Ten tips to car photography

I'm pretty sure you have at some point in your life taken a picture of a car, and it probably wasn't unthinkably arduous. You aimed the camera and poked a button, simple as pie. However, on many occasions you probably ended up thinking "I swear it wasn't that ugly". Surely, making a car look good in a picture is a bit more complicated. In fact, there's an entire science revolving around the art of this, and today I'm about to scratch the surface for you, so that next time you decide to immortalize your beloved car you don't have to let your mental images down.

Now, if you really want to get into car photography I recommend you mow the lawn with a fork first and then decide if you still want to, because that activity operates on the same levels of annoyment and nitpicking, but there are a few tips to get that professional fizz into your pictures without too much effort...

1. Get a decent camera, tripod and objective.

There is no way around this. You need a DSLR. There's no worse thing than an unsharp picture of a smokin' hot car. If you're even remotely serious about shooting cars, considerable amounts of money should go into this investment, but remember, you can't eat a camera so don't waste your life savings on it. It's just not worth it. However, I'd recommend going for a semi-pro Canon EOS at once, because you don't want to outgrow your camera after a few months of practice. When you immerse into the business you'll find that there is no upper limit to how much money can be burnt on hording lenses and objectives, but starting out will cost you at least the price of a decent DSLR and objective. A tripod isn't a must, but it dramatically improves the sharpness of your pictures.

Surgical sharpness. Don't think they achieved that with bare hands...

2. Forget your dignity and get dirty.

Photographing a car is a physical exercise in many ways. Cleaning is a big part of the job. Yes, really. You have to make sure the setting is clean and garbage-free because details like an empty soda can or an old plastic bag in the peripherals are huge attention drawers. A quick clean-up before starting the shoot is a good routine and pays off in the quality of the pictures.

High angle. Yummy.

Now, the actual shooting of the car itself includes some exercise too. Eye height angles are not always ideal, so wear your knee pads and don't be afraid to roll around on the ground a bit. Generally a car will look more aggressive the lower you shoot it from, but as Jesus said about the golden middle path "too low isn't good either". As a thumb rule, if you can see the ground clearance of the car you're too low. High angles work well, too, so experiment and don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. Remember, comfort is a mere secondary priority when shooting cars, so jump into a ditch for that sweet angle if you have to.

Don't like the ground clearance, but thank God the attention is drawn elsewhere...

3. Setting matters.

You think you can just go out in your driveway and take great pictures of your car? No. The scenery is a big deal when shooting a car, so you really want to take your time to look for a suitable and coherent setting, weather it'd be an abandoned warehouse, a curvy mountain road or a stretch of open tarmac between two fields.

Epic scenery, my personal wallpaper-favorite. By TopGear of course.

There are generally two options when choosing a background. You either pick a background that contrasts the car or a background that complements it. For example, if you're going for a moody feel, a black-on-black background can work wonders, whereas a black-on-white background will contrast the car and make it stand out, which is the point of car photography in the first place, but works for a different purpose.

Great example of contrast

The trick is to have an immaculate setting but not have it draw the attention from the car. This is achieved by having a "clean" background. Details such as power lines, road signs, other cars in the distance, garbage on the ground etc. will draw attention from the car and slap the picture back to snapshot-quality. Keeping the silhouette of the car intact is also crucial, so if you notice any lamp posts, trees or other random objects "sticking out" of the silhouette you'll need to address those issues in PhotoShop. Also, a big mistake people often make is they park the car somewhere unnatural (on a lawn or a field etc.[see picture of Alpine A110 below]) and think they've come up with a setting. The problem here is that the car usually looks out of place, so play it safe and don't take the car too far from its natural habitat.

Picture raped by reality.

4. Prepare yourself with a piece of cloth and some car cleaning chemicals.

Yes, more cleaning, reality is a bitch. Most cars you'll come across will not be in photogenic condition when you see them. Consequentially, to get them in picture-worthy condition all dust and dirt needs to be cleaned off. Imperfections on the car will show very effectively in a sharp photo, and a good picture is easily ruined by the car being dirty. Pay extra attention to the rims, because they are a huge attention drawer in a car and thus need to be extra carefully cleaned. Keep in mind that the entire cleaning process may take up as much as 3-4 hours depending on how meticulous and professional you want to be. Also worth mentioning is that any clutter inside the car may also shine through in the picture (a parking disc on the dashboard for example), so do the cleaning inside and out. And last but not least, stickers on the windscreen. Get rid of them. Immediately. 100% of the time they'll make the car look hideous in a picture.

