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.

Shit Y'all, My Bad

Lets just forget that happened.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Being a NYC Subway Train Conductor

Reddit has a very interesting IAMA from a New York City subway train conductor.  Its a good read, discussing such matters as falling down onto the tracks, suicides, and various code words for unsavory things.

Skateboards Are a Poor Form of Transportation Vol: 2

Jason Dill has one of the most odd bird personalities in skateboarding and a really distinct style of skating.  I ran across this the other day via Slap, and thought it was great.  It does a great job of capturing his style and some tricks from his classic parts.  Props to whoever "Unreal Estate" is who's behind this.

Best Hot Wheels Track Ever

Sweet Looking Audi Concept

Autoblog has some nice pictures of an Audi A1 variant which they're reporting to possibly be a RS1.  We in the poor ol' US of A won't get a sniff at this thing so we can at least enjoy the pictures.  The general body shape reminds me of BMW's E36 318ti, which I always liked.

Check it out here.

General Motors Answer to the Leaf

According to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, General Motors announced today that the Chevrolet Spark, which is sold in Latin America, Europe as well as Asia will be sold on United States soil.  The gas version is a 1.2 liter powerplant that bangs out just over 80 ponies.  The big news though, is that G.M. plans to release an EV version for the 2013 model year, a move that puts Nissan's Leaf in their crosshairs.  No word yet on pricing.  Myself I wonder how it stacks up against and fits into the current lineup with the soon released Sonic.  The Sonic hatch starts out 14,635 for a turbocharged 1.4 liter powerplant.  You can even option up to a six speed manual.  So if you're down with gas, or even if you're not, you have to admit that the dino fuel version of the Spark probably doesn't need to exist.  It would have to undercut the $13,735 that the sedan version starts at to make it worth the downgrade in engine equipment and really, $13,735 for a brand new car is strikingly cheap.  The '13 release for the Spark will be in limited quantities, to contrast, Nissan's Leaf should see a more robust inventory for 2013.

Gnarly Vol: 7

End of the Line for the Ridgeline

My poor beloved Honda.  It seems as though you're steeped in malaise.  Gone green only to be outdesigned and oversold by your rivals at Toyota.  Killed the S2000.  Screwed the pooch on the redesign of the '12 Civic.  The not quite sporty enough CR-Z.  Keeping the Ridgeline going.  At least according to Wall Street Journal writer Jonathan Welsh, who reports the Ridgeline will continue past a mild redesign for the 2012 model year.

I long for the days when trucks were trucks.  A cab and bed.  Used for what you use a truck for.  Towing, hauling, plowing snow.  Work.  Nowadays trucks are more S.U.V. than pickup.  Shrinking beds.  Four doors.  I'll always put my two cents on the "should I get a S.U.V. or truck?" argument on the truck.  With a bed at least you're maximizing that useful space.  However as these trucks become more car like in their creature comforts that bed space is diminishing.  Among the worst offenders is the Ridgeline, who along with Chevrolet's Avalanche are the hallmarks of the trend of big, yet too little.  The truck for the guy who wants to look like he has truck, but for some reason didn't buy a truck.  I had a coworker who for a time drove a four door Chevrolet S-10.  The bed on it was roughly the size of the bed on a utility golf cart.  He once went to get a yard of mulch to take to his home.  The gentelman loading the mulch took one look at the truck and replied "thats cute".  The yard of mulch took two trips to haul back to the house.

Automakers are trying to do it all it seems.  Must have electric car in line up.  Must have full size truck in line up.  Must have economy car in line up.  Must have Sport Utility in line up.  I often wonder about how to quantify the process of design and production of versus the sales of an automobile.  Much like finding out a film cost 300 million to make only to gross 50 at the box office.  It must be a viable model since nearly every manufacturer seems to be jumping on the bandwagon.  I'm just a peon who writes about his automotive opinions anyway.

