Archives for April 2017

Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo Makes NYC Debut

April 26, 2017 by Tom Williams 1 Comment

For anyone who has ever gone to a car show, you can relate to the following: yes, you are excited to see all the cars, but there’s usually that One Car you are especially excited to see. For the 2017 New York International Auto Show, that car for me was the new Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo.

What’s the excitement all about you ask? The naysayers might remark I’m getting excited over the fact Porsche simply made the Panamera into a wagon. To them, I’d respond they are missing the point entirely. Porsche had long been considering a four door offering. As a kid I recall the odd four door 928 concept, which thankfully never took off. Once Porsche found out most people accepted the idea of an SUV Porsche in the form of the Cayenne, it was finally time for a four door model.

Cayenne showed Porsche could build a non-sports car that still drove like a Porsche. And in 2010, the Panamera arrived, making good on the promise of delivering a Porsche driving experience. But it just didn’t look….right. Yes, I get they were trying to mimic the sloping rear end of the 911. Other automakers could blend sport and luxury, but the odd looking Panamera wasn’t convincing.

When I saw the first pic of the Panamera Sport Turismo, it was a eureka moment. One look and I thought THIS is the Panamera we should have had all along. Finally seeing it in person confirmed what I saw in picture. Long, low, sleek, and most notably, well proportioned, the Sport Turismo checks off all the right boxes. In addition, the Sport Turismo incorporates a unique extendable roof spoiler, more cargo room, improved rear seat headroom, and for the first time in a Panamera, seating for five.

The Panamera Sport Turismo is available in four models:

4: Powered by a turbocharged V-6 rated at 330hp. 0-60mph arrives in 5.0 seconds. Prices start at $96,200.

4S: Powered by a 2.9L twin turbo V-6 rated at 440hp. 0-60mph arrives in 4.0 seconds. Prices start at $109,200.

4 E-Hybrid: Same engine as the 4S, but with an electric motor adding 136hp. 0-60mph arrives in 4.4 seconds (more weight to move). Prices start at $104,000.

Turbo: Powered by a 4.0 twin turbo V-8 rated at 550hp. 0-60mph arrives in 3.4 seconds. Prices start at $154,000.

All prices in US Dollars. Porsche expects the Panamara Sport Turismo at the end of 2017.

Racecars at New York International Auto Show

April 21, 2017 by ponycargirl Leave a Comment

New York International Auto Show has once again rolled into town with automakers bringing their shiniest, most innovative cars to to dramatically pull cover from and show off. Scattered amongst the concept, halo, and current production vehicles are the unattainable to many of us – the race cars.

The Saratoga Automobile Museum has a display of some classic and curious cars, and brought a few classic race cars from their collection. Included in their display are a Midget Racer from the 50’s, a 1909 Alco-6 Racer, 1950 Allard, and the 2009 Miller Lite Dodge driven by Kurt Busch.

Fresh from winning the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship BUBBA Burger SportsCar Grand Prix at Long Beach, the Cadillac V-Performance racing team Konica Minolta DPi-V.R drew admiration on the show floor, still with grit from the race on the wheels.

The Ford GT was the NYIAS poster car, and is front and center in the Ford booth on a rotating palette.

Formula e will race in Brooklyn this summer and there are two Formula e cars at the show. Jaguar now has an electric vehicle in the series, and Formula e also has a booth with champion Nelson Piquet’s car. Not to be outdone, BMW recently announced entry into the series with Andretti Formula e in 2018.

Subaru Rally Team USA has two new drivers in Red Bull Global Rallycross this year, having poached the Patrik Sandell from Ford and bringing on Chris Atkinson after he raced a limited schedule in the series last year. Atkinson’s GRC car is shown in the booth.

Alexander Rossi was the first rookie winner of the Indy 500 in 16 years, winning the 100th running of the race in 2016 in this Honda-powered Indycar.

Probably the dirtiest race car on the show floor is, of course, a rally car. This 1990 Audi 80 Quattro, 5 in line 10v 2.3 turbo has been raced in rallies in the US and Canada such as Tall Pines and Snow Drift since the 90’s, and is currently being restored to rally shape.

There are a lot of racing as well as classic gems on the show floor – here’s a full gallery of some of my favorites.

