We recently said that the new BMW 435i, the new coupe replacement for the 3 Series, is starting to grow on us considering how its initial perception was not all that great in our minds. Chris Harris, well known for his criticism of… everything, takes the newest Bavarian Motor for a spin on the road and track. Hit up the video below to check it out!
The new hot hatchbacks to come out of Germany have boggled our minds here in the USA and we are still not sure if we will ever see them on our shores in the form that Chris Harris gets to drive them in the latest On Cars video below. Naturally, as history will show you, BMWs have been a bit more fun in the twisties but the Benz AMG cars have produce monstrous amounts of shear straight-line power. Hit up Chris Harris’ latest On Cars review video below comparing the new BMW M135i hatch against the new Benz AMG A45 hatch.
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BMW and Mercedes-Benz – please, please, please bring the M135i and A45 AMG hatchbacks to North America. For as long as we can remember, buyers in the New World have been forced to look longingly at Europe and Great Britain and the excellent super hatches that are so routinely offered there. And while we’re quite content with the Ford Focus ST and Volkswagen GTI, having a 360-horse five-door with a premium, content-rich interior sounds quite nice.
Our envy for Europe has grown after watching the latest video from Drive, which stars Chris Harris, the Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG and the BMW M135i. This latest battle between MB and BMW takes place on both road and track, with Harris providing a running commentary. If you’re interested in the upcoming Mercedes CLA45 AMG, you should pay special attention to the section on the A45, as the two are essentially fraternal twins. While the video is a bit on the long side, it provides a comprehensive rundown of both cars, giving those of us in North America just a small taste of what we’re missing. Check it out by scrolling below.
Continue reading BMW M135i vs. Mercedes A45 AMG in Euro small-lux throwdown
BMW M135i vs. Mercedes A45 AMG in Euro small-lux throwdown originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 19 Jul 2013 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog
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Jaguar is a regular runner in the Mille Miglia – in 2010 it entered 27 cars in the historic rally to celebrate its 75th anniversary. This year, in celebration of the F-Type, it registered just four cars with the factory team, but it loaded them up with some bigwig UK celebs like Daniel Day Lewis and Jasmin Le Bon. Chris Harris, our own autoverse celeb, was given a seat in a Jaguar C-Type with professional racing driver Alex Buncombe.
While Harris takes us on a tour of the route, he takes us on an even better tour of what the Mille Miglia is and what it takes to run it. It’s a mess of memories, minutes, mementos and sleepless nights. The C-Type was first owned by Juan Manuel Fangio. Stages are timed and require one to drive at a set speed – once, when Buncombe and Harris arrive 90 minutes early they’re forced to sit in the car for an hour. Then they sleep for four hours before getting back into a C-Type with an unsilenced exhaust. “There’s no better way to get tinnitus.”
You can watch the highlights of Harris’ run from Brescia to Rome and back in the video below.
Continue reading Watch Chris Harris pilot a vintage Jaguar C-Type at the Mille Miglia
Watch Chris Harris pilot a vintage Jaguar C-Type at the Mille Miglia originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Jul 2013 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog
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It’s hard to not like the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT. The all-aluminum coupe is fitted with a wonderful naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8 delivering 583 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque. Not only does the burly combustion engine launch the two-seater to 60 miles per hour in less than four seconds, but it does so with one of the world’s greatest exhaust soundtracks as it roars, burbles and cackles down the road.
But what happens when Mercedes-Benz takes away the V8 and its accompanying fire-burning song? Stripped of one of its most appealing assets, does the SLS lose its soul?
Chris Harris recently had the opportunity to take the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive for a track spin in Europe. Sans gasoline, but with four electric motors providing a combined 740 horsepower (737 pound-feet of torque), all-electric all-wheel drive coupe uses sophisticated torque vectoring and a multi-mode operating system to put oversteer – drifting! – back into the equation. Fun? You bet. See for yourself, below.
Continue reading Test drive the Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive with Chris Harris
Test drive the Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive with Chris Harris originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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From: http://feeds.autoblog.com/~r/weblogsinc/autoblog/~3/HUYFJtPpsuE/
By Kurt Ernst
Chris Harris drives the SLS AMG Black Series, sideways
If you asked us to categorize the new SLS AMG Black Series, we’d have a hard time fitting the car into a single segment. Its on-track behavior clearly makes it a sports car, yet its long wheelbase and refined mannerisms (even in Black Series trim) don’t exclude it from the Grand Touring category. With the electro-nannies turned off, however, it shreds tires and wags its tail with the best of the muscle car class.
To build the SLS AMG Black Series, Mercedes-Benz (and AMG) begin with an already-fast SLS AMG GT. The car gets a bump in output to 631 horsepower (impressive from a naturally-aspirated 6.2-liter V-8), a wider track, a stiffer suspension, stickier tires and aerodynamics specifically designed to reduce lift at speed. Next comes the crash diet, which shaves 70 kilograms (154 pounds) off the standard SLS AMG, via the use of things like a titanium exhaust, a carbon fiber driveshaft, a lithium-ion battery and a carbon fiber hood.
