The Autoweek Dispatch

Friday, February 21, 2020

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We can’t say that it’s an elegant car. We wanted an efficient vehicle, and just as you’d expect if you were looking at an F1 single-seater, this led us to design a car with additional aerodynamic features. So, although on the one hand these details may detract from the lines and overall aesthetics of the vehicle, on the other, they also allow to improve lap time, ease of driving and especially safety.”
—Horacio Pagani, founder of Italian automaker Pagani, on his latest toy, the Imola (love the name!!). The Imola is a Pagani Huayra turned up to 11, named for the Imola Circuit (Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari) and Emilia-Romagna, the Italian region in which it is located. Even by Pagani’s whacked-out standards, the Imola won’t appeal to everyone.

TALKIN' REVOLUTION
This week’s Autoweek Talks topic is revolution, including a look at how the end of Volvo’s boxy design came about, a deep dive into gearboxes and an explanation on how drafting revolutionized NASCAR some 60 years ago. (The debate continues over who invented the strategy.)

RACING LINES
Remember last week when we said, “The weatherman says Daytona’s weather looks about perfect Sunday …”? That’s what we get for listening to the weatherman. The Daytona 500 was rained out Sunday and though Monday’s weather cooperated, there were enough big wrecks (surely by now you’ve seen the Ryan Newman one a gazillion times) to last for the next several races. When it finally finished, Denny Hamlin was ahead of Ryan Blaney in the second-closest finish in 500 history.

The Formula 1 season opens in Melbourne, Australia, on March 15. F1 cars hit the track in Barcelona for some preseason testing. No surprise, Mercedes ended the day on top of the time charts, with Lewis Hamilton three-tenths of a second ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas. That wasn’t the big news, though...

CAR NEWS AND NOTES
Speaking of Mercedes-AMG, the production-car side unveiled its new GLE 63 S Coupe and its hand-built, 600-hp 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. Did we say 600 hp? Indeed we did. Doesn’t everyone need a 600-hp crossover? Of course they do! Mercedes claims a 3.7-second 0-60 time and a 174-mph top speed. That should suffice.

Beijing auto show organizers said they are delaying their event, scheduled for April 21-30, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China. Organizers said new dates will be announced “later,” sounding just as uncertain as the Chinese Grand Prix organizers did a week ago when they postponed the race. The Beijing show started in 1990 and has grown into one of the world’s largest. It is held every two years, alternating with the Shanghai show, also among the largest.

WHAT WE'RE DRIVING
He’s already spoiled rotten from all the Southern California sunshine, so for a dose of reality we dispatched LA mayor Mark Vaughn to cold, snowy, Park City, Utah. Why would we do such a thing? To drive Toyota’s new and ultra-comfortable Camry and Avalon, now with all-wheel drive (the first AWD Camry since ’91!). The Camry goes on sale in a month or so, with the Avalon following this fall. They should be hits north of the Mason-Dixon line.

Robin Warner is still recovering from the pummeling the staff gave him last week for audaciously comparing the John Cooper Works Clubman All4 Mini to Subaru’s STI and the VW Golf R. Nonetheless he managed some seat time in BMW’s 1-Series/Mini-based 2020 M235i xDrive Gran Coupe. He says it was comfortable, quick enough and quiet, adding that as long as you’re not expecting handling like a proper, rear-drive sports sedan, you won’t be disappointed. Think of it in terms of competing with Audi’s S3 and you’ll be fine.

SOME ODDS, MOSTLY ENDS
While Aston Martin pulled its Valkyrie hypercar out of consideration for the new LMDh class at Le Mans earlier this week, there’s still the matter of a 1,000-hp, 545-lb-ft street car. To build the hype for that, as well as Racing Point F1 morphing into an Aston F1 works team, the company got racers Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon to take a spin in the car at Silverstone Circuit, and the company shot the whole thing. See the video here.

LISTEN UP
The “Autoweek Podcast,” Ep. 97, sees Graham Kozak, Wesley Wren and Wes Raynal discussing revolutions, our Talks topic, with Kozak leading an interesting discussion about the electric vehicle’s origins and Mike Pryson joining to talk about how stock cars drafting revolutionized the sport 60 years go. Later in the show, Pryson and Wren go through all the Daytona 500 action. Kozak, Raynal and Wren close the show discussing full-size diesel pickups. Check out Ep. 97 and all the other Autoweek Podcasts here.

WHAT’S AHEAD
We’ll be around all weekend, so check in often for all the racing happenings in IndyCar, NASCAR, F1, IMSA and more. And, of course, we’ll see you next week with more car news, reviews and car culture stories.

--Wes Raynal, Editor