Does Maserati really need to add a S.U.V. to its line?  Does the Chevy Avalanche need to exist?  Why not just build what you're good at?  For Honda, thats traditionally been smaller economical cars with a few sportier variants thrown into the mix.  Honda's history of S.U.V.'s and now a pickup is pretty lackluster(Passport, Ridgeline) to forgettable(Pilot).  Toyota has shown with the Tundra and Tacoma what you can do when you come correct with a solid truck model.  At least in its current incarnation the Ridgeline should be laid to rest.  If Honda is determined to have a truck model in the line up, why not something in the compact truck segment to compete with the likes of Chevy's Colorado and Toyota's Tacoma?  Capable yet leaner, with more utility in proportion to overall size.  Sounds more like the Honda I know and love.  

"You Know, the Butt. It's Got a Weird Butt, and a Flat Head."

Fall Sundays.  Typically the time where the auto industry beats us over the head with truck commercials.  You know, hard hittin' football, a shit ton of bricks gettin' dropped from ten feet up into the bed of a Chevy, sloppin' around in mud.  Man shit.  This past weekend Hyundai saw fit to instead beat us over the head with ads for its little Veloster.  I'm excited about the Veloster.  This thing looks to have just enough ponies put together with the available six speed tranny to make a pretty fun to drive hatch.  I also happen to think it looks cool.  My girlfriend thinks otherwise.  Lets leave the Veloster out of this though. The real issue is how she describes what she doesn't like.

Her: That car looks weird, it has a flat head.

Me:  You mean the roof?

Her: Yeah whatever, the head.  It looks flat and weird.

Me: Oh brother

Head = roof

Mouth = grill

Butt = rear end

Eyes =  headlights

Lid = hood

Maybe some others I'm forgetting, but thats the general idea.  So to you dear, I present you this, a guide to automotive design jargon courtesy of Jalopnik.  We'll talk C-pillars, rake, beltlines, and butts in no time.  Love you.  

What a Strange World We Live In

Jalopnik reports that somewhere in Singapore, a seller has 150 never driven 1997 Chrysler Neons available for purchase.  Why some dude in Singapore has that many Neons sitting around that have never been touched is beyond me.  

Check it out.

http://jalopnik.com/secret-cars/

I learned to drive on a 1995 Neon.  They are surprisingly fast in reverse.  I also have always had a sweet spot for these guys.

Driving Music Vol: 5

In the past month my work life has completely turned to shit.  Today was the worse yet, until the alarm goes off tomorrow.  Also eagerly awaiting Greece's debt crisis to push Europe then the U.S. into recession part two.  I thought this was to be our future, not this.  Coincidentally, my taste for party rap jams just hasn't been what it was.  I now present to you, the soundtrack to your drive home after yet another terrible day at work where you contemplate jumping your ride Dukes of Hazard style off a cliff.

Gnarly Vol: 6

I've seen plenty of in car footage of Nurburgring laps.  Sweet ass motorcycle footage is a different bird. This is Tim Rothig, on a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10 taking a lap in 8:17, which is pretty damn balls to the wall crazy on that track. The leaning back and forth makes me feel like being on that viking ship amusement park ride.  Heads up around 4:30 for a nice wheelie as he's completely laying into the throttle.  A tip of my hat to this insane video and Rothig's gnarly huge stones.

Ford at Frankfurt, a Beautiful Jag Concept, and Three Bangers

New York Times Wheels blog reports Ford has unveiled the Focus ST line of high performance, gas sipping Focus'.  Foci.  Whatever.  The ST will punch out 247 ponies from its 2 liter engine and its transmission is mated to a six speed shifter.  Also in Ford's typical America hating style we will not get the wagon version.

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What a beaut...Jaguar's C-X16 concept has made it's debut in the flesh at Frankfurt.  The concept is powered by a supercharged V6 engine capable of 375 hp with a hybrid drive system that adds 94 horsies on to that tab.  

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I've seen a couple of good articles about the incredible shrinking engine in the past week, from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, respectively.  The core of the issue being how do you get a public to adapt their mentality toward smaller engines.  With better technology and forced induction smaller engines are producing more horsepower than ever and doing it more efficiently, but as Lawrence Ulrich points out in his NYT article how will the public react to the same price tag or an ever higher one for "less" engine?

