Automotive

Chevrolet Announces Medium-Duty Silverado Line

Chevrolet Announces Medium-Duty Silverado Line

Recently at the State Fair of Texas, Chevrolet confirmed their new Class 4 and 5 Silverado trucks will be launching late next year. Both will be available in Regular and Crew Cab configurations with a wide range of GVWRs and wheelbases.
Like their stablemates in the Chevy truck lineup, the 4500 and 5500 series pickups will offer OnStar, 4G LTE connectivity provided by AT&T. The feature is designed to help fleet managers with safety and productivity.
“We are earning new business because we have more solutions to help businesses grow,” said John Schwegman, U.S. Director of Commercial Product, Chevrolet.
According to Chevrolet, commercial volume is up 48 percent since 2013, and domestic segment share has grown year-over-year for the last 13 consecutive months.
“The Silverado 4500 and 5500 will stand out because we’ve designed the trucks around how customers work,” Schwegman added.
All Silverado 4500 and 5500 models will be powered by a Duramax diesel and Allison transmission, in either a 4×2 or 4×4 layout. Dump bodies, rollbacks, freight boxes, and other specialized applications can be outiffed to the forthcoming Silverado 4500 and 5500 models. Complete specifications and pricing for the new Silverado medium-duty trucks will be released closer to launch.
Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and resides Detroit, Michigan.
Source: Chevrolet.

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Ford, Microsoft Dive Deep Into Augmented Reality

Ford, Microsoft Dive Deep Into Augmented Reality

100 years ago, designing a car was all paper and pencils, slide rules and French-curves, body bucks and modeling clay. About 40 or 50 years ago, vehicle designing drifted more toward computer modeling and other automated and detached methods. For all that CAD/CAM and 3-D shaping brought: ease of variability, iterative sizing, better proportioning, and things like that, it did, by and large, take car designers out of the real-world. It might have worked on paper or on a computer screen, but get that prototype car fleshed out in sheet steel sitting under natural light, and many unseen flaws would become all too apparent.
Reality Bytes
Ford designers have taken a step away from the CAD screens and, curiously enough, have also backed off the tried and true, old school clay-sculpting steels and rakes, and swapped in some mixed reality headsets and trick visualization software. This allows them to change design elements like side mirrors, grilles, interiors, and more at the click of a button.
Ford chooses to call it “mixed reality,” but what we’re really talking about here is generically referred to as “Augmented Reality.” Unlike the better known and over-hyped Virtual Reality (which has been the next big thing/revolution that will change the very fabric of society itself sometime next year since 1989), AR puts digital things in the real-world that you’re already seeing through special glasses or other head mounted displays.
Rescue Mission
A few years back I was working for a company that, among other fun things, did museum designs. We were working on a museum that was going to have an interactive Coast Guard rescue helicopter exhibit. One of the ideas was having a static Coast Guard rescue helicopter sitting inside, and then handing out Augmented Reality headsets to people as they got in the chopper. You’d put the headset on, you’d see the chopper and the museum and other guests around you, but you’d also see weather and the environment beyond the rescue helicopter. So if you were sitting in the pilot’s seat, outside the windows you’d see coastal Alaska and wind-swept seas, and the fishing boat you had to rescue. Even better, if you were sitting at the open helicopter door, working the virtual winch, you’d look out and down, and in addition to seeing the carpet on the museum floor, 100 or so feet below you’d “see” a fisherman waiting to be plucked out of the water.
I tested this out, sitting in an office chair one day, and the effect was downright creepy. It wasn’t completely as immersive as VR, but AR worked surprisingly well enough to make you feel you were in one of Igor Sikorsky’s finest, and there was a person on the verge of drowning. Ironically, the weakest link in building this was finding a disused Cost Guard helicopter that was cheap enough. Those things are amazingly expensive.
Photo: Ford Motor Company.

