By Greg Kachadurian
Welcome to the Hooniverse News! As always, this is a weekly recap of some of the biggest stories in the automotive industry without the fluff or bull. I just throw in a little opinion of mine because I can. This week:
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Mercedes-Benz chops some doors off the new C-Class
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McLaren Special Operations works on the 570S
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BMW M4 GTS might be a serious track car for once
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BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R finally wears the right colors
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Another Tonka truck comes to life, this time as a 4Runner
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Dodge to reopen order books for Plum Crazy paint
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What’s your automotive news?
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe
Mercedes-Benz is continuing its C-Class overhaul with the 2017 C-Class Coupe. All-new styling, elegant interior, new powertrains, and enough refinement to make it worthy of the badge.
Styling-wise, it’s just about what you’d expect. The new family styling language is strong with this one and it’s more or less unchanged from the C-Class sedan, which means it’s more or less the same as the bigger S-Class which defines said family styling language with its long drawn out lines and diamond grille face. All in all it’s a nice, modern take on sporty luxury. At least that’s what Mercedes-Benz’s press office thinks. Sticking with the modern thing, the car’s construction is designed to be lighter and stronger with the use of aluminum and light alloys. A positive side effect of the new construction is that noise levels are also reduced and crash safety is improved.
The cabin is designed to have an athletic and youthful charm to it further emphasized by its sport seats unique to the C-Class Coupe. With great ambiance from a new panoramic sunroof as standard and premium materials, it’s matured a bit as well to be a more well-rounded luxury coupe. It’s also a smarter luxury coupe as well with new features like a suite of driver assistance systems with a 360-degree camera view, lane keep assist, semi-autonomous city braking, and more. They’ve also included a more vibrant infotainment system and an optional Burmester sound system.
So that’s the luxury aspect of this C-Class Coupe covered, but what about the driving? The only model they talked about in the release is the C300 which is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder gas engine delivering 241 horsepower and 273 lb.-ft. of torque which should be perfectly adequate. The C-Class Coupe standard with a steel sport suspension with tauter springs and damping which lowers the car by .6 inches compared to the sedan. Optionally, you can get an Airmatic air suspension on both axles. It’s electronically controlled and has a few different modes along with one to save the driver’s individual preferences.
The all-new 2017 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe will be available in US dealerships starting spring 2016.
[Source: Mercedes-Benz]
McLaren 570S by MSO
McLaren Special Operations (MSO) has been McLaren’s elite personalization service team for four years now and they’re celebrating their fourth year of existence at Pebble Beach this week. As they normally do, they’re rolling out on the finely cut lawns of Pebble Beach with a one-off car because they can.
This time they’re taking advantage of the newly introduced 570S with a one-off “by MSO” edition. The 570S Coupe “by MSO” as its called gets its first touch of uniqueness with a one-off coat of Mauvine Blue paint and then a carbon black leather interior with color-matched inserts and stitching. It seems the car’s mechanical awesomeness was unchanged by MSO, but that’s fine given its 562 horsepower twin-turbocharged V8 and its lightweight mid-engine construction.
This car along with several other awesome McLarens both new and old will be running around Pebble Beach this weekend but are booked for the Concept Lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
And speaking of 570S, the McLaren Sports Series is ready for its final step before full production with the first pre-production 570S. McLaren will have a few different model lines or Series which all include cars that serve a different purpose. The Sports Series is the most attainable and focuses on pure driving pleasure, starting with the 570S. They’ve already had a few prototypes and show cars running around but this pre-production phase means this awesome little McLaren is nearing its debut. Deliveries are expected by the end of this year. And in case you were wondering, the “attainable” by McLaren standards is $184,900, the starting price of the Sports Series.
[Source: McLaren]
BMW Concept M4 GTS
More news from Pebble Beach but this time from BMW. It’s technically a concept, but given BMW’s track record with M concepts based on production cars, what you see here is going to be very close to what they eventually build in production. The BMW M4 GTS is coming.
This BMW Concept M4 GTS is the M Division’s preview of a high performance M4 built for use on the road and, above all, the track. Like all of the other special M3 models before it, including the M3 Evolution, M3 CSL, and the most recent M3 GTS, the new M4 GTS will be a road legal BMW that showcases new technologies honed in racing and is defined by a hike in power, lightweight design, and of course limited production numbers so they can charge more.
Interestingly enough, that technological showcase also contributes directly to its power increase. BMW won’t say how much power this makes just yet, but we do know that the TwinPower Turbo straight-six found in the standard M4 now features water injection. They’ve already used this system on the M4 MotoGP Safety Car and it must be good enough for the GTS now. Developed by the M Division themselves, this system uses “the physical effect of water when vaporizing to draw the required energy from the ambient medium”. So basically power and torque go up and temperatures go down. They did go into a little more detail about how it worked, but I’ll just defer to our recent podcast with Gale Banks.
