Ronax 500: Terrifying Two Stroker

Once and again, we encounter things that change our perspective. Ronax 500 is one of them. The German project Ronax 500 GP street bike will definitely take your breath away.

Making 160hp (@ 11,500 rpm) from its nearly square (54.5 x 54 bore and stroke) 500cc V4 engine, the Ronax 500 also boasts two counter-rotating crankshafts inside its all-aluminum engine block.

Fuel-injected for more rideability, Ronax has programmed the Ronax 500 with a sport and rain ignition map. Upgrading the class GP bike design with modern components, an electric starter and four carbon/kevlar mufflers are part of the Ronax 500’s highlights, while carbon fiber fairings, Öhlins suspension, and Brembo brakes complete the package.

Ronax says the Ronax 500 is a race bike for the road, at it comes complete with a headlight tucked away within its front air-scoop, though you might want to check with your local Department of Transportation before taking the smoker on public streets.

For the track day aficionado that longs for the days when men were men, and pre-mix was in the fuel can, the Ronax 500 might tickle your fancy. No word on weight, though we imagine it would be significantly lighter than anything else most sport bike enthusiasts have swung a leg over in this power category

At €100,000 ($136,460) it doesn’t matter if the Ronax 500 is your cup of tea or not though, as most mortals won’t be able to afford it, and only 46 units will be made (we seriously don’t know how Valentino Rossi’s lawyers haven’t sent Ronax a letter already), so who knows if you’ll ever see one.

Source & Credits : ronax500.com
asphaltandrubber.com

MUENNICH MOTORSPORT JOINS WORLD RX

German team ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport will compete in all 12 rounds of this year’s FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy with two self-developed Audi S3 RX Supercars.  The team, which is owned by renowned World Touring Car driver Rene Muennich, will use 2015 as a development year in a bid to fight for the World RX Teams’ Championship title in 2016.

Muennich made his long-awaited debut in the Audi S3 RX Supercar at last year’s World RX of Germany but since then the Saxony-based team has made a number of changes to the car based on its performance in Estering and also at Franciacorta for the Italian RX round. It is still to be confirmed who will drive for the team but several drivers are expected to test the Audi S3 over the next few weeks.

“World RX will be our main programme this year,” confirmed team owner Muennich. “We will use this year to learn and then we want to fight for the title in 2016. We are pleased about the development of rallycross as a sport and the fact that we can develop our own car is what makes this Championship so special. Even without a strong result in Germany, we saw that our car is fast enough to score a top ten placing and it was interesting to see how the requirements for the cars change as a result of some of the circuits. The top speed on the World RX tracks is high and the grip is much better so we need to adapt the car accordingly.”

Muennich continued: “We have a different engine in the car since Estering as well as a new gearbox, new differentials and brakes.  We also changed the geometry of the rear axle and have a new weight balance. It’s basically a completely new car.  Our team has grown to more than 20 people and we will have more engineers and mechanics this year to help with the development of the cars. The line-up of competitors such as [Petter] Solberg will make this year very challenging for us but we’re very excited to be competing in World RX full-time and can’t wait to get started.”

Muennich Motorsport is the second all-new World Championship team to confirm its participation in this year’s World RX.  The season kicks off with World RX of Portugal at the end of April.

source: fiaworldrallycross.com

Red Bull RB11 hits the track at Jerez

Red Bull have launched the car with which they plan to fight back this season: the Renault-powered RB11, to be raced by Daniel Ricciardo and new team mate Daniil Kvyat. 

Featuring a striking new test livery for this week’s opening Jerez session, the RB11 features a host of improvements in all areas as the team seeks to improve on their 2014 campaign, when they took the RB10 from a difficult start to second place in the standings.

The most notable shape change to this year’s car is the lower nose box and front of the chassis, which were amended in line with the latest regulations, but beyond that many of the RB11’s updates are under its all-new black and white skin. 

“The design of the RB11 has been very much about understanding what we learned from last season, which was a big regulation change as far as the power unit is concerned and the packaging that goes with that and setting about optimising the car from those lessons,” said Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey.

Chief engineering officer Rob Marshall added: “There are some changes that affect the shape of the front of the car but beyond that most of the changes are under the skin. We’ve identified the areas where we can make improvements and we’ve worked hard on these. There won’t be a lot that’s visible to the naked eye but a lot of hard work has gone into the bits that are hidden.”

