racetrack
Latest
Fanatec Forza Motorsport CSR wheel and Elite pedals review
Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel for Xbox 360 review Fanatec Porsche GT2 wheel and Clubsport pedals review Forza Motorsport CSR and CSR Elite wheel and pedals hands-on It's amazing to realize that about two years ago Fanatec's first Xbox 360 racing wheel, the Forza 3 Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel, hit the scene. Although it turned out to be a mixed bag, Fanatec pleasantly surprised us with its Porsche GT2 and Clubsport Pedals in January of this year -- despite a roaring fan and shaky shifter mounts. Now, we're saying hello to a new trio of racing sim-related goods intended for Forza Motorsport 4 on Xbox 360: the $249.95 Forza Motorsport CSR Wheel, $59.95 shifter set, and $149.95 CSR Elite Pedals. If you'll recall, it was back in March that we checked some of this kit out, and now with Forza 4 here, we hooked this mashup of gear up with our Playseat Evolution for a massive amount of virtual spins. So, did this combination help speed past the checkerboard with a respectable feel? Shift past the break find out in our full review. %Gallery-140233%
Levitating superconductor floats within a magnetic field so you don't have to (video)
What happens when you douse a superconducting urinal cake with liquid nitrogen? We haven't given it too much thought, to be honest, though we're guessing it would look a lot like the "levitating" disc pictured above. Developed by researchers at Tel-Aviv University, this device is actually a superconductor hovering over a "supercooled" magnet. While locked within the magnetic field, it can rotate around a vertical axis, turn upside down or do laps around a track -- all thanks to a phenomenon that Tel-Aviv's physicists call "quantum trapping." We're not really sure what that entails, but we do know that the results are pretty incredible. Check them out for yourself, after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Toyota smashes EV record on Nurburgring, speed rivals gas-powered cars (video)
Last week, Toyota's racing team set out to break the current EV record on the Nordschleife track, part of Germany's infamous Nürburgring -- and they've done it, clocking a swift 7:47.79 seconds with the P001 electric racing car. The Peugeot EX1 EV's previous 9:01.338 record seems like a distant memory as the new contender shaved more than a minute off the time, giving even gasoline-powered vehicles a run for their money. Toyota's car is no slouch as it can reach 260km/h (174mph), with a track time that rivals the Radical SR8 LM's record breaking time of 6:48. Beating its predicted goal of eight minutes, Toyota hopes the victory will bring new awareness to electric racing and perhaps to help sell custom race cars in the future -- yes, you too might be able to cop a car with the same guts (albeit different body and chassis) as a Radical Sportscar some day. Check out the full PR after the jump.
Toyota to take on Nurburgring without a sound, aims to beat EV record
All bets are on as Toyota hits up the Nürburgring next week, hoping to shatter the existing EV speed record over all 12.9 miles of the Nordschleife, affectionately nicknamed "green hell." To break the current nine minute, 1.388 second world best, Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) is unleashing an electric race car with two motors and a top speed of 260kmph (174mph) without emissions. The Radical-based car is similar to the one used by the Racing Green Endurance team on its epic 16,000 mile road trip, only lighter thanks to lithium-ceramic batteries. The company hopes breaking the record will show racing fans just how far electric cars have come, with GM Ludwig Zeller saying, "Many people are still dreaming of an electric future for motorsport; at TMG we believe this is much closer than some think." Full details are in the PR after the break, or you can just take a detour to the Black Forest next week and check it out yourself.
Charlotte Motor Speedway and its huge HD screen will host the Top Gear 300 in May
Answering the question of what to do with its massive high definition display, the Charlotte Motor Speedway has teamed up with the History Channel to sponsor its first NASCAR Nationwide race on the schedule, now dubbed the Top Gear 300. During the race, clips from the upcoming second season will play on the 200 foot wide display, although we doubt even that could bring it up to par with the UK version. Still, we'll see what the new season of Top Gear USA has in store, and what it's like to see such a massive screen at a racetrack May 28th.
