Tips & Advice

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Why Insurance Costs are Rising

If it seems like your car insurance costs are rising faster than the cost of living, you’re not alone—and you’re not wrong. In fact, car insurance rates have been rising steadily throughout 2021; the average cost to insure a vehicle in the USA is now $1451 per year.

Of course, those of us who own sports cars and other high-performance vehicles can expect to pay even more for insurance (for example, the average rate to insure a Corvette is $2220 annually). But what makes insuring a sports car so much more expensive, why are rates continuing to rise—and most importantly, what can you do about it?

Factors that Contribute to Car Insurance Costs

Generally, the following factors tend to have the most influence on auto insurance costs throughout the United States:

How old the owner of the vehicle is
The type of vehicle being insured
The owner’s credit history
Where the owner lives

However, some of these criteria—in particular, the type of vehicle being insured and the state it’s being insured in—are far less straightforward than they might seem. Let’s take a closer look at how tricky pinning down your car insurance costs can be.

Via Pfaff Tuning.

How Vehicle Type Affects Car Insurance

We already know that sports cars are more expensive to insure than sedans and other commuter vehicles, but what makes it that way? Moreover, why does the gap seem to be widening?

The easiest and most obvious answer has to do with the intrinsic value of newer and more expensive vehicles. Simply put, new sports cars tend to just be worth more than other cars, and having a higher Insured Declared Value (IDV) tends to make their premiums more expensive. So if you’ve recently purchased a late-model sports car, you’re obviously going to be paying more than someone whose car is a few years old. However, even that doesn’t explain things completely.

There’s also the cost of repairing a sports car to consider. You obviously can’t take your Lamborghini Huracán or Porsche 911 992 Turbo S to the nearest Jiffy Lube for service, and the same goes for repairs—fixing a sports car requires specialized skills and experience, specific parts, and particular tools that most garages just don’t have. That means any insurance you purchase for a sports car is going to have to cover much higher repair costs, and you’ll more than likely pay higher premiums as a result.

How the State You Live In Affects Car Insurance

Then you’ll have to consider where you want to insure the car. It would be a mischaracterization of near-criminal proportions to say that insurance rates vary arbitrarily from one state to the next. In fact, insurance rates in each state depend on numerous details.

For starters, there’s the average cost of medical care in your state. Remember, insurance isn’t just about covering damage to your car—it can include injuries as well.

Most insurers will also consider the rates of vehicle theft or vandalism in your state—specific to the type of car being insured. Which is to say, expensive cars that are more likely to attract the wrong kind of attention also increase your insurer’s risk and drive up premiums.

And of course, the likelihood and severity of accidents for your vehicle will play a role in determining your insurance, too. For the last few years, sports cars have been the type of car with the highest highest rate of fatal accidents—4.6 cars per billion vehicle miles.

While we don’t see owning a sports car as inherently dangerous, many insurers might be hard pressed to agree in the face of that statistic. This, more than any other factor, likely explains why insuring a sports car appears to be getting more and more expensive as time goes on.

Via BMW Blog.

Strategies for Controlling Your Car Insurance Costs

So, what can you do to avoid ridiculous insurance premiums for the cars you love to drive? Here are a few ideas:

Consider Pay-Per-Mile Insurance

If you own a sports car but don’t drive it on an everyday basis, you might consider trying to find mile-based insurance coverage. This type of insurance (also called pay-per-mile) allows you to pay for car insurance based on the number of miles you drive in a given billing period.

Mile-based coverage differs from a low-mileage discount, in that it doesn’t come off your regular premiums when you stay under a certain distance. Instead, your insurance company will use telematics to track how far you drive in each billing cycle and charge you a per-mile-rate at the end (on top of a standard base rate).

However, be advised that tracking your usage this way can tell your insurance company other details as well—for example, how often you engage in risky behaviour like rapid acceleration or abrupt braking. So if you only drive your McLaren 720S a few times each month but you act like a demon behind the wheel, this might not be the best choice for you.

Maintain a Clean Driving Record

Remember, every factor that goes into calculating car insurance is based on one thing: the perceived risk to the insurer. So in many cases, safe driving can actually save you money on your premiums.

Many insurers offer discounts of 10% or more for drivers who have been accident-free for a long enough period of time. You might also get your premiums slashed for taking safe or defensive driving lessons.

Compare Insurance Companies

Finally, remember that you’ll get different insurance rates from different companies—so there’s no need to accept the first quote you’re given. Instead, try shopping around at different companies for the best available rate.

How Much Car Insurance Do You Really Need?

Another way that vehicle owners often try massaging their car insurance rates is by removing certain types of coverage from their policies—but this isn’t always a good idea. Having insurance isn’t much good if it isn’t the right kind of insurance, and the more limited your coverage is, the less likely it’ll be to protect you when you need it most.

Besides, insurance helps you avoid financial risk. For example, trying to settle a car accident without an insurance policy can be a disaster—you might agree with the other party to leave the incident unreported, but there’s no way of knowing if they’ll honor that promise. Check out Hassbrook & Hassbrook’s post to read more about why car insurance matters and how to make the best use of it.

December 16, 2021 / Comments Off

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The End of Their Eras: Cars That Represent The last All-ICE Vehicles Made by Their Manufacturer

Let’s all face facts here. Despite the fact that we all admire purely petrol-powered speed machines, the fact of the matter is that supercars, and for that matter pretty much all cars are going either mild hybrid or performance hybrid. Some of the most exciting new hypercars coming out in 2022 are fully electric, with no internal combustion engine at all. We’re in the middle of a revolution in automotive history.

However, as come the hybrids and electrics, so too go the ICE cars. While many in the supercar space have already moved to hybrid, and many major manufacturers have joined in on the unofficial “Green Promise” to be fully hybrid or electric by 2030, some cars are still in production, or coming, that are still powered by recycled dinosaurs.

Here are 8 of the best, as well as confirmed last, road-legal cars to use no electrical assistance at all in their engines or powertrains, a celebration of controlled explosions and loud noises!

Aston Martin V8 Vantage

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage, in its current form, started production in 2018 as a 2019 model year car. In a sort of parting shot at the future of hybridization, there are two engine options, both fuel hungry ones that make a lovely roar as you feed them more gas. The “standard” engine is a 4.0L Mercedes-AMG M177 twin-turbo V8 that smacks you in the face with 503 HP.

It’s the uprated, limited-to-88-units V12 Speedster model that is the big hurrah in terms of an ICE engine. A 5.2L behemoth known as the Aston Martin AE31, it uses two big turbos and a whole hell of a lot of dead dinos to give you 700 HP under your right foot. It is expected to be one of the fastest non-hybrid Aston Martin’s as well, possibly even faster than the DBS as it is a much more streamlined and lighter car.

The next two major cars that Aston Martin are releasing are the hybrid Valkyrie and Valhalla, both limited production models. As far as production cars, the Vanquish name is expected to quietly disappear, and the next Vantage, which is rumored to be announced after the Valhalla enters production in 2024, is expected to use a version of the Aston Martin F1 team hybrid system. This is not entirely a bad thing, as the dual-capture systems on F1 cars (MGU-H and MGU-K) allow for exceptional performance with minimal loss of energy, which means future Vantages will more than likely be more powerful that the current generation.

Bugatti Chiron

As announced recently at the Monterey Car Week in August 2021, the Bugatti Chiron is the last road-legal car that the company will make that is purely ICE powered. It is also the second to last car that the famed manufacturer will make that is powered by a W16 engine, with the track-only Bugatti Bolide being the swan song for the massive power unit.

The fact that the next Bugatti hypercar will be hybrid or very possibly fully electric is evidenced in one simple fact: Bugatti has, in the most technical of senses, been bought from VW by Rimac Automobili, and has merged with them to form Bugatti Rimac.

We say technically, because while Rimac now owns a 55% share of Bugatti, VW’s sub-brand Porsche owns the other 45%. So, technically, VW sold Bugatti then bought just under half of it back… It’s more confusing than it needs to be.

Still, with Porsche owning 45%, and having already released their own all-electric GT in the form of the Taycan, it can only be assumed that the next Bugatti will not be powered by gas. Also, with the combination of Rimac’s superb “t-spar” battery and electric control chassis component, Porsche’s and Bugatti’s excellence in materials and aerodynamics respectively, and in-house developed electric motors from all three, the next Bugatti promises to be one hell of a car. It’s even possible it could dethrone the Lotus Evija as the current hypercar power king with its 2,000 PS (1,974 HP).

Ferrari F8 Tributo

The fact that the Ferrari F8 Tributo is not a hybrid is, frankly, unprecedented. Development started way back in 2010 on the Italian company’s take on a performance hybrid system, which resulted in the Ferrari F140 FE V12 hybrid engine in the Ferrari LaFerrari. That hypercar, one of the first to be labelled with that moniker, produced 903 HP and used a hybrid motor to power the rear axle along with the V12.

After that, in 2019, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Scuderia Ferrari racing team, came out, more powerful and even faster than the LaFerrari. It uses a 4.0L twin-turbo V8, coded F154 FA, producing 770 HP, combined with three electric motors, one at each front wheel and one in the rear transaxle, to provide an extra 217 HP, for a combined 986 HP.

And then, in 2020, the Ferrari F8 Tributo started production and… it’s powered by a F154 twin-turbo V8, but at 3.9L and without the hybrid, coded as the F154 CG. It produces a monstrous 710 HP all on its own, and is probably the last Ferrari that will have the classic V8 screaming howl. With the SF90 being, as stated by the company itself, the basis for all future cars, we can only assume that whatever comes after the F8 will be a hybrid.

Keep in mind, the 812 Superfast could have qualified here as well, but it was released in 2018, while the F8 was released very late in 2019, so it technically is the last of the Ferrari pure-petrol cars that we know of.

Koenigsegg Jesko

Koenigsegg is one of those companies that is amazingly hard to read. Throughout the past few years, all you would hear about was Project 500, the “Dragon Cars,” and the like. And then, in 2020, out pops the Koenigsegg Gemera, a massively hybrid 2+2 GT car. Granted, it does have the Tiny Friendly Giant 2L 3-cylinder twin turbocharged petrol engine that chucks out a whopping 600 HP, but it uses three hybrid electric motors to bump its total power to 1,700 HP.

The Koenigsegg Jesko, on the other hand, is what was hiding under the Project 500 codename. There are two versions of the car, both of which are road-legal… barely. The Jesko itself is designed to be a monster performance car, with huge aerodynamic ducting, underbody venturi tunnels, and a GT wing that wouldn’t look out of place at Le Mans. All the aerodynamics, as well as the shape of the car, produce 1,400 kg (3,068 lbs) of downforce.

All this downforce-producing aero is needed because the Jesko’s engine is a 5.1L twin-turbocharged V8 that uses a flat-plane crankshaft, Koenigsegg’s own camless valve system, and is tuned to use E85 biofuel to produce a nigh-unbelievable 1,600 HP. And if you use regular recycled dinosaurs, you’ll still get 1,280 HP.

The more important of the two, however, is the Jesko Absolut. It is the entire reason the car was under the codename of Project 500. By removing the wing and using vertical stabilizer fins instead, as well as making all the aerodynamics as smooth as possible, the Absolut is designed to do one thing, a last hurrah for purely internal combustion engined cars: Break 500 KPH (310 MPH).

Through simulations, computer-aided fluid dynamics, and wind tunnel testing, if given enough room, running E85 biofuel, and set up in its most streamlined mode, it is estimated that the Jesko Absolut could reach 530 KPH (330 MPH). The only issue is that there are maybe one or two places on the planet where there is enough room for the car to go for it, and it would have to be an absolutely perfect day for the attempt.

Lamborghini Aventador LP780-4 Ultimae

Lamborghini, of all companies, is one of the major manufacturers at the absolute bleeding edge of hybrid technology. Believe us, we were surprised when we sat down and looked at who was pushing for performance hybrids the earliest. The Lamborghini Asterion concept was the first to really tease at it, a 2014 show car that was officially known as the LPI 910-4. LPI stands for Longitudinale Posteriore Ibrido, or Longitudinal Posterior Hybrid in English. 910 is the combined HP number. And the -4 denotes four wheels are powered.

From this car, the Lamborghini Sian FKP37 project came along, and it is the first limited production car to use a graphene-based supercapacitor, after a 3 year study done along with MIT graduate students. However, before the legendary Lamborghini V12 disappears, the Italian company announced the ultimate version of the Aventador.

Known as the Ultimae LP780-4, the last 600 cars from the Aventador model will feature a 770 HP version of the V12, similar to the one used in the SVJ model. It is streamlined, lightened, uses the absolute latest in carbon composites that Lamborghini has developed, and is stated to have a top speed of 221 MPH, 4 MPH more than the “standard” Aventador SVJ.

With the Aventador set to end production at the end of 2021, and the Huracan starting to wind down already, the future of Lamborghini flagship and production cars is anyone’s guess. However, it is known that the Aventador is the last V12, confirmed by their own press release for the Ultimae. As well, the latest limited production car, the Countach LPI 800-4, uses the LPI tag denoting a hybrid, meaning that we may never see the old LP tag again.

Lotus Emira

Lotus, while not a major manufacturer, is still highly regarded for the superb sports cars and supercar variants of their sports cars that they make. The Lotus Elise and the Lotus Exige are legendary lightweight drivers cars that may not have a whacking great V8 in the back, but can drive circles around pretty much any car that does.

This made it all the more surprising when in 2017, Lotus announced that they were going to make the most powerful, the fastest, and the most extreme electric hypercar. Lo and behold, four years later, in 2021, the Lotus Evija had finished prototyping, and it lived up to their announcement. It is the most powerful limited production car ever made with 1,974 HP, through four electric motors, one per wheel. It is extreme in that it will get you to 60 MPH from a dead stop in a hair over 2 seconds, and it will sail past 200 MPH while still accelerating hard.

However, with a limited production of 130, and each car losing money even at $2.8 million USD per, the company needs to keep producing what it is known for throughout its history. Enter the Emira, Lotus’ love letter to internal combustion. Styled as classically Lotus as possible, while also taking some influence from the Evija, the Emira will replace the Evora, Exige, and Elise models when it is released in the summer of 2022.

It is also classically Lotus in that it is lightweight at 1,405 kg (3,097 lbs), and comes with both an inline-four and V6 engine option, both using some form of forced induction, planted right behind the cockpit of this road missile. Handling is already reported to be Lotus-sharp, and many customers have already put down deposits sight-unseen on the car, based entirely on the fact that this is Lotus’ last petrol car.

For the engines, the inline-four is a 2.0L AMG Mt39 turbo, an extremely advanced engine that can produce up to 416 HP, but will be set to 382 HP in the Emira. The V6 will be a 3.5L Toyota 2GR-FE supercharged unit, which was used in the Exige Cup 430. With assistance from TRD, that engine produced 430 HP, and propelled the car to 60 MPH in a touch under 3.3 seconds. Similar performance can be expected with the Emira.

McLaren Sabre

McLaren’s skunk works, McLaren Special Operations, is fast becoming the department of the company that we think has the most fun. A predecessor version was assembled to make the McLaren F1 in the early 1990s, and when McLaren formally entered road car production with the MP4-12C, some of the best and brightest were taken aside again and formed MSO. They have been responsible for most of McLaren’s greatest hits in the last 15 years, including the P1, the Senna, and the Speedtail, the official successor to the McLaren F1.

So when, in December of 2020, McLaren Special Operations announced that there was a US-only new supercar coming, many ears and wallets perked up. Called the Sabre, the supercar will be based off of the McLaren Ultimate Vision Gran Turismo, which was a completely virtual design exercise to be put into the Playstation game Gran Turismo Sport. Only 15 units will be made, and each sold prototype-unseen because MSO, so far, has hit every performance and vehicle design goal they’ve set.

The car will use the same carbon fiber monocoque as the McLaren Senna, and will be powered by a tuned version of that car’s 4.0L M840TR twin-turbo V8. With the original engine producing 790 HP, the Sabre will get 824 HP, and be much more aerodynamically streamlined compared to the Senna, which was a car designed for downforce.

The future of McLaren’s cars is already known, with the McLaren Artura announced as the replacement for the mainstream 570S and 600LT cars. The Artura will use a mid-mounted twin-turbo V6 producing 580 HP, with a mild-hybrid assist of about 100 HP at the transaxle, and all other production replacements are expected to follow the mild-hybrid or massively-hybrid routes.