Point & Click
Another interesting coincidence, as far as Ford is concerned, is that one of the better purveyors of Augment Reality is, of all people, Microsoft. The Redmond, Washington-based concern has this hardware/software rig they call the HoloLens that, with a little bit of tweaking, can add Augmented Reality to seemingly any given situation. Ford designers have been working with Microsoft HoloLens technology for a year now at FoMoCo’s Dearborn studios.
HoloLens allows them to see possible design elements in a virtual sense as if they were part of the actual physical vehicle sitting before them. HoloLens allows them to investigate different shapes, sizes, and textures of vehicle characteristics in minutes and hours, rather than weeks and months using clay models. What would that lower body cladding look like in smooth finish instead of textured? Click, click, boom. Now you can see it. What if we change all of the trim pieces from black to a satin chrome? Click, click, boom. Now you can see it. And not just see it, but you can walk around the actual, physical car in real-space, in real-time.
Flexible Approach
The system works and tracks with you through the wire-free headsets. There’s a Windows 10 computer embedded in the headset and the whole shee-bang is untethered, wearable, and mobile; no tethering, no cables, no problem. Microsoft’s HoloLens allows designers to see projected holograms against photo-quality backdrops; on the street in the summer, at night in the rain, those sorts of scenarios. So now, if something doesn’t work, looks strangely proportioned, is lacking the needed surface tension, Ford’s designers can quickly reevaluate the design, make changes, and determine styling options much earlier in development. The HoloLens technology enables designers and engineers to better collaborate and understand the customer experience as well.
The headsets can even be synced so multiple team members can view a design simultaneously for easy collaboration. They can also record audio notes for team members working in other time zones or off-site to review.
“It’s amazing we can combine the old and the new – clay models and holograms – in a way that both saves time and allows designers to experiment and iterate quickly to dream up even more stylish, clever vehicles,” said Jim Holland, Ford Vice President, Vehicle Component and Systems Engineering. “Microsoft HoloLens is a powerful tool for designers as we continue to reimagine vehicles and mobility experiences in fast-changing times.”
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He means well, even if he has a bias toward lighter, agile cars rather than big engine muscle cars or family sedans.

Photos, Video & Source: Ford Motor Company.

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2019 Porsche Cayenne Turbo: Product & Performance Overview

2019 Porsche Cayenne Turbo: Product & Performance Overview

Look, the only reason I pay attention to Porsche Cayennes is because they are the profit centers that allow the Zuffenhausen company to make sports cars. I largely look upon them as necessary evils, so, what . . . am I supposed to get all excited over the new 2019 Porsche Cayenne Turbo?
Let’s see here . . . the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 puts out 550 horsepower, 567 lb-ft. of torque; that’s nice. They say it’s quicker and faster than the previous gen, okay, duh! And, um, it’s got a top speed of 177 mph and does 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds? Holy sh-!
Man, that is one fast truck. Yeah, I know, “fast” is kind of what Porsche is famous for, but still, that’s pretty impressive for something that weighs – huh, that’s funny, they don’t mention weight. Probably a couple of tons, at least, which is both understandable and sad, but also impressive that Porsche can make this thing haul that fast.
Performance Tech
The 2019 Porsche Cayenne Turbo is the third-generation of the Cayenne range and, in addition to that twin-turbo four-liter V8 engine that dispenses 550 horsepower, there’s a host of other goodies. There’s a 3-chamber air suspension, staggered tire sizes, and this new, high-performance Porsche Surface Coated Brake technology. The ’19 Cayenne Turbo also features rear-axle steering and electric roll stabilization.
The front and rear wheel sizes fall into the “frickin huge” arena with 285/40 at the front and 315/35 out back.
Porsche says the lightweight chassis of the new Cayenne Turbo makes for better driving dynamics when compared to the outgoing model. Photo: Porsche Cars North America, Inc.
Design Language
Design-wise – both exterior and interior – it’s more a case of refinement and sharpening, than heading in any new directions. The front end shows off the LED main headlights of the Porsche Dynamic Light System, and the new Turbo further sets itself apart from lesser Cayennes with double-row front light modules. The wheel arches have been widened and feature painted trim to house the special 21-inch wheels. The twin tailpipes differentiate the Cayenne Turbo from its six-cylinder brethren.
On the inside, you’ll find interior design elements like center-mounted grab handles (a Cayenne motif), a high-definition 12.3-inch dashboard mounted screen, and an analog tachometer bracketed by two 7-inch HD screens. There’s a standard 710 watt Bose system, which is probably capable of seriously damaging your Organ of Corti. There are also 18-way sport seats, integrated headrests, and standard heating functions for all outboard seats and the steering wheel.
Engine Bay
Now, about that 4.0-liter V8! As I said, it puts out 550 horsepower and 567 lb-ft. of torque, which works out to be an additional 30 ponies and 14 lb-ft. on the previous Cayenne Turbo. Porsche Traction Management is, thankfully, standard, and the all-wheel drive system is hooked to a new, 8-speed Tiptronic S automatic transmission. The plant’s turbochargers are nestled inside the V of the cylinders, which sounds like a thermodynamic and maintenance nightmare to me, but I ain’t a German engineer, so what do I know? Yes, this arrangement gets you lots of benefits, like shortened exhaust paths to the turbochargers and improved handling characteristics thanks to a lower center of gravity. But still, that’s an awful lot of heat generators wadded into a small space!
Photo: Porsche Cars North America, Inc.

