Radical

So for my last blog I am going to tell you what to do if you are not some millionaire playboy who has money to burn, and wants to feel raw speed and performance from a car you own. The answer is called the Radical, and it is a small English company which produces the car from a small warehouse. The car only has a 1.3 motor bike engine which does not sound like anything compared to these 6.0 V12 supercharged monsters. Well the secret is all in the ingredients. The car only ways 495 kilos and produces 205hp. It looks just like a race car because it pretty much is a 2 seater race car that had a few changes made so it was road legal and could be brought for a moderate price of roughly $55,000. For this you could go to a track day anywhere in the world and not just compete but beat a Ferrari Enzo around the track. The standard sticky tires combined with the exact aerodynamics put this car way ahead of any standard road car. Put around the Top Gear test track the only thing faster has been a Formula 1 car, and its all down to the power to weight ratio. Every time the big V*’s, V10’s, V12 are put in these cars its just more and more weight they have to move. The light weight high powered 1.3 bike engine can be lifted by one man. Now don’t expect and luxuries and the glove box has been replaced with a button for adjusting the break balance but this is a 100% legal road race car that can be your for a reasonable price and take down the rich boys and their toys. Money makes the world go around, but you need to look in the right places to get the money for that money.

I do not claim to own the rights to this picture or intend to copyright.

I do not claim to own the rights to this picture or intend to copyright.

Pagani Zonda F

The Zonda is an extreme super car that for fills the boyish dreams of a space aged looking car that travels faster than stink. Costing $600,000 its going to have be something out of this world and Pagani delivered. With its extreme design it looks like nothing else you will ever see on the road and built to battle the Lamborghini’s, Pagani decided to play them at their own game and go over the top. The iconic four exhausts out the back of the rear grill has become a famous detail of the mad car. Powering this rocket ship is another AMG V12 which is a naturally aspirated 7.2 producing 602 horses and a top speed of 214. This car is very similar to the Spyker in the target audience and what its for, yes this car can certainly perform on the track if you opportunity arises which it sometimes does, and people will be impressed with the 0-60 in 3.5. The Zonda really wants to be back in Monaco sipping on champagne next to the 100 million dollar yacht that just cruised over from the Caribbean. It is another play-boy car, and I don’t mind it one bit. In the same way as the Spyker the car is so different and out there that the attention to details and whole production of the car has to be admired. It’s not at all practical nor made to be, its for pure enjoyment and fun which I want in a car.

Bugatti Veyron

If you want to see the fastest production car in the world, well you are looking at it. The Bugatti Veyron was created by the people of VW who decided to make this car to prove it could be done, and with every sale VW actually lose money. Despite all the info I am about to give you the biggest problem the engineers had was the transmission. They struggled and struggled to find a transmission that could handle all 1001hp. Unlike the Koenigsegg mechanics who gave you a lightning bolt and said go play the Bugatti team put in some safety precautions to keep us safe, for example: The spoil can only be taken down by turning the car off, removing the key from the ignition before opening the door and placing the key in another ignition which lowers the spoiler to make the car more streamline. This is done so you don’t accidentally lower the spoiler at high speed resulting in a loss of traction. I promise you will never of heard of an engine that is the same as the Bugatti either... An 8.0 V16 quad turbo charged engine producing 1001hp, the car has 10 radiators and averages 10mpg. The top speed is 253mph and it does not take too long to get there.

0-60 = 2.5  0-124 = 7.3   0-186 = 16.7  

The breaking is just as brutal with Industrial sized carbon breaks and a spoiler that turns up to act as an air break 100-0 only takes 5.1 seconds. With performance like this when driving on the road if you put your foot down a little you need to be checking hundreds of feet a head because the accelerator on this thing might as well be hitting the warp speed button from Star Trek. The cost for the fastest car in the world is a reasonable 1.7 million, and Bugatti said they have released a new Hardcore Bugatti Veyron that can do 270+ given enough room. Incredible.

