Category Archives: Automotive News

I don’t follow current events unless you count knowing who builds the awesomest cars in the world a current event.

2013 Porsche Boxster S

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When Porsche first introduced the Boxster, the concept was for the car to be an inexpensive entry level model for the lineup. Turns out a reasonably priced mid-engine Porsche was a great formula for success. That being said, the Boxster had some shortcomings having to work around hand-me-down parts and Porsche’s mandate to keep its performance level significantly short of the bread and butter 911. Now that the Boxster and Cayman have proven themselves as strong sales successes, Porsche’s attitude towards them has reversed. The twins now get their own designs and parts in order to have the top of the line S models have almost identical performance stats with the base model 911. Motor Trend’s Carlos Lago also reveals that being the entry level model has the benefits of tuning focus. What I mean is that the Boxster is under less pressure to deliver specific 0-60 or Nurburgring times than the 911. The result is chassis balance that makes dialing in some oversteer more of a priority than outright grip. Cars tuned for fun are starting to become a rarity these days, but I’m glad to see some people still get it.


Source: Motor Trend

2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7

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Now that the 2014 C7 Corvette has been officially unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show, Automobile Magazine was able to post this video from their photo shoot of the car. In addition to a good look at the new Stingray themed exterior design, we also get up close with the much improved interior. Interviews with the designers and engineers of the car reveal that GM really stepped up with a clean-sheet design for the C7. They really paid attention to the shortcomings of the C6 that everybody complained about (parts bin pieces, horrible seats and interior quality) and did their best to make the C7 what everybody expects it to be. You really get a sense that the designers took serious pride in maintaining Corvette as America’s premiere sports car.


Source: Automobile Magazine on YouTube

Ford Focus ST vs. Volkswagen Golf R/Subaru BRZ

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Here on Flux Auto we cover a lot of high performance cars from Detroit’s Big 3 that have caused many people to say that the new Golden Age of Muscle Cars is here. While that may be true, advances in automotive engineering have benefited all genres of performance cars. One of the most popular segments among enthusiasts are the Hot Hatches thanks to their strong combination of fun, practicality and low cost of owning and operating. We could even say that we might be approaching a new Golden Age for the Hot Hatch with the recent focus on high tech turbocharged engines, lightweight and optimized interior space thanks to slow economies all around the world. It could also be said that it’s a new Golden Age of Hot Hatches simply because there is a viable alternative to the perennial king of the genre, the Volkswagen GTi. Carlos Lago puts the new 2.0 liter turbocharged Ford Focus ST up against the top of the line VW Golf R. Ford has really raised the bar for front wheel drive chassis balance in the ST which brings us to another Golden Age that we’re in and the funky title to this video.

As it turns out, the Volkswagen has an intrusive stability control system that can’t be turned off. There’s no getting around the the system slowing the car down as you try to find its limits. That’s right folks, we are in the Golden Age of electronic nannies in cars. Instead of learning how to be better drivers, the world has demanded that automakers add complex electronic systems to cars in attempt to make them idiotproof. Well don’t worry because Carlos thought of a way to keep the otherwise interesting comparison going. The Volkswagen Golf R gets substituted out for Motor Trend’s long-term test Subaru BRZ for the track driving portion. Randy Pobst takes them both around the Horse Thief Mile at Willow Springs to see how they perform at their limits. The BRZ and the Focus ST are actually pretty close in price which makes this a relevant power vs. balance comparison for weekend warriors shopping for entry level performance cars.


Source: Motor Trend on YouTube

2013 Ford Mustang Boss 302

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I’m posting this video from Jay Leno’s Garage as a counter-point to Motor Trend’s review of the awesome Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE from this morning. Jay gets to go over the finer details of what all was changed on the Boss 302 Laguna Seca edition with the Mustang head engineer Dave Pericak. As I mentioned in the 1LE video, I really enjoy the fact that GM and Ford took the time to give real suspension tuning and chassis balance to their core muscle cars. Keep the naturally aspirated engine response, cram as huge of a wheel and tire package as you can under the fenders and change the spring and damper rates so the cars have some agility. The term muscle car doesn’t have to mean settling for handling compromises for straight line speed. The 1LE and the Boss 302 are proof.


Source: Jay Leno’s Garage on YouTube

2013 Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE

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Chevrolet provides another point to the argument that we are currently in the new golden age of the Muscle Car with the $3500 1LE package for the Camaro SS. GM basically gave their suspension guys who do track driving free reign to make the Camaro handle well. The result is “The best handling Camaro yet! *thumbs up*” according to Randy Pobst. Huge wheel and tire upgrades form the core of the 1LE upgrades. The fronts are 10 inches wide and the rears are 11 with 285/35/20 Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires (same as the ZL1 fronts) at all four corners. Monotube shocks with revised damping replace the stock twin tube. Larger anti-roll bars were also added, 27mm in the front and 28mm in the rear. The fact that the rear bar is larger than the front is probably where the engineers killed most of the regular SS’s horrible understeer. Power output remains the same as the SS but the final drive is upped to 3.91:1 to give a little better acceleration. Reliability modifications round out the 1LE package with various beefed up links, mounts and half shafts. The $3500 price tag for the 1LE upgrades beats what you could buy in the aftermarket and have an added bonus of coming with a factory warranty. It also seems like the engineers got the suspension tuning right on a sweet spot that turns the Camaro into a true driver’s car that gets better with the harder you push it. The base price starts at under $34,000 with the car they tested here optioned out to $46,000. That puts the 1LE in direct competition with the Ford Mustang Boss 302. Both cars focused on the chassis balance instead of huge power upgrades which is something kind of new and pretty awesome for Detroit. Lets hope Motor Trend will do a Head 2 Head episode with the Camaro 1LE and Mustang Boss 302.


Sources: Motor Trend on YouTube and CAR and DRIVER