Cars and Motorsports Thread

Darc_Requiem · January 12

13 minutes ago, Vhozite said:

(Finally) a good look at the new pre-production Charger. Gorgeous front but that rear is funny looking imo. Also lol at most of the comments being “lol no V8”.

Damn, then call it something else. They are setting themselves up for failure.

Vhozite · January 12

Just now, Darc_Requiem said:

Damn, then call it something else. They are setting themselves up for failure.

I think Charger is pretty damn good name for an EV lol.

Joking aside, it’s all but confirmed it’ll have both an EV or TT I6 powertrain. Not sure how popular it’ll be but If it does flop I’ll happily buy one at a discount.

OPTIMUS124 · March 5

Vhozite · March 8

Idc what anyone says I love this. Love the way it looks, love the hatch, love the standard AWD, and love the potential of TTI6.

This is also the only EV I’d consider buying. Unlike every other EV this actually seems like it’s trying to be cool, and it’s not a damn SUV and not a Tesla.

It’s a shame I’m poor this would otherwise guaranteed be my next car.

Vhozite · May 10

Holy shit the Cybertruck looks even worse in person. Saw one yesterday driving home and it looks like something a first grader would draw. Not a Tesla or EV hater at all but it legit looks cobbled together.

Credit where it’s due tho it definitely looks different than anything else on the road.

Edited May 10 by Vhozite

Vhozite · May 21

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a60845445/2025-ford-maverick-spied/

New un-camouflaged Maverick spotted. I think it looks ok but that plastic “U” piece under the grill looks absolutely tacked on.

If it’s true what they’re saying about a potential sporty street truck trim/package this might be my next vehicle.

Darc_Requiem · May 21

I went home to visit my for Mother's Day last week and my brother had new car. This isn't a photo of his car just the model he has.

Camaro ZL1, my brother has been busting his ass at work the couple of years. he deserves it. I only wish my dad was still here, because I know he'd love it.

Vhozite · May 21

@Darc_Requiemholy shit a ZL1 is insanely badass…right after they discontinued the Camaro too your bro is just in time.

I hate GM but they can make some kick ass cars

Darc_Requiem · May 21

12 minutes ago, Vhozite said:

@Darc_Requiemholy shit a ZL1 is insanely badass…right after they discontinued the Camaro too your bro is just in time.

I hate GM but they can make some kick ass cars

He did the same thing with his 2005 GTO. He got that in 2008. He still has the GTO. It's a classic now.

Haldol616 · June 7

If I get a car I would get a WRX with e85 to make it into an STI. Catback intaka ecu timing more boost and intercooler upgrades would make it perfect.

Edited June 7 by Haldol616

Vhozite · June 8

15 hours ago, Haldol616 said:

If I get a car I would get a WRX with e85 to make it into an STI. Catback intaka ecu timing more boost and intercooler upgrades would make it perfect.

Funny enough a VB drove in front of me yesterday and I got the “damn that may be my next car” feeling.

That said if you want an STI I would just buy an STI. In addition to more HP the STI has 2 LSD’s and a Driver Controlled Center Differential, much stiffer suspension, and a more robust (read: can handle more HP) transmission.

Not saying the WRX isn’t cool or capable but if the STI is really what you want just know the WRX isn’t quite the same.

Haldol616 · June 8

2 hours ago, Vhozite said:

Funny enough a VB drove in front of me yesterday and I got the “damn that may be my next car” feeling.

That said if you want an STI I would just buy an STI. In addition to more HP the STI has 2 LSD’s and a Driver Controlled Center Differential, much stiffer suspension, and a more robust (read: can handle more HP) transmission.

Not saying the WRX isn’t cool or capable but if the STI is really what you want just know the WRX isn’t quite the same.

I see. I will get a BRZ.

Haldol616 · June 16

I only watched WRC back during the Focus era.

Vhozite · June 29

Plan on watching NASCAR in Chicago next weekend. I don’t like NASCAR but seeing a race through a city sounds cool so I’ll give it a try.

-PVL93- · June 29

I somehow missed this thread before but hype for Spa and also Goodwood in a few weeks

Meier Link · June 30

I drove a Civic EX 4 door with bald tires on the freeway just to go to Super Arcade.

-PVL93- · June 30

14 hours ago, Dayaan said:

@-PVL93-Thoughts on this Spa? It's gotta be boring for you. Maybe I'm just tuning in at bad times, but almost every lap I've seen has been under a full course yellow or behind a safety car. I can't enjoy it.

