Automotive Blogger

Today will be my last post as the full time writer for automotiveblogger.net. I have had a lot of fun writing this blog, have learned a lot and hopefully have entertained and educated a few readers. I want to thank everyone who helped to get this blog off the ground and help it to become a very successful site for 451 Press. I would also like to thank the staff at 451 for giving me the opportunity to write for them, and I wish them great success in the future. Maybe one day down the road I will be able to write a guest blog or two.

Until then…

-Bill Mertz

GT40, racing, Ford, LeMans

I recently discovered that a local consignment car company has in their show room a genuine K.I.T.T. from the Knight Rider television series. I loved Knight Rider as a kid. It was a border line obsession. But what is funny to me now is that I realize David Hasselhoff is a terrible actor and a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am is a pretty terrible car. None the less Knight Rider amazed and entertained me with a talking car that was jam-packed with gadgets it was really hard not to like the show. And now I have my chance to own the genuine artifact of my childhood affection. So what does a black 1982 Pontiac Trans Am in full K.I.T.T. regalia go for? According to Kassabian Motors it should fetch in the neighborhood of $150,000. I have to believe that if it sells for that price it might be the most expensive ‘82 Pontiac ever sold. For that matter it might be the most expensive ‘82 anything ever sold.

Here is Kassabian’s description of the car:

**Own a piece of Television history!**

1982 Pontiac Trans Am
305 V-8 engine
2,393 original miles
This vehicle has been “Title Only” never registered for street operation.
Pontiac Historic Service (PHS) documentation
This is one of the 3 original cars Pontiac donated to Glen Larson to film the Knight Rider TV series.
It is one of only 4 surviving T-top cars from the series.
(1083, 1084, 1087, 1177) None of the 10 series cars have ever been offered for public sale. Cars 1084 & 1087 are on display in museums. One in Keswick, England and the other in Auburn, Indiana. Car #1177 has had all electronics changed by a reproduction company and does not have any of the original equipment from the series.
This car was a Picture or Hero car used in all 4 seasons of the series. In season 1&2 it was car #1083, for season 3&4 it was renumbered #1197 (Both numbers still remain on the car.)
This car has been restored to its original season 1 condition
Original dash with 2 operational TV’s. One connected to a camera in front of the car, the other connected to a DVD player with the audio speakers hidden under the nose.
Original interior fabric (very rare and not available in reproduction.)
Receivers welded to the frame for towing and shooting close up shots
Stunt brake switch operational (installed by stuntman Jack Gill for rear brake lock up.)
Electrical components will work on 12 volt battery or plug in to 110 current
Come take Michael Knight’s place behind the wheel of one of the most famous cars in history!

Unfortunately for me K.I.T.T. is way out of my price range, and I would probably have to sleep in the car every night for the next 20 years to justify its purchase. However, I have no doubt that some dedicated and wealthy Knight Rider fanatic will cough up the necessary dough to drive home in this piece of television history. And they will no doubt be the envy of several other fathers on their street.

-Bill Mertz

Pontiac, Trans Am, Knight Rider, David Hasselhoff, K.I.T.T, 1982, GM, Camaro, TV, television, show

I just read an email from a fellow 24 Hours of LeMons racer that spoke of a local race track, Altamont Raceway, which is under fire to ban drifting amongst other things. The sport of drifting which is hugely popular here in the Bay Area, and all over the country for that matter, is all about controlled slides and getting your car as sideways as possible. It only makes sense to me that drifting be kept off of public streets and on the race tracks where it is regulated and safe.

The excellent automotive blog site, Jalopnik, wrote a great piece on the entire controversy. Here is an excerpt from their article:

Before we launch into the coming rant about how completely and utterly inane this potential decision to uphold a proposed ban on drifting at a race track is, we must state that the few times we ever went to Altamont Speedway in Altamont, California was for the Pumpkin Smash 400. The track was watered and soaped down, pumpkins were strewn onto all four corners, and a collection of the most dented cars ever assembled turned it all into a soupy mess of smash-up mayhem for 400 laps. This race is a wildly popular event.

