Tag Archives: German Cars

Cars We've Driven, Road Review

Test Driven: 1998 Volkswagen Golf GTI VR6….Slammed (9.5/10)

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The Stance Movement has become quite a big thing in recent years. For those unfamiliar with the trend it is sort of like a neo-lowrider thing. People have been taking cars of all sorts and dropping them down as low as they can go, all in the name of “Stance”. Nowhere is this fad bigger than in the Volkswagen crowd, as can be seen at a host of water themed events that take place all over the country. My friend Justin spent months scouring the forums to find a slammed VW of his own, and he finally found the clean ’98 GTI you see here. He was nice enough to let me take it out recently so I could see what a slammed car is all about from the driver seat. What followed was a very interesting experience.   Continue reading Test Driven: 1998 Volkswagen Golf GTI VR6….Slammed (9.5/10) →

Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Chris Harris tests the BMW M135i against the Audi RS3

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Chris Harris once again getting paid to do something fun for Drive that most of us would all happily do for free (not to undermine him in any way). Enjoy.

-Nick

Car Shows

When a supercar goes rallying: Porsche 959

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In the 1980s Porsche decided to take the most advanced supercar they had ever made and go rallying with it. While original designs were for Group B, the car never actually partook. The 959 did win the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1986 though, coming in with a 1-2 victory. There were a few 959s at the Porsche Museum, in Stuttgart, the day I was there, including one of these rally monsters. Check out the comparison between the road car and the rally car, and just imagine seeing a monster-truck 959 barreling up behind you on a dirt road….. you’d move.

Continue reading When a supercar goes rallying: Porsche 959 →

Cars We've Seen

Spotted! Porsche GT2 RS, Stuttgart, Germany

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Spotted this GT2 RS near the Porsche factory in Stuttgart. I saw a few of these during my recent trip to Germany, but this was the only one I managed to get on film. The king of 911s is obviously quite badass, and it was awesome to see this 620hp monster in person. Continue reading Spotted! Porsche GT2 RS, Stuttgart, Germany →

Car Shows

First Class Fitment 2012

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We were in attendance for First Class Fitment 2012 in Princeton, NJ this past weekend. Loads of slammed and stanced cars came out for the show, and the airport was filled to capacity. There are always a few very interesting cars mixed in with the more generic crowd at events like this, and that is why I go to them. Honestly, I am not the biggest fan of the stance movement because I think it gets taken a bit far sometimes, and I cannot stand when people ruin the handling of high performance cars like Evos, STis, M3s, Porsches, etc. That said, I do like a nice clean, flush stance on most cars, so long as the suspension is still able to function, and there were many such well done cars at this event. I got some great photos, so whatever your taste in cars you should enjoy.

Continue reading First Class Fitment 2012 →

Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Autocar: Mercedes C63 AMG Black Series

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Happy Friday everyone! It has been quite a busy week, and we are looking forward to some events this weekend. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to do much writing in the past few days because of this, so there won’t be a review this week.

Have a great weekend.

-Nick

Car Shows

Lime Rock Historic Festival: RAUH-Welt Begriff Porsche 993

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RAUH-Welt Begriff (RWB) makes aftermarket body kits for Porsches. They have developed a bit of a cult fan base with the advent of the stance movement, and largely fit that emphasis on style for style sake. Many RWB Porsches are indeed highly modified monsters, but RWB only offers things relating to appearance; body kit, wheels, and a lowered suspension. Each RWB car is made unique for the owner, so between the kit itself as well as the other performance modifications fitted by the owner no RWB Porsche is exactly the same. The car you see here looked stunning, and called all sorts of attention to itself during the Concours at Lime Rock Park. I did however make the mistake of looking through the vents into the engine bay, only to find that underneath this car was a bone stock 993 Carrera. Shattered were my hopes of finding a monstrous 750whp, twin GT30R turbo setup, as I have seen on other 993s. The car did still look the absolute business though, and unless you really looked you couldn’t tell the car was all show and no go. Either way I was thrilled to have finally seen one of these demonic looking Porsches up close, it surely leaves quite the impression. Enjoy the gallery.

