This episode of Motor Trend’s Epic Drives bit takes us into Death Valley in the Mojave Desert with the 2013 Ford SVT Raptor. I always enjoy this segment because you learn a lot about both the car and the place where they go. Motor Trend has also stepped up the production value of their YouTube content this year probably as a response to their success in 2012. So sit back and enjoy some gratuitous off-roading in the Raptor and Arthur St. Antoine explaining the interesting features of the Mojave Desert.
Motor Trend puts together the latest comparison from the ongoing muscle car war with Chevrolet’s awesome new 1LE handling package for the Camaro SS and Ford’s Track Package for the Mustang GT. The $3500 1LE Package uses huge 10 and 11 inch wide wheels, custom tuned mono-tube shocks, bigger anti-roll bars, a 3.91:1 final drive and some minor driveline enforcement to fix the stock Camaro’s handling problems for track use. Ford’s $1500 GT Track Package includes the anti-sway bars from the GT500, retuned shocks and springs, 19″ wheels with Pirelli summer tires, Performance Friction brake pads, recalibrated ABS and traction control and a shorter (numerically larger) 3.73:1 final drive with carbon fiber clutch plates. The guys put the two cars against each other at the drag strip and then around the Horse Thief Mile at Willow Springs with Randy Pobst behind the wheel.
Here’s another video of the C7 Corvette that debuted last week at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. You guys seemed to have some mixed opinions on the styling when I posted a picture of the C6 next to the C7 on our Facebook page. Some people liked it while others thought it didn’t look like a Corvette and then we even got accusations of GM stealing styling cues from other manufacturers like Lamborghini. The interviews in this video talk about the decision to push the design to the extreme in order to make it a futuristic interpretation of the classic Stingray theme. It would also be fair to say that the interior is just as revolutionary with design, materials and high tech gauges and driver interface systems. The more I find out about the C7, the more impressed I am with GM’s push to raise their standards on keeping the Corvette a world class performance car.
The concept for the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 was born when the question of “What can we do with the Corvette if we allowed the price tag to exceed $100,000?” GM’s answer to that question was a highly capable ZR1 version of their Corvette that stood alone in the American Supercar class. That was until the performance division of Dodge, SRT, decided to make a new Viper. I wouldn’t be surprised if the SRT engineers bought a ZR1 to use as a benchmark because many of the performance specifications are nearly identical. Naturally we have to see which is the better car. Thankfully Motor Trend’s Johnny Lieberman and Randy Pobst are on the job with some hot laps around Laguna Seca.
Ford has got a serious jump start on GM and Chrysler with their EcoBoost technology. Their monster 3.5 liter twin turbo direct injection V6 outperforms the naturally aspirated V8’s in almost all areas while delivering significantly better gas mileage and longevity. It’s a no sacrifice win-win situation brought about by good engineering. Unfortunately sales to the masses don’t always follow proper logic. Ford knew they had a good engine, but they weren’t sure it would be accepted by their core customers. The EcoBoost V6 has seen good sales in the F-150, but Ford was hesitant to pair it with their halo-model Raptor. I think that’s also the reason why we have yet to see an Ecoboost Mustang (though that would be incredibly awesome). The fear was that too many people associated Ford performance with V8’s, but hopefully that will start to change.
One argument for the paradigm shift is this SDHQ built Eco-Raptor. The truck started life as an EcoBoost F-150 whose frame and body got swapped out for Raptor parts. Apparently it was cheaper to do it that way since an EcoBoost crate engine is $17,000. It seems like a lot of work, but the results speak for themselves. The DRIVE crew use a regular 6.2 liter V8 Raptor as the camera platform for this video and they got 11.6 mpg while the EcoBoost equipped truck got 16.8. That’s more than 5 mpg difference with the EcoBoost model making more power while having equivalent offroad capabilities. Like I said, it’s a win-win no compromise situation. More power with less fuel. It is possible to have fun, save money and be environmentally responsible all at the same time. You know we are fully behind these types of movements here at Flux Auto.