Let the Kids Drift
Drifter.jpgDrifting is also wildly popular. The key difference is at the drift events we’ve been to there are many more spectators buying coilovers, RC cars, and churros then there are swilling beer and falling over. We politely remind Karin Rivard, the woman in the video complaining about alleged post-race track activities, and who looks as if she may be constipated, that she moved in next to a race track. A motorsports facility. A place where people go to race machines. These people that come to race also occasionally stay overnight in the same RV they used to tow their race cars to the race track. Overnight camping is another activity which Karin, her Hubby, and their Lawyer also want banned.
Link to the article

I have to say I totally agree with the Jalopnik boys on this one. The Altamont track has been around for a long time, and the fact that people can move somewhere and then complain about what was existed before they got there seems crazy to me. The Altamont race track is in the middle of no where with few houses around it. If you are going to have a place for racing loud cars this is it. If you want to live some place quiet there are plenty of places within the same relative area that are out of earshot of this track. Hopefully this ban won’t pass, because if it does, the LeMons might be the next thing to get banned from Altamont.

Short Video Clip From the Local News

-Bill Mertz

drifting, drift, corolla, jalopnik, Altamont, speedway, race track, racing, motorsports

Along time ago I read something about big rig trucks hauling heavy loads across thick frozen over water in the dead of winter. As I recall they could only do it for a narrow window of time, but the advantage was it cut a massive distance off the trip when compared to the routes that had to be used in warmer months, and in some cases there was no overland access during warmer months.

This memory prompted me to do a little bit of research on the subject and I was happy to stumble across a few great websites as well as a very informative article in popular mechanics on the subject of ice roads. As it turns out my recollections weren’t that far off. As William (Diesel Gypsy) Weatherstone describes on his website,

The Northern Territories & Provinces of Canada have a unique winter trucking program that is unparalleled in the world. In the harsh environment of -30 to -70 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, (not counting any wind chill factor) men build highways of ice into the Arctic Tundra.

During a short period of a few months in the winter, when the muskeg and lakes are frozen over, it is possible to build a frozen roadway to transport a year’s supply of equipment, food and the necessities of life, at a more practical, reasonable cost. Anyone with stock shares in these mining ventures, owe the ice men of the north for the extra profits gained.

These brave truckers risk life and limb to deliver their payloads battling severe weather, high risk of mechanical failure, and they even occasionally break through the ice. It is not a job for the faint of heart. Yet each winter the trucks load up and head north across the frozen expanses.

The Popular Mechanics article located here is a really great read on the subject and I highly recommend it if you have any interest in these great Canadian ice roads. Also be sure to check out the Diesel Gypsy website for plenty of good information and some great pictures.

-Bill Mertz

Canada, ice roads, diesel, trucks, frozen, tundra, ice, big rigs, tractor, trailer, hauling, mining, arctic

When I checked my mail box today I was greeted by a new vehicle from Kanter Concepts called the 789. The 789 is named so because it blends key styling cues from the ‘57 Chevy Bel Air and both a ‘58 and ‘59 Chevy Impala. With C6 Corvette underpinnings the 789 is marketed as a unique and retro ride that can perform like a modern super car on the street. Performance isn’t the only thing that is of super car proportions; with a price tag of $135,000 the Kanter 789 ain’t cheap. However if you really want a blend of American nostalgia, with modern performance, and looks that will have overweight men in tank tops and mesh hats drooling then the 789 might be the perfect car for you.

Here is the press release on the 789:
Named for the three years represented in the overall design, the 789 has the
“hooded eyes” and chrome grille bar of a ‘57 Bel Air, a mid-section and
tri-toned interior that is reminiscent of a ‘58 Impala and the “bird in
flight” rear tailfins of a ‘59. These three vehicles are all instantly
recognizable classics celebrated by people around the world.

Remember, “no two alike” refers to interiors also. For sure you’ll never get
into the wrong car at Burger King or the Neiman Marcus parking lot.

Cars like the 789 have me a bit conflicted. While I appreciate the effort of building a unique creation and the skill it took to actually put the thing together the end result is still a C6 Corvette with a new body on top. And while the body work is quite stunning, it still doesn’t seem as cool as an original ‘57, ‘58 or ‘59 Chevrolet. While this is an undeniably cool ride I’ll still take the genuine historic car over the faux nostalgia any day.

