Carbon Ceramic Brakes, Daytona Seats, Fender Shields, Carbon Interior Trim, F430 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Valtteri Bottas on pole for Formula One's 1,000th race

Valtteri Bottas will start Formula One's 1,000th world championship race from pole position after leading Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton in a front row lockout at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel qualified third, ahead of 21-year-old Monegasque team mate Charles Leclerc who was unable to repeat his Bahrain Grand Prix pole of two weeks ago. Bottas, who won the season opener in Australia and leads defending champion Hamilton by one point in the standings, was the third different driver to take pole this season in three races. "The lap was OK, not completely how I wanted. Luckily it was good enough for pole," smiled the Finn, who pipped Hamilton by 0.023 seconds after setting a best time of one minute 31.547. "Lewis also managed to improve a lot during the qualifying and it was super-close." The pole was a first for Bottas since Russia last September and the seventh of his career. It was also his first in China where Mercedes have won five of the last seven races. Hamilton sounded happy just to be on the front row, despite six previous poles in Shanghai, after looking out of sorts in practice. "I didn't give up, I kept pushing right to the end. Big congratulations to Valtteri, he's been stellar all weekend and I've been struggling and fighting the car," said the Briton. "To be as close as we are at the end is fantastic. An incredible result for the team. There was a little bit more time left on the table there but that's cool, I'll try and get it tomorrow," added Hamilton. UNHAPPY VERSTAPPEN Ferrari had arrived in China as favorites after showing their speed in Bahrain, particularly on the straights, with Leclerc on pole and leading until a loss of engine power in the closing laps. While unable to match the quick-cornering Mercedes cars for overall pace in Shanghai, Vettel hoped to be closer on Sunday thanks to the track's main straight being more than a kilometer long. "I think there was maybe a little bit more but overall not enough to beat these guys today," said the 31-year-old German, a four times world champion. "If we get close we could have an advantage in a straight line." The top 10 positions went two-by-two in team order, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly fifth and sixth and ahead of the Renault pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg – the Australian just 0.004 ahead of the German.

How to polish car paint | Autoblog Details

Here's how to quickly and properly polish your car's paint to increase the depth and shine of your clear coat with a dual action polisher. Watch all our Autoblog Details videos for more quick car care tips from professional detailer Larry Kosilla. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] Polishing paint properly is not only a skill, but it's what I consider an art especially on this 1964 Ferrari GTE. And like any art form, it takes years of practice to perfect. Today we're gonna discuss how to quickly and safely polish or paint to increase the depth and shine of your clear coat with dual action polishers. Coming up on this episode of Details. My name is Larry Kosilla and I'm a professional detailer. Together with Autoblog, we're creating [00:00:30] the ultimate collection of quick car care videos. This is Autoblog Details. Here are the items you'll need for this task. If your car has clear coat, and in most cases, any car manufactured after the mid 1980s, or repainted like this one here, will come standard with clear coat, and you'll need to use a machine. Polishing clear coat by hand is not recommended due to the hardness of the paint. [00:01:00] Polishing paint is typically done for two main purposes. First is to remove any remaining swirls left over from a previous compounding step, or to simply increase the gloss of the paint that has no scratches that lacks a deep rich shine like this one here. First, attach a foam polishing pad to a machine. In this case, I'm using a Meguiars foam yellow pad on a Rupes LHR 21ES polisher. Spread your polish of choice around the pad, covering all pores evenly by massaging the product in [00:01:30] by hand and of course, wearing gloves. Make sure to add a bit more in some areas that remain uncoated. Now that the pad is primed, add three small dots of polish and place the pad directly on the paint prior to engaging the machine. Speed settings will vary by machine and the type of pad used but a setting of three to four is a good place to start. Take note on small orbit polishing machines if the polishing pad is not rotating, little to no polishing work is being done to the paint. Adjustments to speed, pressure, [00:02:00] and machine angle may be needed. Apply light to medium pressure to the machine so that the foam pad compresses slightly. Arm speed is moderate to slow. But keep in mind, the slower your arm speed, the more work is being done to the paint.

Creative minds build lightweight Lambos and Bugattis with cardboard and pedals

As manufacturers continue their quests to reduce the weight of their vehicles, they switch out heavy steel for lighter materials such as aluminum, carbon fiber, titanium, and sometimes even magnesium. But they've been ignoring a cheap alternative that is widely available: cardboard. Leave it to two visionaries from Vietnam to crack the code and build supercars and superbikes out of the versatile paper product. Vietnamese YouTube channel NHET TV, via CarScoops, might only have a year under its belt, but in that short amount of time, it has amassed more than 350,000 subscribers. What initially started out as a random collection of harmless pranks, trolls, and makeshift time-killers has blossomed into an entertaining channel of ultra-low-budget car and motorcycle builds.  The first video posted is a paper plane competition, but the second video shows the first appearance of a vehicle, a Ducati Panigale made out of cardboard and a bicycle. This isn't like Paper Mario with a two-dimensional silhouette, it's a close-enough three-dimensional replica. That project was admittedly pretty rough, but the work has only improved as the channel has matured.  Throughout the past year, NHET TV has stuck with high-performance transportation for inspiration. They've built projects that mimic a Lamborghini Sian, a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, a Ferrari LaFerrari FXX K, a Bugatti Chiron, a BMW S 1000 RR, and a Yamaha YZF-R6, among others. Some of the builds, such as the Bugatti, go beyond the typical cardboard-body-on-bicycle-frame. As seen in the video below, the NHET TV built a tubular frame for the car using spare bike parts that they welded together. The Bug even has a custom steering column and steering wheel, though the high-quality model continues to use bike chains and pedals for power. The SVJ might be the most advanced vehicle, as it has a real engine for power and has custom reverse gearing. These guys are creating fun out of the limited resources they do have, and that's what right now is all about. Enjoy the videos below and watch more on the full NHET TV channel.