Looking Out From the Garage

The NEW Lexus WTF?

Eddie Alterman at Car & Driver Magazine is the one that inspired the title...  In one of his columns he refered to the new Lexus LF-A as the WTF.  And I think there is good reason. 

Lexus LF-AThis car has been in development with Toyota for 10 years.  The problem is that in the 10 years it has been in development, the targets have all moved.  A LOT.  Let's look at some specs...

  • Nürburgring Nordschleife Lap in 7:24 (Toyota claimed)
  • Top Speed is 202mph
  • Curb Weight is 3263 pounds and power to weight is 5.9lb/hp
  • 0-60 is 3.6 seconds
  • Sticker Price will be between $350,000 and $375,000

Those seem to be impressive numbers, except for one thing... that price is out of line with the rest of the performance. There is also the matter of the styling, which has been compared to the Nissan GT-R... or a Supra that spent too much time in the plastic wing aisle at Pep Boys.  It isn't that it is terribly ugly, but it just isn't unique. 

Since we brought up the Nissan GT-R (I have trouble not refering to it as the skyline):

  • Nissan claims a Nürburgring Nordschleife Lap of 7:26.7 (video confirmed)
  • Top Speed is 193 (Nissan, but Motor Trend said 195)
  • Curb Weight is about 3800lbs and power to weight is 7.9lb/hp
  • 0-60 is 3.5 seconds (after March 2009)
  • Sticker Price is between $80,000 and $90,000

Wow.  A slight performance increase and a MASSIVE price increase. 

Now, let's toss a third into the mix...  Let's try a car more tuned for performance and a little less towards touring.  The Corvette ZR-1:

  • GM did a video confirmed Nürburgring Nordschleife Lap of 7:26.4
  • Top Speed is 210mph
  • Curb Weight is about 3352lbs and power to weight is 5.3lb/hp
  • 0-60 is 3.3 seconds
  • Sticker price is under $114,000

Now we have race... 

But the big question for me is why did it take 10 years to develop this car?  It would be one thing if is was amazing, but the only amazing thing about the car is the price.  The lap time at The 'Ring is respectable, certainly.  But it is barely beating cars that cost a fraction as much. 

Some industry insiders say that part of the reason is that Toyota hasn't ever really tried to break ground.  They take the ideas of others and tweak them...  Even with the LF-A, the car that is to be their image car, it looks like another makers design. 

I don't have a beef with Toyota.  they are the number 1 carmaker in the world, they obviously can do some things right (current acceleration issues notwithstanding).  But without a personality and a soul, why would someone spend $350,000 for a car that underperforms its peers while costing SEVERAL times as much.

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11 comments • Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy • January 31 2010 03:11PM

The best kind of green... British Racing Green...

It is one of my favorite colors...  British Racing Green.  But why is it British Racing Green.  Why isn't it just "Racing Green"? 

Back in the early days of auto racing, in fact around 100 years ago, teams were often divided by nationality.  And the nations chose their colors.  Some had a relation to the flag, but others were tied to personalities involved in the building of the cars. 

The surviving colors that are still often used are British Racing Green, German Silver (the Silver Arrows) and Italian Guards Red (Rossa Corsa).  The American colors were White with Blue longitudinal stripes (Wimbeldon White/Gaurdsman Blue).  Other well known colors were French Racing Blue (thinking of Bugatti) and Japanese White. 

The colors were used heavily in international racing until the late 1960s when sponsor colors became the norm.  Ferrari still uses Rossa Corsa for their F1 cars, and everyone is familiar with Ferrari Red.  Audi and Mercedes also use Silver on many of their factory racers, while severla British builders favor BRG. 

Now you know...

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0 comments • Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy • July 12 2009 11:54PM

BMW M3 gets better mileage than a Toyota Prius...

Shocking?

Sure, but let's think about this.  The guys at Top Gear did a comparison... both cars were driven the same way.  And the BMW M3 did deliver better mileage than the Toyota Prius.

The way they tested was to drive the Toyota as fast around the track as it would go, and then match the speed with the M3.

Of course that means that the Toyota was driving hell-bent... and the M3 might as well have been going to get groceries.  And that is the difference.  Had the M3 been pushed, it wouldn't have returned the mileage it did... of course, then the Toyota wouldn't have been keep up.

But it just goes to show you that the driver and the techniques they use have a TREMENDOUS effect on the way a car performs... both for speed and efficiency.



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3 comments • Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy • July 12 2009 11:34PM

I want Viper... and my wife won't buy it for me...

Please note, I specifically didn't say "a Viper"...  I said Viper. 

Fiat isn't getting the Viper Program from Chrysler... they are holding it back.  And it is on the block.  Robert Nardelli, the Hero of Home Depot (where is the eye rolling icon when I need it) has let it be known that the Viper Program can be had for $10,000,000... including the factory where Vipers are assembled. 

Right now there isn't anyone offering up that kind of dough.  The highest offer on the table is $5.5M.  And of course any buyer is going to have to have something left over for actually keeping the program running. 

So, how about this...  We can get 1 million people to put up $30 each... that would be $30,000,000... would that do the trick?  Everyone that invests could get a discount on a Viper... 

And of course we would expand the product line just a little... 

  • Gotta have the nasty powered V-10
  • Gotta have the slightly nastier track version ACR V-10 (American Club Racing)
  • How about an entry level SRT Hemi V-8 Viper?
  • Maybe even an eco-friendlier hybrid version (electric wheel motors and a gas powered generator)?
  • How about a full electic version?  

Keep the look mostly the same... but have a few more options. 

