Why Is Everybody Building All These GT3 Race Cars?
In the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, there were GT3 cars from
Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini, Ferrari, BMW, Aston Martin, and a lone Dodge
Viper. If you are thinking that some of these cars might automatically
be faster than others, you’d be right, but part of the FIA sanction is
balancing performance, usually through weight and the size of engine
intakes. If you drove your Viper to Sebring, your car had considerably
more horsepower than the ViperExchange.com Viper on the track.
There’s also an accepted price range for GT3 cars – about $500,000
per car, plus maybe $350,000 in spares. Depending on the company – and
this is one reason why customers might choose one manufacturer over
another – they might throw in an engineer and a factory driver for some
races.
Bottom line, then, is the bottom line: You can get started for under
$1 million in GT3 racing, which some people consider a genuine bargain.
We’re happy for those people.
(TheDrive.com)
Monday, May 16, 2016
Car Shows Are Officially Dead
The Auto Show As We Know It Is Dying
Automotive News reports that starting this November, the LA Auto Show—the last major show of the year, not to mention the one with the most pleasant weather—will be “rebranded” as AutoMobility LA, a trade show integrated with the related Connected Car Expo to be a huge look at the future of transportation and mobility.
Think more tech, startup and regulatory stuff, and less new car and concept car unveilings, Automotive News reports.
(Jalopnik.com)
Automotive News reports that starting this November, the LA Auto Show—the last major show of the year, not to mention the one with the most pleasant weather—will be “rebranded” as AutoMobility LA, a trade show integrated with the related Connected Car Expo to be a huge look at the future of transportation and mobility.
Think more tech, startup and regulatory stuff, and less new car and concept car unveilings, Automotive News reports.
(Jalopnik.com)
MPG Is A Joke
The Way We Rate Miles Per Gallon Is Completely Broken
Today, though, almost all new cars have in-dash displays capable of showing a car’s real-time and average MPG, and very often those numbers don’t match what is on the window sticker. That means that everyone, not just those of us who got off on doing long division, could find out what their MPGs actually are in the real world. Sure, today we’ve added a third number, a combined average of the city and highway numbers, but really we’re still rating MPG as a solitary value.
And that’s the problem. The idea that two numbers (or, one “combined” number) give an exact idea of the sorts of fuel economy you can expect from your car is, frankly, ridiculous.
Fuel economy is absurdly hard to really measure with any degree of accuracy or consistency. The EPA actually does try very hard to get accurate numbers with their complicated testing procedures. Our own David Tracy goes into their whole process here in detail so you can see what I mean, but the truth is that a solitary value for MPG is a fiction, or, at best, only true for one specific set of driving conditions and for a particular driving style.
Now, the EPA is aware of this, of course, and they say as much on their Your Mileage Will Vary page because they know that, yes, of course your mileage will vary.
There’s no way it can’t vary, because there are so many different factors going on when you drive, and all those factors change, all the time: wind direction, tire pressure, weight in the car, temperature, road conditions, incline, driver adrenaline levels and on and on.
That’s why I think the EPA should abandon the city/highway/combined MPG rating system (even with hedge words like ‘up to’) in favor of an MPG range value. For example, my mother has a 2014 Fiat 500, one of those 1957 Edition ones, in mint green. It’s adorable. It’s an automatic, and she drives it like you’d drive a car through a roomful of kittens: slowly and gently. And honking a lot.
(Jalopnik.com)
Today, though, almost all new cars have in-dash displays capable of showing a car’s real-time and average MPG, and very often those numbers don’t match what is on the window sticker. That means that everyone, not just those of us who got off on doing long division, could find out what their MPGs actually are in the real world. Sure, today we’ve added a third number, a combined average of the city and highway numbers, but really we’re still rating MPG as a solitary value.
And that’s the problem. The idea that two numbers (or, one “combined” number) give an exact idea of the sorts of fuel economy you can expect from your car is, frankly, ridiculous.
Fuel economy is absurdly hard to really measure with any degree of accuracy or consistency. The EPA actually does try very hard to get accurate numbers with their complicated testing procedures. Our own David Tracy goes into their whole process here in detail so you can see what I mean, but the truth is that a solitary value for MPG is a fiction, or, at best, only true for one specific set of driving conditions and for a particular driving style.
