2017 Honda Ridgeline Previewed At SEMA As Baja Race Truck

At the SEMA Show, Honda took the wraps off  its Ridgeline Baja Race Truck, crucially a sign of things to come next year when its second stab at the pickup truck market, the 2017 Ridgeline, is released.

This machine, however, is destined for the SCORE Baja 1000 driven by Jeff Proctor, with the Honda Performance Division heralding its return to truck racing.



Developed by the HPD wing, the company says it's powered by a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 with at least 550 horsepower. The Ridgeline race truck gets a tube-frame racing chassis, according to Honda, but the production version will be a unibody model similar to the previous model. That engine, likely sans turbos, is destined for the 2017 Ridgeline.



Honda says we can even expect to see a similar front, side, bed and roof on the production truck, signaling the next-gen Ridgeline is going to stick very closely to the proven pickup truck format in this country and searching for more success than its oddball predecessor ever received.



Even if this Ridgeline racing truck is a fantasy for consumers and a toy for Honda to take to Baja, it is an interesting teaser for the Ridgeline you're going to be able to buy in 2016. 

Honda CB900 – Bullitt Garage

In 1979, as the first Honda CB900 Bol d’Ors were rolling off the production line in Japan, the legendary American director Martin Scorsese was on set making his masterpiece “Raging Bull”. Staring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, it’s a black and white tale of Boxing and the Mafia in 1940’s America. It had all the subtly of a sledgehammer. So for Bullitt Garage’s heavy hitting, rebellious big block Honda it made for the perfect name and with Gonçalo strapping on the gloves and Luis in his corner, the CB900 Raging Bull was born. Hailing from the beautiful city of Braga, Portugal, the Bullitt Garage team aim to build an exclusive line of custom machines with underground styling and a level of exclusivity for each and every customer.

For the CB900, the look Goncalo and Luis came up with was a “return to the racers of the 80s but with a bolder and more rebellious look” and with any CB900 build that huge 20 litre tank dominates the landscape. The horizontal lines that are created with the paint scheme are both a throw-back to the blocky graphics of the Freddie Spencer era while the colour palette hints at that rebellious desire. Black on the bottom reduces the visual size of the tank and hides some of the squared off lines while the white with deep caramel gives the Bol d’Or a distinctive ‘80s industrial feel.

With weight saving a big priority the rear subframe has been removed, along with the rear fairing and sofa like seat with its hefty steel pan. In its place is a new tubular hooped frame with a Bullitt Garage two up seat made from a lightweight aluminium pan with a black leather finish. The side covers, battery box and airbox have all been ditched for more weight saving and the negative space allows the engine to take centre stage.

As one of the last air-cooled superbikes the engine may be considered by some to be old tech, a big bore CB750, but nothing could be further from the truth. Under the watchful eye of Shoichiro Irimajiri who had overseen the development of Honda’s CBX program and earlier their F1 engine program the CB900 featured centrally positioned spark plugs for equidistant burn across the chamber, two-stage cam chain and all new cylinder heads, it was high on horsepower and torque.

Raging Bull maintains all the good factory fruit but those heads now draw their mixture from rebuilt and tuned 32mm Keihin carbs with improved air flow by way of individual pod filters. On the exhaust side the heavy twin mufflers have been ditched for a set of 4 into 1 pipes that are bad ass in black and release the true sound of the big Honda. The factory machine was good for 11 second quarter miles, so with a lot less weight and some more power this Raging Bull is running Lamborghini numbers.

The chassis and suspension were not overlooked by the Honda team who weren’t willing to simply throw their new big block motor into an old frame. It’s this racing pedigree that Gonçalo was keen to retain “The main idea with this “Raging Bull” was to take the most possible weight while maintaining the most original elements possible”. With that in mind the factory telescopic air assisted forks with anti-dive remain in place as one of the truly iconic parts fitted to the CB Honda.

