McLaren, and F1, Full of Eastern Promise

Today may well have provided the moment upon which the 2011 F1 season properly exploded into life. That moment was the split second that Sebastian Vettel stuttered off the grid, having miscalculated his start revs, and showed to the world, and Messrs. Button and Hamilton, that he is indeed human as they streaked past him in their silver machines into the first turn. With the reigning world champ and current standings leader under pressure for the first time in weeks, the stage was set for a nail-bitingly entertaining Grand Prix, and spectators were not to be disappointed.

The deliberately catastrophic degradation rates on the new Pirelli tyres are changing not only pit stop tactics, but also the very manner of driving that drivers can afford to deploy out on circuit. 

P Zero tyres - losing their marbles

Those who berate the FIA for somewhat undermining natural competition in the hunt for regular overtaking may well bemoan the fact that disastrous qualifying by Mark Webber afforded him a wealth of fresh tyres for race day, allowing him to mercilessly chase down the front runners from 18th at nigh-on Vettel-in-Q3 pace. 

There can be much said in a negative sense that F1 is being strangled by the stringent regulations on aerodynamics, pit stops, tyre use, and engine output, defying the very point of the series, in demonstrating the most cutting edge technology being piloted by the world's best helmsmen. Sure, if you watch highlights of the 2008 Interlagos race, when Hamilton snatched the title from Massa on the penultimate corner of the final lap, then you'd easily argue that state-of-the-art aero and refuelling in races in no way hampered scintillating racing. However, ugly wings on the wide front and tall rear, slick tyres, and now movable wings and KERS are a fully fledged aspect of the sport, deciding races, causing overtakes and challenging the next generation of Adrian Newey wannabes to deliver ever-improved performance. On the evidence of Vettel's qualifying lap for China being the fastest the admittedly young circuit has ever witnessed, it's not a big issue. 

Brazilian GP 2008: The best race of modern times (?)

Movable wings and boost buttons may upset die-hard purists, but they go a long way to making circuits like China, Malaysia and potentially Abu Dhabi much more watch-able. All of these tracks feature enormous straight sections allowing cars to reach the upper echelons of their 200mph performance over 50 times in an afternoon. When you're designing fantasy tracks in the back of a maths book as a child (was that just me?) long straights were great as a drag strip section, envisaging cars dicing for position, three abreast, at over 200mph down the track. In reality though, long stretches simply encouraged single-file slip streaming before a simple, incontestable pass in the braking zone. The 2011 rules encourage a driver to pursue his quarry throughout the lap, in order to be within the one-second DRS window before the long straights, which can be fully used, once the rear wings are opened, for proper flat out racing down their entire length. 

Combinations of well-deployed tyres, KERS, and DRS, with old-fashioned driving skill, gave a thoroughly deserved victory to Lewis Hamilton today, while his team-mate could do nothing about Mr Aussie Grit himself lunging through the field to assert himself on the podium. Long may panache-rich drives such as this continue through the season, especially in the more old school European tracks like Spa and Silverstone. Can the rules alterations encourage meaningful overtaking in tight city stages like Monaco and Valencia?

 Today was one of the more tidy Grand Prix of recent runs, with minimal contact between drivers and an absence of rallycross heroics from the old suspects, Kobayashi and Petrov. Definite congratulations to Felipe Massa as well for (yet) again dominating his supposed Ferrari overlord Alonso for race pace. Quite typical that the controversial Spaniard looks set to escape punishment for illegally deploying his open rear wing; the phantom advantage was apparently the result of a system malfunction on the his car. Pity...

Comedy plaudits of the day are shared between BBC commentator David Coulthard's persistent need to pronounce every driver's name differently to the legendary Martin Brundle, and for Jenson Button cruising nonchalantly through Vettel's expectant Red Bull pit lane box on the way to his own team. Wonder why the particular radio transmission which followed that momentary saga wasn't broadcast...

Roll on Turkey's turn on May 8th.

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Dodge The Viper

So, you're on the internet, browsing car sites. That's how you've ended up on TyreRoar. If you regularly indulge your petrolhead online then you'll most likely be aware of the site WreckedExotics.com. This now world-famous domain centres around our morbid fascination with what happens when those can afford the very cream of the car world's crop appear to lack the ability to drive it.

In short, its an frequently updated and perfectly catalogued collection of heart-breakingly broken sports cars, arranged for your viewing (dis)pleasure. Even in difficult economic times, there's clearly no shortage of willing volunteers who overdrive their priceless motors and end up with an large dent in their no claims bonus and their moment of embarrassment immortalised on the world's best car crash website.

