Turbo Zone

In a sea of supercars all over the world, Koenigsegg’s new One:1 has been dubbed as the world’s most powerful production car. It was launched in March at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, however, only a mock-up was shown in the auto exhibit. The prototype is still at works, which the public will see in action — for the first time — at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed in the U.K. next month.

As Cars UK points out, Koenigsegg will bring not just its One:1 mock-up, but also a working prototype. We also hear that the prototype will be taking part in the Goodwood festival’s Michelin Supercar Run, meaning we should get a good taste of the car’s insane performance level. Organized by the French tire company, the Michelin Supercar Run is a firm favorite of the Goodwood Festival of Speed as it sees the hottest and coolest supercars show off their sheer tire-smoking power.

And just in case you aren’t fully up to date on the One:1’s specs, its power maxes out at an incredible 1,341 horsepower. Torque, meanwhile, is 1,011 pound-feet. And considering the One:1 will weigh 1,360 (2,998 lbs) kilograms or less, it’s easy to understand why Koenigsegg is confident the One:1 will set a new land speed record for a production car. Sadly, only six of these babies will be built—and all are spoken for.

To say that Enzo Ferrari has become an automotive legend is underrated. His life and contributions to the industry are larger than life — it’s surprising that a biopic about him has not been made yet.

Well that’s about to change, as a movie depicting Ferrari and his fair share of ups and down will soon be released to theaters. The film is based on Brock Yates’ book titled “Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races.” While filming of the movie was scheduled in 2004 headlined by Al Pacino, plans were shelved when director Sydney Pollack died.

There hasn’t been much movement since then but Cecchi Gori Pictures is trying to get things back on track as they’re shopping the biopic at the Cannes Film Festival.

Nothing is set in stone but Cecchi Gori Pictures CEO Niels Juul told Variety he is in advanced talks with financiers and a well-known U.S. director. A script has already been written and Juul says “It’s a beautiful tale of the story of Ferrari battling with Maserati for supremacy in speed, yet it’s not a racing movie: it’s a ‘Godfather’ movie with racing in it.”

If everything pans out, an official announcement could be made in a month or two.

Do you think Al Pacino can perfectly justify the lead role? Who else do you see playing Enzo Ferrari in film?

Good news for Nissan car fans: the Japanese automaker just unveiled the 2015 Nissan 370Z NISMO. Staying true to the original design penned by Filipino Randy Rodriguez,the 2015 NISMO model now beefs up the beast with an aggressive new look, an available 7-speed automatic transmission option, and a new 370Z NISMO Tech package.

According to Nissan, the 2015 370Z NISMO is available to be sold in July 2014. Tag price has not been revealed yet, but the company says it will be made public closer to that period.

The most dramatic visual changes to the 2015 Nissan 370Z NISMO are found at the front end, where a wider, reshaped grille opening, red splitter lip, and, at either side, vertical cooling inlets are added below LED Hyper daytime running lights. The red accent is also found on the re-shaped side sills, the side mirrors, and across the bottom of the rear bumper area. The rear spoiler has also been restyled and made smaller.

Standard equipment includes black and red Recaro seats with leather and Alcantara covering, 19-inch NISMO alloy wheels by RAYS wearing a charcoal gray machine finish, large Nissan Sport Brakes, a viscous limited-slip differential, and, of course, Nissan’s 350-horsepower, 276-pound-foot version of the 3.7-liter VQ37VHR V-6 engine. The 2015 model’s suspension has also been slightly re-tuned.

A six-speed manual transmission with SynchroRev Match is standard, but a seven-speed automatic can also be had with the 2015 model, expanding the reach of the NISMO Z beyond the previous manual-only versions.

The new Tech package adds a welcome touch of up-level equipment, including a hard-drive-based navigation system with 7-inch touchscreen, rear-view camera, Bose audio, streaming Bluetooth audio, and more.

Only four exterior colors are offered: Solid Red, Magnetic Black, Brilliant Silver, and Pearl White.

How are you digging the 2015 Nissan 370Z NISMO model?

Not to stereotype, but women drivers in general usually have problems in parking their vehicles.

As Cher said in Clueless when asked if she wants to learn parking, “What’s the use? Everywhere you go has valet.” Unfortunately, it’s not so true — valet parking is really not that rampant.

In Seoul, South Korea, the government seeks to become more female-friendly with its latest project.

One of the many ideas is creating special parking spots for ladies, completed with pink paint and skirted icons and located mainly near shopping areas. These parking lots are longer and wider than the normal parking spaces in the city.

A spokesperson for the Seoul Government, Miss Cho Eun-Hee, has told the Korea Times “It is like adding a female touch to a universal design and make things more comfortable for women”.

Do you think we should adapt a similar scheme here in the Philippines, mga Kapuso?

Governments around the world are continuously seeking ways to curb or ultimately prevent road accidents from happening. Claiming more than 1 million lives annually worldwide, it is even considered a public health crisis by most nations.

In their quest to promote safety on the road, Netherlands has piloted an ingenious project: make roads glow in the dark.

But while most kids — and those kids at heart — raved about it, the project run into some serious stumbling block.

Moisture, such as that encountered during rainfall, can quickly reduce the effectiveness of the glowing paint’s light output—the pilot road markings were just put in place two weeks ago, reports the BBC, and yet already they’re dimming due to large amounts of rain.

Another potential pitfall to the glowing lane markers: drivers have already been spotted cruising down the road in the test area with their headlights off so that they can see the glowing lines—a clear safety hazard if such roads should become widespread.

Nevertheless, the engineering firm Heijmans, which is behind the realization of the pilot program in the Netherlands along with interactive artist Daan Roosegaarde, says a new version of the glowing road markings is already in development, and will be ready later this summer.

Presuming the second iteration of the glow-in-the-dark roads works as expected, a wider rollout is planned, both within the Netherlands and in other countries.

Perhaps in the Philippines, they should consider making the roads flood-free first before introducing this concept. After all, what’s the use of a glow-in-the-dark technology if nobody can see it due to the presence of dark, stinky rainwater?