Lowered through the triple trees they bring the centre of gravity closer to terra firma and give Raging Bull a mean stance. While out back the revolutionary rear shocks for the time, with adjustment for dampening, compression and rebound control the factory tubular swingarm. Braking the Bull are cross drilled twin rotors up front clamped by rebuilt Honda calipers with the mammoth 297mm single disc rear kicking the tail out with even a small stab of the pedal.

With the major components finished Goncalo turned his attention to the detail items that separate the good builds from the great. The huge instrument cluster of the standard CB is gone, there is just no way to make it look good and a Raging Bull can’t be restricted by “Speed Limits”. The raised bars have been swapped for clip-ons that are set at near on zero degrees to still give plenty of leverage.

They wear a quick throttle, cleaned up standard switchblocks, standard master cylinder and colour matching brown grips. Lighting the way to the rodeo is a simplified single headlight and fork gators take care of any mud that gets tossed up by this wild beast.

The rear taillight shines over the licence plate that lets you know this is an angry bull that gets ridden and with it’s blacked out wheels and quality rubber it’s ready to stampede its way down the tightest of back alleys or open up those pipes and let the big beast roar, it’ll sit on 120km/h without ever raising a sweat. Once again Gonçalo Sousa Cardoso has crafted a machine that more than meets its brief, the perfect beast for the Jake LaMotta in us all.

via PIPEBURN

The Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Kid Rock Concept Is 18 Wheels of Freedom

By HENRY PHILLIPS (Gear PATROL)
You need to read an article to realize that this truck is the greatest American invention since the American flag bikini? Alright, here are some stats:

The Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Kid Rock Concept comes with two GibbsQuadskis and a trailer for a grand total of 18 wheels.

The Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Kid Rock Concept has seats modeled after acid-wash jeans.

The Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Kid Rock Concept has 100 Stars and 26 stripes airbrushed onto its body panels.

The Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Kid Rock Concept can tow 907 cases of Keystone Light, 67 Georgia Bulldog offensive linemen or four Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Kid Rock Concepts.

Still unconvinced? Know that every customization that Kid Rock and Chevy made was in an attempt to “Celebrate freedom and honor the American worker,” but will also succeed at making your neighbor look like a total loser as he stands in the shadow of your six-wheeled opus. Chevy won’t sell you this one since it’s currently being hero-worshipped at SEMA but if you go buy the “normal” Sliverado 3500HD Dually ($40,560+) we’re sure your boy down the road can bolt on the rest. You’re welcome.

LEARN MORE: HERE

apéro .........

OUTSIDERS JAPAN MOVIE .(Drifting Documentary)

After 10 years of being a part of the drift scene, Phil Morrison and James Robinson from Driftworks took a tour of Japan, accompanied by film maker Al Clark, and guided by Mitto Steele.
The goal was to see where drifting originated. To find out why it has advanced so much, and why the drivers will risk everything to do it.

Wales Rally GB

This Week’s Video Round-Up

The 2015 SEMA Show might be done and dusted now, but we’ve still got a huge amount of coverage to bring you. Before we kick off the new week with some more finds from in and around the Las Vegas Convention Center, it’s time to take a quick look at some of the videos we’ve been watching over the past seven days…

First up, it’s a new ultra high definition short film from GoPro – The Art of Innovation: Nissan GT-R LM NISMO in 4K. It’s definitely worth hitting the 2160p image quality setting for this 26-minute, behind-the-scenes look at Nissan’s journey to the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

Next up, off-road racer RJ Anderson is back as the star of a new UTVUnderground XP1Kfilm. Aptly titled, XP1K3, this is five minutes of hardcore thrashing about in a highly-modified Polaris RZR XP Turbo that needs to be watched (if you haven’t seen it already). Hit 4K resolution and crank up the sound for the full effect.