Nah I love endurance racing in general, both at its worst and its best, and try to tune into whenever something is on during the weekends

Fucking hell the 2024 f1 season is becoming spicier by the month

-PVL93- · June 30

57 minutes ago, Dayaan said:

The worst parts of endurance racing are certainly better than the worst of F1.

Don't even get me started

When f1 sucks, it REALLY fucking sucks

When endurance sucks, it's still at least watchable simply due to the unpredictable nature

Darc_Requiem · July 3

3 minutes ago, Dayaan said:

I used to hate Silverstone but now I adore it. Two days to FP1. Let’s get it.

Darc_Requiem · July 3

46 minutes ago, Dayaan said:

Not a fan?

It's not that. That's a gif of Alicia Silverstone. 🙃 Sometimes I forget how young you are. 😉

Edited July 3 by Darc_Requiem

Vhozite · July 16

NASCAR in Chicago was really cool. Didn’t get to watch the entire thing but what I saw was pretty fun and intense. After watching it I have no idea how anyone could prefer watching a race in an oval but 🤷🏽‍♂️. SVG in particular was an exciting driver to watch.

I was very surprised to see no Dodge represented. Just Chevy, Ford, and Toyota as far as I can tell.

Vhozite · July 16

Very strong rumors the next model year GR Corolla will have an automatic as an option. Not particularly shocking if you follow the changes to the GR Yaris but still interesting.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a61571634/2025-toyota-gr-corolla-automatic-report/

Vhozite · July 16

3 hours ago, Dayaan said:

Oval racing isn't my thing. Still, I'm not a huge fan of some street tracks, and while the Chicago one is cool, it disturbs me that those roads aren't surfaced for racing and that the streets are that tight. That's only rivaled in part by Monaco with open-wheelers, and we've been arguing to have it removed from the FIA racing calendar for those cars for years now. IMSA goes to tracks like NASCAR's Chicago, and those are the races I usually skip.

I love street tracks when they have choke points but are large and encourage overtaking. That's why I love Singapore and Baku. Circuit de Gilles Villenueve is one of my favorite tracks period.

As for why Dodge isn't in NASCAR, Penske dropped them in favor of Ford, and no one could privateer a Dodge at the same level that Penske could, so they haven't been back since. Today, it's just the three manufacturers that you mentioned, but Honda could join the fray at some point, from what I hear.

Funny enough my coworker who’s big into NASCAR was complaining about the surface being poor but I wouldn’t really know one way or another. As a layperson watching the roads were already way smoother and in better condition than any American city I’ve been in lol.

Yeah I read up on the Dodge situation. Not only is it what you mentioned, but apparently they also get a tight marketing budget from STLA and they just can’t afford to jump back in without sacrificing other stuff. Dodge in general is in a really hard place right now. They basically need to prove they are worth keeping around to their parent company while emissions standards are forcing them to phase out the big engines they spent the last decade+ building their brand around.

Vhozite · July 16

3 hours ago, Dayaan said:

As for Dodge going out of business, I smile every day at the prospect of fewer muscle cars on the road. Bless up.

Damn and I liked you too. I hope everything you put in the microwave heats unevenly.

The biggest appeal of muscle cars is the styling. I love the aggressive, angular styling that just isn’t as common from other regions. Most German cars are way too understated for me with terrible model names. Japan makes a ton of nice looking cars but at the same time they just don’t have the same styling queue’s as American muscle. Korea doesn’t make anything i actually want to own.

Also V8’s sound orders of magnitude better than any engine configuration with less cylinders outside of Porsche flat 6.

That said without V8’s I’m not sure what the appeal of Dodge ICE cars is. They are moving to a turbo 6 like everyone else and it’s like…for all that I’d rather just buy a BMW. Doubly so since the Hurricane is super similar to the B58 (3L closed deck DI turbo six with water cooling).

Edited July 17 by Vhozite

Vhozite · July 17

8 hours ago, Dayaan said:

Everything that you said is correct. I just dislike modern muscle car styling, and that modern style began around the late ‘90s. The engines are amazing, but not that efficient. The cars are too heavy for me, and the brakes leave a lot to be desired.

Yeah pretty much this entire paragraph is why I want something different from the Mustang. Take HP and sound out of the equation V8 engines are gigantic, which requires a huge amount of the car’s footprint to be used for essentially “useless” engine bad space under the mile long hood. Same thing with an I6. From a drivers perspective I hate long hoods and high weight. Doubly so on weight as someone who actually works on their own cars.

Everyone hates transverse setups because RWD is the only setup we are allowed to like, but from a space savings and weight perspective it’s pretty neat. Not saying it’s the best setup but it has advantages.

Yeah I know BMW’s reputation for reliability but frankly’s Dodge’s isn’t much better. I just mentioned BMW because the new Dodge engine is so similar to what’s already on the market.

