Now not everyone remembers that Tesla started with the Roadster model - ugly, but fast sports car, built on the basis of Lotus Elise. And ten years later, Elon Musk introduced the new Roadster.
This is what the first one looked like Tesla roadster in 2007
Strictly speaking, this is not a roadster at all. This type of body with a removable central roof section is called Targa. And the shape came out pretty clumsy. We are used to the fact that a powerful sports car should either have a long hood, like a good one, or a cabin shifted forward and an engine behind the seats, if it is a mid-engine layout, like in or.
But the Tesla Roadster is neither fish nor fowl. Something sluggish with a large saloon dome. And it's a sign of the times! The heaviest and most voluminous part of the power plant is a flat battery. It is located under the floor of the body and removes many layout restrictions, including lowering the center of mass - the shape of the body is no longer so important for weight distribution.
Having spit on the classic canons of supercar building, the designers still managed to make the car memorable. And confusing Roadster with something else will not be so easy.
The central section of the roof and the longitudinal bars can be removed and save on the solarium.
However, everything described above is insignificant nonsense in comparison with the declared characteristics. Power is not even mentioned. But the torque is 10,000 Nm. Ten thousand! Do you remember we recently Koenigsegg Agera RS has developed over 450 km / h on the road common use? So, with a power of 1360 hp. torque is "only" 1280 Nm. Yes, yes, eight times less! In addition, electric motors do not need to spin up: they give out all the thrust immediately, from zero speed. What does this mean in practice? Watch this short video and you will understand everything.
Max speed must exceed 400 km/h. And this is surprising: even MakAuto cashiers already know about the ability of electric vehicles to start from a spot, but battery-powered cars do not shine with maximum speed. Today, all hypercars capable of developing 400 km / h or more are not even hybrids, but pure gasoline monsters. It looks like Tesla is going to take this line of defense of traditional cars.
Instead of the usual steering wheel - a racing wheel, in the center of the console - a giant touch screen
By the way, if you do not drive headlong, then the mileage on one battery charge will approach 1000 km. And if you drive, then the speedometer will show 60 miles per hour (97 km / h) in 1.9 seconds after the start. Acceleration from standstill to 160 km/h takes 4.2 seconds.
Anyone who can't sleep without a new roadster has to prepare at least $200,000. True, this should be done not in a couple of months, but by 2020. You can save money if you come to the supermarket with your bag and replace steaks with burgers in your diet.
Siberian entrepreneur Alexander Serdtsev bought and transported six supercars to Novosibirsk Russian brand Marussia. He hopes to restore the cars, register them, and also revive the brand, for which he is negotiating with an Italian investor, RIA Novosti writes.
Alexander Serdtsev is a co-owner of a luxury car service center that specializes in car repair and tuning premium brands like. It was his company that in 2011 became the first and only official dealer Marussia Motors, even conducted a test drive, but in 2014 the automaker declared itself bankrupt. But Alexander continues to be a fan of Russian sports cars.
“I have been associated with Marussia for a long time, I like these cars both technically and in design. That is why my partner and I decided to buy back six cars that were owned by private individuals. We now have the B1 and B2 coupes, the B1 speedster, the frame and wheels of the B3 coupe, and the F1 crossover. How much they cost, I can’t say, it’s a trade secret. How did these cars get to their former owners, I don’t know: someone bought scrap metal during the looting of the Marussia Motors plant, somewhere they bought a frame, somewhere an engine, somewhere carbon,” said Alexander Serdtsev.
According to him, the car closest to the launch is the B2 coupe, since it is almost completely equipped, and it was planned to equip the B3 coupe with a 500-horsepower V8 engine, but things did not go beyond the frame and wheels.
“While we bet on restoration, we will bring the cars to the proper technical condition, somewhere we will change something, in some instances we will correct the wiring. The changes are unlikely to be significant: basically the entire structure will remain in original form. All cars came to us without license plates, and we will have to obtain certificates from US in order to be able to use them on public roads,” said Serdtsev.
Otherwise, the company plans to make a museum to show people what it could be domestic auto industry, if not for a number of unresolved financial issues. Serdtsev added that another six or seven Marus's are currently privately owned.
“To the Marussia team, mechanics and engineers, I can only express respect. To raise such a case and go so far - no one in Russia has yet been able to do this, ”said Serdtsev.
The businessman dreams of reviving the brand and setting up the production of domestic supercars, but he understands that this will require a huge amount of money. A former Italian racing driver named Thomas is ready to provide funds. But first, it remains to be seen who is the copyright holder of Marussia Motors and who owns the copyright.
