TheMindGarage

The early 90s were a very interesting time for F1 constructors. The turbo formula was outlawed in 1989 in favour of a 3.5-litre naturally-aspirated formula which allowed different engine layouts. There were V8s, V10s and V12s (plus a highly uncompetitive W12 from the Life F1 team which entered just two races, failing to pre-qualify in both of them). Computer control began to creep into cars, and it was an arms race between the teams and the regulators to take advantage of a system before it gets banned.

If you were an extremely-wealthy speed-freak a decade ago, you didn’t exactly have much choice. You were stuck with a choice between an oh-so-common Bugatti Veyron or a Koenigs-what CCX. Neither of these had more than 600 horsepower per tonne. So, at the 2006 Top Marques auto show in Monaco, Caparo show up and make these cars look pathetic. In fact, they DOUBLED their power-to-weight ratio. So what exactly do you get in one of these?

I ended up in a conversation on another forum with someone who thought they could get 210hp out of their naturally-aspirated 1.4-litre. I told them they were ridiculous, and it’s not too difficult to show why. All you need is my simple ballpark horsepower formula: HP = (Peak power RPM in thousands) x (Displacement in litres) x (Tuning factor) The tuning factor depends on the car:

This is the second installment in a series where I talk about some interesting cars, examine their stats and discuss them. Note that much of this is just my opinion - feel free to disagree (constructively!) in the comments. What is it? The BMW i8 is a hybrid sports car/supercar released in 2013, with a roadster coming up for 2018. It is powered by a 1.5-litre 3-cylinder taken from Mini but highly tuned, plus an electric motor.

People talk about torque and horsepower all the time, and both numbers will be debated to death on car forums. But what exactly do they mean, and which one matters more?

Following on from the success of the #mysupercar competition, here’s a new competition! This time it’s something completely different, so if you didn’t like the last one, maybe this will be more to your taste…

What is the best naturally-aspirated car engine in the world? Some will look to the powerhouse V12s of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin, or the exotic V10s of the Carrera GT and LFA. Others will look to American beasts like the LS3 or 392 Hemi. Or what about the tuner’s favourites like the 2JZ, F20C or Renesis? If only there were a way to properly compare engines without being swayed by fanboyisms and emotion.

The Tesla Model S P100D is not a light car . While it may be able to catapult itself to 60mph faster than you can say “Ludicrious Mode”, its gigantic battery makes it an incredibly heavy car. According to Wikipedia , the P100D weighs a gigantic 2,250kg (4,950lb).

In the second part of this series on alternative fuels, we will look at hydrogen cars. I will discuss their pros and cons relative to electric and gasoline vehicles, and hopefully provide a balanced view of them. If you haven’t read the first blogpost about electric cars, I highly suggest you do so before you read this one.

I think the ultimate starting point for a sleeper is a car that petrolheads associate with slowness. A car designed for efficiency and utilitarianism with not a drop of emotion. A car driven by environmentalists who want to show that they’re “saving the planet”. Yes, I will be building a Toyota Prius.

The Lotus Evora is not a lightweight car. In its heaviest configuration (the 2014 Evora S IPS), it weighs 1442 kilograms. That’s heavier than, well, a lot of stuff, as you’ll see. Inspired by @DodgeViperACR16 ‘s post, here are 10 rather surprising examples of cars that are lighter than a Lotus. [NOTE: All the car weights here are kerb weights and therefore include fuel and other fluids but not the driver. Values may still vary between countries and markets]

About two weeks ago, I asked the community to complete this survey where they had to choose which car they would rather own out of 4 choices. Well, the results are in! Let’s have a look at the individual question results:

Some of you may remember me as the person behind this LEGO Koenigsegg Regera and this Ariel Atom . I decided to try a larger build, and it’s fair to say I pushed the limits of my collection. This is a 1-metre-long F1-inspired ride-on-car made from nothing but 100% LEGO!

While I’m a huge petrolhead, I’m also a musician, and I’ve decided to combine these two passions to explain why car engines sound the way they do. I hope that even if you aren’t musical, you can still get something out of this blog. The fundamental note In a car engine, the crankshaft turns which provides a fundamental tone. The pitch of this tone depends on the speed of the engine. This is why a Formula One car usually has a higher pitched sound than a normal car. This diagram shows how the engine sounds vary:

Gear ratios are crucial for any car, whether it has 1 gear or 10. So here are some things you should consider when buying a car:

I think there’s a lot of misuse of the terms “supercar”, “hypercar” and “megacar”. Some people are calling hypercars megacars, others are calling supercars hypercars and some are calling sports cars or GTs supercars. So I’ll define what I consider each of these terms to be, plus a few others.

So, want to predict the Ring lap time of a car? Here’s the most accurate predictor in the world! All you need are five inputs: Power of the car in hp Weight of the car in kg If the car is all-wheel-drive If the test is manufacturer-backed If the car is excessively worshipped So here’s what you do: