Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Liverpool Madness

John Bishop
For those of you who live in Liverpool, UK, you might know who's face this is. John Bishop is a comedian, one of the funniest comedians in the world actually. He's done comedy tours all around Britain. He started his automobile life with a Renault Van of which he liked. So, he's done all of this and more. What's bugging is me is how was he able to be the fastest man ever in the Reasonably Priced Car?

Bishop in the Kia Cee'd
The first episode of the 16th season of Top Gear, John Bishop came along and did a lap of 1:42.8, thrashing the 1:44.2 record time set by Tom Cruise. We are talking about a man with a Renault Van and some old fashioned British humor who beat a man with a Vyrus Sport Bike, a 1934 Indian Bike, a Saleen S281 Mustang, and is a stuntman. That's the fastest a celebrity has ever gone round the Top Gear track. Unbelievable. The episode isn't on YouTube at the moment, but it will soon be on iTunes next week. You're going to have to watch it for yourselves.

NFS Hot Pursuit Car Profiles: Porsche 911 GT3 RS

2011 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
The last Porsche I tested in this game was the 911 GT2 RS, which was, by all means, a complete maniac. Once I got into this Porsche, however, a complete change of mood overwhelmed me. By looking at it, you could imagine that a car with red vinyls, a red wing, red mirror covers, a red grille, a red roll cage, red interior, and red rims would seem almost ridiculous, like it would sit in a shed planning different ways to execute its drivers. The thing is though, it isn't. This is the most stable and completely practical Porsche I've ever driven, which is odd given that this car was meant to be a track racer.

Tunnel Drift
We all know what the Porsche 911 looks like. The hardcore version of the 911 is the GT3 with added body work, more power, and less weight. The hardcore version of the GT3 is this car, the GT3 RS with even more power, less weight, racing wing, racing tires, and racing pedigree. So, think of this car as the hardcore version of the hardcore version of the 911. The 3.8-liter Flat-6 has been tuned from 345 to 450 horsepower. 0 to 60 is now reached in 3.8 seconds with a top speed of 193 MPH making this the fastest non-turbo 911 of the lot. That's all very good, but is the handling good as well?

Oakmont Valley
Very is the simple answer. This car was meant to be a race car for the road, and Porsche has certainly achieved this. The car feels very light and nimble in the corners. It doesn't mind letting itself loose sometimes, unlike some Ferraris that are somewhat restrained. When it comes to speed, you should be doing over 207 MPH with the Nitrous topped up. That should scare the SCPD a little. But, the best thing about this version of the 911 is that it's calm.

Filling the Tank up
Now, you may be looking at this car and going, "This is quite flashy! I don't think it's resolved the calm bit behind it." Don't be fooled. This car sets a different mood when you're behind the wheel of it. When you're cruising around Seacrest County at a reasonable speed of say 45 MPH, it stays calm and cool. The suspension is snug and comfortable and the car itself just glides along the road like a magic carpet. Put your foot down, the mood changes from soft and steady to wild and crazy. This car has a racing style pedigree so expect it rip your face off when you come to a corner. But, when you're feeling tired from mashing your foot into the carpet, or in this case punching the R2 Button with your thumb, and you feel like cruising again, the car's mood will change once more and you'll feel like you're driving in Paradise.

Rest Stop
If I had one criticism about this car is that throughout the years, Porsche has never managed to change the design of the 911 from its olden time Beetle shape that most of us have always hated. And this one is no exception, I mean look at it! It looks like a squashed beetle with a wing on it! Anyway, to buy one of these in real life requires $135,500 of your money. That does sound like a lot, but remember that this is part racing car. Buying the actual 911 GT3 RSR would cost over $400,000. Be thankful Porsche limited it to about $136,000.