From a highly-polished and choreographed production to something a little more off the cuff, it’s two-time WRC champion Marcus Grönholm putting Volkswagen’s 2017 Polo R WRC test mule through its paces on a closed tarmac road. Enough said really…

Sticking with the tarmac theme, our final featured video this week is Touge Slide: Downhill Drift x Clip. Shot on location in the French Alps, not only is this a cool clip, but this particular stretch of winding mountain road will be used for a round of the 2016 Federal Tyres King of Touge series. Maybe we need to check that out…

That wraps things up for this week, but before we go, click here to check out a quick clip from Acura released just prior to SEMA: The subject: hip-hop artist Ludacris and the restoration of his beloved (but crashed) 283,000-mile-old ’93 Legend.

As always, if you’ve watched an interesting video this week, feel free to share it in the comments section below!

The Speedhunters

Mazda shows lightweight MX-5 Spyder and Speedster at SEMA

MX-5 Concepts Display Two Different Takes on Staying True to Pure, Lightweight Sports Car Philosophy

LAS VEGAS (November 3, 2015) – Mazda revealed two design concepts today at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, based on its all-new 2016 MX-5 Miata—MX-5 Spyder and MX-5 Speedster—demonstrating two vastly different takes on lightweight, open-air performance.

Lightweight. Fun-to-drive. Roadster. Those three tenets have served as the foundation for the Mazda MX-5 Miata since its 1989 introduction and continue to serve the new fourth-generation model. Focused, lightweight engineering is a guiding principle of every Mazda vehicle made with SKYACTIV Technology, allowing for greater efficiency, improved performance and agile handling dynamics.



But what if that sense of lightweight performance were taken to the extreme? What if Mazda's North American designers harkened back to vintage roadsters to create thoroughly modern, bespoke concepts for what a lightweight performance car should be



The results would be the MX-5 Spyder and MX-5 Speedster concepts.

"Both MX-5 Spyder and MX-5 Speedster are uncompromising designs that highlight the core strengths of MX-5," said Ken Saward, design manager, Mazda North American Operations. "The all-new 2016 MX-5 served as a blank canvas for our design team to create some truly one-of-a-kind cars, yet our SEMA concepts remain true to more than 25 years of MX-5 heritage."



MX-5 Spyder is a sophisticated interpretation of the classic vintage roadster, which is designed to accentuate the open-air experience. Its bikini top was developed by ASC – American Sunroof Corporation with the fabric supplied by Haartz.

Other highlights include its specially formulated Mercury Silver paint color, carbon fiber aero kit, grille intake and body toneau cover and lightweight Yokohama ADVAN Racing RS II 17-inch wheels. Its interior is adorned in Spinneybeck "PRIMA" natural leather, lending a sense of vintage motoring from behind the wheel.

MX-5 Speedster pares the roadster back to the essentials for an unadulterated, wind-in-the-hair driving experience, evocative of the open-top sports cars of the 1950s—even going to far as to eschew a windshield for a deflector. In the same vein, the utter dedication toward creating such a focused machine led the design staff to build the Speedster with custom 16-inch RAYS Extreme Gram Lights wheels, benefitting MX-5 with less unsprung weight. MX-5 Speedster finished in a new concept color called Blue Ether.

Other details on MX-5 Speedster include an adjustable coilover suspension, which lowers it by 30mm compared with the production-car specifications, a Racing Beat center-mount exhaust, an interior retrimmed in Alcantara, carbon fiber Mu-Len Delta seats created exclusively for MX-5 and carbon fiber doors. In all, the lighter-weight materials have helped contribute to a weight loss of more than 250 lbs., with MX-5 Speedster weighing 2,080 lbs.



Saward and other designers worked from conception to construction to put the SEMA concepts together, partnering aftermarket parts suppliers and Southern California performance shops to create them. Partners include:

AC&A Manufacturing
ASC – American Sunroof Corporation
Delta Seat
Franks Fab Shop
Haartz Corporation
H&R Springs
KW Suspensions
Long Road Racing
Lusch
Makin Industries/RAYS Wheels
Racing Beat
SIM Specialty Interior Manufacturing

