#rhythm: upshift

[tsunagite]

I hope when Upshift first came out as lesbian the conversation went like that one vine where it's like-

"Hey I'm lesbian."

"I thought you were American?"

"...What the fuck is an American?"

Yeah pretty much lmao

[kira-moonrabbit]

As a rhythm game fan, I shall represent a few of my fave songs 🫡

系ぎて / Tsunagite by rintaro soma : https://youtu.be/q26OmWO8ccg

Serves as the climax at one of the biggest rhythm arcade game events ever. Despite its slow speed, it still packs a punch. The name translates to “connect (with me)”.

World Ender by sasakure.UK x TJ.hangneil : https://youtu.be/lAYw5ZTJztE

It’s hard to describe TJ.hangneil songs in general, since they’re “otherworldly”- in an alien-sorta sense. (sasakure and hangneil are the same person, but for RP purposes they collabed via “five-dimensional data interference”.)

Some others:

opia by rN: Neurofunk makes for pretty interesting sounds. (https://youtu.be/a9woc3gxC4E)

Upshift by Iriss-Frantzz: More of a typical “dance” genre. (https://youtu.be/twlSwHYPOG0)

Heavensdoor by LeaF: Meant to evoke a feeling of hollowness- ever heard a song with only kicks? (https://youtu.be/-r4DH6sJFDA)

Inori by 光吉猛修 VS 穴山大輔 VS Kai VS 水野健治 VS 大国奏音: Hard to describe this one, definitely feels like a Boss Song. (https://youtu.be/rjB6waYflTg)

That’s all I’ll put for now, sorry for the disturbance ^^’

Salutes you back, boss. Since I'm feeling epic... I'll tell you what I thought of every song! Long story short: Very good, and gave me a lot to think about... But under a cut for dashboardyness. There's also tangents!

系ぎて / Tsunagite - VERY niceys! Probably the coolest sequence of looking at a floating crystal ever, that music video is. It gave me a feeling of like... hope! beyond hellish circumstances! It was nice.

World Ender - It's like running... it makes me feel like running, and there's a countdown. The music video as displayed also definitely conveys SOMETHING.

As a whole, I can see why the above two songs were your first picks of showing off. They're real heavy hitters, emotionally... I'm no good at expressing how songs make me feel, but they give off the same sort of "hopeful desperation." One leans more on hope, the other on desperation.

As a side note, I've never really paid much attention to rhythm games that aren't a little silly with it (examples of being a little silly with it including rhythm heaven and rhythm doctor... yes, you can boo me off the stage). These all really make me want to reconsider, but at the same time, the video reccomendations youtube's been giving me on the side make it seem like they're liable to break your fingers if you play wrong. I can still definitely enjoy the music on the side. ...But speaking of music!!! whoops!!!!

opia - Neurofunk, huh. They love to give silly names to genres. A genre I know I like that I can give a name to is like, Slushwave. That sounds like something straight out of Hypnospace Outlaw, but no, it's real! And back to the song at hand, this gives me a solid first impression of what neurofunk is. I love the piano backing... It never quite fades into obscurity. Despite the beats being so fast, every sound counts! No wasted space. ...Music can never waste space, but you know what I mean.

Upshift - I admit, this got me to dance a little. Well, wiggle a little in my chair. Still! Listening to it again to keep it at the forefront of my thoughts is making me resume my silly wiggling. In fact, I can barely pause to write anything down... that's how you know something's really made me happy. I can't say anything about it because every time I try to think of something meaningful, I start wiggling happily instead of thinking!

Heavensdoor - At first, I got a little confused when I saw the turn of phrase "a song with only kicks." But now I understand. This song is something monks have to listen to in order to reach enlightenment in the subject of music, I think. But in all seriousness, it's preddy good. All evidence also shows that this song scares rhythm game players, which makes me honored that you showed a "normie" like me as a first suggestion.

But here's a small aside that your description made me think. You say heavensdoor is made to evoke hollowness... at first I went in thinking this was going to be lower key, and then I got surprised when it wasn't what I was thinking. And I guess it is lower key compared to the rest of these songs! It goes to show that hollowness has many meanings. Because it's got less "empty" hollowness and more "uncaring" hollowness to it, if that makes sense? Here, I gotta grab something.... Here, this song, Flicker Trail from Yume 2kki. I went in expecting something a bit more like this. I love me some ambiance-flavored music. But I also need things that aren't ambiance! And this is why I got so excited when I started listening, enough to start writing all this down. Music is good! i love music! i love talking about music!!!! Oh, but I have one last song to say my thoughts about....

Inori - You really saved the best for last, be it intentionally or no. This one's my favorite of this group you've shown me... I love songs where it feels like a battle for fate is going on. And it uses choirs preddy good too. This song SLAPS, if you pardon my french!!! i'm going to drag this to my bestie who has shown interest in music like this.

And last sidenote. I listened to these all while just staring and listening. But some people I know can only listen to new music while doing something else. That would make it tough to pay attention to the minutae of the song for me! But it does fill me with wonder... there's many ways to experience a song. And how you experience it will shape your opinion of it! It's a genuinely cool phenomena to me...

And that's all........ I'm going to have to restrain myself from giving a really detailed list of reccomendations back as thanks for the dinner, both because this post is already long enough, and because my music taste doesn't have many other songs like this (yet). But I can give you one song in exchange. Present World Overhaul from Len'en 3... it goes really nuts. it's noisy and kinda screechy. it's got trumpets for days. and most of all, it rewired my neurons. If you want a more proper description, alas, I'm not the one to call for normal music descriptions...

But anyways! thank you so so so much for the reccomendations!!! And hey, it's no disturbance if it's something i went and asked for!

[lowendgaragechicago]

The Waumandee Time Trials started as the Waumandee Hill Climb in 2012, after Tom Hazen and the Minnesota Austin-Healy club lost their previous circuit in a ski town near the Twin Cities. Seeking an area with few less angry residents, the Time Trials settled in Western Wisconsin near the historic town of Alma. These roads have also been home to the Overcrest Rally in 2019 and 2020. @overcrestproductions For being the Midwest, these are some unbelievable driving roads. Known as the ‘driftless area,’ Western Wisconsin was unglaciated. Receding glaciers would take rock and land with them, but not in the Driftless Area in the west near the Mississippi.

The 2021 Time Trials were the second year for Lowend. @adammkern ran it in 2020 with the 1986 911 Carrera stating ‘This seems like the perfect hill climb for a first timer like me. You’re charging up the hill in second, but just as you get to a chicane you are ready for an upshift. But shifting up and back down to 2nd in a 915 trans is a tremendous waste of time and would throw you off your rhythm. Better to manage the throttle between the chicane and get back on it at exit. The other thing Waumandee is good for is giving you a taste of what a Pikes Peak would be like. There was one corner among the trees that was very dark later in the day, making the turn, boom there was the low hanging, orange sun to blind you momentarily. And there is some serious drop off on those two miles.’