5. Don't put the car in the middle of the shot.

Surprise surprise, the rule of thirds applies to car photography too. Don't put the main objective (i.e the car) in the middle of the frame. Try placing it a bit to the left or to the right or wherever, just not in the middle, unless you're looking for an intentional effect of some sort. You'll notice that your pictures will start looking so much better the minute you off-center the main objective a bit. You don't have to rigorously follow the rule of thirds, but as long as you remember NOT to put the car bang in the middle your fine. Experimenting is the key to success here, so go nuts with the camera and goof around a bit. You'll get the feel for what works and what doesn't.

Perfect example of a shitty pic. Car is dead centered, barely fits the frame, looks out of place,there's some eye-saw on the dashboard, the silhouette is ruined by the other car and the van rapes the background

6. Don't use the flash. Ever.

Flash photography is an incredibly hard thing to get right unless you know exactly what you are doing, so don't use it for now. You'll just end up ruining the shot.

7. Black and white is a real pain in the arse.

In the beginning try staying away from these colors because they tend to screw up the white balance of the picture. Usually these colors will lead to underexposed or respectively overexposed pictures, and the trick is to manually under/overexpose the picture accordingly, but it takes a lot of practice and mistakes. New DSLR's can actually cope with this problem rather well by calculating an average balance, but this requires a balanced background in the picture.

Underexposure. The problem with photographing something black.

8. The magic is in the three/quarter angle.

Dig out a random car magazine and look at the front page. Chances are it'll show a three/quarter shot of a car of any given make. This is because a classic three/quarter angle simply works.You can pick up the car's side lines while exploring the front end and get an overall feel of the stance. The rims are exposed, you can grasp the depth of the design etc. It simply is the perfect all-around angle. Use it liberally.

Nothing special. Just three/quarters.

9. Wake up in time for sunrise

The golden hour for outdoor photography is the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset. That's when the natural light is at its best or softest or whatever, meaning you don't have to work up too much computer magic to make the pictures look good. Avoid shooting the car at noon, because the broad daylight and intense sun will overexpose the pictures and pretty much ruin them. A good thing to remember is to work with the light, not against it. A car can be moved around quite easily in comparison to the sun, so don't run around the car for those different angles, but move the car around instead, otherwise you'll end up with nasty shadows and reflections that might make the car look like excrement.

Notice that shadow? The overexposure is nicely handled though.

10. Take your time

People tend to think photographing a car works a lot like taking a picture of an attraction. You snap a couple of shots and "BAM!", you're done in two minutes, but that's not how it works. I usually reserve a 2 hour minimum for a single-location photoshoot, and that's already stretching the limits. It takes surprising amounts of time moving the car around, finding the angles, experimenting with different light-settings and getting a good variety of pictures, so don't be afraid to take your time.

So, there you have it, folks. Ten tips to car photography. Now, remember these are just a scratch on the surface of the basics, and even all of these tips put together don't necessarily make for a good picture. The best piece of advice I can give you for now is go out and let your shutter-finger burn. As the ancient cliché dictates, practice makes perfect.

Now, it's perfectly fine to start practicing with your Mondeo, but if there's any possibility for you to score your friend's lovingly kept Porsche I'd say invest in buying him a couple of drinks and ask him nicely to lend the car for a couple of hours. In the end it's much more inspiring to discover the delicate design lines and angles of something a bit more exotic than to just settle for the mundanity of a daily driver, not that you can't have great shots of those too. Oh, one more thing. Learn to use PhotoShop. You'll need it.

-HS

This is what the Enzo-successor might look like

The heat is closing in on Ferrari's mythical Enzo successor, but the official debut isn't due until the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. In the meantime speculation is in high gear, and to keep you readers entertained we'll contribute with a little something of our own to tease your retinas with. It's time to square your eyes and get drooling, because these renderings of the F70 in show worthy clothing will get the job done quicker than a women's underwear catalogue.

Now, the upcoming F70 has some sizable waders to step in, but if the final version looks anywhere near as hot as in these pictures we'd say it's taken those waders, glared at them in discontent and bought new designer boots instead, because it's disturbingly good-looking.

The front end is riddled with styling cues from the 458 Italia, but it's miles meaner than that. There are slight nods to the F40 here and there, and in a way it emits that same rawness, but unlike the F40, you don't have to rule out the word 'sophisticated' from the vocabulary when you get closer than 50 yards to it.