Chris Harris is clearly smitten with the 230,000 pound (about $350,000) hoon-mobile, calling it “flipping excellent” on the track. And therein lies the problem: since only 350 will be built, with each selling for an astronomical price, few will ever turn a wheel in anger on the world’s premier tracks. In fact, our guess is that the vast majority will be purchased for investment purposes, secreted away in a climate-controlled garage to avoid depreciation.
Based on Harris’ antics behind the wheel, there’s something criminal about that. What’s the point in engineering and building a car that’s so rewarding to drive, when the vast majority of owners will never drive the car as its engineers intended?
By Zach Bowman
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By now, you should know it takes quite a machine to get Chris Harris excited. The guy spends plenty of time being nonplussed by a bevy of lustworthy hardware. But the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series seems to have done the impossible by getting under his skin. The ultra-exclusive, circuit-bred version of everyone’s favorite gullwing features a wider track, substantially less weight, a revised engine and carbon ceramic brakes. With 630 horsepower on hand, the monster has no trouble dispatching the straights and corners of France’s Paul Ricard with prejudice.
Harris turns two laps in the latest Mercedes-Benz monster, one with the intent of going as quickly as possible and the second with the aim of hanging the tail out past Jupiter. Seems like he succeeds at both goals. you can check out his hijinks in the video below for yourself. Set your jealousy to stun.
Continue reading Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series fears for its tires with Chris Harris at the wheel
Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series fears for its tires with Chris Harris at the wheel originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog
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Motoring journalist Chris Harris may be less than understated in most of his video reporting, but if this new promotional video for Codemasters‘ upcoming racer Grid 2 is any indication, he can take direction. Intended to remind us of just how true-to-life the new racing title will be, Harris spends the video chasing McLaren test driver Matt Jackson in the MP4-12C supercar, in real life, on the UK’s Brands Hatch circuit. Then, using some practice sessions with Grid 2 and a very expensive looking simulator, attempts to clean up his actual lap and pass the pro.
We’ll leave it to you to watch the video and see how it all turns out. For the record though, we couldn’t be any more excited about driving the new Grid game for ourselves, when it hits store shelves on May 28.
Continue reading GRID 2 teaches us how to overtake at Brands Hatch
GRID 2 teaches us how to overtake at Brands Hatch originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog
By Kurt Ernst
Fans of British auto journalist and racer Chris Harris know he has a love / hate relationship with Ferrari. He admires the Maranello automaker’s ware so much that he recently bought a Ferrari 599 on the used market. On the other hand, he doesn’t necessarily respect Ferrari, since it tends to supply (its hand-chosen) automotive journalists with, um, “improved” products.
In other words, the 458 Italia tested by Road & Track is likely to be a bit faster than the one you can buy from your local Ferrari dealer. When Harris made the mistake of revealing this inconvenient truth, he was hastily removed from the list of Ferrari-approved journalists. Harris bought a 599, then, as it was the only way for him to drive a prancing horse on a regular basis.
When recently “sublet” a Ferrari-owned 458 Italia Spider, Harris knew that a conventional review wouldn’t do the job. After all, the car has been on the market for a year or so, and everything that could be said about the strength of it’s 570 horsepower V-8 engine and impressively stiff chassis has already been penned. There are plenty of Ferrari-approved beauty shots and inspirational videos, but Ferrari 458 Italia Spider hoonage videos are in short supply, something Harris decided to address.
If you’re looking for a video review of the car, this clip isn’t going to do it for you. If, on the other hand, you want to see a 458 Italia Spider driven at its limits of adhesion, tail thrown sideways in glorious displays of oversteer, this is the video to watch.
If Harris was blacklisted by Ferrari before filming this spot, we’re pretty sure he’s earned a lifetime ban with this particular video.
Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Performance, Porsche, Specialty, Design/Style
Few things get us as cranked up as a Porsche 911. Generation after generation, this rear-engined oddity has exhilarated our senses, and the new 991 is the most capable iteration yet. Even so, there’s a lot to be said for the older models, from their lighter weights and more modest dimensions to their air-cooled thrums.
That elemental vintage Porsche appeal hasn’t been lost on Los Angeles-based Singer Vehicle Design, which has endeavored to take the best bits from every generation of 911 and combine them into one impossibly sexy rear-engined machine. Based on a 964 donor car, we knew that a lot of work would need to go into everything from the structure to the bodywork to realize the Singer’s cohesive aesthetic and dynamic vision, but we didn’t know just how much until we watched this Drive video featuring Chris Harris. The auto journo gets time with the 350-horsepower, Cosworth-motivated coupe on both mountain passes and at the track, but what could be the most interesting thing about the 27-minute-long video is his in-depth plant tour.
Check it out by scrolling below, but not before paging through our new Singer 911 gallery.
Continue reading Singer 911 gorgeousness explored and experienced by Chris Harris
Singer 911 gorgeousness explored and experienced by Chris Harris originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog
