Monthly Archives: May 2012

OK Go Music Video

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You may not be a fan of alt rock band OK Go, but you can probably appreciate the level of difficulty in making music with a car in their video Needing/Getting. The car in question is the Chevy Sonic, which the Redlinenorth Team will be reviewing first hand in an upcoming post.

According to an interview with Car And Driver, the original concept for “Needing/Getting” grew out of a 2010 video for the song, “This Too Shall Pass.” In that video the band sings while dominoes topple, balls and tires roll, umbrellas fly, and the like.

In the Needing/Getting a rally style track has been set up and each stage comprises a section of the song. A specially fitted Chevy Sonic then travels round the track clanging symbols and strumming guitars with fishing poles that have been attached to the vehicle at appropriate intervals. The sound and video is then recorded in multiple takes and assembled in editing.

For more details on how the video was put together check out the Car And Driver article otherwise enjoy the video.

The Texas Mile and the 250 MPH + Camaro

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Well the old saying everything is bigger in Texas sure comes to life here.The Texas Mile has grown rapidly since the inaugural event in October 2003. Participants now come from all over the United States, Canada and Mexico to test themselves and their machines on the fastest and most challenging one mile track in the world. They achieve their top speed in one mile and shut down in a 1/2-Mile. This bi-annual Motorsports Festival is created for the performance enthusiast – Welcoming Motorcycles, Performance Street Cars, Race Cars and Land Speed Racers.

One such machine is the 2000 Chevy Camaro owned by Kelly Bise, driven by Josh Ledford and built by Houston, Texas based Late Model Racecraft.

See the Camaro in action at the Texas Mile in March 2012.

Specs are as follows:

  • 461 cubic inch V8 Big block with twin turbos pushing over 2000 HP at the wheels
  • It is officially the fastest Camaro in the World

2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8

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The third and current generation of the Dodge Challenger was introduced in 2008 and has become a cult classic with Mopar fans around the World as it has sold quite well for the past four years.

In this review, we want to take a closer look at the top of the line model the 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8.

Created by engineers at Dodge to compete with the other Pony cars of the day such as Chevy’s new generation Camaro and Ford’s GT Mustang, the Dodge Challenger SRT8 comes equipped to compete.  With a sticker price of $49,095 CAD plus applicable taxes the Challenger is priced well among its competitors.  With its full size rear seats, sports tuned suspension, Brembo brakes, fire-breathing, 470 HP Hemi engine and 20 inch wheels it is a true retro muscle car that captures all the excitement of the late 60s, early 70s era muscle cars.

There is a Standard Fuel Saver Technology (four cylinder mode) in automatic transmission equipped models that allows the engine to operate economically on four cylinders or use the power of all eight cylinders when needed. This technology does result in some very respectable metrics at the pump with the car averaging 20 + MPG. Unfortunately, with a 470 HP Hemi engine what do you expect?  And, yes, you don’t buy this car if mileage is your number one priority.

Specs are as follows:

  • 6.4L – 392-cubic inch HEMI® V-8 delivers 470 horsepower and 470 lb.-ft. of torque
  • 0 to 60 MPH – approx 4.7 secs
  • Top speed – 180 MPH
  • Braking is 60 MPH to 0 in 117 feet
  • 14/23 MPG (City/Hwy) ratings for the 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392
  •  Nappa Leather-faced seats with suede perforated inserts
  • 20-inch forged aluminum wheels
  • Brembo brakes
  • Heated steering wheel

Here is a recent US video review

On a very sad note, I wanted to highlight a recent article from the National Post written by the legendary auto writer Graeme Fletcher titled Chrysler’s Dan Knott: ‘His passion shone through’. It is worth a read and goes on to explain how Dan was a pioneer at Chrysler and essentially the “godfather” of Chrysler’s Street and Racing Technology (SRT) which is the group that is behind the amazing technology that make these cars the ultimate road machines they are today.

Ken Block’s Ford Fiesta Does Gymkhana Hot Wheels-Style

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A few weeks ago we posted a video of rally car driver Ken Block taking his Ford Fiesta rally car through the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry in the third instalment of his Gymkhana video series. Well the folks over at Hot Wheels have created a replica of Block’s Fiesta and the following is a video of the RC version of the car tearing it up around Venice beach, California.

