Tags: AMG / Driven By Dan Scanlan / IWC Schaffhausen / Mercedes-Benz / S65 AMG / Twin-Turbos

’15 M-B S65 AMG: KING OF THE ROAD!

- Minggu, 19 Juli 2015 No Comments

Dan Scanlan finds the S65 AMG to be an amazing car – half ultimate flagship and the other half muscle car king. And both halves behave beautifully.

Doing a smoky burnout in a luxury flagship that can cocoon its passengers in massaging heated or cooled seats with a sound system that rivals most homes, seemed sacrilegious. Yet a tap of the right alloy pedal and our ‘15 S65 AMG spun its rear rubber and did a classic muscle car doughnut, then launched to 60-mph only 7/10ths-of-a-second slower than a Corvette Z06!



So what do we make of this flagship, with more power than even the uber-luxurious M-B S600 Maybach? To find out, we fire up the twin-turbo V-12, burn some asphalt, then pull over and sip sodas from the champagne cooler as we watch a DVD from the reclining back seat with foot rest and a cooling breeze on our S.

You can’t see much under the bonnet, just a carbon fiber shield that hides the 6-liter twin turbocharged V-12. This locomotive puts out 621 horsepower and a formidable 738 pound-feet torque at full thrust. Engine builder Steffen Hahn (signature on the engine build plate) must be proud of this one.

 


The AMG Speedshift Plus 7-Speed dual-clutch transmission has three modes - Controlled Efficiency (C), Sport (S) and Manual (M). The last two shorten shift times and tighten throttle reaction and steering feel, while C backs off on those and engages a start/stop engine function at stop lights to save fuel. 


This chauffeur had fun putting pedal to metal. The S65 immediately hooked up, its 4,969 pounds hitting 60-mph in 4 seconds and 100 mph in 10 seconds, sometimes with subtle wheelspin. No turbo lag – passing was immediate. The exhaust gave a mellow bellow as we sped forward. Yet the car was very quiet at speed. The dual-clutch quickly shifted with muffled “whoomps” from the exhaust at each shift. Even set in C, our 7,000-mile-old Benz never saw more than 17 mpg and had to fill up twice on premium in our week-long test. 




The S65 is big, but tries to be as light as possible with an aluminum hybrid bodyshell which lives on a four-link front axle and multilink independent rear suspension. The Magic Body Control and active damping immediately softens or firms up the air suspension to absorb bumps. A stereo camera reads the bumps ahead, then body control adjusts the suspension in advance to smooth out the disruption.

With "Comfort" mode, the ride was soft yet controlled, still firm enough to mask the car’s size. “Sport” made the car more eager to play in a curve, yet still supple, ironing out bumps with taut suspension control. The car also had a cornering assist system that provides torque vectoring on the inside rear wheel to make the rear end behave better and minimize understeer in a high-speed corner.




This 16.5-foot-long sedan can handle. It wafted around curves with minimal body roll and almost no understeer as its electromechanical AMG speed-sensitive sports steering offered great feel and a stiffer precision in “Sport,” and just enough feedback in “Comfort.” Push hard and adaptive seat bolsters held me in. The car felt neutral in our skid pad, just a hint of understeer if pushed that was controlled by ESP. Power into a corner and the rears slipped a touch, then ESP held them in.



Cornering assist also gave the inside rear just enough to rotate the car more precisely into the turn. Looking over my skidpad shots, the car has almost no body roll as it carves the curves. Turn off ESP and we could get the tail out in the skidpad, leaving some serious rubber in a smoking powerslide. Those 15.4-inch front/14.2-inch rear vented and cross-drilled disc brakes with AMG calipers had precise feel and solid bite, bringing the car down from huge velocities time and time again with no fade and minimal nose dive. 




For safety, a PRE-SAFE system detects pedestrians and starts braking. A lane-keeping system vibrates the steering wheel if you drift across a lane, then nudges the car back. The cruise control maintains speed and distance. And while these are just a step away from driving hands and feet-free, the car will flash a warning if it thinks you are letting it do the driving!

