Car WTFs
Does Hyundai Make Race Cars? Well, Sure!
With automakers continually trying to appeal to different market segments in an increasingly difficult industry, performance models of all kinds typically get revealed at auto shows. This year, the Chicago Auto Show was no different. Hyundai is throwing its hat into the racing ring (or oval if you will — but actually road course) by joining the 2018 Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Racing class (TCR).
Never hear of the TCR? Well, neither had anyone at the show – even the racing fans among us in the crowd. The big reveal was the Hyundai i30 N TCR racecar that will be fine-tuned to race in the series, which effectively introduced the Hyundai N Series of race cars – a partnership with Bryan Herta Autosport.
Hyundai even brought out one of its drivers for the event. But again, no one knew who this was.
Who drives for Hyundai racing? The brand will be competing with drivers Michael Lewis and Mark Wilkins.
While there’s nothing wrong with the way Hyundai went about the announcement, it was lacking a certain ‘wow’ factor. We’ve seen this all before – a racing version of a car from a brand that doesn’t have a great racing tradition. But hey, why not start now?
“Hyundai is thrilled about the prospects for our new N branded racing team competing in the Touring Car Racing class of Pirelli World Challenge,” said Dean Evans, chief marketing officer, Hyundai Motor America. “Our new partnership with world-renowned Bryan Herta Autosport and their phenomenal drivers coupled with the proven capabilities of our Hyundai i30 N racers puts us in a great position for success in the 2018 TCR season.”
You see – they’re thrilled. We don’t share that exact same passion, but we wish them well.
Many of us thought that the Dodge Challenger Hellcat was about as intimidating as a car could get. After all, people couldn’t hardly get them off the lot without crashing them when they first came out. Then Dodge upped the ante with the new Demon. But aside from the raw power, there are some other interesting aspects of the new Demon.
Check out the video below for a full rundown of just how unique this car is.
Think you finally have your Mercedes names mastered? Well, a new challenge appears to be coming, friend.
How to now identify Mercedes models by name
Some moves in the northwoods of Canada by the brand appear to signal a change in the naming conventions that will be used for Mercedes and AMG models. Candian trademarks have been filed for A 40, CLA 40, SLC 40, SLC 50 and GLE 50 in addition to CLA 53, G73 and S73.
If this proves true in the states, it would signal an end to the rule of two digits for Mercedes, three-digits for AMG counterparts. The new world would be two digits, ending in a “0” for Mercedes, and two digits ending in a “3” for AMG. This supports rumors of an AMG ‘73’ model with a hybrid powertrain.
While this change isn’t terribly difficult to comprehend, it certainly makes things interesting when comparing legacy and upcoming Mercedes models. There are a lot of numbers to keep straight, and a lot of explaining to do. And the letter and number combos leave something to be desired in terms of cachet.
It makes one appreciate the simplicity of giving each vehicle an actual name, like the domestic manufacturers do. Sure, that’s how we ended up with the Chevy Nova, but what are you going to do? There are only so many names, surely one for an automobile would end up meaning “no go” in some language, right?…
I like my car. It’s a 2011 Toyota toaster, I mean Camry. If you made a list of everything a car has to do, the Camry would check all the boxes. It gets me from point A to point B with the consistency a learning golfer would envy. It’s a toaster. You put in the bread, choose your level of toastiness, push down the thingy and then wait for it to pop up. But there is one interesting thing about my car. The shifter. That’s it up there. That is definitely not conventional at all. So, what’s with Toyota’s weird shifter pattern? (more…)
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