Bugatti in horsepower war with itself

Bugatti engages in the car manufacturer horsepower wars and wins. Again, and again, and again...

(2005 Bugatti Veyron model) 

 American car manufacturers Dodge, Chevy, and Ford have been engaged in horsepower wars amongst themselves since the 1950's. Around 2005, these manufacturers were producing vehicles with upwards of 500hp. When Bugatti released the million dollar Veyron 16.4 which was 1,001 horsepower and capable of 253mph, the public was shocked.

Bugatti achieved this with a multiple record breaking 16.4 liter W16 (yes, that's two V8's slapped together) with four turbochargers mounted between it's rear haunches. After five years of reigning king of the hypercars, Bugatti decided it needed to outdo itself with the Veyron SuperSport.

 

 

The SuperSport included subtle design cues, but most importantly they threw another Volkswagen GTI's worth of horsepower at it for a grand total of 1,200 horsepower, and a new top speed of 268mph. Even so, a short 7 years later in 2017 to even further stay ahead of the competition, Bugatti yet again went back to the drawing board for a complete redesign.

The successor to the Veyron is now known as the Chiron and produces an earth shattering 1,500 horsepower with an unverified top speed. The car has been over 270mph but is electronically limited to this speed at this time. The top speed remains unverified as the current $20,000 per set tires have not finished their R&D testing to confirm they can withstand the force they are under at Bugatti's new goal, over 300mph.

(2017 Bugatti Chiron model)

Tesla recharges interest in electric vehicle market

 

Elon Musk and Tesla have redefined the way auto consumers think about electric vehicles. 

For a long period of time cars like the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi MiEV were the pinnacles of electric production vehicles. While great for the environment, they were impractical. And to the average consumer, they were very unattractive. Tesla stormed it's way onto the EV scene in 2008 with the Tesla roadster, the first electric sports car. 

Tesla really became a major player when the Model S debuted in 2012. It had features like genuine autopilot, supercharger stations, and in some models 0-60 performance that rivals or even beats that of million-dollar hypecars like Lamborghini and Ferrari. Tesla achieves that by employing an all-wheel drive system in addition to a feature called Ludicrous mode. Ludicrous Mode unlocks 100% of the battery's power and achieves that max power at 0rpm and 0mph through electricity's instant torque where combustion engines need to reach a certain rpm range to achieve peak power and thrust.

The Tesla's feature a hydraulic lift for the low hanging nose which may not seem like new technology if you look at sports car even a decade old, but the Tesla goes to far as to use it's GPS in order to recognize when you've arrived at a steep driveway or somewhere you've raised the nose before and takes the liberty of doing so on it's own. 

The Tesla also includes a center console touch screen display similar to that of an iPad on steroids, and uses an OS which mimics iOS from Apple so many gestures and interfaces are similar to that on your smartphone. Not to mention, a full charge on a Tesla Model S 85 costs about $7-8 for 265 miles of range.

Through innovation, integration, and general convenience Elon Musk and Tesla are changing the perspective on and future for electric vehicles.

pepsi ad

Kendall Jenner in hiding after Pepsi ad cancelled

Jenner promotes controversy with protest-themed commercial. 

Kendall Jenner recently starred in a Pepsi advertisement which uses recent events such as racial and political protests as a tool for the fountain drink to boost sales. 

The commercial depicts Jenner with makeup and designer clothes on taking modeling photos when she locks eyes with a protester who gives her a nod toward the direction of the protest line. She stops what she is doing, wipes her makeup off to reveal her face with another more casual set of makeup, and walks into the crowd. 

As she passes through the mob of protestors, she exchange glances with many of them and encroaches ever-closer on the police line containing the protest. She then reveals her problem-solving can of Pepsi as she comes face-to-face with a police officer without being promptly pepper-sprayed. 

She opens the drink, hands it to the officer, and then he takes a sip. A woman with a traditional muslim headdress takes a photo of the life-altering moment that just transpired, everybody cheers. Shortly after everybody is cheering and are friends. 

Kendall Jenner has saved the day. This caused immediate outrage among socio-political advocacy groups, 'Black Lives Matter' being one of them. 

Daughter of Martin Luther King Jr, Bernice King tweeted the above message in response to the original Pepsi advertisement shortly after it aired. Pepsi posted the below message as a public apology to Bernice King and to Kendall Jenner.

Many others on multiple platforms of social media made their voices heard by publicly ridiculing the advertisement and Jenner. The most notable social media outlet being Twitter by far. People referenced extremely important pivotal moments in history and belittled the Pepsi ad by saying all that was needed was a Pepsi to avoid the whole situation. 

Twitter user @ziwe mentioned the Rodney King events could have been avoided if he simply had a Pepsi.

Below Twitter user @chenyboi uses a popular Black Lives Matter protest photo added a caption making fun of the Pepsi commercial.

Near the end of the commercial, many people have made a connection of visual cues between the ad itself and an influential photograph by Jonathan Bachman which shows Leshia Evans standing against a police line in defiance. The latter image is used commonly by activist groups such as Black Lives Matter as a symbol of resistance, which Pepsi's parody seems to make a mockery of. 

'Saturday Night Live' spoof rubbing salt in the wound.

'SNL' wrote a skit which centers around a man supposedly having written the Pepsi commercial and being very excited over it. He calls his sister while on set moments before the ad airs to tell her about the commercial and is immediately met by comical resistance from not only her, but his friend Doug, and Doug's African American neighbor. Shortly after it cues the Pepsi logo with eh phrase 'live and learn' and fades out.

Kendall Jenner has been taken aback by the reaction the advertisement has received. The overwhelming backlash the ad is receiving has caused her to gravitate into a state of hiding. Jenner has been reported as 'laying low' from a source which states she has been staying with friends to avoid press at this time. 

When the ad aired she was working abroad in Paris and was met out of the blue with a firestorm of outrage on social media. Jenner is also leaning heavily on her family at this time which is no stranger to controversy and being in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. Despite being emotionally distraught by the events, Jenner has issued no formal apology or publicly stated an inkling of regret in any official capacity. 

Jenner also displays a lack of compassion by not even attempting to focus on the wrongdoing by Pepsi or the fact that their advertisement tried to rewrite the real narrative of political protests and commodify racial struggle.