Ever heard of Tushek & Spiegel? We are guessing you most likely haven't heard of this Slovenian based supercar company but they have hopes to make a slick and ridiculously fast supercar called the Tushek TS 600.
Supercar guys live and die by numbers, so what are they? The company is expecting the Tushek TS 600 to weigh a mere 2,470 pounds, which is extremely light even for a supercar. The car is expected to be equipped with 695 horsepower which makes the power to weight ratio 1 horsepower for each 3.55 pounds of weight. The engine is speculated to be an Audi tuned 4.2-liter V-8. According to our math, which is never very good, the car should go from 0-60 mph in about 3 seconds.
How did these Tusek TS 600 engineers keep weight down so much? The engineers were obsessed with weight reduction like a Los Angeles celebrity trainer cutting the fat from movie stars. For the chassis the used a combination of carbon and titanium which makes it incredibly lightweight yet strong. Also they wheels are fitted with carbon-ceramic brakes. This gives this supercar a low center of gravity and low unsprung mass. So we assume handling will be pretty sweet on the TS 600.
Tushek & Spigel plan to start production of the Tushek TS 600 sometimes this year. How many will they make. They are limiting production to just 60 cars which includes two models, ‘Strada' the road model and the track-only ‘Pista’ which add an additional 50 horsepower. The company wants to reach production capacity of 300 per year within the next 10 years.
This is not the first supercar to some out of Slovenia. There was also the Tushek Renovatio T500 which was the company's first foray into the supercar market. It seems they've benefiteed from the development of the Renovatio T500 and learned a lot about how to make an ever better super car with the Tushek TS 600. At least we can only hope.
The McLaren P1 has just achieved supercar halo, a sub 7 minute time on the famed Nurburgring racetrack in Germany. The McLaren P1 averaged speeds over 111 mph to record such a time around the 13 mile circuit. In addition the supercar tackled more than 150 corners, 300 meters of elevation changes and cornering forces of up to 2g. Checkout the video of the McLaren P1 breaking the speed record with McLaren Formula 1 driver, and 2009 F1 World Champion, Jenson Button.
‘The fact that the McLaren P1™ has posted a sub-seven-minute lap at the Nürburgring is unbelievably impressive…. but, as I say, for it to have recorded a sub-seven minute lap time around the Nürburgring is the icing on the cake: proof positive, backed by hard data, on the greatest racetrack of them all, that McLaren has created a genuine game-changer.” commented Jenson Button on the achievement.
The new Acura NSX is going to be revving it's engines, virtually that is. The Acura NSX is going to be featured in the new Gran Turismo 6 video game which releases worldwide today. Gran Turismo known as the ‘real driving simulator' will allow players to experience the Acura NSX concept firsthand on the PlayStation 3.
“The wait is over for NSX fans eager to get behind the wheel of the next Acura supercar, and they can rest assured the actual production car will be even more amazing than the in-game concept version.” said Mike Accavitti, senior vice president of Auto Operations at American Honda Motor, which own Acura.
The new Acura NSX is the next-generation supercar featuring dynamic capabilities with advanced environmental performance. The supercar will be powered by a mid-mounted, direct-injected and twin-turbocharged V-6 engine mated to Acura's Sport Hybrid SH-AWD® (Super Handling All-Wheel Drive) system.
Acura's Sport Hybrid SH-AWD is an all-new, three-motor high-performance hybrid system that combines torque vectoring all-wheel drive with advanced hybrid efficiency through the use of three electric motors – one motor integrated with the V-6 engine and its all-new dual-clutch transmission (DCT) driving the rear wheels, and two high-output electric motors driving the front wheels. The system enables instant delivery of negative or positive torque during cornering to achieve a new level of driving performance unparalleled by current AWD systems. Acura defines this unique customer benefit of it's luxury performance vehicles as “the synergy between man and machine.”
Global development of the Acura NSX is being led by engineers at Honda R&D Americas, Inc., in Raymond, Ohio. The next-generation Acura sports car will be produced using domestic and globally sourced parts at the state-of-the-art Performance Manufacturing Center, now under construction in Marysville, Ohio. The all-new NSX is expected to go on sale in 2015.
Do you love the Nissan GT-R? Ever wished you could own one? Then you are in luck because eBay, the world's largest auction website, is giving away a 2013 Nissan GT-R in their Fantasy Car Sweepstakes.
eBay is trying to promote their new social platform, eBay Garage, as a tie-in with this sweepstakes. The idea is to connect gearhead and auto enthusiasts all while you can buy stuff on eBay. Pretty smart if you ask me and giving away a Nissan GT-R is a good way to get thing going if you ask me.