Maybach 62

I used to like the Maybach, it was put up on a pedestal by celebrities like Jay-z and Simon cowell who all swear by it but the more I see it, and the more I don’t like it thinking why not get something else. Now I hate to say it but I agree that when it comes to luxury and being driven around I agree the Maybach has the Bentley, the Rolls and Mercedes beaten because these Maybachs are huge and the amount of luxuries inside is just out of this world with its own mini bar and whatever else you can think of. This really is just a slightly smaller limo with an even bigger price tag, and I just think if you really wanted that much space why not buy a Limo, after all it would be a great deal cheaper. Well the seats in a Limo don’t recline to almost flat like the first class airplane seats fitted in the Maybach. Limo’s also have lost that impressive quality about them over the years. People once saw a Limo and got excited wondering who is inside, how important are they, how famous are they? And now anybody can afford to rent a Limo for a few hours so cars like this have come to replace them. Now I will admit I have never sat in a Maybach, I have only seen one, so maybe I need to sit inside to understand why people spend a minimum $430,000 on a car that you will never drive. Unlike the Phantom you could drive yourself the maybach just made the front for drivers and didn’t give as much thought as the Bentley or Rolls that maybe the owner might want to drive one day. If this situation does happen the owner is going to be disappointed in that they just spent around half a million on this car that is not too great to drive. Ye it has a V12 bio-turbo that is impressive and produces 543hp but the front is just so normal that the only place you could ever want to be is the back. I just feel that if I spend that much money on a car that I would want to drive it as well as be driven from time to time which the Maybach is not suited for.

Land Rover Defender 3 TDV6

Now even though I am English and Land Rover is English I try to take a neutral view when it comes to cars, but when it comes to off-roading you cannot beat a Land Rover. Perfected over years and years the Land Rovers are used worldwide by civilians, military, scientists, mountain rescue, on safari’s and the list goes on and on because this car is just the boss when it comes to off-roading. My dad happened to own the TDV6 for a while when we talked and he lived in the country and this car could do some incredible things that I found out when we went on a 4X4 course and all the Land Rovers there just destroyed any track, climb, descent or general challenge put in front of it. I remember random people coming up to my dad offering to buy the Defender 3 off him then and there for almost any figure because he had one of the latest editions that were hard to come by. In the movie Tomb Raider Angelina Jolie drives the same edition and that helped make the model even more popular. The defender on has a 2.7 turbo charged diesel engine that produces a little 190hp but all the power comes in the lower ranges meaning this car can climb and pull anything. The short sharp cut offs at the front and back of the car made getting stuck next to impossible. This is by no means a city car, it is a working car and according to insurance in Europe if I own a Land Rover I can claim it is a working car and get about 60% off my insurance, which is not too bad. The defender is made to explore and work every day on farms and rescue missions. It does not want to be tapped in a concrete jungle where it looks completely out of place too. Owning a Land Rover does have one big disadvantage though... you will never be able to call work and say you got snowed in because they know it would be a lie.

Spyker C8 Spyder

This car is a perfect example of buying a car for looks and image, which Spyker even admitted themselves. This car is for multi-millionaire play boys that money is just not even a consideration for them. The incredible detail put into the interior design is like no other car in the world. Some companies spend millions on research on just where to position the buttons but the Spyker interior is more like fashion meeting art. The Incredible design of just the gear stick and how u can follow the movement of each gear change in to the engine. The bright red interior combined with the silver detailing just looks and is incredible as it’s all handmade. The car does have performance figure as the 4.2 V8 does pump out 400hp, complete 0-60 in 4.1 and have a top speed of 187 but again this is not the point. This is not a track day car, a racer, or even a GT. This car belongs in Tax havens around the world like Monaco where multi-millionaires park their yachts in the harbour for $40,000 a month and might use the yacht once a year, because they are too busy buying football teams or even on their other yachts. The Spyker is a claim and one hell of a beautiful claim. They made a piece of automotive art and it could be all yours for a cool $250,000.

