Now Porsche is accusing the Japanese automaker of cheating on its Nurburgring lap times.
From a report in Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper, Porsche says it took a standard GT-R, running on regular road tires, and ran it around the Nurburgring's Nordschleife circuit in arguably the fairest conditions: within two hours of its own cars, on the same day with exactly the same weather conditions.
They couldn’t come within 25 seconds of Nissan's claimed record time of seven minutes 29 seconds in April.
"This wonder [GT-R] car with 7:29 could not have been a regular series production car," says August Achleitner, the 911 product chief for Porsche, speaking at the Australian press preview of the latest 911 Cabrio.
"For us, it's not clear how this time is possible. What we can imagine with this Nissan is they used other tires."
With no tweaking of any kind, Porsche’s GT2 and Turbo both ran on regular Porsche road tires, the Michelin Sport Cup. Both ended up quicker than the GT-R.
Porsche says the GT-R lapped at 7 minutes 54 seconds, with the 911 Turbo managed 7:38 and the GT2 7:34.
Achleitner believes the time achieved by Nissan with ex-Formula One driver Toshio Suzuki would only be possible with a semi-slick race-style tire.
"The Nissan is a good car. I don't want to make anything bad with my words," he says. "It's a very consistent car. But this car is about 20 kilos heavier than the Turbo . . ."
In the end, Porsche believes its testing has achieved the right lap times for the GT-R and benchmarked it against its own 911 models in the right context.
But is Porsche’s whining legitimate or just sour grapes? Or is all this 'Ring hoopla just fodder for car company PR types with too much time on their hands?
Let’s face it: If you make cars and trucks, and you happen to have your business situated in Detroit, you’re taking a lot of flack these days in the media.
So, now, one of the Shrinking Detroit Three—General Motors—is taking a page out of 1970s glam band Twisted Sister's lyric book saying, We're Not Gonna Take It, no, We Ain't Gonna Take It Anymore.
GM has created a new Web site dubbed GM Facts and Fiction. You’ll find there what GM cites as "myths" often said in the media. Plus, the automaker has launched a video series on its existing Fastlane blog called, The Case for GM.
At Facts and Fiction, car buyers are encouraged to submit rumours about GM they've heard
or read for rebuttal. The site's "Overheard" section is littered with
positive quotes about GM pulled from the reader comment areas of other
websites such as the Wall Street Journal and Autoblog and (surprise!
Surprise!) GM's own PR minions.
Fundamentally, GM is asking you to, “Please, give us break. We’re trying really, really hard…”
The introduction video, below, is by the religiously unbiased Christopher Barger, GM's director of global communications.
In the end, what can GM tell us that we don’t already know?
It’s verboten to talk about future product. They can't let us in on future technology or R&D. And they can’t really pre-announce any future cost cutting or financial plans.
Maybe the biggest problem I have with this whole adventure is—besides taking money away from much needed ad money—GM’s strategy breaks with the golden rule of PR: never repeat false or negative information.
This whole PR mess is an indication of how far the Detroit automakers have fallen since their dominance in the 1960s.
The fact that GM is in full defensive mode must have former '60s Ford scion, Henry “The Deuce” Ford II, spinning in his grave. He of the famous, “Never complain, never explain” mantra.
Chrysler joins The General (Chevy Volt), Nissan (Mixim concept) and Toyota (plug-in Prius), as automakers committed to having EV’s on sale—whether that’s commercially or to the public—by the start of the next decade.
But lingering questions—unproven lithium-ion battery technologies, high development costs, the public’s acceptance of a technology that still requires emissions to be sent into the atmosphere to generate electricity—still dog EVs for many new car buyers and bring into debate if any of these vehicles will end up as shallow PR stunts or viable consumer products.
To help you out, here’s a quick Crank/Vegas Line as to which of these EV proposals have a hope in Halifax in getting to a dealer showroom “sometime” in 2010:
Chrysler’s EV Trio – Crank/Vegas Line: 100-1
In terms of getting any of these EVs to the showroom, Chrysler is starting behind a couple of eight balls.
The Dodge EV sports car may have a chance. Its already based on an existing platform (the Lotus Europa) and likely requires the least amount of development.
But with a proposed lithium-ion battery pack and a price Chrysler says will come in “for less than the $109,000 Tesla electric sports car,” unproven technology and price are still two huge stumbling blocks.
