Actually, that is precisely what I would call a "ludicrous travesty"...
Chrysler could put the Viper GTS V10 in a Cherokee and try the same thing.
What would it prove? What is the point?
No one even buys a luxury SUV to go off-road. They certainly don't buy them
to go 194 MPH on the track.
Seems like they're pretty desperate to justify the presence of this "truck"
in their line-up of "Ultimate Driving Machines"...
Good story, though...
IMHO, YMMV...
on 10/3/01 5:47 PM, Scott Hower at HowerSL@worldnet.att.net wrote:
>> Max Heim <mvheim@studiolimage.com>
>>
>> Subject: Re: MG SUV
>>
>> I read the same thing at the time. I also feel that an MG SUV would be a
>> ludicrous travesty... but then, so are the Porsche SUV, the BMW SUV, ad
>> nauseam...
>
> Easy, Max. I resemble that remark; my daily driver/kid hauler is a BMW X5.
>
> Ludicrous travesty?? You decide...
>
> ---
> NURBURG, Germany (June 21, 2001) -- The world recently saw
> another motorsports record fall to BMW as American Le Mans Series
> driver Hans Stuck drove a V12-powered BMW X5 around the 20-kilometer
> (12.5-mile) northern loop of the legendary Nurburgring circuit in a time
> of 7:49.92 minutes.
>
> The "X5 Le Mans" is an engineering exercise that originated among
> BMW engineers to explore and demonstrate the absolute limits of this
> type of vehicle beyond just theory. The X5 Le Mans is powered by
> the same six-liter V12 engine that propelled the V12 LMR to its win
> at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1999.
>
> Apart from lowering the chassis by about an inch front and rear,
> shortening and stiffening the springs and dampers and fitting some truly
> gargantuan tires (275/40ZR20 fronts, 315/35ZR20 rears), the Le Mans
> prototype chassis is standard X5.
>
> To break the eight-minute barrier is an accomplishment many thought
> was impossible with a sport activity vehicle - even for a driver the
> caliber of Stuck.
>
> "We tried three times last year," said Stuck, "but had twice weather
> problems and one time a mechanical problem. The target was to go
> below eight minutes on the northern loop of the famous old Nurburgring
> and this time we were lucky that the weather was good. Normally it
> is bad at the Nurburgring and good in the rest of Germany, but this
> time it was good up there and bad in the rest of the country.
>
> "After going out in the morning and checking our settings my first flying
> lap in the afternoon was a 7:49.92. People were totally crazy that I could
> go so fast as they did not think I could break the eight-minute barrier.
>
> "The X5 reached 311 kilometers per hour (194 mph) on the straightaway.
> It was a ride on a cannonball!"
> ------
>
> Now, if only the top went down...
>
> http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadtests/firstdrive/45099/page001.html
>
> --Scott
> 01 X5 (not a LeMans, but wish it was)
> 73 MGB
>
--
===============================
Max Heim
mvheim@studiolimage.com
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