Porsche Type 992 911 Turbo S

The only truly unknown on this list of supercars, the Porsche Type 992 911 Turbo S is the most powerful Turbo model ever released by the German manufacturer, at 641 HP from a 3.8L twin-turbo flat-six. It delivers the trademark Porsche burble at idle, and howls through the upper revs with wild abandon, behavior befitting a well-designed engine.

The uncertainty about Porsche’s future comes from the fact that the 911 customer base, in general, prefers the petrol-powered engine. When Porsche went from air-cooling to water-cooling for the engine in the late 1990s, it quite literally split the customer base in two. Some considered the 911 as a dead car, with the only “true” models being air-cooled. Others accepted the benefits that water-cooling brought along, including being able to push more power from the engines.

By turning the 911 into a hybrid, that same split could happen again. However, there is also the possibility that the 911 might join the Taycan and become a fully electric car, which could potentially start World War 3 from the expected reaction some customers would have. This is evidenced by the same reason that Bugatti’s next car may be fully electric: Porsche owns 45% of Bugatti Rimac.

Without putting too much speculation out there, as a company, you don’t invest that heavily, buy up that much of a new company, unless you are expecting a massive return on investment. That return is very likely going to be in powertrains, as Rimac has cemented itself as one of the premier suppliers of batteries and electric control units for supercars and hypercars. If Porsche can somehow balance the car so that it still is rear-heavy, all-wheel-drive, and be as stupidly fast as the current 911 Turbo S is, there is hope. It will just require Porsche customers to accept that the internal combustion engine has had its day, which, knowing the average Porsche customer, will be a hard, bitter pill to swallow.

September 7, 2021 / Comments Off

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Five Exotic Car Technologies You’ll See On ‘Regular’ Cars Within 5 Years

Supercars – and more recently, a new class of Hypercars – continue to showcase the very best and most advanced technologies currently available in production road cars. While that’s not going to change (it’s the natural order of things, really), we should be anticipating an influx of exotic and wild features on the common vehicles of tomorrow.

The top-down succession of technologies has been occurring since the dawn of automobiles; however, with the exponential rate at which technology is improving these days, it won’t be inconceivably long before your average commuter car will be boasting many of today’s supercar credentials.

The proliferation of EV technology adds yet another dimension to this communal melting pot of automotive prosperity, where we’re already seeing once unimaginable horsepower and torque figures become quite easily attainable – not to mention all the other groundbreaking advancements in aerodynamics, hybrid technologies, software, and more.

Here are Five Exotic Car Technologies You’ll See On ‘Regular’ Cars Within 5 Years.

Active Aerodynamics

Disclaimer: I am fully aware that advanced aerodynamic technologies (of which active aero is certainly a part of) will be overkill for the majority of production road cars, both now and in the future.

However, we can certainly expect it to start featuring more regularly on flagship performance models – particularly those from mainstream producers – within the next few years. In fact, it has been basically confirmed that the new 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 RS will have at minimum, an actively-adjusted rear wing. Ok, so Porsche isn’t exactly your typical “mainstream” automaker, but there’s no reason we won’t see similar adaptations on next-gen versions of cars such as say, the Honda Civic Type R, Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 and Nissan GT-R.

By the way, active aerodynamics can (and should) involve a lot more than just a rear wing that changes its position at certain speeds. We’re talking more along the lines of the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ’s ALA 2.0 system, which controls actuators that open and close flaps on the front splitter, engine cover and rear wing. In conjunction with Lamborghini ‘Dinamica Veicolo Attiva’ 2.0, the SVJ’s computer processors are able to determine where downforce is needed in live time.

In the same way that some cars have torque vectoring, this essentially provides the Aventador SVJ with “aero” vectoring. That is, the ability to actively manage the car’s non-static aerodynamic features to improve cornering speeds and stability with minimal adjustments to steering and pedal inputs. For example, on your typical turn, having more grip (and hence, more downforce) on the inside wheels will improve turn in. Flaps on the front splitter and rear wing will be adjusted by the system to decrease relative downforce over the outside turning wheels, creating a grip bias towards the inside. Aided by other features such as rear-wheel steering, this can significantly improve the car’s general handling capabilities.

Supercapacitors

It’d be prudent to first speak about what supercapacitors basically are, before getting into the the nitty-gritty of how they fit into the general automotive landscape – so let’s do that. After all, the likelihood is that most people don’t know what they are, and the fact of the matter is that they’re not currently a hot topic in any of the broader conversations about EVs or hybrids. So that was your first clue: it’s some sort of electrical thing-a-ma-jig. Its present application is predominantly in that of hybrid technology, storing energy which can be converted into thrusting the car forward. If this sounds to you like what your typical EV battery does, you’re definitely on the right track. However, that’s where the similarities end.

First of all, capacitors are hardly a new technology – they’ve literally been around since electricity – nor are the proprietary to automobiles. In fact, most of the gadgets we use today have them; smart phones, computers, stereos, or just about anything you can think of that has a circuit board. That’s because of their very crucial ability to store and release energy at a rapid pace, without suffering from degradation like a typical battery.

The Lamborghini Sián is the most notable example of an automobile which uses a supercapacitor – the ‘super’ added because, well, you need a really, really big capacitor to help power a car. In this configuration, the supercapacitor collects and stores energy (primarily from regenerative braking). In certain moments (such as a launch), the supercapacitor dumps all of its energy into an electric motor which immediately and briefly adds an extra 34 hp on top of what the Sián’s 785 hp naturally-aspirated V12 engine produces.

As long as the supercapacitor keeps getting recharged – which can be achieved with just seconds of hard braking – there will always be that extra bit of power boost at the car’s beckoning. Compared to an EV battery which takes much, much, longer to fully recharge, and weighs substantially more, you might be wondering why supercapacitors aren’t the dominating technology in electric or hybrid vehicles today.

Well, there are a few very important reasons for this. By nature, supercapacitors aren’t able to store energy for long periods of time like a battery, making them unviable to be the primary food source for an electric vehicle. At least for now, simply replacing a battery with a (mega?) capacitor isn’t the solution; they’re not going to be powering cars on their own, any time soon. On that note, the ‘wee-little’ 34-hp-producing supercapacitor in the Sián probably isn’t cheap either. However, we should expect that to change as the technology gets refined, eventually becoming scalable at mainstream levels.

I’m no engineer, but I figure these same principles could be applied to fully-electric platforms, with some sort of battery-supercapacitor amalgam creating a “best of both worlds” scenario. This means we could see more supercapacitors on everyday cars sooner than later, with the shift to EVs already well underway. Then there’s the concept of solid-state batteries too… but we’ll leave that one for another story.

Magnetorheological Suspension System

Magne-what? Modern automobile suspension technologies have also been put through perpetual rethinks throughout the years, significantly evolving from more humble beginnings with leaf springs and the like. Although there is still work to be done to realize the full potential of magnetorheological suspension systems, they do presently represent the current peak of suspension technology as far as handling performance is concerned; i.e. they’re good for go-fast automobiles like supercars and hypercars.

In principle, MR suspensions work very much the same as hydraulic suspensions in that they are filled with a fluid which travels between different chambers in the piston. This allows “shock” energy to be converted into heat, essentially absorbing impacts from road contact to improve ride quality and performance. The difference with an MR suspension is that it also incorporates an electric circuit into its piston assembly.

This is where the technology is revolutionary: the electrical currents supplied to the suspension create magnetic fields inside the piston, which can instantaneously change the properties of the fluids inside, subsequently altering how the suspension responds and behaves. Adaptive suspension systems rely on this process in order to calibrate the characteristics of the suspension in any given moment. Computers help monitor factors such as steering angle, g-forces, pitch and various other factors and decide on how best to optimize the geometry based on the data. Advanced systems are able to do this in real time, making calculations and adjustments at a rate of thousands of times per second.

While MR suspension systems do still face challenges – such as the dampers not being serviceable, while being prone to problems such as hysteresis, leakage and sedimentation – the technology continues to be refined. It’s destined to become a more common feature on the cars of tomorrow as things continue to improve and scale. If you like the idea of active aero, then MR dampers are basically what that is, but for suspensions. Imagine driving a car equipped with both such systems!

AI & Cloud-based Driver Aids / Monitoring Tech

When we think of ‘connectivity’ these days, we often refer to social media, various smartphone apps, zoom meetings and some degree of cloud computing. All of the aforementioned typically exist within the ecosystem of mobile devices and personal computers, but connectivity is starting to apply very much to automobiles too. Features such as GPS navigation, in-car Wi-Fi – and more recently, self-driving capability – immediately come to mind, but with the direction the industry is going, we can expect so much more than just those things.

Connectivity as we know it, is now a big part of how we get from one place to another – physically, as well as virtually. And you only need an imagination (albeit one rooted in reality) to conjure up some of the fascinating tech we’re about to see integrated into the everyday automobile. Real-time warning systems that can detect intricate anomalies or hazards using artificial intelligence? That’s already being developed by Porsche in partnership with HERE Technologies and Vodafone, and will feature a system which identifies animate objects, monitors the behavior of other drivers and anticipates inclement road conditions. Trials are currently taking place in Aldenhoven, Germany – using a Porsche Taycan amongst other vehicles – where the system will be further optimized before its rolled out to more test sites.

“5G and data processing on the roadside help to transmit hazard warnings without delay and make road traffic even safer,” Michael Reinartz, Director of Innovation at Vodafone Germany, said in a statement. “We are currently trialing this under everyday conditions.”

Rimac is working on an “AI Driving Coach” program, which should be ready before the first examples of its Nevera hypercar roll off the production line. This system uses, as its name implies, an artificial intelligence which guides drivers while they’re on a race track. Using visual and audio aids, the AI will give drivers real-time tips on how to improve their lap times. An “augmented-reality” racing line will even be available for a select group of renown international race circuits. The same AI system is also capable of providing self-driving features. Awesome.

“What we are building is a system where AI plays a key role in teaching the driver how to perform on racetracks, at the maximum vehicle performance,” Sacha Vrazic, Director of Rimac’s autonomous driving department explains. “Not all of our customers are professional drivers, but we want them to really enjoy the car and have fun with it.”

Michelin has recently released a new range of Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, which work with their proprietary ‘Track Connect’ app to deliver unparalleled access to essential data related to a car’s handling, grip and the suitability of its tires. This data is then translated into advice for the driver with regards to optimizing tire pressures, inflation, temperatures and much more. It also provides inputs on the driver’s style, performance and skill, whether pushing the limits on the racetrack or simply commuting around town.

Naturally, the newest and most advanced technologies will typically debut on more expensive cars, before proven dependability and the economies of scale bring them to the mainstream. Expect the aforementioned technologies, and many more, to start featuring on a growing number and variety of automobiles.

Synthetic Bio Fuels (Hydrogen)

Even with the likes of Porsche taking the reigns on this recently (with McLaren and Audi also continuing to play major roles), bio fuels – or ‘eFuels’, as they’re calling it in Stuttgart – won’t require much of a trial period on exotic cars before being rolled out to the rest of the crowd; should eFuels proliferate as a viable alternative to power the world’s vehicles, it will undoubtedly benefit all players within the entire automotive landscape.

Porsche said its first iteration of Esso Renewable Racing Fuel is a blend of advanced biofuels, formulated from food waste products by ExxonMobil’s in-house team of scientists and engineers. The automaker has already begun experimenting with eFuels in its GT Cup race cars; so if it’s ultimately good enough for that level of performance, the assumption is that it will definitely suffice for production road cars as well.

The big-wigs at Porsche are already suggesting that this latest version of eFuels may even allow internal combustion cars to achieve a smaller overall carbon footprint than an electric car, particularly when taking into consideration, the byproducts created from battery manufacturing. “This technology is particularly important because the combustion engine will continue to dominate the automotive world for many years to come,” said Porsche R&D Executive, Michael Steiner. “If you want to operate the existing fleet in a sustainable manner, eFuels are a fundamental component.”

“Porsche is committed to three powertrains: purely electric, plug-in-hybrids, and highly efficient gasoline engines. From Porsche’s point of view, eFuels open up an opportunity for our plug-in hybrid models as well as our icon, the 911—either with a combustion engine or as a very sporty hybrid. This means that we could continue to drive the 911 for many years to come, which will certainly make our customers and fans happy.”

Without diminishing the significance or role that EVs will play in the more distant future – we should still expect them to become the prevailing technology – perhaps an optimally balanced coalition of clean burning fuels and fully-electric solutions is not only better for business, but for the environment too. It looks as though Porsche is already creating a model for how this could work, and if the science behind eFuels checks out, then there’s no reason that it couldn’t become the conventional formula in the years to come.

August 2, 2021 / Comments Off

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Trident Iceni Magna: The World’s Lost Diesel Sports Car

It seems that every week for the past few years, there has been another story on an all-new EV company hitting the market. Even the pioneers of the supercar world are jumping on the wagon to show off their latest EV creations.

Niche companies like Rimac, Aspark, Nio, Dendrobium and many others have all announced electric supercars to be unveiled in the next couple of years.

But the smaller companies aren’t the only ones getting a taste of the EV action, EV auto giant Tesla has just released some sobering numbers surrounding the Roadster, and we couldn’t be more excited.

Yet with all of the spotlights put on the EV world lately, it’s only appropriate we switch gears to make mention of the almost forgotten team at Trident Sports Cars. Trident was responsible for developing the Iceni and Iceni Magna – two beautifully crafted grand tourers that boasted supercar-like power figures. But they ran on something far cooler than power out of heavy rectangles (batteries). Tridents run on the same fuel found in every big, bad, American truck found on the road – DIESEL! – and a few other things as well.

Today we take a look at the world’s coolest diesel GT supercar that has yet to step into the limelight.

The World’s Lost Diesel Treasure: Trident Iceni Magna

The Trident Iceni is a stylish, limited production, 2-seater reminiscent of a TVR Tuscan mixed with a Jaguar F-Type – but instead of being powered by a dinky-sized V8, it comes toting a giant front-mounted 6.6L turbodiesel V8 Duramax. This same engine can be found in a Chevrolet Silverado or GMC Sierra – both trucks known for towing heavy payloads but not necessarily being fast by sports car standards.

The Iceni is advertised in three different levels; standard, PH1, and PH2. The standard model alleges an output of 397 bhp and 700 ft-lbs of torque. According to Trident’s website, “figures of 430 bhp with 950 lbs/ft of torque and 660 bhp with 1050 lbs/ft are attained with performance package upgrades” – these figures are insane considering they run an engine found in heavy-duty trucks. Despite the fact that these cars could also run bio-diesel, palm oil, and linseed oil, they still manage to hit a 0-60 time of 2.9-seconds (PH2 model) and a top speed of 190mph.

The initial press releases on the 2-seater Trident Iceni date back to 2008 and noted a base price of 96,000 GPB (136,000 USD) – not an unreasonable amount for a limited, made-to-order sports car.

Fit to Go Anywhere for Anything

Not only is the Iceni marketed as a high-performance sports car, but it’s also advertised as having amazing fuel efficiency and perfect for long trips. The Iceni allegedly maintains 50 mpg at 70mph – roughly the same MPG as a Toyota Prius. Trident has claimed to have “a driving range of over 1,500 miles on a single tank of fuel”.

In addition to Trident’s promise to deliver a green-friendly option with loads of power, they also highlight the touring possibilities with the Iceni – capable of holding “Four suitcases, four soft holdalls plus a suit carrier or two sets of golf clubs” in the trunk.

What Happened to Trident?

Initial announcements of the global availability for the Trident Iceni came in 2014 and while everyone waited patiently, not much news came from the British carmaker until a report from TopGear in 2017 revealed the reason behind the hushed delays.

Following the inquiry from Top Gear, a prompt response from the company’s Managing Director, Phil Bevan shed some light on the drawn-out production delays. According to Bevan’s response, the company’s funding takes place in-house and is not held to any bank or third-party investor. This is not an uncommon occurrence with small-scale automakers and while some find ways to succeed and rise to stardom, others, unfortunately, fade into the darkness of ‘what could have been’.

What’s Happening with Trident Now?

There has been little heard from the Trident team in a few years and this means they are leaving the field open for a Ford fanatic to come out of the gate running a Powerstroke engine in their Mustang-Esque prototype. Though the major difference between the two theoretical cars would be the amount of Powerstroke oil the 7.3L would guzzle on a weekly basis.

