All posts by ndubs77

Cars We've Driven, Performance Models, Sports Cars, Used Car Gems

Taking a spin in a BMW E86 Z4 M Coupe (it’s for sale!)

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BMW Z4 M Coupe E86 1

A “special” car will keep your attention long after you’ve left it parked. It’s one thing to have a car you want to look back at as you walk away, but it’s a whole different level when you spend all day looking forward to your drive home. A car that has both the looks to make you turn around and the driving experience to keep you craving is a car that is truly remarkable, indeed.

“Special” is the single most important aspect of an enthusiast automobile, it’s what makes it much more than a mere transportation appliance. “Special” cars come in all shapes and sizes, and you can find one whether your budget is $10 grand or $10 million.

For a budget around $30 grand, an E86 BMW Z4 M Coupe is one of the most “special” sports cars you can buy. It has speed, style, and rarity. The Imola Red car you see here has just recently gone on the market for $33,500 with only 33,000 miles on the ticker.

I was offered a chance to take a spin in the car for this article, and how could I say no? I’ve been wanting to get behind the wheel of a Z4 M for quite some time now, and a more perfect example would be difficult to find. My impressions of the car are as follows…

Continue reading Taking a spin in a BMW E86 Z4 M Coupe (it’s for sale!) →

Cars We've Seen

My new favorite color on the Alfa Giulia QV

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Alfa Romeo Giulia QV NYIAS 1

Red is great and all, but I’m a real sucker for Italian cars in blue. The dark blue was my favorite color on the Giulia… until I saw this one at the New York Auto Show. It’s called Misano Blue, and it looks just as spectacular as the red, you know, just in a more blue type of way.

-Nick

Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Motor Trend drives the Aston Martin DB11

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Twin Turbo. V12. Aston Martin. Nuff said…

Cars We've Seen

Lamborghini Aventador SV spotted in New Hope, PA

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Lamborghini Aventador SV New Hope 5

Seeing a high-level exotic car, like this Lamborghini Aventador SV Roadster at a car event is a thrill, but seeing it out in the wild is something totally different. Only when such a machine is surrounded by everyday normal things can you fully appreciate the true magnitude of its insanity. There’s also the psychological factor of expectation, at a car show you expect to see remarkable cars, but I was standing in a cigar shop with my buddies when this thing rode by. I suddenly recognized the note of a ferocious V12 going by, and I looked out the window just in time to see the blue shape of an Aventador with a massive wing on the back… it had to be an SV!

We went looking for the car, and checked the valet parking lot of one fancy restaurant I’ve seen other exotics at. My hunch paid off, and we got to enjoy taking the car in for a few minutes. This SV was a spectacular spec, matte candy blue over black interior with blue and carbon accents.

There are always many nice cars cruising around New Hope, PA, but this is definitely one of the nicest I’ve seen there.

Also of note, this was the third Aventador SV I had the privilege of laying eyes on this weekend, so that was nice…

Enjoy!

Continue reading Lamborghini Aventador SV spotted in New Hope, PA →

Uncategorized

Mercedes AMG GTR at NYIAS

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IMG_3714

I just think it’s funny how the ultimate Mercedes performance car has gotten cheaper and cheaper and faster and faster over the years. First there was the SLR McLaren, which bordered on hypercar territory at around $500,000 in the mid 2000’s. Then there was the SLS AMG, which was a legit supercar at around $200-250,000. Now we have the AMG GT, and the very green AMG GTR you see here. It’s a car that will run rings around it’s predecessors on the track, and it costs “only” $157,000.

My how things progress, and I just loved the color on this 577hp beast.

-Nick

Cars We've Seen

Rimac Concept One at NYIAS

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Rimac Concept One 1

The Rimac is the first electric hypercar. It’s proven to be a little quicker than a Porsche 918 in the 1/4 mile, and it has a good amount of hype surrounding it at this point.

This was the first Rimac I’ve seen in person, and it’s cool, but it doesn’t have the same sort of breathtaking detail as the new Bugatti Chiron or the Koenigsegg Agera.

I respect Rimac for what they’re doing. Electric supercars definitely need to carve out their place in the world, and the Concept One is leading the charge. That said, a supercar without an engine and gearshift is missing 90% of the drama that makes such a car so special. Fast only goes so far in my opinion, and that will always hold electric cars back for me.

-Nick Walker

Cars We've Seen

My first Bugatti Chiron at NYIAS

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Bugatti Chiron NYIAS 7

I got my first in-person look at the new Bugatti Chiron at the New York International Auto Show. Naturally it was from behind the fence meant to keep the proletariat at bay, but what I could see was spectacular. There seems to be another level of fine detail in the Chiron over that of the Veyron. It’s even more of a work of art, and that has become increasingly important for cars at this ultimate level.