Paying homage to the Enzo, the power production-part in the F70 is respectfully dealt with by a V12, but instead of 6.0 liters there's now 7.2, and on top of that the engine is mated to a hybrid KERS-system, which was first seen in the 2010 Ferrari 599 Hy-KERS concept. With the KERS-system the F70 also works double as Ferrari's answer to the Porsche 918 Spyder, and what an answer it is.

The rumored performance of the F70 tips the scale between insane and diabolical. Combined power output for the V12 and KERS-system is of jaw-dislodging proportions; 920 horsepower to be exact. This monstrous amount of power fused with the unhealthily fit body of the F70, weighing in at only 1250kg, is whispered to be enough to hurl the ruddy beast from 0-62 in 2.5 seconds and get it up to a top speed of 250mph. This depicts the return of the Daddy, consider yourself put in place all careerist supercar-newcomers.

Now, marvel at the specs, look at the pictures and feel your pants get cramped a bit. Let's hope Ferrari pulls this off and makes reality match our dreams. Stay tuned as the story unravels.

source: KGP Spy Photography

-HS

Driven: Shelby GT500

Six hundred and sixty three horsepower. Eight hundred and sixty torques. Say hello to the Shelby GT500, Ford's own blue collar hero with the entire American working-class' fury boiled down into 5.4 liters of supercharged V8. A big, rude, no-table-manners-type of thing with a primordial urge to travel sideways. Now, I didn't fill up during the test drive, but judging by the feel of it I suspect the GT500 runs on bricks and testosterone. Cars don't get manlier than this.

For the 2013 model they've managed to break the supercar-barrier of, whisper it, 200mph, which is just barking, considering the car costs about the same as your average BMW. Today, though, I won't get to feel the compensation for my lesser parts by driving a 200mph car, because the one tested today is "merely" an '07 model with power upped to 2013 spec. Having driven the car, though, I don't care if it's 200mph or not. Considering it weighs enough to have its own orbit, it feels perversely quick.

Now, there are of course good fast cars and bad fast cars, and by any measurable aspect this certainly would get listed as a bad fast car. However, that's only one part of the truth. It might get served in the corners by an M5 and it might lack the refinement of an M5, but people who say the GT500 is lesser than an M5 can just sod off, because it is from an entirely different planet of fun. It appeals to something unmeasurable, namely emotions, and it does a convincing job at it, too.

I have yet to come across a car that encourages fooling around as much as the GT500. It's like the malicious friend your mother always warned you about for being a bad influence. It's way too easy to get into trouble behind the wheel of the GT500. The throttle response and power-delivery is brutal enough to move the 1832kg lump of steel from 0-62 in 3,8 seconds, which means you really have to pamper the throttle to keep it from destroying the back wheels. Obviously, with 860Nm of torque there are enormous amounts of grunt, and going sideways is more of a rule than an exception. Not that I mind though, because boy, oh boy is it fun!

The GT500 I'm driving today has an aftermarket suspension-kit fitted, so that takes care of the biggest downside of the vanilla-Shelby, namely the chassis. Cornering is actually not rubbish with the up-rated suspension, but it feels like it tries too hard. You can't help feeling this is a car dominated by it's engine. That sound when you floor it, the whine of the accelerating supercharger outlining the sound of a roaring V8, is what it's all about. I'd actually pay for tickets if they ran that engine at a concert hall, that's how intoxicating it is. The flamboyance and the sheer unsensibility of the thing is something you get very addicted to.

I can't quite decide if I'm scared to death by this monster or excited as hell. Ford really needs to sort their shit out, because 663 horses through a live-axle is just bloody wrong. Perversely however, that's the allure of it; a primitive combination of fear, juvenile bluster and smoking rubber. We car enthusiasts are just overgrown children after all, aren't we? And the GT500 is catering just for that kind.

If you are rational, look elsewhere. I guarantee you there are better, faster and more refined cars, but if you are aged 12 and want to explore the ultimate dimensions of fun the GT500 is unbeatable. As Clarkson so accurately explained in his film "Thriller" it's not about the lateral G's or 0-62 times, it's about the grin on your face when you exit a corner sideways in a cloud of smoke. I'm going to start saving up for one.

-HS

Driven: The Porsche 924

INTRO

Driving a Porsche usually involves certain implications about one's social status. Driving the 924, however, doesn't. Sporting an engine ripped out of a VW LT van and a chassis made of bits from a VW Beetle, Golf and a Typ 181 military vehicle, it never really sold for a status symbol. It sold mostly because, unlike the rest of the Porsche range, you wouldn't have to sell your house and children to afford one.

