This video really made me want a Lexus GS F for some reason. The Caddy is cool, but they also neglected to mention that the Lexus will be reliable for 200,000 miles of relatively trouble-free fun. The CTS-V?… Not so much, if history is any indicator.
Enjoy.
Nick
As a car guy, who’s had a license for a decade now, I really should have been autocrossing at some point, right? But until this past weekend, I hadn’t… at least at an official event.
Autocross is one of the best things anyone who takes driving seriously can do for their skills behind the wheel. Even if you’re not a gearhead, it will just make you a far better, far safer driver, knowing how to control your car.
Honestly, I’ve been meaning to get into autocross for years, but I’ve always put it off for some reason. I even bought and modified my first (very rusty) Miata with the idea of autocrossing in mind. I did do a lot of, shall we say, “unofficial” autocrossing in that car in various corporate parking lots in my area, but a real event is totally different.
Now, having just gotten my 2014 Miata, Ace, back from the body shop after it nearly being totalled 4 days after I bought it, I felt it was time.
Matt is one of our favorite journalists, and he’s just bought himself a new toy, a very blue Ford Focus RS. Let’s see what he thinks!
-Nick
In this unlikely, but actually relevant, comparison, we see German logic go up against raw Italian emotion. I’ve driven the Alfa 4C, and it still has my heart. That’s all I’ll say…
-Nick
This is the Cadillac ATS-V. The master form of the highly acclaimed, yet highly criticized ATS sedan. It was born to go toe-to-toe with the likes of the BMW M3 and Mercedes C63 AMG, and it looks like a pretty damn good bet in that fight.
You know what’s weird, though? After driving it, I feel the exact same way about the ATS-V that I did about each other Cadillac ATS I’ve driven. Sure, the ATS-V exists at a much higher level, but it’s relative strengths and shortcomings all fall in the same areas.
I’m amazed at how consistent the ATS lineup is, with some areas near perfection and others, well, not.
Continue reading Cadillac ATS-V Review: Still GM, for better and worse
A couple of months ago, I had way too much time on my hands, a stomach full of Mexican omelet, and a full tank of fuel. Central NJ, where I happen to live, has a lot of car dealerships within a 20 mile radius, but the selection can be a bit thin for some reason. Luckily, I had a fifty dollar gift card to redeem from Ford for the LA Auto Show, and a local dealer down the street had a new Taurus SHO in stock. Then, my buddy Chris, who was accompanying me around town (and was my taller stand-in for interior room, for once), suggested I find something to compare it to. Not wanting to haul myself to the local Dodge dealers, we then descended on one of the local Chevrolet dealers, where a lightly used SS was sitting out front. I drove them both–and the results turned into a bare-fisted, old fashioned American street fight. May the best flag-flying American machine win. Continue reading Ford Taurus SHO vs Chevrolet SS, Head To Head
Wait, didn’t he just buy an old red Miata? Why the hell would he buy a new red Miata now?
That is the question everyone around me has been asking all weekend. Yes, I went and bought this beautiful 2014 Mazda MX5 Miata Club Edition this weekend, and no I’m not crazy, although it may seem that way to many people around me right now.
Here’s why I went and bought this car, as best as I can explain it right now.
Sadly, this is not the hands-on review article it could’ve been. Yes, Porsche was actually having test drives in this 4.0L monster 911. While most people got there too late to even get in line for a drive in the GT3 RS, Al and I actually got there too early, and I mean by a few seconds.
It was literally as I handed my pen back to the Porsche lady at the booth, after signing up to drive the 991.2 Carrera S, that this bright orange GT3 RS pulled up. Dammit!
That said, it would’ve been really difficult and unsafe to get a real taste of the GT3 RS on the public roads of Amelia Island, not to mention probably an arrestable offense. So in many ways I’m glad I tried the new turbo’d Carrera S instead. I really want to experience the new GT3 RS on the race track, or at least a more open road, where I can actually drive it properly.
That said, it did look like people were having an absolute blast in it. So while part of me is looking on the bright side, the other part of me is peanut butter and jealous as all hell!
-Nick
The BMW M4 is already a very fast high performance sports coupe, more than enough for most people. There are always those who want more, though, and for them BMW has now made this, the M4 GTS.
The M4 GTS has an extra helping of boost with special tuning to be a total track weapon. It comes as the latest member of BMW’s special M car lineup, which began with the 1990 E30 M3 Sport Evolution, and continued through the E36 M3 GT, the E46 M3 CSL, and the E92 M3 GTS and CRT. The M4 GTS, however is the first of these extreme BMWs that will be sold in the USA. That’s right, BMW is only building 700 M4 GTS units in total, but 300 of those will be making their way Stateside.
As you might imagine, prices will obviously be quite steep. When a loaded standard M4 costs around $80,000, the GTS has a base price of $133,000, and that number is very likely to go up on the secondhand market. So what makes the BMW M4 GTS so special compared to the standard M4? Well, BMW has boosted their claimed horsepower output from 425hp to 493hp via the implementation of a water injection system, which allows for more boost. They’ve also fitted some aero bits, a fully tunable suspension, and some nice wide sticky tires. All of this adds up to a Nurburgring time of 7:28, or “really freaking fast!” in layman’s terms.
We were lucky enough to catch this M4 GTS on display at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. These are going to be quite a rare sight when they hit the streets. Enjoy the photos!
Continue reading BMW M4 GTS at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance
Everyone sharpen your pitchforks and light your torches! Porsche has gone and changed the 911 again, and this time we’re gonna burn Stuttgart to the ground! They won’t get a way with it this time!
Wait, what? What’s that you say? Porsche has turbocharged all of the 911 Carrera models, and now they’re actually improved? You say Porsche has secretly answered our purist prayers and we don’t even know it? How can that be?!!!!
Well it’s true, folks, all of it. Porsche has made all of their 911s into 911 Turbos, although they’ll surely hate me for saying it that way. The way Porsche would want me to say it is, “911 Carrera and Targa models all now have a 3.0L Twin Turbocharged Flat-Six engine, but they are not “911 Turbos” because the 911 Turbo and 911 Turbo S each have a 3.8L Twin Turbocharged Flat-Six engine.” See what I mean?
There are a few ways to look at this new 991.2 generation Porsche 911. I’m going to go through the way I see the car now, after taking it for a spin recently.
I’m not going to waste our time talking much about the aspects of the 911 that haven’t changed much. Just know that it’s still a wonderful handling car, it still has the best electric power steering in the business, it’s still of top-notch build quality, and PDK is still among the best dual-clutch trannies around.
Alright, now let’s talk about that new turbocharged engine, and what it does for the 911 as a car…
Continue reading Porsche 991.2 Carrera S Review: Do Turbos Make a Better 911?
Many times the best drives come completely unplanned. There are no cameras rolling, nothing even remotely contrived. Often times the reason for the drive is even purely functional.
Last night was one of those awesome spur of the moment car experiences for me and my buddy Shane. That’s why the pics are crap, and this article, written in immediate hindsight, may be a little wonky. But it was one of those great drives I know I’ll remember long into the future.
Here’s Motor Trend’s test of the BMW M2, where they pit it against its bigger brother, the BMW M4.
Could the M2 possibly be better than the M4?
-Nick
Mind Over Motor 