There was however a notable absentee from this week's batch of sorry state supercars. For the first time in quite a while, there were no wrecked Dodge Vipers amongst the latest crashes to adorn the site. The reason this caught my eye is simply that almost every other week, several Vipers are to be found in extremely poor condition after terrifying looking accidents.

WreckedExotics conveniently provides an explanation to every picture on each page, and while some cars are the victims of vandalism, poor maintenance, or freak weather conditions, the Viper is an unequivocal shrine to its devilish, downright dangerous demeanour. At the current count, there are 23 pages of archived Viper crash photos. And the descriptions display a clear relationship...

"Hydroplaned, spun 3 times, then flipped end over end down a 60 foot cliff. Ended upside down in a riverbed. Driver and passenger were uninjured."


"Tires spun out while going around a curve, slammed into a palm tree"


"Lost control on the highway as car was entering traffic. Crashed into the guardrail, then flipped over"


"Dealer took soon to be owner for a ride but didn't make it more than 200 yards from the dealership."

Of course there's no telling what manner of driving the Vipers were being subjected to at the time of their deaths, but there's a definite parallel in that a lot of these ex-Vipers met their end during fairly routine manoeuvres. Although the car has now ended production it seems amazing that this 8.4 litre V10 monster, eventually with 600 brake horsepower, only rear wheel drive and little in the way of sophisticated electronic assistance was able, allowed even, to carry on for so long, At relatively bargain prices in the US, compared to equivalently powerful European exotics, the Viper was a huge hit, so there's plenty out there, ready to be in the hands of a very large customer pool.

The Viper is also enormous. Having seen one yesterday at a sports car meet, it dwarked the Porsches nearby witha footprint larger than a BMW 5 Series. A wieldy sports car it is not; everything about its being is massive. Check out the size of the rear tyre in the photo on the left. As was said during the car's Top Gear track test, with tyres so enormous providing your lifeline, the speeds you'll be going when the Viper overcomes grip limits are way beyond what the vast majority of drivers can be expected to handle. In the US, home of the modern suing culture, how has the Viper now been given the same health warnings as cigarettes or Jackass?

As a last thorn in the side of the health and safety obsessed, nanny state, the Dodge Viper is a quite incredible car. The final generation's stats are pretty terrifying. An engine twice the capacity of an Audi R8. Nigh-on identical power to a Ferrari 599 GTB. 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, faster than a Porsche 997 GT2 RS. Top speed of 202mph for the coupé, and 5mph less for the roadster. That's leaving behind Lexus LFAs and Lamborghini Gallardos.

With vitals like that, it seems predictable that the Viper will continue to be a regular customer on Wrecked Exotics. Here's hoping a few manage not to bite back and live on to demonstrate to the EVs and hybrids of the near and distant future, just how awe-inspring and raw a road legal can can be.

 As an aside, I think it's important to say I'm not trying to make light of the fact than people have been injured and killed in accidents in these cars, just as others have unfortunately suffered in other stereotypical 'widowmakers' like old 911s or TVRs. Also, I'm not attempting to label Dodge irresponsible for their creation of the Viper. This is simply a commentary on how one car has become infamous, perhaps endearingly so, in such an otherwise safety centric context.

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Red Bull & Renault - Flying High In Malaysia

There's a few points to consider following today's entertaining Malaysian Grand Prix, but the enduring image of the race for millions of worldwide viewers, will be this. Brilliance.

Yep, not to be outdone by Mark Webber's somersault in Valencia last season, Vitaly Petrov took to the kerbs, the grass, and then the skies while being chased by the dogged Aussie earlier today. For all those who reckon F1 just isn't interesting any more, and that contrived tech like movable wings and KERS is making the racing artificial, I implore you to watch this, and I further defy you not to be entertained.




While Petrov was treating his £multi-million motor like a BMX bike, elsewhere there was actual racing going on as usual. And, as usual, this involved world champion Sebastian Vettel capitalising on a scintillating performance in qualifying to remain untouchable from lights to flag. I came across a statistic earlier regarding his dominance which shocked and impressed me in equal measure: the last time a car not driven by Sebastian Vettel was in the lead of a Formula One Grand Prix, it was South Korea last October.
And all this has been achieved with a persistently unreliable KERS system. The question that fans and rival drivers alike are now scratching their heads over is this: with or without the boost button, can anyone touch him?