Specifications for each vehicle are as follows:
MX-5 Spyder
Engine: SKYACTIV-G 2.0L DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder with VVT
Wheels: Custom Yokohama ADVAN Racing RS II 17 x 8 (42mm offset)
Brakes: Front Brembo four-piston calipers with vented rotors
Tires: Yokohama ADVAN A048 225/45/17
Shocks Springs: Adjustable coil-overs
Weight: 2,301 lbs.
Exterior Color: Mercury Silver
Interior: Seats, doors, trimmed in Spinneybeck "PRIMA" natural leather

MX-5 Speedster
Engine: SKYACTIV-G 2.0L DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder with VVT
Wheels: Custom RAYS 57 Extreme Gram Lights 16 x 8 (45mm offset)
Brakes: Front Brembo four-piston calipers with vented rotors
Tires: Kumho Ecsta V710 225/50/16
Shocks Springs: K&W adjustable coilover suspension
Weight: 2,080 lbs.
Exterior Color: Blue Ether
Seats: Lightweight seats developed by Mu-Len Delta Seat exclusively for the 2016 MX-5, constructed of Carbon Fiber and trimmed in black Alcantara

Motorcycle Saddlebags and Tool Rolls

Keep all of your gear safe and secure without cramping the style of your new cafe racer. Pack Animal’s new saddle bags perform as good as they look.


Pack Animal is a small team of people who want everyone to live a life full of stories from the road. Our own experiences have introduced us to incredible people, taken us to some mind blowing places, and changed us for good.  

Helping people get out on the road seems like a big undertaking, but we can chip away at the goal in a few ways. 

First, we'll be manufacturing gear that has proven itself worthy to carry your things on any road in any condition. We've designed a rugged motorcycle saddle bag perfect for a few weeks on the road. To keep your machine running, we offer a tool roll just big enough to carry some of the tools you might normally leave at home while still small enough to mount easily on even the most heavily laden rig. You'll also find our line of simple but beautiful small leather goods ready to join your daily carry kit.

Second, to help more people live on the road, we'll be organizing and sponsoring events and trips. Opportunities to meet other people who want to get out there and opportunities to learn from others in this community about how they make it work. Hopefully we can go make some stories together, maybe see something new for the first time or fix a breakdown on the shoulder of an empty highway. 

Lastly, we will scrape together as much knowledge as we can for you to use while on the road. Hacks, tips, tricks, packing lists, places to stop, places to avoid, and perhaps even a bit of lore.  Maybe it'll help you out sometime, or maybe it will just make you laugh.

Be a part of what we're doing!

This November we will be launching our Kickstarter campaign to bring this business to life. We need your help to make this dream a reality. Without funding we are unable to meet the minimum quantity orders that our material suppliers require, and we are unable to upgrade our shop equipment enough to handle sustainable  production rates. We simply cannot make this happen without you. 

We're so excited that you're here, and we hope you'll join us.

- The Pack Animals

visit .kickstarter

1971 BMW R50/5 – Cytech

Written by Ian Lee.

Many of us set out to build the bike of our dreams. It’s rare that someone literally builds the bike in their dreams. Donovan Muller of Cytech did just this in his latest build, a monochromatic masterpiece that was designed with his eyes closed, but built with his mind open. Taking design cues from a machine he envisioned while asleep, Donovan has put the Cytech touch on a BMW R50/5 of 1971 vintage. The end result proving it doesn’t matter which model Beemer that Cytech is working on, the end result is something out of this world.

On starting the build, Donovan had to ignore the constant questioning of whether a white frame would look good on a bike, as well as the fact that the R50 isn’t the sort of bike worth customising. He stripped down the bike to the bare frame, powdercoated it in white, and started to dispel the doubt that this build was a bad idea. On refitting the factory guard, a BMW R26 rear carrier was fitted to give an old school look. To allow for decent touring mileage, a 21 litre fuel tank is fitted to the bike, with new Germa fuel taps and Goodyear fuel piping to safeguard the bike’s reliability on rough South African roads.