Suspension & Aerodynamics
The new 3-chamber air suspension is combined with the Porsche Active Suspension Management system. The active shock absorbers allow for a wider range of spring rates when compared to the previous setup, so the ride and handling is improved in both the comfort and performance settings. There are six selectable ride heights and the ground clearance can be manually adjusted to suit the off-road terrain.
There are also five new driving programs to fit a variety of conditions, the default being the on-road program; the four other modes are Mud, Gravel, Sand, or Rocks. All of the power delivery stuff, the drive modes, chassis settings, and differential locks can be selected and adjusted accordingly.
And even though the new Cayenne Turbo is relatively box-like, Porsche has seen to aerodynamics with things like the adaptive roof spoiler that actually helps shorten braking distances. The aforementioned Porsche Surface Coated Brake technology helps too. The design has a tungsten carbide layer applied to the otherwise-normal cast-iron discs for better braking performance and wear resistance.
The new 2019 Porsche Cayenne Turbo will be up for orders come December, with dealer deliveries happening in the Fall of 2018. Cost? That would be $124,600, which, let’s face it, is really, really expensive.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He means well, even if he has a bias toward lighter, agile cars rather than big engine muscle cars or family sedans.
2019 Porsche Cayenne Turbo Gallery

Photos & Source: Porsche Cars North America, Inc.

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Chevy’s 2.7L Turbo Silverado: Does It Pass Muster?

Chevy’s 2.7L Turbo Silverado: Does It Pass Muster? Chevy’s turbo Silverado will hit the market before the end of the year.
The new 2.7L Turbo, according to Chevy, tops comparable Ram and Ford engines.
How will the new turbo hold up in a product line long dominated by 5.3 and 6.2 V8 engines?
While the 6.2 V8 is the biggest and baddest rooster in the Silverado barnyard, Chevy is showcasing a new spring chicken for their 2019 1500 lineup. It’s hard to imagine General Motors – with the mighty 6.2 and evergreen 5.3 – going smaller. And turbo. But alas, as Garfield once observed, the times are always changing.
Meet the new 2.7L Turbo four-cylinder for the 2019 Chevy Silverado.
By The Numbers
When the 2019 Silverado debuted, new engine technologies, advanced manufacturing, and “mixed material strategies” were the core of the discussion. Earlier this year, we received further insight into how the new Silverado came together, after sitting down with Scott Damman, Lead Development Engineer for the 2019 Silverado.
“The engineering team was actually tasked with going and looking at every single part for weight savings,” he explained. “To do that we actually went to our suppliers and our supply base to begin pulling on new technology, which included new processes for building things.”
A 2019 Chevy Silverado with the 2.7L Turbo is 380 lbs. lighter than a current model with the 4.3L V6. As a bonus, the turbo Silverado is still lighter, despite increased interior and cargo space. Standard on LT and RST, the new turbo offers a 14 percent torque increase and a 13 percent bump in city fuel economy versus the 4.3 V6. It’s also a full second quicker when sprinting to 60 mph (6.8 seconds).
EPA fuel economy ratings come in at 20/23 city/highway for rear-wheel drive models. Max towing is 7,200 lbs. with a 2,280 lbs. max payload when properly equipped.
“With up to 23 mpg on the highway, the truck is efficient while still offering plenty of capability to tackle weekend projects and trips to the lake,” said Tim Asoklis, Silverado Chief Engineer.
Chevy’s 2.7L Turbo endured 475,000 validation tests and a million miles of real-world testing. Photo: Chevrolet.
While the 6.2 V8 is the biggest and baddest rooster in the Silverado barnyard, Chevy is showcasing a new spring chicken for their 2019 1500 lineup.Click To TweetBarnyard Brawl
On the nitty-gritty end, Chevy is swinging heat at their fellow Detroit rivals. The bowtie brand says the turbo Silverado delivers 310 horsepower and 348 lb-ft. of torque, topping Ford’s 3.3L V6 and Ram’s 3.6L V6 mild hybrid by 31 and 29 percent respectively. With the 2.7L Turbo, peak torque runs between 1,500 and 4,000 rpm; the engine reaches said peak quicker than the aforementioned Ram and Ford mills, according to Chevy.
Chevy’s 2.7L Turbo should not be confused with Ford’s 2.7L EcoBoost, which is a V6. Same displacement yes, but different class. That engine generates 325 horsepower and 400 lb-ft. of torque by comparison. Ford’s 3.3 V6, which is naturally-aspirated, creates 290 horsepower and 265 lb-ft. of torque.
Still, with Chevy having such an extensive history with the 5.3 and 6.2, how will – or how can – the 2.7L Turbo Silverado find its place? Granted, Ford’s EcoBoost engines are in a different class, but does GM now look like Johnny Come Lately? Is turbocharging half-ton trucks best left to Ford, considering the EcoBoost F-150 launched in 2011?
Hard to say.
Given the extensive number of options and price ranges, it may ultimately boil down to personal preference. One thing for certain though, trucks today are pulling their weight. And not just in payload but in efficiency. As manufacturers stack their truck lines with more advanced powertrains and lighter materials, the long-term benefits are likely more than we realize, according to this recent Detroit Free Press report.