For 2021 Lowend was back at the Time Trials, but this time in the 2000 C2 996. How did such a ‘new,’ water cooled car end up in this event? Photographer and director @adamjasoncohen needed a ride after his 1976 TVR was down a cylinder. Tom Hazen granted Adam the exception, stating that in 2022 the time trials will open to cars 20 years or older. What result did our rallye project do against the mostly vintage cars? Sixth place in a field of 50. Next years’ time trial is scheduled for September 24th.

[adriansmithcarslove]

Remember the Plymouth Prowler? We Look Back on the Unlikeliest Car of the ’90s

If GM and Ford’s heydays were the 1950s and 1960s, then Chrysler, the perennial late bloomer, had its in the 1990s. After a decade of building uninspiring K-Cars, Chrysler started churning out design hit after hit. Between the Dodge Viper at the beginning of the decade and the Chrysler PT Cruiser (you snicker, but Chrysler sold over a million of them in the 10 years they were in production) at the end of it, 1990s Chrysler was a design powerhouse. Smack dab in the middle of the decade, Chrysler produced what’s probably among the weirdest, most interesting cars of the ’90s: the Plymouth Prowler (and later Chrysler Prowler) factory hot rod.

As Tom Gale, the man who penned both the Dodge Viper and Prowler (among other things) told us, “The [’90s were] a wonderful time … as a guy [at Chrysler] in design, you had the wind at your back.”

The Prowler was proof positive of that. Designed to lead the ill-fated rebirth of Plymouth as Chrysler’s youth brand, the Prowler is unlike any car before it or since. It’s chopped, laid-back shape paid homage to the ’32 Ford hot rods that first gained popularity in the 1950s. And if its high beltline, raked windshield, and optional matching travel trailer didn’t get your attention, its cycle-fendered open front wheels, protected by two little bumperettes, sure would.

Despite its out-there styling, the Prowler shared about 40 percent of its parts with other Chrysler products. Its 3.5-liter V-6, which made just 214 hp and 221 lb-ft of torque when the Prowler launched in 1997, was borrowed from Chrysler’s front-drive LH sedans (like the Dodge Intrepid and Eagle Vision) and turned longitudinally. Ditto for the Prowler’s four-speed automatic, which was mounted at the Plymouth’s rear axle and connected to the engine via an open driveshaft. The Prowler’s rack-and-pinion steering rack came from Chrysler’s Town & Country, Dodge Caravan, and Plymouth Voyager, and its coil-spring suspension was taken from the Viper.

The 60 percent of the Prowler that wasn’t shared with the rest of the Chrysler line is even more interesting. As we noted in our 1996 First Drive of the Prowler prototype, its perimeter frame is extruded 6061 aluminum tubing bent into shape around mandrels. The main body tub is sheet aluminum held together with self-piercing rivets and industrial adhesives. Suspension control arms were made using a hybrid die-casting/forging operation known as semi-solid metal (SSM) forming. Rear brake rotors were also aluminum. More than serving as an aluminum test bed for Chrysler, the Prowler also helped the company test out its new way of organizing engineers, designers, and product planners on a new vehicle project.

Despite its power cloth top, rather lackluster powertrain, and wonky 45/55 percent front/rear weight distribution, the extensive use of aluminum in the Prowler’s construction helped the Plymouth perform respectably for the era at our test track. When the Prowler hit the streets, we immediately put it in a comparison against its competitive set—in this case a real-deal 1932 Ford “Highboy” Roadster and a Corvette-powered Boyd Coddington–built 1933 Ford roadster tribute.

“With a brief chirp from its wide run-flat rear tires and a high-pitched yowl from its pipes, the Prowler hustles to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds and through the quarter mile in 15.3 seconds at 88.2 mph,” we wrote. “Top speed is limited at 115 mph. Upshifts at the 6,500-rpm redline are a snap with help from the AutoStick standing tall on the center console. Although the Prowler can’t match time slips with the Corvette-quick Boydmobile’s ground-rippling 5.0-second sprint to 60 mph, it left the classically crafted ’32 highboy scrambling to keep up at 7.8 seconds.

“Unfortunately, the Prowler’s legs don’t fully make up for its lack of a convincing voice. The metallic rap of eight cylinders filling two pipes with syncopated rhythm is baked so deeply into America’s hot-rod soul that some enthusiasts will shun Chrysler’s cool cat simply because it lacks the right rumble.”

Plymouth did address the Prowler’s “legs” but not its voice for the 1999 model year, fitting the Prowler with a new aluminum-block 3.5-liter V-6 making 253 hp and 255 lb-ft of torque, improving the car’s 0­–60 mph time to 5.7 seconds and quarter-mile performance to 14.3 seconds at 95.4 mph. Those hoping for more power or a V-8 would have to go aftermarket for that, as by the end of the 2000 model year, the Plymouth brand was no more.

That wasn’t all for the Prowler though; it, the Voyager, and the PT Cruiser—the latter of which was supposed to be the second youth-oriented model in the Plymouth lineup—moved up to the Chrysler brand, now part of the far larger DaimlerChrysler company. The Prowler would soldier on for two more model years, but unlike the orphaned PT Cruiser, it never really fit into the brand. The Chrysler Prowler was discontinued at the end of 2002 and effectively replaced by the Chrysler Crossfire, marking an end of an era for the company.

The post Remember the Plymouth Prowler? We Look Back on the Unlikeliest Car of the ’90s appeared first on MotorTrend.

via RSSMix.com Mix ID 8134279 https://ift.tt/2AtkkGo

[perksofwifi]

Remember the Plymouth Prowler? We Look Back on the Unlikeliest Car of the ’90s

If GM and Ford’s heydays were the 1950s and 1960s, then Chrysler, the perennial late bloomer, had its in the 1990s. After a decade of building uninspiring K-Cars, Chrysler started churning out design hit after hit. Between the Dodge Viper at the beginning of the decade and the Chrysler PT Cruiser (you snicker, but Chrysler sold over a million of them in the 10 years they were in production) at the end of it, 1990s Chrysler was a design powerhouse. Smack dab in the middle of the decade, Chrysler produced what’s probably among the weirdest, most interesting cars of the ’90s: the Plymouth Prowler (and later Chrysler Prowler) factory hot rod.

As Tom Gale, the man who penned both the Dodge Viper and Prowler (among other things) told us, “The [’90s were] a wonderful time … as a guy [at Chrysler] in design, you had the wind at your back.”

The Prowler was proof positive of that. Designed to lead the ill-fated rebirth of Plymouth as Chrysler’s youth brand, the Prowler is unlike any car before it or since. It’s chopped, laid-back shape paid homage to the ’32 Ford hot rods that first gained popularity in the 1950s. And if its high beltline, raked windshield, and optional matching travel trailer didn’t get your attention, its cycle-fendered open front wheels, protected by two little bumperettes, sure would.

Despite its out-there styling, the Prowler shared about 40 percent of its parts with other Chrysler products. Its 3.5-liter V-6, which made just 214 hp and 221 lb-ft of torque when the Prowler launched in 1997, was borrowed from Chrysler’s front-drive LH sedans (like the Dodge Intrepid and Eagle Vision) and turned longitudinally. Ditto for the Prowler’s four-speed automatic, which was mounted at the Plymouth’s rear axle and connected to the engine via an open driveshaft. The Prowler’s rack-and-pinion steering rack came from Chrysler’s Town & Country, Dodge Caravan, and Plymouth Voyager, and its coil-spring suspension was taken from the Viper.

