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Photographic Retrospective: F1 – Bahrain 2010

There were dozens of stories inexorably interwoven into today’s Bahrain GP, the start of the 2010 Formula 1 season. To try to list them all would be an injustice to all the ones we would undoubtedly skim over. So instead, let’s take a recap of the race weekend through a photographer’s lens.

For those of you who are more casual observers of the sport and who aren’t up on all the intricacies of the politics and happenings, all you need to know is that Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso won the Bahrain GP because the Red Bull car of Sebastian Vettel had an electrical issue with the engine.

Enjoy the photographic retrospective below, it is the first of many.

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Video: Formula One Is Back, But Don’t Forget About Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

This weekend marks the return of Formula One for the 2010 season. With no less than four World Champions racing against each other this year, followers of the open-cockpit racing series are in for a wild ride. But lest we forget that there are touring car races which can be every bit as entertaining, even if they’re unable to match the operatic levels of drama the follow F1 like white on rice.

Undoubtedly the most enjoyable touring car races are those of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (no, not NASCAR), or “DTM” for Anglophiles and abbreviationphiles. Below is a video recapping the 2009 season with a production value that wouldn’t be out of place in Top Gear. Ya, it’s that good. This video is just in time for the April 24 season opener at Hockenheimring where the Audi A4 DTM (above) and Mercedes C63 DTM will duke it out for the pride of the Fatherland.

Until then, whet your appetite for DTM goodness and follow us on Twitter (@carenvy) as we chronicle the happenings in F1, DTM and other miscellaneous odds and sods.

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Fiat Heir Lapo Elkann and IASIP’s Charlie Day Hate Canada

The electron microscope of the media has been firmly fixed on Lapo Elkann, heir to the Fiat car company fortune, since Tuesday night when Elkann tipped the basketball away from the Toronto Raptors’ Jose Calderon. The tip prevented Calderon from keeping the ball in-bounds and thwarted Toronto’s defence of its lead against Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers. Kobe went on to make a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the win, despite being double-teamed. On a slightly unrelated note, Kobe Bryant is so amazing that Aston Martin is making a USD$550 limited edition shoe in collaboration with the all-star.

But wait, who is that to the right of Calderon? And why does he hate Canada’s only NBA team, and the whole country by association?

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Tangential Treatise #4: Have You Ever Wondered What Makes Flat Engines So Special?

Today, Subaru is the only company in the world to use boxer engines and Porsche is the only other company to use flat engines. These engines feature cylinders that are neither inline nor banked at an angle to form a V-shape. Instead, the cylinders lay flat along a horizontal plane. But not all flats are boxers, even if all boxers are flats.

Ok, so that’s mildly confusing, but what are the advantages of this arrangement? And why do only two manufacturers employ the flat engine design?  Read the rest of this entry »

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2010 Chicago Auto Show: Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing

With doors agape, the 2011 SLS greeted visitors at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show. This is the car that Mercedes is using to ignite our memories of the 1955 Mille Miglia and Stirling Moss. But wait, didn’t they just do that with the McLaren SLR Stirling Moss?. In person, it’s clear to see that the driver sits acres away from the nose of the car, much like the SLR McLaren this car effectively replaces as well as the BMW Z4 we drove in 2009. And although both the SLS and the baby BMW are rear-wheel drive two-seaters, the similarities end there. Whereas the Merc has a 6.2L V8 and pedestrian-arresting gullwing doors, the BMW is more conventional with its normal doors and straight-six engine. There’s also the matter of the $200,000 difference in price between the two, but no one said that a sense of occasion was cheap. In fact, it most assuredly isn’t. The SLS had a presence that had people flocking to its rotating stand, despite the lack of professional female accoutrement.

But why should you bother with a plane ticket to Chicago when you have CarEnvy.ca to do that for you? With our ever-expanding collection of 360˚ videos, it’s just like you’re there. Except you’re in the warmth of your home or office and not under the migraine-inducing lights of McCormick Hall. The things we do for our readers…

[author via YouTube]

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2010 Chicago Auto Show: Toyota FT-CH Concept

Toyota’s FT series of concepts first rolled out with the splendiferous 2007 FT-HS, a look at what a 21st century Supra might look like, hybrid powertrain and all. Unfortunately, that little experiment was ill-timed with the economic forces to which Toyota swayed. The second FT was the FT-86, so named because it is meant to recall the affordability and rear-driven wheels of the AE86 Corolla. This was a preview of the 2012 Celica that Toyota hopes will bring a pulse back to the brand. Now, the third FT concept is here with the “CH” moniker, likely referring to “compact hybrid”, but that’s just a wild guess. The styling was executed at Toyota’s European Design Centre in France and the design cues are targeted at the “8-bit generation” who grew up playing 8-bit video games, the company claims. Uh, so I guess that’s me. And what could go better with an 8-bit design philosophy but an 8-bit soundtrack. Sure, it’s kinda annoying, but so are the hipsters that my generation has created.