Chevy’s 2.7L Turbo is paired with an eight-speed automatic. Photo: Chevrolet.
With Chevy having such an extensive history with the 5.3 and 6.2, how can the 2.7L Turbo Silverado find its place?Click To TweetPhysical Chemistry
The 2.7L Turbo’s genetic makeup includes a dual overhead cam valvetrain system. This enables high- and low-lift valve profiles, continuously variable valve timing, and Active Fuel Management – or cylinder deactivation. The combination helps strike an optimum balance between performance and efficiency.
The 2.7L Turbo is also Chevy’s first application of Active Thermal Management, which uses heating and cooling advantageously across the entire powertrain system.
Translation: this helps with fuel economy, recovering otherwise wasted exhaust heat so the engine and transmission warm up quicker. Finally a dual-volute turbocharger housing improves response and cuts lag.
“The new Silverado 2.7L Turbo delivers impressive performance and fuel efficiency,” Asoklis added. “It’s fun to drive every day – quick from the start, and pulling hard under acceleration.”
When the 2019 Silverado debuted, new engine technologies, advanced manufacturing, and mixed material strategies were the core of the discussion.Click To TweetAvailability
The 2019 Chevy Silverado 1500 features eight trims and six engine/transmission combinations including the new turbo. Expect the 2.7L Turbo at dealers before the end of the year.
Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and resides in Detroit, Michigan. He studies mechanical engineering at Wayne State University, serves on the Board of Directors for the Ally Jolie Baldwin Foundation, and is a loyal Detroit Lions fan.
Photos & Source: Chevrolet.

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Scare Everyone With This Free Nissan Leaf Pumpkin Carving

Scare Everyone With This Free Nissan Leaf Pumpkin Carving Nothing more terrifying than poor gas mileage . . .
It’s Halloween! A time of sweet treats, costume parties, and repeated spins of Jim Stafford’s Spiders and Snakes and Warren Zevon’s Werewolves of London on local radio. The trick-or-treaters will soon dress up and seek out their respective trove of candy treasures. Some of those trick-or-treaters will even be kids.
College students in Detroit. You know who you are.
Scream For Green
Revving up a big muscle car to rattle the bolts of lesser machinery certinately has its allure. However, equally as terrifying is the bill to keep such a muscle car: fuel, tires, washes, fuel, accessories, performance parts, fuel, insurance, tires, fuel, tires, storage, and the list goes on. Did we mention insurance?
Instead of painting black marks onto the pavement, might we suggest a little more green for Halloween? Like Nissan Leaf green. Instead of doing the same old Jack-o-Lantern patterns – dark castle, scary kitty, freaky spider, flying bats, funky trolls etc. – why not transform this year’s gourd into a green machine?
NissanPartsPlus.com and StoneyKins have created a free, first-generation Nissan Leaf pumpkin carving pattern.
“Sure, you might be able to scare some kids with carving big, jagged teeth or whatever, but what if you make this sensible electric vehicle look really cool to a 10 year-old,” said Steve Ferreira, Director at NissanPartsPlus.com. “This Halloween decoration holds up to tradition while giving a nod to the future.”
The Nissan Leaf. Leafs? Leaves? Photo: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Battery Packs & Raisin Boxes
The 2019 Nissan Leaf has an estimated 150 miles of range with its lithium-ion battery pack. Total output stands at 147 horsepower and 236 lb-ft. of torque, an increase of 37 and 26 percent respectively. Among the top features: ProPILOT Assist, which includes safety tech like automatic braking, and the e-Pedal system to bolster more efficient driving.
According to Nissan, the individual structures of the laminated lithium-ion battery cells have improved, representing a 67 percent increase in energy density versus the original 2010 model. Incidentally, the new Leaf was named “2018 World Green Car” by the World Car Awards in March.
“Beyond this being a cool decoration, it is a way to celebrate your environmental side,” Ferreira said. “I’d like to encourage everyone’s love of nature, but please don’t be the house that gives away raisins.”
Well said. And the part about the environment was good too.
Where To Find The Leaf Pattern
You can grab the free Nissan Leaf carving pattern here.
And if you just can’t shake that performance car vibe, here are two others for you. Both free. Happy Halloween!
2018 Chevy Camaro ZL1 1LE pattern.
2018 Subaru WRX STI pattern.