The 60 percent of the Prowler that wasn’t shared with the rest of the Chrysler line is even more interesting. As we noted in our 1996 First Drive of the Prowler prototype, its perimeter frame is extruded 6061 aluminum tubing bent into shape around mandrels. The main body tub is sheet aluminum held together with self-piercing rivets and industrial adhesives. Suspension control arms were made using a hybrid die-casting/forging operation known as semi-solid metal (SSM) forming. Rear brake rotors were also aluminum. More than serving as an aluminum test bed for Chrysler, the Prowler also helped the company test out its new way of organizing engineers, designers, and product planners on a new vehicle project.

Despite its power cloth top, rather lackluster powertrain, and wonky 45/55 percent front/rear weight distribution, the extensive use of aluminum in the Prowler’s construction helped the Plymouth perform respectably for the era at our test track. When the Prowler hit the streets, we immediately put it in a comparison against its competitive set—in this case a real-deal 1932 Ford “Highboy” Roadster and a Corvette-powered Boyd Coddington–built 1933 Ford roadster tribute.

“With a brief chirp from its wide run-flat rear tires and a high-pitched yowl from its pipes, the Prowler hustles to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds and through the quarter mile in 15.3 seconds at 88.2 mph,” we wrote. “Top speed is limited at 115 mph. Upshifts at the 6,500-rpm redline are a snap with help from the AutoStick standing tall on the center console. Although the Prowler can’t match time slips with the Corvette-quick Boydmobile’s ground-rippling 5.0-second sprint to 60 mph, it left the classically crafted ’32 highboy scrambling to keep up at 7.8 seconds.

“Unfortunately, the Prowler’s legs don’t fully make up for its lack of a convincing voice. The metallic rap of eight cylinders filling two pipes with syncopated rhythm is baked so deeply into America’s hot-rod soul that some enthusiasts will shun Chrysler’s cool cat simply because it lacks the right rumble.”

Plymouth did address the Prowler’s “legs” but not its voice for the 1999 model year, fitting the Prowler with a new aluminum-block 3.5-liter V-6 making 253 hp and 255 lb-ft of torque, improving the car’s 0­–60 mph time to 5.7 seconds and quarter-mile performance to 14.3 seconds at 95.4 mph. Those hoping for more power or a V-8 would have to go aftermarket for that, as by the end of the 2000 model year, the Plymouth brand was no more.

That wasn’t all for the Prowler though; it, the Voyager, and the PT Cruiser—the latter of which was supposed to be the second youth-oriented model in the Plymouth lineup—moved up to the Chrysler brand, now part of the far larger DaimlerChrysler company. The Prowler would soldier on for two more model years, but unlike the orphaned PT Cruiser, it never really fit into the brand. The Chrysler Prowler was discontinued at the end of 2002 and effectively replaced by the Chrysler Crossfire, marking an end of an era for the company.

The post Remember the Plymouth Prowler? We Look Back on the Unlikeliest Car of the ’90s appeared first on MotorTrend.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/1997-2002-plymouth-prowler-history-specs-photos/ visto antes em https://www.motortrend.com

[jesusganja]

@johnberman is daddy Ugh i really feel like the birds speak to us in God's sign language in KKW "real time" and E! Network defined "real life." You see birds in pairs or you see birds swarming in synchronized motion through God's vast quantity of a sky. Theyre always there and they will always be there. Mid air is their intergalactical reality while humans are grounded into God's gravity. It seems like birds exist above us, but we as humans feel as if it is in our territory to be able to shoot these innocent creatures for no reason at all which is saddening to me. Animals will be here for longer than we will, and they'll be here way longer than after we are gone. Its just the law of life. Its just the way the world works. I love when I see scattered birds, and i love when I see birds that are in more of a symmetrical and synchronized rhythm synonymous harmony. I sometimes wonder if God reflects His emotions through them, as if His weather also reflects that as well. Its almost as if He speaks to us through the upshifts and downshifts of His lightning rods that bolt down from the His Heavenly and otherworldly realm up above way above the clouds and even above the entire galaxy of the universe itself. There's this innate "particular sense" of patterns in the way that the dynamic of His birds correlates with the weather. When the sun is out and the sky is a clear blue easy, they're free to flock to whatever feather that they are most compatible with, whether that be related to family ties or platonic woes, i honestly don't know. But all in all, when the Earth shatters in the midst of God's grief, they flock back to their nests, their cacoons to look after the eggs that will hatch the next generation of birds, and killing these precious creatures of God will not only detriment the generations of the now but the generations to come. We dont want birds to become an endangered species because God speaks primarily through them. If we would allow ourselves to look up at the sky as we do when the stars are out in the absense of street lights and in the face of pure nature, then we would be allowing ourselves to soar with them. They want to take us on their journey--they https://www.instagram.com/p/B3xMJ9RHjMx/?igshid=7i2o1jtxhzmt

[runridedive]

The New Audi TT RS Coupé and the New Audi TT RS Roadster

Audi Sport hones the top model of the TT model series: With an even more dynamic look, the new TT RS (combined fuel consumption l/100 km: 8,1 – 7,9; combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 183 – 181) showcases with confidence what it has to offer. Its five-cylinder engine delivers 400 metric horsepower, accompanied by the unmistakable five-cylinder sound. The new TT RS will be available to order beginning on February 7th, 2019. The Coupé and Roadster will be found at dealers in Germany and other European countries from spring of 2019 on. South African release date to be confirmed.

“The new TT RS is in absolute peak form,” says Michael-Julius Renz, CEO of Audi Sport GmbH. “Like a well-trained athlete, it showcases even more prominently how much power lies beneath its muscular outer skin.” Oliver Hoffmann, Technical Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH, adds: “The outstanding performance is achieved by the low weight, the maximal athletic tuned suspension, and our award-winning five-cylinder. We have received the sought-after “International Engine of the Year Award” with the 2.5 TFSI engine for the ninth time in a row.”

Dynamic appearance: The exterior design The TT RS has never been this masculine. The completely redrawn front end and the striking rear end give it a dynamic appearance. The quattro logo in a matt titanium-look is positioned in the lower section of the gloss black grill with its matt black Singleframe. The lateral air inlets, which have been enlarged once again, are each divided by vertical strips on the inside and outside. For cooling purposes there are additional radiators located behind the typical RS honeycomb grill. The lateral air inlets that extend almost all the way to the front wheel wells make the new TT RS appear extremely wide.

A continuous front spoiler that is drawn up steeply at the lateral ends pulls the front apron down sharply, giving the car its distinctive, motorsport-inspired look. The blade is painted in body color as standard, but is also available in a matt aluminum look or gloss black. The RS model has a gloss black inlay in the newly designed side sill. The exterior mirror housings are available in body color, matt aluminum look, gloss black, and carbon.