In general I’m just not a fan of the turbo 6 engine layout. Worse sound and reliability than a NA V8 while not being much smaller.

Vhozite · July 31

Maverick Lobo confirmed. Retuned suspension, upgraded brakes, standard paddles with possibly new 7AT (speculation it’s a DCT), unique fascia

Not gonna post a source yet since it hasn’t been officially revealed, but this might be my next car as long as it’s not exorbitantly expensive/marked up.

Basically it’s this, GR Corolla, or the hurricane charger, though with recent news idk if I’d recommend anyone buy anything Stellantis is producing right now.

Vhozite · July 31

Lol there might actually be a god out there I asked for

* An American turbo sedan with AWD and liftback

* A small automatic 4 door AWD car

* An AWD performance Mav

And all 3 appear to be launching next year. I really have no excuse not to buy something new in the coming year lol

Vhozite · August 1

Man fuck what I was saying yesterday to Lobo seems kinda whack.

* Same economy transmission just programmed to skip a gear

* Same engine. Ford couldn’t even be assed to give it a hotter tune.

* The performance brakes are…2 piston calipers up front

For the $10k price delta over the lower trims I need more. Suspension changes aren’t exciting. The only decent upgrade is the torque vectoring diff from the tremor.

I love Ford but I can’t stand how much they phone it in on performance vehicles when nobody is competing with them 🙄

intimigator · August 7

Hertz Team Jota confirms their partnership with Cadillac for the WEC. They are no longer a Porsche customer team, which makes them eligible for the Manufacturer’s Championship.

The former Jota Porsche 963s will likely go to IMSA.

The Cadillac LMDh Hypercars are very competitive, and as a factory team (given that Cadillac and Chip Ganassi Racing have parted ways) they will have the extra resources necessary to be more competitive. Hopefully we see them challenge for wins more often.

This is a big deal.

intimigator · August 9

I finally got around to watching Grooved Slick’s video on the Road America IMSA race, where the #6 Porsche Penske Hypercar made an incredible comeback. It was quite an impressive breakdown of their journey through the race.

With no Motorsports that I am interested in going on at the moment, I’m going through a tough period with only Olympic basketball to focus on.

All I am left with are warm and happy thoughts about how Penske is fighting in IMSA and the WEC.

intimigator · August 18

We are at an excellent place in car manufacturing at the moment.

The Bugatti Tourbillon and the RB17 represent the peak of modern combustion engineering. The Bugatti designers also worked on the Rimac Nevera R, which represents the peak of electric performance engineering. Pagani's Utopia is a beautiful car, possibly the most perfectly executed expression of aesthetic identity in a car, ever.

Consumer focuses are now shifting in the more affordable markets too. People want more hybrid cars than ever, which is a great thing for the environment, and keeps petrochemical companies motivated to develop sustainable fuels. It also ensures that cars remain cheaper and easier to repair, without creating entirely new repair infrastructures for an all-electric car landscape. Gas mileage is at its peak in this hybrid era, and petrol prices are relatively stable now.

Now, consumers want beautiful cars that leverage modern technological advances. They want less draggy cars, lighter cars, and cars with a lot of safety features and more manual feedback. People want to feel their investment. With most people driving on regular roads and road laws getting stricter and arguably safer, markets are forcing manufacturers to make vehicles that feel worth the limits that governments impose on them.

You still get terrible financing, scumbag data selling, disgusting subscription services for you $15,000+ vehicle, but I think that with the larger push towards crushing antitrust behavior from large corporations, consumers are fighting for their right to retain their ability to purchase services and products at a fair price and for them to keep it. At all ends of the pricing spectrum, for all the problems that the car market has and has had in the last ten years, I think things are getting better, and I think that they will continue to get better and more affordable.

intimigator · August 23

Isotta Fraschini is temporarily out of the WEC. I'm a little late to type up this story because I was waiting on more news. None has been released.

From what we know, it's a temporary pause due to operational difficulties, but they will not continue past the next round of the 2024 season, with no set date to return (though they have vocalized the intention to do so). They've claimed it's due to financial difficulties from what I gather, but with this being the the team's second divorce with race runners, you have to imagine that there is a deeper infrastructural and political problem at play here.

In any case, it is sad to see such a young and successful team go out of competition. Luckily, Aston Martin is joining, and Hyundai is heavily linked with endurance racing and the Hypercar project too! Good things ahead, but there is no point in appreciating the good things in life without respecting those that died to get us there.

OPTIMUS124 · August 27

So here's the "exhaust" sound for the new Charger

Say what you will, but that start up sound is awesome.