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Famed Automotive Artist Draws Beautiful Acura NSX Cutaway

Famed Automotive Artist Draws Beautiful Acura NSX Cutaway Acura is showcasing a new cutaway sketch of the NSX, hand-drawn by famed automotive illustrator Shin Yoshikawa. Yoshikawa’s cutaways represent, in fine detail, the powertrain, chassis, and mechanical components of a given automobile. This Acura NSX cutaway sketch took months of perpetration and research, but it was drawn mostly from notes and memory.
Which, given the depth of the NSX, is incredible!
Details Are Everything
For reasons like this, Yoshikawa is among the greatest living automotive artists. However, creating this Acura NSX cutaway sketch was hardly a walk in the park.
“The NSX’s innovative power unit was extremely challenging to draw, making the second-generation NSX the most difficult vehicle I have sketched,” Yoshikawa explained.
The 2019 Acura NSX produces a total system output of 500 horsepower and 406 lb-ft. of torque. The 24 valve, twin-turbo V6 features forged steel connecting rods, a dry sump system, and cast aluminum pistons with integrated cooling channels. Acura measures the turbo boost at 15.23 psi. With a compression ratio of 10.0:1, the NSX cranks out more than 140 horsepower per liter of engine displacement.
“Everything comes down to the details,” Yoshikawa continued. “If you don’t understand the technology that goes into building vehicles, you won’t be able to build them, and you certainly can’t draw them.”
2019 Acura NSX. Photo: Acura.
New & Improved
The 2019 Acura NSX made its global debut during Monterey Car Week. Updates include a new body-color front grille garnish and high gloss treatment for the front and rear fascia mesh. A Thermal Orange Pearl paint, an Indigo blue leather interior, and two new brake caliper colors complete the styling treatments.
Performance enhancements include stiffer stabilizer bars and new software tuning. Acura says the NSX now has a time nearly two seconds faster around the Suzuka Circuit.
Below is a clip of Yoshikawa on Jay Leno’s Garage, along with a full-scale image of his NSX sketch. Yoshikawa has been an automotive artist for the last 50 years.

Acura NSX cutaway sketch by Shin Yoshikawa.
Source: Acura.

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Automoblog Book Garage: The Complete Book of Porsche 911