: 1909 Alco-6 Racer (Alco Black Beast)

: 1950 Allard

: 1950 Allard

: Midget Racer from Saratoga Automobile Museum

: Kurt Busch 2009 Miller Lite Dodge

: Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R

: onica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R

: onica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R

: onica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R

: Acura NSX

: Ford GT

: Jaguar Formula e

: Jaguar Formula e

: Jaguar Formula e

: BMW i8 Safety Car

: BMW

: 2018 Camry – Kyle Busch

: Subaru Rally Team

: Honda Indycar

: Lexus

: Mazda

: Venturi

: NASCAR

: 1990 Audi 80 Quattro rally car

: 1990 Audi 80 Quattro rally car

: 1990 Audi 80 Quattro rally car

: Audi

: Classic Volvos

: Classic Subaru

: Nissan Rogue One with Death Star

Road tripping in the 2017 Nissan Versa Note

April 12, 2017 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

When most people think of a great road trip vehicle, they have visions of a fancy grand touring car, or maybe a luxurious sedan. We aren’t like most people. For us, the perfect road trip vehicle is a car that is light, nimble and fun to drive, has lots of space for our stuff and whatever junk we might accumulate along the way and gets great fuel economy. If it can catch the interest of some onlookers along the way, that is even better.

With our event season about to go crazy, Mrs. G and I decided that a bit of a road trip was in order, so we poked about on Google maps to find an Ontario destination that we had not previously explored. We settled on the town of Perth, about an hour west of the nation’s capital. We had driven through the town before, in the Summertime, and took notice of the historic limestone buildings and bustling pubs and patios so we thought it was worth a look.

Our steed for the trip would be the second smallest roller skate in Nissan Canada’s fleet, a Monarch Orange 2017 Versa Note SV. Long time readers may recall that back in the day, we used to rally a tiny, front wheel drive Suzuki, and we are still passionate about sporty little econo-boxes. From a specs standpoint, it wasn’t too different from our old rally car, albeit a lot more comfortable and about 30 decibels quieter. The extra pair of doors makes the Versa a bit more practical too.

The Versa Note boasts 1.6L DOHC 4 banger which sends a massive 106 horsepower to the front wheels, through a 5 speed manual transmission, just like our old rally car too. Yes, I know it isn’t really massive, but it is just enough for a real enthusiast to be able to have a bit of fun on a challenging road.

We loaded our stuff into the cargo area, with no need to fold down the split rear seats, leaving the back seats open for any hitchhikers we might have picked up along the way. If this was 1976. A quick dive into the local McDonald’s drive through for breakfast and we were on our way. Unlike most people these days, I don’t look for the quickest way from A to B on a road trip. Most people leaving the outskirts of Toronto on Highway 401, but the reality is that the major highway route only saves about 10 minutes off this trip. Instead, we headed north on Highway 115 to Peterborough and then turned to travel east on highway 7. The speed limit on 7 is 80 km/h, but the average flow of traffic is about 105 km/h and the scenery is infinitely more interesting to look at.

Our first stop was in the tiny town of Norwood, where I dropped in for a bit of a sales visit at the well known Ralph’s Butcher Shop. Just opening up for the season, the owner, a delightful gent named James(?), told me that they make a whopping 81 different varieties of sausage. Needless to say, Ralph’s is a popular spot for cottagers on their way up from the city.

About 10 km up the road, we made a quick stop in Havelock to take some kissy face selfies by an old caboose, before heading towards the cool mid-sized town of Madoc. We were on the hunt for a pub, but we found butter tarts instead. On the town’s main drag, we came across a shop called Hidden Goldmine Bakery which is a nifty combination of bakery, antique shop and home decorating place. We picked up a six pack of tarts (with raisins of course) and were headed out the door, when Mrs. G spotted it. A vintage bacon press! If the words bacon press on the top weren’t already cool enough, when I turned it over, there is the image of a chubby pig on the bottom. Not only did I have to buy it, but that pig is going to be my next tattoo!

Leaving town, we chose a sort of backwards looking route back to Highway 7, which led us down a rough cottage road towards a closed Summer resort, where we were surrounded by a working sugar bush. While most trees were joined, modern style, by plastic tubing to collect the liquid gold used to make maple syrup, here and there were clumps of trees with old school collection buckets.

Back on to the main highway, we got into a less interesting rhythm and we were itching for a bit more fun. There aren’t many side roads that run east/west in this part of the province, because there are so many lakes and rivers, so we were excited to find Fall River Road. With a coarse gravel surface, this path has so many tight turns that the map doesn’t do it justice.

Fall River Road is pretty rough in sections, which means that speed must be kept lower than one might hope for, which is probably a good thing in a street car, as this road throws out a few gotchas! The first thing I did of course was flick off the Versa’s stability control, remembering that the ABS is still fully functional. That means that I would be able to get the car sideways to set-up for fun corners but that if I did anything silly like enter a turn too fast, the little car would understeer into the woods. That was not going to happen under my watch!

