Mercedes McLaren SLR vs Ruf RT12 : Pic of the Day

Combined Power >1200bhp.

But which is the fastest?

Click for a larger image

See here for the answer.

Monaco GP 2008: Spectating

Apologies for the delay but, well, what a race!

A few weeks ago RaO spent the weekend in Monaco, soaking up the... well, rain mostly, and that unique atmosphere, an atmopshere in the Principality that is so palpably different to its usual sterile, manicured feel.

Some things are different about Monaco...

It's a mix of the rough and tumble Grand Prix followers chaining their chairs to any available viewing space, and the immaculate visitors and unflappable residents that avoid the boulevards that become barriers and the avenues that become run off for this one weekend each year.

...and some things aren't!

After taking our seats above St. Devote (the first corner) for the qualifying in the blinding sunshine, we had decide two things.

1) That the Ferrari's look like leading a very expensive procession round Monte Carlo and that...

2) Tribune's (grandstands) cost Eur200 just for the qualifying, and a-putting-Silverstone-in-perspective Eur450 for the race, which seemed excessive, yes even for Monaco.

So having decided to take our chances in the general admission part (the 'Secteur Rocher' on which the Palace is perched above the track, a the rocky hill which rises over the eastern end of Monaco) the sight of rain did at least give us hope that the race might be more thrilling than the corporate pax rides we had to watch all morning.

... and so it was. Hamilton proved that he has the skill (and in small part, the good fortune) to get home ahead of the red cars and make it a weekend that quietened the everpresent, airhorn blowing host of Tifosi.

Monaco might not always make for the most spectacular racing, and we did get lucky on that front, but almost every other track is in a vacuum, a field, an airstrip, as they expand east to new venues and purpose built stadia only a few can claim to have genuine charm and character.

Monaco has a totally unique feel, eclectic people, party atmosphere, great food, amplified sound and if you like racing you can deafen yourself marvelling at those barrier braving drivers from close range... for a price.

BMW E36 3 Series: Perfect Balance (Video)

BMW highlights the impressive assets of its 3 series (E36).

Brown, Miliband, Straw and Darling have been kidnapped (joke)

We saw this the other day:


A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway. Nothing is moving. Suddenly a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down his window and asks.

“What's going on?"

'Terrorists down the road have kidnapped Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling, David Miliband and Jack Straw. They're asking for a £10 million ransom. Otherwise they're going to douse them with petrol and set them on fire. We're going from car to car, taking up a collection.'

So the driver asks 'how much is everyone giving, on average?'

'Most people are giving about a gallon.'



Thanks to Clare from Lanarkshire (originally posted on The Herald)

Vmax: the Car Speed Results

Name	Car	Estimate	Actual
Leon S	Ruf RT12	200	201
Doug_S2	Audi S4	---	198 with methanol injection
Drhildr	911Ruf	---	196
PhoenixUK	Gt2	---	195 A lucky run early doors!
Markbe	SL Biturbo	---	192
DeR	996 X50	---	190
Kamran	SLR722	191	190
Thvet	UltimaGTR625	185	187?
CraigBruce	996TTS(chipChap'd)	195+	187
Shavster	997TT DMS	190	185
Dazren	996TT X50	185	184 Then lots of 182s
Boony	996TT	180+	184 Then lots of 183s
John Deacon	Lambo'Diablo6.0	---	184 Nitrous needed
Brummmie	TVR6.3	---	182
Shadytree	BMW E60 M5	---	182
Luddy	996TT revo tuned	180	181
Micheal D	996Turbo	182	180
Jevansio	Supra	180	178mph again on 4 seperate occasions
Maff	F430	184	177
NBetts	Porsche 997 GT3	180+	176mph on 4 seperate occasions!!!
Crisisjez	Monaro	178	176
Akey	Ferrari575m	190	175
Roger	VXR600 Monaro	180	175
s3am	Porsche 996 GT3 mk2	175	174mph
Bluesatin	Ultima GTR	175	171
Dace	Audi RS4 B5	175	170
Erik	997C2S	172	169
DeR/Saxondale	E39 M5	---	166
911Adict	965	170	165
Jeremyc	GT3	171	164
Dakkon	Z4M	165	160
Akers	AMV8	175	160
Housemaster	B7 RS4	170	160 Limited
R2FU	993TT	---	160 Low Boost
Daybar	Audi S4 B5	160	157
Vixpy1	BMW E34 M5	160	155
Pesty	964 C4	150	155
Cyclone1	335d	163	155 Limited??
(Mrs) GB	993C4S	155	148(Mrs) 150(Mr)
Vario-Rob	De-Tomaso Guara	140+	143
Sophie	AstraVXR	145	142
Vinter	ALPINA B3S Touring	160+	141
Will Wonka	RRS HST S/C	---	140 Limited
Dunk76	ALPINA B3 3.3 Saloon	150+	136 Lifting 100yds short!
Gavin	WestfieldSE1	132	125
Duncan	1928 Bentley 4.5	85	73 Braking early!
Trackdemon	BMW Z4 Coupe 3.0Spt	60 sideways	69 Backwards!