Driving Music Vol: 4

Ahh summer.  As I’ve grown older I don’t get excited about it coming but sure do about it going.  Today being Labor Day and recognized by most as the end of summer, I wish to bid it a fond fuck you.  I throughly despise heat.  I hate sweating just by way of stepping outside.  Think it’s hot?  It’s nearly twice so inside your car.  Don’t you love how your back sticks to the seat?  How about how you burn your hand on your shifter or steering wheel?  Or how about how shitty your car runs with the AC on?  To me summer is unduly glorified.  I will show one thing some love though.  The summer jam.  More so than any other period during the year, the songs of summer just seem to linger in your memory.  

First and foremost though, in the cycle of pop music on the radio, everything runs its course.  The radio has been playing the dogshit out of all these songs for the most part, and much like summer, if you aint sick of it by now you surely will be soon.  It took awhile but I’ve finally noticed the radio death of this.  

You couldn’t knock the dial around enough to miss this song a couple months ago, but it seems to have finally fallen off.  Anything Chris Brown’s done that I’ve remotely found listenable has been due to the merits of his cohorts.  Busta’s verse and the Diplo/Afrojack production make this one.  Wayne’s on every song right now, but Busta.  Now we’re talking, such a throwback its fresh.  Seriously though, good riddance to hearing this song on the air.  I could go a year and not hear it and be o.k.  

Such is the pitfall of summer jam, played to death never to be heard from again.  When I think back to this summer, these are the tracks I’ll remember.  

Big K.R.I.T.-Country Shit Remix

A late contender but I'm very into the beat and its hard to fuck with having Bun B on your shit.  Old school Chevys/Cadillacs/SS Impalas.  Cool old rides in this video.

Kelly Rowland ft. Lil Wayne-Motivation

Probably most banged to pop song from this summer.  I’m too old to be fucking in a car anymore, but I’d be willing to bet that this song rocked some suspension.  

Frank Ocean-Novacane

I got put on to Frank Ocean this spring, when it seemed that the Odd Future hype machine was at full court press.  Naturally in an attempt to stay abreast of what’s going on with music as well as the crew being hyped as a new WuTang, I got to digging around on the OFWGTA material.  As for the WuTang comparisons, I have to say keep trying boys.  What stuck out to me, oddly enough, was the Frank Ocean stuff and especially this track.  Imagine my surprise when it landed on the radio all the way here in Indiana.  Makes me want to go on a bender.    

DJ Khaled ft. Drake, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne-I’m On One

Why is DJ Khaled always yelling at us?  I don’t know either.  The trifecta of current hip hop guest verse heros lay it down nice on this one.  This one is threat level midnight of overplayed right now.  I like that in this video Drake is rocking the too long dangly belt.  I’ve been waiting for that to make a comeback.  I had a really similar blue Polo Sport belt and dressed like that in 1995.  Also DJ Khaled drinking Four Look in a white track suit, Rick Ross’ silk kimono looking thing, and Wayne’s pop punker get up.  I feel like these guys have the gear equivalent of Susie from Curb Your Enthusiasm.  As far as rides there’s the bizarre transportation juxtaposition of Ross lounging in the Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead and DJ Khaled taking the train.  Note at 4:42 the Aston with the dealer rental plates still on it.  Its the details, boys.  

Adele-Rollin in the Deep

From its disco step rhythm to its throwback bluesy guitar and piano, and that voice!  This one’s like nothing else thats been out there in autotuned everything radioland.  Plus she's chubby and cute and well, l I like that.  

YC-Racks

This is my favorite shit from this summer.  I’ll be real honest, I don’t know why I like it.  I can’t understand a god damn thing YC is saying and when I can its really not the best rapping ever put to tape.  Its autotuned like a mother.  And its the catchiest fucking thing I’ve heard  in awhile.  It didn’t catch on here like I thought it was going to, which probably helps its case for my liking it so much.  

In an effort to bring together all the weird shit I write about on here, I give you the Brandon Westgate's Stay Gold B side remix by the Quartersnacks boys featuring Racks by YC.  Westgate is my summer skateboarding revelation.  This guy absolutely wrecks everything in his way.

I like the Racks Remix video a lot better than the original.  These guys look like they’re having a ton of fun, plus a Nelly sighting.