The Power of Black pt. II

2012 Porsche Boxster S Black Edition
Last week, we saw Porsche give way to the 911 Black Edition. Now, the power of the Black has gone to the wing of the Boxsters. This is the all new Porsche Boxster S Black Edition, and, like the 911 Black Edition, it comes with more stuff, standard. The power output from the 3.4-liter Flat-6 has been raised from 310 to 320. It also comes with a wind deflector, auto-dimming mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, cruise control, climate control, GPS Navigation, universal audio interface, mobile phone preparation, Sound Package Plus, Bi-Xenon Lights with dynamic cornering lights, and LED Daytime Running Lights. The only optional stuff you can get with this car are the Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes, the Porsche Active Suspension Management, adaptive sports seats with full memory function, full leather seats, and the 7-speed PDK transmission. Besides that, the car has all the standard stuff for just $65,200. Sounds like a deal, right? Act quickly, though, because only 987 will be made. Now that we've seen the 911 and the Boxster go black, could the Cayman, Panamera, or even the Cayenne go black as well? Let's find out in the coming weeks.

UK vs. Australia

Top Gear UK Hosts
Another episode of Top Gear UK has been uploaded by an anonymous user on YouTube. This episode features Top Gear UK and Top Gear Australia going head to head in a game of bests. If you have watched Top Gear Australia, most of the faces you will see are pretty familiar. Then Jeremy takes the 2011 Ferrari 599 GTO for a spin summarizing that it is a complete animal. Boris Becker, former Tennis World Champion, is the star in the reasonably priced, who is a serious fan of the Silver Arrow (Mercedes-Benz). A very interesting fact about him: he bought a very exclusive Porsche 959 for about €150,000 at the age of, get this, 19!

1987 Porsche 959
 How on earth was he able to buy that? Another interesting fact: throughout the years that he's owned that Porsche, he never crashed it. He managed to get it over 200 MPH on a highway, but he never smashed it up. He is a serious driver. He set a time of 1:45.9. That's faster than Peter Jones's time on a dry lap, all thanks to new STIG. Anyway, enough summaries. Just watch the show to see what happened.



Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Dirt Dinosaur

2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor
Now we know that the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor is the most rugged and exciting Sport Utility Truck ever created. This is all thanks to it's rugged ride, it's off-road tires, it's dune-like body, it's 6.2-liter 411 horsepower V8 engine, it's high ride height, and it's cool-looking presence. Any owner of an SVT Raptor will write you up and tell you that it is a very exciting truck. Take for instance Vaughn Gittin Jr., current Formula Drift Champion and a profound member of Team Need For Speed. He took one of these out for a spin in the dunes just outside Las Vegas to see if it truly was an exciting piece of machinery. He was impressed. He along with a local magazine known as Wrecked had loads of fun filming and dirt drifting with this truck. Check out the fun stuff they did in the video below.


Don't Mess With Bumblebee

2011 Chevy Camaro SS Transformers Edition
The Super Bowl isn't till this Sunday and Automakers are already releasing their raunchy ads on YouTube. My favorite ad so far is the all new Chevy ad featuring Al's Chevrolet dealer. While taping his post-game commercial, one of Al's Chipmunk Mascots hits a yellow Camaro with a big toy hammer. I can tell you right now, there are several good reasons why he shouldn't have done that. One of those reasons, in which you will see in this video, is, you don't know who owns that car, or in this case, who is that car. Take a look at the commercial below.


Share On Facebook

Lotus Rivalry

2011 Lotus Renault GP R31
After a very long hiatus, Lotus has finally returned to Formula One. But, what's strange about their comeback is that there are two teams that have acquired the Lotus brand. The one you're looking at now is the one which has teamed up with Renault to produce their new team car, the GP R31. The body and engine were designed and built by Renault while Lotus covered livery and advertising. 

2011 Lotus Challenger T128
This one is Lotus's official F1 car, the Challenger T128. Although it uses a Renault engine, the design, body, and livery were done by Lotus themselves. These two teams will be competing in this season of F1. With two teams upholding the Lotus brand on their cars, who knows what will happen. All I can say is that there's going to be some serious rivalry between these two.

Share On Facebook