Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Chevrolet Camaro

The Chevrolet Camaro is a classic car made in North America by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors. It was introduced on 26 September 1966 as a 1967 model year and was designed as a competing model to the Ford Mustang. The car shared the platform and major components with the Pontiac Firebird, also introduced in 1967. Four distinct generations of the car were produced before production ended in 2002. A new fifth-generation Camaro will roll off assembly lines in spring of 2009.

The first-generation Chevrolet Camaro debuted in September 1966, for the 1967 model year, up to 1969 on a brand new rear-wheel drive GM F-body platform and would be available as a 2-door, 2+2 seating, coupe or convertible with a choice of inline-6 and 302 CID (4.9 L), 307 CID (5.0 L), 327 CID (5.4 L), 350 CID (5.7 L), or 396 CID (6.5 L) V8 powerplants.


Introduced in February 1970, the second-generation Chevrolet Camaro would be in production for a total of 11 years. The car grew somewhat larger and wider with the new styling, thus resulting in a heavier car. Still based on the F-body platform, the new Camaro was engineered much like its predecessor in that it still used a unibody structure with a front subframe, leaf springs in the back and A-arms up front for suspension


The third-generation Chevrolet Camaro was introduced for the 1982 model year. It continued to use General Motors' F-body platform and would produce a "20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition" for 1987 and a "25th Anniversary Heritage Edition" for 1992. These were also the first Camaros with throttle body fuel injection, Turbo-Hydramatic 700R4 four-speed automatic transmissions, five-speed manual transmissions, 15 inch or 16-inch wheels, hatchback bodies, and a rear window third brake light.


The fourth-generation Chevrolet Camaro debuted for the 1993 model year on an updated F-body platform. It would retain the same characteristics since the first-generation's introduction back in 1967; 2-doors, 2+2 seating, available as a coupé (with optional T-top roof) or convertible (with the latter introduced in 1994), rear-wheel drive, and a choice of V6 and V8 powerplants. Options included the 3.4 L (207 CID) 160 hp (119 kW) V6 (changed to 3.8 L (232 CID) 200 hp (149 kW) V6 in mid-1995) and the LT1 V8 engine (350 CID) 5.7 L V8 with 275hp (flywheel rated) that had been introduced in the Corvette one year earlier, as well as an optional six-speed manual transmission.


Based on the 2006 Camaro Concept and 2007 Camaro Convertible Concept, production of the fifth-generation Camaro was approved on 5 August 2006. Oshawa Car Assembly will produce the new Camaro which will go on sale in spring of 2009 as a 2010 model year vehicle. The 2010 model is offered as a coupe only in LS, LT, and SS trim levels. The LS and LT trim levels will be powered by the LLT 3.6 L (≈220 in3) V6 producing 300 hp (220 kW).

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Toyota Supra

The Toyota Supra was a sports car/grand tourer produced by Toyota Motor Company from 1979 to 2002. The styling of the Toyota Supra was derived from the Toyota Celica, but it was both longer and wider.[3] Starting in mid-1986, the Supra (in its third generation, MKIII) became its own model and was no longer based on the Celica. In turn, Toyota also stopped using the prefix Celica and began just calling the car Supra. Due to the similarity and past of the Toyota Celica's name, it is frequently mistaken for the Toyota Supra, and vice versa. The Supra also traces much of its roots back to the Toyota 2000GT with the main instance being its engine. The first three generations were offered with a direct descendant to the 2000GT's M engine. All four generations of Supra produced have an inline 6-cylinder engine.



Along with this name and car Toyota also included its own logo for the Supra. It is derived from the original Celica logo, being blue instead of orange. This logo was used until January 1986, when the MKIII Supra was introduced. The new logo was similar in size, with orange writing on a red background, but without the dragon design. That logo, in turn, was on Supras until the 1989 redesign when Toyota switched to its current oval company logo. Some of the most notable appearances include the Gran Turismo and Need for Speed series of video games and the 2001 film, The Fast and the Furious.

Mark I
The first generation Supra was based largely upon the Toyota Celica liftback, but was longer by 5.1 in (129.5 mm). The doors and rear section stayed the same length as Celica but rear panels differed. The most important change was the swap to an Inline-6 instead of the stock Celica's 4-cylinder engine. Toyota's original plan for the Supra at this time was to make it a competitor to the very popular Datsun (now Nissan) Z-car.

Mark II
In 1982, Toyota completely redesigned the Celica Supra as well as the entire Celica lineup. In Japan, they were known as Celica XX, but everywhere else the Celica Supra name stuck. Still being based around the Celica platform, there were several key differences, most notably the design of the front end and fully retractable pop-up headlights. Other differences would be the inline-6 still present in the Supra instead of the inline-4 as well as an increase in length and wheel base to conform with the overall larger engine. Toyota's continued market competition with Nissan is shown by the Supra's use of a rear hatch sun shade to avoid the louvers popularly associated with the Z car.