Green Vehicle Roundup

Electric Volvo

The Volvo C 30 is hot hatch thats pretty darn nice to look at, and quite frankly I love Volvo’s clean sparse interiors.  The standard 5 banger producing 227 ponies isn’t so shabby for a car of that stature either.  Coming soon though, through a partnership with Siemans, Volvo looks to use the C 30 platform for a future electric car model.  

Retread Batteries

The New York Times recently published this piece about the possibilities of lithium ion battery recycling.  Its an interesting conundrum as the type of folks who might purchase an electric vehicle trend toward the environmentally conscious.  What though, of the life cycle of these batteries?  Those buyers might worry about the environmental issues regarding disposal of the battery pack.  Anticipating this, EV manufacturers are hard at work planning reuse options beyond recycling it into its salvageable components.  G.M. And Nissan are looking at how battery packs can be used to provide power to homes.

Uh Makes Cents Dont it?

Tesla Motors has a record earnings statement of 58 million for the second quarter, then it’s stock prices take a crap because they lost 58.9 million in the second quarter.  Really though, that has to be a good sign for company looking toward the end of the year, huh business school people?  Autoblog

Nissan Leaf Sells Out Canada

40 units of the Nissan Leaf are purchased in the span of two hours by our neighbors to the north.  That makes the entire model year for 2011.  A whopping 40 for the Canadian market.  Expect 600 for 2012, canucks.

More Mr. Fusion

The Detroit News reports that scientists at Tulane University have created a biofuel by unleashing a bacterial strain on old newspapers.  The bacteria go to town on cellulose in the fishwrap and voila a biofuel called butanol.  The process being similar to the reaction that makes ethanol.  Butanol reportedly is superior to ethanol because it would not require modification to properly run in current engines as it is more chemically like unleaded gas.  Moreover it is recycling a product that already exist in huge quantities like newspaper.  I’ve never though it wise to turn a food source like corn to a fuel source.   

Hurricane Irene

As Hurricane Irene prepares to bear down on the east coast on the sooner rather than later, The Wall Street Journal brings you these tips on driving in a hurricane.  My first impression was a resounding "well duh, don't drive through floodwater or into downed power lines".  Upon further consideration though, a hat tip to you WSJ.  As will surely be evident in upcoming news reports, people will be out there doing some foolish things.  A little nudge toward prudence never hurts.

Edit: yep

Gnarly Vol: 5

Watch Danny MacAskill go ninja warrior on a bike all over everything.  This video has been around for a couple years but fuck if it isn't just amazing.  I've seen some BMX guys do wild shit but this really blew my mind when I saw it.  Makes me want to go out and break my arm in imitation.  I like the song too, but think its a little more emotional in Guy Mariano's Fully Flared part.  I'd be so hyped to see some fools incorporate some of this stuff into their bike commute.

2012 M5

This is the soon to be released 2012 BMW M5 taking laps at Laguna Seca Raceway.  Listen to that exhaust, the tail end of 560 ponies.  Sounds as good as it looks.

Notes From the Past Few Days

It’s been a fairly slow week, in my opinion, for car news  but here’s a few tidbits going around the www.  

Ford and Toyota to develop a RWD truck powertrain.  Trucks are bad ass but use too much gas.  Thumbs up to hopefully making something that sips fuel and can pull weight.  I always think it odd when huge companies collaborate on things like this.  It happens all the time, but seems odd given the high level of competition in the auto marketplace.  

John Deere reports third quarter earnings of 712 million.  This has to be a good thing right?  The earnings report projects a 45 percent increase in construction equipment sales through the year.  I’ll assume that this means there’s an increase in construction and development.  The economy can come out of the shithouse at any time, plus growing food is alright by me.  

This commercial for the Hyundai Veloster was banned in Holland.  I think its funny.  

Gnarly Vol: 4

Bye bye E36.  Hope nobody was hurt too seriously.

Mr. Fusion

I ran across this article over the weekend.  I'd never heard of plastic to oil conversion before.  I was intrigued by what sounds like a very cool technology.  I like anything that could potentially be a non foreign source of oil as well as recycling something that is so abundant like plastic.  Upon a quick Google search there are a number of companies that are involved in the plastic to oil conversion business.

