I’ve always been oddly attracted to the police version of random vehicles. A perfect modern daily driver in my eyes? It would be a Caprice or full pursuit-spec Explorer. Or the Dodge Charger Hellcat modified by Armormax for police pursuit duty.
According to MotorAuthority, Armormax has taken the 707-horsepower Hellcat and converted it to wear ballistic armor protection, police-spec lighting, and underbody protection. There’s a set of bull bars up front, which are perfect for a well-placed PIT maneuver. The most interesting upgrade, however, is that now this Hellcat sends out its power to all four wheels.
Yes, you can buy an all-wheel-drive Charger. You cannot buy an all-wheel-drive Hellcat Charger though, but Armormax has found a way around that problem.
What the company have created is the greatest all-weather highway cruiser. I’d ditch the matte black paint work for some standard police-spec gloss black. Maybe also spec some modified steel wheels as well. But that’s it.
… I spaced out there for a second. I was day dreaming about blasting down the 405 with this thing and finally getting people to move out of the left lane of the highway.
I really need this car in my life.
Every other automotive marketing team on this planet needs to pay attention to what Volvo Trucks is doing. I find myself excited to see the latest video that the Volvo team cooks up. It all started when Jean-Claude Van Damme stood atop two trucks and proceeded to perform the greatest split of all time. All of this was done not to show that JCVD is still limber as ever, but that the Volvo trucks have amazing directional stability.
Volvo continued on this path of excellent marketing videos. There’s the one when a four-year-old remotely controls a truck around an obstacle course. You have Tiff Needell driving a Volvo FH and racing a Koenigsegg One:1. And there’s also the clip where Volvo tapped pro paraglider Guillaume Galvani to fly off the back of a truck, under a bridge, around a mountain pass, and it was all to demonstrate how stable the large truck is both up and down the twisting road.
I shouldn’t care about Volvo trucks… but I do, and I can’t wait to see what the marketing team over there cooks up next.
Also, I really want to drive one now too.
We need to bring back Last Call. This is the end-cap post to wrap up our day, and it serves as a sort of virtual hangout for those with something on their mind. The comments are your place to talk about whatever you’d like.
With each Last Call post, at least when I write them, I’m going to find something interesting/funny/eye-catching/etc on social media and then use that to kick off Last Call.
Instragram user diyautoftw posted this picture of clips. If this isn’t a nightmare to you, I’m not sure why. Bodywork is terrible. The mechanical stuff is like cooking whereas bodywork is like baking… it’s easy to fuck it all up.
Last Call indicates the end of the Hooniverse broadcast day. It’s meant to be an open forum for anyone and anything. Thread jacking is not only accepted, it’s encouraged.
How can you not love this simple, silly machine? It’s a pretty basic recipe, but one that I truly enjoy. Take a large V8 engine and have it send power to the rear. Add in room for friends, tremendous noise, comfortable seats, and you have a modern muscle car. That is the Dodge Charger Daytona 392.
Paying homage to the Daytona name, you’ll find a rear decal that harkens back to the old big wing cars. It’s smartly done and the design evokes thoughts of that tall spoiler in silhouette fashion.
Under the hood sits a 392 cubic-inch V8 engine. Here it cranks out 485 horsepower and supplies that out to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox.
If you can’t swing the extra dough required to bring home a Hellcat, then this 6.4-liter equipped beastie is a brilliant alternative. You won’t save any money on tires though… because you’ll be burning through them just like you would in the more powerful Hellcat.
The Dodge Charger Daytona 392 is James Hetfield, the Car.
[Disclaimer: Dodge tossed us the keys to the Daytona 392 and included a tank of fuel. ]
Josh Ostrander joins us on the show. He recently returned from Gridlife in Atlanta, where he saw drift cars, time attack machines, and late-night music performances all at the same venue. We also talk about the insanity that is a $180,000 2002 BMW M5, answer your questions, and talk about our own cars.
As for press cars, this week it’s the new Hyundai Veloster R-Spec.
It’s finally coming. For real this time. At least that seems to be the case, as Chevy engineers have been spotted flinging the mid-engine Corvette prototype around the ‘Ring. This is a car that’s been talked about for decades now, but it appears the time is finally right to move the Vette powerplant amidships and prepare for battle with serious sports cars the world over.