-Bill Mertz

Corvette, C6, Chevy, Chevrolet, ‘57, ‘58, ‘59, 789, Kanter, Kanter Concepts, 1957, 1958, 1959, custom, hotrod, cruising

I have to thank a fellow writer, Meg from http://angelinajoliewatch.com, for sending me the link to a story about an amazing Cobra. While this news is slightly old, it is the first I had heard of the car, and I must say it is quite impressive.

When the AC Cobra burst onto the scene in the mid-1960s it was considered a rocket ship. Even by today’s standards the small lightweight V8 powered AC Cobra was an outstanding performer. But going fast is an addiction and it didn’t take long before the Cobra was sporting a new big block motor with even more performance. Shelby even went so far as to build two twin-supercharged Supersnake Cobras that reported 800 horsepower with 0-60 times coming in under 4 seconds. With no practical way to use this much speed and power on public roads you would think that urge to build a faster street legal Cobra would be non-existent, but a German car company specializing in reproduction Cobras decided they wanted to build the king of all Cobras.

12.9 liters

The company is called Weineck Cobra, and the vehicle in question is the spectacularly outrageous and borderline pointless Weineck Cobra 780CUI Limited Edition. What makes this car so ridiculous is its 780 cubic inch V8 that develops a mammoth 1100 horsepower at 7000 rpm. That is like bolting two Corvette Z06 motors together and spotting them 100 horses. Even more impressive is the Earth rotation altering 1300 lb-ft of torque. Weineck has not given an official quote for 0-60 mph times (0-100 km/h) but that is only because they had bigger fish to fry. In testing the Weineck Cobra was able to accelerate from 0-125 mph (0-200 km/h) in only 4.9 seconds and can rush to 185 mph (300 km/h) in 10 seconds flat! I guess those times shouldn’t be too surprising considering the Cobra is only pushing around 2 lbs for every horsepower it develops.

Weineck spokesmen beamed about the car in a way that only a Germans could, “Words cannot describe what will happen if you want to experience the full potential of this ULTIMATE driving machine. There is just no comparison with anything ever built to be used on the road!!!
What happens above 5000rpm is too much for human vocabulary. It’s more like Sol 5 on Starship Enterprise! You feel like being in a time machine with corners approaching so fast that you just won’t believe it. From now on, your brain and body have to work at maximum speed. Otherwise it is better not to enter this world…”

Of course the Weineck Cobra is built to take all the abuse that the 12.9 liter V8 can dish out. Built using top of the line materials the Cobra sports a thick tubular steel frame, reinforced carbon composite body panels and an advanced variable-rate independent suspension utilizing lightweight aluminum and titanium components. Helping to put the power to the ground is a specially built 4 speed gearbox, 75% lockup limited slip differential and massive 315/35 ZR rear tires mounted on 18-inch rims. The Weineck also utilizes a host of safety devices including stability control, traction control and ABS; and while I’m sure these added safety measures help I have a hard time believing that they will nullify the tremendous danger that this lightweight rocket presents on public roads.

Unfortunately for you speed demons and fortunately for you road safety lobbyist Weineck is only producing 15 of these vehicles, a number which will certainly inflate their price. So if you hope to drive one of the worlds fastest road legal machines you can expect to cough up a pretty penny.

-Bill Mertz

AC, Cobra, Shelby, Carroll Shelby, 427, 289, 260, Weineck, 12.9 liter, 780 cubic inch, horsepower, torque, street legal, fast, race car, power to weight

I normally despise computer animated video, especially when it’s trying to duplicate live action racing. But I have to say, this Youtube find is an exception to the rule. This video depicts Ayrton Senna racing all the open wheel cars he’s ever set foot in starting with go karts and ending with a Williams F1 car.

Good sound, imagery and action give this video a somewhat realistic feel. And even though it is quite obvious that this video was a total computer project it doesn’t take away from how cool it is to see all of Senna’s cars out on the track with his signature striped yellow helmet in the cockpit. This video also serves as a history lesson of Senna’s career and an interesting peak into the rise of one of Formula One’s greatest talents.

Enjoy:

-Bill Mertz

F1, Formula One, Ayrton Senna, Senna, racing, motorsports, history, open wheel

Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund

April 16, 2007, will be remembered as one of the darkest days in the history of the Virginia Tech community and the world beyond.

To remember and honor the victims of those tragic events, the university has established the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to aid in the healing process and generate financial support.