Automoblog Book Garage: The Complete Book of Porsche 911 Porsche fans will appreciate this insightful book packed full of wonderful photos.
Author Randy Leffingwell takes us through the history of Stuttgart’s most famous car.
Our Book Garage series showcases what every gearhead and enthusiast should add to their library.
Icon is a word thrown around all to easily these days. You find undeserving people in the music business baptized icons, half-baked actors christened icons and, as far as we’re concerned, souped-up econo-boxes now dubbed automotive icons. It dilutes the word if you overuse it like that. People call the Porsche 911 an icon, and in this case, they are 100 percent right. And in case you doubt it, you should pick up and read Randy Leffingwell’s tome, The Complete Book of Porsche 911: Every Model Since 1964.
A Big Bundle of Porsche Goodness
I live in an old house, a church, actually, that was built in 1906. One of the more distinguishing features, besides being church-shaped and having the dry-wood combustibility of a box of matches, is the front door. It’s this huge, red-painted oak situation supported by iron hinges most likely sourced from Minas Tirith. The whole thing must weigh as much as a VW Jetta being it’s four inches thick. It is, to use the parlance, impressive. It pivots open on iron hinges with a creaking and groaning and cracking of reports like something out of a vintage horror movie.
But the other day it didn’t.
I was going to do something prosaic like buy milk and when I went to open the door; it made it about 10 inches then softly thudded to a stop. I took another run at it, and again it softly thudded to a stop. I could just fit my head out to see what was up, and there was this huge yellow-padded envelope. Whatever resided within had enough weight and mass to stop the door like a wedged battle ax.
“The heck is that?” I mumbled to myself as I walked to the far side of the place, using a different door to leave. I got to the front, hefted the package up (thought it might contain a manhole cover), and tore it open to find a new copy of Leffingwell’s, The Complete Book of Porsche 911 – Every Model Since 1964. This is what was blocking my door. It’s not exactly a big book either at 345 pages. All I can think of is that its mass is down to the quality of the paper.
And the quality of the content.
The Complete Book of Porsche 911, Page 232. Photo: Randy Leffingwell.
Visual Delight
Everything about this book is well-thought-out and beautifully executed. From the inner front cover, which is done up in the same psychedelic warped checkerboard pattern that graced the seats of late 60s Porsches, to the carbon fiber style end cover. Visually speaking, the book’s two covers alone give you an idea of the framework within. Sprawling across the intervening pages is a well-told and very well-photographed story of a true automotive icon: The Porsche 911.
Most of the early photographs have this wonderful palladium tone to their black and white printing. At first I thought they were vintage shots from back in the day, then I realized there were modern buildings in the background. Apart from the occasional credit to a specific photographer or to Porsche Press, Leffingwell himself did the bulk of the shooting here. Bravo!
Related: Porsche versus the S&P: Can this classic sports car top the stock market?
From The Top
The photography follows, in part, because Leffingwell is best known as a shooter, although his writing is pretty durn good too. He starts further back; a little bit before the actual beginning of the 911, covering “Predecessors and Prototypes, 1948 – 1965” in the introduction. So stuff like 356s and speedsters and Gmund coupes lay the foundation for the glories to come. The 911 was a wickedly-simple and Germanic answer to a very basic question: How can we make the 356 better?
The answer, as any Porsche fan worth their sense of superiority can tell you, was this. Ditch the VW Bug floor plan, ditch the VW four-banger, start with a clean sheet of paper but use the same basic layout. The fundamentals that made the 356 such a blast to begin with should work here. Lightweight and low center of gravity; lose the agricultural suspension for a higher-tech torsion bar setup and, most importantly, keep the engine hanging out back.
The Complete Book of Porsche 911, Page 69. Photo: Randy Leffingwell.
50 lbs. of Pig Iron
Yes, like all other lovers of the 911, Leffingwell more or less glosses over that putting the engine way back there leads to some handling issues and deficiencies. I’m sorry, I should say “frightening handling quirks” that make 911s (especially the first generation) near deathtraps in hard cornering situations. Did you know that for the first 150 or so 911s, Porsche resorted to the quick “solution” of welding 50 lbs. ingots of pig iron to the front? They did. And it sort of helped, but that right there is evidence Zuffenhausen knew from the get-go that 90 percent of the time, these things were fantastic; and for the remaining 10 percent, they had handling issues.
But who cares!?
That’s one of the things that makes 911s, even modern ones, such a blast to drive. They’re really quick, stop like you wouldn’t believe, and every so often, you’re just hanging on for dear life. Leffingwell traces this throughout the entire history of the 911 across 10 well-researched, well-written, and very well-photographed chapters. The chapters roughly correspond to each of the eight generations of the 911, with the second gen cars of 1978 to 1989 getting two chapters.
The Complete Book of Porsche 911, Page 341. Photo: Porsche Press.
Quick At Heart
Racing? Yes, of course there’s racing. How could you write a book about the 911 and not mention how these guys were killer-fast right out of the crate. Beyond that, modifying them into 930s and 935s and such turned them into high-power mutants nearly impossible to catch or stay with, let alone beat. Half-mad tuners like Ruf get some cool shots and turns of the phrase. Every model gets a nifty data sidebar so you can see weight and dates and torque figures and all that stuff.
It would be easy, given the size and heft of The Complete Book of Porsche 911, to dismiss it as “just a coffee table book” but it is far from that. As wonderfully complete as it is photographed, it makes a fine addition to any gearhead’s library, even if you’re not that into 911s. If you are (and most of us are) it’s simply a must-have on its own.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz.
The Complete Book of Porsche 911 by Randy Leffingwell
Series: Complete Book Series
Hardcover: 328 pages
Publisher: Motorbooks; Revised edition (October 9th, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0760349800
ISBN-13: 978-0760349809
Product Dimensions: 10 x 1.2 x 11.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 4.2 lbs.
Price at the time of this writing: $19.99 (Kindle) or $49.95 (Hardcover) on Amazon.
About The Author
Randy Leffingwell wrote his first book, American Muscle, in 1989 while still on staff at the Los Angeles Times. Since then, he has authored another 47 titles for Motorbooks and its sister publisher Voyageur Press. Leffingwell is considered one of the top automotive historians today, and enjoys a close working relationship with a number of manufacturers. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.
The Complete Book of Porsche 911 Gallery

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Automated Drive West: VSI Labs Going Cross County In Autonomous Car