Trident Cars Ltd is based out of Norfolk in the UK and to this day, they still have the figures and specs on their website for the Iceni model. They even have a spot for you to arrange a test drive of their models – giving us further hope that one day the Trident lineup may officially hit the streets. But until then, I have sent an email to the Trident team hoping for an update on any news on the horizon for the British innovators. When and if I hear from them, you’ll be the first to know.

May 26, 2021 / Comments Off

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Buying Used Supercars & How To Go About Doing So

Buying a car is always an exciting thing to do. You felt the little pang of pride when you bought your first car, the way that your mind reminds you that this is your baby, your car, your wheels. Of course, almost everyone prefers to buy new, but sometimes either circumstances, limited editions, or even not being invited to buy a car from some manufacturers can lead to you looking into the used market.

This is especially true in the supercar space. A great example of needing to be invited to buy a supercar exists with companies such as McLaren with their MSO series like the Senna, Ferrari with their anniversary cars every 10 years like the F50 and the Enzo, and the like. The only way to realistically purchase one of these cars is via a used sale.

Other times, perhaps the supercar you’ve been saving to buy has been out of production for some years. There are those who still, to this day, yearn to own a Type 993 Porsche 911, due to it being the last of the “true” air-cooled 911’s.

Whatever the reason, there are multiple routes to take to be able to purchase a used supercar. Realistically, these methods can apply to any used vehicle purchase, the only truly limiting factors are supply and competition for the vehicle.

On Your Own

Probably the most labor-intensive method, there are some people that prefer to go about finding their perfect car on their own. They’ll scour forums, check the online listings for their city or state every morning, and will network as much as they can with friends to cast their net far and wide. Often, with the right amount of networking and good communication skills, these are the buyers that can swing great deals, or buy cars from their network before they get listed.

When it comes to supercars, however, this method of going it alone can come around to bite you. The onus is on both the seller and the buyer to find the right price for the vehicle, with the seller trying to maximize their return, and the buyer trying to negotiate the best price they can afford. Where it can bite you is if these negotiations happen without the buyer doing a thorough inspection, getting under the hood, peeking around under the car, looking for the smallest thing.

Some supercars are notoriously fickle, springing an oil leak or bending a suspension arm when someone simply looks at the car. Other supercars are built like tanks, and you really have to run them brutally hard to do any significant damage. Whatever the case, if the seller doesn’t want to let you have the car taken by flatbed to a professional mechanic that specializes in that brand, or tries to explain away a squeak or sound from the car during a test drive that doesn’t sound reasonably possible, it’s best to walk away from the car. It will probably cause more heartbreak than joy if you buy a supercar and then need to immediately fix it.

If it passes inspection, or looks/sounds/smells mechanically sound, this is where the savings of going about it on your own can show up. Fair but hard negotiating can bring the price way down over what a window sticker or sales listing might say. This is because it is common practice to slightly overprice a vehicle in a listing, so that there is built-in negotiating room to make the buyer feel that they got a good deal. The trick here is to know what the actual used value of the car is, no matter the listing price, and negotiate around that price, not the listing price.

In the end, if you put in the due diligence, the hard work, the man-hours, you will often get a very good car out of the deal at a fair price. These might be collector cars, rare cars, limited editions, or even “common” supercars. But you will know you worked for it, and that feeling of satisfaction is definitely a bonus for doing it on your own.

Through Auctions

The most expensive Lamborghini Miura sold at auction, reaching over $4.16 million.

Buying a supercar through an auction is quickly becoming one of the preferred ways to obtain one. Over the past decade, auction websites of all kinds have cropped up, and instead of having to travel to the big shows like Barrett Jackson in the US, or Silverstone Auctions in the UK, you could (and still can) bid for your preferred supercar from the comfort of your home office.

What makes this method preferred by many is twofold. The first reason is that these auctions, and auction sites, are where you are far more likely to find limited or special edition supercars listed for sale. The second edition is that for many of these supercars to make it onto the site, they have to go through an approval process that verifies the service history, VIN history, mechanical faults (if any), repairs (if any), and special conditions of the vehicle, such as stored in a garage with a trickle charger attached, driven only once or twice a year, et al.

This removes an entire layer of uncertainty away from the “Doing it on your own” method. To be listed on the major auction sites, or to appear at major in-person auctions, the cars must be vetted and approved. Notes of the inspections and approvals often appear in the listing with the vehicle, letting you see everything about it.

The downside to auctions, however, are also twofold. The first downside is that if enough people want that same car, the bidding price can quickly spiral into the stratosphere. A recent example was a 2007 McLaren-Mercedes SLR 722 that sold for $605,000, which retailed at $480,000 when new. Other, much rarer cars, can often reach into the millions, with the rarest reaching into the tens of millions.

The other downside of auctions is that you are severely limited by supply. Maybe you are looking for a Lamborghini Diablo SV in the special racing yellow they had for that car. With the SV itself being a rarer model, finding a yellow one may be even harder. And because of the rarity of the model and the color, the first downside of demand far outweighing supply can mean you may pay a premium price to get that car.

Through A Specialized Used Car Dealership

You may call them used lots, used car dealerships, second-hand lots, and the like, but there are often several dozen of these in your nearest city, and possibly hundreds across your state. It is through these dealerships that sometimes the best chances of getting your dream supercar can be realized.

There is, however, a bit of wariness and even hostility regarding used car dealerships. Through both representations in movies, TV, even news media with investigative reporting, the shadier or less professionally run dealerships cast a negative shadow across the entire industry. However, the truth of the industry is that those “bad” dealers number only in the tens to maybe in the hundreds across all of America, while the “good” dealerships number in the tens of thousands.

Yet the true power, the best reason to visit a specialized dealership, is their networking power. As the saying goes, “it’s often who you know, not what you know.” Often, the owners or senior sales members of these dealerships have a rapport with local supercar owners and sellers, and are in constant contact with each other, even with their competition. Smaller used dealers may be local only, but the truly successful ones are also multi-city, possibly even multi-state, which only expands that network further.

For example, if you were looking for a used Mercedes AMG Black Series supercar in Houston, there may not be one available. However, with large used dealers like Echo Park, they have almost the entire Eastern seaboard and the deep South of the USA to network across to find you that Mercedes AMG you so deeply desire. And when they find it, they will take care of transporting it to their Houston dealership, fully insured and properly handled.

The greatest of the benefits, however, is that these specialized used car dealerships will often only buy used vehicles in excellent condition, or with mild issues that can be repaired by the dealership before the car is listed for sale. This means that when you buy from a reputable used car dealer, you are buying a car that has, at the very least, had a top to bottom, side to side, bumper to bumper check to make sure it is operating in tip-top shape.

This is not to say that there are no downsides, as there are a few. The most prominent one that you will run across with a used car dealership is that you will often be paying a premium price over a private sale. This is because the dealership, as a business, needs to recoup the cost of buying and preparing the car for sale, as well as turn a profit to keep the business in operation.

Another downside is that, much like with doing it on your own or through an auction, sometimes demand outweighs supply. This means that competition may exist for a specific vehicle and it may come down to first-come-first-served, or, for supercars or extremely rare cars, a private auction, with the highest bid wins between the interested parties.

The last downside is that vehicles you buy from specialized used dealers are often outside of factory warranty. This is part of the “hidden costs” of owning a supercar or higher-end luxury or performance car, as if something does break or fail through manufacturing fault, depending on the age and rarity of the vehicle, parts can be shockingly expensive. And that’s before any labor costs of having the part installed.

This is (in)famously demonstrated with the Ferrari F355 with the F1 gearbox option. As one of the first semi-automatic transmissions on the market, many of the modern era’s advancements in DCTs and SCTs didn’t exist back then. This meant that the clutch plate, operated by computer, was sometimes subject to sudden and abrupt force, causing it to slip. This prematurely wore down that clutch plate, and something that should have lasted 50,000 miles only lasted 10,000. And believe us, you really, really don’t want to know what a new clutch plate for an F355 costs these days… but we’ll tell you: it’s $11,000 for an inexpensive third party one at the cheapest we could find!

April 26, 2021 / Comments Off

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Lamborghini Gallardo Buyer’s Guide

Owning a Lamborghini is a dream of many, and with the number of cars leaving the factory doors in Sant’Agata over the last years, many seem to be able to fulfill this dream with relative ease, spending $250,000 and more on a brand new Raging Bull, spec’d to their taste sounds great, but it’s not possible for most enthusiasts.

All of the official, factory-authorized Lamborghini Clubs these days are ‘owners clubs’, you need to be the proud owner of a Lamborghini to be able to be a member, so how do you get in without spending $250,000 and more? Check out our Gallardo buyer’s guide …

At the time of writing a nice example of the early Lamborghini Gallardo will set you back around $100,000, which is still a lot of money, but it’s a lot less than a new Lamborghini, and you still get one of the ‘modern’ cars from Sant’Agata. Sure there are cheaper Lamborghini to be found, but we want to focus on a car you can get in and drive away, not a project car with lots of work to be done before you can enjoy it.

You might think an old Lamborghini Urraco is a bargain, but think again, this was the first V8 Lamborghini made back in the Seventies, only 520 were ever built (of the P250), and they are getting rare today, especially a good, preferably restored one, so expect prices well over $100,000 to add an Urraco on your driveway, and this is a classic supercar, with all the classic car gremlins that come with it … expect to be stranded on the side of the road with a 50-year-old car, that’s part of the charm.

So why not the next V8 from Lamborghini, the Jalpa from the Eighties (let’s not consider the beautiful Silhouette here, it’s way too rare with only 52 ever made, and a lot less that still exist) … those are found for about $60,000 and more. Only 410 were built between 1981 and 1988, and while I love the removable roof panel to offer open-top driving, it’s still a classic Lamborghini, and it comes with the same classic car troubles … if you’re into that, great, but let’s consider having a modern era Lamborghini … which leads us to the Gallardo, Lamborghini’s first V10 production model.

The Lamborghini Gallardo 5.0 was launched in 2003 at the Geneva Motor Show, and it joined the Murciélago flagship as an ‘entry level’ Lamborghini, sales quickly picked up, and by the time the Huracán took over in 2014, a total of 14,022 Gallardo were built in an overwhelming amount of versions and special editions, but if you are looking for a bargain, you’ll end up with the original 5.0 version.

If you look for a budget Lamborghini Gallardo online, you’ll end up with prices starting at €65,000 in Europe and from $80,000 up in the USA, those are usually the early cars, 2004 and younger, some even with the semi-automatic E-Gear transmission, but remember, the Gallardo was built in an era where a manual gearbox was still offered by Lamborghini, so you might prefer the latter.

Remember, the Gallardo does not have the upward-opening doors you might love on a Lamborghini, that feature is still reserved for the V12 flagship models, but there are a lot of aftermarket companies that can transform the hinges on the Gallardo … just be careful when looking at a modified Lamborghini Gallardo, because so many were built, and prices have dropped to a level many can afford, a lot of these early V10 Lamborghini have been modified, some with good taste, some not so much … and sadly many have been driven very aggressively too, to the point of abuse … remember these early Gallardo are 15 years old or more by now, wear and tear is setting in.

So you will probably be looking at a Gallardo built between 2003 and 2008, that will be either a coupe or a spyder, if you can stretch a little over $100,000 you can find the LP560-4 evolution on the market, overall a further-developed engine and with different looks, but it demands up to a 25% premium over the earlier cars, the best of the first years of production in the Gallardo series are the MY2006 and younger ones.

The Gallardo 5.0 Coupe and Spyder

As already mentioned, Lamborghini built a lot of versions of their V10 Gallardo, and that already starts with the 5.0 coupe launched in 2003, followed by the Spyder version in late 2005 … strangely enough a manual coupe might be harder to find than an E-Gear Spyder at the time of writing. But there was another version launched in the Summer of 2005, the Gallardo SE, for Special Edition, and it came with a rearview camera mounted on the rear wing, and new wheels.

The original Lamborghini Gallardo 5.0 was launched with silver Cassiopeia wheels, for the Spyder version Lamborghini kept to more intricate Callisto wheels from the Gallardo SE.

The Gallardo SE

Only 250 units of the Gallardo SE were ever built, most of them with full-option order sheets, the SE came with the new ‘Callisto’ wheels, had the otherwise optional glass engine cover as standard, but most importantly the SE got the upgraded 520hp engine before Lamborghini would fit it to the MY2006 Gallardo to replace the 500hp version of the initial release.

The Gallardo Nera

In 2006 Lamborghini made a second, limited edition Gallardo, the Nera, this time only 185 units would be made, all finished in glossy black with some parts in matt black, on the inside a combination of white and black leather … and Q-Citura stitching, which would become an option of the ‘normal’ Gallardo models.

The Gallardo Superleggera

Launched in 2007, just before the LP560-4 edition, the lightweight Gallardo Superleggera is probably the most sought after model of the early series, it came with even more horsepower (523hp) and lost 100kg in the process of creating the Superleggera, it even came with lightweight seats covered in Alcantara, and this version introduced the stunning ‘Scorpius’ wheels.

Don’t get tempted by any of the ‘specials’ in the Gallardo range if you’re on a budget, especially the Superleggera will demand a serious premium over all other versions, you’ll be way over the price of an LP560-4 model, and don’t even think about the later LP570-4 Superleggera or LP570-4 Performante … you’re in second hand Huracán pricing at that point.

The Gallardo LP560-4 Coupe and Spyder

If you can spend the extra money, try to get a low mile 2008 or younger Gallardo LP560-4 edition, this model comes with 552 hp and benefitted from ongoing improvements over the earlier cars, even the Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder can be found for $110,000 today, so it’s within reach, just make sure to find the right one.

The Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera and Super Trofeo Stradale

If your budget is high enough, you’ll be able to shop for one of these top-of-the-line Gallardo models, either the Superleggera or the limited edition Super Trofeo Stradale, both in LP570-4 version with the most powerful V10 engine of that time from Lamborghini.

And if you really have a very healthy budget you could opt for the Gallardo Performante, which is none other than the Spyder version of the LP570-4 Superleggera.

How to find the right Gallardo for you

1. Mileage:

This is where things get tricky, what is ‘the right car’ for you? It might be the cheapest one, or the best-value-for-money one, or perhaps the lowest mileage one … personally, I would look for a Gallardo that has some miles, not a garage queen with next to no miles, you are bound to run into expensive repairs with a car that has been sitting for too long.

If you are really on a tight budget, you’ll probably end up with a high-mileage one, which might not be a problem, but you’ll have to expect some repair bills to come up very shortly due to the normal wear over time.

If shopping for a pre-2006 model Gallardo I would try to get one between 20,000 and 30,000 miles on the clock, this means the car was driven, but not excessively, and if you can verify it hasn’t had 10 or more owners, it has probably received the necessary maintenance too, which is extremely important on any Lamborghini.

A Gallardo between 2006 and 2008, with the 520 hp engine, I would even go as low as 15,000 miles, that’s a little over 1,000 miles per year, but it’s still a car that’s been enjoyed then, and hopefully not abused.

Once you’re into the LP560-4 model you really should try to find one with less than 15,000 miles, many of these Gallardo are still relatively new, so a low mileage one in the right spec should be relatively easy to locate, but as already mentioned, expect at least a 25% premium over the earlier cars.

2. Color:

It might come as a surprise, but not every Lamborghini Gallardo has left the factory doors in a bright, flashy color, if you are looking for a great deal, you might end up with a rather bland-looking car, if you could ever call a Gallardo bland.

But you’ll have to admit a silver metallic Gallardo doesn’t have the same animal-like attraction as a bright green metallic Verde Ithaca one. Which happens to be the most sought-after color, the pearl metallic green. But most Gallardo left Sant’Agata in orange, yellow, and white, some came in a very nice metallic blue, but that wasn’t a popular color … strangely back in those days black wasn’t ordered a lot either.

Just be careful with a wrap, try to avoid a Gallardo that’s still wearing a vinyl wrap, you never know how good, or bad the original paint underneath is. It wouldn’t be the first time you rip away a badly executed paint job when trying to remove a wrap, also a wrap can hide scratches and nicks on the paint underneath … just avoid it while shopping.

3. Manual or automatic:

While the optional E-Gear sounds like a great deal on the second-hand market, make no mistake, it is very expensive to repair if it fails, expect an invoice for $10,000 or more … and a failing E-Gear transmission is a total stop usually, rendering your new Gallardo useless.

While a manual Gallardo might be more fun to drive, make sure to have a service center check the clutch life … they can show you just how much more the clutch can withstand before it needs replacing, which is rather expensive too. Try to get a MY2008 or younger manual gearbox Gallardo, the earlier ones were prone to going through a clutch every 10,000 miles or so.