One thing I noticed in particular was the Bugatti badge on the front grille. It has more dimension and appears to be hand made and hand painted. It helps give a little artisan appeal to the Chiron’s otherwise all-too-perfect modern mechanical nature.

Enjoy the photos of what should soon be confirmed as the fastest car in the world.

Continue reading My first Bugatti Chiron at NYIAS →

Opinions

Am I the only one who likes the idea of a Jeep Renegade-like Toyota FJ?

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toyota-ft-4x_concept-2017-1280-04

This is the Toyota FT-4X Concept, and it’s a clear hint that Toyota may be developing a small FJ SUV to take on the funky Jeep Renegade. A lot of people are hating on it, but I’m digging the idea a lot. I, for one, like a lot of things about the Jeep Renegade, and I think Toyota has a real opportunity to take a lot of that market. All they have to do is make a dependable small off-roader with some funky FJ style, and they will eat Jeep’s lunch.

I hope the FT-4X does make it into production, donning the FJ name when it does.

Call me the island in a sea of haters.

-Nick

Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE, Uncategorized

Motor Trend Tests The Ford Raptor In The Dunes

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The new Raptor is our favorite truck, and Motor Trend did it the justice of testing it where it belongs!

-Nick

Opinions

The Dodge Demon Heralds a New Era of Hyper Muscle Cars, and I’m Pumped!

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2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon

The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon has now officially dropped. I must say it’s mighty impressive, and I feel similar to how I felt about the Bugatti Veyron when it came out. The Bugatti marked the real jump from supercar to hypercar in our modern era, and I think the Demon could do the same relative thing in the muscle car sector.

Yes, Chevy made the COPO Camaro a few years ago, but you can’t put a license plate on that one so it doesn’t count. The Dodge Demon is set to be the new King of the Streets, in the most-classic muscle car sense.

The Challenger SRT Demon is a street legal drag-prepped hyper muscle car, and it runs an NHRA-verified 9.65 sec 1/4 Mile @ 140 mph, bone freaking stock. That’s at least 2/10ths of a second faster than any of the hypercar hybrids from Porsche, Ferrari, or McLaren. Sure, the Demon isn’t made to conquer such cars on a road course, or even top end, but at the drag strip, it will rule.

Having said all that, the NHRA has also banned the SRT Demon from any official street car competition. Dodge says “because it’s too fast,” but that can be fixed with the proper license and some extra safety bits.

Also, the Demon will only come with a drag-optimized automatic, but I’m okay with that so long as we can still have a Hellcat with three pedals.

Other impressive features for the Demon include a max output of 840hp and 770ft/lbs, 0-60 in 2.3 sec (or 2.1sec on prepped tarmac), 0-100 in 5.1 sec, a charge cooler that runs off the air conditioning, and a supercharger with more displacement than the engines in all three of my own cars, and a factory switchable tune for race gas. The price will also, supposedly, be reasonable, like south of six-figures (until you actually go to buy one at a dealer). That said, with only 3,300 being built values may go up long term, or at least not fall too much.

Lastly, can we just take a sec to appreciate how badass those wide fenders look?

So with the Demon dropped on the world, we can now anxiously await the response from Ford and GM. This should be a horsepower war that is too good to pass up.

-Nick Walker

Uncategorized

Fast SUVs lovers, Meet Your New Badass God

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Jeep Trackhawk Hellcat

We’ve all known this was coming for a while, but now the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is here, and it’s taking charge.

I like it a lot, but for a different reason than most. Sure, the 707hp Hellcat engine hooked to AWD is wonderful, but it’s this Jeep’s attitude that I love the most. I love that this isn’t some pretentious white collar status symbol, that’s really not what an SUV is supposed to be about. SUVs, to me at least, are work horses, meant to get down and dirty. The Jeep is much more of a badass than the Porsche Cayenne, the Mercedes GLE, or the BMW X5/X6. To me, the flavor of this Hellcat Jeep just seems right.

Truth be told, the Jeep SRT was my favorite of the big fast SUVs already, for the same reason. Now that they’ve put the Hellcat in it, that just makes it all the more lust-worthy.

Yes, with options, this will probably be a $100,000+ Jeep, but it will roast all of its competition. I mean, this is a vehicle weighing well over 5,000lbs that can go 0-60 in 3.5 sec, and 180 mph up top. In the SUV world, that’s absolutely insane, and you’ve still got plenty of room for the kids in back.

Honestly, I think this is now my favorite Hellcat model, because A) It can put that power down, and B) it is just so unexpected.

This is the new ultimate BAMF mobile for sure!

-Nick