Horsepower junkies, your day has just been produced: Dodge is now delivering 707-horse Challenger SRT Hellcats to dealerships. And to celebrate, the business posted a Mötley Crüe–powered video of the 1st batch of Hellcats becoming loaded up for delivery. Witness the slowest Hellcat driving footage on the world wide web.
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Dodge positive loves utilizing Crüe’s 1989 hit “Kickstart My Heart” as the musical representation of its rip-snorting acceleration machine. The song previously supplied the sonic backdrop for the video displaying Hellcat Challenger #0001’s construction. That infant sold for a cool $ 825,000 at Barrett-Jackson. That’s a hell of a lot more than the $ 60,990 base MSRP Dodge wants for what’s getting called the most effective V-8 automobile ever produced.
Nowadays is the initial day of a new dynasty on American streets. Welcome to the Hellcat era.
Mazda these days made an announcement that will delight legions of the Miata nation: The new 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata will be raced in a new Global Cup series slated to be held in North America, Europe, and Asia. The announcement, made at the bizarre Las Vegas horsepower bazaar known as SEMA, is pretty vague, but the accompanying reveal of the MX-5 Cup vehicle noticed in these images tells us pretty significantly almost everything we want to know. Stating only that the action will begin in 2016 and use identically prepped automobiles in several series worldwide, the maker at this point hasn’t even indicated which countries will be involved, only saying that complete details of the International MX-5 Cup will be announced as they are confirmed. What Mazda is certain of, nonetheless, is that the series will culminate at the finish of 2016 with a International Shootout at (natch) Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, to crown the series champion. A one particular-day test in Mazda’s prime-level Tudor United States SportsCar Championship Skyactiv prototype race auto will best the list of prizes bestowed on the champion.
Despite the fact that Mazda’s 2.-liter Skyactiv-G 4-cylinder engine will be the spec engine for the series, Mazda hasn’t revealed any added technical specs. A source inside the firm told C/D that the race automobile is most likely to get the exact same rash of cold-air intake, header, spec exhaust, and coil-over suspension as today’s MX-5 Cup spec automobile. Over the winter, Mazda Motorsports plans to conduct improvement and testing “to pick the optimum suspension, tire, powertrain, and safety modifications” for the series. Final specs will be announced sometime in 2015, when Mazda will commence taking orders for the 2016 series. For the first time, the Worldwide MX-5 Cup race vehicles will be sold “ready to race” from one supplier. Will this be Mazdaspeed, the company’s in-home performance group? So a lot of concerns, so handful of answers.
Mazda is confident sufficient in the new series to announce that 2015 will be the final season of pro racing in North America for the third-generation MX-5. Soon after the season’s conclusion at Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October, existing third-gen MX-5 Cup vehicles will be eligible for club racing only. Although that sounds like a bit of a bummer, we’re focusing on the awesomeness of seeing the ND MX-5 Miata tearing up racetracks. (Not to mention how excited we are to drive, you know, the standard 2016 MX-5 Miata!)
October 3, 2014 at 4:52 pm by Steve Siler | Photography by Marc Urbano
The 2015 Ford Mustang is on show at the Paris motor show, marking the car’s official debut in Europe. The new-generation vehicle will be the initial Mustang produced extensively available on the Continent—and Ford of Europe is ecstatic. “The new Mustang is a single of the most hotly anticipated automobiles ever we are really excited to now give drivers in Europe the chance to encounter the true point,” said vice president of marketing Roelant de Waard.
It’s tough to envision American roads with out the Mustang, as much more than 9 million of them have been sold more than the last 50 years. But some of us are having a tough time imagining European roads with the Mustang (particularly in Britain, where they’ll get weird-seeking right-hand-drive versions). Our European contributors are somewhat hawkish on the Mustang’s long-term prospects, noting that whilst there is a lot of buzz appropriate now, the car itself is somewhat massive for Euro tastes (it is the land of the modest hatchback, you know?) and that it could need more green tech more than time to meet tightening environmental regulations. The EcoBoost 4-cylinder will undoubtedly be effectively received as Mustangs go, but the all round prospects may possibly certainly be limited.
In the end, time will tell how Europe requires to the Mustang. But based on our first tests of the car, we can say with certainty that however several Europeans end up getting one particular will be damn happy they did.
The baddest-ass C-class most absolutely has the power to corrupt.