4. Maintenance records:

It’s always best to find a big folder with maintenance records and invoices that come with the Gallardo you’re interested in, it shows how well the car was cared for by the previous owners … and yes, that’s plural. Most of the Lamborghini Gallardo you’ll find listed for sale today will have been through a lot of hands already … a one-owner, 2,000 miles 2008 Gallardo is a unicorn.

The problem with the Gallardo is that prices have gone down to levels that make it affordable to buy for a large group but being able to perform the correct, and required maintenance can become expensive quickly, so many owners will sell the car again when major maintenance has to be done … beware of those.

5. Get a look and feel before buying:

Especially the very early Lamborghini Gallardo came with a lot of plastic on the inside, and when using the wrong products to clean that, it gets infected with the ‘sticky button syndrome’ … this will mean the price will be lower, but make no mistake, if you want to replace those trim pieces or buttons, it gets expensive in a hurry.

Either get a PPI on a Gallardo you are interested in, or at least go see the car in real life, sit in it, and look at parts like the steering wheel, the pedals, feel the seat bolsters … a Gallardo showing a few thousand miles with a very glossy steering wheel, worn down pedals, seats that offer next to no side support anymore … it’s probably been tampered with, and has a lot more miles under her belt than what the odometer shows.

If you’re looking at a manual Gallardo, don’t worry too much about scratches on that nice ‘ball’ on top of the gear shifter … even looking at it crooked will leave a scratch, anybody with a ring on their fingers driving a manual Gallardo or Murciélago will know exactly what I’m saying here.

6. The options:

I know having lots of options from the factory sound interesting to most buyers, and sellers will point them out, but remember, some options are better avoided when buying a second-hand Gallardo.

The glass engine cover was a very interesting option on the early Gallardo models, it allowed a peek onto that amazing V10 engine, just make sure the glass isn’t scratched and it opens and closes with all the normal space around … just remember, it is glass, and it can crack.

Carbon ceramic brakes might sound great, and they offer better braking when warmed up first, but just think about the long run, it was a very expensive option to begin with, and replacing a set of these disks is still extremely expensive.

From the MY2006 Gallardo you could have a rearview camera system that was fitted on top of the rear wing, just keep in mind the navigation system was still a separate option to this, so you might want to look out for that on your decision making, most of the 2006 navigation systems are completely outdated anyway … and there is still your mobile phone right?

After 2005 the Gallardo could come with a front lift system, and this is a good thing to avoid scratching the front bumper, but it’s also rather expensive to replace faulty shocks in this case.

7. Look out for these ‘hidden’ issues:

The Lamborghini Gallardo comes with an aluminum body, which is nice and light, but not every bodyshop will be able to repair dents and dings on it, make sure you check the entire body while shopping for your Gallardo.

If the front bumper on a 15-year-old Gallardo looks spotless, chances are it has been repainted, and this could be an issue on those amazing, pearl metallic shades Lamborghini offers, check for color mismatching, preferably in direct sunlight, and also open the hood and doors to check for overspray.

You will probably find a lot of the early Gallardo that have been retrofitted with the newer LP560-4 front bumper … and while that might be because one of the previous owners liked the new styling better … or this car was involved in an accident. Getting a third-party look-alike LP560-4 bumper is cheaper than an OEM original one, keep that in mind.

The Gallardo Superleggera came with an Alcantara interior, including the steering wheel, and many regular Gallardo had an Alcantara steering wheel fitted too, this looks amazing when new, but a well-used car will start to show a shiny steering wheel, better to go for a leather-wrapped one.

Double-check the tires, both for wear, but also cracks … as already mentioned, many buyers of these Lamborghini Gallardo don’t bother with maintenance or putting a new set of rubber on their car before they sell it again … remember there is a date code on tires too, with the size a Gallardo runs, these can get expensive for a set of four, make sure to calculate that into your offer.

Try to check the underside of the car before buying, especially the front bumper on a low-riding car like the Lamborghini Gallardo, it easily scrapes, so make sure there aren’t any really deep marks on it, that could mean more damage than meets the eye. Also, try to get the car onto a lift and remove the cover underneath the engine to check for leaks … a lot of fluids can drip onto that plate from the massive V10 before you’ll see anything on the floor.

8. Wheels:

I rather like putting custom wheels on my cars, but in the case of a Lamborghini Gallardo, I would stay away from those that come with non-factory wheels. Keep in mind most of these V10’s are all-wheel drive, and any misalignment of sizes front to rear will ruin the VT coupling, even fitting the wrong tires on a standard wheel might cause issues, so try to go for a Gallardo with factory fitted wheels.

Check for damage on the wheels, these V10 come with 19-inch wheels and rather low-profile tires, so catching a curb is quickly done, putting a nice scratch on the outer rim, or even worse, take a nick out of it, avoid those cars if possible, a scratch might not be a problem, but a real dented wheel can be expensive to repair.

The original Gallardo 5.0 model from 2003 right up to 2008 had the silver-finished Cassiopeia wheels as factory fitment, from 2005 you could opt for a titanium finish on these wheels, while many owners painted them black too.

From 2005 on an additional wheel became an option, the beautiful multi-piece look Callisto, first seen on the Gallardo SE in titanium, a few months later on the Gallardo Spyder in silver, when the Gallardo Nera was unveiled in 2006, she came with these Callisto wheels painted in glossy black.

In 2007 a return to OZ-Wheels was made with the introduction of the titanium finished Scorpius wheel limited to the Gallardo Superleggera at that time, later this same wheel would make a return on the Gallardo LP550-2 Balboni special and some other limited edition Gallardo versions.

When the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 was introduced in 2008, along came two new wheels, a stylish five-spoke Apollo wheel in silver replaced the up to the standard Cassiopeia one.

An optional, chrome finished cross-spoke wheel called Cordelia appeared in 2008 too, which could also be ordered in gloss black.

To complicate things, the 2010 Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera was fitted with a new, double five-spoke design finished in titanium … called Scorpius, this version was made by Fuchs and would later be used in glossy black on the Super Trofeo Stradale version one year later.

For the ‘Nuova Gallardo’ that was unveiled at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, the Appolo wheel was shown in black with machined fronts on the spokes, a very interesting look.

9. Final words:

With as many as 14,022 units of the Lamborghini Gallardo built between 2003 and 2014, many have been crashed, some of them repaired, but also a lot of these V10 Lamborghini have been modified in some way, either aerodynamics, wheels … or engine tuning.

Adding turbochargers to the Gallardo V10 engine has been seen a lot, and some of these are very professionally done, and these will demand a serious premium … while others look a little … strange, if a high-power Gallardo is the one for you, I’ll let you decide for yourself, personally, I would go for a well maintained, factory spec one with some nice options, but that’s just me.

One final tip … when you look around for a Lamborghini Gallardo, you’ll get the comment to go for an Audi R8, “it’s the same car, but for about half the price” … well, just have this answer ready: “It’s NOT a Lamborghini, period”. Not even an Audi R8 V10 model is the same as a Lamborghini Gallardo when it comes to impact on the road … get a Gallardo and enjoy it.

April 6, 2021 / Comments Off

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The Factor Speed Plays In Accident Injuries

There is a fairly infamous saying about speeding, one that both highlights and makes light of the simple facts of physics: “Speed never killed anyone. It’s the sudden stop when you hit the tree that kills you.” Despite being a little bit of dark comedy, it’s also true. Speed has never killed anyone in and of itself.

That isn’t to say, however, that speed has no part to play in accidents that cause injuries or fatalities. Speed affects multiple parts of driving, each of which can be a contributing factor to the severity of any injuries or accidents.

This is especially true with performance cars, supercars, and now hypercars. These vehicles are capable of speeds that even 10 years ago were thought unreachable. The Bugatti Chiron 300, for example, is able to reach 300 MPH. The Koenigsegg Jesko 500 is another, designed to go over 500 KPH (310 MPH). We are getting to a time in automotive history where the cars are starting to be able to go at speeds that the common driver may not be able to control.

What Role Does Speed Play With Respect to the Severity of an Injury in an Auto Accident?

Firemen rescuing someone from accident wreck — Speed played a factor in causing this car to roll over. Notice the firefighters having to use the jaws of life to get to the diver, who is trapped upside down with a potential neck injury.

To first understand how speed can injure, we have to define exactly what speed does to a large piece of plastic and metal with a sentient watery sack of flesh inside of it. When you accelerate, you are combating inertia to obtain velocity. You and the vehicle move together, as you are supported by a full back seat, which pushes you at the rate of acceleration.

Now, when you’re going 30 MPH or so, you are covering 44 feet a second. In case that doesn’t sound that bad, take into account that the average American small car is only about 14 to 18 feet long. You are literally covering 2 to 3 car lengths per second, which is why during driver’s ed, the 2 second rule for following the car ahead of you is emphasized.

Now double that to 60 MPH. 88 feet per second. Now accelerate past the national limit and hit 90 MPH. 132 feet per second. It’s an exponential amount of inertia and distance covered that continues to build, and that speed is transferred into your body.

So what role does speed play in severity? Assume that you come around a bend and see traffic at a dead stop about 100 feet in front of you. At 30 MPH you can hit the brakes, engage the ABS system, and will more than likely be thrown forwards into your seatbelt but be able to stop in time. All you’ll get then is possibly a bruise, maybe a sore collarbone.

At 60 MPH, no matter how fast you react or how hard you brake, unless the brakes are carbon ceramic and the car is superlight carbon fiber, it’s almost inevitable that you will crash into the back of traffic. How much speed is dispersed before impact helps reduce the chance of injury, but if you hit at full speed, expect at least a facefull of airbag and possibly a concussion from your brain sloshing around, hitting the front of your skull from the sudden deceleration, and then smacking the back of your skull as you are recoiled into your seat.

Coming around that corner at 90 MPH is where things can get serious, even deadly. Since you are covering 100 feet in less than a second, probability states that your foot may not even be pressing the brake pedal yet. In this case, crumple zones, seat belts, and airbags can quite literally save your life, although the force of deceleration, countered with the force of the car crumpling until it’s reached its limit before transferring the deceleration to you, can easily be enough to snap bones. Collarbones are common with seatbelts, ankle and lower leg breaks are also common due to bracing or pushing against the brake pedal or floor.

The force of the crash can cause your brain to hit your skull so hard you are rendered unconscious, as well as your internal organs can be decelerated so violently that they can tear off their muscular and skeletal mount points, and even tear open vital blood vessels. If you manage to tear your aorta somehow, there is little to no chance of survival. Not to be dramatic, but the faster you go, and the more sudden the stop, the higher the chance of death or permanent injury is.

Are Some Cars More Likely to Result in Injury Than Others?

Man climbing on hood of moving car — If your windscreen is filled with a motorcycle rider, come to a gentle stop so they can get off. These Smart Cars are quite prone to injury accidents

In a word, yes. The fact of the matter is that the shorter the car is, the smaller its energy dissipation via crumple zones is, and unless there is a safety cell and energy transfer design in the cabin area, the more force is transmitted to the driver.

In order of most to least severe, microcars like the Smart brand are the most likely to result in injuries, as there quite literally is no crumple zone, and the cars rely on energy dispersion around the vehicle to bleed off as much force as possible. Small four door hatchbacks and small family sedans are the next most severe, again because of the forces involved not having much area to disperse. Ford, GM, Fiat, BMW, and Porsche all have worked around this by making their cabins very strong and allowing the deceleration force to pass around the car, crumpling the roof and side panels, without affecting the actual cabin structure and safety cell.

Next most severe are actually CUVs and SUVs. This is not because of them not having a large crumple zone, but because they have a tendency to flip if they cannot dissipate their speed before the vehicle goes sideways. You will often find in crash videos where an SUV is struck in any way other than head on or tail on, the CUV/SUV will tip up on two wheels, and if there is enough inertia, roll over. These rollover accidents do not so much disperse the inertia as allow it to cycle about the vehicle, and as seats are often not bolstered or protected on their sides, the humans inside might fling about in their seatbelts, hitting their heads on door jambs, their arms potentially flying out an open window to be crushed by the vehicle as it rolls.

The least severe in terms of injury are heavy duty trucks, pickups, and large commercial vehicles. With these vehicles, it is mostly weight that reduces the chance of injury, as they are often several tons compared to a small sedan that might be 2,400 lbs in a generous world. Basically, it has way more inertia than whatever it hits, so unless it’s a solidly built brick wall, whatever it hits is going to take the brunt of the impact.

What Steps Can Someone Take to Reduce Their Risk of Serious Injury?

Man on phone while driving — Don’t do this in a car. Texting and driving, or more generally distracted driving, is now the leading cause of fatal motor vehicle accidents in the USA, surpassing drunk driving.

In all honesty, drive within your limits. Something else to consider is that, according to the injury lawyers at Batson Nolan, your insurance company may void your claim or fight to prevent payout if excessive speed is found to be a factor, even if you are ruled not at fault.

It is quite concerning how many accidents occur in our modern times from people being distracted from the road. Smartphones are the #1 distraction, with many fatal accidents being caused by texting, recording a video or taking a selfie, or simply speaking on the phone without using a hands-free device, which is basically unacceptable in 2021 as most cars in the past decade have some form of bluetooth hands-free connectivity. The better option is to put the phone in your pocket or center console, on silent mode, and have your voicemail recording say something along the lines of “Hey, I can’t come to the phone right now because I’m either busy or driving…”

Road rage is another contributing factor to accidents. It is far too common for someone to feel cut off, even if they were not, and to fly into a rage that causes them to speed up and chase down the “offender.” Sometimes, they are so angry that they want to physically hit the other person’s vehicle with their own, causing a motor vehicle accident where speeding could very well be involved. Honestly, before boiling, take a few deep breaths. By the time you’ve done that, you’ll probably have realized that the person that cut you off may not have seen you, and is it really worth potentially dying over?

As well, drive the speed limit. Speed limits are there for a purpose, not just a suggestion. On long, straight freeways, you’ll often find speed limits around 70 MPH. This is because you can see well ahead what’s happening on the road, and it is expected you’ll leave the 2 seconds between cars as taught in driver’s ed. Notice, however, that off-ramps from the freeway often have a speed limit way below 70 MPH. This is because unless you have the world’s stickiest tires, going around that bend at 70 MPH will result in you being flung off the road due to loss of traction.

And if you are going to do the speed limit, while it’s not effectively a law on the road, don’t take the left lane. Let those who want to speed risk themselves in the HOV or left lane. Stay safe in the middle or right lanes. The common guidance is “slower traffic keep right,” and with how impatient some American drivers get, driving the speed limit can sometimes be seen as driving slowly.

So, in sum: Don’t be distracted, focus on the job of driving above all else. Let go of rage, realize that the “offense” is really not worth being injured or killed over. Drive the speed limit, and let those that don’t risk themselves at their own peril in the left lane of the freeway. Always wear a seatbelt. Drive to survive, not to get there quickest.

And if you are lucky enough to own a supercar or hypercar, realize as well that while they are performance cars, you could damage or destroy that car by being too exuberant with your speed. They’re beautiful vehicles, drive responsibly and let yourself, and those around you, enjoy them as the rolling pieces of art they are.

April 2, 2021 / Comments Off

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Are You A Lawyer? We Pick The Supercar For You!

Lawyers. They are either your best friend, or your worst enemy, depending on what type of attorney you need. There are as many different types of law as there are lawyers willing to work in those fields. So, we thought it would be a fun exercise to try and pick out the perfect supercar (or even hypercar!) for each type of lawyer.

This is in no way meant to be an authoritative list. As well, since a lawyer probably will read this, we are not liable, accountable, or responsible if you either a) disagree with our choices and b) actually end up buying one of these supercars and not liking it!

Corporate Lawyer

Car: 2018+ Bentley Continental GT W12

This lawyer is the one that understands the finer points of contracts, trades, intellectual property, and the risks associated with any inter- or intra-corporate negotiations. This lawyer is either part of a firm of partners, or is working in the legal department of the company in question.

So why is the Bentley Continental GT the perfect corporate lawyer supercar? Consider its looks for a moment. It’s smooth, slick, even a little understated. Yet hiding under that body is a twin-turbocharged W12 that produces 626 HP and 664 lb-ft of torque.

