Month: January 2017

There are legends of every sport, but more often than not they are people. In motorsport, people like Michael Schumacher are absolute legends. This being no ordinary sport, the WRC has a legendary car, the Lancia Delta.

The Italian car achieved what no car has managed to in WRC. Lancia Delta-the classic rally car, went through three generations of manufacturing before the company exited the rally championship sport. In between them, the cars won a total of 46 championships, with a record six titles in a row.

The Delta brought great success to the drivers. It earned the drivers’ titles for four consecutive years between 1987 and 1991.

Crème of the Crop

What the McLaren P1 is for its class, the Lancia Delta is for rally cars. Lancia is hugely successful, and the Lancia Delta Integrale model takes the crown. This ladies and gentlemen, was the greatest racing car ever to grace the WRC.

The 4WD Delta was a driver’s dream. At 2.0 litres, the engine doesn’t seem much to write home about today but in the 80s that was a big engine. With its wide wheels, the Integrale was able to handle the power coming down the transmission from the 185 bhp engine in the hood.

Racing games are one of the best ways to relax and kick back. The problem is, there are so many car racing games out there to choose from. Choosing the best among all can be an arduous task, but personally, I look for ones that feature a Lancia Delta – the classic rally car.

AssettoCorsa

This game doesn’t have my favourite car, but it is quickly proving to be one of the top racing games we have tried. The 2017 version has new vehicles from the Porsche pack. The driving experience is perhaps the most realistic we have seen in a game yet. AssettoCorsa has crisp graphics for visual pleasure. The only weakness is that the multiplayer option does feel a little out of touch.

F1 2016

The official Formula 1 game is another of the best car games according to me. The game was developed by Codemasters, a company which is praised for its attention to suggestions from gamers. The 2016 version has manual starts and a safety car, making the gaming experience truly like a real Fomrula1 race.

Other notable games include Project Cars: Game of the year Edition and Drive Club.

The V8 Supercars Championship Series is Australia’s biggest motorsport, and among the most followed sports in the country. The series was started in the year 1960 as a single race championship. Back then the name was Australian Touring Car Championship. This single event championship went on for eight years before a series model was adopted.

To win the championship, drivers would have to win several races. This meant that drivers who had trouble in one race could make up in another and potentially win despite not winning all stages. The name Australian Touring Car Championship stuck until 1999 when it changed into the Shell Championship Challenge. That changed again in 2003 when the series was renamed, the V8 Supercars Championship Series, a name that was shortened to V8 Supercars Championship in 2011.

V8

The V8 in the name comes from a strict requirement for all participating cars that stipulated all cars must be of a similar engine build. The only acceptable cars were 5.0-liter engine driven cars with natural aspiration and V8 engines. For a long time, the only cars that qualified were Ford and Holden cars. These two manufacturers had a race battle that endured from 1995 to 2012.

Commercial appeal

The V8 Supercars Championship Series has a huge following with attendance for races being about 100,000. There are wildly popular series stages like the Clipsal 500 which attracts crowds of over 250,000 spectators. The series has also inspired the best car games according to me.

The world’s fastest car at the moment is the Hennessey Venom GT. This American supercar carries a V8 engine with a displacement of 7 litres. The car is made in Texas, and it is probably one of the most promising cars to show up at the V8 Supercars Championship Series. As of today, only eight units have been sold. The company is relatively small, but the engineers are highly accomplished motoring professionals.

Dissection

The Hennessey Venom GT is a lightweight car with a big engine. The initial concept was creating a car with the profile of a Lotus Elise and putting a 1000+ hp engine in it. Hennessey had tinkered with these modifications in cars with the aim of creating a supercar of his dreams. At first, he wanted to use a Chrysler V10 engine but later went with the Chevy V8 engine.

The results are phenomenal. The outside is mostly carbon fibre, and the inside is raw power. The Hennessy Venom GT did 270 mph, which is a world record. The car is super exclusive, and prices are north of 1.2 million dollars. You wouldn’t expect to pay less for a car faster than the Buggati.

There’s a dilemma that every petrol head faces; the cars you can afford don’t go fast enough; the really fast cars are way out your financial ability. If only Ferraris didn’t cost that much! The Holy Grail for those initiated into the cult of petrol and speed is a fast car that is affordable.

Here are some fast cars that you can afford with savings and financial discipline. For the sake of clarity, we’ll define affordable as anything under $25,000.

Your Best Options

At $24,150, the Mustang is an affordable object of desire. Packing a V6 engine with a respectable 3.7-liter displacement, the Mustang is an absolute bargain. The vehicle is a 6-speed manual transmission and looks every inch the 300 horsepower it packs. Mustang is a strong brand associated with strength and masculinity, as well.

The Volkswagen Golf GTI comes with a 2.0-liter engine, generating 210 horsepower. The GTI is turbocharged and easy to maintain. This car will set you back $24,990.

Another good GT is the Hennessey Venom GT. While the Venom is considerably more expensive than the Golf, it is much faster as well. If you are looking for a real car that you can enjoy for years to come, this is probably one of your best bets.

With a little investment in research, it is easy to find fast cars you can afford. Other suggestions include the Mini Cooper S which is famed for its superb handling and go-kart driving experience and the Kia Forte Koup.

NASCAR brings raw and live entertainment to racing enthusiasts. Their events are ranked some of the most watched on TV. In the US, NASCAR comes only second to the NFL for viewership. NASCAR races are also the recipients of the highest sponsorship from Fortune 500 companies. With this much success, one wonders why the cars in Nascar seem to look the same. Are they?