Our Magnetite Black test car looked stealthy and gray, but got a lot of attention as people stopped and stared at the things that make an AMG stand out. The flagship’s 2013 redesign saw its radiator grille wrought larger and more upright, the three twin-bladed chrome bars the AMG touch. Sweeping dual LED strips accent the all-LED headlights - almost 500 LEDs handle interior and exterior lighting. 




To change a S550 into an S65AMG, the nose gets a deep chrome mesh center intake under that main grille with alloy lower air dam, flanked by chrome-edged side intakes. The high trunk has a subtle spoiler crafted in over an AMG-specific lower alloy bar with twin exhaust tips. A “V12 biturbo” badge on the front fenders catches attention. The chrome lower sill accent visually lowers the car. Within the gentle flared fenders lie slim AMG brushed alloy 5-spokes and shod with P255/40ZR20-inch front/P285/35ZR20-inch rear Continental rubber.

Many who looked inside our S65 AMG said it was like a luxurious home - one said it was roomer than their home!
 The dashboard face is done in a diamond-patterned perforated brown leather with intricate dual stitching. Deep weave carbon fiber sweeps through the centerline, with a Swiss-made IWC Schaffhausen clock with carbon-fiber face.




Floating between the leather are two 12.3-inch wide high-resolution color displays. The left is a virtual 220-mph speedometer with a percentage fuel left display – I’d rather have a gauge. The right side is an 8,000-rpm tach with engine temperature. In between, almost any infotainment or comfort functions you want on the trip computer screen. You can tap on Night View Assist PLUS and get an infrared view of people in front of you on a dark road. A head-up display projects vehicle speed, navigation and cruise control distance, gear selection and an upshift bar in manual shift mode.


 The right display is the “everything else” screen. Display a- huge satellite navigation screen or owner’s manual. You can show front seat heat/ventilation/massage and side bolster support features, or CDs with cover art plus all radio and media, telephone functions. The climate control has "active perfuming,” its scent bottle clipping into an illuminated slot in the glove compartment. Seven colors can be called up on accent lighting on the door-mounted tweeters, dashboard screens, center console and doors.




All of the above are activated via the center console’s COMAND touch-sensitive top and its twist/nudge/tap alloy rotary pushbutton, surrounded by buttons for seat, radio, media, navigation, phone and car settings. The top is a touchpad that lets you use smartphone-like squeeze, tap and slide moves to handle menus. It sometimes didn’t work. We would use voice command, navigation entries spoken in one shot - easy.


The front seats had stitched and embossed Nappa leather with superb comfort and support. Embossed atop the center armrest is the ornate AMG seal honoring its headquarters town of Affalterbach. Under a center gloss black panel was a six-disc CD changer and twin cup holders under a rubberized floor that blocked the CD slot when used. That CD and the AM-FM-SiriusXM-MP3 and Bluetooth audio is heard through a Burmester High-End 3D-Surround Sound system with 24 speakers all over, even on the headliner, done in artfully perforated aluminum. The door-mounted tweeters twirled out as the car fired up with a snarling burp from its exhaust. Take it from me – full volume ROCKS your world without distortion.




Long rear doors open wide onto a veritable palace – twin reclining seats separated by a wide console with compartments for twin folding alloy tables. Another panel hides cooled or heated cup holders, with climate controls nearby. Between the seats is the three-bottle wine cooler with a CD/DVD player. Front and rear seats each have three memory presets. Like the front seats, the rears have side bolsters that inflate in turns to hold you in. Twin screens offer videos, seat control graphics, even the navigation route, all controlled via door-mounted buttons or a very comprehensive remote. 


The seat behind the driver gets a 37-degree recline and heat, ventilation and massage. But the best seat is behind the front passenger - a full 43.5-degree recliner with extending leg support. It’s truly comfortable, with soft suede pillows on the head restraint. As for the trunk, waving a foot under the rear bumper activated the power opener. But don’t look for a lot of room since the wine cooler and a big subwoofer take up luggage space.



The base S550 starts at $94,400, then our top-line S65 starts at $222,000. Options - $3,700 carbon fiber and piano black interior trim; $1,100 refrigerator; $1,950 executive rear package w/power rear seats, folding tables and heated/cooled cup holders; and a $1,700 gas guzzler tax. With delivery, $231,375.



Words & Photos: Dan Scanlan.



