Test Driven: 2012 Mazda Mazdaspeed3
Posted: August 30, 2012 Filed under: Cheap Fun!, TEST DRIVEN | Tags: 2.3, 240, 263, 3, 4, 5, back, Car, compare, cylinder, door, Drive, driving, dynamics, Evo, Fast, four, front, fun, FWD, Hatch, hp, Japanese, Liter, manual, Mazda, MazdaSpeed, Mazdaspeed3, Mind, moded, Modified, motor, new, Nick, Over, pleasure, practical, Ralliart, space, speed, Sport, STi, stock, Transmission, tune, tuning, turbo, Used, vs, Walker, wheel, whp, WRX 1 Comment »
I have yet to meet an owner of a Mazdaspeed3 (MS3) who didn’t legitimately love their car. Something about the car seems to inspire people, they always have that “I know something you don’t” smirk on their face. Mazdas have always had a good sporting dynamic to them, but the enthusiasm that owners seem to have about this car goes beyond that. I have always known about the MS3, but somehow, while I’ve been out driving all sorts of fun cars over the years, it has eluded me. So recently, I decided it was time I take one out for a spin to see what these owners are so smug about. Read the rest of this entry »
EVO Magazine reviews the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta
Posted: August 3, 2012 Filed under: Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE | Tags: 730hp, Berlinetta, Britain, Car, England, enthusiast, Evo, F12, F12B, Ferrari, Fiorano, Harry, Italy, Magazine, Maranello, Metcalfe, Mind, Modena, motor, Over, review, UK, V12, video Leave a comment »EVO reviews the incredible new Ferrari F12 Berlinetta. Enjoy.
-Nick
Test Driven: 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart
Posted: June 28, 2012 Filed under: Cheap Fun!, Road Review, TEST DRIVEN | Tags: 2.0, 237, 270, 275, 280, 4B11, baby, clutch, cylinder, DCT, different, Drive, Dual, Evo, evolution, four, How, hp, Japanese, Lancer, Liter, Market, Mind, Mitsubishi, motor, Nick, Over, owned, Pre, Ralliart, review, SST, Test, Transmission, turbo, Used, Walker, whp, x Leave a comment »
The Lancer Ralliart is the second born of the Mitsubishi clan, overshadowed in many ways by its older brother the Lancer Evolution. The Evo has made a huge name for itself in automotive performance over the years, and the Ralliart is clearly riding that wave in the market. It is placed to compete with Subaru’s WRX, but Mitsubishi waited 3 model generations into the US market before they finally produced a true, turbocharged competitor for the highly successful Subaru. What you see here is that car, the supposed “baby Evo”, but I will tell you right up front, that the Ralliart is far from that. It is something all its own, and it should be more widely recognized as such. This Ralliart belongs to my friend Josh, and he agreed to let me take the wheel for an afternoon to discover what it’s all about. Read the rest of this entry »
Pagani Zonda: The last surviving member of a glorious age
Posted: April 27, 2012 Filed under: AUTOMOTIVE INSIGHTS, MEDIA RESPONSE | Tags: 760, automotive, Diablo, Evo, Exotic, F1, F40, Ferrari, GTspirit, Harry, Horacio, Huayra, Insight, Lamborghini, Magazine, Mclaren, Metcalfe, Mind, motor, Nick, Over, Pagani, RS, supercar, turbo, V12, Walker, Zonda 1 Comment »
Pagani Zonda 760RS
There have been two videos in the past few days about Pagani. One was JF Musial’s visit to the Pagani Factory for his segment on the Drive network, and the other was EVO Magazine’s video of the Zonda 760RS. The Drive video was more like a documentary and featured an interview with Horacio Pagani himself, offering a lot of valuable insight into Pagani Automobili, their values, and their history. Evo’s video was more targeted toward the Zonda 760RS specifically. It was one of the typical, somewhat quirky, Harry Metcalfe videos that fans have come to know and love. But Harry did a fantastic job of showing us what the 760RS is all about, and he made sure we could hear the car’s glorious soundtrack. The mix of these videos started me thinking about the Zonda specifically, and its significance in the world of cars. Read the rest of this entry »
Pagani Zonda 760RS, by EVO
Posted: April 25, 2012 Filed under: Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE | Tags: 760, Evo, Harry, Horacio, Italian, Magazine, Metcalfe, Mind, motor, Over, Pagani, RS, V12, Zonda Leave a comment »EVO Magazine’s Harry Metcalfe gets behind the wheel of the newest, most insane Zonda, the 760RS. I consider myself a pretty moral person, but I would commit unspeakable atrocities if I could own this car. Paganis are my favorite, and this may be the most insane one. I know this is Pagani video number 2 for today, but this needs to be seen.
