Tag Archives: Car and Driver

2013 Koenigsegg Agera R – Car and Driver Abroad

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The Agera R is the latest contender in the top speed wars from Swedish car maker Koenigsegg. Armed with an E85 fueled twin turbo 5.0 liter V8, the Agera R makes 1150 horsepower and weighs only 3157 pounds. Since ethanol has about a third less energy density than gasoline, the engine’s fuel system flows enough volume to power a 2000 horsepower gasoline engine. Koenigsegg claims that the Agera R’s fuel system has the highest capacity of any car being produced. The rear suspension is a newly designed system called Triplex Suspension where a third spring and damper essentially acts as an anti-roll bar connecting the two sides of the suspension. Jethro Bovingdon seems to like the way the new system feels saying it doesn’t feel scary like the old CCX that famously went off course and ate a cone on the Top Gear test track.

Other unique features include hollow spoke one-piece carbon fiber wheels and an active rear wing that is activated purely by air speed (there’s a good shot of it in the video). The car’s targa top is designed to be stowed in the front luggage compartment as a slight nod towards practicality. The first Agera R ever built also had a custom roof mounted cargo bin made in conjunction with Swedish bike rack maker Thule. The owner of the first Agera R chose a white color scheme in order to have the car look more like the Speed Racer Mach 5. There’s a shot of this car featured at the Geneva Auto Show at the top of the page.

Car and Driver’s European correspondent, Jethro Bovingdon, takes the Agera R for a spin around a race track next to the Koenigsegg factory before blasting it down Koenigsegg’s runway. The Agera R is theoretically capable of a top speed of 273 mph which would smash the Bugatti Veyron’s current record. We’ll have to wait for official record attempt to see if Koenigsegg can hold true to their claims.


Sources: CAR and DRIVER on YouTube and Koenigsegg

2012 Fisker Karma – Car and Driver

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Car and Driver’s contributing editor Csaba Csere takes the 2012 Fisker Karma out for a test drive as well as chatting with Henrik Fisker about the first car from his company. The Karma has always been kind of a oddity in the electric vehicle world because Henrik Fisker comes from a design background. When you listen to Elon Musk talk about Tesla’s cars, the focus is always on technological innovations and engineering. During Fisker’s interview with Csere, they discuss how the Karma has larger wheels and rides lower than other cars in the category. Csaba has to talk about the vehicle architecture, power, range and mileage on his own later in the video. In many ways that demonstrates the things I dislike about the Karma. Yes the car looks great, but is being ugly the main reason EV’s don’t have social acceptability?

The problem is that many of the important engineering aspects of the Karma took a back seat to it’s styling. The car is massively expensive yet weighs as much as a Chevy Tahoe and gets mid 20’s mpg when the Ecotec engine is recharging the batteries on the go. Csere says the drivetrain feels unrefined to boot. That means that beyond making a fashion statement, there is no real incentive for somebody to spend the extra money for the Karma over a regular luxury car that costs far less. That’s why I don’t see Fisker’s customer base extending very far beyond Hollywood movie stars. The worst part about the way Fisker has developed this car is that it reinforces all of the worst stereotypes about electric vehicles being expensive and mediocre technology that taxpayers have footed the bill for.


Source: CAR and DRIVER on YouTube

2012 Porsche Carrera vs. 2013 Porsche Boxster S

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Porsche has really done a great job with the new 991 generation 911 and the all new Boxster. As Chris Harris pointed out in his review of the new Boxster, the performance gap between Porsche’s entry level car and their bread and butter 911 has become minutely small. The Boxster has sold well enough through the previous two generations that Porsche no longer blatantly neuters the car to protect 911 sales. That begs the question of exactly how large is the performance gap between the Boxster and the 911 now if it even still exists? Car and Driver’s European correspondent, Jethro Bovingdon, pits the two cars against each other. To make the comparison interesting, they test the fastest (S model with active suspension and torque vectoring differential) but still significantly cheaper Boxster vs. a bare bones 911 Carrera at the drag strip and at the very technical Landlow circuit. I won’t spoil the results, but the take away here is that Porsche is on the money with both cars having gained a massive performance boost with their redesigns.


Source: Car and Driver on YouTube

2013 Tesla Model S – Car and Driver

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The Tesla Model S represents a pretty big milestone in the rise of the modern electric car simply because it’s a well thought out and executed car. It’s not a novelty based on outlandish looks or isolated performance statistics. Here is a practical electric powered car that you can purchase and use on a daily basis because it has enough storage space, performance and range to do so. If you are shopping for a car in this price range, then the Model S represents an electric option with very few compromises when compared side by side with its combustion engine competitors. Car and Driver’s contributing editor Csaba Csere brings us an in-depth review of the details of the entire car. The Model S certainly still has it’s own quirks, but I think it’s going to redefine a lot of people’s perception of EV capabilities.


Interesting fact: the touchscreen in the Model S is essentially a Mac Book Pro screen with no power consumption restraints.

Source: Car and Driver

Wiesmann GT MF5 – Car and Driver Abroad

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Jethro Bovingdon is back or Car and Driver Abroad. This time around they take a tour of Wiesmann’s gecko shaped factory and take their GT MF5 halo car out for a spin. It’s wide body roadster with a steel space frame and the 4.4 liter twin turbo V8 from the BMW X5M and X6M under the hood. I think the final result can be summed up as the German take of a modern Shelby Cobra.


Source: Car and Driver on YouTube