The Greatest Turbocharged Cars Of All Time

We look at the first, the fastest and some great ones in-between.

Turbocharged cars have gradually been taking over the motoring landscape as manufacturers attempt to get the best power and efficiency possible out of their vehicles. But turbos aren’t necessarily a magic bullet that cures all evils. The fact is that many turbocharged cars, especially small capacity ones, tend to fall well short of their claimed consumption figures when driven in real-world condition.

But done right, and generally, for the sake of additional performance, they can make for an exhilarating driving experience. So to celebrate this little metallic snail, we look at some of the first turbo pioneers some memorable modern classics and then move on to the latest and greatest current generation of turbocharged supercars.

Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire

The very first turbocharged production car was built right here in the US. The 1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire not only had an awesome name but also used a water/alcohol mix injection system called ‘turbo rocket fluid’. GM marketers clearly wanted customers to focus on the additional power that the turbo gave the 3.5-liter aluminum block V8.

Its 215 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque could launch the heavy F-85 to 60 mph in a little over 9 seconds, pretty impressive for the time. It was perhaps a little predictably not the most reliable car in GM’s fleet and lasted only two years before it pulled the plug. The die had been cast though and it took the rest of the world 11 years to catch up.

BMW 2002 Turbo

The 02 series sedans were the start of BMW’s dominance in the sport sedan sector and put it in a strong financial position for the coming decades. The top Turbo model of 1973 took the 2-liter fuel-injected motor from the already quick 2002tii and bolted a turbocharger to it which pushed power levels up to 170 hp and torque swelled to an impressive (for the day) 180 lb-ft. It was seriously quick, with a 0-60-mph time of just over 7 seconds but had massive turbo-lag. Fewer than 1,700 examples were eventually built, and surviving examples are now highly collectible.

Porsche 930

Aside from the GT3, every modern Porsche is currently turbocharged. Things looked rather different back in 1975. The 911 was still powered by a flat-six hung out the rear but the range was comprised of basically one car, the 200-hp 3.0-liter Carrera. The only other Porsche you could buy was the odd little mid-engined 914. Then the 930 Turbo was released. The first cars made 260 hp and enough torque to scare the big V12 supercars of the time.

In 1978 the engine was increased to 3.3-liters and an intercooler and five-speed gearbox were added. The resultant 300 hp was now delivered with a touch less turbo lag although the wayward rear end was still a problem. An odd slantnose variant was also produced in limited numbers and this one made 330 hp courtesy of a factory fitted performance kit. The quickest 911 models have been turbocharged ever since and big leaps in suspension technology and the adoption of AWD have made the latest 911 Turbo far tamer in the corners.

Audi Quattro

There were several significant turbo cars like the Saab 900 and Lotus Esprit that came along before the Quattro, but none rewrote the history books quite so comprehensively as this little AWD Audi did in 1980. When the rally variant proved so dominant in competition, a road-going version was released to capitalize on its success. It was a bit nose heavy and the 197-hp 2.1-liter motor was not massively powerful, but it performed well above expectations. The combination of turbo power and all-wheel-drive traction gave this two-door Quattro a serious advantage against its rivals on slippery surfaces and it set the stage for dozens of over-achieving AWD Audis over the following decades.

Porsche 959

The 930 may have started the path to turbocharged dominance but it was the technologically advanced 959 that showed us what future supercars would be like. Released in 1986, it offered much the same package back then that is seen in the latest generation of fast road cars today. It came equipped with a twin-turbo 444-hp 2.85-liter flat-six that put its power down to all four wheels but even more impressive was the aluminum and Kevlar chassis and run-flat tire technology. The heads were water-cooled and its 197-mph top speed made it the fastest production car of its day, even if it was only for a short while.