A large part of that work has involved improvements to Renault Sport’s Energy F1 power unit, updates that have been made in closer collaboration with the team. 

“Red Bull is the only partner for Renault now, through ourselves and Toro Rosso, and that focus from Renault together with a close involvement with our design team is yielding good results and a far closer integration between the power unit and the chassis side,” said team principal Christian Horner. “Working in unison with Renault we can really make some big steps forward this year.”

Newey added that the process of reducing the deficit the team suffered last year will take time: “We have been working very hard with our partners Renault to help them develop the engine. What we have to remember is that the internal combustion engine and its very complicated associated items, the ERS and turbocharger, are long lead time items. Those are things where if one team takes an advantage then it takes time to overthrow that or get back on a par with or hopefully ahead.”

For drivers Ricciardo, a three-time winner with Red Bull last season, and Kvyat, who joins following a successful rookie season with sister team Toro Rosso, the brief two-month wait for a return to the cockpit is over and a first taste of the RB11’s potential awaits in Spain. 

“I’m looking forward to driving the RB11 and I’m hanging out to get behind the wheel again. I hope it’s going to be a beast. We’ll soon find out,” said Ricciardo. “There was plenty of pressure on me last year to prove myself in a top team and I think everyone knows now what I’m capable of so I’m excited - excited to build on what we achieved in 2014 and ready to give Mercedes a good fight.”

“It’s going to be very exciting to drive an Infiniti Red Bull Racing car for the first time for me,” added Kvyat. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for me and I’m really looking forward to finally getting into the car. It’s going to be cool.

“Though many people in the team know me quite well, there is still the challenge of entering a new team for myself. However, I haven’t really set any targets for 2015. I just want to keep doing the best job possible with hard work and the right attitude and that’s the best thing I can do.”

On Red Bull’s aims for 2015, Horner concluded: “Our target is simple: to close down the gap to Mercedes yet further. We were the only team other than Mercedes to win a Grand Prix in 2014 and we won three with Daniel Ricciardo.

"Our target is to close the gap down and put Mercedes under as much pressure as we possibly can. We know what we’re aiming at, we know what we need to achieve and I believe that with the RB11, with the drivers we have and with the new structures put in place we should be able to do that.”

Ricciardo will be first to put the RB11 through its paces in Spain on Sunday. The Australian is also due to drive on Tuesday, while Kvyat assumes driving duties on Monday and Wednesday.

source : formula1.com

Ferrari SF15-T revealed

Ferrari have officially unveiled the SF15-T, the car the Italian team hope will return them to winning ways in 2015. 

The new machine, which will be driven by Ferrari’s all-world champion line-up of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, is noticeably different in appearance to last year’s underwhelming F14 T, which became the first Ferrari since 1993 not to score a Grand Prix victory.

“Last year we had an unacceptably large gap in our performance,” technical director James Allison told Ferrari's website. “We’ve tried to make sure that the weaknesses that we felt were particularly noticeable on the ‘14 car were put right for the ‘15 car.”

Like other 2015 cars, the most obvious change from last year is at the front where a long flat nose has been introducued in response to recent rule changes. However, Allison says the rear of the SF15-T received similar attention: “The back of the car is something that is noticeably different from the 2014 car. We have been successful in pulling the bodywork much tighter to all the stuff underneath the skin. That’s been done from a lot of work, not just in the wind tunnel, but also in the design part of the company to try to find radiator designs that were fundamentally more efficient. 

“For every square centimetre of radiator we’re able to extract more cooling this year than last and therefore were able to close the car down at the back as a consequence.”

Another crucial area of development for the Scuderia over the winter was on their power unit, which struggled against the might of Mercedes in 2014.

“We had a number of issues with last year’s power unit,” explained Allison. “Early on in the season the power delivery was not particularly sophisticated so it was tough for the drivers to get the throttle response they wanted. That improved a lot during the season and we’ve taken it a step further for the SF15-T. 

“A definite weakness of last year’s car was that the amount of electrical energy we were able to recover from the turbo was not really good enough for producing competitive power levels during the race. That’s an area where we’ve tried to change the architecture of the engine to make it a better compromise between qualifying and racing performance. 

