September 2007 Dream Car of the Month - Porsche 959

Well since last month's car was the Ferrari 288 GTO, why not spotlight it's contemporary and arch rival the Porsche 959. The 959 was produced from 1986 to 1989. Development started in 1981 as a study of the future of the Porsche 911. It was decided within Porsche that the best way to go about developing and testing the new car would be through a racing program. They decided that Group B racing was where they would focus their efforts.

Porsche began with an existing racing engine and went from there. The racing version of the car was designated 961 and used a 2.85 liter flat 6 cylinder, twin sequential turbocharged engine. The cylinder heads were water cooled and the block was air cooled. This engine was capable of over 600HP fully tuned in the race car and was connected to an advanced all-wheel-drive system that could vary power to the front and rear wheels. The body was made of aluminum and kevlar keeping weight to a minimum. The 961 prototype made it's debut at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show and was an instant hit.


Paris-Dakar Rally Car

The 961 however never made a big impact on the racing world. The Group B road racing class switched to a rally class killing any hopes of a Ferrari 288 GTO - Porsche 961 showdown. Porsche briefly considered entering the 961 as a rally car but decided it wasn't worth it. They did however enter 959 spec 911s in the 1985 and 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally. In 1985 all three cars failed to finish but in 1986 the Porsches finished 1-2. In 1986 the 961 made its debut in the 24 Hours of Le Mans finishing first in its class and 7th overall. The following year it was back but failed to finish. That was all she wrote for the 961.

Thanks to homologation rules, Porsche had to design and build a certain number of street legal cars to qualify the racing version of the car. When the Group B series folded, Porsche focused on making the most technologically advanced sports car ever. About 226 cars were built for public consumption and designated 959 which debuted at the 1985 Frankfurt Motor Show as a 1986 model. The major differences between the race car and the road car were that the road car had an automatic ride height adjustable suspension where the race car had a fixed suspension, the road car had hollow wheels that were sealed to the tires and contained air and a tire pressure monitoring system, and the road car "only" produced 444HP. Even so, weighing only 2917lbs, the street legal 959's performance was seriously impressive. The car could hit 60mph in 3.6 seconds and the quarter mile in 11.8 on it's way to a top speed in excess of 198MPH.



The first 959s were delayed a year and deliveries did not start until 1987 instead of 1986. The cars price was set at $225,000US but it is claimed that it cost Porsche twice that amount to actually build each car. The 959 however was never made legally available in the US due to the fact that Porsche refused to give 4 cars to the NHTSA for crash testing. Several cars did make it to the US via the "grey" market. Two such cars belonged to Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen who both had their cars sit in impound after they were shipped to the US due to them not being legal for use. Because of this Bill Gates was instrumental in helping pass the "Show and Display" law which removed the crash test requirements and only required the cars to pass emissions standards as they were when the cars were new.

The 959 influenced and paved the way for the future of Porsche's venerable 911 sports car. It started out as a design study to determine the future viability of the rear engine layout and became legendary. In 1991 the 964 model 911 became the first 911 to be available with all wheel drive, the same system used on the 959. By the 993 generation 911, Porsche decided to make all wheel drive standard on all 911 turbos. They also introduced twin turbos for the first time in the 993 turbo. The 993 was the generation of 911 most influenced by the 959 as noticed by the overall design which was very similar in appearance to the 959 and is considered by some to be the best 911 ever produced. Even the current 911 Carrera 4 and Turbos use an all wheel drive system derived from the one used in the 959. The 911's very existence to this day and foreseeable future may be thanks to the developments made in the 959 program.

Today 959s are very rare throughout the world, even more so here in the US where they were never officially sold. When they do appear on the market they command prices of around $1millionUS. I remember being a kid when they first came out and the leaps in technology and performance that they made propelled them to almost mythical status. Truly one of the greatest sports cars ever built.

Car Movie Review - "Redline"

Well, that was an hour and a half of my life I'll never get back. I know, I know I should have known it was going to be bad. In reality I did, it was in theaters for about 5 minutes and the only buzz it generated was when Eddie Griffin crashed an Enzo Ferrari during a publicity event for the movie. I just didn't expect it to be as bad as it was. In fact, it was easily one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my entire life! Let's put it this way, it made the Fast and the Furious movies look Oscar worthy. And we all know how bad they were.