The 924 was one of those cars your brain would rule out by selective thinking, its proletarian credentials left enthusiasts cold and it didn't carry the media-sexiness of a 911. In the eyes of the public it went by as an insignificant oddball among esteemed Porsche-classics.

Ironically however, the 924 was the very model that saved Porsche from the graveyard. The steady sales meant the company could keep their funds liquid enough to pay the bills and to further fund development of the 911. To put it simply, without the 924's contribution to the company, the 911 as we know it might not exist. A case of some serious unsung heroism.

DRIVING IT

When someone tells you "I have a sports car with a chassis made of bits from a Golf, Beetle, and post-WWII military vehicle" you'll probably laugh a bit, then cringe, and laugh some more. Certainly you don't expect it to be any good. In some witchcrafty German way however, Porsche has made it into an exercise of brilliance.

At cruising speeds it maintains a smooth and comfortable character, but when you poke it in corners it's dead neutral and no mentionable body-roll is to be noticed. The gearbox has been placed in the back for a near perfect 48/52 weight distribution, which makes for some seriously appreciative handling. It eats corners with unbelievable efficiency.

The feel is best described as driving a go kart on local anesthetics, because you feel the immediacy of your inputs but the softish-tuned suspension rules out the annoying part of the sharpness. Deriving from that, the steering is a bit syrupy too. It comes alive in the corners, but there's always this certain numbness to it, you don't really feel the front wheels as you'd expect from a sports car with non-powered steering. That said though, it feels pretty much like a Porsche.

As you pick up speed the steering obviously gets progressively better, but there's a problem. The engine comes out of a van, and that means you don't pick up speed. Porsche promised a 9,9 second 0-100 time for the 924, but after 35 years of use that time is nothing but wishful thinking.

The accelerator pedal is for volume adjustment rather than going anywhere, floor it and you'll make the four-cylinder under the bonnet sound mighty intimidating (might have something to do with the raspy race-exhaust) but not much go-fast action happens otherwise. However, playing with the exhaust note is fantastically addicting in itself, and almost worth the 1000£ alone.

The lack of speed is without doubt the biggest con in this car, and there are frequent moments when the steering wheel has to be beaten due to the frustration of not progressing anywhere at any sort of mentionable speed, but focusing on pure speed is a side-effect of stupidity.  It's about how it makes you feel, and that is something worth explaining.

Pretty much at the instant you lower yourself into the cabin you forget it's a budget-Porsche. The seats are, well, nothing short of divine. Ripped out of the same era-911, they're probably the most well-balanced creations of comfort/sportiness/style since ever. I want those seats in my living-room, that's how pretty they are. Otherwise too the whole interior feels just as posh as any other same era Porsche.

It's a hard car to fall in love with from the outside, I'll give you that. Seeing as it started its life as an Audi* and not a pristine piece of art (read Porsche) it's quite mundane. I never thought it to be pretty or desirable in any way, but having driven it it's grown on me. The 924 is an acquired taste, a bit like whiskey and early morning wake-ups too. When those old-school rally images start to burn in the back of your head you'll quite quickly find yourself lusting after one.

-HS

*Named project EA425, the 924 was initially a development project ordered from Porsche by VW-group, who had plans for it to be the next Audi flagship, but the oil crisis in 1973 and economical turmoil inside the company sealed the fate of the project, and it got shelved. Porsche, who saw the opportunity, bought back the project for the costs of the development, and started building 924s with its own badge.

Toyota and BMW to make a sports car together

Two days ago the heads of Toyota and BMW signed a deal to intensify their cooperation. The signed deal included joint operations in the development of electric fuel cells, research  in powertrain electrification and the sharing of lightweight technologies. Oh, and there was one other small thing too, no, scrap "small", in fact, replace it with "monumental". According to the signed deal Toyota and BMW are going to build a sports car together.


The agreement states that BMW and Toyota are going to jointly develop architectures and share parts-bins for a future sports vehicle. In simple English; design, and build a sports car together.

At a press conference with BMW head Norbert Reithofer Toyota president Akio Toyoda said "BMW knows how to make a car perform, I am the one who is most looking forward to a sports car that is environmentally friendly" and that's what it's going to be. A sports car that'll manhandle everything but polar bears.

By signing the deal Toyota got access to BMW's rock solid knowledge of how to make a car go very fast, and in return BMW got access to Toyota's expertise in buzzing noises, namely, electric motors. A match made in future-sports-car-heaven, so to say.