One predictable contender did himself and another no favours today; Alonso's ill judged swipe on Lewis Hamilton ruined the Spaniard's potentially promising race. Hamilton's disappointment at falling back to seventh after suffering massive tyre degradation due to tactical errors, from a podium finish, and the Alonso incident, was further compounded after the chequered flag. Post race, the ever-wise stewards ruled he had over-defended his position and was to receive a 20 second penalty on his finishing time, along with Alonso for causing the contact. This ridiculous and unjustified enforced delay drops Hamilton to eighth, and is most unlikely to improve his "despondent" mood.

At least teammate Jenson Button will be smiling. He recovered well from a frustrating Australian race and a disappointing fourth in qualifying yesterday to earn a richly-deserved second place finish at Sepang today. So McLaren obviously have a decent, challenging car in both qualifying and over a race distance. Only the invaluable luck that keeps shining down on Vettel's side of the Red Bull garage is elluding them.

Just how do McLaren, Ferrari, Renault et al close that gap?

Other noteworthy roles were played by a strong-starting, impressively resurgent Nick Heidfeld, beginning to justify his controversial receipt of Kubica's Lotus Renault seat, and another solid point scoring finish for Force India rookie Paul di Resta. Good on much-maligned Felipe Massa for pipping the impatient Alonso to the finish also.

But the spoils for most honourable 'DNF' ever have to go to Vitaly Petrov. Doing his best to overturn his under the radar reputation, he certainly launched himself (briefly) into the fore today. And then he snapped his steering. If ever there was a graphic demonstration of coming back down to Earth with a bump, his Malaysian heroics would be it.

Good work Sir.

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New Edge Design, Old School Fun

Like countless others, I began my post-test driving career in a car shared with the parents. It was a pretty leggy but very endearing 1998 Mazda 121, basically a MkIV Ford Fiesta with a Mazda badge on both ends. As a first taste of independent motoring, it was pretty well-suited. Good to drive, pretty practical, cheap to run (and repair) and powered by the pretty ancient 1.3 litre Endura-E Ford motor that can trace its iron block roots back to the 1960s Ford Anglia.

Again, like countless others, this car went to meet its maker with the tempting proposition of a £2000 incentive from the UK government's scrappage scheme. So as I headed off to higher education, the Mazda went to a higher place, and I was to be car-less for a very long 16 months.

After a great degree of saving, searching, and a fair degree of luck in a surprisningly cut-throat second hand car market, I have once again mirrored countless others, as my first, proper 'own' car is... a Mk1 Ford Ka.

My new pride and joy was built in 1998, 2 years into the Ka's marathon life span, and the same year as the then-revolutionary Mk1 Focus. The Ka debuted Ford's New Edge design language and was the Blue Oval's first proper attempt at modern city car. As anyone from the UK or Western Europe will testify, Ford hit the nail on the head with more than just beginner's luck; the Ka was so successful it remained at the top of the sales charts for its class, without a facelift inside or out, until 2008, so it's not as dated as you might first think.

My particular Ka is a fine example of the breed, with far more kit than the Mazda possessed. Being a '3' model, this top of the line example featured such luxuries as electric front and vented rear windows, rear head restraints, a CD player, central locking, 14" alloy wheels, air conditioning and metallic paint. Not a bad spec list for a cheap city runabout in the late Nineties.

Having been well looked after, all this gear still works faultlessly, though my car has succumbed to the common Nineties Ka and Fiesta faults with the heating-related electric system, causing the heating to become stuck on when the blower is activated. While a simple task to repair on the lesser models, Ka 3's with air conditioning require professional garage tools and know-how to sort the problem properly, so while the funds for that are gathered, the interim solution has been to ingeniously remove the heater's fuse. With my corner of England currently basking in the hottest spring for a decade, there's no rush to sort the problem.

The Ka might be no spring chicken in design terms but the fact it remained on sale for 8 years pays tribute to its agile, chuckable handling, ample grip, and 'fun factor' in the drive that was simply unheard of (and arguably unnecessary) in the city car class. It marked the genesis of Ford's modern renaissance as a driver's brand, cemented by the Focus and continued by everything from the successor Mondeos and Fiestas.