Now, you would think that the movie would provide some enjoyment for a car guy like me since it features a collection of fantastic exotic cars racing around for a good part of the movie. Wrong! I did enjoy looking at the cars and if they had just made a movie showing just the cars racing around, it may have been watchable. Instead they insisted on including the really bad acting, awful dialog and all around stupid story. Again, I shouldn't have expected anything less, the movie was the brainchild of a mortgage broker/real estate developer (Daniel Sadek) not a movie producer or writer. The whole movie seemed like an attempt to show everyone how much money he has since it was well publicized that the exotic cars featured in the movie were all his own private collection. Hell, he wrote off an Enzo Ferrari as part of the publicity for the movie.

The plot of the movie involves a bunch of really rich guys illegally racing their exotic cars around against each other for money. From there it degenerates into a lame attempt at an action movie. Eddie Griffith plays Infamous, a music producer, Tim Matheson is Jerry Brecken, a movie producer or something like that, and Angus Macfayden (he was good in Braveheart!) is Michael, a mob boss type. The rest of the cast is a bunch of no-names.

If you have to watch it, rent the DVD, turn down the sound when anyone is speaking and just fast forward to the car scenes. Maybe then it will be somewhat bearable.

Seriously Long Term Car Test - 2002 Mazda Protege 5

I purchased my 2002 Mazda Protege 5 new in June 2002 and as of my writing this I have racked up more than 60,000 miles. The car wasn't my first choice and I was actually at the Mazda dealer to drive a Protege ES sedan but they didn't have one with a manual transmission which was a requirement for me. The salesman suggested that I drive the Protege 5 since it was basically the same and they had some with manual transmissions. Well, after that test drive I decided that I wanted to buy the car. I had previously test drove Honda Civics both new and used as well as some slightly used Accords.

I'd never owned a Mazda and I've always been a big fan of Hondas but the Protege came with so much more than the Civics and Accords for a lower price. The Protege 5 had four wheel disc brakes, 16 inch alloy wheels with sport tires, a front strut tower brace and more horsepower standard than the Civic at a lower price. The suspension on the Protege 5 was also much sportier than the Civic. In fact the Protege 5 may be the best handling front wheel drive car I've ever driven. Plus it's just a hell of a lot of fun to drive for an economy car that cost around $15,000 new.

One of the things I've really come to appreciate about Mazda is that they seem to engineer sportiness into every vehicle they make. That whole ZOOM ZOOM thing isn't a gimmick. Every car they make from the bottom of the line economy car , to the minivans and SUVs, to the sports cars are engineered to be fun to drive. In that respect, I think they are kind of like Japan's version of BMW, or what BMW used to be. I mean, what other car company makes a minivan available with a manual transmission and sport suspension(Mazda 5)?

The 2.0L DOHC 4 cylinder in the Protege only makes 130HP but the gearing in the 5 speed trans makes it seem quicker than it is. Gas mileage is rated at 25city/31hwy and I average about 30mpg on regular unleaded with a daily mix of about 75% highway 25% stop and go driving. On a couple of long road trips I've taken the car has averaged around 33mpg with the A/C cranking.

I don't really have many complaints about the car. The biggest one is probably the manual transmission. The shifter is pretty flimsy and the whole tranny and shifter seem to feel weak and fragile to me. That being said, I haven't had any issues with the tranny at all in the 60,000+ miles I've driven aside from an occasional clutch shudder which is a known issue with the Protege. The car is a bit noisy on the highway where the engine turns about 4000 RPMs at 80MPH, a drawback of the aggressive trans gearing. Road noise and engine noise are very noticeable but I don't really mind. Other than that there is nothing negative to report with this car.

