Rams Eye The Track Guy

Yep, it'll have four doors, more ground clearance, and AWD. No, it's not an SUV or a crossover. Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri said during an interview conference last week: "I abhor seeing SUV in the same sentence as Ferrari. It just doesn't sit well with our brand and what it represents." He refused to call it an SUV or a crossover. So what is it? Well, it's code name Purosangue, meaning Pure Blood, in case you're worried it will be anything but a Ferrari. He apparently wasn't even on board with the idea at all, until he saw the internal design. That bodes well, although not much is known about the looks. Drawing inspiration from the GTC4Lusso is probably a safe bet. The GTC4Lusso (pictured) is Ferrari's only current car that has AWD and 4 seats, although it's only got two doors and doesn't have room for much else. It is basically a shooting brake of a 2+2 GT car and packs a Ferrari V12 under the hood. Although the GTC4 is technical...

"Who's your green student today?" asked a friend and instructor at the BMW Club Atlantic Advanced Driver Training (HPDE) weekend in June this year. I said: "The Saleen." The response was: "Oh, boy." Mustangs, generally, have a reputation for being more power than chassis. Mustang drivers have quite the reputation for.. how to put this nicely? Taking advantage of said power/chassis imbalance. To make matters worse, this particular Mustang was a supercharged Saleen, with a honkin' Shaker scoop sticking out of its hood. Did I mention it was also a convertible? And the owner was someone who's never been on track before but clearly has the speed bug. Having had a Mustang for years and driven a few on track, they don't scare me - generally speaking - but the combination of being convertible and supercharged with a new and excited owner worried me a little. Nevertheless, I shrugged it off and got excited about chatting with the owner to find ...

Lexus LFA had an engine co-developed and built by Yamaha. It arrived preassembled to Lexus to bolt in the LFA. Toyota 86 has an engine from Subaru, with the only exception (I believe) is the direct injection system. It turns out that the Supra will, again, follow in the current Toyota tradition of not developing sports car engines, because it will source them all from BMW. I have read previously that the Supra will use the straight six, turbo engines from BMW (the current version is the B58). It now turns out that the Supra will also offer 4 cylinder entry level engine options from, you guessed it, BMW. The 4 cylinder, turbo B48 engine makes 255 hp and 295 lb-ft torque in the 3-series, although it will make slightly more in the Supra, according to an internal document from transmission manufacturer ZF.  The document shows that the very popular ZF 8HP eight speed auto will be paired with the BMW B48 4 cyl turbo in the Supra, where it will make 262 hp, slightly more th...

As a very competitive person and self-proclaimed track rat, I care about performance numbers and lap times.. probably a little too much. Now, I always take manufacturer Nürburgring lap times with a grain of salt, but that has never stopped me from absolutely loving seeing different manufacturers go at it or being fascinated by new (seemingly impossible) "production" lap records. The most recent record breaking run comes from Lamborghini, with its highest performing Aventador yet; the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ. The lap time? 6:44.97, over 2 seconds (2.28) quicker than the last record holder, the 911 GT2 RS with a lap time of 6:47.25, which held the record for almost a year. The Aventador LP 770 (770 metric hp) Superveloce Jota (SVJ), makes 759 hp vs 730 hp in the standard Aventador - the LP 740 (740 metric hp), or 739 hp in the previous top-dog Aventador, the LP 750 SV. Other improvements include lighter weight bringing curb weight down to approx. 3,362 lb. according to L...