Monthly Archives June 2015

There are many things can be said for the 5.2L V8 engine installed in the 2016 Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang, which outputs a glory 526 hp. While you may see comments saying how good this engine is in many articles in other media, we are going to show you some insights of this V8 which you might not be able to see, and Ford also will not tell you.

First let’s take a look at the exhaust manifold.

From the above photo you can see, for each cylinder bank, the 1st and 3rd cylinder’s exhaust path are combined into one branch, and the 2nd and 4th cylinder use an independent exhaust path (branch), and finally the 3 branches are integrated into 1 single outlet...

We use to think BMW is a brand only makes sports-oriented cars with rear-wheel-drive layout. However, it seems quite a lot of “normal” consumers just do not care whether it is RWD or FWD at all (they may even do not know these terms). Therefore to expand the sales, it is logical to produce some models which are using FWD platform: better interior space efficiency, less cost (better profit margin) etc. This is exactly the case for the all-new 2nd-generation 2016 BMW X1 (code name: F48), unveiled today.

As mentioned above, the 2016 X1 is based on the FWD platform (shared with the MINI Countryman)...

We have already covered the GT350 Mustang extensively in our previous articles, except this important number: engine output. Today Ford officially announced the output: the flat-plane V8 will provide 526hp and 429 lb-ft of torque.

Below are some details:

– Displacement: 5.2L (5163cc), bore: 94mm, stroke: 93mm
– Compression ratio: 12.0:1
– Output: 526hp @ 7500rpm, 429lb-ft @ 4750rpm; Redline: 8,250 RPM
– No fuel direct-injection
– Plasma transferred wire arc cylinder-liner, which eliminates the need for cylinder sleeves
– Flat-plane crankshaft is steel-forged with gun drilled (to reduce weight)
– Lightweight, high-capacity composite oil pan with baffling design

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Three months ago Honda has announced the latest Civic Type R with a 310hp turbocharged engine, which you can see in our previous report. Today Honda released more interesting technical details about this hot hatch.

While you can see the extensive details in the press release at the end of this article, we summarized the key points for you.

Engine

– Surprisingly, the turbocharger on this 2.0L VTEC 4-cylinder engine is only a mono scroll type, not the twin-scroll that can be found on many other engines. Not sure how Honda can minimize the turbo lag issue
– Cast aluminum pistons, aluminum VTEC rocker arms and forged conrods
– Compression ratio: 9.8

Drivetrain

– Front wheels...

Car that carries high price tag is seldom subject to crash testing nowadays. This is partially due to the significantly higher expense for conducting such test. For example you will never see any Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royces etc.,  in the US NHTSA, IIHS or Euro NCAP crash tests. This is also true for many Porsche models, including the Panamera.

At this moment, there is no official crash test conducted on the Porsche Panamera. However that does not prevent us to take a peek at how rigid is the Panamera’s safety cage during a frontal crash.

Yesterday, a man driving a Panamera lost control in the Los Angeles International Airport, and crashed then penetrated into Ter...