Hand smacked
after Australian GP
Villeneuve
I was rung up after my report on the Oz GP was published last
week, by regular reader Peter Wehrli complaining about the
fact that I had not mentioned BMW in my scribblings. His
contention was that considering that BMW had managed to get
both cars home, a feat only equaled (or bettered really) by
Renault, I should have given credit where credit was due.
Of course, there was no excuse for this oversight, other
than the fact that the two BeeEmms never seemed to feature
in the telecast. Reliability seemed to have blessed the BMW
engine (for the first time) and Jacques Villeneuve seemed to
have avoided hitting anybody (almost for the first time too
it seemed)! For those two facts alone, I suppose I stand
culpable. Sorry Peter, but let’s see if they can continue
like that.
Have you
watched the WTCC?
Again it was motoring enthusiast Peter Wehrli who
suggested I watch the World Touring Car Championships (WTCC)
for some ‘real’ action, compared to F1. I finally managed to
find it on Eurosports TV, and the action is certainly thick
and fast. One driver immediately brought a lump to the
throat – Alex Zanardi (who lost both legs in a fearsome
crash in a CART race), driving a factory BMW fitted with
hand controls and who was right up there at the pointy end,
challenging for the lead.
Chevrolet
(Optra) WTCC
The championship rules are devised to keep everyone together
performance-wise, and a Chevrolet (nee Daewoo Lacetti) Optra
was even on the podium last week. SEAT had something like
six factory drivers and cars, but it was an Alfa-Romeo which
took top step on the podium in the race from Monza. If you
can find Eurosports on your TV, the motor racing from the
WTCC is excellent. However, finding it is the big problem!
Thanks for the information, Peter.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I asked how many makes of electric cars
were there between 1896 and 1939? The answer was 565! (I
counted them all!)
So to this week. Which driver lost his left hand in 1965 and
returned racing in 1966 using a hook? Hint – he had 111
victories and was an American.
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Fuel oil – is the end in
sight?
With all the to and froing going on in
the Middle East, revolts in Africa and South America, the
price for crude oil continues to set new records. A couple
of months ago we were reeling when the price per barrel went
past $50. Now it is breaking $70. Tomorrow it will be in
triple figures, (or at least by the end of this year).
So what does all this mean? Is the end in sight? Quite
frankly, no. But it does signal the end of cheap fuel at the
pumps. Even my little Mira which used to take B. 300 to
fill, now is over B. 500.
However, it does amaze me that the fuel companies have
managed to come through all this looking like ‘clean-skins’.
They all have a more than vested interest in the prices
going up. It’s called increased profits.
The world has enough supplies of crude to maintain
transportation at its present level of consumption for years
to come yet. With the financial aspect being driven by
supply and demand, by (artificially) emphasizing potential
decrease in supply, higher prices can be charged. Perhaps I
am too much of the cynic, but I do not follow the dictum
that we are about to run dry.
However, perhaps it is time to take the long term viewpoint.
Diesel makes more and more sense. Even though the price for
a liter of diesel is almost the same as for a liter of
petrol, a diesel powered vehicle will travel almost twice
the distance per liter, compared to its petrol powered
variant. In real terms, this halves the fuel bill per week.
The real economizers are the hybrids, but they are currently
so expensive you would have to do a million kilometers a
year to be in front in the long run. When hybrids come down
in price, we will all have one. In the meantime, all you can
do is drive up to the pumps – and pay up!
Some more details on the
Bentley Continental GT
There is some very interesting history
behind the Bentley Continental GT and Continental Flying
Spur (the four door variant). Really just so terribly,
terribly British, but the background is more than just a
little murky.
Bentley
Continental GT
The marque Bentley has always been one that has attracted
folklore and mystique. The early race cars were dismissed by
such luminaries as Ettore Bugatti as “the fastest lorries in
the world,” despite the fact that Bentley had won the Le
Mans 24 Hour race, beating Ettore’s efforts, on more than
one occasion.
In many ways, even since its inception in 1919, Bentleys has
been an anachronism, vehicles appealing to the very rich
with a need for speed. The problem for Bentley back then was
that there were not enough people with deep enough pockets
after the economic crash in the 30’s (yes, there has been
more than one economic crash, other than the SE Asian one of
1997, may your NPL never be repaid), and Bentley Cars as a
separate manufacturer went under, then being swallowed up by
Rolls-Royce.
You are also probably not aware of the connection between
Adolf Hitler and the Bentley marque. This one is even more
esoteric, but it was Volkswagen, the car of Adolf’s dreams,
that came to rescue Bentley (yet again) from another
financial morass. By that time, both Adolf and W.O. were
long gone (fortunately for both, and for us) when in 1998,
following a most complicated buy up and division of assets,
Rolls-Royce ended up under BMW, while Bentley went to VW.