This video also had me dying.

intimigator · August 30

The next round of the WEC will feature a return to the Circuit of the Americas! The best FIA track in America will feature the return of the LMGT3 class, along with the Hypercar class for the Lone Star Le Mans endurance event.

Of course, since Isotta Fraschini has withdrawn from this season, their Hypercar will be absent from the event, and so we will have one less competitor on the field. 18 cars and 8 manufacturers are present in the Hypercar class, along with the same 18 entries in the GT3 field. This is, overall, 5 more cars than the previous WEC event at this track. Certainly an improvement!

The event will be 6 hours long, which is the sweetspot for me personally.

Cars to look out for in the Hypercar class this round will involve the Lamborghini, the Penske Porches, and the BMW. While Ferrari and Toyota are expected to perform well despite their Balance of Performance (BoP) penalties, the same cannot be said for some of the other cars; even though some cars have favorable BoPs, they may not necessarily perform that well. For me, this is a crucial race to watch Lamborghini in, as this is the biggest advantage they have had (I believe) this season over the frontrunners, and a good performance here would finally reveal to them exactly how far behind they are in terms of competitiveness. The Penske Porsches are right down the middle of the field with their BoP despite their championship standings, so this will be as balanced an event for them as they will get. The BMW Hypercars have undoubtedly underperformed this year. I want to see them do well. They've been given a small advantage over the aforementioned Penskes, but, at this level, even marginal power advantages can lead to big performances.

It may be important to note that Peugeot's Hypercar is about 30 pounds lighter than in the previous round.

The GT3 BoP is as expected, with the Porsche 911 GT3 R receiving a huge weight penalty in response to its consistently imperious performance this year. The Mustang GT3 has swung the other way, being the lightest, which is an odd thing to say for a muscle car. The Lamborghini Huracan remains the heaviest.

The race will be streamed on HBO Max in the US, and on the official WEC app (which sucks) worldwide.

As always, the information is public knowledge, but I have sourced it from Formula Jonah:

intimigator · August 30

Alexa Rendell (the best motorsport host I've seen) and Sam Smith (not the singer) break down their expectations for both classes in the coming race:

intimigator · September 1

Sarah Bovy and the Iron Dames qualified 2nd in Hyperpole at the end of the LMGT3 Qualifying session at COTA. A phenomenal performance from the Iron Dames today. I'm interested to see how they finish the weekend! Hopefully in P1!

Those damn Ferrari Hypercars are just so strong! The #6 Penske was out in the first Qualifying session for Hypercar, and the #5 didn't fare too well in Hyperpole either. To get trounced by BMW, a Cadillac and 3 Ferraris is extreme! Even Toyota is ahead with their #7 car, and Alpine put in an unusually strong performance. Penske will likely not do well this weekend, and the Championship may unfortunately switch hands at this stage. It's a sad affair but what we'll see, I think.

In F1 news, McLaren led the charge at Monza with a strong qualifying showcase. Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso put in a decent performance, nabbing an 11th, while Albon put in a heroic lap to secure 8th place. With Red Bull being behind both Ferraris and Mercedes drivers, it looks like it's going to be a hard weekend for the championship leaders, and I believe McLaren will run away with a free victory, unfortunately. Ferrari's pace looked too slow to keep up with them at their home race, and I don't think Mercedes can mount much of challenge either.

This weekend will be fun! COTA and Monza always deliver good weekends, so I'm looking for some good old fashioned track action and drama.

Also, to note:

Franco Colapinto is racing his first Formula 1 weekend at Monza, so this will be an important indicator for the world about how good he can be. If he underperforms as Antonelli did, then the future looks bleak.

intimigator · September 1

Charles Leclerc wins for Ferrari on their home tarmac after a sensational drive on a one-stop strategy that seemed to precipitate out of nowhere! He's won twice this year; once at his home in Monaco and once at the home of Ferrari. What an incredible race! Piastri leads ahead of Norris to lock out the podium in a good drive from both drivers. Strategy definitely dominated the excitement factor of the race. With that said, Kevin Magnussen made a whole load of overtakes, so it's not like we were lacking action. We did see quite a bit of contact as well, so it was an action packed race.

Now, on to the WEC's 6 hours of the Lone Star Le Mans.

intimigator · September 2

Today seems to be a great day for Ferrari fans. AF Corse win by Robert Schwatzman's hand at the Lone Star Le Mans in Texas, under three seconds ahead of Kamui Kobayashi's Toyota in Texas. What a great day it was for racing! Sadly, the Penske Porsche's were unable to pull out their trademark clutch performances, but they were able to outperform the BMWs and the Lamborghini. Surprisingly, Alpine held on to their advantage to finish ahead of the Championship leaders! A very strong performance, indeed.