At the rear, it is the newly designed fixed rear wing with side winglets that catches the eye. As part of the aerodynamics concept, it supports RS-typical performance and efficiency. There are vertical design elements on both sides above the new RS-specific diffusor. Two large oval exhaust tailpipes create the typical RS finish.

LED headlights are standard. The optional matrix LED units regulate the high beams intelligently and with great flexibility. The optional matrix OLED reversing lights (organic light emitting diode) with a 3D design distribute their extensive light with extreme homogeneity and precision. When the ignition is switched on, the OLED reversing lights put on a spectacular display. In the interior, there is a new red 12 o’clock marking on the steering wheel rim.

The new TT RS is available in eight different colors, including the new RS-specific color Kyalami green and the new colors Pulse orange and Turbo blue. Upon request, matt aluminum and gloss black styling packages highlight the blade and rear wing. The gloss black styling package includes the Audi rings and the TT RS model logo in black on the front and rear as an option. The fabric top of the TT RS Roadster is black. The Audi exclusive program offers various additional possibilities for individualization.

Award-winning performance: The 2.5 TFSI Five-cylinder, 294 kW (400 metric horsepower) output, 480 Nm of torque, quattro all-wheel drive—the Audi TT RS impresses with inner values and offers an outstanding driving performance. The Coupé sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in only 3.7 seconds. Musical accompaniment is provided by the typical five-cylinder sound: 1-2-4-5-3. Due to this ignition sequence, ignition alternates between adjacent cylinders and those far apart from one another. This unique rhythm is music to the ears of many horsepower purists.

Last year, Audi Sport received the sought-after “International Engine of the Year Award” for the 2.5 TFSI engine for the ninth consecutive time. The turbo engine draws its power from an engine displacement of 2,480 cm3. The engine’s maximum torque of 480 Nm is available between 1,950 and 5,850 rpm. The top speed is regulated at 250 km/h or an optional 280 km/h.

The forces of the five-cylinder engine flow via a seven-speed S tronic to the quattro permanent all-wheel drive that distributes the power as needed between the axles via a multi-plate clutch. Wheel-selective torque control makes handling even more agile and safe. The driver can use the Audi drive select dynamic handling system to influence the quattro drive and other components such as the steering, S tronic, engine characteristic, and exhaust flaps. The four modes available for this are comfort, auto, dynamic, and individual.

Pure dynamism: The suspension The low weight and the consistently sporty suspension provide the basic prerequisites for the excellent handling of the Audi TT RS. The progressive steering adapted specifically to the RS ensures close contact with the road. At the front axle, ventilated and perforated steel discs are in action behind the 19-inch or 20-inch wheels. The brake calipers are painted black as standard, but are available in red as an option. As an option, the RS sport suspension plus is available with adaptive dampers in Audi magnetic ride technology. Their control technology is also integrated into the Audi drive select dynamic handling system.

Inspired by motorsports: The interior Controls and display in the new TT RS are focused completely on the driver. The RS sport seats with the rhombus pattern in Alcantara or optionally with a honeycomb pattern in fine Nappa leather as well as the RS logos on the seats, steering wheel, door sill trims, and selector levers underline the sporty character of the 2+2 seater. Special RS displays in the standard Audi virtual cockpit with a 12.3-inch screen provide information on tire pressure, torque, and g-forces. In manual mode, the shift light display prompts the driver to upshift when the maximum engine speed is reached. In addition to multifunction buttons, the RS sport leather steering wheel with shift paddles features two satellite controls for turning the engine on and off as well as the Audi drive select dynamic handling system.

The new RS design package adds red or blue highlights to the car on the air vent doors, the seat belts, and the floor mats with the RS logo. The extended RS design package also offers contrasting design elements on the seats and center console.

Up to date: The infotainment system Audi also offers a great deal of infotainment features. The options include MMI navigation plus with MMI touch including free text search and natural language voice control, as well as the Wi-Fi hotspot and the Audi connect online module. Online services reach the vehicle via the fast LTE standard. The Audi smartphone interface connects smartphones with the TT RS and can stream content seamlessly to the Audi virtual cockpit via USB. The Bang & Olufsen sound system provides an excellent sound experience on board with an output of 680 watts.

The post The New Audi TT RS Coupé and the New Audi TT RS Roadster appeared first on Run Ride Dive.

from WordPress https://www.runridedive.com/tt-rs-coupe/

[eddiejpoplar]

Playing in the All-Stars Game

I’ve been a judge in annual “best car” competitions, with various magazines, for decades now, and I won’t deny the obvious: For a car enthusiast, taking part in such a contest is the equivalent of a sugar junkie running amok in the Reese’s Pieces factory. There you are, surrounded by row after row of the sweetest new rides of the year, and somebody is actually insisting you sample every single one of them. People have asked me, “Don’t you get tired of driving around in cars after all these years?” Oh, sure—and Hugh Hefner once said, “I think I’m done here.”

Then again, there are candy makers, and then there is Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. And Automobile’s yearly All-Stars competition, the centerpiece of this issue, is that wondrous, fanciful land of vehicular Oompa-Loompas and Everlasting Gobstoppers. While other competitions introduce price caps or production quotas or other objective bars to entry on their annual “best of” fields (frankly, that’s way too much math for us), All-Stars is wide open to any new machine that we deem interesting. Thus, right alongside the new-for-2018 Honda Accord and 2017 Mazda CX-5, this year’s competition included such phantasmagorical four-wheeled unicorns as the Ford GT, the Lamborghini Huracán Performante, and the McLaren 720S. In fact, the 2018 field would’ve included the $2.99 million, 1,500-horsepower Bugatti Chiron, but someone dinged the test car Bugatti had in the U.S., and the company shipped it back to France for a repaint, eliminating it from our field. Yes, I can already hear some of you sucking in a big pre-scream breath: “A $3 million car? Absurd! Who in hell could ever buy such a thing!” To which I would counter, “Hey, NASA won’t let me fly to the International Space Station, but I still want to read about what it’s like to eat a weightless pound cake.”

Blurred trees and uncoiling Armco and lane stripes fire like tracer rounds. There is no world outside the flashing-past panorama in your windshield.

Sure enough, when I arrived at the Speedvegas circuit just outside Sin City for the first morning of this year’s All-Stars shootout, I could’ve been Charlie Bucket stepping up to the Wonka gates with a precious Golden Ticket in my hands. There, arrayed in and around a huge pit lane garage, were 26 gleaming new taste sensations just waiting to be nibbled, chewed, and anatomized. And there was our own Willy Wonka himself, editor-in-chief Mike Floyd, barking out the week’s arduous agenda: “Make sure you swim in the river of chocolate (the Mercedes-AMG GT R)! Let me know what you think of the new Fizzy Lifting Drink (the Lexus LC 500)! I need feedback from all of you on the 2018 Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight (the Ferrari GTC4Lusso T)! Let’s get to it, people! Get out there, and find me the winners!” Yes, participating in All-Stars is a pinch-yourself enterprise—we all get to run wild in a world of pure imagination.

