Entries Tagged 'News' ↓

I got an email back from Corvette regarding the Skull logo on the ZR-1 and I have to say that that the story behind it IS actually quite interesting.

Short story is this. It is an homage to the ZR1 Corvette’s racing heritage. It is the official logo of Corvette Racing. Long story is as follows.

The smirking skull is called “Jake.” The Corvette Racing team had been using various ’skull’ iconography for a while in various ways, but the guys at BadBoyVettes.com felt that there was a need for a proper logo. This is a scan of the original napkin design from that came from a night at the bar after the 2004 LeMans drawn up by Bad Boy Vettes while sitting with the Corvette Racing team. Since then the logo has been on the C6.R b-pillar as the official “mascot.”

According to BadBoyVettes, Chief Engineer Tom Wallace, “saw the crossed flags on the ZR1’s supercharger along with the conventionally placed ones on the nose and the intake snorkel he balked at the 3x arrangement. His solution? Honor the ZR1 connection to its racing roots and replace one set of flags with the embossed Corvette Racing skull.”

What is really cool is that later they invited the guys from BadBoyVettes to see a preview of the production ZR1 and popped the hood to show them their logo on the air intake. The full story can be found here. Congrats guys. Very cool to find your design inside of the fastest production American muscle car ever.

Interior and Header photo courtesy and © General Motors
The napkin is © BadBoyVettes.com
62mph.com is unaffiliated with either

The new Corvette ZR1 has a subtle design element that quietly speaks volumes. When you peak under the hood you see the awesome LS9 from the standard Corvette with a hi-tech supercharger strapped onto the top. Normally in a Corvette you see the the “twin flag” emblem all over the place. It is on the hood, under the hood, on the steering wheel, on the door sills, on the wheels, and on the floor. The ZR1 is no exception to this except that when you lift the hood, instead of seeing the standard twin flags on the airbox you see the twinflags making the eyes of an extremely stylized skull.

Now that is tough. This seems to represent only one possible thing. That the ZR1 means death. The 620hp in this 3300 lb car are meant to destroy the competition. There is no doubt that the Vette is going to take down the Viper throne, which it currently only holds in terms of American power. The Z06 has always been hoping to wrestle with the Porsche 911 Turbo which it has always fallen behind, but with this new Corvette rendition we will have to see.

The Corvette ZR1 is basically the fastest, most powerful, production corvette in history. That is the short story. The long story is that the ZR1 is so heavily modified from its origin that it is almost a completely different car altogether.

The ZR1 is targeting 100hp / liter making 620 hp at 6500 rpm and hits 585 lb-ft of torque at 4000rpm. Those numbers are high but get this. From 2600 to 6000 rpm you will have 90% of the torque available. With that much low end torque, I am imagining this to be a great car for power in the twisties. The horsepower starts to really kick in at around 3000 rpms with 300hp right in the middle and it just keeps climbing from there.

You might notice the brakes on this beast. They are Brembo 15.5 inch carbon-ceramic rotors on the front and 15″ on the back. That is a $20,000 option on a Ferrari. Impressive to say the least. There should be no question of its stopping abitily.

There is plenty more to discuss involving the ZR1 and so we will continue to cover it. Right now it looks plain awesome. Somehow I think I need to talk my wife into taking out a few mortgages against the house as well as convincing her that 110hp is completely inadequate for our growing family and that 620 would be far more reasonable. I am sure she will understand the need for a $100,000 Corvette when I tell her that it is the best one yet.

Allen: I concur! If the devil had to drive a new production car, I’m pretty sure this would be it. The ZR1 Skull just adds to the attention to detail that Chevy has put into its high performance car for years, turning an already awesome car into something sinister. That little skull screams “Death to all who oppose the mighty ZR1″ with its half grin.

As for Austin taking out a second, third, and four mortage for the ZR1, I’m all for it but you might have to explain to your daughter why she gets left behind. Even with its $100,000 price tag they still didn’t make the ZR1 with a back seat.

62mph has officially launched as of today. We are still working out a few kinks but the main site is now up.

It is 62mph.com. We are doing vidcasts of car reviews in addition to continuing to provide regular blog posts. Check it out, bookmark it (RSS still coming) and feel free to give us your feedback. We would love to hear it.

Thanks from Allen and Austin.