Koenigsegg Agera R

After the success with the CCX Koenigsegg realesed the “sports” version, which made many people either laugh that Koenigsegg thought the first one was not fast enough or cry that the Agera R might kill them because this car would be crazy. The Top Gear camera did not like the sports version either as it top speed was still 245mph but getting there was just that little bit quicker. Journalist Jeremy Clarkson said he would never need a Cigarette again if he owned one of these cars, because it was just that much of an adrenaline rush to have such brutal acceleration at his feet. 0-60 now takes 2.9, 0-124 take 7.5 seconds, powered by the more amped up 5.0 twin turbocharged Mercedes AMG engine that produced 1099hp. The interior was the same except a few weight saving changes such as the seats were lightweight, and that is about it because what weight was still in the car was made up for in more power. The cost to own the Koenigsegg Agera R is a little expensive at an asking price with no bargaining of $1.6 million to own your own. Frankly with this car I think I would be afraid to drive it on the road as this car did not have the greatest of handling through corners so Koenigsegg decided to just throw the biggest, fattest tires on the back to hope they stick a little combined with a tiny little spoiler to keep the downward pressure. This is one window licking Dutch car that is made for adrenaline rushes and living life on the edge.

I do not claim to own the rights to this picture or intend to copyright.

I do not claim to own the rights to this picture or intend to copyright.

I do not claim to own the rights to this picture or intend to copyright.

I do not claim to own the rights to this picture or intend to copyright.

Koenigsegg CCX

Now you want to see a supercar just look at the crazy Dutch. They sure figured it out the first time the pen hit the paper back in HQ. The super slippy design is made to just slide through the air with as little resistance as possible to help the CCX reach its top speed of 245mph. The sound and acceleration of this car is just savage as it spits flames out the big exhausts through acceleration and deceleration. The camera men on the Top Gear test track who are used to fast cars reportedly HATED the CCX cause they could not keep up with the car in the panning shots and you can easily see why. 0-60 just take 3.1 seconds as the 5.0 Super charged Mercedes AMG V8 goes to work producing 806hp. The car is well built too with a nice interior that fits two people of most sizes, even 6’6 can fit in the Koenigsegg range. I really like the fact that they make there cars with an old school stick shift to make you feel like you are in control and enjoy slamming throught the 7 gear transmission. This car is one serious piece of work but even this savage monster looks a little tame compared to it Big Brother.

Honda NSX

Honda attempted to make a super car in the late 80’s called the NSX which kind of fell on its face a little, they made further improvements in the 90’s both to the engine and styling before giving it one last attempt in the early 2000’s and sadly I think non of the cars did Honda any justice. Honda makes good cars, they have race teams, even a Formula 1 team when they made the NSX but you would not have thought it off the NSX. Something was missing and I talked about it with the McClaren fax machine MP4-12C. It lacked passion and creativity; the car had no soul, personality, character for buyers to hold on to like the Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s. Even reading looking at the figures just seems empty. A supercar with only 250hp and a top speed of 155mph just does not fit into the supercar category in anyway. Jenson Button the English F1 driver loves his NSX and says it is his favourite car but everybody knows that most F1 drivers are a little boring themselves, which does not help the NSX. I am disappointed in Honda as I feel they could really make an impressive car that could make people think different of the NSX, and the remodelled and rebuilt attempts have just not seemed fully committed. Even when Honda paid for their supercar to star in such films as Pulp Fiction, which would normally send people nuts about a car, nobody even gave the car a second look. If Honda is going to create a super car they need to do much better than the first few attempts.

I do not own or claim to own the rights to this picture.

