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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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Lexus LFA in 360˚ Splendour and Vivid Detail

The 2010 Chicago Auto Show has just wrapped up but our belated (but bespoke) coverage will continue to seep into these pages over the coming days. To start things off, here is a video of the venerable Lexus LFA that we took. While you’ve undoubtedly seen pictures of the LFA, or even video reviews, you haven’t seen it up close and personal. Until now.

The 360˚ video and 16-image gallery of the LFA are below. I think you’ll enjoy the fine details of Japanese engineering. A lot. Also, the matte gray that this LFA is painted is infinitely cooler than the white we keep seeing.

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Man-Cave Flaunting For Poseurs

I have beige garage doors. They match my beige house. The whole place is beige. I live in a small townhouse community, and the first bylaw probably has something to do with beige. Beige, the anti-color. Beige, how I love your anonymity. What I really want is to show my neighbors the secret Formula 1 car next to my wine cellar and my swimming pool that hide behind my beige garage doors.

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2010 Chicago Auto Show: 2011 Ford Fiesta

Sporty Euro subcompact fans all over North America, rejoice. Ford the all-seeing, all-benevolent has heard your pleas, and it has deemed you worthy. The Fiesta is coming, and it’s not being dumbed down.

More and a gallery after the jump.

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2010 Chicago Auto Show: 2011 Suzuki Kizashi

This probably wasn’t the image you were expecting to see. Neither was I, which is exactly why it was so cool. Don’t worry, Suzuki brought along a Kizashi that auto show visitors could actually play in. The rotisserie was a really nice touch, though—especially seeing the undercarriage of the car, sans road grime and in very nice lighting. Oh, and also not on a creeper. But I digress.

More and a gallery after the jump.

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Tangential Treatise #3: The 2011 Audi A1 Has Nothing On The 1999 Audi A2

Twelve years is a long time for people, but for cars it’s a coon’s age. In other words, it’s about two car-lifetimes. Just for some perspective, 12 years ago, there was no Google, no Facebook, YouTube, iPod, nor iPhone. The .com bubble had peaked but most people didn’t know it yet and many were buying basement-fulls of Spam and mobile generators in preparation of the impending Y2K crisis. In the automotive world, 12 years ago, “hybrid” wasn’t in our vocabulary, the Diablo was littering magazine covers, the Ferrari 360 Modena was just peeking its nose out of the Maranellan womb, the McLaren F1 had stopped production despite building only a third of the 300 projected cars, and Audi released a premium compact car built largely of aluminum. Now of all those cars I just mentioned, I want to focus on that last one. This aluminum-framed and bodied car was designed by Luc Donckerwolke and it was called the A2, slotting beneath the A3 in the Audi range. Which Luc Donckerwolke? Ah, that would be the Belgian one who also picked up a pen and paper for Lamborghini. The Luc I’m talking about designed the aforementioned Diablo, the Murcielago, and the Gallardo. So while the A2 might seem like a plain-Jane runabout or even a dilution of four-ringed brand equity, in reality, it was anything but. Unfortunately, the market couldn’t get past the steep price tag directly resulting from all that innovative (and expensive) aluminum. As a result, sales were weak. Which is odd because even at, say, CDN$35,000, the Audi A2 was a tenth the cost of Donckerwolke’s other works of art – and that made it a bargain.

Now, 12 years after launching the Audi A2, the company that lit the unintended acceleration torch that Toyota now carries is launching another premium compact for the European market: the Audi A1. The A1 could make it to our frosty shores if there were enough interest, but really, you don’t want one. If you can wait until 2014, I think I can convince you that what you really want is a then-to-be-15-year-old Audi A2. What makes me so bullish and sanguine? It’s all in the details.

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2010 Chicago Auto Show: Kia Ray Concept

While opinions on the design of Kia’s Ray concept will no doubt be mixed, you have got to give Kia points. Who else brings Muno from Yo Gabba Gabba and a guy dressed to a giant sock monkey to an auto show?