Bentley
interior
However, no need to be confused over what VW are doing with
Bentley. In 2004, they launched the (new) Bentley
Continental GT. 52 years earlier Bentley had produced a very
exclusive version of the Bentley. It was a full four place
motor car, with the Fastback having an exceptionally
advanced body design from the coachbuilders H.J. Mulliner,
and marketed as the fastest production four-seater in the
world. Only 208 were built, and it was called the R-Type
Continental.
In 1991, still as part of the Rolls-Royce conglomerate, the
Bentley division reintroduced the Continental. This was
another two door with a 385 bhp V8 engine later rising to
420 bhp. These were again gentlemen’s sporting carriages.
But the best was yet to come.
With the release of the 2004 turbocharged Bentley
Continental GT, it was again the fastest four place
production car in the world (it peaks at just 2 mph short of
the magical 200 mph ‘double ton’) and its technical
specifications are superb. Acceleration times of 4.8 seconds
for zero to 100 kph and a top speed in excess of 300 kph put
this vehicle in real supercar territory. Despite costing
around 21 million baht in Thailand, it is also appreciably
cheaper than other supercars, and since it carries four
adult-sized people (not a 2+2 legless midgets like a 911
Porsche) it represents a motoring milestone. An expensive
motoring milestone.
The technical data reveals an exciting motor car, beginning
with the engine. This is the parent manufacturer’s W12
cylinder engine (72 degree angle between two main banks, 15
degrees between staggered cylinders), bore x stroke 84 x
90.2 mm, capacity 5998 cc; 4 valves per cylinder, 4 overhead
camshafts; Bosch Motronic ME7.1.1 digital engine control,
twin KKK turbochargers (0.7 bar boost), air to air
intercooling, delivering 552 bhp/411 kW at 6,100rpm, torque
650 Nm (479lb ft) at 1600 rpm.
If your eyes have glazed over reading that, sifting through
the ‘engineer-speak’, the engine is like two V6’s side by
side (to make it a 12 cylinder) and working on one common
crankshaft. At four valves per cylinder you then end up with
48 valves, being actuated by four camshafts (one for each
bank). Despite only being 6 litres in total capacity, it
delivers almost 100 horsepower per litre, and staggering
amounts of torque. Whilst not delivering the 900 Nm of a
Maybach, 650 Nm is enough to tow the new D2 hotel in Chiang
Mai at least half way through the Thapae Gate!
To deliver the torque to the ground, the GT uses a 6 speed
ZF 6HP26 automatic gearbox and all-wheel drive with a
central Torsen differential, complete with ASR electronic
traction control. AWD is also another milestone for Bentley.
Gear changing is via steering wheel paddles and the driver
can decide on conventional automatic or clutchless manual
gear changes.
The electronic and mechanical sophistication expected in a
supercar continues all through the vehicle, with independent
suspension front and rear; air springs, Bosch ESP5.7
electronic stability program; TEVES ventilated disc brakes
front 405mm diameter (15.9in) and 36mm (1.4in) thick, back
335mm diameter (13.2in) and 22mm (0.9in) thick, anti-lock
device plus HBA (Hydraulic Brake Assist) and EBD (Electronic
Brakeforce Distribution), and MSR drag torque control.
Like the Bentleys that preceded the new GT, this Continental
is an imposing vehicle, with a wheelbase of 2745mm
(108.07in); sitting on 275/40R19 tyres mounted on 19 inch
rims. But for the average new Bentley owner, all this
sophistication is taken for granted, it is after all, what
they have paid for, wrapped in one of the best looking
packages on offer today. The interior again typically
Bentley with several forests felled to provide the wood for
the trim, and a herd of cows (12 mooers in fact) needed for
the acres of leather used everywhere inside the car.
But VW did not finish there, they looked back once more at
traditional Bentleys and saw the 1957 Bentley Flying Spur, a
four place and four door vehicle, and by stretching the
Continental GT slightly, they produced the 2006 Continental
Flying Spur, another four place, four door ,also shown at
the Bangkok International Motor Show (which incidentally had
a “Sold” sticker on it by the second day).
The power plant for this new car is the same twin-turbo W-12
engine as the Continental GT, with its astounding 552
horsepower. That’s enough to launch this 5500 pounds of
metal, leather, and wood from 0-100 kph in about 4.9
seconds. Not bad considering the two door takes 4.8 seconds!
So what about the French Bugatti connection? Well, Bugatti
also fell to VW, so the two great marques have eventually
become stable-mates. VW building the 400 kph Bugatti Veyron
supercar, with a price ticket that I envisage will be around
150 million baht in this country. It makes the Bentley
Continental GT seem like a bargain by comparison. Perhaps I
should order two of them! A two door for weekdays and the
four door for family weekends!