The process as outlined visually here is seemingly simple.  Take old plastic, shred it down to manageable pellets.  Next heat it up.  It goes from solid to liquid to gas.  The gasses are then separated out where they are then cooled allowing them to re-liquify where, voila, you have a synthetic crude oil.  This crude is then stored until it can be processed by a refinery into types of fuel we, the fuel consuming public, need.  Some scientist can read that and vomit at its simplicity but more or less that seems to be how the whole thing goes down.

The drawbacks about plastic to oil conversion have to do with the waste produced, as well as if it can feasibly produce enough oil to be profitable.  Look at how small the converter is in this video though.  Maybe the cars of the future wont be plug-ins but equipped with their own Doc Brown style garbage converter.

Driving Music Vol: 3

So this is the first thing I've seen from Watch the Throne, the new joint offering by Kanye and Jay.  This video been going H.A.M. through the www today.  

I don't dig on Maybachs.  I can get behind this one though.  Something about taking a six digit tag vehicle and ragging it out into a Mad Max ass dune buggy and smoking doughnuts in a parking lot with four bitches across the back just looks fun.

Jimmy Hat for Two Wheels

Motorcycles scare the shit out of me.  I am a total pussy.  I am making this shameful admission up front.

Its not the act of riding one at all that does me in.  In fact when I see someone out enjoying the road on a bike I'm frequently jealous.  It just looks so much fun.  The thing that gets me though is having to put it down or worse, being struck by a car.

There's good news though for pansies like me, according to this New York Times article.  Motorcycle apparel company Alpinestars is producing a state of the art protective suit that should go on sale in the United States next summer.  The suit features five accelerometers, like the thing in the iPhone that makes the screen tilt.  Except instead of that handy level app, this keeps your bones from breaking should you and the bike suddenly part ways.  The accelerometers are mated to a central processing unit located at the back of the suit.  Should the CPU determine you're about to meet the pavement it triggers a canister of nitrogen to inflate airbags sewn inside the suit.  All of this happens in about 100 milliseconds.  Really impressive technology.  This kinda stuff might void the warranty though.

Be safe out there.

Beautiful

Installation artist Chris Burden’s Metropolis II will soon go on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  A work four years in the making, its a noisy and quite beautiful contraption.  I really like the tidy order in which the flow of traffic moves.  If only we could get a little more of that in our day to day commutes.  Note the massive size of the whole thing around 4:30.   

In the video Burden remarks how he feels we’re on the verge of a change in the way in which we get around.  “Its a little bit like making a model of New York City at the turn of the last century and you’re modeling horse buggies everywhere and then the automobile is about to arrive.  Something else is about to arrive.”  Here’s to cars continuing to run free, till I croak off at least.  I also remember that the last thing that was going to drastically change transportation as we know it was this.

Driving Music Vol 2 x Gnarly Vol 3

Collaborations being all the rage nowadays, I present Gnarly video Volume 3 alongside Driving Music Volume 2.

Yeah I don't know either, but homeboy's got skills.

The only appropriate jam to bump alongside that video morsel.  This past spring's trunk bumper No Hands from Waka Flaka, Wale and Roscoe Dash.  Roll with your boys to the scrip club to this one.  I love the donk El Camino appearing at 2:15.  Videos featuring a party haven't advanced far from this, which does it best.  In the No Hands video I did not note anyone grilling a rack of ribs with a pistol tucked in behind their apron, no chick gets her top dropped during a volleyball game, nobody visibly rolling a joint, and no fridge stacked with 40 ouncers.  The stuck up chick who gets doused with beer would fit better in todays videos.  The Carhartt and Dickies gear and a cig tucked behind your ear.  Brew not champagne.  Dre's video just speaks to my personal aesthetic.

Also when I looked up the video for No Hands, there was an advertisement for a new record featuring Waka Flacka and Gucci Mane called Ferrari Boyz.  Good to see the F car get a little love in today's Bentley, Rolls and Maybach obsessed rap game.  Heck, I even found it pedestrian that Dro Man reps "Chargers, Challengers and new Camaros" in his Jiggalate Remix verse.  Although he's from Indianapolis and that's kinda how folks here do it up.

