- The RallyCross VW Beetle in Chicago is fake, but we still love it
- F1 faces drama with double-points rules and qualifying changes
- This Toyota Camry has as much horsepower as eight Veyrons
- Photos: The 8000 hp Toyota Camry
- How your car can be hacked remotely by a tiny device
- Analysis: F1 drivers set for sideways headaches during 2014 season
The RallyCross VW Beetle in Chicago is fake, but we still love it
Posted: 07 Feb 2014 06:00 AM PST
The VW Beetle Global RallyCross car you see below isn't a real VW Beetle RallyCross car. Introduced by none other than Michael Andretti and driver Tanner Foust, the car shown in Chicago isn't even a race car at all. The Rockstar-liveried Beetle on display is actually the 2012 Super Beetle SEMA concept, built by APR in conjunction with the guys from VWVortex. That's okay, because the Super Beetle packs a spec sheet nearly as formidable as the RallyCross car it stood in for.
Here's the thing: Volkswagen's GRC cars don't exist yet. They're being assembled at Volkswagen's Motorsport HQ in Hannover, where they'll share workshop space and a bit of technology with VW's WRC champion Polo R. Because the RallyCross Beetles are still in the works, Volkswagen Andretti RallyCross teammates Foust and Scott Speed will start the season in Polo GRC cars.
Enter the Super Beetle, now sporting bodywork plucked from the computers in Hannover. It has the muscle to back up the race-car looks. APR did remarkable work on the 2.0-liter turbo 4, which was rebuilt using better...everything, so the Super Beetle sends 500 horsepower to all four corners, thanks to the AWD system pilfered from the Golf R.
Web director Alex Nunez got to briefly hoon the car in an empty parking lot before jetting home from last year's L.A. Auto show. "It's so ridiculous and great," he says. "It takes the 'girl's car' meme and smacks it across the back of the head with a shovel. It's the only Turbo Beetle where the 30 psi max on the boost gauge isn't laughably optimistic."
In Chicago, all the go-fast stuff is still there. It's just hidden under the bumpers, wheel-arches, ducting, scoops and monster wing that we'll see on the competition cars.
We admit a little weariness at the news VW would contest RallyCross with a Beetle. With so many excellent small performance cars to choose from, why pick the only one that would raise eyebrows? VW swatted down those questions with an outrageously loud show entrance and a driver lineup that lends immediate GRC credibility.
That, and a good point: The Beetle is as recognizable a shape as there is. It'll stand out in a field of hot hatches, especially if the Andretti team manages to put the Beetle on the podium. Maybe a little racing success is all Volkswagen needs to justify pulling that ferocious show Beetle out from under its vinyl and giving it a real shot at production.
F1 faces drama with double-points rules and qualifying changes
Posted: 07 Feb 2014 05:00 AM PST
Bernie Ecclestone has resurrected a plan to award double points in the final three races of the Formula 1 season, a controversial move that requires unanimous support from the teams in order to be implemented. The three-race scenario was originally presented to the teams last year but got tabled in favor of a one-race double points alternative. As the season nears, the potential for another change in the points system has raised more than a few eyebrows.
The word among Mercedes customer teams is that they are opposed to such a change, as it could provide a late-season chance for Red Bull Renault to recover if the testing problems they had at Jerez continue into the season. While no one has publicly commented against the move, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff did suggest that the decision makers should consider the strong reaction fans had against the single-race points plan already in place.
Mercedes is likely not alone in their opposition. Last month, Caterham owner Tony Fernandes called the addition of double points to the final race a "fake fix," and there are mounting concerns about the sporting nature of such a late points change. Ecclestone may have his work cut out for him, but anyone who's followed Formula 1 knows to wait for an official announcement before counting him out.
While points drama and Jerez testing results have been grabbing recent headlines, AUTOSPORT reports that changes to qualifying session 3 are set to be discussed, as well. Scheduled for the next F1 test in Bahrain on February 21, conversations between the FIA and team managers will look at options to ensure that drivers continue to push for positions in Q3 qualifying. Currently, drivers must start the race with the tires they used to set fast laps in Q3, which has prompted several teams to sit out the final qualifying session in order to have their choice of tires to begin the race. Potential solutions on the table include the use of a dedicated set of tires for Q3 or making drivers start the race with the tires they used to set their best Q2 lap.
As with the points discussion, any decision on qualifying must have the unanimous support of the teams.
This Toyota Camry has as much horsepower as eight Veyrons
Posted: 07 Feb 2014 04:00 AM PST
Toyota brought several Camrys to the 2014 Chicago Auto Show, but one is a bit more powerful than the rest. Though, calling this a Camry is sort of like calling a Saturn V a bottle rocket. The Toyota Funny Car has been competing in the NHRA since 2012, and it's bloody fast.
The 500 cid V8 cranks out an estimated 8000 hp. It's an estimate because you can't exactly put a car like this on a dyno. Others say current NHRA Funny Car outputs are in the 10,000 hp range. The Toyota Camry Funny Car is capable of dispatching the quarter mile in about four seconds at 330 mph. Accelerative force is around 5 Gs, and 0-100 takes about 0.8 seconds.