Vmax Typhoon!

One Hundered and Ninetee!

The latest Vmax has been and gone. If you haven't heard of it, it's one of the few events revolving around driving that doesn't attract chest puffing, bar statistic morons as its default.

Have a look here for our previous article on the day.

In short it's a super/superfast car day and Ferrari fanboys come, Porsche fanboys come and everyone just... gets on.

Far from being a blowy, blustery day as the name might suggest, Vmax 'Typhoon' was almost a return to the scorching heat of Vmax 'Sunburn'.

The crowd gathered at Bruntingthorpe proving ground and pored over the arriving cars, some familiar, some not so. Of the newcomers a Ferrari F430 Scuderia, Mercedes McLaren SLR 722 and an interesting looking 997 Turbo were attracting the most attention.

F430 ScuderiaDMS 997 TT

The severe heat and a slight headwind prevented any record breaking runs, and as the heat soak set in Leon's Ruf RT12 did break the double-ton, topping out at 201mph.

Another car worthy of a mention was a crazy Corvette engined TVR Cerbera that hit 182mph; a TVR record for the Vmax format.

LS Engined TVR!

Another car of note on the day was cut from a very different cloth, a 1928 Bentle 4.5 litre did a couple of runs laying down a s-e-v-e-n-t-y t-h-r-e-e miles per hour benchmark, some way off its projected top speed of 90mph.

1928 Bentley 4.5

As always it was a top day so thanks to Craig and Andy, and thanks also to Trackdemon.co.uk for the photos. As always a full selection and print ordering are available over on the PH Vmax forum along with details of the day.

"Will There be a Fuel Shortage Gordon?" "I Hope Not" he said...

"See if I give a shit"

"Don't Panic, Don't Panic!" said Gordon earlier this week amid rumors of blockades and fuel shortages, but of everyone I've seen to he seems the most likely to fall into apolplexy.

There are occasional long queues and some shortages but this is unlikely to be down to a reduction in supply (there are no delivery blockades) instead it is likely down to people filling up with more fuel, more often 'just to be safe' -a self fulfilling prophecy.

In fact the scale of the protests aimed at the government don't seem to be on a par with those in 2000, but you must admit they have a point when almost 50% of the increasing forecourt cost is duty.

So every $ jump in the barrel price is matched at the pump with an equal leap in tax... which has added up to a hugely disproportionate increase over the last 5 years.

Perhaps it's time for the government to relent and listen to those people who are being ground down and put out of business by their reluctance to stem the flow of fuel duty into their coffers.

The Facelift Porsche 911 (997)

Porsche's Facelift 997

Exciting news today as RackandOpinion has recieved an invitation to Porsche's new driving centre, based near Silverstone Circuit, UK. Similar to a mini-Millbrook (or Mercedes-Benz World @ Brooklands) it contains a wet/dry handling circuit, and simulated zero grip situations.

There we will be testing Porsche's facelift 997 Carrera and Carrera S and, most interestingly, it's PDK transmission. PDK is Porsche's take on VW/Audi's double clutch gearbox DSG, which removes almost any delay on shifts.

We look forward to telling you all about it.

**UPDATE: first article here**