After about 10 minutes of super technical fun, we turned left on Armstrong Road and the road surface transitioned to the most beautifully smooth hard pack gravel. The turns were a bit more open, allowing for a bit more speed. The Versa Note is quite simply a champ at dealing with fun mixed surface roads like this at a somewhat enthusiastic pace.

This is the area in which the annual Lanark Highlands Rally takes place and most of the time, these roads are devoid of any traffic. Eventually, Armstrong Road straightens up and the occasional farm makes way to rural family homes and our drive takes on a more leisurely tourist pace.

Arriving in the town of Perth, we make a stop at the Perth Brewing Company to stock up our room before setting out on foot to explore the town.

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Exploring Perth, Ontario

April 12, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

2017 Nissan Versa Note with statue of legendary Canadian horse Big Ben on the shore of the Tay River in Perth, Ontario.

Dating back to 1816, the town of Perth, Ontario is primarily a Summer tourist destination these days, with shops and eateries all through the town. When checking in to the surprisingly cool Best Western Plus right in downtown Perth, we asked the Front Desk Dude where he would go if he were looking for a late afternoon snack and a pint. Without hesitation, FDD suggested we check out Fiddleheads, which is conveniently located directly across the street.

Situated in the basement of the historic Code’s Mill, Fiddleheads has a super cool pub vibe that features 176 year old stone walls and wood beams. Our waitress had a lovely Irish accent, which made the place that much more inviting. We nibbled on fresh, house made pizza with locally sourced toppings. It wasn’t the best pie we’ve ever had, but it hit the spot. We will return.

It is kinda wrong just how badly I want this van.

After a swim and a nap, went for a walk around the town and eventually wandered over to O’Reilly’s Ale House, which has some pretty solid reviews on Yelp and a pretty sweet looking location. It was a Thursday evening, about 8 o’clock and every other place we passed was almost empty, but O’Reilly’s was packed.

We grabbed the coolest table, which was elevated above the bar, ordered drinks and a charcuterie platter. It looked fantastic and came on a wonderful, live edge wood tray. The ciabatta demi was nice and warm and the cheese duo were fantastic if a little bit on the skimpy side. The meats however seemed like a bit of an afterthought. Too thickly hand cut, basic, middle of the road grocery store deli meats were not what we expected. The quick pickled red onions were fab. The real surprise however, and the absolute star of the platter, was the dipping sauce, of which no specific mention was made.

That little, red dish of heaven is TOTALLY worth a mention of its own. Made by local company, Perth Pepper and Pestle, this stuff is a Curry Cardamom Everything Sauce. Click the link and either order some online or find some in a store if you live up that way. It will change your life forever!

While we were there, we noticed a tiny shelf on the way to the bathrooms, with nothing on it. We asked our waitress about it and she had never noticed it. She asked a long time employee and she hadn’t noticed it either. A couple of days later, we returned for a pint and left a friendly surprise on the shelf. I can’t wait for our next visit to see if it is still there.

The following day, we made a short trek over to Smiths Falls to grab some shoes. Yeah, I know, flip flops in March are a gamble. Anyway, we found the town to be absolutely gorgeous and yet hideously depressed at the same time. There wasn’t even a single pub that looked interesting enough to entice us out of the car. Very sad, as there is so much tourist potential there.

On the way back, we found an incredible spot that is worthy of its own episode of American Pickers. The gent who owns Rideau Antiques has been collecting stuff for 55 years. His assistant is just a pup, having only been helping peddle junk for 35 years. The place is on Rideau Ferry Blvd, between Perth and Smiths Falls and offers maybe an acre of hunting on one side of the road, and a barn full of stuff on the other. You know you are in for a hunt when the owner hands you a flashlight before you venture into the barn! There is a lot of new-ish junk, mixed in with some truly vintage finds, all sort of loosely organized. We easily spent a couple of hours, pretty much overwhelmed by the amount of stuff. I did at least by a scruffy old Matchbox Can-Am car.

Day 2’s dinner did not go as we had hoped. Perhaps the best thing I can say is to check out my Yelp review. Our post dinner visit to DQ was uneventful and successful.

This cool ’63 Chevy van, turned into a chip truck, is on the Rideau Ferry Road on the outskirts of Perth.

