Gnarly Vol: 9

I said "holy shit" at one point watching this, and was pretty well scared shitless the rest of the time.

Indianapolis Auto Show Revelations

Its auto show time again here in Indianapolis.  We don't get any concepts or reveals of new models but its still fun to go to and plop your ass down in the seats and fiddle with the controls of a good majority of the current model rides out on the market.  Some mental notes from the show:

1.  The Hyundai Veloster is cool.  It's stylish looking without seeming gimmicky and looks more upscale than the price tag indicates.  I could see myself driving one but its back seats are pretty much just a formality.  The third door is an interesting design element but I can't see fitting anyone back there with any degree of comfort.  Thus, while a cool ride it doesn't really stack up enough performance wise to make it fully desirable.  If I'm making a commitment to a two seat ride its going to have some performance specs and rear drive.

2.  Speaking of two seat rear drive fun specs, the BMW 135 is damn nice.  That's a commitment I could feel good about.  

3.  Against what I feel like should be my better judgement, I like the Mini Countryman.  It's bumped up ride height, four doors and general diversion from what the Mini is at its core are maybe just good reasons I don't need to be such a traditionalist rather than a misled diversification of the brand.  I'd like to cruise around in one on a good snowy day.

4.  The new Ford Focus is a good looking car.  They're reaching though, with the 30,000 dollar Titanium trimmed model at the show.  Nice two tone leather seats, really great looking wheels and all the electronic gadgetry.  30k though for a Focus seems a bit like a violation.

5.  The new Dodge SRT 8 Chargers are very cool looking.  I wouldn't want to put tires on em though.  20"s, shit man.

6.  Am I all grown up?  Upon my gaze at the Subaru booth at the WRX STI, I decided I could never drive such a garish ride.  Its the wing.  Is there a wing delete option?  Somewhere in a parallel universe a 16 year old version of myself died a little bit.

7.  Boy are Toyotas boring.  Also no FR-S at the Scion booth, bummer.

8.  Cadillac's Diamond Black paint is beautiful, and so was the lineup of CTS V models wearing said paint.  I'll echo what's always said about the CTS V wagon, I don't know how that thing got made but stuffing an engine that bad in a wagon is one of the coolest things going.

9.  Speaking of wagons, Acuras TSX wagon is really sharp.  Its really too bad we don't get a manual transmission.

10.  New car smell, so good.

I Didn't Cry While Watching This

Honda to Release New Integra

I'll tell you what, when I saw the headline over at Autoblog that "Honda stuns world by showing off surprise new Integra" I nearly shit myself.  Time was, you were pretty much the dude if you rolled an Integra.  If you came up in the 90's and were into cars you probably were down with or at least respected the 'teg.  Sadly they've now reached the point of depreciation where if you see one out and about its more than likely riced or ragged.  So if you haven't clicked on the title link yet...

Welp

Ol' Honda could have at least not given its new city scootercycle the name of one of its most beloved sports cars.  This thing is one of those bikes that at first glance makes you look like a gnarly crotch rocket sportbike ladykiller, but at further inspection is just an extra pepped up scooter that leaves you looking more like D.U.I. guy.  Cue the fat girl and a moped jokes.  What a full on bummer.  The RSX was pretty sweet no?  I'd love to see a little coupe with an Acura badge again.

Scientifical Madness

Auto engineering is some crazy shit.  Last week I struggled to change the brake rotors and pads on my car and there's some automotive egghead at BMW thats out there coming up with electronically assisted turbochargers.

Looks to be some pretty cool technology.  In theory it decreases turbo lag and runs very efficiently.  It has no wastegate, instead acting as an alternator, returning charge back to the battery.

Gnarly Vol: 8

I can watch Cops all day but I've never seen anything like this go down.  Brazilian police taking out a plane.  Gnarly.

Built

There's a certain madness that I love about a guy's willingness modify a car far beyond the typical wheels, suspension and exhaust that's commonplace.  Going the route of engine and differential swaps and all the technical knowledge, can do attitude and wearwithal that's required is a different beast altogether.

Speedhunters is where you need to go when you want to look at great photos of pretty much any style of car.  From race cars, drifters, Japanese and European imports, to good old fashioned U.S.A. muscle, they cover it in high quality photos.  They've got two great articles up about some unusually built up rides.  First is a Volvo C 70 powered by a Toyota Supra engine and converted to rear wheel drive.  You'd look at it and think it was lowered with some wheels, and have no idea about the work put into it.  Which I love, its so subtle and doesn't scream "hey look at this!".  Next is a E46 BMW M3, with its engine swapped for the V10 that powers the E60 M5.  That's crazy power, and the whole package is beautiful and looks perfectly put together.