“And then plain simple horsepower. Enormous amounts of work has gone into all aspects of our combustion efficiency to try to make sure that in this fuel limited formula where every team is only allowed to burn the same amount of fuel, that every single compression stroke, every single ignition stroke is extracting the maximum amount of horsepower and putting it on the road.”

Maurizio Arrivabene, whose appointment as team principal in November was one of a number of key staffing changes at Ferrari over the winter, was full of praise for the new machine.

“Enzo Ferrari said a long time ago that the best car is the winning car. Last year we had an ugly car and it was a non-winning car. I like the car this year in terms of aesthetics. I don’t know about the performance (but) it’s really sexy."

Arrivabene had previously stated that Ferrari’s objective for 2015 should be to win at least two races, and the Italian sees no reason to change that goal.

“I am just realistic,” he said. “Nobody has the magic to change things when things are unchangeable. The car was ready in December and we applied certain modifications that in our opinion are quite interesting. I don’t want to say that we are going to win the world championship but for sure we are committed to win at least two races.

“The work to do is to enhance the team spirit, the passion that was a little bit lost in the past few years and to work together very hard with one objective: to win as much as possible.”

The SF15-T is expected to make its track debut at the start of pre-season testing in Spain this Sunday.

source: formula1.com

F1 : Sauber C34 revealed

The Sauber F1 Team will go into the 2015 FIA Formula One Championship with new drivers Marcus Ericsson (SE, 24) and Felipe Nasr (BR, 22). Raffaele Marciello (IT, 20) has signed as test and reserve driver. The roll-out of the new Sauber C34-Ferrari will take place at the first winter test in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain).

With regard to the 2015 season, team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said: “2014 was a very disappointing year. However, this is in the past, and we now focus on what comes next. We have learned our lessons and are confident for the new season.”

The team principal’s prediction for the new season is short and concise: “We have to improve, and be able to fight for championship points.” For the Sauber F1 Team 2015 is its 23rd season in Formula One; it is the fourth oldest of the current brands.

Monisha Kaltenborn is optimistic about the new driver line-up: “I am delighted about our two new drivers who bring a breath of fresh air. Both are young, talented and highly motivated. On their way to Formula 1 both stood out through victories in Formula BMW and Formula 3. Both then finished this career progression off in the GP2-Series. While Marcus looks back to one season in Formula 1, Felipe will have his rookie year in which he comes fully prepared due to his role as test and reserve driver at Williams last year. I feel confident with regard to our drivers.”

Marcus Ericsson also looks into the future with optimism: “I am pleased about being a member of the Sauber F1 Team. After a difficult season, we want to move forward and fight in the mid-field like the team previously did. From a driver’s point of view, I want to continue to learn and establish myself as a Formula One driver. I have the feeling of being in the perfect environment to do so. In Formula One it is difficult to have precise targets, as it depends on the overall package. It is clear that we want to be fighting for points.”

Felipe Nasr explains: “In my rookie season there is a lot to learn, and especially as I have not yet driven on some circuits yet. In general, I am ready to take on this challenge. In my role as test and reserve driver for Williams last year, I was involved in every race weekend. Furthermore, I also had the chance to drive the car a few times, so I think I have a certain understanding of Formula One. Now I am taking the next step in being a race driver, and I am looking forward to bringing my experience from 2014 as well as to supporting the Sauber F1 Team in getting back into the points.”

Test and reserve driver is Raffaele Marciello who, as well as other series, won the 2013 Formula 3 Championship in an outstanding way. Last year he had two podium finishes and won the main GP 2 race in Spa-Francorchamps.  Raffaele will also have the opportunity to participate in some Friday practice sessions during Grands Prix. Monisha Kaltenborn said: “Raffaele’s previous career is impressive. Therefore it is a logical step for us to give him the opportunity to become more familiar with Formula 1. As a team we are pleased to be there with him on his way to the pinnacle of motorsport.”