On one level, All-Stars is a collaborative event. For days, the entire Automobile staff puts aside the real world of deadlines and bills and feeding the cat to do nothing but drive, analyze, photograph, compare, videotape, write about, and pontificate about the entries in this year’s event. Over lunch, we share driving impressions, discuss pros and cons, champion our favorites, and engage in no shortage of arguments. Passions run high, and at times these bull sessions can get animated: My pal Marc Noordeloos, an otherwise unfailingly mannered gentleman who goes full Hulk at the sight of a McLaren 720S parked with its rear wing left up, has been known to prod me with the point of his pepperoni pizza while pressing his views on, say, the transcendence of the Porsche 911 GTS’ steering. Later, after the keys are put away for the night, the round table continues at the bar—where volume goes up and inhibitions go down. Overheard at one evening’s beer call: “I know I shouldn’t say this, but I actually think the Civic Type R’s rear wing needs to be bigger!”

Yet All-Stars is also very much an individual event. Yes, driving on the Speedvegas circuit can be crowded—with everything from the Camaro ZL1 1LE to the new Camry mixing it up out there at the same time—but it’s still just you and the car (well, at least until our pro shoe, Andy Pilgrim, catches you and lands in your rear seat). But as much as I enjoy flogging the sports cars on the track—free from speed limits, exploring maximum braking and cornering capabilities—in some ways I prefer the road loop section of our All-Stars contest. Out on our mountain road route, it really is just you and the machine underneath. (Except for occasionally coming across a colleague driving in the opposite direction, rarely did I see another vehicle.) The driving is far more realistic, too: You’re moving briskly, yes, but well under control, mindful of being on a public road, on the lookout for deer or black ice, at times driving slow enough to investigate how well a $300,000 supercar … just putters along.

I did my first drive up and down the mountain in the Lamborghini. Forget the racetrack: The Huracán Performante was made for mountain twisties. Gunning uphill, the 640-horsepower V-10 screaming at 8,000 rpm, banging off another upshift with the spectacular dual-clutch seven-speed, the sinuous two-lane tarmac unfurling in a funnel of blurred trees and uncoiling Armco and lane stripes firing like tracer rounds … I may have been driving in one of the most picturesque corners of Nevada, but I didn’t see it. Such is the focus, the involvement, and the rhythm of unleashing a great sports car on a fabulous road. The unpaid bills, the deadline you missed two days ago, the leaking faucet in the kitchen—none of it matters or even exists right now. There is no world outside the flashing-past panorama in your windshield; there is no care beyond the grip of four Pirelli P Zero Trofeos and the tremble of road through the steering wheel and the stupendous surge whenever your right foot presses down. Your mind is fully alive, attuned to the whine of four whirling camshafts, alert to the touchiness of the carbon-ceramic brakes, aware that the next corner lies in shade and might be a trap of unseen ice. All of this and more floods your cerebellum, reaches deep into the synapses, etches impressions and sensations and reflections on all the impossibly wrinkled folds inside your skull. Then, at a view site, you pull off, the Huracán’s mighty engine settling into a throbbing idle behind your ears, the g forces gone but still strangely tugging at your insides while you break out your notebook and try to record some salient notions of what you’ve just experienced. And only then do you gaze up at the mountains and realize, my God, look where I am.

Charlie might think otherwise, but I’m the one with the Golden Ticket.

The post Playing in the All-Stars Game appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

from Performance Junk Blogger 6 http://ift.tt/2p3lfnh via IFTTT

[jonathanbelloblog]

Unabashedly Silly, Sensationally Fast: 2019 Lamborghini Urus Prototype Drive

NARDO, Italy — The visit to the famed Nardo test track is marked red in the diary inside our heads. We’re here for our first taste of Lamborghini’s new high-flyer, to find out if it has what it takes to rocket straight to the top of the high-performance SUV charts. So come join us for some hot laps in a prototype of the all-new 2019 Lamborghini Urus, which turns the laws of physics upside down while keeping all four wheels firmly on the ground.

Wrapped in annoying swirl-foil botox camouflage, the general proportions of the Urus nonetheless eventually form a whole at third sight, though its details blur beneath the false cheeks and fake eyebrows. By 8 a.m. sharp, the three Urus prototypes and drivers have gathered here at Nardo, which was bought by Porsche in 2012. Early morning will be spent on the handling course, followed by a wild off-road loop surfaced with gravel and sand. After lunch, the team departs for the skidpad, nudging cones and putting the launch control to the test.

A Lambo must look, feel, and sound like a Lambo, even if it is the belated successor to the brick-shaped LM002 pseudo-pickup that could be had with a gun rack and falcon cage. In order for it to fly underneath the wind tunnel radar, the Urus has been draped in more drag-cutting and downforce-increasing addenda than a NASCAR racer. But instead of opting for active aerodynamics, the R & D team under Lamborghini chief engineer Maurizio Reggiani saved weight by fitting a battery of spoilers, splitters, and diffusers in fixed positions—an attack stance that also reduces rear visibility to a narrow observation slit.

The starting procedure is business as usual for a Lamborghini. Lift the red cage door, hit the growler button, lock the transmission in manual, and wait for the vehicle in front to take off. The first lap is provocatively slow. Everyone warms up the tires, the engine, and their self-confidence. Then the flag drops and it’s push-push-push. But not too much, too soon. After all, impatience is instantly penalized by soaring front tire temperatures, which provoke early understeer and frustration. So it’s wait-wait-wait until way past the apex before you can give it stick again, and there’s a lot of that. Namely some 650 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque, enough punch to drift through the fast fourth-gear right-hander and barrel down the long straight, where the digital speedo briefly touches 155 mph just before the braking zone begins. Although it’s eager to rev, the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 powering the Urus cuts out a nanosecond before the analog readout in the head-up display hits the rev limiter.

While its eight-speed automatic is correctly spaced, it shifts up more leisurely and smoothly than most sequential wham-bang boxes. To give the Urus a distinct Italian flair, Reggiani invented the so-called tamburo ergonomics. Tamburo means drum, and this accurately describes the shape of the two semi-circular drive mode selectors positioned on either side of the starter button. On the left, there is Anima (soul), which lets you choose from six settings labeled strada, sport, corsa, sabbia (sand), terra (gravel) and neve (snow). To the right, the drum named Ego invites you to personalize the driveline, steering response, and suspension setting. It’s a neat arrangement, offbeat yet logical, a welcome complement to the notoriously smudged touchscreen.

The dashboard is a busy blend of trademark hexagonal air vents, the usual overkill carbon-fiber and leather treatment, and loud instrument graphics that glow pachinko red in Corsa mode. The remaining switchgear is arranged in a pattern similar to the Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, with which the Urus shares some componentry—and most importantly, its MLB evo architecture, developed by its Volkswagen Group overlords.

The most obvious difference between the Lamborghini and its German siblings is the extended wheelbase it shares with the Bentayga. But while Bentley’s goal was to create more cabin space, the Italians used the extra inches to further enhance directional stability at speed, be it on a long straight or through fast sweepers. Despite the sloping coupe-like roof made of carbon-fiber at extra cost, there are oodles of head- and legroom in the Urus, though its standard front seats lack support in just about every direction.