For more information about the latest luxury-performance vehicles from Mercedes-Benz, please visit  http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/index

Tags: Acura NSX / hybrids / Pikes Peak / Sage Marie / Twin-Turbos

PIKES PEAK: PACE CAR TO THE CLOUDS!

- Kamis, 25 Juni 2015 No Comments

Acura’s next-gen NSX Twin-Turbo Hybrid Supercar paces the field for the 93rd Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

All new Acura NSX supercar will serve as the official pace car in the 93rd running of the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 28. With a custom racing-inspired livery, the twin-turbo NSX will lead 140 entrants to the top of the 14,110-foot mountain.



“The Acura NSX is the ultimate performance vehicle, and a novel way to promote its capabilities is the iconic race up Pikes Peak,” said Mike Accavitti, senior vice president and general manager of the Acura Division. “As the pace car, the beast that is NSX has yet to be fully let out of its cage, but fans and drivers will get a first glimpse of the unique character, performance and handling it will deliver in this one-of-a-kind racing environment.”

Powering the NSX through the 12.4-mile, 156-turn course is a bespoke 75-degree twin-turbo V6 engine mated to a nine-speed dual-clutch transmission. The three-motor Sport Hybrid Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system, delivers “on the rails” cornering capability essential to conquering the demanding mountain course.



The pace car was specially prepared for the race by Honda R&D Americas, Inc., which is also leading the global development of the NSX. The supercar will be driven by Sage Marie, senior manager of American Honda Public Relations, and a two-time Pikes Peak competitor and road racer. Marie won the first Pirelli World Challenge B-Spec race in 2012 and has raced in several other major motorsports events, including the 2013 and 2014 Pikes Peak Hill Climb. 

In a Pikes Peak first, Acura will install 24 cameras along the course to capture the NSX’s historic run as the official pace car with a 360-degree series of images of supercar. Fans can head to Acura’s social media channels – https://instagram.com/acura/?hl=en  https://twitter.com/acura  https://www.facebook.com/Acura  https://plus.google.com/+acura/posts  https://www.youtube.com/user/Acura  – where the images will be transformed into to an exclusive video, after the NSX heads to the top of the mountain at 7:40 a.m. MDT. Additionally, the run will be covered live on Acura social media channels. 



For those able to attend Pikes Peak in person, the NSX will be available for viewing at a number of pre-race activities including the event’s media day and VIP reception in Colorado Springs on Thursday, June 25, and at the popular Fan Fest in downtown Colorado Springs, 5–10 p.m. MDT on Friday, June 26. The NSX is one of four Acura models making the Pikes Peak run, which also includes the Acura ILX and TLX sports sedans and a previous generation NSX.



For more information on Acura vehicles, please visit  http://www.acura.com/

Tags: Bentley / Continental GT Speed. Sir malcolm Campbell / Flying Mile / Idris Elba / Land Speed Record / No Limits / Pendine Sands / Twin-Turbos / W12 engine

IDRIS ELBA: BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT SPEED SETS RECORD!

- Kamis, 07 Mei 2015 No Comments

Award-winning actor breaks Sir Malcolm Campbell’s 88-year old record, runs 180.361 mph on Pendine Sands, Wales.

Idris Elba, star of Luther and The Wire, piloted a Bentley to break the historic ‘Flying Mile’ UK land speed record – 174.8 mph - set by Sir Malcolm Campbell in 1927. Hitting more than 180 mph in a new Bentley Continental GT Speed, Elba broke Campbell’s record set nearly 90 years ago in his legendary Napier-Campbell Blue Bird. The record was independently verified by the UK Timing Association.

Elba, who famously played Nelson Mandela in the multi-award winning Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, said: “I'm absolutely elated to have broken the 'Flying Mile' at Pendine Sands. It’s an honour to have taken on the challenge, and to successfully follow in the footsteps of the illustrious Sir Malcolm Campbell.”

Despite some challenging tidal conditions on the beach in south Wales, the record was broken in the Crewe-built Continental during filming for an upcoming four-part Discovery Channel series, Idris Elba: No Limits, which will air in July.