As for the rest of the car, it wears Frozen Dark Grey Metallic paint and has Acid Orange accents on the front splitter and on the new 19″ front, 20″ rear wheels. Those lightweight, forged, and polished wheels are wrapped in Michelin Sport Cup 2 tires. Downforce comes in the form of a front splitter and rear wing, both of which are adjustable and made from exposed carbon. The bonnet is also made from carbon fiber-reinforced plastic to lower the car’s center of gravity.
It’s entirely possible that BMW has just made a serious track car again. This almost makes up for the 2 Series Active Tourer M Sport. Actually, no it doesn’t.
[Source: BMW]
BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R
When BMW first debuted the 3.0 CSL Hommage concept a few months back, I thought I was done covering that car forever and the world could slowly and painfully forget about it. Nope. It’s back in a somewhat welcomed form though because it’s no longer “acid in my eyes yellow”. This concept is very similar to the last one we saw but at least this time it’s wearing the right livery.
Built to celebrate BMW’s 40th anniversary in North America and the racing success of the original 3.0 CSL in 1975, the 3.0 CSL Hommage R will make its debut this weekend at Pebble Beach. It’ll have all the same facial features as the last one but the striking BMW Motorsport colors can make almost anything look nice. With the period correct striping package and the racing number on the side, it’s a pure expression of motorsport that tries to honor the original without outdoing it (that’s the nicest way I could phrase it).
Because BMW once stressed “the ultimate driving machine”, interior designers created a racing suit and a helmet before moving on to the rest of the cabin. Their goal was to make the driver fit in seamlessly with the cabin and make it the ultimate office.
The car still may not be the prettiest around, but BMW has otherwise done this hommage properly I’d say. Then again I’m a sucker for anything with the BMW Motorsport colors.
[Source: BMW]
Tonka 4Runner
And now for something that isn’t at Pebble Beach, Funrise Toys has debuted a new marketing vehicle for Hasbro’s Tonka brand. Surprise! It’s a life-sized Tonka truck! Like the others that have come before it, this one started life as a normal truck bought from the same showrooms as anyone else has access to and was custom-built to be instantly recognizable by the young and the young at heart.
This one started life as a Toyota 4Runner and was built up to IRL Tonka truck status in a build sponsored by Toyota and many others. Funrise Toys designed the eye-catching Tonka wrap for the truck and everyone set to making it mechanically fit. It’s got a ten-inch lift, 38″ tires, custom suspension, custom seating surfaces, and even a practical rooftop tent. All of this truck’s components come from Bulletproof Suspensions, Smittybilt, Rigid Industries, Roadwire Upholstry, JL Audio, Hi-Lift, Mickey Thompson Tires, Ultra Wheels, and King Shocks.
Wherever the Tonka brand needs to be represented, the Tonka 4Runner will be there.
[Source: Funrise]
Dodge bringing back Plum Crazy
If you’ve been longing for a Plum Crazy Mopar lately, you’re in luck. Dodge is responding to the strong demands of collectors and other people who buy cars to not drive them by bringing back one of its most iconic paint colors to the 2016 Dodge Challenger and Charger. Plum Crazy will open for orders in September for those that need it by November with regular dealer orders opening in October. The new high impact color will only be available for order until the end of the year. The color is available on the Challenger SXT Plus, each of the R/T versions, SRT 392, and SRT Hellcat. The Charger SXT, R/Ts, and Hellcat will have it too.
So there you go. If you wanted to buy a new Dodge this year but don’t want to actually drive it in preparation for a collector car auction in 40 years, this is for you. Or just buy the color you want and enjoy the car if that isn’t too much to ask.
[Source: Dodge]
What’s your automotive news?
My news is that last weekend I experienced America. An old friend of mine had a beautiful C7 Corvette Stingray with the Z51 package lent to him for the week and had plans to tackle the Tail of the Dragon with it. We piled in and spent almost twelve hours in it one day. It was my first time in a Corvette, let alone driving one, and it was nothing short of spectacular. It had a perfect amount of power for the Great Smokey Mountains and its handling was unfaltering on what is an obscenely tight road. The only thing I could improve with that car would be its eight-speed automatic transmission, which despite what GM claims, just isn’t quite as good as Porsche’s PDK but not even remotely bad. Sure a manual would have been fun, but honestly, when a friend offers to let me drive a car I’ve never experienced before, I’m not going to be an elitist douche and turn it down because it has “the wrong gearbox”. If you’re reading this, cheers, David.