Continue reading Lime Rock Historic Festival: RAUH-Welt Begriff Porsche 993 →

Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Chris Harris snags a ride in the Porsche 918

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As much as I agree that car reviews from the passenger seat suck, and I generally refuse to do them, there are some cases where you take what you can get. This would be one of them, given how much buzz there is around the Porsche 918 at the moment. This video sheds a lot of light on Porsche’s new hypercar, and turn up your speakers for the part where they kick it out of “electric mode” because they engine is pure savagery.

On another note though, they do say this car will weigh 1700kg (3700lbs). While I absolutely trust Porsche in everything they are doing, there is a bit of me that has to look back at the Carrera GT with a sort of somber admiration for its comparative simplicity. It was a light car with a glorious engine, and a clutch pedal of all things; the epitome of a pure Porsche supercar? The 918 is awesome, but seems so complex by comparison. We will see if that is a good thing, and I have high hopes, but the V10 will be tough to beat.

-Nick Walker

Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Chris Harris drives the Le Mans winning Porsche 962

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Some things just need to be reposted when I see them, and this is one of those. Yet another truly epic video from the folks at Drive. The cars Chris normally tests are incredible, but this Porsche 962 is straight up Biblical.  Keep it up, we all love it!

-Nick

Car Shows

2012 Lime Rock Historic Festival: Some shots from the paddock

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We were in attendance for the Lime Rock Historic Festival earlier this month. It was actually my first time at Lime Rock, despite having lived in the Northeast US for my entire life. It is a fantastic facility with great views of the track all around. I have loads of photos from the weekend, but here are a few varied shots from around the paddock. More to come.   Continue reading 2012 Lime Rock Historic Festival: Some shots from the paddock →

Car Shows

Woodward Dream Cruise: VW Beetle Rat Rod

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This incredible rat rodded Beetle was out for the Woodward Dream Cruise in Michigan. It is an entirely custom built car with the engine actually hanging off the back. I have seen many customized air-cooled Beetles over the years, but nothing quite like this car. One really cool feature is the car’s shift lever, which is actually a titanium hip replacement that has been repurposed for changing gears. I was assured the artificial hip was not a used part, but one of those usually costs around $14,000 when being used for medical purposes. Among the thousands of cool cars in the area during the Cruise, this Beetle was one of the ones that stood out the most to me. This is a very different kind of slammed car for the Volkswagen community. Enjoy the gallery.

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Car Shows

Klub Vintage: Getting rolling

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Klub Vintage is a shop near Hopewell, NJ that is owned by my friend Adam. Those of you who follow the site closely may remember my review of Nick C’s BMW E21 Alpina clone, Adam is Nick’s brother and the E21 was a product of Klub Vintage in its earlier stages. Adam has been building cars and bikes for over 15 years now, and has recently procured a much larger, more prominent space on RT 518 near Hopewell. He has some big plans for things to come in this new location.

Lots of effort is being put into developing the space, so please realize that what you see in these photos is a work in progress, and the finished product will be featured here later on. That said, it did make for a nice setting in which to shoot Adam’s BMW 2002. The car is quite rough around the edges at the moment, and a full restoration is in the works, but honestly there is something about the car, as it sits, that just pushes all the right buttons for me. It has a patina to it that is irresistible, and of course those turquoise wheels help quite a bit. To me it looks like a 2002 rat rod, the likes of which is not often seen and I think it suits the car quite well. I guess I’ll have to see what I think when the car is finished though, before I can truly compare.

Adam has a lot planned for Klub Vintage, far more than just BMWs. He works on all makes of vintage cars and motorcycles, with experience in minor fixes, full rebuilds, engine swaps, modifications, and all sorts of other custom work. I am looking forward to seeing Klub Vintage progress, and I look forward to sharing what they are doing with all of you. Enjoy the pics, this just the beginning.

Visit their website at Klubvintage.com
Continue reading Klub Vintage: Getting rolling →