Pagani Huayra

This is the most-anticipated super car of 2012, and the best part is... ITS COMING TO THE USA!!!!! I have always love Pagani and I adore the Zonda. It was the perfect blend of power, lightness,  crazy styling, gorgeous interior, and exclusivity. The Zonda, however, is now dead. In its place, however, comes the new Huayra is almost here. The name is pronounced why-ra and there is no doubting that it looks absolutely fantastic. Its something you cannot describe, but i found myself spending hours just looking at the damn thing. Even the purely functional bits are beautiful; the side mirrors, for instance, are shaped like a teardrop and are made from carbon fiber. The interior is equally astonishing, swathed in sumptuous leather with amazing carbon fiber and aluminium accents. Im not sure there has ever been a better interior, except for the last Zonda F Roadster. Like the new Ford Mustang, you have the ability to choose the color of the instruments from many different shades. Even the key is interesting: it is a scale model of the car that cracks in half to reveal the key. The driver then puts the key into the slot on the dashboard. It rather looks like someone's small Huayra has smashed into your dashboard.
This is the first Pagani with an airbag mounted in the steering column, which is an indication of the company's new goal: to sell cars in the USA. This will be the first time that a Pagani will be on sale in the US and I think that it will work out very well for them. George Clooney will probably buy one. To get the car to the Uninted States, the car has to pass many safty tests and complete someting like 300,000 miles in one car to make sure that it can withstand the terrors of everyday driving.
The best thing about this car is that it will be built utterly without compromise. For example, the speedometer plate will not not just be a stamed pieces of metal but one that is handmade. Not even Rolls-Royce do that. The new Huayra will use a massive twin-turbo 5.98 litre Mercedes-Benz V-12 engine.  As you can hera in the video that goes along with this post, the Huayra's engine makes a very unique and tremendous sound. However, i think that it sounds absolutely awful. It might just be the quality of the video, but it sounds like someone sneezing for a very long time. In addition to the sound, i would think that the turbo lag would get a little bit annoying for those who have driven the naturally-aspirated Zondas. Im not sure, however, that the person who buys a car like this will be as interested in the sound as in the raw power. The Huayra develops-get this- 700 bhp! thats 10 more than a Lamborghini Aventador, 90 more than a Ferarri 599, and 60 more than a Fararri FF. In addition, as you can see in the video, the "active aerodynamics are very fun to watch. the air brake seems to be very high tech and means that it will stop, in the words of Jeremy Clarkson, "only faster if you hit a tree!"
There are, however, somethings that im not too sure about. First, I dont like the name. The title Zonda was something that was almost as expressive as the car but Huayra just sounds odd. Secondly, i wished that they had kept up their tradition in the Zonda and fitted it with a manual. The old Zonda racing gearboxes were great and I just wish that they could have done the same thing with the Huayra. Lastly, im not sold on the engine. I know that it is immensely powerful and loud, but in my mind Paganis have always been about natural aspiration and split second acceleration. Im also not sure about the price. It it going to cost about $1.4 million, and for a car that is not much faster than a half-of-a-million dollar Lamborghini Aventador, that does seem like a lot.

But i am nit-picking. None of these small details take much away from the Huayra. It is absolutely fantastic and I am told that they already have orders for 51 of them. Horacio Pagani better get started, because this one is going to be a classic.

2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK55

In the past, the only reason that you would buy this car is if you cannot afford a SL, or you absolutely hate the Porsche Boxer S. That was the simple truth. Over the past few years, Mercedes has tries to make the SLK a serious competitor with the Boxer, but has never really succeeded. Now, however, things seem to be a little difference. This new SLK has been based on the SLS, and I have to say that they have done a very good job. It looks just like a shrunken down SLS or SL. They have even given it a 415 bhp V-8, which should be interesting.

            Overall, the previous SLK was a reasonably average car. It was not as sharp as the Boxter, but it did look good. It was fast, but it did not feel like a quality product compared to the Porsche. This model seems to carry on the tradition. It certainly looks better than the current Boxter, but it still lacks the precision that has made the Porsche so popular. On the plus side, the new SLK feels like a proper Mercedes. The last model was wracked with electrical problems, but this new one seems to be better made. It also looks better than the last one, inside and out. It wipes the floor aesthetics-wise with the Boxter. Even though this new look is a large improvement, I still think that the BMW Z4 is prettier. Like the Z4, the SLK comes with a trendy folding metal convertible roof.  

            The SLK has always been a car for people who could not afford the SL or did not have enough space for it in their garage. Now, nothing has changed. The quality is very good and I am sure that it is an epic GT car, but the Boxter still wipes the floor with it dynamically. In my opinion, the Boxter is a better car for the short blasts. Overall, however, the BMW Z4 is a better everyday car, because it is cheaper. I have no doubt that AMG will make some faster versions but I still think that the Boxter or the Z4 is the better bet.