65 MXN 3.50 USD 2.50 EUR
OCT 2017
- D E CADES
The value of the old. - race rs
Mercedes: Eyes on Singapore.
COntntent ESSENTIALS
-02 Ducati Cafe Racer Scrambler Tesla GigaFacoty BMW Art Car
RACERS
-03 Ken Block: Terrakhana -04 Mercedes Benz on Singapore GP
COntributors -GENERNERAL DIRECTOR Diego R. Garduño Pérez diego.gp@elcamino.com
-EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Sofía Altieri laplaga@elcamino.com
-GRAPHIC EDITOR Juan Pablo Sánchez Porras el.juansanchez@elcamino.com
legal PROJECT EL CAMINO 01 OCTOBER 2017
El camino its a school project developed for the Graphic Design class at ITESM Campus Puebla located at Vía Atlixcáyotl No. 2301, Reserva Territorial Atlixcáyotl, Puebla, Puebla, México, C.P. 72453 for the class period August - December of 2017.
REVIEW
-05 New BMW M4
OLDIES
-07 Decades: The value of the old
e s sen t i als
- BMW’s Art Car As The Iconic Series artcar.bmwgroup.com BMW’s Art Cars program began in 1975 and was spearheaded by Herve Poulain, a 35-year-old French race car driver and auctioneer whose two passions in life were art and racing. While Poulain was just an amateur racer, he aspired to race in the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is an annual 24 hour race hosted in France each June. He managed to convince BMW to sponsor him and to persuade the American artist Alexander Calder to paint the car before the race, pictured above. Several world-class artists have contributed to the BMW Art Car program since Calder created his masterpiece.
- 2017 Ducati Scrambler Cafe Racer relives retro era scramblerducati.com Ducati had to look no further than its own history for the blueprint. The 1980 900SS, with its black-andgold paint scheme is a bike so beautiful, even our own Peter Egan owns one and says it takes his breath away every time the lights in his garage come on. Bruno Spaggiari used a 350cc single from the Scrambler in 1968 to power his race bike when he raced the Mototemporada Romagnola. His number? 54, the same carried by number plate of Ducati’s newest café racer (Ducati has chosen to give this bike the tagline “feel the braaap,” and no, it’s not a good enough reason to associate the word braaap with a twin).
- Tesla Gigafactory already dominating EV battery production tesla.com/es_MX/gigafactory The Nevada-based plant is set to become the largest building by overall square-foot area. Currently, only around 30 percent of the building is finished, occupying 1.9 million square feet per level. In its footprint, Tesla will bring more capacity for stored energy that we currently have a use for. Though still under construction, Tesla currently manufacturers a great deal of its batteries within the confines of its walls— including the batteries used for Tesla’s Powerpack and Powerwall, as well as Tesla’s newest addition to its fleet: the Model 3. Currently, Tesla is producing its new 2170 battery cell in the Gigafactory. This cell will be used in the Model 3 as an alternative to the 18650 cells found in the Model S and Model X.
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r ace rs
T e r r a k h a n a ken block returns
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adies and gentlemen, it is different things with it. It marks the with great pleasure that we return of the not-so-humble Ford announce the return of Ken Fiesta RX43 we saw in Gymkhana Block. Today, we bring you his new 8, and as recently as Gymkhana Grid last November. “It’s already film: ‘Terrakhana’. And by our humble reckoning, setup with the Gymkhana style Ken’s outdone himself. A here - engine,” Ken explains, “600bhp, there’s a death-defying feel to the which is more than I would norfilm that we’ve not seen from Mr mally have on dirt. It’s too much power…” Block. Probably ever. What exactly is a Terrakhana, For him, it was fairly familiar terthen? Over to Ken: “It’s basically rain of ‘finding jumps, climbing up taking that driving style that I do in turns, various big rocks and lots of the Gymkhana videos and apply- obstacles’. ing it in other unique situations,” “We got a good balance and we did a really good he exclusively told job setting up the TG.com. “This ext up is the locacar,” he said. new one (‘Terra’ tion the beautiSo, that’s the setmeaning earth)… ful desert of Southern up, now sit back, we’re doing it in Utah. “This particular turn it up loud and a unique dirt-type area called Swing watch Ken go absituation. I’ve alArm City was made solutely nuts on ways wanted to specifically for people to go down and the desert in a take that driving enjoy off-road vehiFord Fiesta. You style and do differcles,” Ken explains. might need a sit ent things with it.” down afterwards… Boy, does he do
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Singapore Grand Prix Mercedes F1 team’s M upgrades to come.
ercedes is working on developments to improve its high-downforce performance in Formula 1 this year, but Valtteri Bottas does not expect them to be ready for the Singapore Grand Prix. While Lewis Hamilton has won three of the last four races to take the lead in the drivers’ championship for the first time this year following the Italian GP, Ferrari is widely expected to strike back next time out on the streets of Singapore, given that it has already enjoyed victories on similar circuit layouts in Monaco and Hungary. “We got a good balance and we did a really good job setting up the car,” he said.