Time for the first rotation: Three hot laps, one cooldown lap, back to the pits, change of cars, go for it. The tires need deflating three times. Regular adjustments are also advised to hone the driving style, define braking points, find the quickest line through corners, and trigger spot-on up- and downshifts. Since the Urus weighs more than 4,400 pounds, you’re better off in a taller gear more often than not. Why? Because every gear change costs time, and because riding the crest of the Urus’ mighty torque wave maintains the flow. Late braking is okay, but brake much too late and the car in front will rip open a depressing gap. One ill-timed mid-corner upshift invariably dents the flight path; one missed apex is all it takes to make it run ludicrously wide. But despite its intentions and dimensions, there is no doubt about it: this Lamborghini is a high-roof sports car with four doors and four seats. A look at the official Nardo lap times proves the point: on the handling circuit the Urus is every bit as fast as the Huracán.

This remarkable achievement required plenty of extra work by Reggiani’s team, especially in the chassis department. The Urus’ all-wheel drive system utilizes a Torsen center differential, enabling a wide front-to-rear torque split range, and a mechanical rear diff lock for a subtle left-right distribution. In other words, there is no brake-induced torque vectoring and no conventional self-locking center diff. Part of the package is a 48-volt system which powers the fully adjustable sway bars along with the air conditioning. Another item included in the list price that reportedly starts somewhere south of $200,000 are huge, 17-inch carbon-ceramic brake discs. Completing the high-tech DNA is an adaptive air suspension and rear-wheel steering. At this point, Urus customers have no choice in terms of engine or equipment pack, but there is a plug-in hybrid V-6 in the works for China and possibly the rest of the world later. We also expect a lighter Performante version rated at 700-plus horsepower.

Discover the #Urus Corsa driving mode: true #Lamborghini racetrack performance, for the world’s first Super SUV. https://t.co/jDqkOCxPvf #SinceWeMadeItPossible http://pic.twitter.com/ZuGWzRg6jW

— Lamborghini (@Lamborghini) November 21, 2017

Complaints? I already mentioned the seats and leisurely eight-speed autobox, and I’m going to add to the list the mildly irritating front end pitch through very fast corners, the not exactly superfast tip-in, the generous measure of brake dive and acceleration squat, the somewhat messy ergonomics, and the puerile exhaust note in Corsa mode. And its brawny twin-turbo V-8 is in no way as special as Lamborghini’s charismatic, naturally-aspirated V-10. That said the Urus has many talents, with its key assets being totally involving handling and raw, sports car-like performance all the way to the limit. Despite its genetic detriments—considerable dimensions, high center of gravity, substantial weight—the Urus hugs the road like a salamander climbing up a sheet of glass, it juggles power and torque like an orangutan brachiating between trees, its responses are as sharp as a chameleon’s tongue, and it decelerates like a serpent recoiling from an attack. In the exercise of these talents, it downs fuel at the rate of a Hummer H2 or a stretched black Escalade.

Said Hummer should do well on Nardo’s off-road setup, but it wouldn’t do as well as the Urus, and that’s a promise. After all, there are no serious climbs and descents, deep ruts, grooves or potholes. The surface is a mix of sand and sealed gravel, more high-speed turf than rugged surf. Riding shotgun with me is a former racing driver named Silvio who now oversees suspension development. Since the left-right-left labyrinth is lined on both sides with tall shrubs that block the view through corners, novices need directions. We’re still on road tires, ESC is fully active, and I’m advised to use only the bottom three gears. It’s a narrow track and the grip level is deteriorating lap by lap as sand starts piling up alongside the polished loam-and-pebble racing line. Once more through the mulberry bushes in an effort to memorize the hairpin and a couple of double-apex left-handers, then the fearless Silvio gives me the final thumbs up. “Fasta! Fasta!”

Silvio’s a quick-thinking, rapid-talking co-pilot. “Sharp left, first gear, grip improves two-thirds through the corner.” (Too timid, too slow, too rough.) “Third-gear right, slow in, fast out. Lots of grip.” (Better, but still way off the pace.) “You should deactivate ESC. It helps, trust me. This car has got talent. It will be putty in your palms,” Silvio urges. I wish—but for a change, the wish comes true. There’s more wheelspin now, a more pronounced rear bias, a more blunt invitation to kick out the tail and keep it there. Bingo! I tasted blood. I want more. I want fasta.

“First, you must develop a rhythm. The rest falls into place almost by itself,” Silvio says, which means tap-dancing on the pedals, twirling the wheel, and clicking through the ratios—up and down, down and up. I’m a hero, but also a fool who forgot that pride comes before the fall. In my case, the fall is a dramatic 180-degree slide that hits the greenery side on and rips off a strip camo in the process. “No big deal. No big deal at all,” Silvio says. If it wasn’t for the ears, my grin would go full circle.

As for how fast the Urus goes in a straight line on the skidpad’s clean tarmac, less than 3.7 seconds to 62 mph is the official word, but 3.35 seconds is what the digital in-dash readout says on location. Yes, that’s with launch control on duty, live from the grippiest piece of tarmac in the Roman Empire, and in perfect weather. If the readout is to be believed, that’s a hair quicker than the Huracán and only half a second slower than the Aventador. Maximum speed? In excess of 188 mph is the answer, which would make it the fastest SUV on earth, a mark that speaks volumes for the aerodynamic efficiency of this thunderbolt designed by Filippo Perini, who has since moved on to Italdesign. Needless to say the ground-effect body is virtually immune to axle lift at any speed except through the cones, when it’s wheel up and nose down, when the steering could be a touch more direct, when ESC should be off for improved waltz-ability.

The Urus is the answer to the question that about 3,500 customers are expected to ask annually once production ramps up following its launch next year, which would roughly double the marque’s production output — a vehicle that opens the door for Lamborghini to the most profitable segment of a booming market. It’s clear after our day at Nardo that those who can afford to buy this 650-hp SUV will be getting a splendid vehicle with rare pace and agility, one that can do things no other SUV can.

IFTTT

[tsunagite]

Literally only these two have a confirmed “attraction” out of all of my characters. I don’t rlly think about it…

(maybe cuz of not being a shipper + aroace brain?)

[jesusvasser]

Unabashedly Silly, Sensationally Fast: 2019 Lamborghini Urus Prototype Drive

NARDO, Italy — The visit to the famed Nardo test track is marked red in the diary inside our heads. We’re here for our first taste of Lamborghini’s new high-flyer, to find out if it has what it takes to rocket straight to the top of the high-performance SUV charts. So come join us for some hot laps in a prototype of the all-new 2019 Lamborghini Urus, which turns the laws of physics upside down while keeping all four wheels firmly on the ground.

Wrapped in annoying swirl-foil botox camouflage, the general proportions of the Urus nonetheless eventually form a whole at third sight, though its details blur beneath the false cheeks and fake eyebrows. By 8 a.m. sharp, the three Urus prototypes and drivers have gathered here at Nardo, which was bought by Porsche in 2012. Early morning will be spent on the handling course, followed by a wild off-road loop surfaced with gravel and sand. After lunch, the team departs for the skidpad, nudging cones and putting the launch control to the test.