To enter the contest it is not surprising that you need to open up an account on eBay Garage. I guess that is a small price to pay for a sweet supercar like the 2013 Nissan GT-R. Considering the the blog post about the contest generated 268 comments as of this writing it seems I am now the only one that wants a Nissan GT-R and will bend to eBay's criteria for the Fantasy Car Sweepstakes.
The Nissan GT-R features 545-horsepower engine and can go from 0-60 in around 3.2 seconds. As well the engine is turbocharged V6 with All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) which makes it a really good on twisty roads. The chief engineer's said it was designed to be driven by “Anyone, anytime, anywhere.” Sounds good to me!
Best part of winning a Nissan GT-R? Well it would be somewhat possible for an average Joe (or Jane) to pay the taxes on it. Since the Nissan GT-R is about $100,000 the taxes would be about $33,000. Probably more since the Nissan GT-R starts at $100k. Hopefully whoever wins it will have some money saved away and can pay the insurance on that a beautiful supercar.
The eBay Nissan GT-R Fantasy Car Sweepstakes runs from June 6th-July 4th. eBay will also be giving away $50 gift cards to to a lucky person each day the contest is open. That is a nice prize but I am pretty sure everyone is going to want to win the 2013 Nissan GT-R. The winner will be announced on July 22nd. Of course it is going to be me and not you! 🙂
Attention all you high performance enthusiasts and exotic car aficionados, here’s a chance to evaluate the new 2012 McLaren MP4-12C Spider. This is particularly exciting given the number of these cars in the United States. By the time you're done with this, you'll be calling transport companies for bids on importing one of these.
Unveiling the New Model
Just over a year ago Ron Dennis of McLaren replaced the F1 with the newly designed MP4-12C. Sales had increased to over 1,000 units worldwide. Now Dennis has included a hardtop convertible dubbed the “Spider.”
Jeremey Clarkson of Top Gear was on hand in Geneva for the unveiling. Immediately it becomes evident that this car is the ultimate in eye candy. The aesthetics are such that it generates an “I have to have that” response right out of the box.
The car appears to sit low, but the 20-inch wheels fit perfectly high in the body giving the car ample ground clearance. It has huge intake vents just forward of the rear wheels which are functional because the engine uses two radiators — one on each side of the car.
A retractable spoiler adorns the rear hatch and forward of that is a killer-looking glass engine cover exposing the engine and turbo runners. It looks amazing with the Lambo doors open. And those are just a few of the high points — wait until you see the interior.
Going Inside
The interior is space-aged with a custom dash and console unlike any other car. A horseshoe-shaped panel runs vertically from the console up and around the steering wheel and down the door panel narrowing as it drops down. This contains the air vents on both sides at the top and all the switches as it continues down. Right away you will notice something missing — the gearshift. The MP4-12C has a 7-speed transmission with paddle shifters only. The color combinations accentuate the interior perfectly and the quality of the seats and panels are top notch.
What It Can Do
Now things are getting really interesting. The part that makes this dog hunt is a mid-engine 3.8-liter V8 with double overhead cams, port fuel injection and twin turbochargers. It produces an amazing 592 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and 443 pounds feet of torque. This was confirmed with a dyno test done by Straight Line.
Considering the size of the engine, it is quite an achievement. Anyone who builds racecars knows that all conventional engines have a fixed camshaft. The camshaft must be installed for either low-end torque or high rpm power. It requires a tradeoff. McLaren uses variable camshaft timing, however, to avoid trading anything. The camshafts run at low rpm to build torque. As the engine revs, a mechanism advances the camshaft to increase air and fuel flow.
The engine is also has a dry sump type oiling system. The oil is not contained in an oil pan but in an external oil tank. This allows the engine to sit lower in the cradle, effectively lowering the center of gravity. The MP4-12C goes from 0 to 60 in 3.1 seconds and back to 0 in a mere 100 feet. Top speed on the Spider is 204 mph, 3 mph slower than the hard top due to the weight. And good thing too – you can't get them everywhere, so if you're not going to use car transport companies, speeds like that will make your drive across the United States a lot more efficient.
Watch Top Gear's Jeremey Clarkson’s amazing video as he pits the McLaren MP4-12C against the Ferrari 458 in a road course. As you can see in the Top Gear segment the McLaren out-handles the Ferrari 458 in the tight course due to its computer-controlled stabilization.
If you purchase a McLaren be sure to use car transport companies that specialize in hauling exotic cars. The McLaren MP4-12C is a car that competes well with the highest profile exotic cars today, and is readily recognizable as the exotic that it is.
