Tag Archives: Performance Cars

Opinions

BMW: The Ultimate Something Machine?

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BMW 4-Series Coupe Concept - Front Angle, 2013, 800x600, 4 of 53
I’m just not impressed with the 4-Series. Want to know why? Read on below.

BMW has always held a special place in my list of carmakers. After the end of WWII, they were in tatters, like the other German car companies. But, in the 1960s and 1970s, their commitment to making cars that could make the driver grin endlessly (for a price) gave them a reputation of being a bit of an upper middle class car guy’s hero, in that for the price of a Cadillac or a Mercedes sedan, you could get a car that was capable of brightening your melancholy day with just a squeeze of the gas pedal and a turn of the wheel. But that was nearly 40 years ago, and based on what I’m seeing in the news (and what I’ve driven in the past year or two), I’m skeptical of their old motto. Continue reading BMW: The Ultimate Something Machine? →

Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Evo Magazine drives the legendary Calsonic Skyline

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Nissan’s R32 Skyline dominated touring car races in the late 80s and early 90s. This Calsonic Nismo R32 Skyline GT-R featured here was the most successful of them all, and helped create the GTR’s “Godzilla” image it has today. Enjoy.

-Nick

Opinions

The new Mercedes E63: Just what the doctor ordered.

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Mercedes E63 AMG Estate - Front Angle, 2014, 800x600, 3 of 18Mercedes-Benz isn’t all what it seems.  While some may mock it for expanding the E-Class range to a coupe and a convertible, and some may question it for offering AWD on the AMG products, no one will see me on that side of the line.  In fact, I’m the one doing the slow clap.  Mercedes is taking a lesson from its rivals, Audi and BMW, and using the best of what it’s learning.  The German luxury market is changing, and Mercedes is keeping up with it in an exemplary way–but the new E63 is proof that they’ve got their ears to the streets and listening to the good word. Continue reading The new Mercedes E63: Just what the doctor ordered. →

Car Shows

Lime Rock Historic Festival: Porsche 997 GT3 RS 4.0

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This isn’t exactly historic… well at least not yet anyway…. but it was present for the Lime Rock Historic Festival this past September. This is the most extreme GT3 Porsche has yet built. It may well go on to be one of the most valuable Porsches in the future, if Porsche does indeed make all future GT3s as PDK only. The RS 4.0 is an incredible car, and I had the distinct pleasure of hearing one go past me at full throttle while I was in Switzerland last summer. This one managed to stay stationary for me, so I was able to get some solid pics. Enjoy.

Continue reading Lime Rock Historic Festival: Porsche 997 GT3 RS 4.0 →

Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Awesome BMW M5 drift video (but please don’t try this at home)

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This video is extremely entertaining, and it is good to see a proper driver driving a proper Bimmer (E34 M5) like he’s just robbed a bank or something. This video is just plain epic, but it is surely one of those things that walks a very thin line between awesome and insanely stupid. We don’t recommend any of you go and try this for yourselves, this guy was reckless enough for all of us, I think. Enjoy the hoonage.

-Nick

MoM Vlog

Jaguars, and how to play Jingle Bells with your car

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Opinions

2014 Audi RS6 released, now for some speculation

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RS6

The new Audi RS6 Avant has just been revealed online, and my how badass it is. However, me being the ever curious sort, I must wonder about the engine they have put in it. They claim it to be a 560hp version of their trusty, and ever underrated, 4.0L turbocharged V8.

Lets take a look back at Motor Trend’s Audi S6 test (from 3:57 to 5:36) from a few weeks back. On paper the S6 is a 4700lb, all wheel drive sedan with 520hp from its 4.0T engine. However Motor Trend’s tests yielded a 0-60 time of 3.5sec and a quarter mile run of 11.8sec @ 118mph, number that do not fit with the car’s on paper figures. They decided to test the S8 on a chassis dyno, and it put down 480awhp… translating to around 580hp being produced from the engine. Could this be the exact same version of the 4.0T that we are now seeing in the RS6?

If you consider the cost of developing even a moderately different version of an engine for a company like Audi, then it would make sense to use it in more than just one place. This is just a hunch, but it’s an educated hunch, and we will find out for sure when test of the RS6 come out. That makes the S6 an incredible value in its class, and the new RS6 exactly what we would like it to be. Despite the outright lying on their power claims, Audi is continuing to take the industry by storm.

We aren’t big on reposting dry press releases, so you can find the full list of impressive details on the new RS6 here.

-Nick

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

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

Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Chris Harris tries the Merc CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake….. sideways of course

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Chris Harris tests the Mercedes CLS 63 Shooting Brake for Drive. He makes a very good point on how this car is a niche within a niche, and how the market is moving that way overall. Enjoy.

-Nick

Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Motor Trend: M5 vs Panamera GTS

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Yet another fantastic example of what is happening to BMW, as well as an equally good example of how Porsche has maintained their identity despite being faced with the same issues.

-Nick