CarsDampers and tuning

Porsche tuner TechArt has created the GTstreet RS, a hardcore version of the already-insane 630 HP GTstreet. Even though the current 530 HP Porsche 911 GT2 is the fastest production 911 ever, some people just want more. So, the GTstreet RS takes a standard GT2 and applies horsepower, resulting in a 700 HP monster complete with cartoon body kit. Another obscene tuner-job Porsche? Yep, but there’s no way we’d turn down a drive in one. Full details in the press release below the jump.

TECHART Automobildesign GmbH presents its cutting-edge TECHART GTstreet RS, based on the Porsche 911 GT2 (997), with an impressive best time of 1.06:811 minutes on the short course of the Hockenheim circuit.

Since 2001, TECHART GTstreet vehicles have been among the fastest and highest performance sports cars in the world. This high performance is reflected in the GTstreet RS’s statistics - 700 PS and 515 KW - with a maximum torque of 860 Nm. This power is achieved through the use of modified turbochargers, enlarged carbon inlet pipes, specially developed intercoolers, a sports flap exhaust combined with high-performance headers, modified pressure sensor and a sports air filter. The GTstreet model demonstrates a high level of performance in the wind tunnel: with a downforce of 10 kilos on the front and rear axles at a speed of 140 km/h.

GT RS front apron is fitted with a carbon splitter. A special air duct has been constructed to enable the cool air to pass directly behind the radiator and over the newly created air outlet thereby reducing the buoyant force on the front axle considerably. Side carbon flics support this effect in that they increase the downforce considerably by acting as a counterpart. All of the sporty basics are featured, creating a sporty appearance and fast model with its aero-bonnet, headlight shades, mirror shades, GT sill panels and carbon roof spoiler. The GT rear spoiler is particularly striking with its carbon winglets and gurney flaps. The GT RS rear apron with carbon diffuser, air outlet and carbon air wings complete the programme for this club sports car.

The performance of the GTstreet RS is also reflected in the chassis. With its TECHART Formula III forged rims and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup Plus tyres, the GTstreet RS offers drivers the maximum performance for a street-worthy sports car. The impressive 1.06,811 min. lap time on the short Hockenheim course emphasises yet again the GTstreet RS’s ambitions on becoming one of the fastest sports cars in the world. The special TECHART threaded chassis is also available for the GTstreet RS.

From coloured decorative stitching to complete leather furnishings in the colour of your choice or decorative components in various materials such as carbon or piano lacquer, TECHART offers a virtually endless range of possibilities to meet all tastes in furnishings. Additional accessories such as aluminium pedals, a 3-spoke sports steering wheel and illuminated door sill protectors with an individual logo complete this diverse range of furnishing options.

[TechArt]

Sometimes you run out of room for your hopeless diamond-in-rough project cars at your house, so you rent a storage space for them until you have the time and money to fix them up real proper-like. That’s the situation that Lowmiles seems to have photographed for us on a recent trip to a Seattle-area storage facility. Make the jump to read his description.

I had to run up to my storage locker in Mukilteo yesterday, about a 20 minute drive from where I live, and while I was there I decided to document the two finest pieces of Detroit engineering currently being stowed there. One is a survivor, the other…well, it’s complicated. I’m assuming since someone is paying god knows how much per year to store his very much incomplete vehicle there, he still has clings to the idea that it will one day run again.

Enclosed you will find two sets of photographs. The first set is of the saddest, yet most hopeless optimistic, ‘57ish Ranchero in the world. One’s first reaction seeing it (aside from the generally awesome feeling one gets when looking upon anything -chero or -amino) is that it, to put it mildly, is not currently in running condition. In fact, it is not in any sort of condition at all. Missing are the front end and all of the magic contained therein (like the engine), everything inside the cabin, the cabin doors, all of the glass, all the chrome, the frame, the axles, the wheels, the drivetrain, and the tailgate. How is this a car, you might ask, and not something offered as a part on craigslist or awaiting the Crusher? Well, you’re just not looking hard enough. In the owner’s mind, in just a few short years and with a modicum of effort (how hard could it be to track down Ranchero parts?) he will be cruising the tree-lined and weed-choked boulevards of Seattle’s northern suburbs in the only cartruck to survive a nuclear test. He will be driving fast just to outrun the ladies who want him and his Ranchero and the men who want to buy it from him. But he belongs to no woman and he will sell his pride to no one. He has only one thing on his mind - a car with two seats and a bed for haulin’.

The second set is a shining example of auto neglect. At first glance, I thought this car had been underwater, what with it’s myriad water-based lifeforms clinging to its seals and all. Heck, there are even visible signs of green slime inside the windshield. Perhaps it was stowed under a dock on the Sound, or it had been pulled from Lake Washington and the skeletons inside given a proper burial. I was disappointed to find out that inside this ‘68 Calais (I think) was clean. I can understand keeping your car in this sort of condition if you use it as a daily driver and have to park under a waterfall, but this sort of abuse is really unacceptable when it spends it’s entire year at a storage facility. Buy a car cover, or at least give it a tarp!

lowmiles

Despite our apprehension at the idea of that rust free 1982 AMC Eagle from Craigslist yesterday, it appears to be real. We’re still not sayin’ it’s cancer free because we aren’t seeing rocker panel closeups but still, this thing looks like it was put in a garage in 1992 and forgotten about… wait, that’s exactly what happened. From these images we got today, you can almost smell that AMC vinyl and the hose-ripened grease underhood. It’s even got that AMC straight six we talked about today. Maybe four grand is asking a bit much as it isn’t in perfect condition, but that’s still a sweet machine.