Ferrari F40

Ferrari’s response to all this German technology was to produce a stripped-out racing car based on the already fearsome 288 GTO and hope that no one would notice that it really should not be registered for road use. The result was the stunning rear-wheel-drive F40, released in 1987. It too had a twin-turbo engine of a similar capacity to the 959 but this one was a V8 and it made 478 hp. It wasn’t all about brute force either as the Kevlar, aluminum and carbon fiber construction was cutting-edge and thanks to a lack of just about any creature comforts, it could manage 199 mph, which meant the 959 was no longer the fastest thing on the road.

Nissan GT-R

Moving on to more recent turbocharged offerings, the latest Nissan R35 GT-R has been a budget supercar slayer ever since it first saw the light of day in 2007. It follows on from its iconic predecessors of which the R32 of 1989 was the first to offer turbocharging as a means of boosting performance levels. Those cars made an official 276 hp from the factory but in reality, were closer to 320 hp. Modified examples were renowned for their ability to cope with massive boost levels, something that the current cars are also very adept at.

Ferrari 488 Pista

Despite that superb F40, most Ferrari fans were shocked to learn that the 4.5-liter naturally aspirated V8 in the 458 was to be replaced by a turbocharged version in the 488. With the benefit of hindsight, the concerns were totally unfounded, the 661-hp 3.9-liter twin-turbo V8 added massive mid-range grunt while retaining most of that high-rev energy of the old engine.

The latest 710-hp 488 Pista is even more intense, improving in every area over the standard car while still offering a characterful power delivery. The Piloti variant is even more exclusive still, available only to customers who currently compete in one of Ferrari’s racing programs.

McLaren 720S

McLaren started its supercar onslaught back in 2011 with the brilliant MP4-12C. That car went through some intense development over the years and its 3.8-liter twin-turbo motor also made it into the P1 hypercar albeit with a lot of modifications.

The latest 720S uses a new 4.0-liter motor which puts out a strong 710 hp and makes this super series car at least a match for anything in its class. The original F1 supercar may have had a sublime non-turbo V12 powerplant but even its upcoming replacement is sure to feature a pair of turbos to ensure that it can deliver the kind of performance we have come to expect of the brand.

Bugatti Chiron

There are many contenders for the hypercar throne and it would be unfair to ignore the achievements of cars like the Koenigsegg Agera and Hennessey Venom GT but when it comes to the complete package of power, luxury and usability, the 1479-hp Chiron still reigns supreme. It makes twice the power of more ‘conventional’ supercars like the 720S and 488GTB but then again it has twice the engine.

The top speed of this 8-liter W16 quad-turbo Chiron is currently limited to 261 mph due to the limitations of current tire technology but you do not need to be travelling at those velocities to appreciate the benefits a few turbos have to its accelerative abilities.

View the original article here

The Greatest Racing Liveries of All Time

In case you didn’t already know, Porsche won its class at Le Mans this year. It wasn’t an overall win – they scrapped their LMP program – but the GTE PRO class is a competitive one, and a win there is no easy task. More than just winning, Porsche finished 1-2, which is also good. What’s interesting, however, were the retro liveries they were wearing, chosen to honour Porsche’s 70th birthday: one was fairly recognizable, with its Rothman’s livery made so popular in the ‘80s where it adorned the all-conquering Porsche 956 and 962 racers. The other, less so: it was pink, and if you squinted, you could see strange German lettering splattered all over it, used to signify different cuts of pork. Why would they do that? Well, that and much more is explained in our list of the top racing liveries of all time.

There were many much more successful 917 racers than this one, but this isn’t about how the cars did in their various races; it’s about how they looked while doing it. Basically, the “20” model was given all sorts of strange body mouldings to help improve its aero at Le Mans, though it made it tough to drive and it ended up crashing just a few laps in. The writing on the car? Cuts of pork, because the weird aero gave the 20 a somewhat fat and piggish appearance.

Keeping with the animal theme, we move three decades down the road and down under, where for the first time, the American Le Mans Series (or was that “Australian” Le Mans Series?) ran an event at Adelaide, in Oz. The crocodile paintjob recalled the wildlife in the area, as well as everyone’s favorite Ozzie export, one Crocodile Dundee. Unlike the Pink Pig, the Croc not only finished, but won.

