THE GREAT DUEL OF LE MANS

I would like to first start off with the actors before I begin with the review. Carroll Shelby was played by Matt Damon while Ken Miles was played by Christian bale and Lee Iacocca was portrayed by Jon Bernthal. The tough character of Henry Ford II was played by Tracy Letts. Not to forget, the character of Leo Beebe was played by Josh Lucas.

 The movie starts off with a note from Carroll Shelby that at 7000 rpm everything fades and life turns into question whether you take the leap and push the car or rest it. The movie slowly becomes a battle not only between Ford and Ferrari but also between the formerly mentioned company’s top bosses. In the middle of this great battle, the artistic Carroll Shelby and top driver Ken miles are also in the center. The movie’s action start when a deal-breaker takes place between the two automotive firms and the deal doesn’t go on further. This happens because of the sole reason that Ford’s executives tried to take control of Enzo Ferrari’s racing division

In the movie, when Ken Miles gets a turn at the GT 40 made by Shelby American, it showed that he was a man who knew how the car felt and how he wanted it to feel . I really loved the part where Carroll Shelby stakes his entire company to make Ken miles the driver for the race. This showed that every time he took a hunch on Ken Miles, it always turned out to be the result he wanted. I absolutely loved the part where Carroll Shelby took Henry Ford II a ride in the newly built GT 40 and it was nothing as what the top level boss of Ford Automotive had expected.

One part that shook me but brought me back was the incident where Ken Miles was testing the GT40 and got brake fade and lost his brakes and almost died. It was a part that made me go right off the seat but then he was saved and I also sat back. I really enjoyed the scene in the movie where Ken Miles takes on Ferrari in the Mulsanne Straight and comes a lap ahead of the racing experts. The one thing that really didn’t take off with me was that the first year the executives of Ford didn’t want Ken Miles to come. The result of the first year cemented enough that only Ken Miles was the one man capable to drive the enormously powered GT40 and no one else knew the car like how Ken Miles knew it.

The attention to detail of everything in this movie was perfect to the second and was completely a mind boggling thing to watch. Just seeing the cars take off or how every nut and bolt was tightened, was really an awesome sight to behold as everything was period correct to that era. They even got the sound of the cars right as that’s what car buffs usually look for perfection in and I’m happy to say that the movie makers got it right. There was one place where it didn’t seem right was at the unveiling of the new Mustang, Carroll Shelby says “I’m Carroll Shelby and with Ford we’ll make the fastest cars”. This didn’t seem right as it isn’t Carroll Shelby’s actual monologue. His original monologue is, “My name is Carroll Shelby and performance is my business”.

I would like to conclude by saying that this movie really hit it out of the park and could also be nominated to the Oscars. I would also say that this movie could be watched on repeat as it is very rich in detail.

 

Why Tesla will not work in India

I’ve been having this thought for a long time and felt like sharing it. Tesla, which is headed by Elon Musk, is breaking new grounds and their cars are not only breaking new grounds but blowing everyone’s mind. The innovation in the cars are phenomenal and futuristic. They have a nice body design which grabs your attention in seconds. And please don’t get me started on the speeds and range of this car.

The new Model S P85D makes an enormous 249 km/h. It accelerates at a monstrous 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 3.2 seconds. This timing is done under the ‘insane mode’ of the car. I don’t think any other car gives modes like insane mode. The best you can have is probably the sport plus mode or the race mode. But the cars now get a custom mode also but my opinion is that they won’t get anywhere equal to the insane mode of Tesla. This proves that Tesla is going insane with their level of innovation. Quite recently, they had given a software update to the Model S.

It has announced a new ‘Deep Rain’ which is a neural net to sense incoming rain and set the car’s settings to match the weather. They have also gotten the ‘Smart summon’ mode which can literally bring your car to you than the vice-versa which was happening from the inception of cars. You can also listen to Spotify, watch Netflix, Hulu, Youtube on the touchscreen. It has also gotten a new game to the Tesla game arcade. This makes it one of the most exclusive cars in the entire planet which is full to brim with unthinkable features. This would all go good in the West where they have wide sprawling roads to accommodate these sort of vehicles.

While we cross the puddle and come to India, we can clearly see that normal Mercedes or BMW cars are battling to not get a scratch under the chassis or get to stretch their legs to their full capability. I am quite sure that Elon Musk’s innovation will not work here at all. Considering the scenario that Tesla does come to India, the question will arise as to where there is space to drive it. What I mean is that this car cannot handle the rough roads and battered streets of our country.

Everyone might say that Ferrari and Lamborghini are roaming the roads these days . I would not disagree to that but these cars have been here for some time and the manufacturers have a rough idea of our roads and are upgrading to make sure they don’t shatter. Tesla bodies aren’t built for our roads yet. And we can’t even use the smart summon mode as we don’t know which street dog might come in the middle and risk getting run over. The Autopilot mode is useless as we have to keep braking and accelerating at a snail’s pace.

The ‘deep rain’ mode might come in handy keeping in mind our country’s ever changing climate. We don’t even get to have fun with the very awesome ‘Ludicrous Plus Mode’, which unlocks the full efficacy of the drive-train of the car. Some might say that we have highways that are enough to quench the thirst of speed in this lithium-ion battery powered cars that give torque better than fuel powered cars. But the highways are also riddled with potholes that make it unbearable to drive. The traffic at the highways have also increased tenfold and we cannot use this specific mode.

I therefore conclude by saying that Tesla isn’t made for our roads yet. I think that Elon Musk can either make a car set to India’s conditions or our roads can improve, whichever comes first.