Automated Drive West: VSI Labs Going Cross County In Autonomous Car It’s a hot afternoon in the Twin Cities and the offices of VSI Labs are bustling. The team only has so much time before their upcoming cross-country trip in an autonomous test car. The company’s engineers and researchers are combing over every last detail before they depart for the Automated Drive West. Road trips are one thing, but traveling 2,000 miles in an autonomous vehicle is another ball game. VSI Founder and Principal Advisor, Phil Magney, who races Porsches in his spare time, ducks into his car to talk about the upcoming trip.
It’s the only quiet place he can find this particular afternoon.
“I just want to emphasize that we aren’t out to prove anything here, that’s not what we’re doing,” Magney said. “We’re researchers; it’s all about discovery, understanding the limits, and finding the gaps when it comes to automated driving.”
Automated Drive West: The Test Car
VSI will make the 2,000-mile journey from their Minneapolis, Minnesota home to Santa Clara, California for the Drive World conference starting on August 27th. The Automated Drive West will expose their test car, a 2018 Ford Fusion with a Dataspeed by-wire control system, to a variety of terrains and weather conditions. On the journey, the team will examine and evaluate things like precision lane models and advanced GPS technology. The goal being to improve the performance and safety of both systems as they relate to autonomous driving.
“We will be able to test some of the automated features in data collection environments that we’re not normally used to, like a lot of rural highways, mountainous areas, and tunnels and what not,” Magney explained. “The data will be tremendously useful because we can document precisely where the vehicle runs into trouble; we can replay these problem areas when we get back and apply more permanent fixes.”
Among the high-tech systems within the VSI test Fusion is a special Linux-based computer, custom-built by the engineering team. This computer is essentially the brain, acting as the central controller for the car’s on-board autonomous driving systems. As the test vehicle’s most vital organ, careful measures are being taken to protect it. “The computer gear we have in the trunk generates a lot of heat, so we are engineering a unique kind of adaptation of the HVAC system to provide proper cooling,” Magney said.
The 2018 Ford Fusion test vehicle VSI Labs will operate for the Automated Drive West. Photo: VSI Labs.
Examining The Ecosystem
VSI Labs is an ambitious and robust company when it comes to automotive safety and technology research. The company builds vehicles to examine how different technologies interact with each other; and to better understand how they function when it comes to autonomous driving. VSI’s engineering team routinely analyzes by-wire control systems, sensor fusion applications, and precision localization; each important to the inner-workings of an autonomous vehicle. From there, VSI offers various research portals that support product and technology planning; competitive analysis and IP discovery; and product engineering and development.
Magney worked in automotive technology for 20 years, serving in senior leadership roles before starting VSI Labs in 2014. He describes the VSI approach as a decomposition of the ecosystem. The mindset allows Magney and his team to get a more accurate picture of autonomous vehicle technologies, their corresponding systems, and their overall capabilities.
“I felt that was going to be extremely important: to really understand the underpinnings of this technology,” he continued. “That really understanding, for example, the ecosystem according to sensors: so who makes these sensors? What are they used for? What do they look like and so forth. But it doesn’t stop there because there are a lot of components necessary to build up an active safety or automated driving system.”
From RC Cars To Real Ones
VSI today has examined thousands of products and represented over 800 companies, from Silicon Valley startups to multinational OEMs. Magney says things began humbly enough with “desk research,” but quickly evolved. “Within about a year and a half, we realized that to really understand this space we’ve got to go deeper and that means setting up a lab,” he recalled. “Honestly it started with building a 1/10 scale car, like an RC car, and automating that. Nearly right after, we ordered our first real vehicle. We used that to start building safety applications and lower-level automation features.”
Photo: VSI Labs.
Safety First
We first met VSI Labs at AutoSens Detroit in May of last year. The team brought a Tesla from their Minneapolis office they routinely work on and benchmark. “We wanted to come to Detroit to show AutoSens attendees and delegates some of the new features we put in the car,” Magney told us when we met him. Later that day, we took a ride in their automated Tesla with Engineering Project Manager and chief driver Sara Sargent. “Safety is always the goal with this technology,” she said as we cruised across Warren Avenue in Detroit in autonomous mode.
“I always come at it from a safety background, so to me, the stuff we’re working on is as much about safety as it is automated driving,” Magney added. “I know it sounds like a cliché, but we believe everything we do helps advance that goal, that mission, or that trajectory of these technologies.”
Driving With Purpose
Sargent will assume the same role when they depart the Twin Cites on August 20th for the Automated Drive West. She, like Magney, doesn’t get too carried away. This is more about hands-on science versus hands-off the steering wheel. “The Automated Drive West isn’t about reading emails, watching movies, or napping,” Sargent explained. “This trip will apply a few technologies that are particularly useful in rural settings where infrastructure is at a minimum.”
“To give you a little more background, we are using something called Real-Time Kinematics, often used in agriculture and in some marine applications,” Magney said. “It augments the accuracy by a great deal, so coupling that high-end GPS with our high-definition maps; those two working together will do most of the heavy lifting on the journey.”
Representatives from VSI perform an autonomous driving demonstration in the company’s Tesla at Wayne State University during AutoSens Detroit 2018. Photo: Alex Hartman for Sense Media.
Eagle Eyes
During the Automated Drive West, VSI’s test Fusion will employ two important autonomous vehicle applications: adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist. Both will utilize data from high-definition maps and on-board sensors, supported by algorithms developed by the engineering team. Special scripts were then written so map data, relative to the vehicle’s location, can be downloaded at any given time. The adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist systems will adjust accordingly to any new map data while on the trip.
“What it boils down to is our GPS system in this car has accuracy down to a few centimeters rather than a few meters,” Magney explained. “In other words, we’ll be able to localize with precision using our high-end GPS.”
As the new map data arrives, the Fusion’s steering slowly transitions from the current path to the new one. Although not always necessary, the gradual transition allows the driver time to react should any errors occur in the loading of the new map. “One of the significant things about this test is that we can isolate the functionalities of these technologies,” Magney said. “A lot of times we will be tweaking the algorithms on the fly in order to make certain adjustments. And we always have a trained safety operator and driver behind the wheel.”
The VSI team for the Automated Drive West. From left to right: Ryan Sargent, traffic law expert; Sara Sargent, Engineering Project Manager and chief driver; Jacob Miller, Autonomous Vehicle Solutions Engineer. Photo: VSI Labs.
Follow The Automated Drive West
The Automated Drive West kicks off in Minneapolis on August 20th. The VSI team will drive four days to their destination in Santa Clara. On arrival, they will offer demo rides in the vehicle at Informa’s Drive World Conference & Expo from August 27th to the 29th. You can follow the journey in real-time on social media, either through the VSI Labs Twitter and/or Facebook page. The team plans on stopping at places like Mount Rushmore, The Great Salt Lake, and Olympic Valley.
“It’s going to be a terrific test of these systems because we’ll see so many unique environmental conditions along the way,” Magney said. “Of course, we will have live telemetry and other neat kinds of features so people can follow along with how we’re doing.”
Carl Anthony studies mechanical engineering at Wayne State University, serves on the Board of Directors for the Ally Jolie Baldwin Foundation, and is a loyal Detroit Lions fan. Before going back to school, he simultaneously held product development and experiential marketing roles in the automotive industry.