In the 5 years I've owned the car it has never been back to the dealership once. No warranty work needed and only routine maintenance required, which I performed myself. Regular oil and filter changes every 5000 miles with Mobil One oil, tires rotated every 10,000 miles, air filter changed every 10 - 15,000 miles, transmission oil changed once at about 30,000 miles, new tires and alignment at 55,000 miles and I just replaced the front brake rotors as well as front and rear pads at 60,000 miles. That's all that I've needed to do and the car has never let me down. It's still a lot of fun to drive and provides a lot of utility thanks to it's 4 door hatch/wagon styling. The suspension seems to be getting a little tired as it doesn't seem to handle quite as well as it used to. Those wonderful New Jersey roads have taken their toll on the struts. The engine purrs just like new and it has never burned even an ounce of oil.

Most Recalled 2007 Vehicles

Surprisingly for many, foreign cars lead the pack this year. GM which lead last year with over 900,000 recalled vehicles last year only had around 30,000 this year. Even more surprising is that a Toyota was second on the list.

Here they are:

1. Volkswagen Beetle
Number of vehicles: 1,002,000
Problem: Brake light switch malfunction due to incorrect installation.

2. Toyota Sequoia
Number of vehicles: 533,124
Problem: Premature ball jointg wear resulting in noise, increased steering effort and reduced vehicle self-centering.

3. Jeep Liberty
Number of vehicles: 149,605
Problem: On vehicles equipped with Valeo heating, ventilation and a/c systems, the blower motor may overheat.

4. Nissan Altima
Number of vehicles: 140,582
Problem: Sufficiently hot objects entering the air filter housing through the intake system may cause the air filter to ignite.

5. Hyundai Tucson
Number of vehicles: 128,300
Problem: NHTSA tests indicated that a small adult driver, not wearing a seatbelt, involved in a frontal or near frontal crash showed that the air bag deployment resulted in an insufficient margin of compliance.

6. Dodge Nitro, Jeep Wrangler
Number of vehicles: 80,894
Problem: The integrated power module was programmed with software that may allow the engine to stall under certain conditions.

7. Suzuki Forenza, Reno
Number of vehicles: 75,697
Problem: Front seatbelt tongue may not latch into buckle and may release without the button being pressed.

8. Volkswagen Passat, Passat Wagon
Number of vehicles: 58,800
Problem: 2.0-liter equipped vehicles may have a vacuum line that may fracture and become disconnected at low temperatures. Also, the wiper motor may fail during heavy rain due to moisture in the motor.

9. Chrysler Sebring, Chrysler 300, Dodge Caliber, Dodge Magnum, Dodge Charger, Dodge Nitro, Jeep Compass, Jeep Liberty, Jeep Commander, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler
Number of vehicles: 50.665
Problem: The ani-lock brake software may cause the rear brakes to lock during certain braking conditions.

10. Infiniti G35 Coupe
Number of vehicles: 23,934
Problem: Headlights may fail to meet federal safety standards.

11. Chevrolet Aveo
Number of vehicles: 17,676
Problem: Certain 1.6-liter equipped vehicles involved in a severe frontal crash have the potential to suffer a fuel line rupture in the engine bay along with short circuits that may lead to the fuel pump continuing to run resulting in a fuel leak onto the ground.

12. Nissan Versa
Number of vehicles: 16,309
Problem: The terminals for the passenger-side seat-belt tension-sensor harness connector may have been damaged during the manufacturing process possibly resulting in a loss of electrical continuity causing the occupant detection system to become inoperative.

13. GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook
Number of vehicles: 13,032
Problem: The sensing and diagnostic module, which controls the function of front air bags, may not operate properly causing the front air bags to fail to deploy in a frontal crash. Also, the air-bag warning lamp on the instrument panel may fail to provide warning that the system is inoperative.

14. Ford Expedition
Number of vehicles: 10,061
Problem: The front and rear tires on the driver's side of affected vehicles may have been damaged at the center tread during production.

August 2007 Dream Car of the Month - Ferrari 288 GTO

Conceived in the mid 1980s as a Group B race car to compete with the Porsche 961 (a 640HP race version of the 959), it was built on the Ferrari 308 platform and is the only other Ferrari to wear the GTO name besides the legendary 1962 250 GTO. Due to Group B homoligation rules 200 cars had to be built for the public. Unfortunately, since Ferrari and Porsche were the only two manufacturers entered in the Group B series and due to a rash of racing deaths, the series was cancelled. The GTO and the 961 never met on the track. Ferrari took the cars built for the race series, detuned them, slapped in an interior and sold them to the public. Total production numbers are stated as between 272 and 277 depending on where you get your info.