Raffaele Marciello explained: “I am really pleased to be a member of the Sauber F1 Team, which has a long tradition of building up excellent drivers. I really think that this is the best choice for my future career. I am also happy to compete for one more season in the GP2 Series, which, together with my new F1 role, will give me a very busy 2015 season. I want to thank the people at the Ferrari Driver Academy who are responsible for giving me this important opportunity, and now I really can’t wait to start delivering my best.”

source: sauberf1team.com

Mercedes W06 2015 F1 car completes shakedown at Silverstone

Mercedes has provided a glimpse of what its new Formula 1 car looks like, after a shakedown at Silverstone on Thursday and released the first proper images of the car

The team elected to run a systems check in Britain before sending it to the first test at Jerez in Spain this weekend, where it will be officially launched on Sunday.

Nico Rosberg was drafted in for driving duties.

Teaser videos posted by the team on Twitter offered the first look at the new car, and it later issued a side-on shot showing the revised livery.

Although the images are not entirely clear, it is possible to ascertain some initial details.

Toyota confirms WRC return in 2017

TOYOTA CONFIRMED TODAY THAT IT WILL RETURN TO THE FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP WITH A YARIS WORLD RALLY CAR IN 2017.

Toyota Motor Corporation president Akio Toyoda ended months of speculation when he made the announcement during a press conference in Tokyo, at which the Yaris WRC made its public debut in a launch livery.

The programme will be handled by Toyota Motorsport (TMG) in Cologne, Germany, which has already completed a preliminary test programme in Europe with the Yaris WRC on asphalt and gravel.

Frenchman Eric Camilli, who drove a Ford Fiesta R5 in WRC 2 at Rallye Monte-Carlo, has been selected as the first member of Toyota’s junior driver development scheme.

The 27-year-old will carry out the test programme alongside former Subaru driver Stéphane Sarrazin, now a racer in Toyota’s FIA World Endurance Championship squad, and eight-time Finnish champion Sebastian Lindholm.

Toyoda said his visit to last season’s Neste Oil Rally Finland impressed him.

“During my time there many rally fans asked me when Toyota would come back to WRC. People talked about Toyota’s history in WRC, and I was filled with surprise and gratitude that so many people remembered.

“Last time we competed was in 1999. That makes me think we are not announcing a return, but perhaps a start. We must begin again from scratch and carefully prepare both team and cars," he said.

The current Yaris WRC complies with existing regulations, but changes are expected when updated technical rules are introduced to WRC in 2017.

Toyota won four drivers’ and three manufacturers’ world titles in the 1990s with legendary drivers such as Carlos Sainz and Juha Kankkunen.

Toyota’s return was welcomed by WRC Promoter’s managing director, Oliver Ciesla.

“Toyota has a long and distinguished history in motorsport, particularly in world rallying, and we’re delighted to welcome one of the automobile industry’s giants back to WRC,” he said.

source: wrc.com

F1 : McLaren MP4-30 revealed

The McLaren MP4-30, the team’s first Honda-powered racing car since 1992, has been pictured for the first time ahead of the 2015 season.

The team are the only one on the grid to use Honda’s new RA615H power unit as the Japanese manufacturer returns to F1 for the first time since 2008.

Together McLaren and Honda won all four constructors’ championships and powered the four drivers’ champions between 1988 and 1991 – a success they intend to replicate.

“I was team principal all those years ago,” said group CEO Ron Dennis, “and while I don’t tend to like looking back to the past our previous record of sustained success was certainly instrumental in creating the confidence to make the decision to partner with Honda again”.

“Now, there’s real hunger to demonstrate the capabilities of the huge talent pool we share between us, and I’m totally committed to driving progress and achieving further success.”

Team principal Eric Boullier, who joined McLaren at the start of last season, said the team is “stronger than ever” following the restructuring which took place last year. “We acknowledge that our journey will require a huge amount of hard work, dedication and application from everyone involved, in both Woking and Sakura,” he said, “but we’re ready and committed to building on the foundations we’ve already established in order eventually to enjoy the results we crave”.

source: f1fanatic.co.uk

F1 : Lotus reveal the E23 hybrid

Lotus have provided a first glimpse of their 2015 challenger, the E23 Hybrid, and predicted it will trigger a vast improvement in their on-track fortunes this year.

The car is the first the team have produced since switching to Mercedes power after scoring just 10 points during the 2014 season when their engines were supplied by Renault.

In its most notable design feature, the E23 has been presented with a conventional nose - a clear departure from the split 'twin tusk' nose of its predecessor.