The status of a Porsche dealer obliges you to be impeccable and in the highest degree premium. The status of the first importer and dealer of the brand in Russia imposes special obligations. 14 years after the opening of the first showroom, the Sportcar Center company acquired new house which one can rightly be proud of. From now on, at the intersection of the "presidential" route and the Moscow Ring Road, fans of the brand are met by the "Porsche Center Rublevsky"
The company has been going to this event for a long time. Finding a worthy site to host a flagship salon Porsche took more than one year. And when the site was selected and the project was approved, it became obvious that it would be a landmark for the brand: "Porsche Center Rublevsky" became the largest dealership of the brand not only in Russia but also in Europe.
The entire construction process took 22 months. The total area of the new complex is almost 13 thousand sq.m. The two-level showroom (2,215 sq.m) allows exhibiting up to 52 cars. In addition, it houses a restaurant and a bar, an accessories store. Porsche Driver's Selection, children's Corner. In the service area of 2,020 sq.m, two active reception posts are equipped and 14 lifts are installed - with the possibility of increasing the number of posts in the future. Underground parking is designed for 99 places.
“Today we are opening not only dealership. We want it to become a meeting place, to become a real club for our customers and fans of the brand Porsche, - emphasized CEO companies "Sportcar Center" Dmitry Baranov. - We plan to hold exhibitions, fashion shows, concerts in our salon. You can just come here to have a cup of coffee, meet friends or hold business negotiations. Our doors are always hospitably open for you.”.
More than 40 million euros were invested in the implementation of the project. The Turkish holding acted as the general contractor Mebe Group. Provided financial support Raiffeisen Bank International. Simultaneously with the opening of the flagship enterprise "Sportcar Center" closed three former sales and service points - in Altufyevo, on Novorizhskoe highway and in Zhukovka, keeping the showroom on Kutuzovsky prospect. At the same time, the company plans to increase sales by more than half in 2015 - up to 1,350 cars, thereby not only confirming the status of a leader in the network Porsche, but also setting a new record, because none Russian dealer brand has never before reached such a volume.
Grand opening "Porsche Center Rublevsky" attended by over 800 people. The guests of honor of the evening were Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra, who performed before the start of the official part of the ceremony. Following this, the audience was pleased by Nino Katamadze, accompanied by the Insight group and the string quartet. And one of the surprises of the event was the first show in Russia of a new Porsche 911 Carrera GTS.
Sergey Baranov,
"AutoBusinessReview"
... As a little girl, I used to run to the city park on weekends for the sole purpose of driving cars on the "Autodrom" attraction. Compared to the Ferris wheel and numerous carousels, a ticket to the Avtodrom was expensive, but it was worth it! The money saved on school breakfasts was only enough for a couple of races, but what happiness it was - famously turning around among those who turned the steering wheel with too much concentration and timidly pressed the pedals. Laying another sharp turn and trying not to drive into the fence at the same time, I dreamed of how, having matured, I would skillfully maneuver in a real car stream.
The world of children's dreams is long gone, the car has become an integral part of life, and driving it has become a habitual activity. But life sometimes brings amazing surprises. For example, the opportunity to experience a thrill behind the wheel, comparable only to children's driving delights. However, no - much cooler!
Last weekend I was lucky to visit the largest in Russia racing track Moscow Raceway. Reason – Audi sports weekend with a test drive powerful models Audi sport. The list of these models will make the heart of every true car enthusiast tremble: the Audi S5, S6, S7, RS 6 Avant, RS 7 Sportback and the flagship of the brand's sports line R8 entered the race track.
I have been to the race track before, but only as a spectator. Could I have thought that one day I would be behind the wheel of a powerful sports car, driving hundreds of rushing from under the hood Horse power? On Audi test drive Sport it has become a delightful reality.
Each of the participants could choose three models of sports cars for the test drive. I settled on the Audi RS 6 Avant, RS 7 Sportback and of course the R8 V10 plus. Detailed briefing, familiarization with the technical characteristics of the cars and the features of the track - and now I'm driving! Fortunately, I am not alone in the car, but with a walkie-talkie, according to which the instructor directs my actions (he is in the car in front). Without this calm, confident voice, my heart would have jumped out of my chest (both from joyful excitement and from fear of a previously unknown power). Each of the selected cars had to make two laps: the first one was “sighting”, and the second, after getting acquainted with the nature of the car and the features of the track, in the rally race mode.