The main change for the Ka in its lifetime was the 2002 swap from the Endura E engine to a more modern Duratec unit with 10bhp more than the 59bhp Endura motor, and longer gearing to capitalise. Thankfully, my Endura has been treated well, with low mileage, no leaks or squeaks (touch-wood) and mated to an equally willing, snickety gear change which still feels slick and enjoyable after 14 years.
The Endura might be an old design but it was substantially revised for the Ka in 1996 with a then-advanced electronic engine management system and specific tune to deliver maximum torque at medium revs, making the Ka very nippy in the town environment it was designed for. Certainly, at 930kg, a good 200kg less than the Fiesta-based Mazda, the Ka is very still usefully quick everywhere one could hope to use it, with only a long motorway cruise betraying its low cost, lightweight roots.

So, as a keen driver, and budding car journo, how does my Ka stack up? Well it's mercifully standard, with no crass modifications that afflict other unfortunate cars. It's quick enough, massively fun to drive at perfectly legal speeds, spot on in term of my practical needs, surprisingly comfortable, and therefore very recommendable. Don't settle for one with overt rusting, there are so many around that playing the waiting game is always worthwhile.

There'll be more to come on Tyre Roar with experiences, incidents and observations as they come, but I'm very much looking forward to enjoying this 'bottom rung' of the motoring ladder this summer and beyond.

I also wonder whether the Ka is actually just as, if not more relevant now, than it was upon its launch back in '96. Lighter, smaller engined cars are very much flavour of the month right now, and will be for the foreseeable future. Being very economical, the Ka is well suited to sky high petrol prices, and while its relatively primitive engine technology means it can't possibly achieve the touted mpg figures of Polo Bluemotions and Nissan Leafs (Leaves?) it's still thoroughly reasonable when driven carefully. Unlike many modern downsized motors, the Ka is naturally aspirated, so without a tiny turbo to spool up to deliver that valuable mid-range shove, the Ka has very accurate and surprisingly sensitive throttle response that one may not expect given its insubstantial power output.

N.B. Despite my glowing praise the car seems determined to blot its record with spreading electrical gremlins: a cross-town drive has uncovered an intermittent fault with the right hand indicator when in use while simultaneously braking. Fingers crossed it's just a bulb on its way out...

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Peep Show

It may be about to cost me small fortune (and that's not just down to extortionate UK petrol prices) but I'm still infatuated with my new car. So here's the final motor show-esque teaser shot.

And some clues about the spec? Naturally aspirated petrol engine. Manual transmission. Weights less than 1000kg wet. Composite body panels. And no ABS, ESP or TC. So not exactly loaded on the acronym front. More to follow this week.

Miss By An Inch, Miss By A Mile

Something struck me today while reading a roadtest of the Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 (from the excellent evo Magazine UK) . It's something which I'm sure everyone who takes an interest in cars has noticed and possibly been baffled to the point of frustration with, so I thought it was worth having a think about here.

So, what's in a name? The car in question is a 2011 Dodge Challenger (retro-futurist retake on 1970's muscle car icon) SRT (Street & Racing Technology) 8 (Eight Cylinder). And the 392? That's where my point lies: this denotes the number of cubic inches displaced by the V8 engine. To those in the US, there's absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about that. Big-capacity engines have always proudly worn their capacity badges on their flanks, telling all those you thundered past you weren't just in any cooking model, but a AC Cobra 427, or Charger 440 R/T. In Europe though this is fairly alien, as swept volumes have always been measured in cubic centimetres, and therefore litres. 

So the Challenger is a 6.1l, a 440 Charger a (massive) 7.2l. Metric capacity.

And yet, in Britain, unlike in continental Europe, speed is still measured in miles per hour. So while Porsche's German website notes the 911 GT3's top speed as 312km/h, this is pretty meaningless gibberish to the English-speakers. Therefore their UK site sets out the speed as 194mph. More double standards.

This constant 'mash-up' of imperial and metric measurements extends everywhere in cars. It's almost comical that despite motoring technology constantly pushing the edge of the possibility envelope, there's no universal way to measure or quantify it. The all-important 0-60 dash is still used in America, but in Europe it's become 0-62mph, as this corresponds perfectly to the nice round 100km/h barrier. Kerb weights are given as kilograms everywhere but the US, where a Bentley Continental GT is a 5100 lb car, not 2350kg.

This isn't exclusive to the performance orientated cars I've cited either. Previous European Car of the Year, and environmentalist's darling, the Toyota Prius, has its carbon dioxide output quoted as 104g/km, and yet its old-fashioned torque figure isn't measured in new-fangled Newton-meters, it's still given as 353lb/ft at 1200 rpm (thank the electric motor for that impressive low-rev number). And then, how can CO2 be given in grams per kilometre, but economy still come out in miles per gallon?

