2011 Dodge Ram Crew Cab 4500 Diesel on 2040-cars

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Watch Atieva's electric van outrun a BMW i8 and Dodge Viper

A little while back, automotive startup Atieva drag raced its electric van, called Edna, against a Tesla Model S and a Ferrari California in order to compare its performance against known and revered mechanical athletes. Again, the Silicon Valley-based company is putting its prototype up against electrified and conventionally powered performance vehicles on the drag strip. Last time around, Edna, the Mercedes-Benz Vito van equipped with a 900-horsepower, all-wheel-drive powertrain, bested both of its foes. In that showcase, Edna was hitting 60 mph in a little over three seconds. Comparatively, BMW lists the i8's 0-60 time at 4.2 seconds, though Road & Track clocked it at 3.8 seconds, with a quarter-mile time of 12.3 seconds. The Viper does 0-60 in 3.4 seconds. Before you even watch the video above, you can imagine how it will end, as the retuned Atieva Edna rips 0-60 mph in 2.94 seconds. Atieva clocked the quarter mile at 11.3 seconds at 117 mph. It's worth noting that driver skill can have a lot to do with a car's straight-line performance. We've witnessed Viper's elapsing the quarter mile in well under 12 seconds, which means it should be quicker in this test than the i8, if not the Edna. Still, the performance showcased in the video is exceptional. To improve Edna's stats, Atieva says it has used testing data to fine tune its AC induction motors at higher speeds once it got low-speed performance locked in. After testing in the hot California sun, including the race you see above, Atieva drove Edna 90 miles home with range to spare. As for production plans, Atieva will put this powertrain into a sedan slated for sale in 2018. In the meantime, the company will keep testing and tuning its working prototype, and has even invited the public to put their cars up against Edna in future sessions. Related Video: Related Gallery 2015 BMW i8 in Petoskey, MI News Source: Atieva, YouTube: Atieva via Electrek Green Motorsports BMW Dodge Automakers Electric Future Vehicles Videos drag race atieva

Performance doesn't matter anymore, it's all about the feel

We've just had a week of supercars and high-end EVs revealed. Many of them boast outrageous performance specs. There were multiple vehicles with horsepower in the four-figure range, and not just sports cars, but SUVs with 0-60 mph times under 3.5 seconds. And it's not just a rarified set of supercar builders, comparatively small tuners are also building this stuff. Going fast is easy nowadays and getting easier. So what will distinguish the greats from the wannabes? It's all about how a car feels. This may seem obvious. "Of course it matters that a car should have good steering feel and a playful chassis!" you say. "Why are you being paid for this stuff?" But a lot of automakers have missed the memo. This past week I spent some time in a BMW M4 Competition convertible, and it's a perfect example of prioritizing performance over experience. It boggles my mind how a company can create such dead and disconnected steering; the weight never changes, there's no feel whatsoever. The chassis is inflappable, but to a fault, because it doesn't feel like anything you're doing is difficult or exciting. The car is astoundingly fast and capable, but it feels less like driving a car and more like tapping in a heading on the Enterprise-D. I also happened to drive something of comparable performance that was much more enjoyable: a Mercedes-AMG GT. It was a basic model with the Stealth Edition blackout package, and even though it had a twin-turbo V8 instead of a six-cylinder, it only made 20 more horsepower. The power wasn't the big differentiator, it was (say it with me) the feel. While not the best example, the steering builds resistance as you dial in lock, giving you a better idea of what's happening up front. Pulses and vibrations come back to you as you move over bumpy pavement in corners. The chassis isn't quite as buttoned down, either, providing a little bit of body roll that tells you you're pushing it. It's also easier to feel when the car is wanting to understeer or oversteer, and how your throttle and steering inputs are affecting it. The whole thing is much more involving, exciting and fun. 2021 Mercedes-AMG GT Stealth Edition View 8 Photos That's also to say nothing of the Merc's sounds. That V8 is maybe not the best sounding engine, but its urgent churn through the opened-up exhaust gets your heart racing. It also seems like it's vibrating the whole cabin, so you feel it as much as you hear it.

Junkyard Gem: 1994 Dodge Spirit

Under Lee Iacocca's watch, Chrysler began selling the first of the modern new K-Cars for the 1982 model year, and American sales of Ks and K-derived cars and minivans continued all the way through 1995. While these vehicles saved Chrysler from near-certain doom after the agony of a government bailout in 1979, the platform had become pretty outdated by the middle 1990s (though GM didn't hesitate to sell its similar-vintage J-Cars well into our current century). The Spirit replaced its aging Aries cousin starting in 1989, and has become very tough to find today. Here's a late Spirit with the optional Mitsubishi V6 engine, found in a Denver self-service yard recently. For the 1991 and 1992 model years, the Spirit R/T was the fastest new four-door car you could buy in the United States. With 224 horsepower from a very nervous turbocharged 2.2-liter engine, the Spirit R/T could run the quarter-mile in 14.5 seconds and hit a top speed of 141 mph. Today's Junkyard Gem isn't one of those cars, unfortunately. The base engine in the 1994 Spirit was a 2.5-liter Chrysler straight-four rated at 100 horsepower, but this car has the optional 142-horse Mitsubishi 6G72 V6 engine. The 6G7 family of engines remains in production to this day, 35 years after the first one went into a Galant, and members of this engine family have powered everything from the Diamante to the Sonata. On Chrysler vehicles of all-Mitsubishi design from this era, the engines tended to have big Mitsubishi emblems prominently displayed. For a Chrysler-designed car, though, it made more sense to badge the engine as a Chrysler. Note the British spelling of the unit of displacement here; GM and Ford started that trend back in the 1960s, with the "6.5 litre" Pontiac GTO and "7.0 litre" big Fords. With the big engine plus power windows, decklid luggage rack, and other luxurious (for a Spirit) options, I'm pretty sure this car didn't start life in a fleet. It drove more than 175,000 miles during its time on the road. The resale value of a 26-year-old Detroit sedan with high miles can't be much, even if the interior still looks nice enough, so any mechanical problem (or just a trade-in) spells doom for cars such as this one. The gold insets in the aluminum wheels look very stylish. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 117 out of 200 Americans preferred the Spirit to the Honda Accord! This content is hosted by a third party.