So now it’s your turn. If you saw, drove, bought, broke, or otherwise did anything newsworthy that you want to share with your fellow hoon, sound off in the comments.
[Image © 2015 Hooniverse/Greg Kachadurian]
Ross Ballot
“Hommage”? I thought it was spelled “homage”. This sounds like a cross between homage and hummus.
le fromage!
It’s “frommage”
(A cheesy joke, sorry)
I think when the original godawful yellow one appeared in The Hooniverse News it was determined that Hommage is the German spelling of Homage.
“Smoky Mountains”
I can’t believe that it took Dodge this long to offer Plum Crazy on the Challenger. Certainly one of the better know hues from the muscle car heyday. I’d guess they should have no problem getting a few extra hundred for that paint option which would be pure profit and free advertising.
I drove a 1933 Dodge 1 1/2 ton flatbed around town for about 15 minutes.
I imagine it wasn’t geared for top speed. How far did you go?
In Branson, 15 minutes is about three blocks.
The Rover began leaking coolant last weekend…. from the radiator, which is a blessing.
Now it appears to have healed itself.
Love that car.
Nobody beats British high tech solutions.
Fresh cracked egg?
Pepper?
That BMW Homage looks so much better in this color scheme.
HoonTruck: Ordered a radiator, plugs, and wires. Installing them today. Beer and swearing will be involved because I’m sure I’ll do something dumb.
Wish me luck!
Better, yes, but still ugly.
BTW – I saw this in a parade last weekend and thought of you.
After seeing it in person I’ll say it looks really cool. But cool =/= beautiful.
I had a chance to drive two vehicles – vehicle types, really, as they both sort of define their respective classes. The first was my cousin’s F150. This truck was originally sold in Colorado, and still seems tuned for the altitude. It was potentially quite interesting, being a 1990 model with only 33k miles on the clock, but the lack of A/C on the drive feom Lake Elsinore to Riverside in 102 degree heat kind of took the fun out of it. The second car Type that I had never driven before was my nephew’s nothing fancy family car, a Honda Accord. It felt… Totally adequate. No bad syeprises, but no thrills, either. And the A/C blew frosty cool. It was superlative in its adequacy.
fuel pump seems to be boned, but that’s great because i have 160 cold psi on all five cylinders and, now that i’ve seen it being broken, i realize that all my stupid car’s symptoms for the last few months are on the “failing fuel pump” symptoms list.
if i can get my stupid car working again, i’ll be so happy. then paint the damage from when i scraped it on a curb and get the exhaust fixed, and i can get back to reupholstering the headliner.
One of my W124s has had the same problem. I was convinced that it was an ignition fault and bought an expensive new distributor cap, leads and plugs. And it was the fuel pump all along.There’s no excuse for non perfect running again.
But I have decided to paint my badly sunfaded, numerously panel repainted formerly one careless lady owner ’86 Honda Shuttle with a ‘Paul Smith’ style colour stripe pattern so I’ll need to stock up on masking tape. And 60 or so little cans of paint.
http://pre00.deviantart.net/e24e/th/pre/i/2012/119/a/4/paul_smith_mini_by_gupa507-d4xy118.jpg
Seems like it would be cheaper just to buy several rolls of different colored duct tape and have it. Oh, the possibilities!
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91H7YQIEHIL._SL1500_.jpg
Stripes on stripes!
There’s an issue with the Honda that I’ve no clue as to what it is. Sometimes, when you start the car, it will not sustain its rpm’s and die off quickly after you leave the throttle. Funny thing is, this happens mostly mid-day when the car has been driven in the morning, typically after work. It happens more to my wife than to me. Very rarely, maybe twice over the last year, the issue appears in the morning.
I’m baffled. Thinking maybe some sort of condensation or fuel issue, but fuel consumption is really stable and all is well engine-wise. The little motor sees a lot of abuse, I regularly pull it to 5-6000rpm just to get up to speed in an orderly fashion – maybe that’s a problem? Spark plugs, wires, oils and filters are regularly controlled and exchanged. Maybe I should finally unpack the OBD2 reader I bought a year ago, but it could be someone here who bothers to read all this has a suggestion?
Vacuum leak? I’d unpack that reader if I were you, and plug it in to check. It’s not abusing your car to rev it to 5-6000 rpm, especially a Honda, unless the engine is cold. That’s why anything fuel-injected comes with some sort of rev limiter.
I’ll set about trying to find it this week. The car’s been collecting lots of shop bills this year so noe it’s time to do something myself.
Incredible work of patience you outline above. Good luck!