Then there's the ultimate car-lovers' stat: power. Brake horsepower still rules but the movement towards PS is swelling. Buy a Renault Clio Renaultsport 200 Cup in the UK and you might be disappointed to find in the brochure its 2 litre motor actually kicks out 197 bhp. If you want a nice round 200, you'll want the continental measuring system. Or take Bugatti's original Veyron. 987 bhp...or 1,001 PS. Or 736 kW. Confused?

Turbo boost pressure is lbs. Tyre widths are millimetres. Drag races are standing quarter miles. It's a wonder cars today leave the factory with their engines in the right way up, with this multitude of measurement maths confounding every element of their construction and performance. 

Is it possible that at some point there will befall a situation like that of the unfortunate NASA Climate Orbiter in 1999?

A $125 million space probe project, headed by Lockheed Martin, caused massive embarrassment for the Space Administration, when it was revealed the huge investment had smashed into the Mars surface it had supposed to be surveying on research. 

The investigation found it had been programmed with metric and imperial units during its construction, so after a 9 month odyssey to the Red Planet, the probe got confused, went off course, and plummeted into the ground it assumed was elsewhere.

Anyone for standardisation? 

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Vettel On Top Of The World Down Under

There's plenty of dedicated sports sites out there to give the full report on today's 2011 Formula 1 curtain-raiser in Melbourne, but here's just a quick word from Tyre Roar after the first racing weekend of the new season.

Having a world championship to defend obviously agrees with Sebastian Vettel. The young German was imperious all weekend, on form with typically clinical one lap pace in qualifying and then a near-flawless race win today, from green light to chequred flag. The Red Bulls look very strong again but Vettel's prowess this weekend meant team mate Mark Webber never had a hope of getting a look in at his home grand prix. His slightly off-piste excursion on his flying lap while position rival Alonso's Ferrari was pitting didn't really help either.

Vitaly Petrov put in a decent shift, advocating my personal decision to name his as part of my fanstay F1 team for this season, alongside Mark Webber. (Renault chassis, Cosworth engines...could be a dark horse.) Lewis Hamilton also did sterling service to bring home the largely untested and much-derided MP4-26 home in second place. With so much pre-season speculation focusing on how hard Fernando Alonso would be chasing the Red Bulls this year to avoid his last gasp efforts in 2010, Hamilton could be the quiet one to watch if the car stays on the boil for his drving style. Vettel may yet prove petulant where the more experienced Brit remains cool in high stakes split second decisions.

As per usual, Kamui Kobayashi proved excellent value, drifting his willfully tail-happy Sauber through qualifying in banzai D1 style; pity then that the Saubers were disqualified after today's race for an apparently illegal rear wing design.

On the subject of the cars, to the casual eye the differences may not be all that apparent, but the adjustable rear wings did make themselves known, especially in causing Adrian Sutil's absolutely epic save on the home straight in Q2, after he opening his rear wing just a fraction too early exiting the final corner. The spin that resulted from the back of the car snapping round looked catastrophic but Sutil powered the Force India out of it to bring the car home from its ruined hot lap all but unscathed.



KERS remains debatable: is the weight penalty worth the 12mph straight line advantage? Tracks such as China or Abu Dhabi with long straights will really show the real value of the new adaptive aero and KERS systems, but so far the 'boost button' looks to be one of those rare items of tech that is allowed in F1, but not neccessarily particularly useful. Much more debate to come on that one feels.

Certain drivers will surely need to book up their ideas in coming races as well. Michael Schumacher's puncture-blotted race ended in retirement and Felipe Massa not only spun out in qualifying but then struggled to match the promise his Ferrari could potentially posses, finishing a relatively lowly seventh. Something is clearly afoot in Formula One when a Scuderia Ferrari and a seven-time world champion are very much 'also rans'

Finally a word for young Scottish rookie Paul di Resta. A thoroughly nice lad, it seems from his performance in recent interviews, and appreciative of his F1 drive following the classic move up through the ranks from karting, Formula Renault and DTM. Tenth place on his Force India debut is fully commendable, as as he settles down into the travelling circus of F1 racing he could yet upset the old order. Fingers crossed for him.

New drivers, new teams, new tyres, new aero, and the same tried-and-tested formula (no pun intended) of the ultimate driving machines screaming round the world's most glamourous and historic racetracks every fortnight. As ingredients for sporting gold go, this has all the makings of a gripping season.

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