The fund will be used to cover expenses including but not limited to:

• Grief counseling
• Memorials
• Communication expenses
• Comfort expenses
• Incidental needs

If you plan to give, please click the link below:

A friend sent me this video of some folks in Eastern Europe (or at least that’s where it appears to be) having a boat load of fun, running their cars off a ramp to get them on two wheels and see who can drive the car on its side for the longest. It really reminded me of folks in my home town of Oakland doing things like “ghost riding” and spinning donuts for entertainment.

But the highlight of the clip is a little Messerschmitt KR200 micro car, built by the same company that made German airplanes in WWII. The three-wheeled car dodges the ramp, jerks the wheel and pops up onto two wheels with ease running the entire length of the course with one front wheel up in the air. You really have to see it to appreciate it, so here it is:

-Bill Mertz

Eastern Europe, Europe, Czech, Messerschmitt, micro car, ramp, stunt, two wheels, side show, donuts, ghost ride

The name Porsche has become synonymous with rear-engine sports cars thanks in large part to the legendary 911. However, Porsche is no stranger to the front-engine rear-drive layout. Although often thought of as the ugly step-children of the Porsche family cars like the 924, 944 and 928 have shown that Porsche is not only capable of making cars with this layout, but they do it quite effectively from both a performance and styling standpoint. Well it appears as if Porsche will venture down that road once again with a new front-engine rear-drive sedan (a Porsche first) called the Panamera.

While rumors have been floating around about the Panamera for sometime, new details have been revealed that make the 2010 US release of the Panamera seem like a done deal. A recent article in Autoweek sported computer-generated photos that show in great detail the new shape of the Porsche sedan. Part 911 and part 928 the Panamera isn’t your typical sports sedan, however it isn’t unattractive either. As a matter of fact, at first glance its swoopy body lines trick the eye into thinking it is just another beautiful two door grand touring car. But upon closer inspection four distinct doors pop into view. According to Autoweek Porsche might also bring out a 928-like coupe version of the Panamera that will sport only two doors and help to fill out the fleet.

Porsche 928
Under the hood of this concept is a 4.8 liter naturally aspirated–and turbocharged in the S package–V8 (another link to the 928) that should provide somewhere between 400 and 520 horsepower. With a top speed approaching 180 mph and 0-60 times in the sub five second range this 16 foot sedan should have plenty of get up and go, even with four adults in the car. While nothing is set in stone, word is that Porsche may also develop a base model utilizing a reworked VW sourced V6 as well as an environmentally conscious hybrid version of the Panamera sedan, with the possibility of the V6 playing an integral role in the hybrid version. Whatever the drive train configurations end up being, odds are the Panamera will share most of its components with the Porsche Cayenne.

While many people blasted Porsche when they built the Cayenne, I can’t say that I blame them for it, and same goes for the Panamera. It is idealistic to think that a car company can strictly build sports cars and make a profit. The fact is that the Cayenne sells well for them and probably foots a lot of the development cost for the cool 911s that Porsche is constantly releasing. I’m also a fan of cars like the 928 and 944 and for that reason I really like the looks of the new Panamera sedan, and hope that Porsche succeeds in bringing it to production. Another competitor in the German sport sedan arena certainly won’t hurt anything, and in fact will
probably help to keep the sedans moving in the right direction.

Check out the Autoweek story here:

Panamera
-Bill Mertz

Autoweek, Porsche, 911, 944, 928, 924, sportscar, sports car, hybrid, sedan, four door

Until recently, diesel vehicles have relied on platinum in their diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) that are required to meet the stringent emission regulations for the 14 million light-duty and 2 million heavy-duty diesel vehicles produced annually worldwide. Platinum, however is not cheap, and has driven the cost of DOCs up significantly.

In the past couple of years Nanostellar, a company who produces catalyst materials, introduced the use of palladium to partially replace the four-times more expensive platinum. But further research and development on their part has brought to the table a new material that will further increase the affect of the catalyst while reducing its cost; gold. The advantages of gold are simple. At current market value it is about 1/2 the price of platinum. But what’s even better is the NS gold catalyst can reduce noxious emissions by up to 40% more than standard pure-platinum catalysts in use today.

