2011 Ford Mondeo Wagon back pose
2011 Ford Mondeo Wagon car
2011 Ford Mondeo Wagon photo
2011 Ford Mondeo Wagon wallpaper
2011 Ford Mondeo Wagon imageThursday, August 26, 2010
2011 Ford Mondeo Wagon pictures
2011 Ford Mondeo Wagon back pose2011 Ford Mondeo Wagon car2011 Ford Mondeo Wagon photo2011 Ford Mondeo Wagon wallpaper2011 Ford Mondeo Wagon image
2011 Ford Mondeo exclusive car pictures
2011 Ford Mondeo back angle
2011 Ford Mondeo car
2011 Ford Mondeo image
2011 Ford Mondeo photo
2011 Ford Mondeo picSunday, August 22, 2010
2010 ferrari italia cars wallpapers
Maranello, Italy -- Ferrari does it again. The 458 Italia raises the bar for mid-engine exotic sports cars to new heights.
I’ve just driven the 458 Italia, the latest in Ferrari’s lineup of mid-engine V-8 sports cars. These are the cars that, in the modern era, have cemented Ferrari’s status as maker of the most desirable sports cars in the world. The 458 succeeds the F430 Scuderia, which followed the 360 Modena, which came after the F355. Before that we had the 308/328/348 series, but it’s really the 360 Modena that, a decade ago, really put Ferrari back on the map.
Some Ferrari fans didn’t care much for the styling of either the 360 Modena or the F430 Scuderia. Even as they conceded that the cars drove brilliantly, they pined for the classically clean lines of the F355. For them, the 458 Italia’s debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show in September must have been a red-letter day, because this Pininfarina design is drop-dead gorgeous. Did you think it looked good on the show stand, or in the published photographs you have seen in print or on the Web? Wait until you see the car on the street. It will not just turn your head, it will make your head spin around like a top.
The 458 is wide, low, lean, lithe, and luscious. The rear view is the most compelling, with the car’s triple exhaust pipes, the visible diffusers and venturi ducts, the silver prancing horse above the license plate, and the simple but evocative round taillights at the far upper corners. Unlike the F430, with its excessively slashed body sides, the 458 has clean body sides and relatively modest ducting. The pinpoint bi-xenon headlights and the LED eyebrows that spring back from them are delicate in appearance yet delightful to the eye. It’s all quite yummy, and that’s even before you take a gander through the rear glass and behold the redheaded Ferrari V-8 on display.
Ah, yes, the Ferrari V-8. It’s the latest evolution of the F136-series V-8s that serve in the F430 and more recently in the California roadster. In the 458, the engine is known specifically as the F136FB, and it’s mated exclusively to a seven-speed dual-clutch automated gearbox. What?!? No six-speed manual? That’s right: virtually no one has been buying them from Ferrari and so the 458 is the first-ever Ferrari that does not offer a manual transmission. The dual-clutch gearbox is the same one offered in the California but here, of course, it’s geared much differently for a much sportier characteristic.
We doubt that you will much notice or care. The dual-clutch gearbox is incredibly fast, smooth, and responsive. There is none of the lurching and gasping that afflicted Ferrari’s F1 automated-manual gearboxes for so long. You can press the big “AUTO” button on the center console and let the electronics take care of everything for you: the gearbox will snap off shifts faster and with less fuss than it took me to type the word “fuss.”
The V-8 itself is a remarkable technological and performance achievement. Ferrari V-12s? Who needs ’em? Not with a V-8 that revs, longingly, to an incredible 9000 rpm. Check out the other stats: 562 horsepower and 399 lb-ft of torque out of 4.5 naturally aspirated liters; a 12.5:1 compression ratio; dry-sump lubrication; four scavenger pumps to collect oil via dedicated oil-recovery ducts; and surface treatments for friction parts like the piston skirts, camshafts, and tappets that would do a diamond-cutter proud. And did we mention the 9000-rpm redline?
Wait, there’s more technology: a sophisticated electronic differential. The first application of magnetic-fluid dampers in a V-8 Ferrari (supplied by Delphi, these first appeared in Cadillacs and Corvettes and debuted at Ferrari in 2006 in the 599GTB Fiorano GT). Standard carbon-ceramic brake pads. An all-aluminum spaceframe body structure, clad in a super-thin aluminum body shell that is both super-rigid and super-light: the roof, hood, and door skins are made of a new alloy that is a scant 1.0 mm thick. Electronically controlled pre-loading of the brakes which detect and analyze the speed with which you remove your foot from the accelerator pedal so as to position the brake calipers in high-alert mode. And an extremely sophisticated attention to aerodynamics that resulted in a car that still looks good rather than like a caricature: the flexible front winglets in the lower air dams, flanking the front prancing horse, deflect downward by as much as 20 mm at speeds starting at 125 mph for increased downforce. The small vents just inboard of the headlights suck in air that is ejected through the vents just ahead of the front wheels; this also creates downforce. The ducts at the C-pillars direct air to the engine itself, while the ducts ahead of the rear wheels are sucking air into the engine compartment. The very clean body sides are designed to direct air into the rear diffusers, which conceal two radiators: one to cool the clutch, on the left; and one to cool the gearbox, on the right.
