Nayanajith's Blog

Dauer 962LM

2008-06-04T23:21:00.000-07:00

One of the most spectacular supercars ever built was Dauer 962 LM. Some supercars were converted to race use, some were designed with racing purpose very much in mind, but the Dauer 962 LM was completely reversed - it was a racing car converted for road use. No wonder it could out-performed McLaren F1 and simply anyone else.
Performance

The engine was the Le Mans spec 2994cc watercooled flat-six with twin-cam per bank operating 4 valves per cylinder. Twin KKK turbochargers with individual intercoolers. Bosch Motronic 1.7 engine management system controlled the ignition and injection. With an extraordinarily-high compression ratio of 9.0:1, the engine output an astonishing 730 hp at 7,600 rpm and 517 lbft at 5,000rpm. That translated to an astonishing 240hp per litre ! How could Dauer do that? considering a 1996 Porsche 911GT1, whose engine was also derived directly from the 962's racing unit, managed only 172hp per litre, Dauer's figures were not without questions.

People doubted not only its power rating, but also the performance claims - Dauer said the car could accelerate from standstill to 100km/h (62mph) in merely 2.6 sec, and then arrive 200km/h (124mph) in 7.2 sec. As for top speed, 251 mph could put it to the top of the world, beating McLaren F1 by 11 mph.

After years of doubt, Dauer 962LM finally hit 251.4mph (404.6km/h) at Volkswagen's Ehra Lessien test track in November 1998. It should put an end to the debate. However, doubters could still question whether the test car got over-boost that did not comply with European emission regulations. After all, a race-bred engine should be easy to revert to racing spec.

If the road-going Dauer 962 LM really possessed 730 horses on tap, the aforementioned top speed and acceleration would have been in no question, because the car weighed only 1080 kg and had an excellent aerodynamic drag at merely 0.31, which was easily achieved in wind-tunnel work by removing the excessive downforce from the Porsche race car. A typical Porsche 962 race car had a Cd at least 0.40, but its tremendous downforce enabled it to corner at nearly 200 mph. As the road car had only 40% downforce of the racing 962, Dauer transformed that to higher top speed.

The BMW 7 Series

2008-05-21T08:24:00.000-07:00

The BMW 760Li High Security is a vehicle designed to meet the highest protection standards. The long-wheelbase sedan fulfils the armouring requirements of ballistic level VR6/VR7 and offers the outstanding comfort of the standard series model. Special materials in the chassis, plus the use of shatterproof glass provide complete protection for all occupants. If an emergency exit is required, the windscreen can be pushed out. Many additional security features make the Sedan a safe and exclusive premium-class automobile.

The Lamborghini Reventón

2008-04-08T23:33:00.000-07:00

The brand new, super exotic Lamborghini Reventón has been unveiled during the press conference at the 2007 edition of the IAA Motor Show in Frankfurt, a totally different car than the Murciélago LP640 it was based on, but still very much a Raging Bull.

The official press release unveiled all the details, but some details are this, a modified LP640 engine with no less than 650 Hp from a total displacement of 6.5 liters, other than that the engine is just about the only item from the base car that hasn't been modified or replaced during the creation of the impressive Reventón.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the press conference, when Stephan Winkelmann proudly had the car unveiled by three lovely ladies, the Reventón marks another milestone in the history of Automobili Lamborghini SpA since it's founding more than 40 years ago, this will be the most expensive car ever to leave the gates at Sant'Agata. With a worldwide list price of a cool 1 million Euro (excluding taxes) and a production run of no more than 20 units, the new Reventón will become an instant collector's item, I can imagine only a few of these 20 cars will actually be driven on the road, which is a real pity actually.

With a totally new dashboard treatment and amazing seats, this is a Lamborghini that is destined to be enjoyed on the open road, as a side note, the entire dashboard cluster is machined from a solid piece of aluminum, covered by a Carbon Fiber section to avoid glare. The instruments itself are even more exclusive, there are three LCD monitors that actually display all necessary information, the central screen even shows G-Forces ... just to make sure you know how much G's you are pulling going around the corners, just like in a fighter plane, from which the initial design was taken in fact.

Going to the exterior design, it is different, very angular and wide, using a vast collection of angles and design clues ... the wide rear fenders are amazing, the front lights are innovative, and the taillight clusters are made of three arrays of special heat resistant LED's to be able to cope with the heat from the central mounted, massive exhaust pipe.
A close look at the design of the car shows that the wheelarches are somewhat angular now, not round like on the original LP640 Murciélago, it is obvious the car was based on this flagship, but still it is totally different nonetheless. The triangular design of the front spoiler and hood is taken all the way back to the engine cover and rear section. Also note that the engine cover is again finished with glass 'blades' to give everybody a glance at the heart of the car. Another styling detail, the special fuel filler is made from one single piece of aluminum, another detail that shows the impressive amount of workmanship that will go into each of the 20 cars that will be built and delivered to their lucky owners during 2008, all finished in the special grey/green shade, that actually isn't glossy, but due to the subtle addition of metallic flakes in the paint give an unseen shine when parked in the sunshine.

If you were under the impression the LP640 sits on nice wheels, the Reventón takes it to the next level, the black rims are finished in a high gloss, and each of the five spokes has a special Carbon Fiber fin attached to it, to create a jet turbine look and in the mean time create extra cooling for the standard ceramic discs.

There is no doubt the Reventón will stir emotions once again, but you can't deny the fact that Automobili Lamborghini SpA isn't following the well known path, they are building innovative cars, just like the Miura and the Countach were years ahead of their time when they were introduced, the Reventón is ahead of it's time, and it's competition today ... and rumour has it all 20 cars are actually already sold when this first prototype was shown in Frankfurt ...