Pankaj Dhingra, CEO of Nanostellar was pleased with their new discovery, “Not only does NS Gold(TM) break performance barriers imposed by mixed platinum and palladium catalysts, but also its performance can be more easily tuned to the characteristics of a variety of diesel engines”. He added, “we are excited to offer NS Gold(TM) to improve the cost equation for the diesel industry. Gold is not new to catalyst scientists, but this is the first time it has been successfully adapted for use in automotive diesel oxidation catalysts.”

While not as exciting as a new source of increased horsepower or handling, it is always nice to see new breakthroughs and innovations on the emissions side of the automotive industry. With Hydrocarbon restrictions getting stricter by the year, this new catalyst came at the perfect time. Personally, after learning of all the precious metals in diesel catalyst, I was thinking about quitting my job writing and opening up a new business that combines salvaging trucks with making gold and platinum grills for the hip hop set. Bill’s big rig grills.

-Bill Mertz

catalyst, emissions, diesel, grill, gold, platinum, palladium, hydrocarbons

Ever since driving my first VW Microbus a few weeks back I’ve been on the air cooled Volkswagen tip. A friend of mine found a cool Belgian website for early VW enthusiasts that is pretty remarkable. While I don’t understand the language, a picture is worth 1000 translated words, and they have some great photos from events and the like of their European bread Vee Dubs.

What I really appreciate about these Euro VW enthusiasts is their sense of style when it comes to the cars. They aren’t all about chrome and shiny things like so many hot rodders and import rodders here in the US are. Rust and tarnish are perfectly acceptable even encouraged it seems, many vehicles are modified but originality also has its place amongst this crowd, and probably the biggest common theme is there’s no such thing as too low. A huge mass of these air cooled Volkswagen enthusiast gathered in Ninove, Belgium this month and the pictures are quite amazing.

Click on the pics to see additional galleries.

-Bill Mertz

slammed, lowrider, low rider, lowered, VW, Volkswagen, air cooled, dub, chrome, rust, hotrod, hot rod, modified, original

Some times life is pretty weird. Two days ago I was driving around in a beat up VW Microbus with a guy from Germany. The very next day I was cruising with four of my friends in a top of the line Lexus LS460L sipping on Dom Perignon and eating only the finest cheese. Well we didn’t have any Champaign or cheese, but the long wheel base LS460L certainly had me thinking that I should borrow some Grey Poupon.

When I first saw the black Lexus press car parked outside of messy roommate packed house, the contrast was startling. I had spent most of the day doing interior house painting, for lunch I ate a cheap burrito from a local roach coach, and when I got home there was something in the refrigerator that was growing hair. Yet somehow when I stepped inside the LS460 all the days events vanished into thin air. The car’s supple leather seats were soft and welcoming, the wood accented interior was stylish yet sedate, and overall appearance of the big black sedan makes all its occupants feel like they are VIPs, even if they aren’t.

The back seat

After filling the Lexus with five people, an easy task that left all occupants extremely comfortable, we headed out to the local bar to show off the new ride. Out on the road the Lexus was effortless to drive. With decent power from the 4.6 liter V8, a super coosh suspension which we appropriately left on the softest setting, “comf” and feather light electronically controlled steering it almost felt as if the car could drive itself. Speaking of driving itself, the LS 460 is famous for being able to parallel park itself, a feature which was not included on the press car despite numerous chants of “Ghost Park the Whip” from the folks in the back seat.

When I first wrote about the LS 460 I describe it as a tech nerd’s dream. And while it does have a ton of gadgets, including a backup camera, all the features proved simple to use even without an owners manual. But for me the most impressive feat was adjusting the driver’s seat to my normal driving position, then climbing into the back seat and stretching out my 6′3″ frame directly behind the driver’s seat. As one of my friends said, “it’s like they designed this thing for NBA players”.

A truly wonderful car I give the LS460L high marks. I doubt I’ll ever be able to afford one, but I was happy enough to spend the night pretending to be rich and famous.

Champaign wishes and caviar dreams!

-Bill Mertz

Lexus, LS460, LS460L, luxury, Mercedes, BMW, 5 series, rich and famous, ghost ride

The creator of the 24 Hours of Lemons recently purchased a VW Microbus for $800 dollars. The bus, a ‘73 I believe, is part of an ingenious penalty devised by the creator to make life miserable on the track for drivers who aren’t obeying the track rules. I could say more but I don’t want to ruin the surprise. However, the race is still months away and in the mean time the bus is just sitting out in front of a seedy looking warehouse.