If such a car were to reach production, it would likely do so as an expansion of the Prius brand. After all, if consumers and manufacturers have learned nothing in the last few years, it’s that the “Prius” badge sells cars, not the “Hybrid” badge. The FT-CH is a smaller car than the mid-size Prius, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it came to market with the Prius Urban nameplate, or some such marketing drivel. Enjoy this 360˚ preview of the mini-Prius because it could be exactly what the market ordered, minus the unintended acceleration and hipster luxury nameplate.

[author via YouTube]

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2010 Chicago Auto Show: Audi R8 5.2 FSI (and Spyder) in 360˚

Is it brown or bronze? The colour is debatable, but the twin R8s in attendence were lovingly laid with carbon fibre packages that made them sparkle and fizz under the fluorescent McCormick Hall lights. But still pictures don’t do the twins justice, especially not the decapitated sibling named Spyder.

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2010 Chicago Auto Show: Fisker On The Stand, Not In The Streets

Have you ever seen a Fisker on the streets? Sure you have, you’ve seen an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Aston Martin DB9, or maybe even a BMW Z8. Or maybe you’ve even seen all three, like I have. But I can guarantee that you haven’t seen this eponymous (and electric) car of Henrik Fisker’s on the streets. That’s because it’s not for sale yet. Still, Fisker Automotive has been tantalizing those of us interested in stylish electric cars for some time now, and I’m not saying that I fall into such a category, I’m just speaking in generalities. With an on sale date expected to be in the third quarter of this year, we may not have to wait much longer for the Fisker Karma sedan. Although the convertible and crossover models that American Vice President Joe Biden famously leaked are still an indeterminate ways away.

So how is Fisker ramping up excitement for their new products? With a splashy booth at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show, of course!

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Video: HTC Pléthore LC-750 – The Canadian McLaren F1

With the centrally-mounted driving position, this is the first supercar since Gordon Murray’s McLaren F1 to utilize this style. I emphasize supercar because Gordon Murray’s T.25 city car will employ a similar set-up. This driving position only adds to the mystique of the first truly Canadian car of any type since the ill-fated Bricklin SV-1. That, and the fact that this is a full-on supercar with a GM small block providing the power and a body as wide and seductive as an open stretch of unrestricted Autobahn.

And don’t worry about the weak economy crushing this car’s potential, rumour has it that 8 of them have already been sold to eager European buyers. The Pléthore will also be in Geneva next week for their 80th International Motor Show.

[GTspirit via Facebook]

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What Do Hyundai and Volkswagen Have That Toyota Doesn’t? Quality!

Based on what you see above, you’ll agree that this new 2011 Hyundai Sonata (no, that isn’t the Passat CC) has more inspired and engaging styling than the benchmark Toyota Camry. But what you can’t tell from the pictures is how the car feels. So let me tell you that it feels solid and well screwed together. Like, no joke.  In fact, I’ll go as far to say that the new Sonata is better than the Camry, and for that matter all the other midsize sedans. I had an inkling that this statement might be true, but the Korean company’s presence at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show cemented it for me.

It was there that I saw the 2011 Sonata in the metal and had the opportunity to explore the car a bit. This car was so surprisingly adequate that I needed to compare it to Toyota, the reigning champion of North American sales. And adequacy. But I’ll get to that in a second because there were also the 2010 Tuscon, the Genesis brothers, and the Genesis Coupe drift car that some dude named Rhys Millen uses to extract smoke out of rubber. And all of these cars had a big impact on me. I know it has been said before that Toyota’s quality is slipping, but it wasn’t clear to me how badly the Koreans are now beating the Japanese titan, and therefore everyone else. But it isn’t just Hyundai that is sneaking up on the Big Two of GM and Toyota, it’s Volkswagen too. It has been well-publisized that Volkswagen plans to be the world’s largest automaker by 2018, but based on what I saw at the CAS, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were the Koreans first. Either way, both brands are on the rise.

More proof and less rhetoric are below.

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