Mad Max in the Desert: Off-Road Racing Kills Eight

Posted on Jun 24, 2018 in Racing | Comments Off on Mad Max in the Desert: Off-Road Racing Kills Eight

Who ever could imagine this kind of racing not producing a deadly accident? Trucks and various kinds of off-roaders bounce over rock piles and desert dirt, kicking up clouds of dust so they cannot see the racers in front of them—all at night, all without crowd barriers. The modified Ford Ranger driven by Brett Sloppy (whose unfortunate name may never be...

Over the Top: 1,400-hp Camaros, Bentley Continentals and Maybach Eyewear

Posted on May 25, 2018 in Racing | Comments Off on Over the Top: 1,400-hp Camaros, Bentley Continentals and Maybach Eyewear

There are so many ways to express automotive excess that it’s hard to be surprised anymore. But the Camaro above blew out a few of my old brain cells today. The $320,000 brainchild of Canadian Serge Leger, its 6-liter GM LSX V8 was modified (greatly) to produce 1,400 hp and 900 lb-ft of torque. That ought to take you off the mark smartly. But check out the...

Audi A7 Debuts Today, R8 Prices Announced, E-tron Wins Rally

Posted on Apr 9, 2018 in Racing | Comments Off on Audi A7 Debuts Today, R8 Prices Announced, E-tron Wins Rally

Audi has come a very long way in the U.S., recently announcing it has sold 2 million cars here. From only two models in its early days (40 years ago), we now have I don’t know how many. And another is launching today: the A7 Sportback (above). Based on a 2009 concept shown at Detroit, the A7 is going to challenge the Mercedes CLS andBMW’s 5 Series GT—or maybe...

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport Regains World’s Fastest Car Title

Posted on Feb 4, 2018 in Racing | 5 comments

As far as supercars go, the Bugatti Veyron could easily win the title of least attractive. While that’s a designation open for dispute, no one can argue that the Veyron buries the needle deeper than all others. As of this weekend, the title of World’s Fastest Production Car belongs to the latest version of Bugatti’s hypercar: the Veyron Super Sport. Previously,...

MINI Will Race Porsche, But Hyundai Wants in on the Action *UPDATED WITH RESULTS

Posted on Jan 11, 2018 in Racing | 1 comment

Today is the day! The epic battle between the heavyweight champ and the featherweight underdog, Porsche vs. MINI, is set to happen tonight at 7 pm in Atlanta. The invitation went out, the hype was built, the date was set. At first Porsche said no, opting not to race a 911 Carrera S against a Cooper S, even with a 385 to 172 horsepower advantage. MINI, using its...

Audi R8 Spyder vs. Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet

Posted on Dec 27, 2017 in Racing | 3 comments

This race would be nothing less than exhilarating: The spectacularly sexy Audi R8 Spyder against the comparably conservative Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet. The R8’s 5.2-liter V10 produces 525 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque at 6,500 rpm. The 911 has only a 3.8-liter flat six. Of course, “only” is a relative term here, because the Porsche’s direct-injected...

Panoz Abruzzi Straddles the Line Between Ugly and Beautiful

Posted on Oct 1, 2017 in Racing | 2 comments

Little-known carmaker Panoz has taken the wraps off its all-new supercar, the company’s first since 2008. Coinciding with Le Mans week in France, American Le Mans Series founder Don Panoz has revealed the new limited-production Abruzzi Spirit of Le Mans road car. We don’t know too much about what’ll power the Abruzzi, other than the car will make 600-plus...

Sorry, Too Late, the Lexus LFA Is Sold Out *UPDATED

Posted on Sep 8, 2017 in Racing | 3 comments

We know how frustrating it can be to miss out on a real bargain. And you had the spot ready for the Lexus LFA in your six-car garage, with reservations made on the private road course to exercise its 202-mph top speed. Well, you missed it, Jack, because all 500 copies of the $375,000 supercar are now not only spoken for (Lexus demanded buyers put down $125,715...

Cosworth Subaru Impreza STi CS400 Blows Away the Supercars

Posted on Jul 19, 2017 in Racing | Comments Off on Cosworth Subaru Impreza STi CS400 Blows Away the Supercars

Never having been an enormous fan of Subaru cars, I must admit they seem to have hit a home run with the new WRX STi from Cosworth. With a 0-62 mph time of 3.7 seconds, this beast can actually take on the Lambos and up-powered Porsches—or at least play in the same ballpark. Cosworth, one of the world’s great tuners and engine-tweakers, managed to get 395 hp...

Four Insane Videos for the Week

Posted on May 16, 2017 in Racing | Comments Off on Four Insane Videos for the Week

The Wisconsin State Patrol in Sparta was having a quiet Thursday when a crazy guy from Canadatore through town in a semi, speeding, weaving, clipping a dump truck, crossing the median, scaring the bejeezus out of drivers. The cops deployed tire spikes to stop the truck after a 20-plus-mile chase. The Madison bomb squad was brought in, but the truck turned out...

The Three Best Car Videos of the Week

Posted on Mar 2, 2017 in Racing | Comments Off on The Three Best Car Videos of the Week

Koenigsegg Trevita CCXR Jay Leno, or “Perma-Denim Jay” as I like to call him, is one lucky man. He only needs one outfit, and he has a garage full of some of the most sought-after cars in the world. What a life! He even gets to drive supercars he doesn’t own on segments of his show. I’m not talkin’ The Tonight Show here, I’m talkin’ the infinitely more...

The 10 Best Cars (and Trucks) Ford Ever Built

Posted on Jan 9, 2017 in Racing | 4 comments

What do we define as “best”? Vehicles that have achieved a real advance in terms of automotive engineering, design, capability, and/or public acceptance. Of course, we are always open to your comments, comebacks, challenges, etc. Ford has built an extremely wide range of vehicles over its lifetime. While some have certainly bombed, the company has a pretty high...