Having never driven a VW Microbus I had to jump at the chance to take this thing for a spin. After all, despite its horrible-bordering-on-dangerous tires, the bus was registered and reportedly ran fine. To make things even more interesting I had just participated in a photo shoot for my editor’s neighbor who is a professional photographer. At the shoot I met young guy from Germany who was interning over here in the States. He also had a strong interest in type 2 Microbuses. Some times things fall into place in an astonishing way. After the photo Sebastian, my new German friend, and I grabbed the keys to the Microbus, fired it up and headed onto the dangerous public streets.

I think it is safe to say the VW bus is the slowest licensed vehicle I have ever driven. Combine that with vague shift linkage and I quickly figured out that I needed to let any car behind me pass. Shifting this thing was like rolling dice, about 25% of the time you hit the gear you wanted, the rest of the time it wouldn’t engage, you got the wrong gear or you heard a terrible grinding noise. Even if you did manage to steadily up shift through the first 3 gears, 30 mph hour was about all it wanted to do, unable to push to 35 MPH as if it were the speed of sound.

Performance aside, and it should be well aside because this is a VW Microbus, the bus is a total hoot. The steering wheel is nearly horizontal to the ground giving it a genuine bus like feel, and the driver sits so far forward that the when you turn it gives you the impression that you are hanging off the bow a ship. This particular bus was well used, with no upholstery and a giant rust hole on the driver’s side floor, but the Spartan German interior still had a bit of charm left.

The actual $800 Microbus

The best part of the whole trip was when I turned the controls over to Sebastian and let him drive. The 21 year old German was so ecstatic to drive this piece of junk that he didn’t stop smiling even when we sat for an entire traffic light cycle trying to get the bus into first gear. He told me that busses were fetching a high price in Germany and how he was thinking about trying to bring one back from the US. We must have made quite a site driving around the streets of the east bay, two tall, skinny, blonde guys in a Microbus. The fact that I have a lot of German ancestry, and the fact that I got to share my first Microbus drive with a genuine German Microbus enthusiast made the whole event a really cool affair. I have to admit, as terrible and slow as the Microbus performs, it really is a cool little bus.

-Bill Mertz

VW, Volkswagen, Microbus, air cooled, type II, type 2, bus, slow, Germany, German

Renault R5 Turbo

If you are a fan of the World Rally Championship (WRC) today, than you have undoubtedly heard of the notorious Group B class rally cars from the early 1980s. First introduced in 1982 Group B was a direct replacement for Group 4 and Group 5 modified grand touring and touring prototype cars. What made the group B class so special was the relatively open nature of the rules. Low homologation numbers (200 cars), low minimum weight, and the unlimited use of forced induction meant the group B cars were destined to be rockets, with some cars putting out over 600 horsepower in the final development of the series. As the series progressed this uncapped performance would show its downside in the form of serious wrecks several of which proved to be fatal. With both spectators and drivers getting killed Group B was unable to sustain itself, coming to an end in 1986.

Metro 6R4

One of the neatest aspects of Group B was how many manufacturers jumped into the fray to compete. Leading the way was Audi’s all wheel drive Sport Quattro S1; a vehicle which despite its all wheel drive traction advantage would quickly prove too heavy to dominate the sport. Lancia competed with both the cool looking and successful 037 Rally and the Delta S4. Peugot burst onto the scene with the all wheel drive 205 T16 which had plenty of traction without the weight of the Audi’s giving the car the competitive edge. Other notable cars include Ford’s RS200, the Austin (MG) Metro 6R4, the Renault 5 Turbo, and the Porsche 959. There were also several Japanese manufacturers who entered cars and although they enjoyed only moderate success overall, their race cars were damn cool: Mitsubishi ran an all wheel drive Starion, Nissan campaigned the 240RS, Mazda developed a 4×4 version of the RX-7 and Toyota competed in a modified all wheel drive Celica.

Now that you know a bit of the history, here is a great video with narration that can explain it further. But the best part of course is the on course action and the thrilling sounds of these Group B monsters.

If you want to read up on Group B some more check out this link: Group B

-Bill Mertz

WRC, World Rally, Group B, racing, motorsport, rally, Lancia, Renault, Audi, Metro, Peugot, RS200, Ford, Toyota, turbo, forced induction