A Lambo must look, feel, and sound like a Lambo, even if it is the belated successor to the brick-shaped LM002 pseudo-pickup that could be had with a gun rack and falcon cage. In order for it to fly underneath the wind tunnel radar, the Urus has been draped in more drag-cutting and downforce-increasing addenda than a NASCAR racer. But instead of opting for active aerodynamics, the R & D team under Lamborghini chief engineer Maurizio Reggiani saved weight by fitting a battery of spoilers, splitters, and diffusers in fixed positions—an attack stance that also reduces rear visibility to a narrow observation slit.

The starting procedure is business as usual for a Lamborghini. Lift the red cage door, hit the growler button, lock the transmission in manual, and wait for the vehicle in front to take off. The first lap is provocatively slow. Everyone warms up the tires, the engine, and their self-confidence. Then the flag drops and it’s push-push-push. But not too much, too soon. After all, impatience is instantly penalized by soaring front tire temperatures, which provoke early understeer and frustration. So it’s wait-wait-wait until way past the apex before you can give it stick again, and there’s a lot of that. Namely some 650 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque, enough punch to drift through the fast fourth-gear right-hander and barrel down the long straight, where the digital speedo briefly touches 155 mph just before the braking zone begins. Although it’s eager to rev, the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 powering the Urus cuts out a nanosecond before the analog readout in the head-up display hits the rev limiter.

While its eight-speed automatic is correctly spaced, it shifts up more leisurely and smoothly than most sequential wham-bang boxes. To give the Urus a distinct Italian flair, Reggiani invented the so-called tamburo ergonomics. Tamburo means drum, and this accurately describes the shape of the two semi-circular drive mode selectors positioned on either side of the starter button. On the left, there is Anima (soul), which lets you choose from six settings labeled strada, sport, corsa, sabbia (sand), terra (gravel) and neve (snow). To the right, the drum named Ego invites you to personalize the driveline, steering response, and suspension setting. It’s a neat arrangement, offbeat yet logical, a welcome complement to the notoriously smudged touchscreen.

The dashboard is a busy blend of trademark hexagonal air vents, the usual overkill carbon-fiber and leather treatment, and loud instrument graphics that glow pachinko red in Corsa mode. The remaining switchgear is arranged in a pattern similar to the Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, with which the Urus shares some componentry—and most importantly, its MLB evo architecture, developed by its Volkswagen Group overlords.

The most obvious difference between the Lamborghini and its German siblings is the extended wheelbase it shares with the Bentayga. But while Bentley’s goal was to create more cabin space, the Italians used the extra inches to further enhance directional stability at speed, be it on a long straight or through fast sweepers. Despite the sloping coupe-like roof made of carbon-fiber at extra cost, there are oodles of head- and legroom in the Urus, though its standard front seats lack support in just about every direction.

Time for the first rotation: Three hot laps, one cooldown lap, back to the pits, change of cars, go for it. The tires need deflating three times. Regular adjustments are also advised to hone the driving style, define braking points, find the quickest line through corners, and trigger spot-on up- and downshifts. Since the Urus weighs more than 4,400 pounds, you’re better off in a taller gear more often than not. Why? Because every gear change costs time, and because riding the crest of the Urus’ mighty torque wave maintains the flow. Late braking is okay, but brake much too late and the car in front will rip open a depressing gap. One ill-timed mid-corner upshift invariably dents the flight path; one missed apex is all it takes to make it run ludicrously wide. But despite its intentions and dimensions, there is no doubt about it: this Lamborghini is a high-roof sports car with four doors and four seats. A look at the official Nardo lap times proves the point: on the handling circuit the Urus is every bit as fast as the Huracán.

This remarkable achievement required plenty of extra work by Reggiani’s team, especially in the chassis department. The Urus’ all-wheel drive system utilizes a Torsen center differential, enabling a wide front-to-rear torque split range, and a mechanical rear diff lock for a subtle left-right distribution. In other words, there is no brake-induced torque vectoring and no conventional self-locking center diff. Part of the package is a 48-volt system which powers the fully adjustable sway bars along with the air conditioning. Another item included in the list price that reportedly starts somewhere south of $200,000 are huge, 17-inch carbon-ceramic brake discs. Completing the high-tech DNA is an adaptive air suspension and rear-wheel steering. At this point, Urus customers have no choice in terms of engine or equipment pack, but there is a plug-in hybrid V-6 in the works for China and possibly the rest of the world later. We also expect a lighter Performante version rated at 700-plus horsepower.

Discover the #Urus Corsa driving mode: true #Lamborghini racetrack performance, for the world’s first Super SUV. https://t.co/jDqkOCxPvf #SinceWeMadeItPossible http://pic.twitter.com/ZuGWzRg6jW

— Lamborghini (@Lamborghini) November 21, 2017

Complaints? I already mentioned the seats and leisurely eight-speed autobox, and I’m going to add to the list the mildly irritating front end pitch through very fast corners, the not exactly superfast tip-in, the generous measure of brake dive and acceleration squat, the somewhat messy ergonomics, and the puerile exhaust note in Corsa mode. And its brawny twin-turbo V-8 is in no way as special as Lamborghini’s charismatic, naturally-aspirated V-10. That said the Urus has many talents, with its key assets being totally involving handling and raw, sports car-like performance all the way to the limit. Despite its genetic detriments—considerable dimensions, high center of gravity, substantial weight—the Urus hugs the road like a salamander climbing up a sheet of glass, it juggles power and torque like an orangutan brachiating between trees, its responses are as sharp as a chameleon’s tongue, and it decelerates like a serpent recoiling from an attack. In the exercise of these talents, it downs fuel at the rate of a Hummer H2 or a stretched black Escalade.

Said Hummer should do well on Nardo’s off-road setup, but it wouldn’t do as well as the Urus, and that’s a promise. After all, there are no serious climbs and descents, deep ruts, grooves or potholes. The surface is a mix of sand and sealed gravel, more high-speed turf than rugged surf. Riding shotgun with me is a former racing driver named Silvio who now oversees suspension development. Since the left-right-left labyrinth is lined on both sides with tall shrubs that block the view through corners, novices need directions. We’re still on road tires, ESC is fully active, and I’m advised to use only the bottom three gears. It’s a narrow track and the grip level is deteriorating lap by lap as sand starts piling up alongside the polished loam-and-pebble racing line. Once more through the mulberry bushes in an effort to memorize the hairpin and a couple of double-apex left-handers, then the fearless Silvio gives me the final thumbs up. “Fasta! Fasta!”

Silvio’s a quick-thinking, rapid-talking co-pilot. “Sharp left, first gear, grip improves two-thirds through the corner.” (Too timid, too slow, too rough.) “Third-gear right, slow in, fast out. Lots of grip.” (Better, but still way off the pace.) “You should deactivate ESC. It helps, trust me. This car has got talent. It will be putty in your palms,” Silvio urges. I wish—but for a change, the wish comes true. There’s more wheelspin now, a more pronounced rear bias, a more blunt invitation to kick out the tail and keep it there. Bingo! I tasted blood. I want more. I want fasta.