1 /5
What can I say about the emotions experienced? This is exactly the case when words are not able to convey an unusual mixture of delight, fear and surprise. And how not to be such a mix? In everyday life, as a law-abiding driver, I rarely cross the upper range allowable speed even on a track marked with the appropriate green sign. And here, barely pressing the gas pedal, in a matter of seconds I "flew" for 200 km / h. And if I didn’t fade away at a cursory glance at the speedometer, I could accelerate to 330 km / h (the maximum declared speed for the Audi R8 V10 plus)! She could, but she didn't. For such speeds, not only the muscular activity of the legs is needed, but also experience, which I do not have (I hope not yet).
When mute delight was replaced by the opportunity to reflect and analyze, I made an important conclusion for myself: the smart heads of the German car industry are doing smart cars for smart people. An unintelligent person cannot be trusted with such a car, just like a mentally ill person with a nuclear button. To drive a powerful sports car, you need to be like Zorro: a brave man with a warm heart and a cold head. Obviously, those who are able to acquire Audi cars with the abbreviation S and RS, there are not very many among motorists. The question itself arises: why then so many efforts of advanced engineering? The answer is simple: technologies and innovations created by Audi Sport for motorsport are successfully used in mass production cars.
Audi A5 Coup: an elegant athlete with a unique IQ
- More
Well, and finally - information for those to whom the language of numbers is more important than the driver's enthusiasm of a rally newcomer. Rate specifications cars that I was lucky enough to test - and you will understand me.
Audi RS 6 Avant equipped with a modified 4.0 V8 TFSI engine. power unit with a capacity of 605 liters. With. provides acceleration to 100 km / h in 3.7 seconds. The maximum speed of the car is 305 km/h.
Is this a concept car? Can we take a picture of it?" To the question that haunted us throughout BMW test i8 along the California coast of the Pacific Ocean, my colleague and I answered the same way: “No, this is not a concept! This car is already available for purchase. However, American motorists can be forgiven for such naivety - after all, the serial hybrid sports car is almost no different from the hyper-futuristic prototype shown back in 2009. And if we appear on i8 somewhere in Russian hinterland, the locals would certainly have met this alien creation with pitchforks and axes.
The BMW i8, which looks like an alien from the future, is just part of a large-scale project by the Bavarian concern to create a line of environmentally friendly clean cars under BMW brand i, launched almost ten years ago. According to various estimates, the Germans have already spent from two to three billion euros on their program. With this money, the universal LifeDrive architecture was developed, which formed the basis of the first two models and will then be used to create new i-mobiles; were created technological processes for the production of carbon fiber bodies, electric motors and related electronics. Finally, the Bavarians have developed and already launched in mass production two cars: i3 city electric car/hybrid and i8 hybrid sports coupe.
And both of them will be sold in Russia.
On the first-born project i - BMW i3, which is already sold in Europe for 35 thousand euros - "Motor" also traveled.
But first, the outrageous BMW i8 will come to us. Prices for this model have not yet been announced, and the first cars can be seen only in the fall of 2014. But if we start from German prices, then in Russia this car will cost about six million rubles. And, despite the decent price tag, the entire Russian i8 quota has already been distributed to pre-orders. What will enthusiasts who are ready to buy for BMW price M5 car they've only seen in pictures? At least - the most high-tech sports coupe in the world, which is affordable not only Arab sheikhs or owners of factories and ships. Unlike hypercars like the Porsche 918 or the McLaren P1, which cost more than a million euros. At the same time, the i8 has nothing in common with traditional hybrids like the BMW 7 or the Toyota Prius, neither in design nor in ideology.
Just forget everything you knew about serial hybrids until now!
BMW engineers did not adapt the existing designs to the needs of the new project, but simply took Blank sheet and drew their hybrid from scratch. To begin with, they abandoned the traditional metal - steel or aluminum - body, replacing it carbon monocoque, developed in collaboration with the American company SG Carbon. It is attached to the so-called "ride module" - aluminum chassis with pendants, power plant and batteries. And from above, all this is covered with reinforced plastic panels of such bizarre shapes that Salvador Dali himself would have his mustache droop with envy.
The complex appearance of the BMW i8 is not just a design whim. All these bends, notches, slots and holes are working aerodynamic elements. Coefficient aerodynamic drag car is only 0.26.
In the cabin, which you get into by opening the gull-wing doors and climbing over a tall threshold with unpainted carbon visible from behind the plastic lining, it’s just space. Landing in modern bucket seats with integrated headrests is low, like in a hardcore hypercar. The front panel is a small piece of compositional art: I'm afraid to imagine how many obscene words were uttered by BMW technologists before launching this intricate idea into mass production.