Now, the front-engine Corvette is already a world-class competitor and has been for years. Still, Chevy wants to hit other markets with this version of its Corvette and a mid-engine version could be tantalizing to exotic shoppers. Or perhaps this Corvette will offer supercar-like handling and performance at a price more befitting of the Corvette name.
Is this a necessary move? Not really. The tried-and-true format of engine in the front and drive wheels out back is still our favorite setup. Are we curious? Of course! While the current ZR1 is the maniac mobile in the stable, a mid-engine Corvette could represent a bit more balance in the family.
It could also setup some new amazing battles on the motorsport side… Ford GT vs mid-engine Corvette? Let’s do that, please.
[Source: Jalopnik]
I’ve been fortunate to drive in Germany. It’s only happened three times and of those three times, two stretches included jaunts on the Autobahn. The first time was years ago when I went over to sample Volkswagen’s MkVI Golf GTD and the XL1. I nearly cried tears of joy as drivers used their turn signals, instantly yielded to faster traffic, and generally seemed to have complete awareness about the traffic around their vehicles.
Here in the United States, our driver eduction programs seem to be about providing the minimal amount of instruction needed to pass our licensing test. Can you parallel park? Sort of? Great, here’s your license. Now go out there and don’t worry about the folks texting and doing 90 mph on the 405.
I’d like to see more in-depth driver education with consistent messaging across our States. See that left lane? Use it for passing. Your turn signals? The automaker installed them for a reason. But that’s just the basics. We don’t need full on track instruction (though it wouldn’t hurt) but delivering the physical concepts of oversteer and understeer, a showcase of how to drive in changing weather conditions, and a general concept of spatial awareness would go a long way to improving our driver education in this country.
What do you think? What would you do if given the keys to fixing or changing American driver education?
Most of the events surrounding Monterey Car Week are geared towards the jet set and elite machinery. It’s tough for the Car Bros team to relate thus making it difficult to get the ball rolling on this video, despite owning an Enzo of their own. After a brief moment to gather their thoughts and take in the food on site, the crew are ready to tell us all about Monterey Car Week. And with a brand-new perspective and accent, to boot!
Eventually, the team treks out to Laguna Seca for the Historics. Despite the lack of approval of the featured marque, Car Bros covers the event with alacrity, poise, and respect.
And then the host puked everywhere.
(Jokes aside, how bad ass do the Trans-Am era race cars look? Especially that Donohue Javelin.)
Welcome to the final lap of your holiday weekend. Today is Labor Day, which is about …hold on *checks Wikipedia* Really? We get a day off for this? Well alright! I know that a number of you plan to be grilling, enjoying a beverage, and just generally relaxing. Some of you though, are already elbow deep in your cars guts.
What’s the most you’ve labored on your ride? What was your most epic wrenching session? For me personally, it was when Tim Odell and I spent a long weekend upgrading and fixing my 1965 Ford F100. That meant pulling the engine, swapping the cam, fixing the valve seals, building an exhaust, and then putting it all back together so I could get the truck on a trailer and then drive it from the Bay Area back down to Orange County, California. It was a long few days, but it was also fun.
So how about you? What’s the most work you’ve done on your car in a single go?
There are over 1,000,000 Lego Technic parts used. If you pulled it all apart, you’d find 2,304 motors and 4,032 gears. This is a 1:1 scale Bugatti Chiron crafted from nothing but Lego Technic pieces, because the moto for Technic is Build it for Real!
So they did.
It weighs 3,300 pounds and is fitted with an engine capable of generating 5.3 horsepower and around 100 pound-feet of torque. Building the car was a challenge, but more challenging was the creation of the engine itself. But it all works and it’s drivable.
Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace climbs in, attaches the steering wheel, turns on the headlights, and even raises the rear wing. And then pilots along at… a pace he’s not quite used to, we imagine. While the actual non-Lego Chiron will hit 260 miles per hour, Wallace managed a still impressive 12 mph in the Lego car.
We can’t imagine how much it would cost to replicate the Chiron Technic build on the 1:1 scale. At 1:8 scale, however, the Lego Chiron kit will cost you $350. It packs a more manageable 3,599 pieces and still boasts moveable aero bits, paddle shifters, and even pumping pistons on the W16 engine.