“First, you must develop a rhythm. The rest falls into place almost by itself,” Silvio says, which means tap-dancing on the pedals, twirling the wheel, and clicking through the ratios—up and down, down and up. I’m a hero, but also a fool who forgot that pride comes before the fall. In my case, the fall is a dramatic 180-degree slide that hits the greenery side on and rips off a strip camo in the process. “No big deal. No big deal at all,” Silvio says. If it wasn’t for the ears, my grin would go full circle.

As for how fast the Urus goes in a straight line on the skidpad’s clean tarmac, less than 3.7 seconds to 62 mph is the official word, but 3.35 seconds is what the digital in-dash readout says on location. Yes, that’s with launch control on duty, live from the grippiest piece of tarmac in the Roman Empire, and in perfect weather. If the readout is to be believed, that’s a hair quicker than the Huracán and only half a second slower than the Aventador. Maximum speed? In excess of 188 mph is the answer, which would make it the fastest SUV on earth, a mark that speaks volumes for the aerodynamic efficiency of this thunderbolt designed by Filippo Perini, who has since moved on to Italdesign. Needless to say the ground-effect body is virtually immune to axle lift at any speed except through the cones, when it’s wheel up and nose down, when the steering could be a touch more direct, when ESC should be off for improved waltz-ability.

The Urus is the answer to the question that about 3,500 customers are expected to ask annually once production ramps up following its launch next year, which would roughly double the marque’s production output — a vehicle that opens the door for Lamborghini to the most profitable segment of a booming market. It’s clear after our day at Nardo that those who can afford to buy this 650-hp SUV will be getting a splendid vehicle with rare pace and agility, one that can do things no other SUV can.

IFTTT

[datchamoistho]

Best Effort

Dawn had just broke, and even though it was a bit colder out than he liked, the captain's words echoed in his head. Putting in a solid effort on the trainer this morning just wouldn't do, and he knew it. A shiver coursed through his frame as he wheeled his sleek black Scott Speed Concept 02 from its berth toward the front door. He hadn't even stepped outside yet but he could already feel the cold, the anticipation, the energy.

The captain's words continued to echo in his ears, increasing in volume as he pedaled, warming his legs through the frigid, still morning air. The words echoed as a question. The question he knew the captain would inevitably ask later today.

"Did you put in your best effort today?"

He could taste the answer on his tongue; wanted so badly for it to be true. This was not the time for pleasure cruises. Not the time for smuggling. Not even the time for leisurely long rides with frequent #omnom stops. This was the time for results, and as he banked the rigid machine into the corners, working toward the training ground as the chain obediently clicked its way up and down the cog to match the cadence the captain had trained him for, he knew this was his time to show some results. The TTs were coming up in a few short weeks. He was wearing the professional-grade aero helmet. The TT bars were attached, their bolts locked in place by the sure hand of the captain himself. It was time.

"ON YOUR LEFT!" he roared, as the first rays of sun met the bare branches of early Spring along the path, fences and foliage dappling the asphalt in fresh angles of sunlight. Whipping into each corner without an upshift, legs pulsing out a frenetic rhythm, he knew nothing could stand between him and the goals the captain had laid out. "HOLD YOUR LINE!" Half yelling, half grunting, menacing behind the opaque lid of the helmet, loud enough to make the oblivious denizens of the Greenway know where the day's priorities lie and aware that they were members of the lesser portion of this paved hierarchy. Dancing in the pedals on each straightaway and only braking when physics absolutely demanded it. Periodically rewarded and spurred further by the triumphant beeps of his Garmin device as segment after segment bowed to his speed, his will. Ecstatic.

KOM.

KOM.

KOM.

It was the only thing that mattered now.

[ricardosousalemos]

Matt Martians: The Drum Chord Theory

As a founding member and driving force behind the band the Internet, Matt Martians got better the old-fashioned way: album by album, the group tinkered and tightened and scraped away dust, gradually revealing their identity as an adept lite-funk outfit. Their third full-length, 2015’s Ego Death, twinkled softly, but with enough clarity to earn a Grammy nomination and radio play. After all that hard work, Martians unwinds on his new solo record, The Drum Chord Theory, slackening the traditionally taut lines of funk and rap to make a droopy, indolent album.

This is music judiciously leached of urgency. Martians keeps verses short or excises them completely, so there isn’t much of an opportunity to upshift into refrains, which mostly come in the form of repetitive chants or near-whispers. Sometimes the drums and bass are overlaid at odd angles, hinting at a ’90s hip-hop groove but splaying sideways rather than cohering into something clipped and commanding. After a few minutes of a vamp—keys and rhythm section, maybe hand percussion and a stray guitar line—the band tires and moves on to a new one, frequently within the same song.

The recumbent funk comes paired mostly with stories of romantic woe; a central riff may change, but the male-female disconnect remains paramount. “We can’t read minds,” Martians laments, addressing any potential future partners who might be listening on “What Love Is.” “We just want to know what the fuck you want—is that hard?” “Every time I think I found the one, something always goes wrong,” he sings a couple tracks later. But he continues his search, assuring a woman on the album’s final bonus cut, “Elevators,” “that girl from the dream was you.”

These feelings don't bloom into anguish; The Drum Chord Theory is dillydallying on lazy Sunday, with stormy Monday kept at safe remove. Martians lightens the mood by flying into a synthetic, “Alvin and the Chipmunks” register to undercut a possible commitment—“if you were my girlfriend, I'd make you feel good”—and peppers songs with asides like the enthusiastic Internet endorsement that closes “Where Are Yo Friends?”: “Syd, Chris, Steve, Pat, Jameel, I love y’all niggas man,” he says, name checking bandmates. Then he adds happily, “But everyone else man, if we ain’t cool, then I’m sorry.” There’s meta-commentary, too: after a couple tunes reorganize around a different vamp at the halfway point, on “BabyGirl,” Martians quips “Ain’t no hidden track back here—next song.” Cue a track change.

If you won’t come to The Drum Chord Theory for a bracing shot of adrenaline, supine doesn’t mean unenjoyable. The more Martians sinks into his funk hammock, the better. On “Southern Isolation,” the bass squirms up and down the scale, evoking Caetano Veloso’s great “Olha O Menino,” while the singing washes back and forth, unhurried and opulent, like a sloop bobbing on the tide. Elsewhere, the band keeps sketching outlines and leaving them behind, dangling one riff, teasing it a bit, discarding it. Martians doesn’t return to the rapturous, near nod-off state of “Southern Isolation.” The Drum Chord Theory is never unpleasant, but it’s also never very distinct.

[tsunagite]

My votes for favorite Phigros song of 2023. Man so many good bangers to choose that it was hard to decide :’D

I maybe should’ve gone for Terabyte Connection instead of Dance with Silence, but I already had 2 boss songs…

[tsunagite]

Crack question: who's the best/worst cook amongst your characters?

[tsunagite]

Doodles + Fractured Angel concept