Next on the agenda was giving the bike a boost in power. According to Donovan ‘in standard trim they are very slow, but with the engine modifications we have made, it now means she can run at a comfortable 120km/h’. These mods include a change to 600cc pistons, along with the fitment of cylinder heads from an R60/5. The factory Bing carbs have been blasted, rebuilt and mounted with K & N pod filters. To allow for the custom air intake, an airbox eliminator has been mounted on the engine and painted to suit the aesthetique of the airhead. Going for a cafe racer style for the exhaust, 38mm headers equipped with big fin exhaust nuts feed through to ever so slightly upswept Dunstall silencers.

Cytech isn’t just known for it’s custom rides, the company also builds adventure tourer bikes, and carries out tours of the African subcontinent. This has allowed Donovan to know what makes for a good suspension setup. Overhauling the factory front forks, upgraded progressive springs have been fitted along, with new headset bearings. To keep with the black and white look of the build, the rims have been powdercoated White, while the hubs have been powdercoated black.

The hubs have been laced and trued in house with stainless spokes and nipples, while the forks were apart the brakes were reconditioned. Tough looking rubber is fitted in the form of Mitas E07 tyres, 19 inch at the front and 18 inch at the rear, each packing Michelin reinforced inner tubes. Finally, to make sure all power required gets to the ground, the gearbox, driveshaft and diff have all been overhauled. Finally, a set of Hagon shocks brace the swing arm for when the Savannah beckons.

Bringing dream to reality, Donovan Muller of Cytech has produced a custom that can’t be put into one particular category. Featuring both touring ability, as well aesthetically pleasing, this bike shows you don’t need bright colours to attract attention. This bike is the stuff dreams are made of.

[Photography by Ryan Roux] via PIPEBURN

Warning: High risk of a short-circuit...

Tom Hartley has installed a new ‘underwater bridge’ on which to present the cars for sale through his showroom in the North of England. Given the current risk of precipitation, it was a rather brave decision to introduce the new feature with a pair of the latest electricity-infused hypercars…

Given his experience of more than 40 years in the business, however, we’re sure he kept a close eye on the weather forecast during the shoot – particularly given the current demand (and sky-high values) for the latest crop of hybrid hypercars. Indeed, both the LaFerrari and the stunning, Martini-liveried Porsche 918 are now sold, but he still has plenty of desirable cars, both new and classic, currently available.

Photos: Tom Hartley

You can browse Tom Hartley's entire stocklist in the Classic Driver Market.

RED........

WRC Wales Rally GB 2015 : Rally of Legends

La Grande-Bretagne accueille pour la dixième fois consécutive la finale du Championnat du monde des Rallyes FIA depuis 2006, avant de laisser cet honneur au Rallye d’Australie la saison prochaine... Les principaux titres sont déjà attribués, mais chacun voudra conclure en beauté. 

La victoire et titre de Colin McRae en 1995, le décès de Michael Park, la disparition de Richard Burns et la dernière victoire de Petter Solberg en 2005... Ce Wales Rally GB 2015 sera placé sous le signe du souvenir et de la commémoration...

En hommage à leurs pairs, les équipages auront sans doute envie de briller sur les spéciales galloises, dont certaines sont de retour au programme comme Myherin ou Great Orme (asphalte), près de Llandudno qui accueillera la cérémonie d’ouverture. Hormis ces deux spéciales, plus quelques modifications supplémentaires, le parcours est sommes toutes assez classique.

Pour la troisième année consécutive, le Wales Rally GB est basé au nord du Pays de Galles, avec un parc d’assistance installé dans la zone industrielle de Deeside. Vendredi, la première étape emmènera les concurrents dans les « mid-Wales » avec une Tyre Fitting Zone à Newtown. Samedi, la journée sera interminable avec un départ à 5h00 et un retour à Deeside à 21h00 après deux spéciales nocturnes. Quelque 109 km (six spéciales) seront à parcourir avec les mêmes pneumatiques.

Les couronnes Pilotes, Copilotes, Constructeurs, WRC-2 et Juniors ont déjà trouvé leurs têtes. Reste plus que le titre mondial WRC-3 et les titres honorifiques de vice-champion Pilotes, Copilotes, Constructeurs, WRC-2 et Juniors à attribuer sur cette dernière manche de la saison. Mais cela nous promet tout de même de belles bagarres dans la boue galloise.

