Despite hearing and reading the rumours over and over again about the all-new, 5.5 litre, naturally aspirated high revving V8 Chevrolet was putting in the upcoming C8 Z06, I am still completely awe struck by what Chevrolet has done and sticking to a naturally aspirated V8 against all odds. Please take a moment to welcome the most powerful naturally aspirated production V8 the world has ever seen (at least mainstream production). The title previously belonged to the now dead SLS AMG, which had AMG's legendary 6.2 litre V8 making 622 hp and 468 lb-ft of torque. The New Z06 eclipses the horsepower figure with a whopping 670 hp at a scarcely believable 8,400 rpm (with an 8,600 rpm redline). Despite the high revving nature AND the smaller displacement (5.5 litre vs 6.2 litre for the Merc), torque hardly suffers with a healthy 460 lb-ft of torque, only 8 lower the the bigger displacement AMG engine. At a time when AMG, BMW, and even Ferrari have abandoned naturally aspirated V8s, and af
I've been a huge fan of Michelin PSS tires and exclusively bought them for the Mustang over the last four years. So how did I end up here? This year, I was hugely interested in trying an "R-comp" tire. I had my eyes set on Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R's for two simple reasons: price and reputation. Although not a true "R-comp" tire on paper, it performs like one by the account of every single test and review I've read (down to wear rates...). They seem like they're easily the most affordable (from a big brand) R-comp tire and combine that with a reputation for having tons of grip, it was an easy top contender. I had my concerns, though. For one, I'm told and have read that they are an autox tire, not really designed for high speed, pressure, and temps associated with open track. For another, the Mustang is a heavy car (as far as track cars are concerned) being roughly 3,800 lb. (including driver), which will amplify the unwanted open track load