Skateboards Are a Poor Form of Transportation

They just are.  That said, they've meant a great deal to me in regard to shaping how I've turned out in life.  Mostly this thing is going to be me rambling about cars, but I'm going to be posting up stuff about other things that you can get around on from time to time.

Brent Atchley is a Portland, Oregon local and rips on tranny, but check out this beautifully shot cruiser video courtesy of Satori Wheels.  He seems to make it work.

Following up...

on that last post, the better writers over at Jalopnik posted a really good article about South Korea's up and coming automaker powerhouse Hyundai Motor Group.

Also the www has produced a new photo of the upcoming 2012 Camry via the company's Twitter.  Whoop-de-doo.  I get that the idea of teaser photographs is to garner interest, but this reveal is far from impressive.  Give us a little something more, for goodness sake!

Honda Civic Fails to Gain Consumer Reports Recommended Car Title

Around these parts there’s an awful lot of folks that come from a car family.  By this I mean Ford or Chevy.  Grandpa worked at the plant, now dad works at the plant and all the while everyone in the family drives or ever would think of driving is Ford or Chevy, depending on your particular pedigree.  In the mid to late 80’s though, Japanese manufacturers, namely Toyota and Honda seemed to make a foothold into this passionate type of brand devotion.  While the Japanese makers weren’t the hand that fed the family, they grew brand loyalty with quality products.  Many households from my childhood in the 80’s even until now would truly identify as a Honda or Toyota family.  My mother swears by Honda, as a family we’ve had a few.  I have other relatives who are Toyota devotees.  

Call it complacency, call it the tightest competition in years between automakers.  Especially in the compact and small car segments, largely ignored by the big American three until recently, Honda and Toyota are getting hosed by their competition.  The recent news of the Honda Civic model falling out of Consumer Reports recommended rankings is some of the most damming evidence toward complacency.  The redesigned Civic, a perennial recommended model, received poor rankings in interior fit and finish (never a Japanese maker strong-point), as well drivability matters like stopping distance and tactile handling.  

In the small car class that the Civic and Toyota’s Corolla belong to, there has been serious competition that has come into the marketplace.  From Mazda’s 3, Ford’s new Fiesta and Focus models, and Chevrolet’s recently released Cruze model, there are many tastier options available.  While Honda’s Accord model is still a top contender in the larger sedan category, Toyota’s Camry has fallen by the wayside.  Once a Bud Light-esq argument of taste great versus less filling, if you were in the market for a family sedan it was probably one of those two.  A new Camry design is forthcoming but much of the photos floating around the www look pretty underwhelming. 

While its notable regarding the decline of Japanese automaker’s product, that the American makers have stepped their small and midsize car game up, the biggest threat undoubtedly comes from South Korea.  Kia's second quarter profit for this year is reported at a gain of 67%.  New models from Kia like the Optima, and from Hyundai the Elantra, Sonata and Genesis are all appealing.  

Sometimes when you’d get into a conversation about cars with one of those old timers, a Ford or Chevy guy, you’d likely hear a diss toward Japanese makers referencing the quality of their early imports to the U.S. Now those roles could be said to be reversing.  In a what goes around comes around way, I’ve found myself slagging a South Korean made vehicle based on the reputation of their earliest imports.  I try to keep an open mind about what’s out there, and these new models have certainly made me reconsider my thinking.  In this tough economic climate, with competition between carmakers as tight as ever there’s no room for error.  It pains me a little bit to say, but there’s not a Honda model I’d buy if I needed to purchase a new car today.  

"a vow of poverty on wheels"

And to my point of my last post...

The New York Times automotive section ran this article today about BMW's new i8 concept vehicle.  Said to be distinctly BMW in is driving experience the i8 (or whatever iteration of the concept comes to market) will posses all the characteristics that make BMW the ultimate driving machine.  It has all the fixin's of a supercar.  The styling, the 0-60 time of around 4 seconds, and an expected six figure pricetag.

Cool Alt Fuel

The lamentations were heard far and wide across the internet.  Porsche was to build a hybrid 911 race car.  Among purists, this was met with the same forehead slapping expletive laced hell in a hand-basket reaction as when the Cayenne was announced.  The storied sports car brand has, in recent years, shifted their focus away from manufacturing a small model range of sports cars to becoming a full on luxury brand with all the offerings there of.  “But a hybrid Porsche?  I can tolerate the S.U.V. and wagon but a hybrid is where I draw the line!” is the typical gearhead response.  