Though based on the 308, the GTO used a longitudinally mounted twin turbocharged 2.8l V8 as opposed to the 308's 3.0l naturally aspirated, transversely mounted V8 engine. The longitudinal orientation in the GTO along with the turbos and intercoolers consumed the area that was used in the 308 for the rear trunk space. Even that wasn't enough so the car was stretched. The overall length of the GTO is about 4 inches longer than the 308. This engine was good for 600+HP in race trim and was detuned to 400HP/366TQ at 11.6psi for the street. The body was composed of exotic materials for the day. Only the doors were steel, the rest of the car was a mix of kevlar, aluminum and fiberglass to keep the weight as low as possible. The result was a curb weight of about 2550lbs which combined with the powerful engine launched the 288 GTO to 60 in the mid 4s and blasted the 1/4 mile in the mid to high 12s. Top speed was over 190MPH. Staggering performance for 1985.

288 GTO Evoluzione

There were also five 288 GTO Evoluzione models built which added extensively revised bodywork and aerodynamics that greatly resemble the Ferrari F40 that followed the 288. The Evo boasted as much as 650HP and it is believed that only 2 examples survive today. One of which is owned by non other than one of the worlds richest men and Ferrari fanatic, the Sultan of Brunei.

This car has always been one of my favorite Ferraris. Its understated in it's appearance unlike the other cartoonish supercars of it's day as well as the Ferraris that followed (F40 and F50). It's performance was mind blowing 20+ years ago and it can still hold it's own today. It truly deserves to be considered one of the greatest supercars of all time.

Can It Be?....A New Racing Network Coming To TV !

As if on cue after my anti NASCAR rant, I find out about this new racing network that is trying to get off the ground. The Racing Network is currently taking a poll on their website to gauge the interest in a non-NASCAR dedicated network. Like Speed Channel used to be before they became the NASCAR network. I think it's a great idea and I hope they go forward with it.

Fantasy Worlds

I'm 35 and I love video games. I can't help it. Can you blame me though. My generation grew up with them. I've had them all - Atari, Intellivision, Vectrex (look it up), Nintendo, Sega, PS1, PS2, XBOX, and XBOX360. I think modern games are great. Many are better than a lot of hollywood movies and much more involving since you have control of the action. Lots of people though don't get it and think they are just for kids. I mostly play 3 types of games - shooters, sports games and car games.

The car games are probably my favorite though. Lately, I've been addicted to Forza Motorsport 2 for the XBOX360. I spent about 10 hours playing just this weekend. It's a standard racing game but the amount of detail and customization in the game is great. Realistic damage and physics add to the realism of the game. Hundreds of cars are available and customizable with everything from paint, decals, rims, tires, body add-ons and various speed equipment. It's really amazing. There is racing against game generated opponents and there is also on-line play. There is also an on-line auction area where you can buy and sell your cars.

Another great driving game that I love on the XBOX360 is Test Drive Unlimited. This game isn't just racing, its a whole alternate reality. The game takes place on the island of Hawaii. The creators of the game have mapped all of the roadways on the island and you can "free roam" anywhere you want. The game starts with you arriving at the airport with some money for a house and a car. You grab a rental and head out to make your purchases. As you progress through the game you come across races and challenges that help you earn money to buy more houses, cars, motorcycles and clothes. The best part is the on-line aspect where players from all over the world are all just cruising around on the roads at the same time going about their business. You can challenge each other to races, formal or just a spontaneous drag race or game of highway tag, you can just sit and chat or form a car club. It's great fun and really a complete fantasy world. Right now in the game I've got about 20 houses, hundreds of cars and over $1million in the bank. If it were only real!

I just like the escapism that these games provide. I love playing after a day at work. It helps me relax and forget about whatever has been bugging me for a few hours a day. My wife doesn't get it but it's something I just really love. Plus it helps me bond with my son and that's the best part.