Pic of the day part dos: Ariel
Source: Sorry I forgot :(
GTP: Hotchkis Porsche 962 In-Car, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca from GrandTouringPrototype.com on Vimeo.
German automaker and motorsports company Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur (yes, that’s how you spell it) manufactures some of the most extreme vehicles on the planet and has recently proven the merits of this claim with a new Nurburgring lap time for its supercar. The Sport is a mid-tier option for the company’s Apollo line of supercar models and for the run the car was optioned with a 700 horsepower version of its regular Audi-sourced 4.2-liter V-8.
The time set by the Apollo Sport is an independent recording noted by German magazine Sport-Auto and comes in at 7m 11.57s. Gumpert is claiming the 'road car' record for the ‘Ring but it’s well known that the Radical SR8 in road legal trim has clocked a blistering 6m 55s lap time.
The Apollo Sport was piloted by 26 year-old driver Florian Gruber on August 13, edging out the Donkervoort D8 RS06, which posted a time of 7m 14.89s back in November 2005, as well as the more recent Nissan GT-R and Corvette ZR1.
As for the car itself, the Apollo Sport comes with a tubular space frame of chrome-molybdenum steel with an integrated safety monocoque structure fabricated in carbon-fiber. The huge air intakes on the roof and side panels feed cold air to the twin-turbo mid-engine powerplant.
The Sport edition is differentiated to the standard Apollo thanks to the addition of a full racing aero package with a huge GT wing and lower front spoilers, while the interior gets comfort mod-cons not usually found in such vehicles. The list includes Alcantara trim, air-conditioning, a CD player and sat-nav, and even a reversing camera as standard. The list price for the Apollo Sport is €299,500 ($423,167) plus taxes.
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Sweden’s Koenigsegg has closed its purchase of Saab from America’s General Motors according to a report from Reuters Newsagency this afternoon.
Although financing arrangements have yet to be finalised, the sale was agreed upon at an unannounced price sources claim to be “very low”.
“The price tag is non-existent but GM has a deal that grants them revenues as well if Koenigsegg manages to get Saab back on its feet,” a source close to Saab said.
The deal requires the Swedish government to guarantee a loan by Saab from the European Investment Bank. The bank is expected to process Saab’s loan application by end-September.
Sweden said on August 7th that it had received information on a possible pullout of investors backing the deal. But there has been no further statement by the government on the issue since then.
You’re looking at the world’s fastest fire engine, which despite carrying an extra 200 kilograms of specialised equipment on board, this GT-R will still lap Nurburgring’s Nordschleife circuit in less than 8 minutes.
With hundreds, if not, thousands of accidents each year on the this feared track, during the so-called public sessions after 5.00pm each weekday, emergency response time can be mean life or death.
You see, “The Ring” as it is known to enthusiasts worldwide, is a staggering 22.8 kilometres per lap, complete with 72 corners, many of them blind. The problem is, when you add punters driving at speeds up to and beyond 300km/h, things can go horribly wrong, as it so often does.
The specially designed Nissan GT-R has been presented to the Nurburgring operator, as a gesture of appreciation for their collaboration in developing the budget priced supercar.
German based M&M Automotive did the fire fighting conversion on the car, which has a 50-litre water tank in place of the two rear seats, in addition to a medium pressure extinguisher system with a winding device for the hose.
The system can spay foam up to 18 metres and can fight fire for up to two minutes on one tank.
On April 23 2009, a factory spec GT-R Nissan achieved the incredible lap time of 7 minutes 26 seconds at the Nurburgring.
