Two More Extreme Chevrolet Colorado ZR2s Debut at SEMA

For more than a week we’ve been Chinese-water-torturing you with Chevy SEMA concepts, and today we’re finally allowed to reveal the last two. We started this barrage off with a pair of factory-orderable ZR2 packages (Midnight and Dusk), and today we finish off with a pair of wilder riffs on the off-road optimized Colorado ZR2 pickup.

Colorado ZR2 AEV Concept

Overland adventuring is becoming a thing. The concept involves hardening and outfitting a vehicle so that it can climb or winch itself over or around any obstacle, then equipping it with everything the adventurers need to survive for perhaps weeks in the bush. Chevy teamed with American Expedition Vehicles on this concept, which features a custom rack system in the bed that is designed to hold all the spare fuel cans, tires, a water source, supplies, and a generator. It’s also festooned with camp lights and an access panel on the rear of the outer driver-side quarter panel there’s a panel for distributing power, water, and compressed air. Naturally there’s a full complement of skid plates, rock rails, steel-tube bumpers with a winch, an elevated intake snorkel for deep fording, and 35-inch bead-lock wheels.

Colorado ZR2 Development Truck

Sure, the new ZR2 can go almost anywhere as it is, but might it be configured for even more extreme off-roading? This truck aims to answer that question while assessing the commercial viability of selling such extreme off-roading gear. To endow the truck with 20 percent more wheel travel, there are new high-articulation tie rod and suspension links, new ball joints and front half-shafts. The suspension is lifted by 0.8 inch in front, 0.4 inch in the rear, and the body is elevated 1.5 inch off the frame. The rear suspension gets a new third link to prevent axle-wrap and axle-hop under full power. Most of these parts have been developed on Chad Hall’s racing truck, so if they ever make it to production you can rest assured they’re race-hardened.

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Kia Brings Two Modied Stinger GT Show Cars to SEMA

Just in time for Halloween, Kia is debuting a bright orange Stinger GT with custom performance parts. The bespoke model, along with a widebody Stinger GT and special-edition Cadenza, debuted at the SEMA Show this week.

The Kia Stinger GT Federation features a bold orange paint job and body accent kits by Air Design USA. These kits bring along aggressive hood vents, a rear spoiler, and a rear diffuser. Twenty-inch TSW wrapped in Falken tires complete the look. Underneath the sheetmetal, there is a K&N cold-air intake and a quad-tipped Borla exhaust. Kia dropped the model’s ride height and put in thicker anti-roll bars and Eibach springs to enhance the driving experience. Plus, an additional 15 hp from the twin-turbo 3.3-liter V-6 doesn’t hurt either. Now, the model produces an estimated 380 ponies.

Painted in a blue metallic color, the Stinger GT Wide Body finally makes an appearance after Kia teased it earlier this month. Turns out the model doesn’t look overdone at all. Instead, it features 21-inch Keen forged wheels wearing high-performance tires, as well as a modest lightweight carbon-fiber aero kit and rear diffuser. Quad-port exhaust tips give the model a bit of extra personality, as does blue leather seat piping inside the cabin. Kia also lowered the suspension 1.4 inches up front and 1.2 inches in the back.

“Taking inspiration from the racing GT cars of the 1970s, this modern interpretation seamlessly blends tire accommodating wide fenders with the Stinger’s already narrow waist,” Kia said in a statement. The model was produced in collaboration with West Coast Customs.

Kia’s other SEMA creation is a Cadenza with a metallic black paint job, tinted windows, and Cosmic Copper accents. This model also gets a lowered suspension, along with stiffened sport springs. Inside, look for brown leather seats with suede inserts, hand-stitched suede on the dashboard, and more suede accents on the door panels. There is also a Harman Kardon 630-watt premium sound system and subwoofer.

The SEMA Show runs October 31-November 3.

Source: Kia

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Next-Gen Formula 1 Engine to Spin Faster, be Simpler, and Get Louder

Are you a member of the legion of Formula 1 fans that has spent the last few years making countless posts in all corners of the Internet complaining about the lack of the racing series’ famous loud noises? Well, F1 and its governing body, the FIA, are tired of hearing about it and are taking action.

Don’t jump up from your chair to start hooting and hollering just yet, though. First, the action here is the revision of the “power unit” rules for the 2021 season, meaning that the current setup has three more seasons to go. Second, the proposed rules still call for a 1.6-liter V-6, so even though the redline will be bumped by 3,000 rpm from 15,000 rpm to 18,000, don’t hold out hope for the return of the tortured screams of demons.

Perhaps a more significant change is the removal of the MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit-Heat). The turbocharger-mounted thermal energy recovery unit converts heat from the turbo into electrical energy that can either be stored in the battery or used as an immediate power booster. Instead, the 2021 edition will focus on the MGU-K (Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic) kinetic energy recovery component, which will be more powerful and regulations for it will be written “with focus on manual driver deployment in race together with option to save up energy over several laps to give a driver controlled tactical element to racing.”

Other changes proposed in the name of the seemingly futile battle with costs and just-as-seemingly-futile efforts at competitive parity are:

• Prescriptive internal design parameters to restrict development costs and discourage extreme designs and running conditions
• Single turbo with dimensional constraints and weight limits
• Standard energy store and control electronics
• High Level of external prescriptive design to give ‘Plug-And-Play’ engine/chassis/transmission swap capability
• Intention to investigate tighter fuel regulations and limits on number of fuels used

The governing bodies will be meeting with manufacturer representatives to finalize the framework, which will be published at the end of this year. However, all of the information needed for design and development work to start won’t be available until the end of 2018.

Source: Formula 1

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This Reborn 1967 Shelby GT500 Will Cost You $219,000

Revology debuted its latest reproduction of the 1967 Shelby GT500 at the SEMA Show this week. The retro Mustang features an upgraded engine and a more modern interior, but it’ll cost you around $219,000.

The reproduction sits on Revology’s M58 platform for front-engine, rear-wheel-drive models. Under the hood, the Revology Shelby GT500 packs a supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 engine from Roush Performance. Based on the DOHC Ti-VCT “Coyote” in the Mustang GT, this all-aluminum unit produces 600 hp and 475 lb-ft of torque. To achieve that power, changes had to be made to the driveline, electrical unit, cooling system, suspension, and even the car’s body. Each engine comes with a two-year manufacturer’s warranty.

Expect plenty of creature comforts on this special GT500. Air conditioning, remote keyless entry, remote trunk release, leather seats, Bluetooth, and power windows and door locks are some of the standard features. Also look for power four-wheel disc brakes with 330mm slotted and ventilated rotors as well as six-piston calipers in front and four-piston calipers in the rear. Revology is licensed by both Ford and Shelby to reproduce the classic GT500 and other iconic Mustangs of the era.

Last year, Revology debuted a 1967 Shelby GT500 that made 1.7 times more power than the Shelby GT500’s original 7.0-liter V-8 and was 550 pounds lighter than the Mustang GT. At the last SEMA Show, Revology brought out a reengineered 1966 Shelby GT350.

Check out these other custom Mustangs that debuted at SEMA this year.

Source: Revology

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