Powered by Bentley’s iconic Six-litre twin-turbo W12 engine, the GT Speed develops 626 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 605 pound/feet torque at 1,700 rpm. Coupled with a new ZF eight-speed close-ratio automatic transmission and state-of-the-art engine management, the GT Speed can sprint from zero-to-sixty in 4.0 seconds with a top speed of 206 mph.

In the Bentley Speed tradition, outstanding performance is matched by an enhanced chassis with up-rated springs, anti-roll bars and bushings, a lowered ride height together with re-tuning of the electronically controlled damping and steering systems.



For more information on the Continental GT Speed and the latest model lineup, please visit http://www.bentleymotors.com/en/models/continental/continental-gt-speed.html

Tags: AMG / Biturbo / Mercedes-AMG GT / Mercedes-Benz / Twin-Turbos

MERCEDES-AMG-GT: A RACE CAR FOR THE STREET!

- Selasa, 09 September 2014 No Comments

Mercedes-AMG GT boasts racetrack performance combined with superb everyday practicality. Is this the ultimate GT?

The first Mercedes was a racing car and its most recent successor carries this heritage forward. With the new GT, the Mercedes-AMG sports car brand is moving into a new sports car segment. The GT is the second sports car developed entirely in-house by Mercedes-AMG. It’s a front mid-engine design with a rear transaxle and use of lightweight intelligent aluminum construction, forming the basis for a highly dynamic driving experience.

Power comes from a newly developed AMG 4.0-liter V8 biturbo engine, underscoring the hallmark of AMG driving performance. The first sports car engine from AMG with internally mounted turbochargers and dry sump lubrication, it is available in two power ratings: as a GT with 456 horsepower and as a GT S with 503 horsepower. The new GT combines driving dynamics and first-class racetrack performance with superb everyday practicality and efficiency that sets new standards in the segment.

It has everything you would expect from an authentic Mercedes-AMG sports car – from characteristic styling and thoroughbred motorsport technology to optimum weight distribution. The drive system is tailored to consistently deliver driving dynamics. The centerpiece of the Mercedes-AMG GT is the new 4.0-liter V8 biturbo, which responds instantly with extreme power at low revs and delivers outstanding overall performance. Preliminary tests show sprints to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 193 mph, with outstanding driving dynamics and extremely fast laps on the racetrack.

At the same time, this two-seater is a comfortable and reliable for everyday motoring thanks to its easily accessible luggage compartment and high level of interior comfort. It also features an extensive list of Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Drive assistance systems, which ensure the high level of safety, expected from Mercedes-AMG.

"With the new GT we are positioning Mercedes-AMG even more aggressively than to date as a dynamic sports car brand", says Tobias Moers, CEO of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. "With its technological substance, the Mercedes-AMG GT fulfills our high aspirations with regard to driving dynamics, agility and sportiness. The new GT is the second sports car developed fully independently by Mercedes-AMG. The car is manufactured according to the motto 'Handcrafted By Racers' – which perfectly encapsulates our heritage and our spirit."



For the full story on the new AMG-GT, please visit http://www5.mercedes-benz.com/en/vehicles/passenger-cars/the-new-mercedes-amg-gt-handcrafted-by-racers/

Tags: Can-Am Racing / George Follmer / Mark Donahue / Porsche 917 / Roger Penske / Stephen Cox / Twin-Turbos

PENSKE’S L&M 917 PORSCHE: UNTOLD STORY OF CAN-AM’S MOST FAMOUS CAR!

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Stephen Cox blogs about the most iconic of the thundering Turbo Porsche 917s. 
 Part VI: The Title.

“The talk around the pit area was that no one could touch them. They knew that it was the beginning of the end of Can-Am. The L&M Porsche was making history.” – Marilyn Motschenbacher Halder.

No other track on the Cam-Am schedule offered sweet corn and bratwurst like the little food stand at Elkhart Lake. Everyone on the  circuit looked forward to it. The stand remains there today, just behind the main bleachers near the Start/Finish line. 



Wisconsin sweet corn was roasted on an open grill and sold hot on a stick. The brats weren’t wrapped in a traditional bun; instead, they were served with mustard and sauerkraut on a homemade roll. The scent wafted through the stands and into the newly paved pit area that allowed Can-Am crews to work in something other than grass and mud for the first time.