Part of the problem is that currently it isn't important for the Viper Program to be profitable.  It is a way to get people into the showrooms as well as have racing success... and an engineering platform.  But as an independent entity, it would need to generate a profit. 

That is the bottom line... could selling Vipers actually be profitable?  I think it could... maybe...

And just for the record... I'd LOVE to run that company... the company car would ROCK!

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7 comments • Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy • May 31 2009 11:46PM

We all need a vice...

... or at least I do. 

There are always a few toys I have my eye on, and here are the current toys I want... (my wife won't let me get any of them... yet).

I tend to be a "love it or hate it" kind of guy.  The first item on my wish list is one of those things that people love or hate.  There aren't many that just see it.  It evokes the fabulous Indian Chief motorcycles of the 1940 (and the more recent revivals).  It has all of the modern touches like fuel injection and shaft drive... but looks 60 years old... I love it.  This one is available on Ebay for another few hours.

The original is also available...  A 1947 Indian Chief.  Honestly, I'd rather have an original, but they are SO expensive, and not nearly as ridable.  But you do have almost a week to pony up for it.

Since we are in the 1940s, lets add a serious icon.  I don't think any other vehicle can claim to have affected the world we live in as much as the GP/GPW.  This is a beautiful example of a 1944 Ford built Jeep (GPW).  There are a couple more days to bid.  As a side note, in 2002, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) displayed a Jeep as part of their automotive design exhibit.

The next soft spot in my head is period hot rods.  Some call them rat rods.  This one is FAR from ratty.  It is a 1940 Ford truck that has been mildly massaged.  I just love the idea of a tuned flathead Ford V-8. 

To wrap up the offerings... a Prowler.  A lot of people had no idea that Plymouth went out with a bang.  While the Viper was stealing the show, the little division at Chrysler built a real street rod. 

The Prowler was built for a couple of years around 2000, and a sales flop.  But, I think that it will be a collector's item in the not too distant future.  It has love it or hate it styling.  Low production numbers. 

This one is available here.   

Of course, there are 1000 other cars and vehicles I'd love to have in my stable... let's just say that Jay Leno has made a good start.   

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11 comments • Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy • April 26 2008 10:37PM

Rudolf's Peanut Oil Miracle

I was reading a couple of posts earlier this evening, here and elsewhere, and there was a common thread of efficiency and environmental friendliness... ok, one of them was tongue in cheek about how long it would take to pay back the purchase of a hybrid. 

Well, I would like to toss in my nickel.  And offer up an option that seems to be completely lost on many people... diesel. Unimog

Of course, looking at the price, the first thought is that that would not be such a great idea.  As I write, I see $3.89 for a gallon of diesel, and $3.19 for gasoline.  But... (there is always a but...)

Look at some of the later model diesel powered cars.  Proven technologies (rudolf came up with this in the late 1800s) and some seriously green options.  

Instead, I wandered to a couple of higher-end comparable cars.  The Lexus GS450h (hybrid) and the MB E320 Bluetec diesel.  The Lexus is slightly cheaper when optioned out ($55.6k v. $57.3k).  the Lexus also has a pretty good advantage in the 0-60 time (5.2 v. 6.6).  But mileage?

The Lexus is rated at 22/25, City/Highway.  The Mercedes is rated for 23/32.  It is bigger, wider, longer and has WAY more cargo room.  And we know that MB diesels will run forever...

But, there is another option.  I don't know that I would try it with a brand new MB, but bio-diesel is a pretty cool concept, as is syn-diesel.  Here are a couple of clips from Wikipedia:Boring, but luxurious

Wood, hemp, straw, corn, garbage, food scraps, and sewage-sludge may be dried and gasified to synthesis gas. After purification the Fischer-Tropsch process is used to produce synthetic diesel.[9]Biomass-To-Liquids or BTL. This means that synthetic diesel oil may be one route to biomass based diesel oil. Such processes are often called

Synthetic diesel may also be produced out of natural gas in the Gas-to-liquid (GTL) process or out of coal in the Coal-to-liquid (CTL) process. Such synthetic diesel has 30% less particulate emissions than conventional diesel (US- California).[10]

Biodiesel can be obtained from vegetable oil (vegidiesel / vegifuel), or animal fats (bio-lipids), using transesterification. Biodiesel is a non-fossil fuel alternative to petrodiesel. It can also be mixed with petrodiesel in any amount in modern engines, though when first using it, the solvent properties of the fuel tend to dissolve accumulated deposits and can clog fuel filters.[citation needed] Biodiesel has a higher gel point than petrodiesel, but is comparable to diesel. This can be overcome by using a biodiesel/petrodiesel blend, or by installing a fuel heater, but this is only necessary during the colder months. A diesel-biodiesel mix results in lower emissions than either can achieve alone,[11] except for NOx emissions. A smallE320 percentage of biodiesel can be used as an additive in low-sulfur formulations of diesel to increase the lubricity lost when the sulfur is removed. In the event of fuel spills, biodiesel is easily washed away with ordinary water and is nontoxic compared to other fuels. 

Try to burn garbage in a hybrid...

I trash on ethanol pretty regularly, but there is a huge difference with bio-diesel.  That difference is that it can be brewed with left-overs and materials that are being discarded.  It also can be mixed with petro-diesel without a lot of regard for the ratio in most vehicles. 

So, grab something cool... pictured above, and run bio-diesel.  You will have a carbon footprint that will make Al Gore envious (I have a carbon footprint that will make Al Gore envious, but that is another post).   

 

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4 comments • Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy • March 29 2008 12:01AM