Andreas Mikkelsen (VW) et Kris Meeke (Citroën) auront à cœur de confirmer leur première victoire mondiale cette saison. Elfyn Evans (Ford) et Ott Tanak (Ford) devront terminer 2015 sur la meilleure note possible. Sébastien Ogier (VW) et Jari-Matti Latvala (VW) ne lâcheront rien. Revanchard ? Thierry Neuville, non nominé par Hyundai, le sera bien évidemment, alors que Dani Sordo et Hayden Paddon voudront prouver qu’ils sont dignes de confiance...

Kevin Abbring (Hyundai) et Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën) vont poursuivre leur apprentissage. Sera-ce le dernier rallye mondial de Robert Kubica (Ford) dans une World Rally Car ? Ce sera celui de Martin Prokop (Ford) avant le début d’une nouvelle aventure au Dakar...

A suivre également les performances de Tom Cave (Fiesta R5) et d’Alexey Lukyanuk (Fiesta R5) en WRC-2, celles d’Osian Pryce (DS3 R3) et de Chris Ingram (DS3 R3) en J-WRC, ou encore la Subaru Impreza de David Higgins aux couleurs de la Subaru de McRae en 1995.

For the tenth year in a row, the final round of the World Rally Championship is being hosted by Wales, before the honour switches to Australia in 2016. The chief title chases are already settled but everyone will be keen to round off the season in style. 

There are several anniversaries to commemorate this week in Wales, including Colin McRae’s title-winning RAC Rally victory in 1995, the deaths of co-driver Michael Park and ex-world champion Richard Burns in 2005, and the last world class win of Petter Solberg the same year...

To pay tribute to McRae, Park and Burns, the current generation of WRC stars will no doubt be eager to shine on the North Welsh stages which include classics like Myherin and the spectacular asphalt bash round Great Orme’s Head in Llandudno, the venue chosen for this year’s start ceremony.

With the exception of these two tests, however, and in spite of a few minor modifications to the route, the format of this year’s Wales Rally GB is in perfect keeping with recent tradition.

Indeed, this is the third year running that the event is based in North Wales, with the service park located at the Deeside Industrial Estate. Friday’s programme will feature a midday Tyre Fitting Zone in Newtown, a little further south, while Saturday’s leg will be extremely long, starting at 5am and finishing back in Deeside at 9pm after two night-time stages. Crews face the prospect of covering six stages totalling around 109km with no opportunity to change tyres.

The 2015 Drivers’, Co-drivers’, Manufacturers’, WRC2 and Junior titles have all been wrapped up, so the only championship still to be settled is the WRC3 battle, plus the scraps for runner-up honours which will be sure to keep spectators entertained.

Andreas Mikkelsen (VW) and Kris Meeke (Citroën) would love to add a second win to the maiden victories they notched up earlier in the year, while Elfyn Evans (Ford) and Ott Tanak (Ford) know they need to deliver a top performance. Sébastien Ogier (VW) and Jari-Matti Latvala (VW) will want to conclude the season on a high note, and Thierry Neuville will be out for revenge after he was dropped as a points scorer for Hyundai. At the same time, his team-mates Dani Sordo and Hayden Paddon will want to prove they deserve the Korean team’s confidence.

Kevin Abbring (Hyundai) and Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën) count on continuing their apprenticeship of the sport’s premier series, but it could be the last time we see Robert Kubica (Ford) competing in a World Rally Car. That will be the case for Martin Prokop (Ford) as he prepares to switch to the Dakar...

Also worth following are Tom Cave (Fiesta R5) and Alexey Lukyanuk (Fiesta R5) in WRC2, Osian Pryce (DS3 R3) and Chris Ingram (DS3 R3) in the JWRC category, and the Subaru Impreza of David Higgins which will feature the colours of McRae’s 1995 RAC-winning Subaru.