2010 ferrari italia front
2010 ferrari italia car show
2010 ferrari italia engine
2010 ferrari italia
2010 ferrari italia image
I’ve just driven the 458 Italia, the latest in Ferrari’s lineup of mid-engine V-8 sports cars. These are the cars that, in the modern era, have cemented Ferrari’s status as maker of the most desirable sports cars in the world. The 458 succeeds the F430 Scuderia, which followed the 360 Modena, which came after the F355. Before that we had the 308/328/348 series, but it’s really the 360 Modena that, a decade ago, really put Ferrari back on the map.
Some Ferrari fans didn’t care much for the styling of either the 360 Modena or the F430 Scuderia. Even as they conceded that the cars drove brilliantly, they pined for the classically clean lines of the F355. For them, the 458 Italia’s debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show in September must have been a red-letter day, because this Pininfarina design is drop-dead gorgeous. Did you think it looked good on the show stand, or in the published photographs you have seen in print or on the Web? Wait until you see the car on the street. It will not just turn your head, it will make your head spin around like a top.
The 458 is wide, low, lean, lithe, and luscious. The rear view is the most compelling, with the car’s triple exhaust pipes, the visible diffusers and venturi ducts, the silver prancing horse above the license plate, and the simple but evocative round taillights at the far upper corners. Unlike the F430, with its excessively slashed body sides, the 458 has clean body sides and relatively modest ducting. The pinpoint bi-xenon headlights and the LED eyebrows that spring back from them are delicate in appearance yet delightful to the eye. It’s all quite yummy, and that’s even before you take a gander through the rear glass and behold the redheaded Ferrari V-8 on display.
Ah, yes, the Ferrari V-8. It’s the latest evolution of the F136-series V-8s that serve in the F430 and more recently in the California roadster. In the 458, the engine is known specifically as the F136FB, and it’s mated exclusively to a seven-speed dual-clutch automated gearbox. What?!? No six-speed manual? That’s right: virtually no one has been buying them from Ferrari and so the 458 is the first-ever Ferrari that does not offer a manual transmission. The dual-clutch gearbox is the same one offered in the California but here, of course, it’s geared much differently for a much sportier characteristic.
We doubt that you will much notice or care. The dual-clutch gearbox is incredibly fast, smooth, and responsive. There is none of the lurching and gasping that afflicted Ferrari’s F1 automated-manual gearboxes for so long. You can press the big “AUTO” button on the center console and let the electronics take care of everything for you: the gearbox will snap off shifts faster and with less fuss than it took me to type the word “fuss.”
The V-8 itself is a remarkable technological and performance achievement. Ferrari V-12s? Who needs ’em? Not with a V-8 that revs, longingly, to an incredible 9000 rpm. Check out the other stats: 562 horsepower and 399 lb-ft of torque out of 4.5 naturally aspirated liters; a 12.5:1 compression ratio; dry-sump lubrication; four scavenger pumps to collect oil via dedicated oil-recovery ducts; and surface treatments for friction parts like the piston skirts, camshafts, and tappets that would do a diamond-cutter proud. And did we mention the 9000-rpm redline?
Wait, there’s more technology: a sophisticated electronic differential. The first application of magnetic-fluid dampers in a V-8 Ferrari (supplied by Delphi, these first appeared in Cadillacs and Corvettes and debuted at Ferrari in 2006 in the 599GTB Fiorano GT). Standard carbon-ceramic brake pads. An all-aluminum spaceframe body structure, clad in a super-thin aluminum body shell that is both super-rigid and super-light: the roof, hood, and door skins are made of a new alloy that is a scant 1.0 mm thick. Electronically controlled pre-loading of the brakes which detect and analyze the speed with which you remove your foot from the accelerator pedal so as to position the brake calipers in high-alert mode. And an extremely sophisticated attention to aerodynamics that resulted in a car that still looks good rather than like a caricature: the flexible front winglets in the lower air dams, flanking the front prancing horse, deflect downward by as much as 20 mm at speeds starting at 125 mph for increased downforce. The small vents just inboard of the headlights suck in air that is ejected through the vents just ahead of the front wheels; this also creates downforce. The ducts at the C-pillars direct air to the engine itself, while the ducts ahead of the rear wheels are sucking air into the engine compartment. The very clean body sides are designed to direct air into the rear diffusers, which conceal two radiators: one to cool the clutch, on the left; and one to cool the gearbox, on the right.