It's pretty clear now that Toyota's on a mission to get their sporting-image back, and they've already won the first battle. The Subaru-collaboration BRZ/GT86/Whatever you want to call it was divine, and we'll hopefully see something equally epic spawn from this venture too. The picture of the Avensis is slowly dimming in my head...

Toyota's first victory

We'll keep you informed on the subject as more details come along, but for now this is the bulk of it. Let the speculation begin!

What kind of sports car would you like to see those two companies build together? Share your thoughts in the comments-section below.

-HS

Ariel brings professional driving-simulation to livingrooms

Regular car enthusiasts may recognize Ariel as the maker of a bloody fast scaffolding called the Atom, a hardcore, no-compromise ride for the incredibly enthusiastic. Lately however, Ariel has expanded that hardcore no-compromise mentality to sim-racing too. What they've come up with is a simulator that takes virtual-racing to a whole new level.

And here it is. Let me introduce you to the Ariel TL1, the world's first driving simulator with a portable 180 degree, spherical picture projection-system that projects it's picture with three HD-quality projectors. Quite tech-serious.

Inside you'll get the lot from bucket seats to top-notch controls and software with no expense spared. Ariel even offers customers the ability to choose what features they want to have in their TL1 at purchase, so buyers get the set-up tailored for their specific needs. All this attention to detail makes for quite a professional experience, but unlike the massive professional systems the TL1 can easily be linked to both PC, PS3 and Xbox 360-platforms standing in your livingroom.

Sadly, as everything car-related hardcore and no-compromise, getting the TL1 will set you back a fortune, 11,500£ to be exact, and that's quite hefty even for the thicker numbskull considering he could just go out and race a real car for the same money, and that, I predict, is the elephant in the room that'll keep demand low.

Not many would even want it. After all, looks resemble a giant egg in race-spec with go-faster stripes attached, or how the girl you just invited for a date would put it; a giant red-and-white turnoff. A raging social suicide with the price up there between idiotic and ridiculous (In fairness though, it needs to be remembered that this is hardcore, and hardcore sim-racers neither care about, nor have girlfriends and/or social status)

Anyways, nothing is going to take away the fact that the TL1 is a really, really cool gadget. It's a gadget that I feel guilty about wanting because at the end of the day I'd still want keep my girlfriend.

-HS

Watch the video below to see how it works

FWD BMW 1-series likely to prevail at Paris Motor Show

BMW has plans to reveal a new 1-series concept called the 1-series GT at Paris Motor Show in September. Usually an event like this wouldn't even be worth mentioning, but this time it's special, in a bad way, I'm afraid. It's a cheap scare like something out of a b-class horror movie: the first front wheel drive BMW in history. Boo. For now it only enters the stage in concept-form, but BMW is planning for the 1-series GT to hit the market in 2014.

The car will be based on the the upcoming Mini-redesign platform, sharing it's 1,5 liter three-cylinder turbo-engine and the it's rumored to be a real looker, but the positive comments end there. The rest is sacrilege by the carmaker who has been so keen on protecting it's image of making the Ultimate Driving Machine in the past.

"That's why we don't have front wheels"

So, who can be blamed for this abomination? Well, ultimately it's the consumers, because in 2010, when the process started, BMW did a survey of what picture 1-series drivers had of their car, and the results were indeed surprising.

Eight out of ten 1-series drivers were too stupid to drive according to what should be general measures, because eight out of ten 1-series drivers didn't even know they were driving an RWD car. This result convinced BMW CEO's that it wouldn't matter if they made an FWD 1-series, because 1-series drivers would be too ignorant to notice anyways, plus an FWD would be marginally more fuel-efficient and green as an addition.

So the launch of the FWD 1-series is the realization of that ignorance. It's BMW's strategy of dumbening down the brand and appealing to people who just don't get it, in other words the definitive moment of doom for BMW-purity, daggers through the hearts of brand-loyal BMW-enthusiasts.

 I laughed, then I cried. I still can't believe that eight out of ten 1-series drivers are so idiotically detached. We can only hope that this is a mere means of driving sales of the RWD 1-series, otherwise it's time to say hello to a whole new image of BMW.

-HS

Share your thoughts on BMW going FWD in the comments-section below!

Väth ups the ridiculousness of Mercedes-Benz C63 Black

The Mercedes-Benz C63 Black is ridiculous by definition. It's a car where most of the power goes to the process of evaporating the rear wheels. A hardcore old fashioned muscle-car neatly packaged in a modern euro-box, pumping out 510 horses from an anciently large 6.2 liter engine. It fulfills most of the car enthusiasts' rubber burning fantasies.