A corporate lawyer also usually wears a nice suit, can talk smoothly, and often looks unassuming. Yet their knowledge of corporate law, and the ways to attack those infringing on their client’s intellectual property or trying to pull a fast one on a contract, can be downright scarily powerful. A powerful car for a powerful lawyer.

Personal Injury Lawyer

Lamborghini Urus — This and many more photos of Lamborghinis are available on www.LamboCARS.com

Car: Lamborghini Urus

Personal injury lawyers are often the common layman’s best friend. When you are injured at no fault of your own, these are the attorneys that you retain to research your case, determine what, if any safety guidelines and OSHA laws have been infringed on or broken, and then take your case to a court of law to get you a proper settlement. They know everything about safety, what rules and laws need to be followed, and are fierce litigators.

So, why not give them a supercar that also knows all about being safe while also being fierce? The Lamborghini Urus is one of the few super-SUVs out there in the world with a perfect 5 star rating from the NHTSA and Euro NCAP safety tests. It has multiple driver aids to keep the SUV on the road, in a whole slew of conditions that the AWD system can adapt to.

And it’s fierce, with a low-mounted 4.0 liter twin-turbocharged V8 that bellows out 650 HP and 627 lb-ft of torque. It has active torque vectoring and four wheel steer when needed, and active roll stabilization to maximum comfort and surefootedness. The 8-speed semi automatic gearbox also actively senses the way the Urus is being driven, and sends signals to the torsen locking center differential to make sure that at all times, the Urus is safe.

Criminal Lawyer

Car: Koenigsegg One:1

Criminal lawyers are the ones that either defend or prosecute those charged with everything from local misdemeanors all the way through to felonies at the federal level. Their knowledge of the specific laws involved in the charges must often be quickly gained on a per-case basis, and their defense or prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect awaiting trial is either guilty or not guilty. Despite how long criminal cases can take, it’s often a fast paced job, with attention needed to every word spoken by any witnesses or other lawyers to be able to seize any opportunities to object or call testimony into question.

This rapid fire, on demand knowledge needs a hypercar that is just as fast, just as able to seize opportunities to call that corner coming up into question. The ultimate expression of that in the past twenty or so years has to be the Koenigsegg One:1. For quite a few years, it was the most powerful hypercar in the world, and had a power plant capable of producing 1 megawatt of power.

That is the 1 part of the One:1. The One part of the name comes from the fact that the car has an equal weight to its HP. 1,360 kgs being powered by 1,360 HP. And that is the final power to weight ratio, as the third reason for the name. 1:1, or One:1. It is also insanely quick, able to sprint to from 0 to 400 KPH (249 MPH) in 20 seconds. A quick hypercar for a lawyer that needs to be equally quick in the courtroom.

Automobile/Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Car: 2021 Type 992 Porsche 911 Turbo S

Auto accident lawyers are a special breed. They know local and federal insurance laws inside out, upside down, and front to back. They’re the ones that will fight the insurance companies tooth and nail to get you every penny you deserve. Often, insurance companies have a very sour taste in their mouths after you tell them that you are retaining an auto accident attorney and not accepting their quickly offered settlement.

One thing auto accident attorneys also know better than most are the supercars that are out there on the road, which are the ones you need to treat like fragile art and which ones that can be wrung out to within an inch of their specifications. The 2021 Type 992 Porsche 911 Turbo S is the latest and greatest of those durable, usable, and fast supercars that you don’t really need to wrap in bubble wrap whenever you want to go for a drive.

Consider: A reliable 3.8 liter boxer-six engine with two variable turbine geometry turbochargers that change their impeller pitch depending on demand from the right foot of the driver. 640 HP and 590 lb-ft of torque. All-wheel-drive, all the time. Active suspension. Active aerodynamics that won’t snap the first time you introduce them to wind. And it can clear speed bumps and entry/exit ramps because Porsche knows that the real world exists, and builds their cars to fight in the real world, not solely on the track.

Immigration Lawyer

Car: Ferrari 488 GTB

Immigration lawyers have the unenviable task of having to know immigration law, and all its sub-sections, intimately at all times. They need to be able to present cases before USCIS, the immigration board of appeals, and even immigration courts, often with very little preparation time and under immense time pressure. They really only have one chance, one swing at the bat, to win their cases, and in legal terms, are at the razor’s edge of litigation.

It would make sense, then, that an immigration lawyer would want their supercar to also be a razor’s edge weapon of performance and handling. The Ferrari 488 GTB is just that car, with a nearly telepathic steering wheel that combines with a drive mode switch to allow the driver to carve a perfect apex on the track while the rear end steps out just enough to make it fun.

It’s not the fastest, nor the most difficult to drive, nor the most legendary Ferrari. But with a 3.9 liter twin-turbo V8 singing Italian opera behind your head, 670 HP at your right foot’s command, and 560 lb-ft of torque to get you going, it is one of the most exciting Ferrari cars in many years. And if you turn the drive mode selector all the way to “off,” everything really is off, and it’s up to you to handle the fury and the razor sharp handling all on your own. And to come to US shores, the Ferrari also needs to immigrate, although it goes through an entirely different set of laws.

Estate Lawyer

Car: 2015 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Estate

Estate lawyers have to deal with one of the few most unpleasant duties of life. Their entire job revolves around death and/or disability, and handling someone’s personal effects and affairs once that person has passed on. They also deal with both living wills and last wills, and may be instructed to pass a “do not resuscitate” order to a medical professional should someone request it in their living will. It is a heavy burden, but there are laws regarding the passing on of property, assets, and even businesses to descendants or named parties.

For someone with so much darkness to deal with, a comfortable, fun, powerful supercar with the ability to carry a lot of boxes in the back certainly makes the duty a bit more enjoyable. The 2015 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Estate is just that car, and not because it has the word Estate in its name.

A reliable and bulletproof 4.0 liter twin-turbocharged V8 produces 510 HP and 516 lb-ft of torque. What makes it special, however, is that it handles corners beautifully and flat, and is, as expected from a Mercedes, incredibly comfortable. Folding down the rear seats, you can also fill it up with any number of boxes of files you may need. And it will get you to your clients with a NHTSA 5 star safety rating, ensuring that you don’t need your own estate lawyer!

Bankruptcy Lawyer

Car: 2020 Corvette C8 Stingray

Bankruptcy lawyers deal with way more than just bankruptcy. Insolvency, personal and corporate bankruptcy, creditor and debtor litigation, contract disputes, consumer proposals to creditors… if it has to deal with money, these are the lawyers that handle it. While all bankruptcy lawyers need to be familiar with bankruptcy law, almost every single one also specialises in a derivative field, such as reparation law, or creditor/debtor litigation and dispute processes.

Seeing as these lawyers know the dangers of bankruptcy and insolvency, they also want to get the most supercar they can for their money. The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8 Stingray, as has been stated by almost every reviewer, is the bargain of a generation. Well equipped in 2LT spec, it won’t cost much over $75,000.

And by well equipped, we mean the carbon appearance package and the Z51 performance package. All versions of the Stingray (1LT, 2LT, 3LT) are powered by a 6.2 liter V8 that punches out near-as-makes-no-difference 500 HP. It will hit 60 MPH in 2.8 seconds using the available launch control. It is built strong, with a next generation dual clutch transmission that is damned near telepathic. It handles well, will corner hard, and produces a great American roar from the exhausts. And, as stated, it’s probably the least expensive, easiest to finance American supercar ever!

Tax Lawyer

Car: McLaren 720S

Tax lawyers are a necessary evil, if you believe the adage of “only two things are certain in life: death and taxes.” What they are in reality are specialists in the field of tax law, which is surprisingly in-depth in the USA. These are the lawyers that will fight for you in relation to paying back taxes, stop your wages being garnished by the IRS, and even go to court to fight the IRS if you are being egregiously over-taxed or over-garnished by them. They deal a lot with over-the-top and sometimes unfair treatment of their clients, and can help settle things amicably with the IRS.

So for a lawyer that deals with over-the-top a lot, how about a bonkers over-the-top McLaren 720S? Coming out just a few years ago, these ridiculously fast cars come with a twin-turbocharged V8 that puts out 710 HP and a bucketload of torque in a carbon-fiber body and chassis that is shaped to pierce the air as efficiently as possible.

And to take over-the-top literally, the 720S stops with a ferocity few cars can match. As the air flows over the top of the car, it passes over a low spoiler that keeps the rear planted. When you engage the carbon-ceramic brakes, however, that spoiler flips up, becoming a massive air brake that does up to 30% of the total effort in slowing the car down. It also handles beautifully, and can accelerate faster than some hypercars. It really is the perfect car for the over-the-top lawyer!

Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Car: Pagani Huayra

While medical malpractice technically falls under personal injury, it is such a diverse and deep field that it has been splintered off into its own specialized section of law. More succinctly “medical malpractice and negligence law,” these lawyers are the ones that will pursue restitution and settlement if you become injured or disabled due to a doctor performing his or her duties incorrectly, or through negligence caused you medical difficulty or harm. These lawyers are often extremely specialized and may even be former doctors themselves.

In that case, why not have a hypercar that is just as specialized? The Pagani Huayra, from the insanely genius mind of Horatio Pagani, is a car that is dedicated to taking the laws of physics and manipulating them to make the car do the nearly impossible. No Italian hypercar, when it came out in 2011, cornered as hard, nor accelerated as brutally, as the Huayra did. Even today, it’s an exceptionally specialized car.

It is the first car to use carbo-tanium, a weave of carbon fiber with titanium threads interwoven. It means that less of the material was needed to make the car as strong as if it was pure carbon fiber. This resulted in a vehicle that weighs only 1.350 kg. Then throw a highly tuned, Mercedes-AMG M158 V12 twin-turbo in the back on a bespoke, sculpture-like engine mount, and make it dish out 750 HP and a barely believable 738 lb-ft of torque. And on top of all that, add four major active aerodynamic flaps to control the air passing over the body, and you have a car that is worth its multi-million dollar price, if for no other reason for being so incredibly specialized.

April 2, 2021 / Comments Off

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How Much Does Rain Reduce Your Traction?

While driving, it is often left out of one’s thoughts that the only things giving you any turning ability and acceleration and braking are four small patches of vulcanized rubber that are in contact with the pavement beneath you. Yet, these four contact patches are quite literally what you are staking your life on. Traction, or the ability of these four contact patches to grip against the pavement, plays a huge role in controlling your vehicle.

There are many different types of tires out there. Racing cars on specialized tracks will use slick tires, with no grooves, to maximize their contact with the tarmac. On the road, you can get everything from “summer tires,” which are more rationally semi-slicks with some water displacing grooves, to full all-season tires, to off-road and mud/snow specialized tires.

What is important is that you know where you drive as well as you can, and make an informed decision on the best tires you can get.

How Rain Reduces Traction

You’ll have to pardon us, we’re going to do a little science talk here. A tire grips the road due to three specific forces acting upon it.

The first is gravity, which pulls the weight of the car down, through the suspension, into the tire. This is combated via pressurized air preventing the tire from literally being flattened by the weight. In terms of physics, at a full stop, this balance of air pressure resisting the weight of the car is called “normal force,” or more properly the overall weight the object is exerting on the ground, and is expressed as N in formulas.

The second force is inertia. When a tire spins, inertia acts upon the tread of the tire, increasing the diameter of the tire slightly. This inertia also transfers its force into the ground, pushing against the pavement that wants to resist it, and moving the car forward. This can be seen in quite dramatic fashion if you look at the rear tires of a top-fuel dragster.

dragster at racing strip — Notice how the rear tire is “standing up,” due to rotational force and the soft sidewalls.

These tires are normally quite squat, with extremely flexible sidewalls. When the driver lets all the power of the engine out through them, they expand their diameter to almost double the diameter while at rest, and become as narrow as the compound of the rubber allows, literally “Standing up” the tire so it gets maximum grip and acceleration.

The third force acting on the tire is friction, which is roughly the amount of resisting force a surface has, expressed in physics as “f.” This friction is what causes you to scrape your palm if you trip and fall on the sidewalk vs no scrapes on your palm if you trip and fall while skating on ice. Ice, by definition, has a much smoother surface than pavement, and doesn’t act as quickly on your skin.

There is an important equation that determines that, known as the coefficient of friction, expressed in physics as “µ.” This equation takes the normal force acting upon an object, and the friction of the surface it is pushing against, and comes up with a number between 0 and 1 that expresses that coefficient. General use pavement, for example, in a dry and clean condition, often is rated as having a coefficient of friction of around 0.7, which is quite grippy. Teflon, on the other hand, has the lowest coefficient of friction of any man-made substance at 0.05.

This is expressed in the formula: = fN

This diagram also expresses how all these forces interact:

With the understanding of these forces, namely normal force, rotational inertia, and friction and the relationship between the normal force and friction expressed as the coefficient of friction, we can finally start to delve into just how rain reduces traction.

Rain & Tires

Your everyday standard low profile sport tire

On dry pavement, with a normal coefficient of friction of 0.7, your tires stick well to the road because the maximum amount of normal force, inertia, and friction are allowed to exist between all parts of the tire. However, when it rains, something happens to these forces.

Water, in sufficient amounts, acts as a lubricant. Effectively, what happens between the normal force and friction is that a new surface is introduced between the tire and the pavement. This new layer has a very low coefficient of friction, and while thin enough that the normal force can push down through it in a few milliseconds, it introduces enough of a lubricating force that the coefficient of friction drops.

This drop can be affected by the volume of rain falling and the amount of standing water on the pavement. Often, a heavy rain can drop the coefficient of friction to 0.4, or almost half of what it normally is on dry pavement.

The most dangerous situation is where there is enough standing water at enough of a depth to cause your tire to completely lose contact with the pavement, immediately dropping the coefficient of friction to 0.0. This is also known in general parlance as hydroplaning.

Tire Grooves & What They Do

Tire grooves and sipes — Groovy! And, if you’ll allow us, sipey!

If you went out to your car right now, you will see that your tires have two or three major grooves in the middle or offset to the interior side of the tire. You will also see multiple angular groves that almost make an arrow shape leading towards those central grooves. These are called, respectively, water displacement grooves and tire sipes.

What the central grooves do is quite literally in the name. With water on the road, these grooves are there for the water being acted upon by the normal force of the tire to have somewhere to go, or, in more scientific wording, they allow for the water under the tire to be displaced into an empty volume.

Sipes, on the other hand, are very interesting. There two types of sipes, known as hard sipes, or the grooves that are cut into the tire that are large enough to put your little finger into, and soft sipes, which you will see if you run your finger over a section of a mud & snow tire and see little gaps appear in the solid part of the tread.

These sipes are shaped so that the moment the leading edge of the tire contacts water, it first displaces that water into the groove of the sipe, and then, using rotational inertia, fling it towards the outer or inner edge of the tire until it departs from under the tread. Soft sipes can help by allowing the tread in contact with the pavement a little extra grip without needing to displace water.

Why You Need Good Quality Tires in Good Condition

With the sciency bit out of the way, let us now focus on what actually happens in the real world. Scott Kirk, auto accident lawyer at Brett McCandlis Brown & Conner, says that many of his clients are surprised by how little traction they have when they drive in the rain. This can be contributed to by a number of factors, the least of which is an important part of your tire, the tread depth.

Tires have a certain tread depth that, once reached, means the tire must be replaced. In the USA, this is federally mandated as being 2/32 of an inch, or 1.6mm if expressed in metric. Any tread that is lower than this is technically an illegal tire and can end up with you being fined for having it on your vehicle.

But the far more serious implication is that in rainfall, you will not have enough water displacement to effectively gain traction against the pavement. This, in the worst case scenario, means that you will not have any friction to work against your tires while braking, and even with ABS, you could lock your wheels and hydroplane into another car.

Another consideration regarding tires is that they need to be in good condition. Tires do have specific life cycles, even if they are not at the minimum tread depth. Things to watch out for here are sidewall rot, tread rot, and small bubbles appearing in the sidewall of your tire. If you see any or all of the three, your tires need to be replaced.

sidewall rot and crack — This is what sidewall rot looks like from the tire being too old and underinflated

Something that helps massively in traction and keeping your tires healthy in the long run is something that also helps fuel efficiency and is the most often overlooked part of the tire. This is, surprisingly, correct tire inflation. Your tires should realistically be checked weekly for correct pressures, and air added or bled off to make sure that your tire is precisely on the recommended inflation in your vehicles owners manual and on the driver’s side car information sticker.