Ferrari Enzo

For those of you who don’t know who Enzo Ferrari is I just gave you a clue in the name. Yes he is the daddy and creator of the Ferrari manufacturer, but all so Ferrari’s scudaria racing team. He lived from 1900-1978 when he passed leaving his business to the family, to continue his great work. Enzo was an ex racing driver which is where he harnessed his love of speed and performance which later went into his cars. Well Ferrari decided to make a car in memory of him in 2002 and they sure made a monster using a blend of road know how with formula 1 knowhow from there racing team. This turned out to be an impressive mixture to create a raw racing machine that would make Enzo proud. Now you cannot just order an Enzo as they only made limited amounts, and no matter how much money you had or who you were you could not just buy one, you were selected by Ferrari. You needed to have owned a couple Ferrari’s before to be eligible for selection, you needed at least a million in a bank account for insurance reasons and they would contact you about if you had the option of getting gone. Then if you decided to sell the car on after a few years, Ferrari had in the purchase contract that they have to OK whoever you sell the car to and if they didn’t like it...well you best find another buyer. The Enzo marvel was and is well protected and with all the Formula 1 technology on board the car is extremely valuable even higher than the $1 million price tag that now sits on the Enzo’s for sale. Technically this car is incredible and no short cuts have been taken. A 6.0 48 valves, yes a 48 valve engine being powered by an ultra light-weight V12 produces over 650hp. This means the Enzo goes 0-60 in 3.1 seconds and 0-100 in 6.6 and on to easily over 200mph. Ferrari filled this with space age materials and mind boggling science to keep the weight down, aerodynamics up and drag reduced. Enzo would be proud of his own car that still is an iconic car.

Jaguar XJ

Earlier I talked about Jaguar releasing the XKR-S on the world and how its finally a 21^st century Jag, and its aimed for a younger crowd. Well seems like there want to stick with the younger target as the new XJ is released. I mean this car looks amazing and has to be sitting in second place for the best looking Jag ever. It looks so clean, so up to date, so 21^st century. This is an incredible looking car so does it perform like it looks? Well Jag dropped a “New” 5.0 V8 that is pumping out 385 hp so we know the car will be able to move, as the 0-60 time shows in just 5.4 seconds for this big sedan. The max speed is limited to 155mph as many cars due to European regulations but who needs more than 155 when the speed limit is 70 anyway. This certainly is not a car you will be taking to the track for the weekend and beating the breaks off of it. This is another business car to rival the E class and 5 series from BMW. I honestly forgot about Jaguar producing the XJ, that is how far out of the business race they have fallen. And credit to Jaguar they shut me up cause this is just a fabulous car. The interior is spacious and so comfortable you could sit inside for hours as it is such a nice place to be. The car ride extremely well and they managed to find the balance between comfortable suspension and a little bit of performance so the car does not just roll through the corners making you feel car sic. The V8 is not too much of a gas guzzler either as it averages 23mpg but this increases when the XJ spends time on the highway. It feels like jaguar wanted to announce their return to world and paid extra attention to what the consumer wants and they gave the XJ a final song to make sure you want this car. They made sure you can hear that V8 rumble a tamed but power sound which just bellows.  It sounds amazing. Who wants a V8 that is strangled by the exhaust system? Nobody, if I’m paying so much money as the gas pump at least let me hear what we are spending it on. Im really impressed by the new image of Jaguar and shame on me that I forgot they could make such incredible cars.

