Now here’s something you definitely don’t see every day; a camper van put through its paces at the Nurburgring race track in Germany. Mind you, we’re not talking about a VW Bus Camper Van here, but a full-size, six-wheeler recreational vehicle… Follow the break to see it in action for yourself.
Hat tip to Anthony R.!
After commissioning a one-off Enzo-based Ferrari P4/5 from Pininfarina, American millionaire James Glickenhaus wanted a similar car for racing, and that’s how the P4/5 Competizione was born. Similar in shape to the road-going Pininfarina model but different mechanically, the racing version shares many components with the Ferrari 430 Scuderia and the 430 GT2. The P4/5 Competizione features a 4.0-liter V8 engine pushing out 450HP and 600 Nm of torque (442.5 lb-ft), and a carbon-fiber body that helps keep the weight down to 1,230 kg (2,712 lbs).
The main event for the car this year will be the Nurburgring 24 Hours race on June 25, with the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus team performing intensive tests this year. The latest test session for the P4/5 Competizione took place at the Nordschleife, where all the team's drivers (Mika Salo, Fabrizio Giovanardi, Nicola Larini and Luca Capellari) got some time behind the wheel.
Scroll down to see a spectacular onboard lap in the P4/5 Competizione plus another video revealing the sights and sounds of the fabulous Ferrari.
By Dan Mihalascu
At last November’s LA Auto Show, Nissan lifted the sheets off the revised GT-R that recently went on sale as a 2012MY in North America and as a 2011MY in the rest of the world. Key changes over the previous model include a 45HP bump in output to 530HP, plus a series of aero and chassis tweaks.
For those of you wondering how these modifications affected the GT-R’s performance on the notorious Nordschleife, Nissan’s team managed to shave more than two seconds off the 2011MYs time of 7:26.4, dropping it to 7:24.22, allegedly in less than ideal conditions. You’ll have to skip to about 3:20 into the clip for the driving to begin.
We also found a edited film on Youtube that compares the 2012 GT-R and Corvette ZR-1 on the 'Ring in a split format, which was created by synchronizing the two videos at the pit exit. Watch both videos after the jump.
On a side note, if any of our Japanese readers could help us with the translation in the first clip, we’d appreciate it.
Porsche will mark its return to this year’s edition of the Nürburgring 24 hour race on June 25 with a newer version of its 911 GT3 R Hybrid that is more powerful yet lighter and more fuel efficient than its predecessor.
The 2011 edition of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid carries the geeky ‘Version 2.0’ moniker, and keeps the general layout of the 2010 model. The racer’s hybrid powertrain comprises of a 470HP 4.0-liter six-cylinder boxer engine at the rear and two electric motors driving the front wheels.
In the Version 2.0, the output of both electric motors has increased from 60kW (80HP) to 75 kilowatts (100HP) each, meaning that seconds at a time, pilots will now have an additional 200HP at their disposal.
According to Porsche, the extra power is automatically activated through use of the throttle pedal and can be very useful when overtaking.
Porsche has also optimized the hybrid system with the electric flywheel accumulator that stores energy now housed with the other hybrid components in a carbon fibre safety cell on the passenger’s side.
In addition, thanks to the optimisation of the hybrid system’s high voltage components, the large louvres in front of the rear fenders were no longer necessary. The Germany company claims that these changes help reduce drag and lowers fuel consumption.
All in all, Porsche’s engineers managed to reduce the weight of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid from 1,350kg (2,976 lbs) to 1,300 kilograms (2,866 lbs).
“The emphasis of our work was on improving efficiency,” says Hartmut Kristen, head of Porsche motorsport. “That means we want to keep the lap times consis-tent with 2010 but use less energy, hence less fuel. In this way, we support future developments of road-going, sporting hybrid vehicles.”
Other changes for the 2011 model include the thoroughly updated cockpit as most of the displays and controls have moved to the steering wheel. According to Porsche, drivers can operate the rest of the functions via backlit buttons now situated on the centre console.
Volkswagen has announced that it will compete at this year's 24-hour endurance race at the Nürburgring with an all-new challenger, the freshly developed Golf24. The dramatic racing version of the Golf borrows the 2.5-liter turbocharged five-cylinder engine from sister company Audi's TT RS and RS3 models, modified to deliver 440-ponies and a maximum torque of 540Nm or 398 lb-ft. Power is transmitted to the permanent four-wheel drive by a sequential six-speed gearbox with paddle shift operation.
The last time Volkswagen fielded a factory Golf for the famous Nürburgring endurance race was in 2007, at which time, the 300HP, front-wheel drive Golf that delivered about 300 hp finished in eighth place overall. For the past three years, the Germans have been competing in the race with the Scirocco GT24.
"With the new Golf24 we are continuing our successful commitment at the Nürburgring 24-hour race," said VW Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. "The event enjoys huge popularity, is one of the true classics in motorsport and, due to its extreme distance and unique race track, also represents a very big technical challenge, With our spectacular Golf we want to provide an additional highlight in front of a large audience – right in time for the 35th anniversary of the GTI this year."
The new Golf24 has already reeled off its first circuit miles in Portugal and Italy, but VW will continue the testing and development programme until the Nürburgring racing event that takes place from June 23 to 26.
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The BMW 1-Series M Coupe is pretty fast on paper. Reaching the 60 mph (96 km/h) mark in just 4.7 seconds is no small feat, but nowadays, it seems that performance cars need to have a respectable “Ring” time under there belt to command respect. Now, a forum member of the 1Addicts fan site who calls himself "SteveD" claims that the Ring time for the 335-horsepower strong M model is 8 minutes and 12 seconds.
If true (and according to the Nürburgring lap times list posted on Wikipedia), this means the entry-level M model is 10 seconds faster than the E46 M3, on par with the E86 Z4 M Coupe, but 7 seconds slower than the E92 M3 .
Of course, just because something is posted on a forum, doesn’t necessarily make it true. However, it seems that “SteveD” is none other than Steve Davies, a UK journalist who writes for Skiddmark. When asked where did he received the info, "SteveD" wrote “directly from BMW when we filmed the car”.
And indeed, Skiddmark does feature a piece about the 1-Series M Coupe and it contains the information posted on 1addicts. Still, we’re going to take this one with a grain of salt until we have the official confirmation.
You can see how the 1 Series M Coupe's alleged 'Ring lap time compares with other models from BMW and other makers in the list below.
By Csaba Daradics
Nurburgring Lap Times as Posted on Wikipedia:
• E46 M3 CSL - 7:50
• E90/E92 M3 - 8:05
• E63 M6 - 8:09
• 1 series M coupe - 8:12
• Z4 M-Coupe - 8:12
• E60 M5 - 8:13
• Alpina B3 Biturbo - 8:14
• Z4 M-Roadster - 8:15
• Alpina Roadster S (Z4) - 8:15
• E46 M3 - 8:22
• 335i E92 Coupe - 8:26
Other Models Compared:
• 911 Carrera S PDK (997.5) - 7:50
• Audi R8 4.2 - 8:04
• Cayman S - 8:04 (by Walter Röhrl)
• Audi RS4 - 8:09
• Audi TT-RS - 8:09
• BMW 1 series M coupe - 8:12
• Aston Martin V8 Vantage - 8:13
• Mercedes C63 AMG PP - 8:13
• Corvette C6 - 8:15
• Cayman S - 8:16 (Sport Auto)
• Porsche Boxter S (987.5) - 8:18
• Lexus IS-F - 8:18
• 2010 VW Golf R - 8:23
• Audi S5 (2007) - 8:26
• Audi TT-S (2008) - 8:29
Source: Skiddmark , Via: 1Addicts
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