Ten things we learned this week: 17 February 2017 edition

Freezing cold is not a natural environment for the electric battery. Lithium technology is much better than the old-school NiMH and lead-acid stuff you’ll find in regular car batteries, but when it starts to get properly cold, all bets are off. So it makes sense for budding EV maker Lucid to test its upcoming 1,000bhp EV in sub-zero temperatures to see how it fares when it gets properly cold. 

That, and cold-weather testing of the chassis, ABS and scores of other components, is why Lucid drove up to the frozen climes of Minnesota. But, happily, the team behind the nascent electric supercar realised that people who like 1,000bhp cars are perhaps more interested in watching them slide around in perfect snow drifts than they are finding out about the cold-weather performance of the demister. So, they got their research data, and we got a joyous demonstration of what 1,000bhp looks like when it’s deployed on snow.

Watch the video here

It takes bravery to risk the ire of Jaguar fans everywhere by messing with the E-Type. It takes a special kind of bravery to gut one entirely, stick the remains of the body on a tubular space frame, wedge in Mazda’s triple-rotor 20B engine and install massively flared rear wheel arches. 

For traditional E-Type fans, perhaps the one saving grace of the build is that it’s going on the comparatively unloved, long-wheelbase 2+2, not the desperately in-demand drop-top. We don’t know if it started off as a V12 but, if so, that’d make it even more of a red-headed stepchild. 

Whether it’s your cup of tea or worst nightmare, there’s a certain carefree attitude – and a lot of careful engineering – going into this project, and we’re keen to see the finished product.

Photo: Muttley Racing

Yes, Suzuki is the latest to be caught up in an embarrassing recall fiasco. The Japanese company has recalled all of the affected vehicles, so they can undergo full and immediate remedial action. And no, it has nothing to do with leaving your kei car on a waterfall.

The scope of the issue, however, is truly dire: someone in the Suzuki factory forgot to stamp ‘K6A’ on an engine block. This fault affects exactly one car in no practical way whatsoever, but Suzuki has issued a full official recall to redress the crushing oversight. 

It’s had wide-ranging implications for the owner of a 1996 Suzuki Cappuccino, who has somehow managed to drive the Cappuccino for 21 years without a stamp on the engine block. They’ll have to return the car to Suzuki, not to get the original engine stamped, but to have it swapped entirely for a brand-new, pre-stamped engine. 

We’re just glad no one was hurt.

We’re not even sure where to start with this one. It could be because the FIA felt like it dropped the ball with the exceptionally dangerous Group B, or maybe it’s because WRC was actually getting pretty entertaining this year, but the FIA is apparently considering changes to the rules that won’t allow average stage speeds to exceed 80mph. 

So, despite approving rules to make cars faster, with more power, active centre diffs and better aero, the FIA doesn’t want them to actually go any faster than before. But, rather than go back on the new car arrangements (which would be akin to shooting oneself in the foot with a cannon), they’re mulling over tighter, more technical stages that force drivers to go more slowly.

They’ve already cancelled a stage of Rally Sweden, after slide master Ott Tanak set an average speed of more than 85mph on the first run, so it looks like they’re serious.

Even today, 200mph is a fairly heady figure to top, taking quite a good turn of engineering, aerodynamics and brute force to punch through. 

So imagine doing it back in 1927, before people knew what penicillin was and when crash safety involved the phrase ’try to be thrown clear’. That was the environment that shrouded the Sunbeam 1000hp, when it hit an average speed of 203.79mph on Daytona Beach in Florida. 

The 1000bhp that propelled the driver, Major Henry Segrave, came from a pair of 22.5-litre V12 aero engines, run through a three-speed gearbox and – rather worryingly – a chain drive. With 45 litres of aeroplane engine on board, it was little wonder that ‘The Slug’, as it was nicknamed, weighed more than three tons. 

Unfortunately, the engines that powered the Sunbeam are in serious disrepair, to the point where they’re now in “perilous condition”. So, starting next month, they’ll be rebuilt in entirety, ready to fire into life again at Beaulieu Motor Museum in England’s far south.

… to tie in with Fulham Football Club. For the non-Brits among you, that’s a soccer team from London, which is in England. 

It’s not the most obvious match-up, we’ll admit, but it has apparently been “designed exclusively for Fulham FC season ticket holders”, which may or may not be limited to some badges and a paint job. 

But it did get us thinking – how would you design a 500X to properly reflect a footballer? Maybe it should automatically make a really big insurance claim if another car hits you, but only if the police are watching. It could also wave its doors around if it were overtaken and then get sold to drive in another country for an exorbitant sum.

… and, if the moody shots of the FW40 are anything to go by, it’s actually a bit of a looker – at least by modern standards. The classic Martini livery helps, but it’s the flow of the moulded body from the cockpit back that has our attention.

Of course, it’s not the prettiest car that wins races, but the fastest. To that end, the FW40 is designed to make the most of the rule changes for 2017, which allow much wider tyres, wider front wings and wider cars. The cars are also six inches shorter than last year’s, which will give them a look much more like the early ’90s racers that everyone’s misty-eyed about. It’ll also make them faster and, according to Formula 1 at least, harder to drive. 

Now that Williams has broken the seal, we’re hoping to see what the rest of the field has come up with in the coming weeks.

So much torque. Yep, in the latest tease for Dodge's wild 'Demon' Challenger, we learn that this SRT will feature tyres with a 15 per cent larger contact patch, more than twice the grip and a unique construction.

The Demon will also get a higher stall speed torque converter and 3.09 rear axle gears, meaning better torque multiplication over the Hellcat. So when you launch the V8-engined muscle-car off the line, you will wrinkle the tyres, and likely melt everything around you.

We can't wait.