[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cotdt /img/forum/go_quote.gif that's it! i'm buying an atom as my next car! since it has no windows, what would happen if i'm going 150MPH and a bird drops at me? what about a pebble flying into my face?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nelis /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's why you should wear a helmet when going long distances and going on freeways and stuff

Up to 30mph, goggles are fine, but anything faster and you really need to be wearing a helmet with your UE 10-Pro and some Pink Floyd running through your brain. Or at least that's my plan!

 

[chadbang]

I don't know who directed that clip, but that was an amazing piece of filmmaking. You're going to be hearing that director's name.


Oh, yeah, nice car, too.

 

[craiglester]

I wonder what the insurance on one of those is. And servicing. and tyres.. oy.. I'll stick to something a little less exotic myself. ( Not that I could afford it)

 

[nysulli]

clarkson actually called to get insurance on one while he was driving it in an older episode and got denied (probably because at that point the company had never heard of the car)

yeah, at 253mph they said the tires last what, like 20 minutes while the fuel lasts all of 12 minutes and cost ~100 pounds to fill up

which brings me up to another point of pointlessness of the car, to go 253mph, you need to have filled up your tank, put fresh tires on the car, and do a bunch of safety checks, then put your special key in to unlock the speed limiter and bring the rear spoiler down, while it isn't a striped down racer, you have to put all the safety checks into using its speed as if it were one

yeah, its a great combination of speed and luxury, but at that costs, it has to be, if you gave me that kinda cash for a car, i'd buy 2, one for fun, one for luxury

probably a zonda, f40, CCX for fun, maybe an atom to for good measure

and then throw on an S class for the luxury ride, and still have money to spare

 

[craiglester]

Yeah, not so handy for a trip to the shops is it? and i wonder how well it deals with speedbumps?

Not so hot with aquaplaning too I hear..

Not so practical for a Denver winter too I'm guessing.

Still, it's quite a feat of engineering. 10 Radiators or something?

It's a bit too ostentatious for me too. People would be horrified to see me getting out of that i'd imagine. They'd be expecting some movie star or something! Not some scruffy geek.

You think a wheelchair carrier on the back would affect the top speed too?

 

[vagarach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadbang /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know who directed that clip, but that was an amazing piece of filmmaking. You're going to be hearing that director's name. Oh, yeah, nice car, too.

Yes, Top Gear really is some top quality television. They got 6 episodes done for series 9, and every single one was quite brilliant. Even if you're not so interested in cars, I'm sure you could still quite enjoy a few episodes. I still haven't figured out why they have yet to release all of the Clarkson era Top Gears on dvd. I was quite fortunate to find someone here in the university who had every single episode on his computer, and over a period of 2 months I watched every episode. Even after 9 (

) series' they're still coming up with new things, and this one that has just past has surely been the best.

 

[Nightfall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleestack /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it me or did designers forget how to design a beautiful supercar after the McLaren F1?

Never have truer words been said. The F1 remains as a matchless example of brilliance in combination of design, and vision in it's period. And sadly, since.


JC

 

[003]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nardin /img/forum/go_quote.gif Enjoy

Hey, how did that guy get my car all the way to germany without me noticing???? I WONDERED where it was this morning!

 

[jmmtn4aj]

That was impressive

 

[Grahame]

Unfortunately,
they are still vulnerable to a loose nut behind the steering wheel

That is one expensive Ouch!

 

[cotdt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grahame /img/forum/go_quote.gif Unfortunately, they are still vulnerable to a loose nut behind the steering wheel That is one expensive Ouch!

that wasn't the first crash. an experienced test driver hired by the company tried to set a new record at nurburgring and ended up crashing it.

 

[kentamcolin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cotdt /img/forum/go_quote.gif isn't what most top F1 team spend per year like $70 million US dollars? Considering that it takes $500 million to develop a new engine from stratch, it's actually not too bad if you spend under $70 to design an entire car.

Actually the top spending F1 teams spend approximately $500 million per season. Toyota is the biggest spender (and arguably the biggest loser) while Ferrari (the sports biggest winner) spends perhaps a little less. Renault is known to be one of the most efficiently run teams, winning two consecutive world championships with a budget of about half of what Toyota spends. $70million probably gets you into STR, Spyker or Super Aguri territory, but that's all. As for top speed, even without wings 250MPH is about it. Contrary to what many people think, because of their open wheels F1 cars have very high drag coefficients. Your average Civic is far more slippery. They do however create massive amounts of downforce. An engineering article I read recently stated that an F1 car with it's high downforce wings and undertray would stick to the ceiling at perhaps as little as 70 MPH and can brake from 200-50MPH in less than 2 seconds! They are very light which is how they achieve such extraordinary performance.

I too am a fan of McLaren's F1 road car. Beautiful and very efficient design, and still the highest tech road car ever built. The Buggatti can boast some impressive numbers; top speed, HP and weight are all up there, but it's not the engineering achievement the McLaren was.

 

[bigizzy75]

I'm a little late, but...............................

this car makes any man feel all fuzzy inside. hmmm I guess after I purchase my portable rig I should start saving for this.........hmmmm.......NO.....I don't think so but still its a Glorious car.

 

[F107plus5]

This may be a bit OT, but I was talking to a guy who owned a Dodge Viper a few years back, and we were discussing the relative merits of his Viper vs my Austin Healey 100-6.

My Healey had a 0-60 time of about 13 sec and we determined that even though it took like three times longer to get to 60, the Healey was in fact more outright "fun" than the Viper!

While I could routinely zap through the gears with the 100-6, to do so an a regular basis with the Viper would be considered insanity on regularly traveled roads populated by the general public. Road holding was another sore point with the Viper. The Viper tended to hold the road unerringly in the tightest of corners at anything less than totally insane speeds, while the Healey with it's massive amounts of oversteer would reward the driver with tons-o-fun drifts at low speeds so that even driving backwards off the road were really not all that bad!!

....I did it a few times.

I guess the bottom line was what fun is it to have a car that exceeds the speed limit even before the clutch is fully engaged and has such road manners that it can't be fun at less than twice the posted limit. It CAN be fun; I know, but not as often.

 

[daveDerek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by F107plus5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess the bottom line was what fun is it to have a car that exceeds the speed limit even before the clutch is fully engaged and has such road manners that it can't be fun at less than twice the posted limit. It CAN be fun; I know, but not as often.

this is a very good point. it's one thing to own a supercar in europe where you actually get to drive it - to a point. in the u.s. a car such as a mini cooper or a miata can be wonderfully and routinely smile inducing, probably far more so than their sexier and far faster super sports car bretheren. nevertheless, while the veyron is an impressive performance, the mclaren f1 is the epitome of the exotic road car to me. ralph lauren owns a couple of them, as well as an impressive array of very cool collectible cars (a hobby that makes ours look affordable and almost sane - well ok, affordable

). last year there was an exhibit at a museum in boston of his cars. wish i'd made it there.