Video and photo gallery after the jump.
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Don’t Try This At Home: Clutch Go Bang

Trans AM Clutch Explodes!

What do you get when you mix a 620-horsepower LS7-powered Pontiac Trans Am, a pound of youthful exuberance, a handful of yahoos, and a pinch of video camera?

Shrapnel.

Seems these fine fellows were intent on melting a set of old meats by performing a rolling burnout. Step One: rev up engine. Step Two: roll forward. Step Three: press brake pedal while burying the accelerator pedal. Good plan. Then the clutch grenaded.

“Grenaded” is a term often overused. But not here. No, three pieces of clutch pressure plate went in three different directions. One exited stage right and, after cutting through a six millimeter thick steel plate, bounced into some kid’s leg. The second went straight up through the firewall into the bottom of the dashboard. The third piece cut through the floorboard near the driver’s feet, deflected, and buried itself in the pavement.

Items broken: engine block, transmission bellhousing, headers, wiring harness. Thankfully, the clutch manufacturer warrantied the clutch. The car, however, was declared a total loss.

[ Streetfire.net ]

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What’s Cooler? Part II – Battle Wagon Lite

Earlier this month I talked about needing a station wagon to haul around he who will be the newest addition to our little family. Station wagon, estate, touring, shooting brake… these all make sense to me.. Barring some shift in oil prices or the further breakdown of Minnesota roads, I won’t be driving an SUV (really just a large tall station wagon). Barring blunt force head trauma, I won’t be driving a minivan. A Mustang V8-powered Volvo 940 was compared to a supercharged M3-powered BMW 525i Touring. Verdict? BMW.

I’m still casually surfing the Internet for a station wagon that amuses me. Something that can haul the diapers as well as the mail. Something that has some style to it. Something that commands respect and awe from the other parents. More importantly, according to my wife, something that won’t break the bank. Hey, she’s the one who pointed out I still need funds for the old car projects.

Admittedly, I had all but forgotten the Volkswagen Fox two-door wagon even existed. Appearing briefly in North America somewhere between the late 1980s and the early 1990s, these Brazilian-built econoboxes wheezed and lumbered along with something like 81 horsepower from their 1.8-litre, longitudinally-mounted four-pots. The sedans shared styling cues with the Audi 4000 (80) and VW Jetta. The wagons, however, looked like an intoxicated union between a early Mk-2 Golf and a Communist-era Fiat police car. Read the rest of this entry »

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Chris Harris Drives Lexus LFA, Agrees With CarEnvy

Now here’s a man who gets us. Here’s a man who gets it. Chris Harris, the man who did wonderful things at Drivers Republic and has now moved over to Evo UK, has just driven one of the first Lexus LFAs to hit UK shores. And you know what? He agrees with CarEnvy when we said that it could use a little more power to be appreciated. Now I’ll shut up so you can enjoy one of the best automotive video presenters around. Just make sure you watch it full screen.

[Evo]

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CarEnvy Invades 2010 Chicago Auto Show

I use the term “invades” rather loosely; “goes to” would probably be more appropriate. No matter.

The 2010 Chicago Auto Show starts today and our very own Janaki will be at the CAS tomorrow to cover the media events and yours truly, your fearless Editor Peter Dushenski, will be there next Tuesday, January 21. Janaki will no doubt cover the meat and potatoes, I’ll just be there to highlight anything that might fall through the cracks. Together, Janaki and I will be focusing on some of the more strange and wonderful motor cars from the show, leaving the mainstream stuff to the big guys. Realistically, we would be foolish to try to out-Autoblog Autoblog, so we won’t even try.

You will be able to follow all the happenings on Twitter. Our handle is @carenvy. Janaki will be tweeting in haiku. Since I don’t know what that is, I’ll just be spewing social media diarrhea in 140 characters or less.

If you don’t have Twitter, or don’t care to find out, just keep coming back here to CarEnvy.ca for your maple-syrup-tinted view of the 2010 Chicago Auto Show.

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