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2017 Nissan Versa Note: The way home

April 12, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

The problem with short road trips is that they come to an end all too quickly, even if the final day starts with a tiny pumpkin and a mammoth wheel of cheese. For our trip home, we decided once again to stay off the beaten path as much as possible. With the final snow of the season laying heavily on the ground, that promised to give us an exciting day!

Roads which had been beautiful, hard pack gravel just a couple of days earlier had turned to legitimately treacherous passages. Even with proper snow boots and keeping speeds below 40 km/h, it took all of my years of performance driving experience to keep the tiny Nissan on the island. Icy bits, covered with heavy slush made the going tough. Super fun, but it required every ounce of concentration and what would have taken 20 minutes driving before took us over an hour. Meanwhile, the Versa soldiered on.

As we approached Madoc, I saw one of those blue Ontario Travel signs for O’Hara Mill. I had no idea what it was, but thought it was worth investigating. Talk about an awesome needle in a haystack sort of find. Out there, in the middle of freaking nowhere, was this incredible pioneer museum type of place with some great Ontario history.

Patrick O’Hara and his family settled the area in 1823 and his descendants lived on the farm until more than a century later. Over the years, the family farm grew to include a sawmill.

The Moira River Conservation Authority, bought the farm in 1954 and then the sawmill in 1965. It was designated as a park and to this day, five of the original buildings remain on the site, including the mill.

Run by the community, a number of log cabins have been re-located to the site from the area and a new visitor centre was added in 2009. The museum offers kids programs, hiking trails and seasonal events including ice skating and Christmas events.

While the buildings were closed at the time of our visit, the park is always open and there were people wandering around exploring the site. We are going to make an effort to return for a visit this Summer to explore further.

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One last stop along the way was a quick photo bomb at the Actinolite Log Cabin Restaurant, just to make our friends at Actinolite smile.

If you think you need an expensive grand tourer to explore the back roads of your state or province, you are totally wrong. You need a fun and functional, economical little hatchback like our Versa Note tester. Our tester stickered out at just a tick over 17 grand, offered fuel economy that averaged at about 6.8 l/100 km and kept us grinning the whole time. Even if you only need a runner for around town, the Versa Note is totally worth a look.

Formula DRIFT: The Streets of Long Beach 2017

April 7, 2017 by ponycargirl Leave a Comment

Formula DRIFT’s 2017 season started off with a shake-up at the top in Long Beach April 1st. Taking place annually on turns nine, ten, and eleven on the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Formula D drivers kill all tires on the course the weekend before IndyCar and Pirelli World Challenge drivers race on the street course.

Driving one of three Mustangs on the track this year, Vaughn Gittin Jr. came in first in qualifying with 97 points, with 2015 champion Frederic Aasbo qualifying fourth. This was Aasbo’s first competition in a Toyota Corolla iM; the Scion brand was phased out in early 2016, but supported their motorsports teams through the end of the year. Three-time and 2016 champ Chris Forsberg qualified sixth in his Nissan 370Z, with rookie Piotr Wiechek competing in his first Formula D event right behind in ninth.

After a group of recruits were sworn into the United States Air Force, the drivers were introduced to a capacity crowd. The Top 16 started their battles, and the shake-up began. Vaughn Gittin Jr., after such a brilliant start in qualifying, made a huge mistake against Dean Kearney in the Viper, and didn’t make it to the finals after spinning on the last turn.

The Final 8 saw some breathtaking driving. There were chants from the crowds for several third passes, but the only two drivers that ended up doing a “One More Time” pass were Alex Heilbrunn (BMW M3) and Odi Bakchis in a Nissan 240 SX. Heilbrunn won, and was then up against James Deane in the Finals. Contrary to his namesake, this James Deane pilots a Nissan, not a Porsche.

Five-time Irish Drift and five-time European Drift champion, Deane hasn’t competed in Formula D since 2010. The Irishman drove spectacularly and setting a high bar for himself for the 2017 season, took the win against Heilbrunn. Deane commented after winning, “Man, what a way to start back in Formula DRIFT after missing out on the last seven years. I owe a lot to my good friend and teammate, Piotr Wiecek, who came up with this whole idea to come back to the Series as a two-car team. To come out with the win is just mind blowing. What a feeling!” Rounding out the podium was the affable Ryan Tuerck, also having switched from a Scion to Toyota. Deane’s teammate, rookie Wiecek, finished at a not-too-shabby 9^th place.

Formula DRIFT will come to Montreal, Quebec for True North July 14-15, 2017. Formula D also livestreams their events through their website, and a replay of the Top 32 and Top16 can be seen on YouTube.