When the unsuspecting driver depresses the gas pedal, saying this car moves fast would be as much of an understatement as saying that a freight train hitting your Schwinn might dent it a little bit. Drop the clutch, and the big bang happens all over again as your intestinal track forcefully relocates to the lumbar support area of the M5’s plush two-tone leather seat. This particular M5 was given a lobotomy by the BMW performance masters DINAN, and when they were done, 402-hp with 375 lb/ft of yank is accessible with a flick of the ankle.
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With all the talk regarding high gas prices and its effect on peoples’ wallets, we’re all particularly interested in a car’s gas mileage. Everyone wants to save a few bucks, but is there more to gas mileage than just a car’s miles per gallon?
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On an uncharacteristically warm Sunday afternoon in September I attended the first major drift event in the Midwest, the RS-R Drift Festival at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois. And, if it weren’t for a bunch of idiocy at the end of the event, it turned out to be a great little intro to drifting. With movies!
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Over the summer I attended a BMW driving event geared towards drivers who are just starting out in their quest not to have an accident, namely, teenage drivers. I don’t fit into this category anymore, but still got in some nice time throwing the X3 around at breakneck speeds and on slick pavement conditions.
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Well if you live in the north of the country (or are a friendly neighbor to the north, or if you’re soon-to-be Canadian because of the election) it’s that time of year again. The leaves feel from the trees and the cold white stuff didn’t wait around. Since yesterday was the first snowfall around here, including some snow days for upstate schools, anyone in the market for a new car may want to take the powertrain layout into consideration. If you know little about automobile powertrain layout, this should be a decent read.
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I had a nice entry all ready to go tonight, but fate wasn’t havin’ it. While driving back to Rochester from Utica via the NYS Thruway (I-90) I demolished a deer going between 75-80mph. I’m okay, but my car and the deer have definitely seen better days.
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As most of you are aware, Toyota launched its Scion division about a year ago in California to try and, well, conveniently discard its reputation as an old-folks car. The xA and xB were launched together – the xA looked like a Toyota Matrix that backed into a big rig, and the xB looked like it was conceived by a big rig designer. Both were essentially the same underneath the skin, meant to be inexpensive utility vehicles for generation Y (or whatever the hell we’re labeled as now). To date, I’ve seen four different xBs, and one xA – and I go to a high school campus, which is part of Scion’s target demographic, and I live in southern California, where Scion first set shop. Can you say “duds”?
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Ed. Note — the following anecdotes arose out of an IM conversation the other day, in which no less than 12 lies were told in attempts to outdo the other person on the topic of mistakes made while driving. That said, the following anecdotes are entirely true. Feel free to add your own in comments.
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The BMW 1 Series hatchback has been on sale in Europe for awhile now, and now the German automotive powerhouse will be bringing the coupe version of the 1 over to the States as a 2 Series. Normally I wouldn’t be so excited, but the best part about this car arrival is that BMW is finally hitting my market segment with a powerful coupe for around $25,000.
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It’s got a 101 horse-emulator engine, a 698cc displacement, turbo-charged 3 cylinder spunk, a McPherson suspension, no roof, and is hell-modified by BRABUS. The entire car weighs just over 800 kilograms and most of its exterior body panels are made fully out of plastic. No I’m not talking about the riding mower you haXored last year, I’m describing the BRABUS Smart Roadster, and I want one.
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