2010 ferrari italia front
2010 ferrari italia car show
2010 ferrari italia engine
2010 ferrari italia
2010 ferrari italia image2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca top cars
2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca image
2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca
2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca sports car
2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca latest
2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca fast carFord Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca cars are powered by the same smooth, high-winding 440-hp 5.0-liter V8 as the standard Boss, since the engine was already tuned specifically for road racing. Instead, engineers turned their attention toward delivering power to the ground most efficiently, and getting the car around a track in the quickest possible time.
"When we built the Boss, we had to step back and ask ourselves 'How do we improve on this?'" said David Pericak, Ford Mustang chief engineer. "That car is so strong we realized the Laguna Seca package was going to have to be just a fraction of a step back from the Ford Racing 302R to top it. So we went back and threw daily-driver practicality out the window, cut some things we couldn't cut on the volume model, like the back seat, and built it the way we would set up a production Boss for pure competition."
Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca cars eliminate the rear seats, instead adding a cross-car X-brace that couples the structure between the rear wheels. The brace offers chassis stiffness improvements of as much as 10 percent and allows the suspension tuning - precisely calibrated by Mustang team members - to better do its job.
Standard Recaro front seats were designed by Ford SVT in cooperation with Recaro for high performance Mustang models, and are shared between the Boss and GT500. An Alcantara-covered race steering wheel provides a solid grip for hard cornering.
Engine power routes through a six-speed close-ratio manual gearbox to a standard 3.73-ratio Torsen limited-slip differential, helping the revised rear suspension deliver maximum torque and traction under the punishing conditions encountered on the track.
Higher spring rates and a larger rear stabilizer bar - all upgraded over Boss specifications - help generate unrelenting grip. And drivers can dial in exactly the level of shock stiffness a particular track requires using the four standard, independently adjustable dampers with Laguna Seca-specific valving.
The final touch for a proper race car was to add the proper wheels and tires: Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca models use lightweight 19-inch alloy racing wheels in staggered widths: 9 inches in front, 10 inches in the rear. R-compound ultra-high-performance tires, 255/40ZR-19 in the front, 285/35ZR-19 in the rear, maintain contact with the pavement - a job that ended up being trickier than expected.
"The R-compound tires on the Laguna Seca are so sticky we had to really work on the rear suspension tuning to make sure drivers can get the most out of them," explains Pericak. "The rear stabilizer bar is the largest we've ever installed on a production Mustang - including any SVT product. The rear spring rate was also maximized to work with the massive rear tires and balance the car for minimal lap times."
While standard Ford Mustang Boss 302 cars get vented brake dust shields to help cool the rotors, Laguna Seca models receive Ford Racing front brake ducts that force outside air directly onto the 14-inch vented front rotors, helping to eliminate brake fade and ensure hard, repeatable late braking on the track. Combined, the braking changes help refine the sense for drivers of being directly connected to the pads - an essential edge during car-to-car combat on a road course.
Added up, the further improvements to Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca result in the best-handling Mustang ever, with more than 1.03 g of lateral acceleration, stopping distances shortened by three feet from 60 mph over Boss, 0-60 acceleration improvements of one tenth of a second, and an overall expected lap time improvement of one to two seconds over the standard Boss on a typical road course.
Styling evokes racing, improves aerodynamics
As a race car should, Ford Mustang Boss 302 models with the Laguna Seca package look like nothing else on the road. A bright red C-stripe offsets either Black or Ingot Silver paint, and is complemented by a red roof panel. Red also sets off the front grille, mirror caps and rear pedestal spoiler, while Laguna Seca rear badging and unique two-tone red and silver wheels complete the transformation.
Adding both to appearance and aerodynamics, an aggressive front splitter for track use adds downforce at the front of the car, while helping channel air under and around the car. At the same time, air impacting the front end is funneled into the radiator and brake ducts, supporting cooling even under grueling race conditions.
"The Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca front splitter is really a Ford Racing piece we've lightly adapted for our purposes," explains Pericak. "It's been tested and refined for the last six months on the Boss 302R to perform exactly as required on the track; we just made a few changes so it could be adapted to the production Boss - though owners will still want to avoid speed bumps and parking blocks."
At the back, a large rear spoiler is sized to exactly complement the effect provided by the front splitter and underbody aero treatments, with the combination adding as much as 90 pounds of downforce at 140 mph.
"Balance is the key on Boss, and even more so on Laguna Seca," said Pericak. "A winning race car has to do everything well, and we've had the ability to test all the engineering that went into Boss Laguna Seca on the Ford Racing 302R. It's not for everyone: It's stiffer, there's no back seat, and the aero package is designed for downforce, not speed bumps in the mall parking lot. But for hard-core Mustang racers who want something they can occasionally drive on the street, to shows or whatever, Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca is the car they've been waiting for, and they're not going to be disappointed."
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