Around Azeroth: Goodbye, Mirage Raceway
The sun is setting on our beloved racetrack. No more will we be running around it, collecting debris, scaring humans disguised as chickens and eating Tigul and Foror's Strawberry ice cream. Goodbye, Mirage Raceway! Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, Val'kyr on mounts, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. Older screenshots can be found here. %Gallery-76180%
Forza Motorsport 3 adds Circuit de Catalunya, some Euro-Sport compacts detailed
Turn 10 has revealed a new addition to the Forza Motorsport 3 racetrack family: Spain's Circuit de Catalunya raceway. While the developer welcomes the Spanish Grand Prix track for the first time, it also announced plans for Germany's Nürburgring raceway to come back to the simulation racing franchise. Microsoft's press release describes Catalunya as "one of motorsport's most vital testing grounds," and detailed the track by adding players would "encounter a variety of obstacles," like hugging curves or speeding down straights -- which is notable because it proves there is no exciting way to verbally describe a road.Turn 10 also detailed a sample of Euro-Sport compact cars making their way into Forza Motorsport 3, including the 2008 Saab 9-3 Turbo X, the 2009 Lotus Evora and the 2010 Fiat 500 Abarth SS. A full list of the adorable little European sport cars is after the break.%Gallery-68920%
Churchill Downs launches HD simulcast next season
Next time you head to the track, whether at Churchill Downs or "select off-track betting locations and racetracks" expect a clearer look at the action, with more than 100 HDTVs installed in several areas and a 16:9 high definition simulcast, the first racetrack in the U.S. to do so. Of course that still doesn't compare to a Japanese racetrack that once upon a time boasted the biggest HDTV, and while it will probably make raceday more exciting when the 2008 Fall Meet kicks off October 26, explaining how you lost the car payment on a "sure thing" isn't any easier in HD.[Via Courier-Journal]
Toshiba says its 1GB MRAM chips are "almost ready," we're ready now
It wasn't long ago that IBM promised to unleash its racetrack MRAM (magnetoresistive RAM) on a power and speed-hungry computing public, but now Toshiba says its 1GB MRAM chips are "almost ready". The chips use Spin-RAM (STT-RAM) and Toshiba fully expects them to take over where DRAM left off by 2015. They say their new chips use about 10 percent the energy used by DRAM and, like MRAM is supposed to do, retain memory even after the power supply has been cut off. So what does this mean? Instant boot-up, fast access times, and super-low power consumption. While MRAM has been announced by others, capacities and speeds promised by this 1GB jobby from Toshiba will certainly make things worthwhile.[Via MRAM-info]
Researchers utilize electricity to move magnetically-stored data
While Fujitsu works overtime in order to boost hard drive capacity by 500-percent in just two years, researchers at the University of Hamburg in Germany are devising a method to move magnetically-stored data around a HDD "a hundred times faster than currently possible." Guido Meier and colleagues are purportedly using "nanosecond pulses of electric current to push magnetic regions along a wire at 110-meters per second," which easily trumps today's method of using comparatively slow spinning discs to access data. Additionally, their vision of the next-generation hard drive will sport fewer mechanical parts in order to lessen the "wear and tear" that existing units face. Notably, the idea behind the creation was actually conjured up by an IBM employee in 2004, but if the Germans crafting the current prototype have anything to say about it, said idea could turn into reality sooner than later.
Newest "World's Largest HDTV" at Tokyo racetrack
Apparently bigger is always better in the realm of giant HDTVs, and the leapfrog game to have the largest -- even for just a few months -- continues as Mitsubishi has constructed a baffling 8,066 square-foot display at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan. By far the biggest Diamond Vision unit ever built, it trumps their own creation at Turner Field in Atlanta by spanning 218 feet wide by 37 feet high and allowing for 3 races to be shown at once. The two previous title-holders were Miami's Dolphin Stadium at 137 x 50 feet and Texas' Longhorn Stadium at 134 x 55 feet. Controversy over the true king will surely arise due to Tokyo's set only rising 37 feet in height and rocking an unorthodox 5.89 aspect ratio, but it does indeed sport Hi-Vision (1080), making it a legitmate HDTV. Personally, we'd be able to get more use from a couple plasmas, but if you've got the space acreage, there probably isn't a better way to spend $28 million. [Via HD Beat]