Citroën C8

The family cars of family cars have come from the French in the form of the C8. When buying a car to transport your family you want; Safety, affordability, reliability, multiple uses, tough and finally if you can, a respectable looking car. Well Citroën has delivered in all areas with the C8 that I think sets the car apart from all its competitors. It received full marks in all of the safety tests and crashes the car was put through before being released to the public. The affordability is in not only th eintial price which is just under 20k, but 2.2 HDI engine that gives the people carrier 126hp to play with an average of 32mpg so don’t expect to be constantly at the pump. By putting a strong, simple Diesel engine in the C8 they have improved the torque to help carry all the family up steep hills as the car can certainly get heavy on a journey, but the diesel engine is extremely reliable which matters when having to pick the kids up from school or soccer practice. The interior is not expensive leather but a durable material that can take a beating and be cleaned whilst looking good and being comfortable. The storage areas seem to be endless and we all know kids break stuff and make a mess so many of the moveable objects in the car can be easily removed and even replaced for cheap too. The C8 does not look too bad from the outside either. A nice smooth clean shape that looks more than good enough to show up to work in without being embarrassed, but I think the thing that I really like is the space. There is just so much air in the C8 that even if the kids are arguing in the back they can easily be separated and have peace restored. The back seats are removable, and also lay almost flat to help with packing for family holidays or anything else you might imagine needing to carry. The C8 is a solid and impressive car for the money and really does stand out for me as the best family car out there.

Hyundai Veloster

In Europe and slowly creeping into American culture is the small European hatchback which seems to rule the roads, everywhere you look is a small car that does not cost much to run and does great miles per gallon. America is known for big trucks and SUV’s just drinking everything they can at the gas station but in this current economic climate people cannot afford to do that anymore and began down grading in many situations. So Hyundai have decided to try and break into the Hatchback game and take a slice of the cheese with the Veloster. So have they done it? Well the Veloster has a 1.9 engine that produces 138hp, so having a small engine that averages at least 30mpg checks one box. Speed is not too important when it comes to hatchbacks but the young men that buy them sometimes think they are Dale the Intimidator so the 0-60 time is a slow 8.5 seconds so don’t worry about driving so fast that one you kill yourself, or two that you use too much fuel cause it would take some serious effort and intentions to burn through gas. So let’s give that a second check. The car looks cute, stylish, both male and female could easily drive this without having to hide behind the wheel in public places, so check off another box. The interior is I think better than you would expect from a $20,000 car in the fact that it even looks good/expensive and will last a long time. There is some space for friends in the back as many college kids, who are really the target audience for the Volester. Drive each other around to cookout, to clubs, concerts, sporting events. Now don’t expect a load of space but it certainly can fit the average two adults in the back with some comfort, three is a squeeze though as you probably expect. So let’s check another box. Finally is it as good as the competition that it has from Audi, Citroën, Peugeot, Ford that have been doing to hatchback competition for so long? And I think this car is much better that I thought it would be with very clean and good looking lines. This car may not break them into the race as a contender but it will get Hyundai on the map and a few more cars like this, and they just might be contenders in a few years for the hatchback race.

AC Cobra 427

When it comes to good looking cars the Cobra has got to be in to conversation. The smoothe, simple design looks incredible and front looks like nothing else giving it a completely unique identity. The big and bold pipes running along the side of the car makes it look like an aggressive muscle car just flexing its arms. Even the roll bar above the driver’s head looks like something we will  not be lucky enough to again in a production car. No the figures are not amazingly impressive for today’s standards but when this first emerged the speed was incredible but I could not care for the speed if I’m honest. I’m glad this car is not over powering in the delivery of it’s speed so the driver can enjoy the experience that much more. The big block V8 engine is a big loud and proud thing that makes your stomach tingle when you hear it. The 0-60 time is only 4.5 seconds which is by no means slow at all but when you realize that an original cobra is going to cost well into the six figure area, it depends if you want real speed for that money or a classic that will treat you right. You could pick up a replica for or between $30-70k depending on condition, which in my eyes is not such a bad idea. If you bought the original and something went wrong the bill would be as high as buying a Toyota Camry. That way if something goes wrong it still won’t be cheap but a great deal cheaper. The 7.0 V8 is going to sure drink some gas as well so I would fill it up when you see the gas prices are going down. This really is the perfect car to go for a drive on a nice warm day and just enjoy the freedom a car gives you. After all cars are made to get from A-B, cars like this are made for our enjoyment and pleasure.