All posts by Francis Mitterrand

News

Formula GP2 spotted on the highway

Seeing super expensive cars on the highway is nothing new, but when you meet a Formula 2 car that is not road legal, it is news. Yesterday, YouTube channel Racing Clips released a video from the Czech Republic showing a Formula GP2 car cruising down the highway.

Driving such cars on public roads is not legal, and this is not the first such case. Three years ago, a similar car was spotted on the same highway from Prague to the German border, and the case was investigated by the police. The owner of the car was found, but he stuck to his statement that he was not driving the vehicle. The police failed to prove the opposite, so the owner of the car went unpunished.

It is a Dallara GP2/08 based on the 2006 Ferrari. It is powered by a 4.0L naturally-aspirated V8 engine with 620 hp (462 kW) @8,500 rpm. Power is sent to the rear wheels by a Hewland six-speed sequential semi-automatic transmission. It is equipped with a carbon/aluminum honeycomb monocoque chassis, double-steel wishbones, pushrod-operated, twin-dampers and torsion bars suspension (front) and spring suspension (rear), Hitco carbon brake discs with Brembo 6-piston calipers and pads, and Bridgestone Potenza (dry and wet) O.Z. racing wheels.

The comments on the video are positive. Many believe that the Dallara GP2/08 engine sounds much better than those of current Formula 1 cars. Of course there were also humorous comments such as those addressed to the Ferrari Formula 1 team because of their mistakes that led to several bad results this season.

Source: Racing Clips via YouTube

EV, News, Tuning

New aerodynamic kit for Mercedes EQS

With the increased demand for electric vehicles, many were of the opinion that the future of tuners was threatened. However, Brabus has shown with its latest creation that even electric cars can be a good basis for an upgrade. Such is the case with the Mercedes EQS, which the tuner equipped with a special aerodynamic package.

The EQS 450 is Mercedes’ most powerful electric model, for which Brabus has prepared a new carbon front spoiler, front lip, trims for the side air intakes, rear diffuser, rear spoiler in glossy or matte finish. All this had an effect on increasing driving stability. The drag coefficient is now 0.20, making the EQS the best in its segment when it comes to production cars.

Inside, the car is decorated with an illuminated BRABUS logo on the door sills, aluminum and carbon pedals, as well as a combination of elaborately quilted leather and velor. Each owner can personalize the interior of the car as they wish.

The Mercedes EQS 450 is powered by an electric engine with 329 hp (245 kW) and 417 lb-ft (568 Nm) of torque and has a range of 397 miles (640 km). Power is transmitted to the rear wheels via a 1-speed gearbox. It reaches 62 mph in 6.2 seconds with a top speed of 130 mph (210 km/h). It is equipped with a 107.8 kWh battery that can be charged to 80 percent in 32 minutes thanks to the fast charger. Better aerodynamics have increased the range by 7 percent when the car is traveling between 100 and 140 km/h, so the range is now 425 miles (685 km).

Brabus also equipped the car with SportXtra suspension, which allows the front part to be lowered by 15 mm and the rear by 25 mm. It sits on a 22-inch set of forged Monoblock Z “Platinum Edition” wheels wrapped in 255/35 ZR22 (front) and 295/30 ZR22 (rear) tires.

Source: Brabus

Hybrid, News

The delivery of the Mercedes-AMG One will begin soon

Mercedes premiered its powerful concept One in 2017 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. But no one even thought that the development, testing and problem solving, on the hybrid “beast” that comes with the Formula 1 engine, would take five years. Since then, the car has undergone many changes, and Mercedes-AMG has announced that it will produce only 275 copies of this model.

The Mercedes-AMG One is powered by a 1.6-liter Formula 1 V6 turbo engine with 566 hp (422 kW) at 11,000 rpm, which in combination with four electric motors delivers a total of 1,049 hp (771 kW). That’s enough power for this supercar to reach 62 mph in 2.9 seconds, 124 mph (200 km / h) in less than six seconds with a top speed of 217 mph (350 km / h). The engine is paired with a 7-speed gearbox. And yes, the engine meets Euro 6 standards.

The Mercedes-AMG One is one of the fastest road cars in the world, and everyone is waiting for it to show its performance on the most famous Nürburgring Nordschleife race track. It is equipped with an 8.4 kWh lithium-ion battery that allows the 1,695 kilogram hybrid plug-in car to travel 20 kilometers without the assistance of an internal combustion engine.

Each car will go through 16 stations for assembly and testing, something like the production process of luxury watches. More than 50 people work in the production of the Mercedes-AMG One, and after assembly, each car will be tested.

Although it was announced that the first copies would reach their owners at the end of last year, that did not happen. The reason is technical problems that caused a halt in development. In the meantime, AMG has finally managed to solve all the technical problems and the delivery can start.

Source: Mercedes-AMG