By following these simple steps, as well as leaving a little more space between vehicles in the rain, you can maximize your traction in the wet. But keep in mind, no matter what you do, physics can’t be beaten with happy thoughts. Leave space, brake progressively, accelerate progressively, and take corners at reasonable speeds, and you should be fine!

April 2, 2021 / Comments Off

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What Not To Do If You Get Into An Accident

According to the NHTSA, there were over 33 thousand fatal auto accidents in 2018. But excluding the fatal accidents, there are still a few million accidents that take place in the US each year. If you haven’t been in an accident before, the chances of you knowing someone who was, are very high.

You’ve all heard the saying, “prepare for the worst and hope for the best” – If you’ve never been in an accident, you may not be as prepared as you think. Today we cover what NOT to do and what you should do if you’re involved in an auto accident.

We will cover all of the basics in addition to the things most people don’t know if you happen to land in an auto accident.

Don’t Leave the Scene of the Accident

Photo credit: Instagram / ronniecnyc

We asked the David Aylor auto accident law office in Charleston, SC, for their opinion, and no matter who is at fault, it is never okay to leave the scene of an accident. It doesn’t matter how minor the accident is or if you are late for work, leaving the scene of an accident is illegal.

Ensure you and your passengers are safe and engage the hazard lights on your vehicle. If safe to do so, move your vehicle to the side of the road, and away from traffic.

Whatever you do, do NOT be like this guy. The driver of this rare Gemballa Mirage GT is basically the poster boy of what not to do in the case of an accident.

Don’t Accept Money from Anyone Involved in the Accident

It’s common for people to offer you money at an accident scene to try and hush the situation. This may seem like the easiest and quickest way to have the situation handled it but it comes with its downfalls. Repairs to your vehicle should be put through insurance because, in a lot of cases, you can’t always see everything that is damaged on your vehicle at the scene of the accident.

If you’re not at fault, you don’t have to worry about deductibles or a mark on your driving record.

After you’ve made sure everyone is safe and you’ve called 911, take pictures of the accident scene and exchange information with the drivers involved.

Ensure to collect the following information:

Names
Addresses
Phone numbers
License information
Insurance company name & policy number

It’s also a good idea to canvas the scene for witnesses if the police haven’t done so. This can mean people who were walking by or other motorists with dashcam footage. Luckily, dashcams have become affordable and are used by a ton of car owners.

Don’t Sign Anything!

Do not sign anything other than a police report at the scene of an accident. If you happen to make a side deal with another and sign something, it can come back to haunt you if the incident is taken to court.

After the police have made a report and deemed a driver “at fault”, you can then contact your insurance company right away. The sooner you start the process, the sooner it will be dealt with.

Don’t Have Your Vehicle Repaired Without Getting the ‘OK’

Resist the natural impulse to immediately drive to an auto body repair shop and have your car repaired – It’s understandable that no one wants to drive around in a beat-up-looking supercar. Doing this can risk your insurance company from denying the repair cost as it may not be an approved repair location.

Contact your insurance company for a list of recommended repair locations. If you have a specific repair shop in mind, it’s best to run that by your insurance company before taking your car there. Once your insurance company has authorized a location, the work performed can be guaranteed and paid for.

Photo credit: Pfaff Autoworks

For supercar owners, it is important to research repair shops for quality of work and reviews of work done. But in addition to customer testimonials, a repair facility that is Manufacturer Certified gives the reassurance the vehicle will be repaired using quality parts or body panels.

Pictured below is a snapshot of Pfaff Autoworks. They happen to be located in Canada and are a perfect example of a repair facility that is Manufacturer Certified.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do:

Stay calm, keep yourself and others safe. If you can’t get out of your car, turn on your hazard lights. If anyone is injured, call 911.
Look at the accident scene and make sure that you are not in danger of being hit by another vehicle.
Exchange information with the other drivers involved. Get their names, addresses, phone numbers, licence information, insurance company name and policy number.
Obtain the contact information of any witnesses who are at the scene.
Take photographs of the accident, including the damage to the car and road conditions.
Call your insurance company right away.

Don’t:

Move anyone who is injured – wait for medical help to arrive.
Leave the scene of the accident.
Accept a direct offer of payment of damage from the other driver. Settling for direct payment may not be as advantageous as it seems. If you’re not at fault, the accident won’t affect your driving record nor will you have to pay a deductible.
Sign any documents other than the police report.
Get your vehicle repaired without clearing it with your insurance company; they may refer you to a repair facility where the work is guaranteed.

March 24, 2021 / Comments Off

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Dashcams Are The Cheapest Form Of Insurance You can Buy: Here’s Why

Insurance is one of those really finicky things about driving. You select your coverage, select your deductible, find the right company that wants to take on your business, and pay monthly to have that insurance coverage. However, should the unfortunate thing happen and a crash occurs, unless there is overwhelming evidence against the other driver, it can be extremely difficult for an adjuster to rule you at no fault if it truly was no fault of your own.

While having witnesses is often the factor that helps determine fault in a crash seen by many people, what protection do you have if it’s a one on one hit in the middle of the night with no one else around? At that point, it’s your word against their word. And unless you are able to sell ice to someone living in the Arctic, you will still most likely cop some of the fault.

What Are Dashcams & How Do They Work?

Due to a surprising and unpleasant rise in insurance fraud, around the turn of the century, many small companies in Taiwan popped up, selling relatively inexpensive, windshield mountable video cameras that would record the past 30 or 60 minutes of powered on time on a continuous loop to a small memory card. The image was fairly poor, the sound abysmal, but what it did provide was an objective record of the moments leading up to a crash.

Today, there are several major players in the Dashcam market, from Garmin to MiVue, from Abee to BlackVue. For motorcycle riders, there are Sena Camera Communication devices and multiple options of using action cameras like GoPro in special helmet mounts.

Yet, the absolute basic workings of the camera are the same. Either battery or 12V adapter powered, the camera records everything in its field of view onto a memory card that is inserted into the camera. The most common size is 64 GB, but many can now take up to 256 GB cards and have 4K recording options.

Many of these dashcams also have other sensors such as GPS, accelerometers, automatic light correction for the recording, and stabilization features, just to name a few. This data can also be captured into the recording, providing GPS accurate speed, location, g-forces endured, and even snapshot a crash into its own specific file that is easy to find.

How Do Dashcams Protect You?

Schultz & Myers, a law firm specializing in accidents, told us that having photographic evidence of a crash is great, while having video evidence is the best possible scenario. Why is that?

A continuous loop video, properly set up and with a good field of view, is, of all things, objective. The most common thing after experiencing an accident is that your adrenaline spikes, the fight-or-flight response kicks in, and you might miss a crucial detail in your written statement to the police or while filing your claim with your insurance.

A dashcam, on the other hand, has no emotions. It has no adrenaline, no fight-or-flight response. It is simply a video camera that is designed specifically to record inside a car or truck. It can’t be taunted, cajoled, paid off, or threatened. It simply provides the truth, in 1080p HD resolution or better.

Another feature of many dashcams in 2021 are that they can be either tied into your car’s electronics, automatically starting to record when you turn on your car, or plugged in manually to a 12V adapter. The ones that are tied into the car’s electronics have a feature that is called either Parking Mode or Sentry Mode. What this means is that the camera will still record, even with the car turned off, on a low power or super-low power mode recording only one frame per second.

If the accelerometers sense the car has moved, or on some of the very high end units if the microphone detects certain sounds, it will automatically capture the preceding 30 seconds and the following 60 seconds, giving you a 90 second window of what happened. This evidence can be extremely useful in vandalism cases such as willful destruction or damage to property, as shown in many successful claims by Tesla owners using the built in sentry cameras showing people keying the car, or ripping the door handle off.

Are Dashcams Legal?

The exact lettering of the law for the United States, all named roadways are, by definition, public property. This allows for video recording to take place under the first amendment of the US constitution, including video recording of law enforcement on said public property. In terms of the audio recording capabilities of dashcams, you are protected in most states by stating before anything is said between parties that you are recording them on both video and audio. This protection is through the one-party-consent rule, as you are consenting to recording yourself.

The trickier legality of dashcams in the US comes down to some states banning windshield mounting, while other states allow it, and quite a few are okay with it if it is within a prescribed area of the windshield and does not obstruct the driver’s view at all. For this reason, it is very common for dashcams to be mounted up behind the rearview mirror.

In states that ban windshield mounts, namely WA, OR, ID, MT, WY, ND, SD, IA, WI, KS, OK, TX, NM, AR, LA, AL, GA, SC, KY, WV, VA, PA, NJ, and CT, a dash camera can still be mounted on the actual dash of the car, as long as it does not obstruct the view of the driver. DC has a specific rule that allows dashcam’s as long as it is defensibly a “hands free device” while the vehicle is in motion.

As such, dashcams are fully legal in all states and in Canada, as long as the mounting location of that camera abides by your state’s or province’s mounting regulations.

March 24, 2021 / Comments Off

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5 Ways to Customize Your Supercar Without Tanking Your Warranty (Or Resale)

When you think of the term “custom”, many different things come to mind -it comes down to the interpretation of each supercar owner. “Customization” can mean anything from flashy decals to custom paint jobs and everything in between.

Costs associated with customizing your supercar can vary from a few bucks to upwards of $50,000. But everyone must start with a vision or at least some inspiration.

Today we cover some awesome ways you can customize your supercar or at least give you the inspiration you’re looking for to make your supercar a reflection of you. None of the customization options mentioned here will void an engine warranty, by the way – always a plus when it comes time to resell.

Totally Uncommon Question: Should You Customize a Supercar?

Well, it’s really up to you… but have you ever been to a car event and taken notice of how many stock cars are there? Of course, you have. But at the same time, some supercars should not be touched or permanently customized whatsoever.

It’s sort of an unwritten rule that you do not make customizations to rare collector cars. That being said, the Gas Monkey Garage Ferrari F40 that was painted black is an exception to the rule (and so are many other tastefully modified classic supercars).

When customizing your car there are two trains of thought: performance or aesthetics. We’re gonna cover some customizations that are affordable, get you style points, and in some cases add performance.

Gas Monkey Garage F40 – Image Source: GasMonkeyGarage

What Does Customizing Your Car Do to its Value?

Customizations can come at a price depending on if they are a permanent modification or something reversible. Everyone has different tastes and this is why being conscientious of what you install/remove from your car is important.

Customizations that are non-reversible can hurt the value of your supercar, but if you plan on keeping it forever, then who cares?

If you plan on making any modifications, it is always good practice to keep any stock parts that you remove from the car. This will help when it’s time to sell and the car can be put back to its stock form. Many supercar owners prefer their vehicles stock (err, “unmolested”), so being able to remove your add-ons is always a plus.

You have a ton of opportunity to take your stock supercar and turn it into something personalized to you without breaking the bank.

Five Supercar Customizations We Like

Vinyl Wrap

Vinyl wrap is one of the best and most popular options in the customization world when it comes to changing up the livery of your supercar. Vinyl can wrap can be installed professionally or DIY (but we always recommend a professional install if you are inexperienced).

In the vinyl wrapping world, the customization options are endless. Wrapping can include adding racing stripes, custom decals, color-changing wrap, or even a completely custom printed vinyl specifically for your car.

McLaren 720s with Color Change Wrap by ACW – Image Source: Atlanta Custom Wraps

The cost of vinyl wrapping can range but expect at least a few thousand dollars and up – all of which depends on the complexity, type of wrap, and hours associated with the job.

Prices can also differ depending on the shop that completes the work and the quality they are associated with. Check out these insane wraps done by Wrapsesh (AZ) and Atlanta Custom Wraps (GA).

Lamborghini Aventador with Custom Wrap by Wrapsesh – Image Source: Wrapsesh AZ

Custom Plates

Let’s face it, registration plates are a necessary part of owning a car. Some places make you run one on the rear of your car while others enforce running a license plate on the front of your vehicle. Since this is a necessary evil of owning a car why not get yourself personalized plates?

Depending on where you live, you can either request a personalized plate by application through the DMV or using a service specializing in finding the right custom plate for you, such as CarReg based out of the UK. Prices for your own custom plate can range from a couple hundred to a few thousand dollars depending on availability.

Adding custom registration plates to your car is another easy way to add personalization. Here are examples of custom plates that match each car perfectly.

Deadmau5 Ferrari 458 with vanity license plate – Image Source: Marchettino

Front Lip

Adding a front lip to your car can completely change the look of your ride, making it look lower, more aggressive, and enhancing the overall appearance.

Lips come in the form of an additional add-on to your stock bumper and can be made of a variety of materials such as carbon fiber or fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP).

Front lips can also provide performance benefits as they can provide downforce to the front of your car. Like anything though, not all front lips are created equal and they vary in price depending on the brand, quality, and material used to make the lip.

You can expect to spend anywhere from $100 on a cheap universal lip on eBay or up to a few thousand dollars from a name brand like RSC.

Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4 – Image Source: Racing Sport Concepts

Rear Diffuser

Much like a front lip, rear diffusers will give your “boring” supercar the aggressive look you’ve been searching for.

A rear diffuser is an aftermarket add-on that sits on the lower section of your rear bumper. It gives an added performance benefit as it provides better downforce and therefore more traction.

Rear diffusers are found on Formula 1 cars and it was designed to create lower air pressure underneath the car to improve stability and traction. The same concept applies to road cars but not all road cars come standard with this type of aero accessory.

Bill Nelson’s Ford GT with rear diffuser – Image Source: Ford

Rear diffusers can be made from a variety of materials such as carbon fiber, plastic, and fiberglass. Again, much like front lips, the price can range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. The quality, material type, and brand can dictate the price of this awesome upgrade.

While you may not be racing your car, the diffuser comes with the added benefit of making your supercar look even better. Check out these cool examples below:

Chevrolet C8 Corvette with Vicrez Diffuser – Image Source: Vicrez.com

Ferrari with Vorsteiner Diffuser – Image Source: Vorsteiner

Carbon Fiber Accents

Have you been looking for a way to make your car stand out from the regular stock cars? Carbon fiber accents will save the day.

Carbon fiber is very strong, lightweight, and looks amazing in almost any application. You can get carbon fiber add ons for almost anything on your supercar. You can also get carbon fiber covers, which simply stick on top of whatever you want, or you can remove stock parts and replace them with carbon fiber parts altogether.

Carbon accents can consist of adding carbon fiber covers to existing parts like mirrors or interior pieces to improve the look of your car. They can also outright replace the items mentioned above by buying full carbon fiber replacement parts. Carbon fiber replacements can be anything from wheels, to full aero kits.

Adding carbon fiber replacement parts can help you save weight and can help increase performance. These can be found through an OEM dealership or an aftermarket supplier like Morph Auto Design.

Huracan Carbon Fiber Mirror – Image Source: Morph Auto Design

Carbon Fiber Exhausts

Swapping out stock mufflers for lightweight ones made of carbon fiber will shave a few pounds off the curb weight. Check out these examples:

Eisenmann BMW Aftermarket Carbon Fiber Exhaust – Image Source: Bimmerworld

Alpha Romeo Carbon Fiber Exhaust

Image Source: Stelvio Forum

Carbon Fiber Intakes

If you have an open-air engine bay, or if you love popping the hood to show off, a carbon fiber air intake is a stately way to do it. Not only will you bolt-on a few more ponies, but you’ll also shave of those precious, precious ounces.

Ferrari 458 Carbon Fiber Intake

Image Source: Agency Power

Lamborghini Gallardo Carbon Fiber Intake

Image Source: Vivid Racing

Carbon Fiber Hoods

Modern supercars have lightweight body panels already, but you can find high-quality aftermarket hoods that are even lighter. Given that the hood is one of the largest panels on the body, going carbon here can have a huge impact on the overall aesthetic.

Lamborghini Huracan Carbon Fiber Hood

Image Source: Brixton Forged

McLaren with Carbon Fiber Hood

Image Source: Twitter

Wrapping Up

Sorry, I can never resist a pun. Whether you have chosen to go with one of these options to customize your supercar or the entire list, you will completely change the look of your car and make it something that you can be proud of.

February 19, 2021 / Comments Off

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Is it Time to Steam Clean Your Car?

We all know the excitement and freedom that owning a car can bring to the average American. It allows one to travel between cities, commute to work, visit friends and family, and generally move the nation. When you own a car, you have a degree of freedom that even a century ago would have shocked the average citizen, even if you told it to their faces with your car behind you.Part and parcel of owning a car, however, is maintaining it. How often have we, those that love the automotive part of life, hopped in a friends car and it has garbage on the floor, the seats smell funny, or there is a big crack across the windshield? It’s one of those things that while you don’t comment on it, it still sits in your mind as “I keep my car clean, why can’t my friend?”