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The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering Goes Hollywood

The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering Goes Hollywood The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering is teaming with the Petersen Automotive Museum this year.
A new display will include six cars and one motorcycle from some of Hollywood’s most adored films.
You know about The Quail, right? Officially dubbed The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, it’s one of the very fun things to do at the Monterey Historics every year. You have been down to Monterey, right? Well, if you haven’t, go. If you’re thinking about going back this year, then definitely do so. Because The Quail is partnering with LA’s Petersen Museum to bring some rather tasty rides to their annual event.
Hollywood Dream Machines
I actually covered the Petersen Museum’s Hollywood Dream Machines exhibit back in May. The exhibition features over 40 Hollywood vehicles, props, and costumes. The Audi RSQ concept, driven by Will Smith in i, Robot; the Warthog from Halo; the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future, and a bunch of other instantly-recognizable rides are on display. And while this is a fun thing see, someone came up with the bright idea of taking the show on the road, so to speak.
The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering will showcase a selection of these iconic movie cars from the Petersen Automotive Museum, beginning Friday August 16th. The display will include six cars and one motorcycle from some of our favorite films. Once again, the legendary 1981 DeLorean from Back to the Future will be on display. Michael Keaton’s Batmobile from the 1989 Batman film will also be on display (that would be the first big Hollywood version, the one directed by Tim Burton). Joining them is the 1999 Mach 5 Prototype race car inspired by the classic 1966 animated series Speed Racer. (And this might be the same one from the Wachowskis over-the-top movie, but info is sketchy).
Mach 5 Prototype as depicted in the animated TV series Speed Racer (1967-1968) and the film Speed Racer (2008). Designer: Mark Towle.
Shagin’ Wagon
Austin Powers fans can enjoy the “Shagmobile,” the 1998 VW Beetle Mike Meyers drove around; while those old enough to remember will appreciate the race-prepared, 1961 VW Beetle from The Love Bug. Wait, scratch that. It’s from the 2005 film Herbie: Fully Loaded that starred the unfortunate Lindsay Lohan. The last of the six is the 1946 Ford “Greased Lightning,” customized by world-famous car builder George Barris for the 1975 John Travolta, Olivia Newton John movie Grease. The lone motorcycle is the LEGO Batcycle.
Special Classes
In addition to all the tinsel town glitz and glamour, The Quail will also do its usually impressive gearhead related stuff. Essentially, world-class displays of all classes on the picturesque rolling fairways of the Quail Lodge & Golf Club. There are three special classes this year. The first will be 100 Years of Bentley Motors, celebrating W.O.’s finest. Some of the highlighted Bentley vehicles include a 1929 Le Mans, 1926 Speed Six, 1958 S1 Continental Coupe by Park Ward, and a 2018 Supersports. The second special class is the 25th anniversary celebration of the McLaren F1, which makes me feel older than I am. The third special class, “A Tribute to the Electric Car Movement,” is probably a real politik way of staving off a horde of granola-munching hippies descending on the Monterey Peninsula from the hills of Los Altos or some such.
Photo: Bentley Motors.
Family & Pet Friendly
If you attend, you will enjoy The Quail’s unique garden-party setting with an array of culinary pavilions, wine vendors (award-winning of course), and a fireside chat series. You can also attend the Bonham’s Quail Lodge Auction taking place simultaneously on the Quail Lodge Farm Field. And shoot, bring the kids and the dog, because, as always, the show will offer a family and pet-friendly environment. More information and a complete list of all the festivities can be found here.
Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz.

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