Hippies may be better associated with stuff like the VW Beetle or Bus, but it seems that even racing couldn’t ignore the free love movement of the ‘60s and ‘70s. To wit: the “Hippie” 917 LH. Painted first purple with green swirls, and subsequently red and yellow, these were two of the brightest-coloured cars to ever grace the track.

Porsche may have popularized the red, yellow and blue colours of the British cigarette company – they dressed up everything from 956s to 959s in the stuff – but it was also found on the likes of Ford rally cars, Williams F1 cars and Holden V8 supercars.

Once again a Porsche staple, this time immortalized on the silver screen in Steve McQueen’s Le Mans, the creamsicle orange/powder blue colours of the Gulf oil company have graced everything from that 917 (golly, that car’s made the rounds through the years), to the McLaren F1, Audi R8 and Aston Martin DBR9. The colour combo has been popularized to the point where you can buy jackets, belt buckles, umbrellas and books emblazed with that legendary logo.

The covered rear wheels were cool, the sound from the seven litre V12 was glorious and the top spot on the Le Mans podium ain’t bad, but it was the purple, gold and white paintjob of yet another British tobacco company that people are going to remember.

Hard to decide which sled that wore the gold, white, and black of the French oil company is the most famous: the Renault R5 Turbo Rally car? The Alpine A442 or any number of Renault-powered F1 cars? Leave out the gold/white/black colour combo, and Elf itself has appeared on some pretty out-there stuff, including the wacky Tyrell P34 six-wheel racer.

Well, if your car’s as loud as the Mazda 787B was, you’d better have the colours to back it up. With that in mind, Mazda turned to Japanese textile manufacturer Renown, whose orange-and-green argyle pattern will go down as possibly the loudest livery ever to win at Le Mans.

Like Gulf, the blue, white and red Martini striping has appeared on a vast number of racecars. Unlike Gulf, however, Martini is equally known for sponsoring rally cars – specifically, Lancias – as it is sports cars like the 917 (of course!), Porsche 936 and most recently, the Williams F1 team with Canadian driver Lance Stroll at the helm.

While The King’s most recognized ride – by race fans and Pixar’s Cars fans alike — is probably the Plymouth Superbird he piloted in 1970, Petty has commandeered a number of vehicles, including the Plymouth GTX, Road Runner and Ford Torino Talladega. The one thing these all had in common? The simple but oh-so-recognizable baby blue and white paintjob.

While the white, green and red of one of the world’s oldest lubricant companies has appeared in a number of series that range from the Japanese Super GT Championship to the British Touring Car Championship, it’s likely best recognized when covered in mud, snow and other grime. That’s because it’s been a staple on the World Rally Stage for decades, draped over the likes of the Toyota Corolla, Celica, Hyundai Accent and Ford Focus rally cars. It was Castrol that was draped over Carlos Sainz’s stricken Corolla, halted 500m before the finish line – and the world championship – at the ’97 Rally Great Britain…because he was out of gas. A car sponsored by an oil company…frozen in the middle of the road, with an empty tank. Oh, the irony.

Not sure if this Trans-Am competitor is better known for the bright green paintjob or the huge “cow-catcher” front splitter, but either way: it was the most eye-catching entry on the loud n’ proud early ‘70s Trans-Am circuit. Who knew car wax could look so cool?

There’s just something about British cigarette companies and good-looking race cars, eh? Of the number of these on the list, the black and gold JPS F1 cars – usually Lotuses driven by the likes of Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell and Graham Hill, among others – are probably the classiest. You can count on one hand the number of F1 cars with a black colour base you’ve seen on the circuit – it doesn’t tend to be the most eye-catching, sponsor-friendly colour and it gets hot – but somehow, some way the mostly black JPS cars are some of the best-looking F1 cars…ever.

