BMW is celebrating the 40th anniversary of their M division this year. They put together this video documenting the start of the division with the M3 3.0 CSL, the M1 and the E30 M3 used in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM).
This is a pretty well done animation showing how some of the systems work on the Audi R18 e-tron Quattro diesel hybrid that won this year’s 24 hours of Le Mans. It uses the next iteration of the electromagnetic flywheel energy storage system that was first pioneered on the Porsche 911 GT3 RS Hybrid endurance racer. The energy from the regenerative braking is used to spin a flywheel up to 40,000 rpm in a vacuum. The Le Mans rules only allowed the team to power one of the axles with the electric motors. In the R18, a diesel engine powers the rear wheels and the electric motors drive the front wheels during boost mode.
The CEO and Lead Designer of ICON, Jonathan Ward, stopped by Jay Leno’s garage with their latest creation, the resto-mod Ford Bronco. ICON searches the country for clean Bronco shells and then completely overhauls and upgrades them. The truck now has the 5.0 liter Coyote V8 from the new Mustang under the hood along with a Aisin-Warner transmission, Atlas transfer case, modern solid axles from Dynatrac and Stoptech brakes. All of the lighting has been replaced with LED’s and ICON even worked with the designer that created the Ford GT to re-imagine some of the details and interior trim that were parts bin sourced or overlooked on the original Bronco. It really is modernizing a classic chassis taken to the extreme and it’s a testament to the fact that there is still maniacal attention to detail and high caliber craftsmanship in the modern world.
Here’s yet another reason not to listen to music: the Lamborghini sourced V10 in the Audi R8 GT. Put the headphones on and enjoy your Tuesday moment of zen.
The GC8 Subaru Impreza was used in the World Rally Championship from 1997 to 2000 and was driven by three world champions: Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Juha Kankkunen.