The next stop on the series schedule was August 27, 1972 at Road America. The entire Penske team anxiously awaited the race knowing that the four-mile track’s enormous straightaways were perfectly suited to the L&M Porsche’s twin turbochargers.



This car was among the most powerful racecars in the history of the sport. Bruce Canepa, whose restoration facility prepared the L&M Porsche for Rennsport IV in 2011, said that Porsche consistently underrated the horsepower of its cars in the 1970s.

Rumors have abounded for decades regarding the L&M Porsche’s power rating. Some sources claimed 800 horsepower while others claimed 900 or even more than a thousand. But the truth was constantly fluctuating and may never be known with certainty.  



The L&M Porsche was never intended to have a single engine that could be gauged for an objective, simple answer. A number of engines were fitted into 917/10-003. Many times even driver George Follmer didn’t know the exact size of the latest engine to be received from Porsche.



“They’re always making things better at Porsche. That’s their DNA,” Follmer said. “A lot of times I don’t think the mechanics knew if it was a 5-liter or a 5.4-liter engine that they were putting in. When Porsche sent an engine, it just bolted up like the last one. I’m not sure we would have known if it had been a higher capacity engine because they hooked up just the same.”



Chief mechanic John “Woody” Woodard wasn’t so sure. “I thought we only had five-liter engines. Could they have snuck in a 5.4 at the end of 1972? Possibly, but not to my knowledge.”

Official Porsche records claim that the upgraded 5.4-liter engine was not installed in 917/10-003 until July 22, 1973. Then again, Porsche and Team Penske were known to deflect any serious questions and mislead wherever possible. Journalist Pete Lyons said, “They discourage prying eyes with tarpaulins, flatly refuse to answer certain questions, and are positively rude to photographers.”



Either way, Porsche considered the project in a constant state of evolution and changes in both Germany and at the Penske shop stateside were the rule rather than the exception.



Perhaps the most accurate barometer of the car’s legendary horsepower rating comes from Porsche restoration expert Bruce Canepa who said when the turbochargers on the L&M Porsche kick in, “it’s like getting punched in the back of the head.”



Canepa, whose company specializes in Porsche racing engines, estimates the output of the L&M Porsche at 1,100 horsepower in race trim and over 1,200 horsepower in qualifying trim with full turbo boost. Follmer remembered:



“It was a different kind of car. It was a short wheelbase with a lot of very sudden power. You went from almost nothing to eight or nine hundred [horsepower] in an instant.



It was twitchy and it didn’t like high-speed corners. It was fine in the tight stuff but it was not a comfortable car in high-speed corners. You kind of had to walk it through corners and it took some learning.



I didn’t know that car until probably the third or fourth race. It had handling characteristics that were… well… different, and as a driver, not always how you’d like it.



But you have to deal with it because that’s what it is. I had to learn how to cope with the sudden power. It was just a learning curve.”

In late-August, Follmer was attempting to qualify for the California 500 Indycar race at Ontario Motor Speedway when difficulties with the car forced the team to withdraw. Without sufficient time to repair the Indycar for the California race, Follmer left Ontario and took a private jet to Wisconsin, arriving the next day.



It rained during Follmer’s Can-Am qualifying run so rather than push his luck and risk the car, he settled for 13th position on the starting grid. It made little difference.



The L&M Porsche’s incredible V-12 engine was perfectly suited to Elkhart Lake, which offered one of the longest front stretches in North American racing.



The event droned on for 50 laps, but the race was over quickly. Follmer took the lead on the second lap and never looked back. The L&M Porsche gobbled up Road America’s long straightaways with a vengeance. Follmer flew past his competitors, lapping the entire field and taking his third win in the last four races. The L&M Porsche had hit full song and it was a sight to behold.



His memories of the day demonstrate just how dominant the L&M Porsche had become. “When it came time for the race it was dry and I think it took me two laps to take the lead. I had fun for a while. Then it kind of got boring.”



On September 17th the series moved to Donnybrooke road course (now Brainerd International Speedway) in Minnesota.



The new 917/10-005 chassis had arrived and been fully prepped for Mark Donohue’s return to racing. “6” was Donohue’s race number, so the 005 car was duly painted as #6 while Follmer’s 003 car was repainted as #7. Photographs taken after mid-September 1972 will show Follmer to be driving a #7 car; however, this is the same chassis he had been racing since Road Atlanta. The race number change was cosmetic and only done to give Donohue his favorite number again. George Follmer didn’t change cars; he only changed numbers.



