5.5 liters... And all for a FRACTION of the engineering costs at a FRACTION of the time, all the while NOT draining corporate of the necessary funds for the future... And Im betting, that the Z06, down 400 horsepower from the AMG ONE and significantly heavier, will be at very close times at the 'Ring as compared to the AMG ONE. Because the AMG ONE is NOT a F1 car, but a road car therefore it wont handle like a race car, it will handle like an overpriced road car. When a dedicated Z06 track car comes along, without the luxuries of a daily driven road car, it will be FASTER around the 'Ring than the AMG ONE. And Ill be laughing at you when my prediction comes true!!! PS: all that engine tech and turbos and electric motors just to only make 1000 horsepower... Albeit it is from a 1.6 liter engine. 1.6 liters and not emissions compliant. A phoquing ANCIENT IRON BLOCK supercharged mopar 6.2 liter V8 Demon engine makes about that much horsepower and even THAT is emissions compliant... What a joke the AMG ONE truly is!!! Wanna fake it, buy a Mercedes. lol Its in my name and my pic... Oldsmobile and Pontiac. And I dont hide it that they went away. Like he is trying to shame me somehow. Pathetic he truly is.

Joke is that Mercedes doesnt know what the phoque to do. Cut down on down market cars to sell higher end stuff, but that aint happening because high end stuff aint selling nearly enough. Continue on with the low end stuff for more volume but those arent selling either. EVs sales have gone up globally, but not nearly enough to make money or gain market share. KIAs, Lucids and even the one and only Cadillac EV are outshining the combined Mercedes EVs in all KINDS of metrics... But yeah...hold on to that revenue shell game @smk4565, I have presented you will all kinds of problems for Mercedes going forward. Ignore it all you want, its going to be a rough decade for your Mercedes fanboyism...