After watching the video it makes you want to go out and get one of these!

Chaika

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A Chaika (Ча́йка), which means gull, is a luxury automobile from the Soviet Union that was produced from 1959 to 1981 by GAZ. There were only 3,100 vehicles built during the 22 year production run, largely because it was never for sale to the public. Chaika’s and its more upscale cousin, the Zil limousine, were only available to Soviet elites. Nikita Khrushchev, although entitled to a ZIL, was known to prefer Chaikas.

The early Chaikas model M13 produced from 1959 to approximately 1977 very closely resembled the American Packard Patrician from the same era. The M13 was powered by a a 195 horsepower (145 kW) 5.5L V8 with a top speed of 99 mph (158 km/hr).

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In the late 1970s the M14 was introduced with more modern styling and had an updated 220 hp engine.

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The Chaika model was discontinued in 1988 and can now be found in museums such as this unique museum outside of Moscow which features over 300 vehicles from the Soviet era.

Today, GAZ specializes in mid-price and premium cars all sold under the Volga brand.

The history of NASCAR

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Stock car racing in the United States has its origins in bootlegging during Prohibition, when drivers ran bootleg whiskey made primarily in the Appalachian region of the United States. Bootleggers needed to distribute their illicit products, and they typically used small, fast vehicles to evade the police. Many of the bootleg drivers would modify their cars for speed and handling, as well as increased cargo capacity, and some of them came to love the fast-paced driving down twisty mountain roads.

Typical car used by Moonshiners to transport illegal booze.

Although the end of Prohibition in 1933 dried up the majority of the Moonshiners business, many Southerners had developed a taste for the illegal booze, and a number of the drivers continued “runnin’ shine”, to evade the “revenuers” who were attempting to tax their profits. The cars the Moonshiners used continued to be improved, and by the late 1940s, races featuring these cars were officially being organized. These cars were mainly street vehicles that had been lightened and reinforced to provide drivers with more power and control to tackle the local dirt tracks.These races became popular entertainment in the rural Southern United States, and most of them took place in the Wilkes County region of North Carolina, situated in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

One of the most famous retired Moonshine drivers is Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. better known as Junior Johnson, it is said that he was never caught by police during his years of running booze. He became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he also became a NASCAR racing team owner and sponsored NASCAR champions such as Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip. He is also credited with discovering the technique of drafting.

The ultimate King of NASCAR is Richard Petty and he is most well known for winning the NASCAR Championship seven times (Dale Earnhardt is the only other driver to accomplish this feat), while also winning a record 200 races during his career, winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times, and winning a record 27 races (ten of them consecutively) in the 1967 season alone.

Of the recent modern era, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are considered the best of all the time with a combined total of 20 championships and 209 wins. Unfortunately, Dale Earnhardt died tragically in a crash during the 2001 Daytona 500 when Earnhardt’s car hit the wall nose-first at an estimated speed of 160 mph.

As for NASCAR cars today – they are all built with similar specs below to keep the pack competitive:

  • V8 Engine
  • Electronic fuel injection * 2012 is first year this is being used for Sprint cars
  • Displacement:
    • Approx 355 cubic Inches
    • 750-850 HP
  • Top speeds: without restrictor plates – 220+ MPH plus at Talladega Superspeedway was done by Rusty Wallace in 2004 on test lap
  • Transmission: 4-speed manual w/ reverse
  • Curb Weight: 3450 lb.
  • Chassis: Steel tube frame with safety roll cage
  • NASCAR Steel 15 in. x 10 in.
  • Racing fuel

Jimmie Johnson’s 2012 car

Jeff Gordon’s 2012 car

With over 75 million race fans and sales of over $3 billion annually, NASCAR is the biggest form of motorsport in the US.  More Fortune 500 companies sponsor NASCAR than any other motor sport in North America, although the sport’s popularity has been in decline since the early 2000s. For more information please visit the official website of NASCAR.