Unlike the Toyota Highlander Hybrid we tested recently, fuel consumption is more easily shown in gallons per mile, rather than miles per gallon. Between 16 and 20 gallons of nitromethane are consumed each mile.
How your car can be hacked remotely by a tiny device
Posted: 07 Feb 2014 03:00 AM PST
Yet another security researcher is demonstrating a better way to break into vehicle electronic systems, taking control from drivers in a way that could wreak havoc on the roads. While we aren't in imminent danger of wireless drive-by hacks on our cars, automakers must quickly take a more proactive role in discovering and plugging the holes in automotive computer networks before someone devises a practical exploit that requires no physical access to the car.
Automakers remain secretive about their in-vehicle computer security, but as hackers find new ways into these rolling networks, automakers need to open up, acknowledge the risks, and ask for help.
At the upcoming Black Hat Asia 2014 computer security conference in Singapore, a pair of Spanish security researchers will demonstrate a smartphone-sized circuit board dubbed the 'CAN Hacking Tool' (CHT), which they claim will let them remotely take partial control of many vehicles over a wireless Bluetooth connection.
Assembled from about $25 worth of parts, the CHT is connected to the OBD-II diagnostics port and tucked discreetly out of sight in a matter of minutes. Once installed, the intruders can connect wirelessly and tap into the vehicle network, which enables the sensors and computers to speak with each other and control the car. Previous demonstrations have required a cable interface with the CAN bus.
Intruders would still need initial physical access to install the device, and the limited 15- to 30-foot range of Bluetooth means they would have to remain close by to do anything nefarious, making this a proof of concept. However, it's just a matter of time before someone develops a longer-range WiFi or cellular version.
Embedded systems like General Motors' OnStar will eventually become the preferred attack vector because they will never need access to the car.
The potential attacks are limited right now because the in-vehicle networks remain encrypted—although encryption can be bypassed, as various retailers have found out when consumer credit card information has been compromised. Despite being limited, the range of commands are still frightening: Depending on the vehicle, the researchers have been able to toggle the headlights, open the windows, or even send commands to the brakes.
Technology companies including Microsoft, Google, and Facebook have been running bug bounty programs for the last several years, paying researchers who agree to submit security bugs they find before going public, and it's past time for automakers to consider doing the same.
Analysis: F1 drivers set for sideways headaches during 2014 season
Posted: 07 Feb 2014 02:00 AM PST
Formula 1 drivers are bracing themselves for more sideways action than originally anticipated in 2014, after the first preseason test highlighted some surprise challenges with the new cars. The higher torque of the V6 turbo engines had already been expected to make life difficult for drivers in terms of causing more wheelspin on the exit of corners.
But the initial feedback from 2014 cars shows that balancing the rear of the car—especially the tire temperatures—has been made even harder due to other rule changes. Drivers have found that it is harder keeping their rear tires in the right operating window because of design changes at the back of the car.
Aids that helped them in the past keep the tire temperatures up—like the heat from blown diffusers, soft rubber compounds, and large rear brake discs—have all been removed. For 2014, a dramatic cut in downforce, harder compound tires, exhausts that no longer channel hot air near the tires, and smaller rear brakes due to the way energy is now harvested mean that it's now too easy for the tire temperatures to fall out of the right window. When that happens, drivers find themselves battling with a lack of grip and the increased chance of wheelspin and oversteer moments.
Sauber's Adrian Sutil was one driver who particularly noted the way the 2014 cars were much harder to keep in the right tire-temperature operating window.
"We really struggled a lot to keep the temperature in the tires," he said. "Out of the pits on the first lap it was the best, but then it was just getting out of the window and then the tires were rock hard. It was like driving on ice, so very difficult in these conditions with the torque of the engine to control it. There was a lot of wheelspin and it made it an unpredictable car."
Although temperatures at Jerez were lower than they will be during the season, Sutil thinks the experience has shown that drivers could face some tough challenges at cooler races.
"In cold races for sure it will be a big problem," he said. "We lost the blowing effect and now you see how much we relied on the blowing, it [was] a big effect we had. Now we have a single wing in the rear—and there is so much load missing that the traction went down by a big step."
Less Downforce
F1 returnee Kamui Kobayashi, who last drove F1 in 2012 when blown diffusers were at their peak, noticed how different the current generation of cars felt.
"I have to say the downforce is much less than before, and I also think the rear tires used to work well with the blowing of the exhaust," he said. "Before, it was quite easy to get the rear temperatures up as you naturally got a lot of heat, but now there is nothing. Even with a brake bias system, we don't use much the rear brakes, so there is not much temperature at the rear. This is why we need to work a lot and spend a lot of time on it, as well."
Felipe Massa said he had been left in no doubt that 2014 challengers were going to be out of shape a lot more than cars had been in recent years.
"I think for sure you're going to see the cars sliding more, because you have less grip with some more torque," he explained. "But it's never very good to go sideways to be honest. You're losing time, so you need to understand how to drive as smooth as possible."
However, Massa reckoned that increased wheelspin could actually be a benefit in helping lift the rear tire temperatures.
"When you have wheelspin, it also warms up the tires, as well," he said
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