-Nick
Street Wars 8
Posted: April 23, 2012 Filed under: EVENTS / PLACES, Photography by Dan Valanzola | Tags: 302, 350Z, 4G63, 8, AC, accord, airbrush, AMG, Art, Atlantic, Ball, Boss, C63, Camaro, Chevrolet, city, clean, Dan, drag, Dragon, euro, Evo, evolution, FD, Ford, GC, Genesis, Geo, GTI, GTR, Hatch, Honda, Hot Rod, Hyundai, import, Impreza, intake, Integra, Jersey, Lancer, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes, Miata, Mind, Mitsubishi, Modded, Modified, Monster, motor, Muscle, Mustang, new, Nick, Nissan, NJ, Over, Photography, race, racer, Rotary, RX7, slam, slammed, slicks, Stance, STi, Street, Subaru, Supercharge, Track, Truck, tuned, tuner, turbo, Valanzola, VIP, VW, Wagon, Walker, Wars, WRX, Z 1 Comment »
Photo by Dan Valanzola
We were in attendance for Street Wars 8. The show was a lot smaller than last year due to organizational issues, but there were still plenty of quality cars to see. Photos are by both myself and Dan Valanzola. Enjoy the gallery. Read the rest of this entry »
Test Driven: 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8
Posted: April 19, 2012 Filed under: Road Review, TEST DRIVEN, Used Gems | Tags: 2.0L, 2003, 2004, 2005, 280, 4G63, 8, all, BC, boost, Car, coilovers, controller, Domo, Drive, Dunlop, Enkei, Evo, evolution, Lancer, Mind, Mitsubishi, Momo, motor, Nick, Over, Pampena, racing, Rally, recaro, review, seat, Starspec, steering, Test, tires, tune, turbo, Walker, wheel, wheels, whp 1 Comment »
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8
The Evo 8 was the first version of the famed Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution to hit US shores back in 2003, following the success of Subaru’s WRX Imprezas in years prior. The Evo was a different sort of animal though, offering 271hp to the WRX’s 227hp as well as a higher level of technology in its all wheel drive system. The Evo became the car to beat in 2003, so much so that Subaru decided to bring its WRX STi to the US for 2004. The Evo offers a simple but effective package; on the surface it is just a tweaked version of a Japanese economy sedan, but in its day it could also rival many serious performance cars like Porsche’s, M3s, and Corvettes. My friend Pete, has a 2005 Evo 8, and every so often he lets me get behind the wheel, so after a recent drive I finally felt like I had enough to put pen to paper on the car. Read the rest of this entry »
Seconhand Saint: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8/9 (2003-2007)
Posted: February 21, 2012 Filed under: Secondhand Saints, SHOWCASE | Tags: 2.0, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 350, 35R, 400, 450, 4G63, 5, 500, 6, 600, 700, 8, 800, 9, 900, advice, all, awhp, bargain, boost, Buying, cam, Car, consumer, controller, Drive, Evo, evolution, GSR, guide, hand, High, Intercooler, IX, Lancer, manual, Mind, Mitsubishi, MIVEC, motor, MR, Over, owned, Performance, Pre, Rally, recaro, RS, saint, seats, second, secondhand, speed, T67, turbo, Used, VIII, wheel, whp Leave a comment »
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
These days the Evo is one of the most respected cars on the road. In stock form it is one of the ultimate rally bred, point-to-point missiles money can buy, and Evos that are modified easily have the potential to give Ferrari owner something to worry about. Yet despite their hardcore performance they are also just normal Japanese sedans on the surface, making an Evo one of the best overall daily drivers out there. Obviously all of this makes these things quite a hot commodity on the secondhand market, so lets look at the details. Read the rest of this entry »
Dodge Dart SRT-4, part of “Second Half America”
Posted: February 14, 2012 Filed under: INDUSTRY TALK | Tags: 2012, 2013, 2014, 300, 4, all, America, AWD, competitor, cylinder, Dart, Dodge, Drive, Evo, front, FWD, halftime, hp, Mind, motor, Over, Sedan, SRT, SRT-4, STi, turbo, wheel, WRX Leave a comment »
Motor Trend's rendering of the Dart SRT-4
Chrysler’s Superbowl ad with Clint Eastwood was a nice way to incite faith that the American auto industry will recover. Chrysler has shown much improvement in the last few years, and as soon as I saw the new Dodge Dart I knew they were on the right track. It is based on the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, meaning its European roots should make it much more attractive than the Civic or the Corolla, which are both shamelessly boring at this point. There is however another market segment that exists with cars in that segment, one where engines are turbocharged, suspensions are stiffened, and priority is given to high MPH over high MPG. Dodge has competed here before with their SRT-4 Neon and Caliber, and everyone is eagerly awaiting the Dart SRT-4 in the next few years. Prior SRT-4s were relics of first half America though, the one that had to be bailed out, so the question is now, what should the SRT-4 of the second half be like?
Read the rest of this entry »
Evo’s Harry Metcalfe shows us his Zonda
Posted: January 21, 2012 Filed under: Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE | Tags: 7.3, Evo, feature, garage, Harry, Magazine, Metcalfe, Mind, motor, Over, Pagani, review, S, Zonda Leave a comment »Evo Magazine founder, Harry Metcalfe, shows us some of the day to day parts of owning a Pagani Zonda. At (3:15) Harry demonstrates the amount of torque his 7.3L Zonda has by getting it rolling from a stop and shifting all the way up the gears with out ever even touching the gas pedal. I have previously only seen this done on diesel trucks, truly incredible for a supercar to be able to do. This is part 2 of his Zonda review, Part one is below. Enjoy.
-Nick Walker
Nissan Juke R, what to do for a production version?
Posted: January 5, 2012 Filed under: INDUSTRY TALK | Tags: 2.0, all, AWD, building, Concept, Drive, Evo, for, I4, Juke, killer, marketing, Mind, motor, Nick, Nissan, Over, plans, Production, prototype, R, STi, turbo, V6, Walker, wheel Leave a comment »
Nissan Juke R prototype
There has been a lot of buzz over the Nissan GTR powered Juke R. It is one of those insane ideas that comes along every so often as a prototype and makes everyone wonder if it could ever make it to production. The last time this sort of thing happened, VW put a Bentley GT engine in a GTI, it caused a commotion and even appeared on Top Gear, but that was all that became of it. I see the GTR powered Juke R as the same sort of thing, a fun prototype that won’t actually make it to production. It does however raise the question of what a high performance Juke could actually be like in production form though. Read the rest of this entry »