Donohue and Follmer qualified side by side on the front row at Donnybrooke and the event appeared to be a repeat of Porsche’s landslide victory at Road America.



The team’s plan was for Donohue to win and gain enough points to make a run at second place in the overall season standings while Follmer would run second and continue his march toward what now appeared to be an inevitable Can-Am title.



The plan went down the drain when Donohue suffered a flat tire halfway through the event and retired. At that point, Follmer put his foot to the floor and began lapping the field.



The team had installed a small, additional fuel tank to account for the eternally long straightaway at Donnybrooke that ended in a banked, high-speed first turn that Can-Am cars took nearly flat out. Donnybrooke was an outrageously fast three-mile racetrack with a one-mile straightaway. Even the slowest corners would sustain speeds well over 75 mph.



Follmer spent much of every lap with the accelerator flat on the floor and both turbochargers devouring obscene amounts of fuel. To this day he questions the team’s decision not to bring him in for a pit stop, dial the turbo boost down, and send him back out in fuel-saving mode. There was certainly sufficient time to make any pit stop they wanted.



At the moment he ran out of fuel, the L&M Porsche was two laps ahead of everyone. Follmer recalls waiting helplessly along the side of the racetrack and watching the field pass by for two full laps before he finally lost the lead.



“Our performance at Donnybrooke was superb until we didn’t have enough fuel,” Follmer said. “We weren’t very proud that we screwed up so bad. We knew [our fuel situation was] marginal and we had put in an extra tank, but there wasn’t a lot of room where you could put a tank. But we missed it by a mile and a half.”



Still, Follmer placed fourth overall and continued to solidify his ironclad grip on the Can-Am Challenge Cup.



The final three races of the 1972 season were all held in October, with Edmonton being slated for Sunday the 1st. The plan stayed the same. Donohue was to win, with Follmer running second in order to gain a one-two finish in the season points championship for Porsche.



All was going according to plan until Follmer suffered a flat tire that put him over a lap behind the leaders. Donohue went on to win the event with a 46-second advantage over Denny Hulme’s McLaren M20, which put up a stiff fight. McLaren still hadn’t given up on their season.



Follmer called the M20 “a well-engineered car. It really was. It was a good car and it was fast. I’ve driven one, and McLaren really built a quality car.”



Nevertheless, Porsche would have easily taken a one-two finish had Follmer not suffered the same fate as his teammate in the prior event. A right rear tire was punctured early in the event and sportscar teams in 1972 weren’t structured to accommodate quick pit stops. The lengthy spell on pit road ruined what would have been another dominating performance by the L&M Porsche. Even after the flat tire, Follmer stormed back through the field to take third place.



A win at the October 15th event at Laguna Seca would secure enough points to assure Porsche and Penske the Can-Am Challenge Cup.



“At that point it was just a matter of time,” Follmer recalled. “The Captain decided to make sure I won the race in Monterey. We were supposed to run one-two, but I was supposed to win because that clinched the championship.”



The race was a formality. Donohue and Follmer qualified together on the front row and finished first and second according to plan, with Follmer winning and clinching the title. 



Follmer was gracious in victory lane, calling Donohue to the podium and insisting that he celebrate with a drink of champagne. “We got along really well,” Follmer said in response to rumors that he and Donohue were occasionally at odds. “He was a friend. We joked together and got along just fine.”



Two weeks later, on October 29th, the season came to a close with the 15th annual Los Angeles Times Grand Prix at Riverside International Raceway. Follmer was more relaxed. The championship was already won and he could enjoy the experience without any pressure for points.



The Riverside road course was virtually flat and offered excellent visibility to spectators from any seat. The garage area was described by one fan as “carports with tin roofs and garage doors.” The dust and desert heat were intense and drove everyone – fans, teams and drivers alike – toward anything resembling shade. 

Marilyn Motschenbacher Halder said, “They had a covered snack bar where everybody would go get ice because it was so hot out there. The snack bar had a very large open area. So a lot of people would gather there to sit and get a breeze, even though it was a dusty breeze sometimes. And you’d get a cold drink of water or glass of ice.”



