Posts Tagged r sport

How Fast Does Your Car Go?

Given money to spend and a world of options when selecting a car, every car enthusiast goes for one option getting a sports car. In the world of sports cars, however, there stands the basic criteria of speed, speed, speed, and, well, speed.
The fastest sports car according to various critics is the 1994 Dauer 962 LeMans, with acceleration speed of 2.6 seconds from 0 to 60 mph. The fastest Ferrari car is the 2002 Ferrari ENZO, and this one can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph at breakneck speed of 3.5 seconds. Other fast cars include a Chevrolet, a Dodge, a LeBlanc, a Renault, an Audi, and a Corvette, all of which have acceleration speeds of not more than 2.9 seconds from 0 to 60 mph.
Now, the question that begs answering is: what makes a fast sports car?
While stylistics make for a very good standard when getting a sports car, there’s more to the sleekness than just style. The very sleek and streamlined designs of these fast sports cars actually contribute to fantastic aerodynamics making it much easier to drive the car fast without worrying about air resistance, air pressure, etc. In effect, the hot and sexy car design actually makes for more than aesthetics, but gives a boost to the speed and performance of the car.
Another feature that contributes to the speed of the car is its reduced weight. It’s evident in the reduced cargo capacity of a sports car. Luckily, this isn’t much of an issue with sports car enthusiasts. Related to cargo capacity and reduced weight is the fact that some sports cars may have smaller seating capacities, and usually are characterized by firmer, tighter rides, compared to the more spacious and comfortable rides offered by sports utility vehicles or sedans.
A last consideration in speed, however, is its general dynamics which include handling and drag when driving. A sports car has very little value if it cannot sustain its straight-line speeds when driving in tight curbs and ends up crushed after it hit a dead end. It is for this precise reason that even the fastest sports cars are usually rear-wheel driven rather than front-wheel driven, because of the fact that the rear-wheel drive provides greater traction and allows for the weight to be distributed evenly as the car makes a turn.
While there’s more to a sports car than just speed, it also doesn’t hurt that your sports car is fast. After all, the 1994 Dauer 962 LeMans is prized precisely because it rises above the speeds of every other fast sports car.

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An Awful Weekend For Ferrari