Some people won't settle though, and Väth, a German tuning-company, is catering for them..

Apparently the people at Väth found 510 horsepower inadequate and thought rubber needed to be burned even more efficiently.

Their solution? Supercharge the C63 Black and call it V63 Supercharged. The specs are pretty mind-boggling; an insane 756 horsepower, 0-62 in 3.6 seconds (provided you can keep the wheels from vanishing under you) and a top speed of 217mph. Autobahn-credibility granted.

Väth can't be accused of total laziness either, because the V63 Supercharged includes a whole lot more than just the supercharging. With the car you get a fully adjustable suspension, 20-inch alloys on ultra-low profile tires, and most importantly, upgraded brakes to prevent you from having an unwanted acquaintance with a ditch. The optional upgrades-list includes a stainless steel exhaust system, new cats, silencers, exhaust-tips and a whole array of individual interior options.

The price for this delightfully crazy creation is also, along with the rest of the car, a bit high-flying for the rational human being, 130 000-170 000€ depending on the upgrades, but then again a rational human being will be disgusted by the very thing anyways. I bet Clarkson is turned on.

-HS

Ugur Sahin's take on Alfas: The Alfa Romeo 12C GTS

What does a Turkish man know about designing supercars? Well, a lot if Ugur Sahin is the man in question. He's designwork covers quite an impressive repertoire of dead-sleek Aston Martins, emotion-stirring Ferraris and spaceship-resembling SLR's just to mention a few. This time he's teased the Alfa Romeo-fans...

Sahin's latest concept is a twelve-cylinder front-engined Alfa Romeo called the 12C GTS, and as you can see it's pretty darn high up the drool-scale - even for an Alfa Romeo.

Hower, the concept is not likely to be produced in-house by Alfa Romeo because the 12C GTS would be an even bigger trespass into Ferrari-territory than the 8C Competizione was, and that doesn't sit well with the brand-diversity strategy of Fiat Group. UgurSahinDesign is not giving up though, and is looking for private investors instead.

On the homepage of Ugur Sahin the 12C GTS concept is surrounded by a lot of slick blabbering about design-cues and organic attractiveness and so on, but the words are indifferent. Not much info is given on the details, so there's no real news-value, but that wasn't the point in the first place. In fact, there is no bigger point to be made about the 12C GTS in writing. Just look at it. All you can do is stare...

To see more of the 12C GTS and other UgurSahinDesign concepts visit www.ugursahindesign.com

-HS

Aston Martin AM310 concept shows the next 100 years of Astons

A few days ago Aston Martin revealed their one-off AM310 concept at Villa d'Este, as a sort of foreplay for their upcoming centenary next year. The concept was entered in the Concorso d'Eleganza design-competition, a competition where Aston is a well-known name. In previous years they've taken home the pot with the incredibly sleek One-77 and the V12 Zagato.

According to Aston, the AM310 represents the next 100 years of Aston Martinry, and I'm a bit worried. See, the thing is, the AM310 misses the mark on both relevant levels. Let me explain:

I loved the Aston Martin DB7. I loved the DB9. I loved the V12 Vanquish and so on, but as time went by and models kept on appearing faster than I could pronounce the last ones, I didn't know what Aston I loved anymore because they all looked the same.. DB7, DB9, V12 Vanquish, V12/V8 Vantage, Virage, DBS V12, Rapide, One-77, V12 Zagato, it's impossible to tell the difference unless you've devoted your life to the art of recognizing different 21st century Astons. Thus we've arrived to our first argument, freshness: Nowadays Astons are as dull as a grey-painted drywall. The award for the laziest design department shouldn't belong to Porsche, but rather Aston.

The next argument is that Aston, as well as Porsche, simply got it right the first time. The shape is their heritage. They create pure, beautiful things, period. No need to follow fashion.

The man who designed that splitter should be put in jail for his crime

The AM310 would be acceptable if it would've tried to improve in one of those areas, either be something new or do the old thing with even more grace, but it didn't. It didn't go for anything a 100% and fell somewhere in between. It lost the purity of Aston-design by trying to be fashionable. It's not a timeless work of art because of the ridiculous go-faster bits, and it's not something new either. It's just a race-molested 21st century Aston-shape, and has nothing to it but a slightly raised hp-number, and even that comes with a "probably" attached to it. I hate it on so many levels. It's an Aston ruined to it's bare intestants. I really hope the designers at Aston come up with something new and more representable for the centenary next year.