The Riverside scoring tower was downright comical. It looked like an old fire tower, complete with a square girder system and a narrow, exposed staircase that promoted acrophobia even among the hardiest souls.



A four-sided sign proclaiming “Riverside” crowned the scoring tower, but the second “r” was missing from the side facing the main grandstands. Instead, it welcomed race fans to “Rive side.”



The final race of 1972 was well attended. Photographers lined the front straight and fans crowded into the last remaining grandstand seats. Thirty-four entries showed up making Riverside one of the largest fields of the season.



McLaren made one last, desperate effort to salvage their season with a win at Riverside. Denny Hulme’s M20 was outfitted with an enormous 9-liter Chevy engine producing over 800 horsepower. It was extremely fast. Hulme came within three-tenths of Follmer’s time in practice, enough to qualify in second position and bump Donohue back to third on the starting grid.



For Team Penske, the plan to have a one-two finish once again went awry. Donohue was supposed to win the race with Follmer second so as to gain as many points as possible for Porsche.



“It wasn’t really team orders,” Follmer said of Penske’s strategy. “We were trying to accomplish something for Porsche. That’s what they were paying for and that’s what they wanted us to do. We were doing our job and that was the important thing.”



But mechanical issues pushed Donohue out of contention for the win and Follmer was forced to carry the Porsche banner alone. 



Denny Hulme once again drove hard but ultimately had nothing for the Penske machine. Eventually his oversized Chevy gave up and he pulled in after 45 laps. The L&M Porsche was simply too much for the McLaren M20, even in the hands of great drivers like Hulme and Revson.



This time, Follmer drove the Porsche into victory lane himself, stopping in the pits to pick up Heinz Hofer, Greg Syfert and John Woodard. All three mechanics sat on the side pods with Woodard carrying the checkered flag during their triumphant cruise to the podium.



Follmer stood in the cockpit sipping champagne with the race queen as the huge, three-foot silver Can-Am Challenge Cup was placed behind him. It was the exclamation point on a successful year.



The season was over. The parties had begun. The team was living in the moment and didn’t yet realize that they had made motorsports history.



To Be Continued.



Photos: David Newhardt/Mecum Auctions.



Stephen Cox is a racer and co-host of TV coverage of Mecum Auctions (NBCSN), sponsored by:  http://boschett-timepieces.com/

http://www.mcgunegillengines.com/

Tags: Cayenne / Driven By Dan Scanlan / Porsche / SUVs / Turbocharged / Twin-Turbos

‘14 PORSCHE CAYENNE TURBO S: SCALDING HOT!

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‘Let’s get trucking,” blogs Dan Scanlan after spending some seat time in Porsche’s hottest SUV.

When Porsche entered the luxury sports utility vehicle market in 2002 with the Porsche Cayenne, Porschefiles were horrified that Stuttgart was selling a truck! Well, when a truck has a twin-turbo 550 horsepower V-8 plus sports sedan handling, and 18,507 of the company’s total 42,323 sales in 2013 were Cayennes, the market has spoken. Some say the success of the Cayenne and the four-door Panamera sports sedan (5,421 sold in 2013) translates into profits that can be used to make cars like the 911 Turbo and radical 918 Spyder exotic. Sounds like a good business case to me!     

The Cayenne is available with a 300 horsepower V-6 and 380-horsepower hybrid, and three 4.8-liter V-8s - 400-horsepower, a 500-horsepopwer twin-turbo and the twin-turbo 550-horsepower V-8 with max torque of 553 pound-feet in our tester.

Our 4,784 pound test car roared to 60 mph in 5 seconds and 100-mph in 10.2 seconds – crazy fast for a SUV. Launch was instant, all wheels grabbing, with quad exhaust pipes generating a mellow bellow. Under maximum launch conditions, it’ll sprint to 60-mph in 4.5 seconds, pulling an indicated 1.1 G’s on the g-force meter. That’s faster than a ‘14 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet. The eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic transmission isn’t a dual-clutch PDK like a 911, but shifted cleanly and quickly in “Sport” mode and staying in Fourth we were ready to tap down a gear or two for passing. Used with restraint, our tester average 21 mpg.