Mark III
In the middle of 1986, Toyota was ready to release its next version of the Supra. The official model year is designated as 1986.5. The bonds between the Celica and the Supra were cut; they were now two completely different models. The Celica changed to front wheel drive, while the Supra kept its rear wheel drive platform. Though the Mark II and Mark III had similar designs, the engine was updated to a more powerful 3.0 200 hp (150 kW) inline 6. Although only available in naturally aspirated trim in 1986.5, a turbocharged version of the engine was introduced in the 1987 model year. The Supra was now related mechanically to the Toyota Soarer for the Japanese market.

Mark IV
With the fourth generation of the Supra, Toyota took a big leap in the direction of a more powerful sports car. Production started in December 1992 with only 20 models, but started mass production in April 1993. The new Supra was completely redesigned, with rounded body styling and featured two new engines: a naturally aspirated 2JZ-GE producing 220 hp (164 kW) @5800 rpm and 210 lb·ft (285 N·m) @4800 rpm of torque and a twin turbocharged 2JZ-GTE making 280 ps (206 kW) and 318 ft·lbf (430 N·m) of torque for the Japanese version. For the export model (America/Europe) Toyota upgraded the Supra turbo's engine (larger turbochargers, bigger fuel injectors, etc.). This increased the power output to 320 hp (239 kW) @5600 rpm and 315 lb·ft (427 N·m) @4000 rpm.

Monday, May 19, 2008

HONDA RACING F1 TEAM

Honda Racing F1 Team Logo

Honda Racing F1 Team is a Formula One team run by Japanese car manufacturer Honda. The team is based in Brackley, United Kingdom, and uses the facilities of former British American Racing, which Honda fully acquired in 2005. The team began by using the same predominantly white livery that Honda used in the sport during the 1960s, but has since switched to a livery dubbed the "Earth Car", with minimal corporate advertising, and depicting the planet earth and space.


Honda Racing F1 Team in 2008 Competition

Honda surprised everyone by entering Formula One Grand Prix racing in 1963, just three years after producing their first road car. They began development of the RA271 in 1962 and startled the European-dominated Formula One garages with their all-Japanese factory team (except for American drivers Ronnie Bucknum and Richie Ginther). In only their second year of competition, Honda reached the coveted top step of the podium with Ginther's win in the RA272 at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix.

Restored 1965 Honda RA272, the first Honda F1 Champion.

For the new 3.0L rules from 1966, Honda introduced the Honda RA273. Although the RA273's engine was a well-designed, ~360bhp V12, the car was let down by a relatively heavy and unwieldy in-house chassis. Honda returned to the winner's circle in 1967 with the new Honda RA300, driven by John Surtees. This won the 1967 Italian Grand Prix in only its first F1 race. The RA300 chassis was partly designed by Lola in the UK, and this resulted in the car being nicknamed the Hondola by the motoring press. Unfortunately this was the last truly competitive car that Honda produced for F1 in the 1960s; the following year's Honda RA301 only reached the podium twice and Honda withdrew from F1 at the end of the 1969 Formula One season. Honda returned to Formula One in 1983 as an engine supplier for Spirit and stayed in the sport for a decade, at various times teaming with Lotus, McLaren, Tyrrell and Williams. From 1993 to 1998, Honda's only presence in F1 was as an engine supplier through its associates Mugen Motorsports, who supplied engines to Footwork, Lotus, Ligier, Prost and Jordan.

The Honda F1 Racing in 2006 Competition.

Despite showing promise pre-season (with the RA806 being considered one of the most powerful of the new V8 engines), Honda demonstrated fairly mediocre performance at the start of the 2006 season despite a pole position at Australia. Prior to their win at Hungary, they had only accumulated a single podium finish, a third place from Jenson Button at Malaysia. The main reason for lack of form (the team was expecting to challenge for the championship) has been down to reliability, with the team dropping out of contention for race victories many times.

The Honda F1 Racing in 2007 Competition.

With tobacco sponsorship in F1 now in full decline, 2007 also sees the end of British American Tobacco's sponsorship of Honda, allowing the team to choose a livery that reflects their corporate image. Unveiled on 26 February 2007, the RA107 car features the bare minimum of corporate advertising (advertising required by the FIA), instead focusing on Honda's environmental desires, with a livery depicting the planet Earth against the black background of space. On the rear wing is the web address of environmental awareness website http://myearthdream.com. This site was launched February 27, 2007, immediately after the official launch of the 2007 car. Reactions to the new Honda livery have been mixed, with Greenpeace accusing the team of being hypocritical, given how polluting F1 is.

The Honda F1 Racing in 2008 Competition.

On July 19, 2007, it was announced that Barrichello and Button will continue the factory effort as teammates into 2008. On November 12 2007, autosport.com confirmed that former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn is to join Honda as team principal. Nick Fry will remain with the team as Chief Executive. On the 10th January 2008, it was announced that Alexander Wurz had signed as test driver for the 2008 Formula One Season.[5] On 29 January 2008, Honda launched their 2008 race car. The "Earth Car" has a slightly different livery from its 2007 counterpart, with only part of the car containing the earth picture, and the rest with Honda's classic white paint. Button, Barrichello and Wurz were present at the launch.