-HS

Your thoughts on this monstrosity?

Renault plans on reviving the Alpine brand

In 1970 Alpine, a manufacturer that built really fast and lustworthy four-wheeled projectiles by combining Renault-engines and a little sheet metal, became monumental news for carenthusiasts as Renault incorporated the brand as a genuine division in their line-up alongside Gordini.

Now, in 2012 some more monumental news have leaked to the internet as Renault has serious plans of reviving Alpine. This is not a setup for classics-rape as the Gordini revival was with a few stickers on a Clio, but a serious take on bringing back a classic, paying high respect to the brand's heritage, no bullshit. Here's what they had to say at Renault:

"If we don't succeed in bringing Alpine back now, we will never succeed. We didn't want a Renaultsport with an Alpine sticker. We wanted to do a proper race car"

And a proper race car it is, promising 400bhp from a 3.5 liter mid-mounted V6 and a kerbweight of 880kg, I think that spells cornering heaven? Coming out of the corner in the real thing may get a bit watered down, though, because inside sources say that the production-version will most likely sport a 300hp+ iteration of the 2.0 liter Megane RS engine.

The name will be A110-50, referring to the 50th birthday of the original A110 this year, and here's how it looks:

Styling is taken from the, in my opinion hideous, 2010 DeZir concept, only adding racy bits to make it look even meaner. I'm not so sure about that face representing Alpine, it doesn't exactly take too much effort in looking good, but one thing I'm sure about is that it's going to be a game changer. More news and info will be available on Friday when it's revealed in Monaco.

Here are a few pictures of legendary Alpine creations for you to savour while anticipating the new A110-50:

The original A110 1600s

My favorite: the Alpine A310GT

The Alpine GTA

Gorgeous Alpine A310 '74

HS on: Driving veteran-cars

Last week I drove very slow. Not because I suddenly grew up and realized the potential dangers of speeding, but because last week I got my hands on a 1970's Mercedes Benz 220D, a car in which you can't break the speedlimit. Literally. With 60 old grey horses and weighing enough to have its own orbit the 220D gets you from 0 to 100 in... Well practically, it doesn't. Usually that spells "instant turnoff", but with the old 220D it's different.

The thing with speed is it makes you feel alive. Going 200km/h in a regular car is a bit scary, and that's the kick right there, fear. With the 220D you don't need to travel at 200km/h to feel scared because 40 is enough... It's engaging on an entirely different level, there's the steering, or the lack of it. There's the clutch, but is unusable. There's the front left wheel, but a suspicious clonking noise is coming from it and so on... And as confusing as it sounds, that, for me, is the appeal with old cars, they're intimidating, brutal and if nothing else, raw. Essentially I like them because they're frankly a bit scary, and the 220D is no exception. It starts as soon as you step in...

First thing you notice when you get in is the smell of the interior, I'm pretty sure it's death, but no worries I'm told, that's all part of the experience of driving a veteran car. Smell aside the interior is immaculate, velour seats of make 'extremely retro', more comfortable than my couch by the way, nice finish on the dashboard, detailing in chrome and so on, a very nice place to be all in all, majestic in a way.

"offensively self-satisfied smile"

Driving the 220D feels, well, majestic too, and takes you to an era when being rude signaled high status and wealth. Driving it there's always this offensively self-satisfied smile trying to take over your face for some reason. You don't care that it's an old diesel, you don't care that it's the symbol for illegal 3rd world taxi-drivers and you don't care that there's a massive queue behind you on the highway because it is such an indulgent experience. You don't get that in modern cars, you don't drive around in C-class with a smirky face anymore. The modern western world, tolerant, friendly and sensitive has made the cars conform in its image too.

I guess that's the thing with all veteran-cars, they are creations of a no longer existent world. Reminders of days when you could wear that offensively self-satisfied face and not be embarrassed. In fact, I think that smirk is the essence of veteran-motoring...



-HS

Agree?

A dream came true in the form of Forza Horizon

I've been contemplating this business-idea for a few years now; Why not do a proper open-world driving-sim? Public-road thrashing (in other words Youtube-racing) sure is a lot more exciting and relatable than race-track thrashing...

And as it seems as nobody is clever enough to figure that out and grasp the opportunity of making shitloads of money, maybe I'll do it. Except I won't, because I can't even program the microwave-oven to heat my soup, not to even mention programming a game. Thank God the people at Turn 10 Studios know their way around that...