Despite their strong performance in Qualifying, the Iron Dames finished outside of the top 10 in the GT3 class, which was headed by The Heart of Racing and their Aston, followed by the Porsche 911s of both the Manthey teams, with the #92 PURERXCING ahead of the #91 EMA. A great event, to be sure.

intimigator · September 10

ADRIAN NEWEY JUST JOINED ASTON MARTIN. I AM SO HAPPY TODAY. GOD IS GOOD.

intimigator · September 13

Hyundai is entering the WEC and IMSA under the Genesis brand! They will enter the prototype category (Hypercar), making them the 14th manufacturer competing under the LMH and LMDh regulations. They will be using LMDh cars, which is wonderful. They join Porsche, Cadillac, Acura, BMW, Lamborghini and Alpine in this regard. They'll probably work with Oreca for the chassis, and Pipo Moteurs for their power unit. This means that they will have a minimum of 3 Hypercars (2 for the WEC and at least 1 for IMSA). It's possible that Chip Ganassi Racing, who separated from Cadillac this year, might run the Genesis team. That's my bet.

Sourced here, but all the information I reported is public:

intimigator · September 14

What a great day for Ferrari fans!

Formula One returns to Baku this weekend, and both Ferraris locked out the top and bottom spots of the podium, with Monza and Monaco winner Charles Leclerc leading the charge after a dramatic Q1 session led to the early and untimely exit of Max Verstappen’s closest Championship rival, Lando Norris. For the Monegasque to be three tenths ahead of the competition during such a dramatic Qualifying session is very telling of the latent pace in that new-spec Ferrari, and I look forward to seeing how they fare on race day. Of note, this is the first race of the whole season where Verstappen was outqualified by his teammate. This proves that of the two most recent F1 dynasties, Baku seems to favor the second driver most, with Bottas consistently putting in amazing performances in Azerbaijan along with Red Bull’s Checo.

In the WEC, Ferrari’s Vista privateered LMGT3 team took pole for the first time this season at Fuji in Japan. It was a dramatic Qualifying session for both classes, as the Hypercar class saw ups and downs in the first session the likes of which haven’t been seen all year leading up to Hyperpole. Somehow, the Lamborghini Hypercar was piloted to a 9th place finish by Daniil Kvyat, fending off otherwise strong competition in the first session. Kevin Estra followed the #7 Toyota to take fifth place ahead of the Alpine piloted by Milesi. The #5 Penske Porsche did not qualify as well as the leading car, and that is what we have come to expect of it. Toyota performed as well as expected on their home track, trailing in 2nd and 4th from Alex Lynn’s Cadillac and Dries Vanthoor in his BMW respectively. He had an impressive showing to qualify 3rd for tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

If not for the stunning drive that the Vista Ferrari pulled off in the LMGT3 class, Sarah Bovy would have driven to a podium slot in Qualifying, but they have a respectable 4th place starting position that I’m sure they will capitalize on. In F1, I am disappointed in Aston Martin’s performance, but entertained by the drama that always takes place at one of my favorite tracks. I love the second half of the F1 season because I always get to watch tracks that I love. The same cannot be said for the Porsche Penskes that disappointed in terms of performance and entertainment, securing only a 5th and 8th in reverse order of car numbers. An unfortunate showing from a team that is so used to being on top. Still, given their typical race pace, I fully expect a podium from the #6 car.

Aside from Motorsport, the UFC has a highly anticipated PPV on tonight, so I will be watching that. That should prepare me for the incoming storm of the two Grand Prix tomorrow. I am very excited!

Edited September 14 by intimigator

intimigator · September 15

Oscar Piastri wins his second Grand Prix in an exciting Azerbaijan Grand Prix! He wins ahead of Leclerc after an incredible overtake, ahead of George Russel who led a quiet but impressive race to lock out the podium. Sergio Perez generated a lot of drama when, during the best race of his season, he took too much real estate on the road down a straight which led to a small contact with Carlos Sainz’s rear left tire, taking them both out in a similar fashion to what happened in Monaco earlier this year.

In the WEC, Porsche Penske took the overall victory leading from Dries Vanthoor’s BMW and a surprise appearance from the Alpine to lock out the podium positions. Peugeot got their best result of the season in 4th and 7th, and Hertz Team Jota win the World Cup! Manthey Pure Rxcing win the LMGT3 Championship with their #92 Porsche 911! After an incredible drive from Kevin Estre, I am happy to say that this race was worth investing time into. I am so happy to see the Penske boys win yet again.