-“We’ve seen on circuits that require a lot of downforce, Ferrari has been really strong, also in hot races they seem to be really strong. Even Red Bull can be really good.” Bottas hailed a breakthrough Mercedes made with its car at Monza, where he finished a comfortable second to Hamilton, saying the team found a “different kind of stability” compared to the rest of the season so far. But he does not believe that will automatically benefit the team in Singapore as well. “We got a good balance and we did a really good job setting up the car,” he said. – Adam Cooper
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r e vie w
WHERE TOO MUCH IS JUST RIGHT B M W
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he BMW M4 seems destined to forever be the second-most-exciting model in the 4-series clan, having previously played second fiddle to the water-injected M4 GTSand now finding its position at the top of the range usurped by the fractionally faster, fractionally firmer M4 CS. While the regular M4 remains a hugely desirable performance car, its suitors will be forever gazing over its
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M4
Modest compensation is being freed from the digital enhancement that BMW has added to the M4’s soundtrack in the cabin.
shoulder and trying to flirt with its sexier sister. But for anyone forced to make do with the regular M4, there is some compensation in the form of a mild facelift for the 2018 model year, bringing the M4 up to date with the rest of the 4-series lineup. This is a shot of Botox rather than the sort of work involving scaffolding what BMW likes to describe as a “life-cycle impulse” and one that hasn’t brought
any notable mechanical changes. It does, however, give a chance for the regular M4 to remind us of its still considerable appeal. Detailing the revisions needn’t detain us for long. Indeed, to fill out a paragraph will require some padding such as noting that the U.S. remains the number-one global market for the M4 and is among the top markets for the 4-series. Like its lesser siblings, the M car has been given new headlights incorporating both LED units and a more angular take on BMW’s familiar twin circular running lights. It also gets new lights at the rear, their LED elements subtly changed so that anyone driving an older M4 knows it is wearing last season’s fashion. No More Dramatic on the Road In addition to a modest power increase, the Comp pack brings
some suspension revisions: stiffer springs, upgraded dampers, and firmer anti-roll bars, plus some software tuning of the various switchable dynamic functions. We’re told that the Comfort setting with the Comp pack is broadly equivalent to Sport in the regular car, with Sport and Sport+ modes doing the same plus-one trick.The Competition package massages the M4’s twin-turbocharged inline-six engine to produce an extra 19 horsepower, taking the total to 444, but this struggles to make much of a difference against what’s placed on the other side of the scale in the open-air model. The convertible is positively obese, weighing over 4000 pounds, or 505 more than BMW claims for the coupe. The culprit is the retractable hardtop and the hardware required to operate it we’ve been told the next-generation 4-series is likely to
return to a fabric roof. The M4 remains an M car that we don’t feel unconditional love for, and these latest revisions have done nothing to address our previous criticisms. It is still a car that seems to have been engineered to deliver performance metrics rather than the sort of life-enhancing dynamic experience that used to come standard with the M badge. For a better take on what we love about M cars, the advice persists that you could save a bundle and pick the smaller M2.
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D E C A D E S What Attainable Classic Car Should Be Worth More?
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or decades I’ve heard the argument that some cars are worth more than the market generally prices them. The Datsun 240Z is one of those cars that can be overlooked in the large ocean of classic cars. It has an overhead cam engine, webber-carbs, independent suspension, a racing pedigree, and a design aesthetic derived from the hottest sports cars of its era. Yes, well-restored models can yield top-dollar prices, but daily drivers hover in a price bracket that keep the cars on the roads and in the hands of the next generation. Should this always be the case? There’s something to be said about these affordable cult cars that take the driving experience to another level. They make their owners feel like they’ve just acquired the steal of the century. With the motor humming, the patinaed body and the smell of sunburnt vinyl seats, these
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cars earn the respect of your peers when cruising Main Street, and can demand as much attention as the latest supercar. So why bother blowing your hardearned cash on a car you’ll keep in the garage to look at? This car begs you to drive it and wring it out like its first owners undoubtedly did. In my pursuit to join the classic car owners club, I’ve cast a wide net of potential specimens: a BMW 2002, Fiat 124 Spider, Alfa Romeo GTV, Datsun 240Z (series-1), and even a Porsche 911 SC have all fallen into my net. Which one will I finally decide to toss into my garage? Who knows. For now, I’ll continue to devote hours, weeks, days, of research in hopes of landing the perfect candidate. Whatever I choose, I know I’ll be looking for that emotional tug of the heart strings telling me, “A car like this should be worth more than that!”
Drive together, enjoy together all new mazda cx-5
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xperience new dimensions of driving pleasure with all-new Mazda CX-5. Completely redesigned inside and out, our latest mid-size SUV is as comfortable and rewarding for passengers as it is to drive. Designed and built to celebrate driving, all-new Mazda CX-5 gives everyone on board a powerful feeling of Jinba Ittai, that feeling of oneness with the car forming an undeniable connection between car and driver. With KODO Design evolution and unmatched craftsmanship, the beautiful exterior is bold and purposeful in the vivid new Soul Red Crystal Metallic colour, while the spacious, human-centric cabin is quiet, finely crafted and superbly comfortable for you and every passenger. Perfect for long, entertaining trips with family and friends.
Featuring advanced i-ACTIVSENSE safety technology, everyone can relax and enjoy the drive.
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ODO Design At Mazda, design and engineering work in harmony together to deliver the joy of driving and create a strong bond between car and driver. Born out of KODO Design, the all-new Mazda CX-5 is full of energy and movement, better aerodynamics and superior performance. Soul Red Crystal is a vivid new colour with a depth and finish as beautiful as one achieved by a master craftsman. Accentuating the beauty of the car’s KODO Design, the new colour is extraordinarily vivid.
When you drive a Mazda, you never drive alone. Car and driver in perfect harmony. 07