One of the ways that you can get rid of that funny seat smell and get the remains of garbage out of the car is via steam cleaning. And we can already hear you asking…

What Is Steam Cleaning?

clean steaming interior car seats — Photo Credit: Oh So Spotless

There are two major types of steam cleaning, interior and exterior, but they both rely on the same basic principle. Water is heated beyond the boiling point in a pressure-safe container, directed through tight piping to a nozzle, and allowed to rapidly expand as pressurized hot water vapor. There are also many different sizes of steam cleaners, from tiny upholstery cleaners that use only a cup of water, to major industrial steam cleaners that can boil tens of gallons of water per hour.

What Is It Good At Removing?

steam cleaner and coffee spill on carpet — Photo Credit: Fortador USA

Honestly, quite a lot. Here’s what we commonly see in car interiors:

Coffee stains
Spills
Dirt
Dried gunk from food items

Not to mention, the stuff off the bottom of your shoe that gets ground into the floor mats every time you drive, even gum that’s been mashed into the seats or carpet, although that takes patience and it helps to have a putty scraper on hand.

On the exterior of your car, it can loosen tough dirt, things that got stuck to your car unintentionally, even the unpleasant after-effects of a bird’s lunch. Simply steam the area to loosen the contamination, and then after a moderate cooling period of about 30 seconds, spray that area with water or wipe as you steam with a lintless microfiber cloth, and watch the stubborn dirt and bird deposits disappear.

In fact, the list of what steam cannot remove is easier to list than what it can remove, and those items are mostly extremely hazardous, moisture and heat sensitive chemicals that you would find in industrial settings only.

Steam cleaning is also excellent as it cleans away the unseens. What is meant by this is that steam cleaning, through the nature of the heat and the pressure, will kill most mites, molds, fungus, and dangerous bacterias such as staphylococcus aureus (which causes Staph infections). It also does not necessarily need to be vacuumed up afterwards, as the pressurized steam expands so quickly that it disperses just as quickly into the ambient air.

Is It Safe For The Car?

In short: yes.

In detail, as long as you don’t leave the nozzle spewing steam at interior plastics, no damage will occur to your car at all. On older, vintage vehicles, with exterior steaming you will often want to keep the nozzle moving, as the paint used before the 1990s often had a much softer paint protecting clear coat applied, which is why on a badly maintained classic, you’ll often see clear coat peeling or even complete paint fade.

Upholstery and fabric carpeting will not be damaged by steam cleaning, and are in fact the most common type of interior materials steam cleaners are used on.

Leather, alcantara, and exotic material interiors, such as those found in supercars and hypercars, however, require a bit more care. You can buy at-home steam cleaners for your car, or you can use a professional service. Steam cleaners are excellent in that they do not produce enough moisture to damage leather or suede, and are often beneficial at rehydrating dried areas of leather. Much like interior plastics, however, you often don’t want to leave the nozzle spewing steam on leather as it is, by nature of what it is, originally organic and it can burn and harden if heated too much.

Alcantara is commonly found in supercars and hypercars, and is extremely sensitive to moisture. Thankfully, most professional steam cleaning services use low-moisture steam cleaners, and there are even special at-home models you can buy that have low-moisture options outlined in their manuals.

How Much Does Steam Cleaning Cost?

Steam cleaning car interior — Photo Credit: Auto Success

For “normal” cars, steam cleaning can cost anywhere from a dollar or two at the local car wash with self-serve cleaners, all the way up to being included in an executive full clean of your car that costs several hundreds of dollars. On the average, if you get just a steam clean of your interior as a direct (and only) service for your car performed by a professional, expect to pay between $75 to $100 and for it to take about an hour.

If part of a full detailing package for an exotic, steam cleaning is often part of the package cost you pay. Some exotic-only cleaning and detailing companies can also have specific services ordered a la carte, from steam cleaning through to paint restoration. As such, these packages and costs can vary wildly, but it is often a safe bet that no matter the package or single service, you will be paying over $1,000 as these are extremely specialized professional workers that make your exotic look better than factory new.

If you’re a detail geek, check out these other articles on car maintenance and cleaning:

January 31, 2021 / Comments Off

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Porsche Taycan 4S – 6-Month Ownership Review

Introduction

Hello again! For those of you who have been following “T’s Corner” closely, you would have become quite familiar with my adventures in a 2020 Porsche Taycan 4S. It has now been about 6 months since I first took possession of the vehicle. Along the way I have shared some of my experiences with the car; mainly, what it’s like to drive one on a daily basis, and even how it performed at the race track.

Since I picked up the car in June, this meant I could go pretty gung-ho in first 3-4 months in terms of pushing the performance limits of the car and just enjoying it. In the first month of ownership, I had driven the car almost 3,000 km and had the opportunity to take the car to a local circuit before winter rolled in. Such was the fun that I was having, that taking a deeper dive into challenges with charging, the colder weather that was on its way (which significantly affects range), and the real cost of ownership, were put on the back burner – the latter two of which, just simply required more time to pass.

Since October, my experience with the Taycan has been a more hunkered-down one – the general global social climate as well as the winter season touching down where I live, serving as the one-two punch that has delivered these circumstances. Some would say that this is in essence, a more normalized and civil experience of the car, which likely more owners (current or prospective) can relate to – i.e. race track experiences and driving 3,000 km in a month, is probably something that a very small percentage of owners will really be interested in knowing about.

So in this post, instead of speaking in terms of lateral Gs, I’ll be focusing more on things like kWh/100 km (efficiency), general ownership costs, and what it’s like living with a Taycan during a cold (Canadian) winter season.

Cost of Ownership

Maintenance

First off, I should mention that the car has been into the dealership twice for service. Mainly for software updates, one recall for a water hose, and a PCM-related issue (which resolved itself). I don’t want to get into too much detail with the latter – which was a minor inconvenience rather than a material issue – but I will say that my local Porsche dealership (Porsche Centre Calgary), has been phenomenal to work with. I suppose it’s also important to mention that there has been no cost for any of my visits so far.

Electricity Costs

So with 6 months now passed – and with maintenance costs aside (of which there have been none) – the true cost of ownership falls entirely on what I’ve paid to keep the car juiced up. In terms of my charging habits, nothing much has changed since I’ve owned the car. I do 99% of my charging from home, and the other 1% at commercial charging stations. The latter method of charging could actually become much more important into the future, for reasons I will mention below.

First, here are the last 3 months of my electricity usage and costs, per my utility bills starting in November 2020.

The November and December bills give a pretty good indication of what my total electricity costs were (keep in mind, this is for my entire household, not just for charging the car, so there are other variables at play here). It looks like the January bill accounted for some corrections from the previous months, but did not appear to affect my average costs too much. To offer some perspective (which I covered in one of my very first “charging experience” posts), my total household electricity costs seemed to average at about $60 per month before I ever had an EV to worry about.

Keeping things simple – and based on the data from these bills – I think it’s safe to say that keeping the Taycan charged at home is costing me on average, about $100 per month more than when I wasn’t charging it. Given that I was driving about an average of 1,200 km – 1,500 km per month during those months (which had some very brisk days, leading to higher charging demands), the cost of keeping a Taycan running remains both very low and a highly attractive feature of the car.

Rate Riding

A rate rider “is a temporary credit or charge that is added to your monthly bill on behalf of the electricity or gas distributor. A rate rider collects or refunds the difference between actual and estimated costs for delivering energy”. I bring this up because I had a very informative conversation with a prospective Taycan owner and highly respected car enthusiast, and the topic of rate riding came up.

Now, this has not applied to me yet, but in simple terms it has meant that some Taycan owners in my city have incurred electricity bills with increases of around $1,000 or more. As mentioned before, there are obviously lots of variables at play here, but it looks as though these rate riding costs are tacked on when the utility company detects an abnormal level of energy consumption and charges users in anticipation of a much higher adjustment.

As I indicated before, these bills encompass distribution for entire households and not just the outlet for the car, so it’s never going to be easy to pinpoint why someone is paying so much more for electricity when the same car is being charged in their garage, ceterus paribus.

There are a couple of things I will say for certain though. The first, is to become familiar with how utilities work in your local area – as has been evidenced, this can not only greatly differ within your own city, but is likely to vary significantly in different provinces, states, countries, etc. Perhaps contacting your energy provider ahead of time to let them know you will be charging an EV at home going forward, will change the scenario.

The second is to charge your car strategically. What I mean by this, as alluded to before, is by using commercial charging stations more often as part of your charging routine, if required. The local 800V charger – not too far from my house – can deliver a ~60% charge in about 20 mins, costing around $7.00. Use commercial chargers if you need to fill up a lot of juice at once (i.e. you’re sitting at about a 20% charge). Reserve the home charger for “top-up” use only, plugging it in only when you’re at about a 70% charge or higher. Assuming that this all works the way I think it does, you’ll be able to leave home everyday with a full charge and not worry about the huge dump of electricity required to go from 0% – 100% , which could trigger the rate riding.

With my driving habits the way they are and with my utility bills having stayed consistent, it is unlikely that I will have to explore this avenue. But it’s good to know the option is there if I ever need to exercise it, plus others should be aware of this potentially significant matter. After all, paying $1,000 per month to keep your EV charged will certainly defeat the purpose of owning one, amongst other things.

Winter Driving

I’ve had a good 3 months to really test the car in winter conditions, and I must say that the performance has been as good as expected if not better. Paired with a set of Continental WinterContact TS 860 S tires, grip has never been an issue for the Taycan 4S. The air-suspension is particularly useful when the snow is a bit deeper, as being able to raise the car in situations that call for it, has been extremely convenient to say the least.

The only issue during winter – which is an EV-wide one, and not just specific to the Taycan – is that of range.

Here are my findings, having been able to drive the Taycan in a variety of weather conditions and temperatures.

Disclaimer: Keep in mind these are all what I achieved while in Range mode, with a combination of city and highway driving speeds – i.e. realistic driving scenarios, not intentional hyper-miling exercises.

Ideal/Warm Weather:

17-20 kWh/100 km = ~500 km of range

Cooler Weather (between -10°C and +5°C):

22-25 kWh/100 km = ~400 km of range

Extreme Cold Weather (between -30°C and -15°C):

28-32 kWh/100 km = ~300 km of range

As you can see here, range drop-off can be significant if it gets cold enough. Expect as much as a 40% drop in range in extreme cold weather conditions. From what I can tell, there has been no detriment to performance when driving in such conditions, but you will definitely need to be prepared for significantly heavier charging demands.

Does this make the Taycan less enjoyable in winter? Maybe, a little. If your range anxieties are getting the best of you, reserve driving your Taycan during the winter only for when it is a bit warmer out (i.e. cooler weather as opposed to extreme cold weather). If you want to use your Taycan for a longer excursion to the ski hills, I say go for it! – just plan your route, and charge-up accordingly.

6-Month Review

I’m really happy with the car.

Not having to pay for gas has been a real boon. My other cars – particularly my V8 SUV, which I use from time to time during winter – are certainly not sippers of the petrol stuff, so having an EV makes this feeling all the more distinguishable.

For all intents and purposes, it costs me $100 a month to keep the Taycan juiced-up – a more than reasonable cost to incur for the amount that I drive it, and the superb performance it has on tap at all times. At this juncture, it hasn’t cost me anything to own in terms of maintenance or repairs; although, being well within the warranty period is certainly helpful here.

I do also have to add that Porsche seems to be keeping tabs on issues that have arisen for Taycan early adopters. They get resolved quickly, or at the very least, Porsche is aware of the issues that get brought up, and are often already working on a fix when they do. That’s reassuring from the company, and is another factor of what has made owning a Taycan so enjoyable.

Issues that I have experienced personally are all what I would consider “first world problems.” – Apple Car Play intermittently not working, the LTE connection dropping, Range mode being finicky at times. Note: the latter two issues seem to have been permanently fixed. More compelling issues have been brought up by other owners on forums and Facebook groups, but I won’t delve into those; this is a blog about my own personal experiences, plus those problems seem to be very few, far between and often resolved immediately by Porsche. Some are even caused by user error.

The Porsche Taycan 4S remains a phenomenal car to drive, even in winter climates. During a big snow dump a few weeks back, lots of people were getting stuck in the snow. The Taycan just went about its business like the omnipotent force it is – it isn’t just a “California specialist”. I am looking forward to the summer, though!

-T

January 22, 2021 / Comments Off

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The Guide To Buying Your First Exotic Car

Whether you are an exotic car fan or you just want to get yourself something you can really show your personality, buying a supercar will do just that.

Whether you’re looking at a 911 GT3 or a Lotus Evora GT, buying an exotic is a very exciting feeling but it can also come with a lot of stress. Buying an exotic car doesn’t have to be as stressful as you may think, by following this guide, you can buy your first supercar with confidence!

1. Look at the Dealer Referrals

When looking for an exotic or luxury car online, there are tons of dealer options to choose from, pick a reputable dealer when deciding where to purchase. These referrals can be found online or through a friend.

Purchasing through a reputable dealer is just as important as finding the perfect luxury exotic, this will ensure you have a positive purchasing experience.

2. Show Good Intentions with Your First Impressions

When going into a high-end car dealership, you should be presentable, wearing clean clothes, and no sandals. Doing this will ensure that you look approachable and that you mean business!

Another piece of advice when going to a dealership is ensuring you bring a good attitude. Having a great attitude will let the dealership know that you are someone they want to work with. This does not mean you have to be naive but it does mean you treat everyone in the dealership with respect.

Salesperson at Miami luxury dealership — Photo Credit: CNBC

3. Do Your Research Before You Show Up

Luckily in this day and age, we have the luxury of the internet. This means you can browse online to get a better idea of what you have a taste for and what you can afford.

You should be looking for something real to your overall budget and something you can see yourself driving. Whether you want to take the car to the race track, to the movie theatre, or even to work on a Friday, you must look at something that will meet your needs.

Once you have narrowed down your supercar search, you can begin to compare prices on the web. Keep in mind that not all vehicle models are the same.

Below we list some of the things to be conscientious of when comparing cars of the same model.

Options list
Overall condition
Vehicle history
Special editions
Color combinations
Mileage

If you are visiting a dealership, do so with a goal in mind. If you would like to visit with the intention of gathering information, let them know that. But if you are going in ready to purchase, do not be afraid to hold this information from your salesperson. At the end of the day, you want to feel good about your purchase and this includes being shown respect by everyone in the dealership. If you do not feel comfortable at any time, it is completely acceptable to walk away.

4. Make Sure the DEALER Knows Their Stuff

Do not be afraid to ask the sales representative questions about the vehicle. Reputable dealers will be happy to tell you the history of the vehicle along with specifications. If you are dealing with someone who does not know the answers to your questions or makes no effort in getting them, this is another red flag, walk away!

5. Check Vehicle History!

Getting the vehicle history is arguably one of the most important steps of purchasing a vehicle, let alone a supercar. Carfax is one of the most popular services to provide vehicle history reports. However, these can also be requested from the dealership as well.

Vehicle history reports will give you a ton of information about the vehicle in question. It will the obvious things like previous owners, original sale date, warranty activation date, and accident claim history.

If a vehicle has an accident claim, no matter how small the claim was, it can actually reduce the resale value of the vehicle by 20% to 30%. It is extremely important to check for accidents prior to serious talks of purchasing any car.

Mechanic inspecting luxury vehicle at shop — Photo Credit: Porsche Lauzon

6. Get an Inspection!

According to the Director of Sales at Grand Touring Automobiles, Mario Cipollone, not all pre-purchase inspections (PPI) are alike and therefore, prices may vary. Depending on the brand of vehicle, each one with its own inspection terminology and practice, inspections can have over 1000 items checked and take up to 10 hours to complete before it can be certified by an OEM dealership.

For a “standard” inspection, these will take significantly less time to complete but will still give a ton of information surrounding the condition and possible issues with the vehicle. You can expect to pay anywhere from $400 to $800 for one of these inspections at an OEM dealership for a 3rd party vehicle.

When we spoke to automotive accident attorneys at Abrahamson & Uiterwyk, they advised us that not only can accidents result in lifelong injuries, sometimes accidents are not revealed in a vehicle’s history report. As such, this is why it is crucial to get a PPI performed as it can tell you if the vehicle has been repainted or in an accident, so you can make an informed decision.