Its no secret that the automotive world as we know it is changing at a yearly rate with new model offerings by multiple manufacturers representing hybrid and full on E.V. technology.  Coupled with constantly rising gas prices which fluctuate with the worlds turmoil as well the aggressive push to expand fuel economy in vehicles, what Porsche is doing right now is just downright essential.  As the famed quote from the good ‘old boys of NASCAR will tell you, its “race on Sunday, sell on Monday”.  The technology that goes into racing teams, for whatever series or style of racing, is definitely above and beyond what is available for passenger cars.  However what is gleaned from these types of cars definitely informs and shapes new models. 

What’s most important about all this is bringing some fucking cool to the hybrid world.  Something that someone who actually likes cars can take a bite out of.  The Prius following is a cool dictated by L.A. celeb taste-makers.  “Like I’m totally saving the world, man.”  Yes, you’ve saved on gas and reduced your carbon footprint but for those of us who enjoy the action of driving its lack of power and nimble handling simply won’t do. 

There’s a big BUT coming.  Dinosaur fuels are on their way out.  There’s no getting around it.  The pain at the pump is evident each time you fill up.  It’s clear to everyone who’s paying at least a little bit of attention that it is a finite resource that will one day disappear.  Until recently car manufacturers seemed to put their heads in the sand regarding this fact.  While automakers have stepped up their alternative fuel offerings, the gearhead has been left out of this equation.  This is American, damn it.  We’ve been raised on muscle.  We like shit that goes fast and burns tires.  In a Prius, you simply will not do these things. 

We’ve been thrown a bone or two.  Sort of.  If you love cars, you of course dream about rides beyond your means.  Most alt fuel vehicle come a decently sticky price tag.  The Chevy Volt MSRP is right at $41,000.  Its nice that you’re saving on gas and can run completely on electrical power if you choose to do so, but its design is not particularly appealing to the eye, nor is it particularly roomy nor is it a powerhouse.  It just carts your ass around, which is fine for most people but will not do for automotive enthusiasts.  Compare with the Tesla Roadster which will do 0-60 in under 4 seconds, looks like a dream and runs entirely on an electric charge...and will run you $109,000 to start.  Tesla is offering a pretty sexy sedan called the Model S starting at about half that for the 2012 model year.  Mercedes gorgeous gull-winged SLS E-Cell is planned for 2013 and I’ll even give an attaboy for Honda’s sporty styled if not particularly sporty driving CR-Z for being the first hybrid to have a manual gearbox option.  While the options are certainly growing, I can’t wait for those go fast technologies to trickle down the pipeline into some rides that don’t necessarily fall into the supercar range.  

A common theme in getting folks to adapt to a more environmentally friendly way of doing just about anything is to make it seem as though they’re not doing without.  The current crop of alt fuel vehicles is akin to rolling around in a household appliance.  I’d hate for the car to become just another thing you have around and does it job and nobody thinks too much about it otherwise. This is why the enthusiast holds the hybrid in such disdain.  The technology is fast approaching and the demand is already here for something that saves gas, hauls ass and can do it in style.  The manufacturer that can bring it to market first is going to have a hit.  

In its racing debut at the 24 hours of Nurburgring, the Porsche 911 GT-3 R Hybrid, ran for 22 hours and at a fast enough clip to lead for 8 of those hours.  With but less than two hours remaining before the finish its day was over.  The combustion engine portion of the power-train had failed.  

Go green.  

Driving Music: Volume 1

The first in what I intend to be an ongoing series of awesome tunes to drive to.  You can't go wrong with this track.  Such a dope video too.  Brings me back to high school days of skateboarding and those first solo times behind the wheel.  Windows down, stereo bumpin', speed racer.

Perfect for: mashing the throttle on the on ramp

Trickle Down Economics

In this Wall Street Journal article, Silicon Valley folks are said to be buying hella luxury vehicles.  A sign of better economic times to come?  Lets hope, huh?

Gnarly: vol 2

Gnarly