Continuing our Challenger SRT8 saga, here’s the second video clip of Dodge’s retro-penned muscle car (see the unveiling at the Chicago Auto Show here). Apart from the exterior and interior beauty shots, this 5-and-a-half minute long promo film includes running footage where we not only get the chance to hear the 425 HP Hemi V8 growl like an angry lion but we also see the Challenger SRT8 smoking its rear tires. Check out the vid right after the jump. -Continued



Source: Action Video: Dodge Challenger SRT8 Burning Rubber

Anthony Kodack
Filed in: BMW | Celebrity Cars | stunt

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Last year, BMW Motorrad’s Chris Pfeiffer became the first Indoor Streetbike Freestyle World Champion by winning every round of the indoor event that took place at the SWISS-MOTO Motorcycle, Scooter and Tuning Exhibition in Zurich, Switzerland.

Chris Pfeiffer

Chris and his F 800 were up against 16 other competitors from nine nations, yet Pfeiffer was unbeaten in Saturday’s qualifying rounds and both of Sunday’s final rounds, posting near perfect results in front of thousands of spectators.

From 21 to 24 February, Chris and his BMW F 800 will be back in Zurich’s Exhibition Centre to defend his title at the show which officially ’kick-starts’ the 2008 motorcycling season.

Chris Pfeiffer

This is the second Indoor Streetbike Freestyle World Championship and the best stunt riders in the world will all be trying to outdo each other with breathtaking displays of tricks, wheelies, stoppies and various other crowd-pleasing antics. As winner of last year’s event, 2007 World Champion Pfeiffer will undoubtedly start the competition as favourite. However, the 37-year-old from Halblech in Germany won’t be leaving anything to chance:

"It’s very important for me to retain this title," said Chris. "The indoor world championship is my favourite contest. The small area requires very technical riding and perfect control, and the spectators are very close. I like that."

Chris Pfeiffer

Hoping to capitalise on any mistake that Chris might make will be a whole host of top riders, including Brazil’s Antonio Carlos Farias (who finished as runner-up in 2007), Humberto Ribeiro from Portugal and Balázs Herczeg from Hungary. For the first time there will also be a Swiss contestant - Victor Chelenkov, a 21-year-old from Geneva - but he will be up against some tough competition. The 16 participants come from 12 countries, principally from Europe and the USA but the current champion is not fazed by any of the other ’big names’.

"Success in freestyle is more about riding well than hoping for the other riders to make mistakes. Almost everybody makes mistakes in our sport under the high pressure of a competition, so that’s normal. I have some new variations in my circle combos and some new stuff that I’m working on but it’s too early now to say what I will include in my four runs. The atmosphere is great and unique at this contest because the spectators are so close to the action. I like this and it pushes me to the limit."

World Championship contestants have to ride bikes with a minimum cylinder capacity of 550cc. Thursday and Friday are set aside for training, while the first qualification rounds take place on Saturday. The final races will be on Sunday, with the new World Champion being ’crowned’ at around 4pm. An asphalt track is being specially laid for the prestigious competition, which has a prize fund of 18,000 Swiss Francs.

Chris Pfeiffer

"It’s a big effort for the organisers, but they are building a brand-new surface just for our contest, which is fantastic," said Chris. "I had some trouble with the grip last year in the very beginning as it was a bit oily, but after two days of practice sessions the track was perfect with all the rubber laid down on it - I can’t wait!"

The SWISS-MOTO show at the Exhibition Centre in Zurich will focus on the very latest in motorcycles, scooters and quads. Visitors wanting to kit themselves out for the new motorcycle season will be able to take their pick from the huge selection of accessories and clothing, with approximately 180 exhibitors presenting a highly diverse selection of products. Last year, the four-day show attracted 61,000 visitors, not only from all over Switzerland but from right across Europe.

Source: World champion, Chris Pfeiffer, back to defend his title

Chevrolet hopes their plug-in electric - gas powered Volt will become America’s sweetheart. Yet GM’s boldly going where the fully electric vehicle (EV) has gone before. Forget the EV-1. I’m referring to the Baker Electric of 1899. Thomas Edison’s first car (as an owner) was a commercial success, with an effective range of around 100 miles. Today's prototypes upon which manufacturers are presently lavishing hundreds of millions of dollars can double that. So what’s the big deal?

