A biweekly roundup of automotive news, good, bad and just plain weird:
Tesla upgrades warranty to cover infinite miles
You know Martin Prince, that insufferable know-itall kid from The Simpsons? The one with the pocket protector and his hand always up in the air to answer every question? I'm starting to feel like that's Tesla as a company.
Instead of building a secret lair in a hollowedout volcano, as would any rational human being with that much money, Elon Musk has instead decided to extend the powertrain
coverage on the Tesla Model S to eight years or infinite miles. "Infinity, Mrs. Krabappel! Infinity!" As you'd expect from a guy like Musk, this is one of the smartest moves ever. Firstly, electric powertrains really are quite a bit less complicated and thus more reliable than internal combustion engines. Moreover, the number of owners who are going to now rush out and drive infinity miles is small. Because that'd be impossible.
However, it does get the words "Infinite Warranty" branded into the minds of the casual buying public, most of whom are already aware of the job that Tesla's done to make electric driving slightly easier and considerably more sexy than it used to be.
The Model S is properly excellent, and the upcoming SUV will likely be as well. However, both Edmunds and Consumer Reports have had issues with their longterm testers that wouldn't be covered under this warranty extension - touchscreen and doorhandle failures and the like.
While the BMWs and Mercedes that the Model S goes up against aren't exactly paragons of reliability either, let's just say that an infinite-mile powertrain warranty isn't as crazy as it might seem. And say, if it was a secret volcano lair, we wouldn't know about it. Hmmm....
Chevy Corvette tattles on valets
One of the most expensive machines to cross the block at this year's Gooding Company auction was a bright red Ferrari 250 California Spider. It sold for $15.18 Million (ouch), and if you remember the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, that's some pretty expensive sheetmetal to hand over to a valet.
However, Chevy's got your back here, at least if you elect to go for a considerably less-expensive 2015 Corvette Stingray. As part of their High Performance Data Recorder system - front camera and cabin microphone - they now offer a valet mode which does a number of interesting things.
First, entering the code locks out the on-board audio and navigation, and also locks all internal storage. That just makes sense.
Next, it also activates the forward-facing camera, which ordinarily is intended to capture trackday heroics, and displays through Gmetres and so forth just what your car's been up to while you're lunching at the buffet. What's this bit where the car went airborne? I'm going to need to speak to a manager.
A Hellcat for everything
The specs on the expected Hellcat Charger are out, and they are phenomenal. For a family sedan to produce these figures is just ridiculous, let alone a four-door Dodge in a time when gasoline is ever more expensive and everybody else seems to be focusing on hybrid technology.
So anyway, 707 horsepower and a top speed of 328 kilometres per hour (204 miles per hour). That's faster than an F40. That's faster than a lot of stuff.
Actually, that's faster than the Challenger Hellcat, as the Charger is just a bit more aerodynamic, and has a slightly more modern chassis. The four-door is quicker to 100 km/h too, and that top speed means it unseats rivals from AMG and BMW's M-division, who probably didn't even know they were rivals.
With the development costs of the Hellcat supercharged V-8 already paid for, where else might we see this mighty motor? Remember, Chrysler's the company that put their turbo four-cylinder engines in everything including a manual-transmission minivan - might we see a Hellcatized Caravan? Oh, that's a terrible idea. I really hope it happens.
Too young for a driver's licence, headed for Formula One
At the tender age of 16, Max Verstappen will not be allowed to legally operate a motor vehicle in his native Netherlands for two more years. However, he just got handed the keys to a Formula One racecar.
The Toro Rosso team has just confirmed Verstappen's seat for next season's racing calendar, making him the youngestever driver to compete. It's a move that's likely to ruffle a few feathers, but with both Lewis Hamilton and Sebastien Vettel also joining F1 early, and having tremendous success, the young Dutchman certainly has a shot at proving himself at the highest level of racing.
If ever there was refutation of the idea that millennials aren't interested in cars, here it is. Some kids still dream of growing up to be racecar drivers. And some of those dreams come true.
Watch this space for all the week's best and worst of automotive news, or submit your own auto oddities to [email protected] Follow brendan on Twitter at @brendan_mcaleer