There is a game called Forza Horizon being launched this fall that promises to leech my business-idea dry. I don't even have to get off my couch and learn programming to be able to drive fast without gaining unwanted attention from people in blue overalls, how fan-bleeding-tastic is that?

The game is an extension of Forza Motorsport 4, which in itself is stupendously good, so the potential is obvious, not much info has been released on it though. Now just to wait for some meat on the bones and gravy on the potatoes. I'm sure as poop excited!

By these news it's decided, I'm getting an Xbox 360. Countless nights of red-eyed racing-sim heaven, here I come, screw Sony.

Final nail in the coffin for Gran Turismo 5? I vote yes.


-HS

Video of the week: scaring co-drivers

We love rallying at The Petrol Blogger, especially when a Finnish man from the countryside is behind the wheel. That is usually when things either progress really fast or spectacularly into a bush... Either way the entertainment value is granted.

This week's video is a historical clip from the 1983 Manx rally, where Ari Vatanen, the Godfather of speed, demonstrates the immense power of having a Finnish nutsack. The funny in this otherwise so solemn and nostalgic video is located in the co-driver's seat. The co-driver is evidently scared a bit shitless by Vatanen's driving, to mildly describe it. Not even a case of aspergers will prevent you from reading the fear on this man's voice through the pace notes. It's cruel, but it's priceless.

The "Dear God" that the co-driver so accurately let's out of his mouth at 1:38 pretty much describes everything there is to know about this video...

Now, watch in awe:

-HS


Doesn't this clip just make you want to go out and break some traffic-laws?

The Nissan GT Academy: Ever dreamt of being a race-car driver?

If you're like me, a good-for-nothing nerd playing driving-games, frequently dreaming about travelling illegally fast in something really expensive, then listen up. This is your chance to prove mom wrong when she said "Get off the couch you lazy worthless piece of sh't! There's nothing to be achieved there!". Because now, there is. It's time to put on your PS3 once more and take to the racetracks of Gran Turismo 5...

A new season of the Nissan GT Academy is again upon us, and the competition is up for entries. For those of you who look like question-marks at this point, here's a short de-brief on the subject.

A few years ago, when Gran Turismo 5 was launched, some marketing guys who worked for Nissan were out drinking. Being nerds and all, they spent their night playing Gran Turismo and chugging Batterybeer.

As we know, the best ideas fly across the room just before the point of darkness and an eventual headache, so consequentially, just before the point of passing out one of the marketing-guys said "Wouldn't it be pretty epic if a really fast GT5 driver got behind the wheel of a real race-car and kicked all the real race-car drivers' butts?". Next morning he woke up to the eventual headache, but the idea stuck.

A while later the Nissan GT Academy was introduced. A unique opportunity for really fast nerds to become really fast racing-drivers. No-one believed it was doable, but those sceptics have been proven wrong over and over again. If you're not familiar with these guys already, just try googling Jann Mardenborough or Lucas Ordóñes...

The competition works like this: Gran Turismo releases 8 rounds of time-trial events in packs of two over a period of roughly two months. Every round consists of five events going progressively from easy to extremely irritating as the rounds add up.

The Nissan 370Z, the car chosen for the task

Rounds 1-7 are practice-rounds for you to hone your talent, but the last event of the last round is where the chickens are finally counted. A time-trial around a potentially impossible track (Nürburgring for example). Your goal is to be sixth fastest among all the contestants from your demographic competition-area(well, first, but in case you suck too much sixth will still do), and if you manage the top-six, you'll be sent off to Silverstone GT Academy for a mental, physical and automotive torture camp commanded by ex-F1 driver Johnny Herbert.



There you will be bread to a pure speed-god, and if you're one of the two fastest nerds attending the camp you're in for the Jew gold. You'll immediately be sent to get your racing-license, and your skills will be further developed. Eventually Nissan will consider you to be a driver in their teams at top level. Sounds pretty utopistic, eh?

You don't want to miss out on this opportunity, so pop in GT5, bring out blister-preventing bandaids for your thumbs and start playing!!

And if you still can't fathom the thought of a gamer-turned-race-car pro, watch Nissan GT Academy USA, a documentary about the Academy, and see the step-by-step process. The embedded episodes are just after the jump in this post. Also a thing to check out is the "Nissan GT Academy: Road to Dubai" documentary, same as the Academy USA, except about the european Academy. Very interesting stuff.

Disclaimer: content may include dodgy facts and bullshit. Mostly bullshit though.