Ferrari merchandise producers will not be happy after what was an abysmal weekend’s racing. The much vaulted car and driver combination that had proved so competitive during the winter testing period faced serious troubles throughout the weekend. Merchandise producers and sponsors will hope this is a singular occurrence and will not set a trend for the rest of the 2008 season. Ferrari will have to up their game to compete with rival Formula 1 team, McLaren.
The Melbourne race weekend saw a sublime performance from Lewis Hamilton in both qualifying and the grand prix. Ferrari however will be worried by mechanical difficulties and poor driver performances from both the reigning champion Raikkonen and Massa. Merchandise producers and sponsors will be unhappy with what was a mediocre performance at best. Before the weekend had begun, Ferrari had found themselves strong favourites to dominate the entire weekend like they had done in the previous season. They do however leave Melbourne with a solitary driver’s championship point and one constructor’s point.
The nightmare for Ferrari began with engine difficulties for Kimi Raikkonen during qualifying meaning he started the race in a lowly fifteenth. Massa did little better, only managing fourth on the grid despite having no engineering problems until the race had begun. Merchandise companies and sponsors will be piling on the pressure to Ferrari management to ensure the problems are recognised and dealt with quickly and efficiently.
The difficulties first became apparent during Saturday’s qualifying session when Raikkonen’s Ferrari experienced a fuel pump problem that hampered his lap time. Strangely Massa faced stiff competition not just from both McLaren’s but also from the BMW of Robert Kubica. Massa’s fourth should have been enough as at times the pace of the Ferrari F1 ‘08 was clearly fast enough to cut through the pack. Unfortunately for Massa his fourth didn’t convert into a podium position because of yet more engine difficulties and a spin in the first corner resulting in a replacement nose cone.
Raikkonen was close to achieving some points as he quickly scythed his way through the pack, the new traction control legislation however gave the Finn some difficulties as he span off twice due to driver errors when attempting to overtake. This will worry merchandise companies and sponsors greatly as the former champion buckled under the pressure and could not find consistency in the Ferrari car; if he cannot race more smoothly this season could prove extremely difficult for the Finn who is vying to keep his driver’s championship.
As well as driver difficulties for Raikkonen, close to the end of the race he had to retire with yet more problems with the Ferrari F1 ‘08. The team would not have achieved a single point if it hadn’t been for the disqualification of Ruben’s Barrichello for illegal use of the pit lane under safety car provisions. This lucky break is clearly the only thing Ferrari management, sponsors and merchandise producers will be able to salvage from a disastrous weekend.
Both the Ferrari F1 cars will be sent back to the Maranello plant in order to diagnose the problems that caused so much stress this weekend. They will hope the diagnosis will be speedy as the team only have a few days until testing starts for the Malaysian Grand Prix. The general director of Ferrari was quick to dispel the fears of merchandise companies, sponsors and fans by stating that this was purely a blip in the season for the team. Winter testing had put the team miles ahead of the rest of the pack and the pace of both cars was evident, at least during periods of the race. Ferrari will have to find this pace consistently to achieve the podiums they so strongly desire.
With rivals McLaren already thirteen points ahead of the Italian team after one race weekend thanks to a race win and a fifth from Heikki Kovalainen, Ferrari are already lagging behind. In a race that only saw seven of the competitors finish, the carnage brought about by the new regulations was apparent, although rustiness on behalf of the teams and drivers may have something to do with many poor results. Ferrari will be hoping that they can expel the gremlins from both their cars in time for Malaysia and lay down a strong performance to counter the brilliant start their rivals McLaren experienced.

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Ferrari Modifying – Pushing the Limits of Excess and Power

Without question Ferrari cars are among the most powerful and most expensive sports cars in the world today and for good reason, under the careful watch of Enzo Ferrari the Ferrari brand has consistently put out excellent motor vehicles exuding class and prestige on the outside with extreme power in the engine bay.Their trademark cherry red colours are synonymous with the prancing pony sports cars and their rarity on the roads is bound to draw stares as much as the roar of the engine.  It isnâ??t just on the road where you will find the Ferrari brand leading the way, Ferrari are currently riding high with their Formula One team in a constant battle for points with the McLaren Mercedes team at the top of the table.  A lot of the technologies used in the manufacture of their street cars such as the Ferrari Enzo or F360 are derived from the Formula One experience of the brand and so you know youâ??re going to get the best of the best.  But, what if the best isnâ??t enough?  What if you want that little bit more to make your Ferrari that extra bit more unique?If you are looking to Tune your Ferrari then youâ??ll not need to do too much as almost all models are built perfect for whatever use you plan for your car.  But as with all motor sports there is always a way to shave a few milliseconds off track times or ways to improve handling for your everyday driving.Whilst they are built for sport primarily there are still some areas where you can squeeze out some extra performance points such as handling improvements like third party sports braking systems or extreme measures to increase power such as adding twin turbo chargers by having a complete engine conversion.  You may think that slight changes wonâ??t mean much but many Ferrari tuners out there swear by customising the ride of your Ferrari so that you are both comfortable with the ride and the power.If you are really after a truly unique look to your Ferrari then youâ??ll find plenty of examples of external modifications like body kit replacements and carbon fibre elements in Ferrari Tuning pictures as well as dedicated tuning teams like Novitec Rosso who have made custom editions of the F430 Scuderia in the past.So there you go, it goes to show that if youâ??re going to own a Ferrari then there are plenty of options available to make sure that yours stands out in a crowd, even if the crowd is a Ferrari owners club you can still be the king of the hill with a little extra work!

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