Now, the EPA is aware of this, of course, and they say as much on their Your Mileage Will Vary page because they know that, yes, of course your mileage will vary.
There’s no way it can’t vary, because there are so many different factors going on when you drive, and all those factors change, all the time: wind direction, tire pressure, weight in the car, temperature, road conditions, incline, driver adrenaline levels and on and on.
That’s why I think the EPA should abandon the city/highway/combined MPG rating system (even with hedge words like ‘up to’) in favor of an MPG range value. For example, my mother has a 2014 Fiat 500, one of those 1957 Edition ones, in mint green. It’s adorable. It’s an automatic, and she drives it like you’d drive a car through a roomful of kittens: slowly and gently. And honking a lot.
(Jalopnik.com)
The Commandments Are Essential For Me
The 22 Commandments You Must Follow in Las Vegas
2. Learn to master the side streets along the Strip
2. Learn to master the side streets along the Strip
- You can spend an extra 15 minutes stuck in traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard, or you can make the most of Google Maps and figure out some alternative routes. That means taking Frank Sinatra Dr to the rear entrance of Caesars Palace, Koval Ln to the parking lots for The LINQ or the Venetian, and Dean Martin Dr to properties west of the Strip, like the Palms and the Rio.
- Let's face it: most of the best restaurants on the Strip are expensive. If you're in town to blow some money at the tables, you might as well do so on tables that hold great food and not feel (too) guilty about it. Therefore, hit up the tasting menus at places like Bazaar Meat and Restaurant Guy Savoy.
- It's a virtual guarantee you'll get some sort of room upgrade. Don't feel shady about it. It happens all the time and there is nothing wrong with it. Just play it cool, and make sure you don't skimp on tipping anyone else in Vegas, either.
Fort Knox Ain't Got Nothing On These Places
Here Are 10 Of The Most Highly Guarded Places In The World. When You See What’s In Them, You’ll Know Why.
4. Bahnhof and Wikileaks in Stockholm – Buried 100 feet beneath the streets of Stockholm, this old nuclear bunker is the godfather of all data centers. That’s because the facility, owned by the Swedish internet provider Bahnhof, famously shelters the servers for WikiLeaks. Julian Assange’s most precious computers hide in this data bunker. Tucked behind a 1.5-foot steel door and driven by back-up generators that can go for weeks, WikiLeaks will keep breathing as long as it possibly can.
8. Iron Mountain – What do the charred remains of Flight 93, the original photo of Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue, and Edison’s patent for the light bulb have in common? They’re all stowed under Iron Mountain. 200 feet below the ground, this retired limestone mine houses 1.7 million square feet worth of vaults. The US government is the biggest tenant, and the identities of 95% of vault owners are confidential. We do know that Warner Brothers, the Smithsonian Institution, and Corbis all have vaults there. Thousands of historic master recordings, photo negatives, and original film reels live here. Iron Mountain is also home to Room 48, a data center backing up some of America’s biggest companies. Two waves of armed guards protect the entrance, and it’s said they inspect guests so thoroughly that even the TSA would be embarrassed.
Complete list (SlipTalk.com)
4. Bahnhof and Wikileaks in Stockholm – Buried 100 feet beneath the streets of Stockholm, this old nuclear bunker is the godfather of all data centers. That’s because the facility, owned by the Swedish internet provider Bahnhof, famously shelters the servers for WikiLeaks. Julian Assange’s most precious computers hide in this data bunker. Tucked behind a 1.5-foot steel door and driven by back-up generators that can go for weeks, WikiLeaks will keep breathing as long as it possibly can.
8. Iron Mountain – What do the charred remains of Flight 93, the original photo of Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue, and Edison’s patent for the light bulb have in common? They’re all stowed under Iron Mountain. 200 feet below the ground, this retired limestone mine houses 1.7 million square feet worth of vaults. The US government is the biggest tenant, and the identities of 95% of vault owners are confidential. We do know that Warner Brothers, the Smithsonian Institution, and Corbis all have vaults there. Thousands of historic master recordings, photo negatives, and original film reels live here. Iron Mountain is also home to Room 48, a data center backing up some of America’s biggest companies. Two waves of armed guards protect the entrance, and it’s said they inspect guests so thoroughly that even the TSA would be embarrassed.
Complete list (SlipTalk.com)
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