You know what makes parking easier? People yelling at you in Italian and someone taping it. The video goes on for three minutes and at no point does the young woman in it get anywhere near parking her car correctly. This is what parallel parking looks like when done by someone who was never taught how to parallel park. That being said, the young woman driving does do a good job of swearing back at the onlookers. [TheBoomTube]

Love it or hate it, the 2008 Can-Am Spyder is now going to be available in red. The backwards trike will be offered with the color beginning two days ago in addition to silver and yellow. We have to say we rather like the new color on the motor vehicle which defies naming. The new color is nice and all, but we’d much rather see a less aggressive tractions control nanny and a more wallet friendly price, but we suspect those are both wishful thinking. [Can Am Spyder Showroom]

One-time might have no case when he pulls over Sir Mix-A-Lot, but you gotta figure a Town Car stretch limo with the plate 420LIMO might find its passengers’ red eyes blinking confusedly in the harsh light of Mag-Lite beams, as members of the law enforcement community take a shot at an easy, low-paperwork bust. Say, is that a hookah on the back seat?

Leonardo Fioravanti of Pininfarina fame has dreamed up a new type of windshield that implements some damn hi-tech solutions to the problem of rain automotive glass. Fioravanti must not be familiar with the adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” because he definitely has tried to do away with windshield wipers. This rad new design, perhaps dreamed up while high, use aerodynamics and four fancy layers to keep rain, dirt and other elements from obstructing your view.

The concept car acting as guinea pig for this windshield is called Hidra. The first layer of the windshield is a layer that filters the sun and simply repels water. Think of it as a giant Teflon pan. The second layer uses “nano dust”–whatever the hell that is–to magically get rid of windshield dust. It detects the dust with a third layer and employs a fourth, conductive layer to power the entire windshield.

Fioravanti says this technology could be ready within five years. I call BS, but I also would prefer to keep my old-fashioned rubber wipers, because i don’t want no damn nano-robots living in my windshield, getting smarter and smarter, plotting my demise. [Sparkingtech]

Chris Burden has achieved an elder-statesman status in the art world–his latest installation, “Urban Light,” graces the plaza of the new Broad Contemporary Museum at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. But back in the day, he was a wildman, a freak, fucking dangerous–nothing less than an art hoon. A performance art pioneer who in 1974 had himself crucified to the back of VW Beetle.

It was late April. The setting was a garage in Venice, CA, at a time when Venice was a funky sunsplashed beachside shithole full of losers and freaks and drunks and stoners and artists. A shirtless Burden–only three years removed from being shot in the arm with an actual bullet (”Shoot”), and less than a year after a self-imposed near-electrocution (”Doorway to Heaven”)–lays across the back of the Bug and has his palms nailed to the sheet metal. Ouchie! The car is pushed out of the garage and the engine is run full-out for precisely two minutes. Photos are snapped. Urban legend says Burden is driven around like this, but the story is disputed and besides, there’s no way the nails would have held.

The Beetle is lost to time. Burden, on the other hand, is world famous. The performance is labeled “Trans Fixed.”

Tomorrow, check back when we tell the tale of Burden’s 100mpg auto-bike, created in 1977. This boy had a thing for cars!

The immediate reaction to this article sent to us by The Bouncer was an indignant cry of ‘blasphemy!’ What you see above is no ordinary 1972 Pontiac LeMans, indeed this dark horse has a dirty little secret. Tucked away under that sleek hood there lies no V8 engine, not even a V6, in fact, the engine wasn’t even born in Detroit. It was plucked from none other than a Toyota Supra.

Under that familiar Pontiac skin which gave rise to the legendary Judge GTO’s, rests a heart from the land of the rising sun, a 1991 Toyota Supra 7M-GTE 3.0 litre 24V turbo. The story goes that the car came to the builder as a basket case from an auction. Our hero/villain Ralf Becker decided it needed a new heart and a buddy helped him dig up the Toyota engine. That was apparently not without it’s faults either, as valves and pistons had to be replaced (valve pics on Autobild are pretty beaten). The final piece of the pie, which seems to still be in the ironing out phase, is the addition of a great big turbocharger to really spice things up. We don’t know if we can endorse this kind of madness, but the build is unique and will probably be pretty quick when all is said and done. That said, we’re going to keep an eye on these guys, you never know what kind of shenanigans those Germans are getting into. [via AutoBild.de (translated - poorly)]

Ssangyong is making a serious attempt to capture the Asian luxury market with its Ssangyong Chairman W, a V8-powered, RWD sedan with all the trimmings. We just came across a batch of new exterior and interior shots and, while the exterior doesn’t surprise, the interior features seem quite advanced for the market. First of all, you’ve got the MyGigesque rear screen that pops out of the front center console, which appears to be able to control both front and rear entertainment systems. Taking this even further, whereas MyGig only functions with a remote for passengers, the rear console features an integrated command knob. Take that Hyundai Genesis.(UPDATE: The previous Chairman was based on the W124 E-Class platform and an interior picture from the E-Class made it into the interior gallery, causing some confusion. The pic has been removed. Thanks to all of those that pointed it out).

In addition to the new interior pictures, we have some sort of crash test that shows the new Chairman gets a “5 Star,” which we assume means the same thing in all languages but probably not in all ratings. This also appears to be the first set of white Chairman photos, a fact that is kind of surprising when you realize white has always been a popular color choice for American chairmen. No final details on price, though it looks like this super luxury ride will be somewhere in the $100K range when it officially debuts. (h/t M0l0TOV) [Bobaedream]