"a vow of poverty on wheels"

And to my point of my last post...

The New York Times automotive section ran this article today about BMW's new i8 concept vehicle.  Said to be distinctly BMW in is driving experience the i8 (or whatever iteration of the concept comes to market) will posses all the characteristics that make BMW the ultimate driving machine.  It has all the fixin's of a supercar.  The styling, the 0-60 time of around 4 seconds, and an expected six figure pricetag.

Cool Alt Fuel

The lamentations were heard far and wide across the internet.  Porsche was to build a hybrid 911 race car.  Among purists, this was met with the same forehead slapping expletive laced hell in a hand-basket reaction as when the Cayenne was announced.  The storied sports car brand has, in recent years, shifted their focus away from manufacturing a small model range of sports cars to becoming a full on luxury brand with all the offerings there of.  “But a hybrid Porsche?  I can tolerate the S.U.V. and wagon but a hybrid is where I draw the line!” is the typical gearhead response.  

Its no secret that the automotive world as we know it is changing at a yearly rate with new model offerings by multiple manufacturers representing hybrid and full on E.V. technology.  Coupled with constantly rising gas prices which fluctuate with the worlds turmoil as well the aggressive push to expand fuel economy in vehicles, what Porsche is doing right now is just downright essential.  As the famed quote from the good ‘old boys of NASCAR will tell you, its “race on Sunday, sell on Monday”.  The technology that goes into racing teams, for whatever series or style of racing, is definitely above and beyond what is available for passenger cars.  However what is gleaned from these types of cars definitely informs and shapes new models. 

What’s most important about all this is bringing some fucking cool to the hybrid world.  Something that someone who actually likes cars can take a bite out of.  The Prius following is a cool dictated by L.A. celeb taste-makers.  “Like I’m totally saving the world, man.”  Yes, you’ve saved on gas and reduced your carbon footprint but for those of us who enjoy the action of driving its lack of power and nimble handling simply won’t do. 

There’s a big BUT coming.  Dinosaur fuels are on their way out.  There’s no getting around it.  The pain at the pump is evident each time you fill up.  It’s clear to everyone who’s paying at least a little bit of attention that it is a finite resource that will one day disappear.  Until recently car manufacturers seemed to put their heads in the sand regarding this fact.  While automakers have stepped up their alternative fuel offerings, the gearhead has been left out of this equation.  This is American, damn it.  We’ve been raised on muscle.  We like shit that goes fast and burns tires.  In a Prius, you simply will not do these things. 

We’ve been thrown a bone or two.  Sort of.  If you love cars, you of course dream about rides beyond your means.  Most alt fuel vehicle come a decently sticky price tag.  The Chevy Volt MSRP is right at $41,000.  Its nice that you’re saving on gas and can run completely on electrical power if you choose to do so, but its design is not particularly appealing to the eye, nor is it particularly roomy nor is it a powerhouse.  It just carts your ass around, which is fine for most people but will not do for automotive enthusiasts.  Compare with the Tesla Roadster which will do 0-60 in under 4 seconds, looks like a dream and runs entirely on an electric charge...and will run you $109,000 to start.  Tesla is offering a pretty sexy sedan called the Model S starting at about half that for the 2012 model year.  Mercedes gorgeous gull-winged SLS E-Cell is planned for 2013 and I’ll even give an attaboy for Honda’s sporty styled if not particularly sporty driving CR-Z for being the first hybrid to have a manual gearbox option.  While the options are certainly growing, I can’t wait for those go fast technologies to trickle down the pipeline into some rides that don’t necessarily fall into the supercar range.  

A common theme in getting folks to adapt to a more environmentally friendly way of doing just about anything is to make it seem as though they’re not doing without.  The current crop of alt fuel vehicles is akin to rolling around in a household appliance.  I’d hate for the car to become just another thing you have around and does it job and nobody thinks too much about it otherwise. This is why the enthusiast holds the hybrid in such disdain.  The technology is fast approaching and the demand is already here for something that saves gas, hauls ass and can do it in style.  The manufacturer that can bring it to market first is going to have a hit.  

In its racing debut at the 24 hours of Nurburgring, the Porsche 911 GT-3 R Hybrid, ran for 22 hours and at a fast enough clip to lead for 8 of those hours.  With but less than two hours remaining before the finish its day was over.  The combustion engine portion of the power-train had failed.  

Go green.  

Driving Music: Volume 1

The first in what I intend to be an ongoing series of awesome tunes to drive to.  You can't go wrong with this track.  Such a dope video too.  Brings me back to high school days of skateboarding and those first solo times behind the wheel.  Windows down, stereo bumpin', speed racer.

Perfect for: mashing the throttle on the on ramp

Trickle Down Economics

In this Wall Street Journal article, Silicon Valley folks are said to be buying hella luxury vehicles.  A sign of better economic times to come?  Lets hope, huh?

Gnarly: vol 2

Gnarly