The Anatomy of a NASCAR

Three street legal car brands are common in Nascar; Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion, and Chevrolet SS. The thing, though, is that NASCAR cars do not share a lot with their street-legal counterparts. For one thing, races are won by the best-tuned vehicles.

As such, the car might be a Camry on the outside, but the engine will more often than not be a 300+ horsepower, naturally aspirated V-8 engine. While there may be a lot of fast cars you can afford, these are probably not them.

The cars in Nascar have accurately tuned ignitions managed through a computer system. The engines are designed to work at high temperatures and speeds. The supporting systems such as coolants and oil pumps are adjusted accordingly. Nascar car engines are closely monitored because success depends on their performance. The main differentiator among drivers, therefore, is the engineering of the engine.

Super cars used to be the preserve of large well-funded traditional manufacturers. Even then, they used to build them using outsourced parts, making the makers more of assemblers than producers. Changes in technology have allowed new players to enter the high-end car market, and one of the successes from this new generation of car makers is Koenigsegg founder Christian von Koenigsegg.

Koenigsegg employs less than 140 people, which is unlike traditional manufacturers who have well over 1000 employees. The Swedish manufacturer was able to get authentication for his cars, and that was the start of Koenigsegg – The Swedish supercars.

Models

There is a total of 17 Koenigsegg cars, starting from the CC made in 1996 as the prototype to the Agera Final built in 2016. The manufacturer makes every major component in-house and all cars retail for over $1 million. The most popular Koenigsegg is the Regera which was first produced in 2015 and has sold 80 units to date. The Regera has a top speed of 246 mph, and can easily compete with the cars in Nascar. The other popular Koenigsegg is the Agera R produced from 2012 to 2014, which sold 18 units.

Koenigsegg – The Swedish supercars are made for the ultra-rich. You might want to know that the factory is located in a hanger on a functional airstrip so that clients can land in their private jets.

The Dakar Rally is an off-road endurance motoring event that is held in the Sahar dessert but recently moved to South America for security reasons. The rally is open to professional and armature contestants, with armatures making up over 80 percent of the participants.

The event is both a motorcycle and motor vehicle event, but you won’t see anything from Koenigsegg – the Swedish supercars – as the tracks are a little rough for cars of that type.

Path to Winning

Sam Sunderland is based in Dubai. For that reason, he can train in desert conditions which are similar to what is in the Dakar rally. The driver could not compete in 2014, though, because of mechanical challenges.

In 2015, the motorcycle section was won by Marc Coma and in 2016 Australian Toby Price won the trophy. Sam, who drives for KMT, won the rally on his third attempt. The Dorset boy established a lead in stage five of the 12 stage race, eventually beating his closest rival by 32 minutes. At the finish line, Sam spoke of feeling relieved of the pressure of being the leader in the motorcycle race. The past 16 winners of the Dakar Rally motorbike competition have all been KMT riders.

The year 2017 will be one of pressure for the rider because he is the reigning champion, and he will want to maintain that in 2018. 2018 might be harder to win than 2017 because 2016 champion Marc Coma, who was injured in the 2017 race and announced retirement, might be fit and make a comeback.

The slot game drive by NetEnt was made for people who love cars and slots games. Think of it as the best of both worlds. The game is easy to learn and exhilarating to play. The setting is a city where the main character races for wins. This game can be played at both standard online casinos and on some crypto currency casinos, bitcoin casinos to be more specific.

Look at it this way, motor enthusiasts will play video games with cars for hours on end for the thrill of a win. How then more interesting is it when the thrill of winning is augmented by the possibility of winning a jackpot? That combination of riches and fun probably explains how it felt when Sam Sunderland won the Dakar Rally.

Slot features

The slot game has the standard competitive features included in slot games such as free spins and multiplying wilds. A player can wager anything from 0,15coins to 75 coins. For a maximum bet, the potential jackpot winning is a whopping 90,000 coins.

Drive – A fast slot game – is unique because there are three free-pins levels, instead of the standard single level. The game also has a nitro collect meter reminiscent of the nitro speed boost from Need for Speed and other car racing games. Every batch of collected nitro buys the player a round of free spins.

The 488GTB is a 2-passenger high-end sports car with the looks and specs of a supercar. The two door Ferrari is rear-wheel drive and carries a direct injection 3.9-liter turbocharged V-8 engine whose output is 660 horsepower. The Ferrari 488 GTB is a vehicle of desire for many supercar lovers, for two main reasons; build quality and speed. It’s no wonder that it’s featured in the popular, Drive – a fast slot game.

The Interior

When you pay $249,100, Ferrari is guaranteeing you value for money. The car is built for luxury and speed. The interior features bucket seats, leather in all appropriate places including the steering wheel, a foot rest for the driver, a 12 volts DC power outlet, a trip computer, an engine immobilizer, and dual-zone climate control. Other notable interior features include an outside temperature gauge, a perimeter alarm and two LCD monitors for entertainment.

Exterior

The Ferrari’s exterior features the unmistakable 9 inch allow wheels, the wing spoiler, a black grille, lightly tinted glass, rear fog lights, LED brake lights and perimeter lights. The car has a clear coat paint job as well as rain-detecting intermittent wipers.

The Ferrari 488 GTB can do 0-60 in just under 3 seconds. Its top speed is 205mph. The car is equipped with befitting safety features which include height-adjustable seat belts, airbags, headlight washers and low tire pressure warning.

Potential buyers, however, should note that the waiting list for the 488 GTB is currently at 18 months. Ferrari is unlikely to take many new orders since they would like to maintain exclusivity for buyers.