The other two EVs Chrysler showed—EcoVoyager and Jeep Wrangler Unlimited—aren’t anywhere close to being production ready.
Even Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli hinted that this week’s EV announcements were motivated to get U.S. government bailout money.
Bordering on corporate blackmail, he said Chrysler may have to face further layoffs and production capacity cutbacks if the U.S. federal government didn’t approve a $25-billion loan package to help car companies develop electric propulsion technology at an affordable price for consumers.
The was package approved by the U.S. House of Representatives this morning.
Then Chrysler promptly announced about 300 salaried Chrysler workers are being terminated today and Friday, Sept. 26.
Nice.
GM’s Chevrolet Volt – Crank/Vegas Line: 10-1
The fact the Volt will be GM product gawd Bob Lutz’s final swan song, helps it chances measurably.
But there are still questions.
GM is finding reinventing the car has not been easy. Development delays mean I’m still waiting for my personal invite from Lutz to drive prototypes—due last April.
Even GM CEO Rick Wagoner admitted that, while GM has been working hard on getting the Volt ready, "2010 would be great, but (we) can't guarantee that at this time."
And now I’m hearing that the promised 64 km range on battery power alone won’t be a real world number when it goes on sale. And that GM is backtracking on its initial statement that when the battery is depleted, the Volt’s gas engine will replenish the battery. Now GM is saying that regardless of how far you drive the Volt, the driver will only ever get up to 64 km (maybe) of electric-only range.
What’s next to fall off the promise list?
At least GM has moved beyond the concept stage, something we haven’t seen from the other EV players here.
Nissan Mixim - Crank/Vegas Line: 5-1
Nissan’s Mixim Concept, right, was one of the more radical concepts of last fall’s Frankfurt auto show. But the technology showcased in it was very real and will be coming to production cars by 2010.
During the Nissan 360 event in Portugal earlier this year, Nissan's head of global product planning, Thomas Lane, re-confirmed that the company plans to have an electric vehicle running in U.S. fleets by 2010.
That vehicle would also be made available at the retail level a year later.
According to Nissan, the new EV is almost done with some components borrowed from other cars but it will essentially be a dedicated battery-powered car rather than a conversion like the Denki Cube concept that was shown at this years New York auto show.
Toyota Prius plug-in – Crank Vegas Line: Sure bet
Toyota is making sure GM doesn’t get the upper hand in the race for zero or low-emission.
Despite rival Honda thinking lithium-ion batteries are still nonsense, the automaker has confirmed that it will start production of the lithium-ion powered, plug-in version of it’s popular Prius, in 2010, speculated left.
Expect production ready concepts of the regular gas-electric and plug-in Prius models at this January’s Detroit auto show.
Rumours have it that the 2010 launch will be small and for governments and fleet sales only, with mass consumer production starting in 2011 and 2012.
Yesterday, Chrysler gave CNBC a sneak peek at the automaker’s electric vehicle plans before a formal press conference planned for 1 pm today.
In a blatant rip-off of the Tesla EV, the yellow Dodge EV, left, is basically an electrified Lotus. This time, instead of Tesla's Elise, Chrylser's stickered up a Europa.
With lithium-ion battery power, Chrysler says the Dodge EV’s all-electric range will be in the neighbourhood of 240 - 320 km, with charging times in the four- to eight-hour range. Those numbers all depend on whether the car is plugged in to a 110 or 220 household outlet.
Zero-to-sixty is said to be less than 5 seconds—hey, just like the Tesla...
Debuting this afternoon as well will be range-extended EV versions of the Chrysler Town & Country, right, and Jeep Wrangler.
Chrysler says it would like to have "at least one" of this electric trio on the market by the end of 2010, which is becoming “The Year of the Plug-in” as GM’s Volt and Toyota’s plug-in Prius are set for debuts then as well.
St. John’s, Newfoundland - With this year being my second crack at Targa Newfoundland, once again I learned that experience and consistency is the path to success at this event.
That was especially true for 2008. Event officials said this was one of the most competitive fields ever. The final day, Leg Five, started in Marystown with only a four second spread between first and fourth place overall.
By the end of the day with only 25 seconds in penalties over the 2,200 kilometre five-day event, New York’s Roy Hopkins and Adrienne Hughes in their 1969 2002 BMW made it two in a row by taking the overall win this year.