Ok, so it appears that everyone wants to know about the Nissan GT-R. It is by and far the most popular post so far on 62mph, so here is more of what everybody loves. The current Nissan GT-R line-up is going to consist of three(3) different models. And here they are according to Nissan. There will not be any performance difference between the three models. All three will have the VR38DETT 3.8 Liter Twin Turbo engine and 6 speed dual clutch transmission. There will be six available colors. Ultimate Metal Silver, Titanium Gray, Pearl white, Red, Dark Metal Gray, and Super Black. So that makes 5 out of 6 in the monochrome scale, and one color.

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(From Ars Technica)

From its roots as a drab TV show about cars, the BBC’s Top Gear has metamorphosed, with the help of P2P and the Internet, into a global smash hit. With more light entertainment than pure car show, there is still just enough to keep the petrolhead riveted. Fans of the show will know that new cars and celebrities hawking their new books are put to the test on a track laid out on a disused airstrip.

Now Gran Turismo fans will have their own opportunity to drive the Top Gear track and pretend to be The Stig, as Polyphony Digital has announced the inclusion of the track in its forthcoming PS3 game, Gran Turismo 5. In addition to being able to drive the track, GT5 will allow players to download clips from Top Gear with GT TV in what seems to be a mashup between YouTube and PGR3’s Gotham TV feature.

GT5 Prologue, which is alleged to be out soon, will feature GT TV, but we’ll have to wait for the full game before we can drive the course. PD claims that will be at the end of 2008, but given its track record, perhaps 2009 is a safer bet.

Consumer Reports recently released their 2007 Car Reliability Survey and Toyota did not have the same results that it had in the past. Toyota is known widely for its reliability, and like anyone who sets a benchmark, they are open to severe criticism whenever they start to slide even a little bit. Toyota released a statement today essentially saying, “We didn’t do THAT bad.” Honestly, Toyota, third place overall is not that good either, especially for a company known for it’s reliability.

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LOS ANGELES / NEW YORK – Chevrolet fuel cell electric vehicles will be seen on the streets and driveways of Los Angeles, New York City and Washington D.C., beginning today, in the largest market test ever of its kind.

Customers in suburban Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C. will begin driving more than 100 Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell electric vehicles as part of a comprehensive deployment plan dubbed “Project Driveway.” It constitutes the first large-scale market test of fuel cell electric vehicles anywhere.

A variety of drivers – from regular families to celebrities – will have free use of an Equinox Fuel Cell electric vehicle and the hydrogen fuel it needs to make electricity onboard. The average family will get one of the vehicles for three months and be required to report their experience to Chevrolet.

These will be interesting cars in the way that they are using hydrogen to generate the electricity needed to power the vehicle. GM did a similar test where they leased the Saturn EV1, with the actual largest market test of this kind, in the late 90’s. GM is playing this one a little bit different in that they are only allowing families to have the cars for 90 days, so don’t expect to see “Who Killed the Electric Car…Twice” any time soon.

BMW 1 Series:

On sale in the spring of 2008, the 1 Series Coupe will be available in two versions; the 128i and the 135i. Powered by a 3.0-liter, 230 horsepower inline 6-cyinder engine that generates 200 lb-ft of torque, the 128i Coupe will feature Valvetronic valvetrain management and aluminum/magnesium construction—core elements of BMW’s EfficientDynamics. The powerful 135i Coupe features BMW’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine that produces 300 horsepower and an incredible 300 lb-ft of torque from as low as 1,400 rpm. With its direct piezo gasoline injectors, twin low-mass turbochargers and air-to-air intercooling, optimum performance and economy is achieved with no loss in engine response. For the 135i Coupe, acceleration from 0-62 mph is accomplished in 5.3 seconds and top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph. Both engines feature on-demand engine coolant pumps that improve fuel economy and reduce parasitic losses for increased output.

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C-Class Estate-The first of Mercedes “New” Image

In order to reflect the wide variety of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and commercial vehicles, the focus of the new design will be on uniform imagery. In future the various communications activities will not only feature images of automobiles, but also photos of architecture, people and landscapes. Generous compositions with unusual perspectives and specific use of lighting will create excitement and illustrate the personality of the brand. Vitality and dynamism are major components of the visual idiom, as are the inventive use of focal depth and unfocused images. Continue reading →

Audi is launching its TDI initiative on the North American market. As early as next year, Audi will be putting the cleanest diesel engine in the world into production in the USA virtually in parallel to its launch in Europe: the 3.0 TDI with ultra-low emission system will initially be available for the Audi Q7, and later for the new Audi A4 too. Audi has been expanding steadily in the USA for many years now, and sees the market as holding high potential for its cutting-edge TDI engines. The low-sulphur fuel required for the engines’ operation was introduced throughout the country a year ago, paving the way for the initiative to begin.

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