According to technical chief Nick Chester, the new car “represents a massive step forward for us. It’s no secret that we struggled with last year’s car so we’ve targeted every area that caused us an issue. We’ve made strong progress in the wind tunnel as well as in areas such as packaging and cooling. We expect the E23 to perform far, far better than its predecessor.”

Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado will continue to drive for the team in 2015, with Jolyon Palmer appointed the team's third driver following his GP2 championship win last year.

The Enstone-based team, which has been dogged by financial strife in recent years, are yet to confirm whether they will participate in the upcoming Jerez test, the first of three pre-season meetings this winter. They are, however, confident that they have fixed many of the flaws that bedevilled its predecessor, the under-performing E22.

“In terms of what’s new, obviously a massive change for us is a new Power Unit supplier," said Chester. "We made this change as it looked and looks to be the one area of the car which could bring us the greatest performance gain. It’s not just performance, but reliability and driveability as well as packaging and cooling too.

"We learnt a lot in many areas of the car over the course of 2014 so there are many lessons which have been applied. We know we’ve made a big step. We won’t know how our car will fare in relative terms until we’re out in action at a Grand Prix, but we certainly expect to be much more competitive than last year.”

Source: Sky Sports F1

1000 HP DELIVERY DODGE RAM TRUCK...Are you kiddin' me?

Most of the companies use their parts tucks as a tools. When we see a thread on the Cummins Forum documenting RevMax Performance Converters’ build up of their parts truck, we had to take a look.

They plan on building their parts truck and putting some serious horse power with it. This is not a work truck turned toy either. Choices were made many times during the build, because they planned on keeping the truck in service for deliveries.

Next time when they are late for some delivery, they really will have no excuses with over 1,000 HP under the hood.

The overhaul started in late June or early July and has progressed nicely over the past 6 months. This truck is a 2008 Ram 2500 that has under the hood a 6.7 liter Cummins. Because the truck is a delivery truck type, it is 2WD, sports a long bed, has a regular cab, but has only 140k on the odometer.

Thanks to RevMax’s 68RFE program getting a substantial makeover, this all started. The main goal is to become the fastest delivery truck in the United States. The plan is to utilize the help of RevMax for the tranny, Hamilton Diesel for the engine, and then source everything else locally in Charlotte, NC. When they finish the truck, they hope it will be in the 10 second range and have more than 1000 HP under the hood.

         Engine:

• Fire ringed block and head
• Carrillo rods
• Dynomite Diesel injectors
• Fleece Performance Piping kit
• ARP 625’s
• Hamilton Springs and Pushrods
• 24V girdle with 12mm studs
• 465/480 billet comp wheel and custom housing that are mounted to a Steed Speed manifold
• H&S Performance tuner with Custom MCC tuning
• Hamilton Cams 188/200 cam
• aFe Power Intake Horn
• FASS 200GPH pump
• Custom 5” exhaust
• PPE Dual CP3 pumps
  
  
  
  Transmission:
  
• Customer Revmax Stage 5 triple disc billet converter
• Revmax Signature 1000 68RFE w Manual Lockup
• Billet input hub
• Billet flexplate
• Billet input shaft

Why a 1,000 HP and not the 850 HP? The 1,000 runs different overall line pressure and line pressure settings. This built vehicle is about having fun and it looks that RevMax is having fun.

The major problem that they have now is the traction. While getting sideways is always interesting, that maybe is not the best idea for a delivery truck. With this kind of power, major rear suspension changes will be made, but they are limited for suspension and tire because this will still be their delivery truck.

They are running CalTracs and QA1 adjustable shows from Calvert Racing. The truck has a full roll cage, but it looks to be about it for safety/traction modification.

There was installed an SRT10 hood. The grill, bumpers and other parts were painted white. Even white Rigid Industries LED light bar and fog lights were installed. There is a rumor of adding a wrap down the road, but for now, all is white.

The interior audio system is being replaced. In, the front doors are mounted a set of 6.5” Polk Audio components, and 5.25” parts are mounted behind the seats. Two 10” JL Audio W1’s subs are being mounted in a custom box and it is being made to work around the roll cage. The power of everything is a JL700/5V2 amp.

source: www.netcarzone.com