All considered, Mitsubishi Canada’s return to Targa this year could be considered a success.
Our team mates in the #904 Lancer Evolution, Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jen Horsey, finished third overall and first in the same class as our #905 Lancer Ralliart: Modern Standard/Large.
Considering we ran with a brand new car in the Ralliart and new team mates, the fact we finished after our troubles earlier in the week was a huge personal accomplishment.
In regards to the Ralliart itself?
Look for a full road test report next Saturday in both the paper and on Wheels.ca
Torbay, Newfoundland – On Monday, Leg One of this year’s Targa Newfoundland, our rally computer was little help.
On Tuesday, we went off into a ditch.
On Wednesday, we drove a Targa stage in the opposite direction.
So Mark and myself weren’t too surprised that on the last stage of the last day we had a fire in our #905 Lancer Ralliart.
Or so we thought.
Only a couple of kilometres away from the finish line, smoke started billowing from inside the car.
All week long, we had been nursing the pre-production Ralliart’s dual-clutch sequential gearbox due to overheating problems.
Both of us thought we had finally cooked it.
With grey smoke filling up the cabin, I reached under my seat for the fire extinguisher. But then I noticed there was no smell associated with the smoke.
I looked back and noticed that our helmet box had slid up against the trigger of the fire extinguisher in the back.
Hence the smoke.
So close to the finish, I powered down my window and shouted over at Mark, "Don't worry! Just keep driving!"
Pretty sure we had run out of our “Targa luck” for this year, we crossed the finish, both of us laughing.
Marystown, Newfoundland - Because of the grueling nature of Targa, experience is the key asset to success. Teams that come back with the same car and teammates year after year have a real advantage.
So with only one day left to go—guess what? —eight of the top 10 are multi-year Targa participants. In fact, two are previous winners.
Because this is the first time Mark and have done this event together as a driver/navigator, the car we’re driving is brand new (our Ralliart is one of only two preproduction models in Canada), it’s no surprise, then, its taken until today— Leg Four—for things to gel in our car.
And at a time in the week when both participants and machines are hurting, with nine stages totaling almost 80 km of competitive Targa stages, many considered today’s Leg Four the toughest day for 2008 Targa.
But for us in the Ralliart, it was our best day. No doubt.
Mark’s figured out how to get the most from the Ralliart, bending it in corners that only two days ago he may have been tentative with. And I’m beginning to manage to keep the calls closely resembling what we’re seeing through the Mitsu’s windshield.
With sporadic internet service throughout the island, this video of Mark and myself in our first Targa stage together from the Prologue in Flatrock last Sunday is, admittedly, long over due.
Clarenville, Newfoundland - You know those stories you hear about some driver that gets confused and enters a highway on an off-ramp into oncoming traffic?
Well—that Mark and myself in the #905 Targa Ralliart on Wednesday, Leg Three.
Targa Newfoundland organizers string police tape across roads to designate where the course is blocked in towns and neighborhoods. But during the seventh of eight stages—coming out of Gooseberry Cove—several competitors’ cars in front of us tore away the tape that indicated a hairpin left.
By the time we came flying into the turn in our Ralliart, the tape was down and someone was waving frantically at us. They looked like they were trying to tell us their armpits were on fire or “Look! Look! I have this week’s winning 6/49 ticket!” Neither of which were much help to us in that moment.
Regardless, instead of letting Mark know that we were off course, I flipped pages in my route book trying to figure out where we were on course. By then, we spotted more tape that indicated another turn.
Too bad it was a left turn heading in the reverse direction into oncoming Targa cars following us in 30-second intervals.
Fortunately for us, two other participants who had an incident and were standing by the side of the course saw us and waved us into a local resident’s laneway.
Seconds later, two Targa cars blew by us over a blind crest directly in the opposite direction we had came from.
We managed to get back on course and finish the stage.
But trust me: if you’ve ever thought of entering Targa, driving against traffic is not a great strategy.
Wheels writer John LeBlanc was the owner of an advertising and marketing firm before indulging his lifelong passion for cars by becoming an automotive journalist. Join in the discussion as he provides expert critical analysis of the foibles of the auto industry.
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First, Nissan’s being questioned about how legitimate its 480 hp rating is for its GT-R super car.
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