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 »
Calling out Hennessey’s absurdity
Posted: January 10, 2012 Filed under: INDUSTRY TALK | Tags: 000, 1000hp, 1300hp, 235, 8, 800hp, dollars, Engineering, GT, Hennessey, HPE, HPE800, Jeep, John, million, Mind, Mind over motor, motor, off, Over, Performance, priced, rip, SRT, supercar, Texas, Venom, Viper 2 Comments »
Hennessey Venom GT
I first learned of Hennessey Performance Engineering (HPE) as a kid when my ultimate dream car was the Dodge Viper. Back then they made the baddest Viper around, the 800 Twin Turbo, and it took the spot at the top of my wish list for a time. Since then, HPE continues to build the craziest Vipers around, and has branched out to build modifications for many other types of cars as well. They have made quite a name for themselves in the aftermarket industry, surely as one of the best in the business. Recently though, they released their first car of their own, the Venom GT, and this is where I started to see some issues that needed to be called out. Read the rest of this entry »
Secondhand Saint: Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG, S65 AMG, S600 (2003-2006)
Posted: November 30, 2011 Filed under: Secondhand Saints, SHOWCASE | Tags: 493, 500, 600, AMG, bargain, BiTurbo, brabus, cruiser, German, hp, Limo, Luxury, Mercedes, Mercedes-Benz, Mind, Mind over motor, motor, Over, Performance, S-Class, S55, S600, S63, S65, Saints, Saloon, secondhand, Secondhand Saint, Sedan, speed, Supercharged, turbo, Twin, V12, V8, W220 Leave a comment »
Mercedes S55 AMG
Ah, Mercedes-Benz. Just the name brings up thoughts of expensive country clubs, upper-class attitudes, and feelings of being in the 1%. Their flagship sedan, the S-Class, has always been a leader in its market since the 1970s, and despite the high entry price, still sells itself better than the competition. The previous-generation W220 was the one that brought this fantastically flashy flagship into the 21st century, and now some of the most powerful ones (namely, those with some sort of forced induction) can be had for a fraction of their original value. For reasons that shall be discussed later, we’re going to focus on the S55 and S600, as the S65 is significantly harder to find even today. Read the rest of this entry »
Main Street in Motion: What I think.
Posted: August 11, 2011 Filed under: AUTOMOTIVE INSIGHTS, INDUSTRY TALK | Tags: Acura, Autocross, big, Buick, Camaro, Car, Chevrolet, Corvette, Diesel, East Rutherford, Engines, event, Gas, General Motors, GM, GMC, Honda, Main Street In Motion, Mind over motor, Models, Nissan, NJ, Opinions, PA, Parking lot, Performance, Philadelphia, Pickups, Sedans, Stadium, SUV, Test Drives, Thoughts, Toyota, Truck, Volt Leave a comment »
Cars lined up for Mainstreet in Motion (in NJ)
In a related article, Nick talked about his experience at Main Street in Motion, an event created by General Motors, in order to show off their lineup and all the improvements they’ve made (or in some cases, not made) over the past years. It’s worthy to note that, after a quick talk with another patron, that GM used to do these events often, and this was the first time they’d done this in quite some time. Knowing that, I took some drives and a few observations. For example, they attempted to get lower-optioned versions of competitor vehicles at any chance they could, with some notable exceptions, which I will get to later. Also, like Nick said, the entire event was free of charge. Read the rest of this entry »
Secondhand Saint: Cadillac CTS-V (2004-2007)
Posted: July 27, 2011 Filed under: Secondhand Saints | Tags: 400hp, 5.7, 6.0, BMW, Caddy, Cadillac, CTS, CTS-V, E39, GM, High, LS2, LS6, Luxury, M5, manual, Mind, Mind over motor, motor, Nurburgring, Over, Performance, Sedan, Sport, Transmission, V, V8 Leave a comment »
Cadillac CTS-V
When the CTS-V first came out on 2004 it was quite literally a four door Corvette Z06 with some more luxury appointments of course. With its 400hp 5.7L (or 6.0L in ‘06 and ‘07) V8 it was certainly impressive back then and it remains so today, although the newer CTS-V with its 556hp has eclipsed the true greatness of the original. I aim to change that here by showing how the first gen CTS-V is one of the more solid performance sedan bargains out there. Read the rest of this entry »