From basic black cars we turn to this: possibly the brightest car on this list, and rightly so: after all, when you’re sponsored by a paint company, you’re going to be colourful, right? It helped that Gordon was one of the most dominant drivers of his era, and managed to transcend the typical good ol’ boy NASCAR image by appearing in movies and even rap songs.

It may have appeared on other cars, but none of them ever wore Italy’s national airline colours like Sandro Munari’s Lancia Stratos HF. Somehow, they managed to get the airline’s tail art to fit perfectly onto the ultra-tight canvas that is the Stratos’ body, and it looks glorious.

What’s so crazy about the blue and gold Sunoco ‘do is how its two most famous applications are on such divergent cars – the bonkers (wait for it) Porsche 917/30 Can-Am car, and the Camaro Trans-Am car – yet both are run by the same guy, Roger Penske. It also appeared on the sexy body of the Lola T70 – the man loved his racing.

Gulf may have had blue and orange, but these babies were all orange, all the time. So bright you could probably see them from space, they dominated the Can-Am circuit in 1967-69, winning 20 of 32 races over that span, including all 11 in ‘69.

You could probably make a whole list of the M1 – when you run a single-make series, there tends to be a lot of sponsorship variety – but we’re choosing the white/navy Boss cars as they represent such a great confluence of two storied German brands: Hugo Boss and BMW. You can bet the drivers that drove the Boss car were the best dressed, too.

Forget Gulf, Martini and Rothman’s; when it comes to sheer variety of the cars (and boats, and planes, and bikes, and…) that have been graced by the blue and silver of a sugary energy drink brand, no-one comes close to Red Bull. The brand became so recognizable, that at one point that there were actually two teams competing in the F1 Championship that flaunted the colours of a company that was actually started by a guy in Thailand. Sort of. Oh, there’s a racetrack named after it, too.

It simply doesn’t get much more all-worldly than this. Painted over the Ferraris and McLarens driven by arguably the two best F1 drivers ever – Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna – the red and white of the American tobacco house will forever be tattooed on the minds of race fans. Even when the “Marlboro” script had to be turned into a bar code after cigarette sponsorship was banned from racing in 2001, everyone knew it was Marlboro.

Follow Wheels.ca on

Facebook

Instagram #wheelsca

Twitter

View the original article here

Porsche Celebrates RS Models At The World's Greatest Road Race

Great road, great car.

The latest piece of wicked metal to roll out of Weissach traveled to the home of the world's greatest road race for a special family reunion. Cue the Isle of Man: Home to MotoGP star Cal Crutchlow, this tiny island has hosted the world famous Isle of Man Tourist Trophy road race since 1907, in which competitors compete for the best time on the 37-mile mountain course on some of the most demanding roads on earth. Porsche feels the trust that riders put in their bikes is the perfect metaphor for the qualities of the 911 GT3 RS.

Its constant and detailed feedback to the driver make this Porsche thrive on the historic TT course. Joining a pair of 991.2 cars on the Isle of Man is a mouth-watering line-up of historic Porsches, ranging from the previous generation 991.1 and spans all the way back to the first 2.7 RS – the car that started it all. For 50 weeks of the year, the Snaefell Mountain Course is a regular road with houses, shops, and towns littering the way. So while the priceless convoy snakes through the tiny island past famous landmarks like the Ballaugh Bridge or Parliament Square in Ramsey, locals are busy going about their business. Immune to the high speed procession.

The GT3 RS comes into its own as the roads narrow and twist. Porsche says the proximity of the grassy verges demands concentration, but the unforgiving road is exactly the kind of environment the GT3 RS thrives in, using it’s mid-range punch and insane grip to navigate safely. Improvements to the car, like a faster PDK shift time, modifications to the rear axle steering, new spring rates, and 8 per cent more aero downforce make themselves noticeable. “The streets are not exactly a race track around here – they’re very bumpy and more like a British B road – but the car is coping very well,” says Andreas Preuninger, Director GT Model Line “It is very precise, it has a lot of traction and it’s a joy to drive it on these roads.”

View the original article here