Every autumn for the past 16 years Audi and VW enthusiasts have been gathering in Maryland to celebrate car beauty and workmanship but last years' H20 International car meet could possibly have been the best car enthusiast gathering to date. People from all over the world flocked together and made their way towards Ocean City, Maryland where there were already thousands of car fans with cars so unique, that in my opinion, all deserve a reward. Days before the meet the social network sites were overflowing with mentions and hashtags of the event. Despite being an event only for watercooled VWs and Audis, the turnout was amazing and what better way to show you just how diverse the car scene in America is than a video that is possibly the best car meet coverage ever made.
After watching the video I am pleased to see that the car modding scene in the USA has settled down from the spoiler, decal and fake air vent heavy Fast and Furious and NFS: Underground 2 inspired showcars to the oil pan scraping, tyre poking, dapper style of the air-bagged vehicles. By the emerging trend of keeping things sleek, smooth, shiny and low-down I can not help but notice similarities with the 1930s era of automotive styling. Everything designed then was about living good and the joy of life. The Bugatti Type 57 is a very good example from the era.
Couple of things I didn't like though. First there are the Ocean City Police which seemed to have nothing better to do than to hide in the bushes with their police bicycles and wait for someone to do a burnout and then write them a ticket for a sticker on the base of the windshield that is in no way restricting the view. The tax disc can be more obstructing. The other thing the Ocean City Police seem to enjoy doing is impounding cars that are have too much camber. Do they understand that camber is like the universal respect currency of modern modified car enthusiasts? The more camber you have the more street cred you get. And I can bet you a million pretzels that, while they were arguing with the owner whether to escort the car to the local Police station or tow the car and completely ruin the paint, wheels and body kit, somebody had just bought crack without any problems from the police. They were too busy impounding a dangerous vehicle.
One thing is for sure: I'd give an arm and a leg to go to H2O International 2014 and so should you.
After watching the video I am pleased to see that the car modding scene in the USA has settled down from the spoiler, decal and fake air vent heavy Fast and Furious and NFS: Underground 2 inspired showcars to the oil pan scraping, tyre poking, dapper style of the air-bagged vehicles. By the emerging trend of keeping things sleek, smooth, shiny and low-down I can not help but notice similarities with the 1930s era of automotive styling. Everything designed then was about living good and the joy of life. The Bugatti Type 57 is a very good example from the era.
Couple of things I didn't like though. First there are the Ocean City Police which seemed to have nothing better to do than to hide in the bushes with their police bicycles and wait for someone to do a burnout and then write them a ticket for a sticker on the base of the windshield that is in no way restricting the view. The tax disc can be more obstructing. The other thing the Ocean City Police seem to enjoy doing is impounding cars that are have too much camber. Do they understand that camber is like the universal respect currency of modern modified car enthusiasts? The more camber you have the more street cred you get. And I can bet you a million pretzels that, while they were arguing with the owner whether to escort the car to the local Police station or tow the car and completely ruin the paint, wheels and body kit, somebody had just bought crack without any problems from the police. They were too busy impounding a dangerous vehicle.
One thing is for sure: I'd give an arm and a leg to go to H2O International 2014 and so should you.
A smartphone weighs about 200 - 300 grams. In it you can find a computer to browse the internet, a camera to take pictures of your food, a phone service to call your aunt, a sound recorder to record....erm... sound, a music player for your tunes and about a hundred other applications that you don't know how to use. All of this fits in your palm and you rarely can feel it's weight.
In the 1980s when this technology was just emerging the combined weight of all of the devices that are now in a smartphone exceeds 100 kg. So what happened to cars? An obesity problem is plaguing the motor industry. Cars are becoming heavier and heavier. Nowadays a small hatchback with an unpronounceable name like the Kia Cee'd weighs just about 1,400 kg which is a lot. You might say oh this is because all of the safety features. Safety features that weigh half of the car that can not even do 200 km/h.
A speed that was nothing for the RUF CTR 'Yellowbird' which was introduced in 1987 , could do 340 km/h and it was 1,170 kg. A small weight for a car that has a 3.2 flat six with two turbos, two intercoolers and a full roll cage. A lot of attention was given to aerodynamics by the boffins at RUF. After lengthily research and development they fitted Porsche 935 mirrors and called it a day.
Then they focused to the engine and what a masterpiece came out. It spotted an uprated fuel injection system and parts from the iconic Porsche 962. And they made it fast. So fast that it had a bigger top speed than the fastest car in the world at the time - the Ferrari F40.
The 'Yellowbird' was named like that because of the distinctive color in which most of them were made and the sound made by the twin wastegates relieving the two massive turbos every time you change gear.
The handling was typical Porsche with the close to infinite amounts of grip at the back, light steering, unbelievable long gear throws and massive oversteer after you step out the knife edge line.
The next clip not only shows every bit of the charm and character the 'Yellowbird' has but demonstrates the almost godlike driving ability of Stephan Rozer:
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