The big deal: mass producing a comfortable, affordable electric vehicle (EV) that meets current safety standards, with sufficient performance, durability, driving range and recharge times to make it a viable alternative to existing, highly-developed gas or gas-electric powered alternatives. And that’s without considering recharging logistics.

Simply put, Americans depend on cars to do too much to depend on current EVs. Even using the latest Lithium-Ion battery technology, electric cars only really work for short commutes and errand runs in sleepy suburbs. Unless you can plug-in and recharge at a gas station in ten minutes, the average American owner will have to stash the EV on the weekend and break out the “real car.” Without credible highway capability and/or a quick recharge option, buyers with only enough money for one car will be making a petroleum decision. 

Yes, the auto industry’s best and brightest are on the case. Still, absent some miracle battery or materials breakthrough, it will be a long time before America sings the car body electric.

Of all the challenges obscuring America’s electric car future, safety is the biggest stumbling block. Simple physics tells us that the EV’s enemy is weight. Build a tiny EV out of balsa wood and the range issue disappears. Meanwhile, here in the real world, feather light, safe, mid-sized, mass-produced and affordable doesn’t compute.

To wit: the Tesla Roadster is a relatively minuscule, hugely expensive, light weight (carbon fiber) automobile with zero luggage space– and it still struggles to travel 200 miles on a single charge. Even with bleeding edge battery technology, a mass-produced (steel-bodied) mid-size car equipped with the requisite safety structures and devices (i.e. without Tesla’s airbag waiver) doesn’t stand a chance of matching a gas-powered car’s range or convenience. However, remove that barrier…

And you’re in the developing world, where safety takes a back seat to… everything. Which is why the development of the mass-produced EV will occur off-shore.

India’s Tata Motors recently unveiled the revolutionary $2500 Tata Nano. When Tata unveiled their "people's car," they claimed the machine passed frontal and side impact tests– without specifying whose tests they passed. It’s highly unlikely the Nano could meet American or European safety standards. More to the point, Tata immediately announced plans to build an electric Nano.

Ask any golf cart owner; cheap, small and light are the foundations for a successful EV. The Nano will make a perfect EV. It's small and light, thanks to a cardboard front axle and door panels made from ice chips. The machine’s target market isn’t overly-concerned with airbags, cupholders, leg room, highway cruising speeds or huge cruising distances. It's all about purchase price and operating costs. 

At the same time, Israel has just announced that it’s partnered with Renault-Nissan to build electric cars. In smog-soaked Tel Aviv, electric cars will shift much of the city’s transportation energy needs to from petroleum to cleaner energy generation sources, like solar, wind, and nuclear power (in Israel’s case, not using petroleum has other political benefits, too). The government’s action guarantees the economies of scale that will make it worthwhile for Renault to test the EV waters. Equally important, the gov’s inclusion will assure the lowering of any safety-related regulatory hurdles.

Phase one of EV mass production will begin in India, Israel, Africa, China and other “developing” countries, where driving conditions are right, the safety requirements are less substantial, and the government is willing to interfere with the market to make it worth a manufacturer’s efforts. And speaking of governmental interference…

Gasoline production and distribution in the developing world tends to be incredibly inefficient, expensive and corrupt (e.g. Zimbabwe’s ongoing gas rationing crisis). If these countries use electric vehicles, their citizens can generate motive power any number of ways on the local level: solar, wind, coal, burning garbage, whatever. So why wouldn’t they “skip” right to electric powered vehicles, and enjoy the economic prosperity that mobility brings? While realpolitik argues against this kind of energy “democratization,” the possibility exsts.

In any case, America will not be left on the EV sidelines. Once millions EV batteries are field tested, once manufacturers are churning-out large numbers of electric vehicles and their related components, the economies of scale will bring the cost down substantially– and spur more development. At some point, we’ll have our EV cake and put it in a large, comfortable, safe and practical automotive package, too.

Source: Together in Electric Dreams