Poor Karl Benz. Very first he was purged from the name of Mercedes’ corporate parent when Dieter Zetsche decided against reverting to Daimler-Benz once the former DaimlerChrysler was taken out back and shot. Now the contact has been made to strip Benz totally from the names of AMG merchandise, a move initial seen on the new Mercedes-AMG GT sports auto. And so it goes with the new Mercedes-AMG C63, which debuts at the Paris auto show and will arrive in the U.S. next March as a 2015 model. (You know this car’s predecessor as the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, if that wasn’t clear currently.)
Whatever it’;s referred to as, AMG’s C-class derivate is shaping up to be one particular of the most fascinating sleds ever to roar out of Affalterbach. Enthusiasts’ chests heaved in anguish when AMG announced the departure of the now-legendary naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V-8 its final sanctuary is the outgoing C63 AMG coupe, which remains on sale for the 2015 model year. The C63 sedan thus adopts the M177 twin-turbocharged 4.-liter V-8—it’s primarily the very same engine as the M178 discovered in the AMG GT, and you can read all about it here—in 2 strengths.
The basic C63 is rated for an amazing 469 horsepower, while an uprated S model drops 503 onto the table. (Mercedes has told us that the take rate on AMG cars’ optional horsepower-raising packages was so high that it decided to basically turn these into their personal trims.) Maximum torque is rated at 479 or 516 lb-ft and is served up on a plateau that stretches from 1750 to 4500 rpm. In the S, the M177 rides on dynamic engine mounts like those of the AMG GT, which adjust their stiffness according to driving style to either isolate engine noise and vibration (softer) or minimize engine movement (firmer).
The sprint from zero to 60 mph is mentioned to take 4. seconds in the C63 and 3.9 in the C63 S thinking about we achieved 3.9 seconds from the 481-hp version of the preceding vehicle, we’re thinking at least the latter number is conservative. Prime speed, as ever, is governed at an simply attainable 155 mph. These figures are especially exceptional in light of the new car’s much far more affordable drinking habits, as Mercedes claims the automobile is 32 percent much more efficient than its predecessor. If that quantity carries over to EPA testing, the new car’s combined mpg figure would be practically 20 mpg.
Power is shuttled by way of AMG’;s Speedshift 6-speed automatic, basically a standard automatic with a clutch in place of a torque converter. It boasts “acoustic upshift and distinctive double-declutching feedback,” which is to say it assists the vehicle sound super great, doubly so when the optional functionality exhaust is specified.
The days when an AMG was strictly a straight-line beast are extended gone: Like its predecessor, this rear-wheel-drive—that’s right, no 4MATIC organization here—performance sedan is intended to shred twisty back roads and racetracks. The multilink front and rear suspension setups have been heavily massaged to maintain the vehicle planted and body roll to a minimum. That contains a wider track, a heavy dose of aluminum, an accessible 3-stage adjustable setup, and AMG-particular (and as-however-unspecified) tuning. A mechanical locking rear differential is normal the S version gets an ultraquick electronically locking diff.
The normal C63 is fitted with 245/40R-18 front and 265/40R-18 rear rubber, while the S moves up to 245/35R-19 and 265/35R-19 meats. Of course, the vehicle’;s character can be optimized by means of chassis modes that variously influence steering and throttle response, engine noise, the electronic dampers, and the ESP stability-manage method. In most outstanding news, ESP can be turned off completely.
The C63 looks its component, as well. The front end in distinct has been heavily modified, with wider fenders (the automobile is .6-inch broader than the normal C-class) and it juts forward by far more than 2 further inches. The rear gets a decklid spoiler, a multi-finned diffuser, and 4 chromed exhaust finishers. Inside, Mercedes-AMG has fitted this compact sedan with bespoke trim and materials, which includes a clock with IWC branding. When it arrives, the C63 S will be available in “Edition 1” spec, which will bring particular matte-black wheels with red rims, a wheelbarrow full of blacked-out trim pieces (mirror caps, window trim, exhaust finishers, etc.), red grille and mirror accents, and matte-gray rocker stripes. Inside the Edition 1 gets black leather seats with red diamond stitching, red seatbelts, a flat-bottom faux-suede-wrapped steering wheel with Edition 1 badging, and more.
As for old Karl, we’re considering he’d be quite stoked on this stonking Mercedes-AMG, whether his name is on it or not.