If a luxury dealership does not allow a PPI then walk away! This is a big red flag as it does not allow you to have full transparency of the vehicle before purchasing.

7. Financing

Now we are at the “fun” part of the exotic vehicle purchasing journey, financing! In the case where you aren’t paying for the vehicle in full, you will need to apply for financing. Financing can be handled through the bank or directly at the luxury dealership.

When applying for financing, the interest rates will be based on your credit score and history. The best way to ensure you are getting the best financing is to have a great credit score with a credit history in addition to a healthy downpayment (usually 10%).

Some dealers may offer a “buyback” program which entails them purchasing the car back in 12 months for example. This can be a great offering as it allows you to either upgrade or downgrade while taking care of the fine print way ahead of time.

Man writing on paper with pen — Photo Credit: Scott Graham / Unsplash

8. Post Purchase (Proper coverage) and What Happens Without It

Now that you’ve purchased your first exotic you need to ensure you have the proper insurance coverage. You can expect to pay anywhere from $6,000 to $30,000 per year for full coverage. A small price to pay if you want to ensure your $150,000+ investment is protected.

January 18, 2021 / Comments Off

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Challenges to Selling Your Car in the UK (and the Solutions)

Navigating the Tricky Car Sales Landscape

So, you’re trying to sell your car and you live in the UK? Well, as you likely know, this is no easy task. The car sales process is a long and arduous one, especially because the process can vary from person to person and sale to sale. Selling your car privately will often get you the best price, but it’s a huge hassle and takes considerable effort and time. It’s easy to get frustrated.

With that in mind, we wanted to take a look at the challenges UK car owners who want to sell their car face and how they can overcome these challenges and find a buyer that’s willing to pay a respectable price.

The Different Challenges Facing Sellers

We chatted with the team at Motorway, a leader in car comparisons and car sales, to get a closer look at the challenges that car sellers face in the UK and how they can address these challenges. Here’s what we were told.

Car Values

According to Motorway, many sellers overprice their car at the outset. This leads to few people being interested in their car and that means it can take a long time for them to find a seller if they do at all. “Most people simply do not know how to value their car correctly and therefore how much to sell it for,” a spokesperson told us.

Where Should You List Your Car?

There are many places to list your car for sale in the UK. There are many sites that offer eBay-like listings and this means buyers and sellers have several options. This can make finding the right place to list your car troublesome. You have to deal with shady buyers, work around other people’s schedules, and list your car and your personal contact information.

There are also, a large number of scams out there that target people selling cars. According to Motorways, you need to take the time to vet the website you decide to work with. Find out what other sellers’ experiences were like. Would they do it again if given the chance? How smoothly did the process go? These are all things you need to find out ahead of time.

Should You List Privately?

Listing privately can yield the best deal in some cases, but it’s also time-consuming and a hassle. According to Motorways, many sellers find that going through a service like the one the company provides is a much better experience and often just as much money as they would get selling their car privately.

Are You Ready to Deal with the Buyers?

If you do want to sell privately, you’re going to find it more difficult. You have to list the car, take photos, prep it for the sale, etc. This is only half the battle. The other side of things is dealing with potential buyers. You’ll have to work with people you don’t know, find a place or a way for them to look at the car if you don’t want them coming to your home, and then you need to be sure you get your money.

If you’re meeting in person, this is easy. If you’re not, then there’s always the question of if the money will come through, and it’s important to only sell a car through a reputable service of some kind. Never take someone at their word when dealing with a car sale. Double-check things and do your best to avoid any issues. This is why it makes sense to work with a dealer or a company that will connect you to the right buyer.

The Solution to Selling Your Car in the UK

What’s the solution? First off, research your car ahead of time to see what the true value is. From there, you should give your car a deep clean inside and out and prep it for the sale. You also need to find any and all documentation for the vehicle. Finally, you need to choose a good service that will give you the best options and deals. This is where things get tricky and where many people turn to websites that will offer to purchase or help them with the sale. If you’re at this stage, Motorway is a smart choice.

Once you provide your car’s information, the website will provide you with deals to choose from. There’s no meeting with potentially shady buyers or finding a way to make sure you get your money. Motorway will collect all the information on your car and then give you some quotes that you can choose from. From there, it’s a matter of setting an appointment for the car to be picked up or dropped off, and then you collect your money. It’s quick and simple.

August 23, 2019 / Comments Off

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Renting a Luxury Car in Europe: What You Need to Know

Do it the Right Way With the Right Company

Renting a luxury car or supercar, like say a Ferrari or Lamborghini, in Europe can be a bit of a daunting task. With so many different companies out there it’s tough. The big brands often don’t guarantee a model—only a car class and don’t usually provide delivery. The small companies can’t offer a good selection, can be hard to find, and often lack online booking.

Needless to say, the process is often ripe with issues. For comparison, the process is dramatically different when you look at something like finding lodging. Hotel booking websites give you a clear look at what your room is like and clear pricing information as well as special amenities and features of the room. That’s where Lurento fits in.

Lurento brings together a large number of luxury rental car companies in one online location to make renting a luxury car in Europe as easy as booking a hotel room.

What To Look Out For When Renting a Luxury Car In Europe

We connected with representatives from Lurento to discuss the luxury car buying process, here’s what they said that you need to ensure when renting:

Transparent Pricing

You need to confirm there will be no hidden fees, additional credit card fees, exchange rate markups, or any other unnecessary upcharges when you decide to submit payment. If a company is not offering clear pricing, look elsewhere.

Get the Details

Don’t rent from a company that won’t give you all the details you want upfront. This includes the exact make and model, the year of the car, cost of insurance, cost of excess usage (mileage), the minimum age required to rent the car, and the cost of the rental and any extras you’d like to add.

Know the Company’s Reputation

There are many different rental car companies out there. Before going with any single one, make sure to do some checking online. Have past customers had good experiences with the company? Check on Yelp, Google reviews, and other review sites online to ensure that you’ve made a wise choice.

How Is Lurento Different?

Lurento is different because it put customers in direct contact with exactly the right car. They help luxury car companies find the right customer for their inventory and then deliver that car to the renter.

It’s a marketplace that lays out the options for you based on where you’re traveling and when. With over a thousand cars in the inventory and more added each week, there’s little chance you won’t find a car that you want.

The process is simple. You enter the dates and locations, select the car and options you want, select the option that works best for you, and then upload your details and documents.

The car that you’ve selected is then delivered to the exact address that you select. Need a car at the airport? Done. Want a car at the hotel or Airbnb you’ll be staying at? Let Lurento know. The delivery driver will verify your identity and then you’re good to go.

Lurento essentially works to take all the guesswork out of the process. The company verifies each of the partners it works with. It ensures the practices of the business meet Lurento’s guidelines and that the partners have the proper inventory. From there, they help manage your luxury car rental so you don’t have to. It’s all about making the process easier for the renter.

7 Important Checks to Consider Before Buying a Used Supercar

Supercars are quite costly and it may take some time to afford a new one. Buying a used supercar helps us save money and still afford the car of our dreams or a convenient one. But before such transactions are completed, it is necessary to carry out some important checks. Some of these checks include…

1. Examine Your Budget: Supercars are always enticing and you might be driven to spend your entire reserves on the automobile. Some sellers can also be pushy and would come up with many reasons why you should buy the car at a price above your limit. Set a price range and work with it. Do not go bankrupt while trying to buy a supercar.

2. Research and Obtain Information about the Vehicle: The internet provides us with more information than we can imagine. You can check out the model of the car you want to buy and user reviews online. This helps you to know if it’s suitable for you. Check for the car’s specifications in order to be sure the car is still good. You will find these pieces of information valuable.

3. Validate Ownership: This is one major issue you may have to deal with in order to be safe from police harassment. Validate the ownership of the supercar. Ask for papers and run checks on them to be sure the car is not stolen. You should watch out for signals and call off the deal of the ownership of the car is unclear.

4. Test Drive the car: You stand to lose a lot if you pay for a car without knowing if it’s road-friendly. Before completing the transaction, you have the right to test drive the supercar. Check to make sure the clutch is working as supposed. Check for leaks, examine the interior, and test the handling. Check the response when on the high way and in the streets. If you are not comfortable with your findings, call off the deal.

5. Review the Vehicle History: This is about the most important factor to consider when buying a fairly used car. The vehicle might have received serious damage in the past which the seller hid from you. There’s a chance some significant changes have been made to the car. Free Vin Check simplifies the research for you by providing you with all the vital information about the supercar’s history.

6. Request for and carry out pre-purchase inspection: As an extra check, ask for permission to examine the car professionally. Employ the services of a trained mechanic for this. The mechanic will run internal checks to make sure the all systems are sound. Once this is confirmed, you can go ahead and end the deal.

7. Complete the Transaction: This is more than just paying, shaking hands, and walking away. See to it that proper paperwork is done and necessary documents handed over. This transfers the ownership of the supercar to you. If the seller is reluctant to do so, something may be wrong. Insist on following proper process and get everything straight.

Consider these factors thoroughly before completing the purchase of a used car. This can determine if you will enjoy your new car or keep fixing problems regularly. We hope you enjoy your ride!

March 28, 2019 / Comments Off

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Clever Ways to Save Money when Buying a Supercar

So you have finally decided that it’s time to upgrade to a vehicle that actually ticks off all the boxes and provides you with the driving experience you desire. Buying a supercar isn’t a purchase you’ll be making just any day, and maybe leasing a supercar is even a better alternative for you. Since this might be one of the biggest investments of your life, you want the entire purchase to turn out as planned.

You probably know already that a supercar comes with a higher price tag than your average vehicle, which means you will need to get a bit more money out of your pocket. If you are currently stressing over the large expense you will be subjected to, perhaps you should find a few methods of saving some money. Here are a few ideas that might help you out on the matter, so look them over carefully.

Sell your currently-owned vehicle

Parting ways with the car you have been driving for a long time isn’t always easy. You might be tempted to keep your current vehicle, especially if the price you will be able to sell it for isn’t exactly a high one. Well, in reality, selling your old car should be the first step you take on the matter. Besides getting some cash into your pocket out of the sale, you will also be saving on insurance, potential repairs and other expenses that arise when you have more than one vehicle in your garage. So, when you are interested in upgrading, start with the basics and put your currently-owned auto up for sale. Even a couple of thousands more in your pocket might help you out financially, and may allow you to buy a supercar model that comes equipped with more extensive features.

Clean up your driving record

The money you will be spending on the purchase itself isn’t the only expense you will need to worry about. The newer and more expensive the car model is, the higher the insurance price you’ll need to cover will automatically be. You should use the right tricks to your advantage, to manage accessing a more affordable policy. One of the things you are advised to do is review your driving record and make sure it’s in order. Any unpaid tickets should be handled first, and with a clean record at your disposal you can negotiate a better price on your future supercar insurance policy.

Consider using online deals

Although you may not actually find coupons amiable on the purchase itself, considering you will have other related expenses, such as new tires, or perhaps new car parts (if you are buying the vehicle used, from a dealership), you might come across some great automotive deals that allow you to benefit from discounts on various vehicle-related buys. A 25 percent discount on a pair of expensive tires, for example, can mean quite an appealing save, so looking into this possibility when you are trying to save some money is certainly recommended. Offers and deals websites stand at your disposal with an impressive variety of offers, ranging from small auto parts and up to insurance. Regardless of your specific needs, you should always go on a quick search on the web, to see if you come across some deals first. The amount you will be saving can be used in other more productive ways. Online discount codes have become a great solution for buyers that are on a strict budget, so why not take advantage of the available offers yourself?

Think about buying used

It’s perfectly normal for you to want to purchase your dream auto brand new, especially when it comes to luxury, high-performance models. However, in some cases, this might not be the wisest choice to make. You have the possibility of finding your favorite supercar at a second-hand dealership, which might have even used for less than a year, and is now up for sale for far a lower price than the brand new version. Cars deal with somewhere around a 20 percent depreciation drop in the first year, so if you start analyzing how much money that is, you will understand that the second-hand alternative is worth contemplating upon.

Buy local

While you might be tempted to order your favorite, vintage car, for example, from another county, this possibly being the only dealership that has the exact model you want, you should be aware of the higher costs that come with delivery. Delivery expense can add up to quite a significant amount, and why should you be wasting money on shipping, when you can use it is on things you actually need? A piece of advice you should keep in mind is to buy your supercar locally. Once you do the math, and find out just how much money can be saved if no international delivery is involved, you will conclude for yourself hat this is the wiser choice. Moreover, buying from a local dealership, and actually going there in person, could also bring a higher discount to the table. It’s far easier to get the sellers to drop the price, even for a bit, when you are discussing the sale in person. Going to the dealership, checking out the exact model you want and seeming like a reliable potential customer might persuade the auto dealers to make you a better offer, just to close the deal. It’s always best to purchase from a nearby dealership.

Buying a luxury, high-performance vehicle is certainly exciting, especially if you consider yourself a car enthusiast and have been eyeing a model for a long time. However, because this is a purchase that will involve quite the large financial investment from your part, you could put in a bit of effort in lowering the costs through a few clever ways. The suggestions mentioned here could provide you with the necessary support on the matter, guiding you in the right direction. Take them into account, and you may actually be able to cut down on how much money you will be saving on the buy.

February 11, 2019 / Comments Off

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How to Protect Your Exotic Car

Having an exotic car is a big responsibility. You spent a lot of money on this vehicle, and now it’s up to you to keep it running and looking great. The last thing you want is to walk outside one morning to find that your brand new exotic car has a large scratch on it or end up getting into an accident with your car. So, with that in mind, here are a few ways you can better protect your exotic car and keep it in great condition for a long time to come.

A Good Coat of Wax

Let’s start with the basics. A good coat of wax can go a long way towards protecting your car from minor scratches or scrapes. To get a good coat of wax, you won’t want to take your car to the local car wash that promises a free coat of wax. Rather, you’ll either want to buy some high-quality wax and apply it yourself or take your exotic car to a professional detailer. Putting the wax on yourself is a long process, but one that is well worth the effort. You can learn more about how to apply a coat of wax the right way here. If you don’t have the time for something like this, be sure to take your car to a professional.

Protection from Bad Weather Elements

Adding a coat of wax will help to protect your car, but there’s still more you can do. One of the biggest hazards to your exotic car is bad weather. Wind knocks tree branches down, salt on the road wears down the outside of your car, or hail could pelt your vehicle. Any time your car is outside you are providing Mother Nature with a chance to do some damage.

This means you want to limit the amount of time that your car remains outside. This doesn’t mean you need to drive it less – but rather, it means you need to think about where and how you’re storing your car between drives.

For people with a garage, the answer is simple – just park your exotic car inside. But some of us aren’t lucky enough to have a garage that is big enough built into our homes, so we have to find other solutions. One answer is to look at metal carports. Metal carports are structures that you can easily build on your property that will help to protect your car while it’s parked.

If this doesn’t work for you, consider at least getting a cover for your car. Car covers will protect against the more minor weather conditions like rain and snow, along with protecting it from debris in the wind. You’ll still want to be careful about parking underneath trees during bad weather, but a car cover is better than nothing when it comes to protecting your exotic car.

Perform Regular Maintenance

The next thing you should think about is performing regular maintenance on your exotic car. If you spent a lot of money on an exotic car, chances are you’re already concerned about maintenance. Still, it doesn’t hurt to have a reminder. Make sure that everything is running well with your car before you take it out. This will make it less likely that you’ll end up in an accident and cause a large amount of damage to your car. Here are some basic car maintenance tips if you’re unsure of where to start.

Drive Safely

Speaking of avoiding accidents, it’s important to remember that you need to drive safely. It’s tempting to push your limits when you have an exotic car. Being able to go faster is one of the reasons you bought it. But if you end up in an accident that totals your car, you won’t be too happy. So keep your speed under control and always obey the rules of the road.

Get Your Exotic Car Insured

Finally, you need to make sure that your exotic car has insurance. No matter what you do, there is always a chance that some harm could come to your car. When this happens, you’ll want to know that your insurance will cover the costs, rather than having to pay them out of pocket. Getting insurance for your exotic car is a little different than for regular cars, so check out this guide for more information.

Don’t Take Any Chances

You love your exotic car, so don’t let something happen to it because you didn’t take enough precautions. Protect your exotic car from the weather elements, drive safe, and when all else fails, make sure you have insurance. If you can do this, your exotic car will be around for you to enjoy for many years.

January 11, 2019 / Comments Off

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