Electric Lamborghinis and hybrid Ferraris will be here sooner than you think
The announcement of a hybrid successor to the ultra-fast Acura NSX got me to thinking about supercars I'd like to see.
ACURA ON STEROIDS: The NSX was a five-second-to-60 firebreather in its day. (Flickr/Fabio Aro) 
Earlier this week I wrote a piece for CBS Interactive suggesting perhaps that the storied Corvette, at least in its current huge V-8, rear-drive format, has outlived its usefulness. I got savaged by car blog Jalopnik, where raw meat is still in the diet and they like 18 mpg gas guzzlers. Well, I don’t, no matter how iconic they are.-
A hybrid Ferrari California: The California broke ground with a mid-mounted V-8 and a retractable hardtop. Now it can break barriers with battery assist.
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A micro-hybrid Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder: Instead of the miserable 14 mpg combined of the regular car, this one shuts down at traffic lights and uses regenerative braking for a major fuel economy gain. OK, it’s still only 20 mpg combined but it’s a start.
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An electric Aston Martin DB9: With a 95-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, this zero emission Aston reaches 60 mph in four seconds and cruises 250 miles on a charge.
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Comments
I'm sorry I misspoke on the Corvette fuel economy--it's actually 16 mpg combined, not 18. Sorry. Look it up at fueleconomy.gov. The bill for 25 miles of driving? $6.56. Needs premium fuel, too.
More like a lot of green to buy them.. oh
The only green thing about them is the price--you'll need a lot of green to buy one!
Green? Why? Because you'll need a lot of 'green' to buy one?
While the author has lots of factual errors in this piece, his overarching point is correct: vehicle performance will no longer be strictly dictated by internal combustion. Much to the chagrin of the archetypal tree-hugging car hater, its going to be a great time ahead for performance automobiles!
But I gotta agree with I. Mold on his point: the sound (and feel) is a critical part of the experience.
There's something missing from an electric car that that's a big part of the performance car experience - the sound. No big block rumble, no high rpm buzz. Hey guys! Listen to my ... hum ... as I open it up.
Does anybody proof read this idiot's column before such glaring inaccuracies (such as suggesting the Corvette only gets 18mpg, or suggesting that a FWD platform is an acceptable drivetrain layout for a performance based vehicle, etc)?
The author is an idiot. Period. Exlamation point!
It is advisable, when insulting the intelligence of others, to spell every word correctly. You misspelled 12.5% of the words you typed, moran..
In 2005 VW with another co called enginion, invented a 3 cylinder engine that ran on steam powerfrom a cold start it was ready to go in 8 seconds. plus it recycled the steam for reuse...This link has more details..http://abrahamsays.blogspot.com/2011/05/secret-steam-powered-car.html
they even have a display of the motor. remarkable stuff...
This author's ignorance of the car industry is absolutely stunning:
-The current Corvette gets 26 MPG highway.
-Honda currently makes a v-10 for it's racing efforts, it's around 3.5 liters in displacement. Not a "brutal and out-of-time Dodge Viper" type of V-10
-Front wheel drive does not magically impart better gas mileage.
-The NSX was anything but innovative, it's styling was derivative of Ferrari, and it's engineering was off the shelf copies of Lotus.
-Wow..... More
The difference between the NSX and Lotus is that the NSX development was personally overseen by Ayrton Senna. That is what gives it the X factor to differentiate the overall driving experience from other sports cars. I still don't get the V-6 though.
First off, as many have pointed out, front wheel drive has no place in a sports car. A tire can only do so many things, and the weight distribution is all wrong. Secondly, the next generation Corvette will learn the lessons of the current generation race car, and have a smaller 5.5 litre direct injected flex-fuel small block V8 making about the same HP as the current model, and getting better efficiency. Thirdly, pure electric cars are a pipe dream. For the entry price of a Tesla S, you could.... More
My 99 Corvette gets around 24 in the city and an easy 30 on the highway. Not sure where you're getting your numbers but you should do a little research instead of just pulling numbers out of your ___.
Jalopnik does more than 'savage' you, they counter your article point by point.
It's really a sad state of affairs when I know more about cars than the person writing about cars.
You can't make a really powerful front-wheel drive car; because, it's impossible for the front wheels to handle a lot of power and steer at the same time. You get torque steer, which ruins handling. As for the Tesla, see UK TopGear's review of the Telsa and understand why it sucks. It runs out of power.... More
It's really a sad state of affairs when the person claiming he knows so much about automobiles, especially the Tesla Roadster also doesn't have his facts straight. The TopGear review was hogwash. first of all, they were testing a prototype, not a production car, second of all, Tesla is suing them for false and misleading claims.
Dude, take it easy will ya!
I had a 1994 Corvette that routinely managed 27 mpg, which is better tha my current car. I drove that Corvette for 10 years and when I finally had to sell it, the odometer had 250000 miles on it. I also still own a Chevy Silverado SS pickup that averages 18 mpg. And for the author's edification, any engineer knows tha a performance sports car handles better with rear wheel drive, regardless of the amount of horsepower under the hood. To make a sports car front wheel drive borders on.... More
I really like your comment that 18 mpg is gas guzzling. I own a 2006 Corvette and I average over 20 mpg in the city with more than 400 hp on tap. Not to mention that there are very few on the road compared to hmmm lets say a truck! Last I checked you would be extremely lucky to get 18 mpg on the highway most are in the 10-15 mpg range. So what are we calling those? By the way mentioning how "green" a $800k car is does NOTHING for the environment when less than 200 or so will be made!
18MPG IS gas guzzling! So is 20. So is 25. Honestly, with so many inexpensive choices out there exceeding 30MPG (even a Prius, which far exceeds 30MPG, is around 20K - much less expensive than a lot of other cars and certainly a lot of trucks out there) you can not consider 20 MPG good gas mileage anymore. Get with it folks.
Why even buy it then? Do you understand physics?
Yo dude you are a fing idiot, Ferrari's and Lamborghini's are the greenest cars in the world. Why because how many Ferrari's and Lamborghini's on the road? A very limited number.Also when they are driven,they are not driven for many miles. Sir you are a idiot who knows nothing about cars. Your Honda civic which you think is green is worse because there are so many. Count how many Ferrari's and Lambos and Supercars our on our roads vs tons of Honda civics. 1000 vs 10 of supercars. so supercars.... More
Very poor reasoning. First, the reliability of these cars sucks to high heaven. You CAN'T drive them a lot because they'd break down and be in the shop all the time. Second, most people who own these cars have OTHER cars they drive on a more regular basis. Not so green now, huh?
You forgot the new Jag that hits the road in 2013, the C-X75 .
