I'm barely three turns into my first lap, and already my brain has automatically activated its auxiliary data logger, the one reserved for "extra-special events." I don't want to forget a nanosecond of this. Partly, it's a result of the venue. For the first time in my career, I'm driving on Germany's 13-mile-long Nurburgring Nordschleife, a.k.a. "The Green Hell," the most fearsome, challenging, and dangerous racetrack in the world. But my highly elevated pulse is also due in large measure to the screaming, whirling vehicle at hand. I don't entirely know what it looks like -- the prototype's bodywork is still masked by tape and cardboard camouflage -- but if these first few blitzkrieg corners are any indication, the all-new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG "Gullwing" is going to disrupt the supercar pantheon when it hits American roads next spring.
We journalists love "firsts," because via benefit of a good "first" or two the copy flows easily, the headlines write big, and in no time our report is posted and we're headed to the bar, job done. Alas, no wood-paneled celebratory saloon for me -- I'm writing this at 37,000 feet -- but as "firsts" go, the new SLS boasts so many I should be finished writing this piece before the next spellbinding serving of warm mixed nuts.
First Drive: 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
First Drive: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport is a temple of Zen
Just like the last time, when we drove the Bugatti Veyron, it began with an e-mail from Bugatti's PR firm: "Give me a call when you have a moment." And then, again, just like the last time, there came the question: "We have a Grand Sport. Can you do something with it?" Let. Me. See.
And that's how we ended up spending a day with the roofless Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport on a reference-resetting trip from Los Angeles to San Diego and back. Although you'll read many words after the jump to describe it, we really only need one word, and we'd draw it out in the same kind of smiling stupor we get when the dentist pumps us full of happy gas: "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh...."
The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport is a violent, taunting, confounding and punctiliously engineered maelstrom. It is a handmade wonder built in a castle, and yet resembles a slightly squashed jelly bean. It has a $30,000 stereo, but it's too much work to actually listen to it. The 16-cylinder, quad-turbocharged engine with 1,001 horsepower and 922 lb-ft of torque is programmed not to let you damage it, but in just one afternoon, the leather-trimmed coachwork on the doors will be a mess of shoe marks. The car's brake rotors are chaperoned by 28 brake pistons, but using them forcefully is like begging someone to plow into the aforementioned engine. The car will cost you €1.6 million (roughly $2.24M USD), for which you get, as a soft top, an umbrella. That's right, an umbrella. Own it and you'll be master of the quickest accelerating production car in the world, and yet you'll probably never remember what that acceleration is like.
First Drive: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport is a temple of Zen
Just like the last time, when we drove the Bugatti Veyron, it began with an e-mail from Bugatti's PR firm: "Give me a call when you have a moment." And then, again, just like the last time, there came the question: "We have a Grand Sport. Can you do something with it?" Let. Me. See.
And that's how we ended up spending a day with the roofless Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport on a reference-resetting trip from Los Angeles to San Diego and back. Although you'll read many words after the jump to describe it, we really only need one word, and we'd draw it out in the same kind of smiling stupor we get when the dentist pumps us full of happy gas: "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh...."
The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport is a violent, taunting, confounding and punctiliously engineered maelstrom. It is a handmade wonder built in a castle, and yet resembles a slightly squashed jelly bean. It has a $30,000 stereo, but it's too much work to actually listen to it. The 16-cylinder, quad-turbocharged engine with 1,001 horsepower and 922 lb-ft of torque is programmed not to let you damage it, but in just one afternoon, the leather-trimmed coachwork on the doors will be a mess of shoe marks. The car's brake rotors are chaperoned by 28 brake pistons, but using them forcefully is like begging someone to plow into the aforementioned engine. The car will cost you €1.6 million (roughly $2.24M USD), for which you get, as a soft top, an umbrella. That's right, an umbrella. Own it and you'll be master of the quickest accelerating production car in the world, and yet you'll probably never remember what that acceleration is like.
BMW X1 Officially Released with HD Video
BMW has released official details of the new BMW X1 SUV (SAV). The smallest X vehicle in the range is 4.45 metres long, has a wheelbase of 2.76 metres, is 1.545 metres high and the lightest model weighs in at 1,615kg (EU). It is designed to have a low-slung rear window to make it look the sporting car that it is, and it features wide wheel arches for an aggressive squat. The signature kidney grille is as bold and muscular as it is on the 7 Series. Standard wheels coming with the range are 17-inch alloys.
Contours and sharp lines are evident all the way to the sides and back, including the "Hofmeister kink" at the C pillar. Further confirming that this is a true BMW design are the L-shaped rear lights clusters with sharp jagged edges.