The Turbo S has an active suspension and active all-wheel-drive, plus Dynamic Chassis Control to get rid of body roll in corners. There’s also variable torque distribution to the rear wheels and an electronically controlled rear differential lock. On asphalt, it boasted amazing grip in turns and was really fun to drive. Throw it into a turn and the Cayenne just grabs on and handles the curve with a neutral attitude. Its torque vectoring system brakes the inside rear wheel to also help in a turn.



Its air suspension offers three settings. “Comfort” is perfect for highway touring and off-road. It handled a poorly paved interstate stretch with no harshness. “Normal” is fine around town. “Sport” is what you want when you are hustling two tons of German SUV around – tightly controlled, stiff enough, but it doesn’t beat you up on less-than-perfect roads. The “Sport” suspension setting also hunkers the Cayenne down to 7.2-inches ground clearance. But flip the transmission setting to “Off-Road,” and the Cayenne rises up for 9.5 inches of ground clearance.

Back on the road, the air-spring suspension’s active anti-roll system means the Cayenne Turbo S doesn’t lean much. It doesn’t look like it’s working hard on the skidpad. It just hung on, a touch of understeer if you really pushed it. In almost any turn at speeds that would make a regular SUV cringe, the two-ton Cayenne tracked like it was glued to the road, hydraulic rotary actuators on the axles counteracting body roll. We stitched turns quickly and smoothly with no drama, the digital g-meter indicating we pulled 1-G on our skid pad. We found the power steering extremely accurate and nicely weighted. The ceramic disc brakes were precise in pedal feel with zero fade even after four hard hits from 60 mph.

For 2014, Cayenne still lives with a 2011 redesign and wide low crosshatch grille with a long and sharp 911-style nose. Under the grille there’s a black skid plate. Designers have done a decent job of bringing some 911 styling cues into the hood and fender flow. The fenders have gentle flat-edged flares that frame 21-inch 911 Turbo II wheels and wearing fairly low-profile P295/35R21-inch Michelin performance rubber. The roofline is low and ends with a long spoiler over a tinted window, with huge LED taillights and twin dual-outlet exhaust pipes in a black lower fascia with tow hitch. It certainly isn’t as pretty as a 911, but it looks cool when it’s hunkered down in highway suspension mode. It’s too bad the Turbo S ends its run this year.

You step over carbon fiber doorsills with illuminated “Cayenne Turbo S” logos, and then slide over the sculpted lower side bolsters and into form-fitting perforated leather bucket seats with 18-way power adjustment plus three memory presets each. They held us in comfortably on the skidpad as well as on a six-hour road trip. We were surrounded by leather with aluminum accents and carbon fiber on the dash, doors and console.

As would be expected, the Cayenne is fitted with a complete gauge package with an 8,000-rpm tach with digital speedometer. An analog 190-mph speedometer is on the left. There’s also a color LCD trip computer screen with navigation, audio, performance info (turbo boost and g-forces), even trip mileage and timing. Framing the gauges is a thick-rimmed black stitched leather steering wheel with big paddle shifters. The dash center hosts a large Porsche Communication Management touchscreen with an AM-FM-CD-SiriusXM Burmester sound system that’s powerful enough to rattle windows.



The main console is packed with 33 buttons to adjust suspension, engine, heated/cooled seats, climate control, four-wheel-drive and height, stability and hill descent control, even a gas-saving engine shut-off at stoplights. It’s slathered in carbon fiber and framed in red leather grab handles. A long moonroof stretches past the rear seat passengers. Underfoot, you’ll find alloy-faced pedals. The Sport Chrono Package includes a stopwatch and stores performance data, including lap times or transverse and longitudinal acceleration values and displays it all on the PCM main screen.

Back seat room is generous, with a rear climate control system and outboard heated seas. Under the power tailgate, which doesn’t open high enough to clear my head, there’s decent storage space with a divider that slides on alloy strips. The rear seats split 40/20/40; the raked rear window intrudes on some box cargo capacity.

Our test 2014 Turbo S has a base MSRP of $146,000 and with all options tallied up, hit approximately $161,000. It’s the do-everything, go-anywhere Porsche that showcases the best of what Porsche is known for. I want it!



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