Witnesses and residents of Tom’s apartment told reporters they saw Thomas jump from his 39th story window. Now, this being New York City you know how hard it is to find a parking spot, wee all know tom does. after traveling 39 floors Tom landed on top of a Dodge Charger. Miraculously, this idiot “walked” away with only two broken legs and a bruised lung. The lucky owner of the Charger was devastated when she found out about her “sports car”.The owner,Maria McCormack, was complaining saying “I’ve had other cars, but I really loved this car” and “why did he have to pick my car out of all the cars in the city.” Right, like Thomas was suicidal and had it out for this lady’s car. The good news is, Thomas is in stable condition, and there’s now a free spot out there for some lucky New Yorker.

Despite being fat, bald, and fuzzy, I’m actually pretty good at talking to girls. I have no shame, which helps.

A warning: This story has nothing at all to do with cars. If all you care about is reading car news on this site, check out some other posts, but if you want some insight into the real life trials and tribulations of Matt Farah, this is one story you don’t want to miss. My two biggest influences in my life are standup comedian Jim Norton, who, as part of the Opie and Anthony show on XM, taught me that you can say absolutely horrible, offensive things in public, and still somehow make it socially acceptable, and Tucker Max, who taught me that you can take that kind of behavior and use it to talk to women successfully, then turn those experiences into stories with brutal honesty that will land you on the New York Times Bestseller List. Well, here’s a brutally honest story about how I had the chance to hook up with a supermodel, and blew it…. badly.

Last night, Tom and I went out for drinks on the Redondo Beach pier with our friend Michelle from Cardomain. We were at a bar called Old Tom’s, which is a cool “lighthouse” style bar with a 360 degree view of the Redondo Harbor. We expected it to be crazy, since last night was the start of Labor Day weekend, but the bar was surprisingly uneventful. We ordered several rounds of Mai Tais, simply because if you order a Mai Tai it comes with a souvenir glass, and Tom decided we needed more glasses. We already have 12 of them in our cabinet. We now have 16. Two older women at the bar come up to me with a guy, and say I look familliar. I think they may be fans or something, but they ask if I’m Dave Navarro from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Obviously, I’m not, and even Dave Navarro, on the most coke he’s ever blown in his life, wouldn’t touch either of these women, so I walk away without even responding.

We leave the bar, somewhat bored, and on the way off the pier we walk past a small concert venue called Brixton. The Marquee says “Vitalogy,” a Pearl Jam tribute band. Many of you who watch the show have noticed the large tattoo on my left forearm, which is the Pearl Jam “Stickman” logo. That’s right, I have a band tattoo. I also have a tramp stamp, but that’s another story. I decide we must see this band, and get in line. The promoter sees my tattoo and comps our tickets. This is going well. We go to the bar right as Vitalogy comes on, and I have to say, they are excellent. But the bar is crowded, and I don’t want to have to go back to it again, so I order 8 Heinekens for me and Tom. Do you know how hard it is to drink a Heineken while standing up and holding 3 other open Henekens? They should give out certificates or something if you can pull that off while dancing to your favorite music in a crowded room.

This is when it gets good.

I see this smoking hot cougar about 20 feet away, make eye contact as I’m clapping 4 beer bottles against each other over my head. She laughs as one of the bottles overflows down my arm. Hey, I’ll take a laugh any way I can get it. I continue enjoying the music, glancing over every once in a while and smiling. Her face looks so familliar, but I can’t really place it. I’m sure the Mai Tai’s and Heinekens were helping with that.

Could have been worse though, Tom, who drank the same as me but weighs 150 lbs, decided he wanted to start a mosh pit. No one else in the crowd shared his enthusiasm, and the simultaneous piercing glare of 10-15 people at Tom nearly knocking over an entire liquor cabniet’s worth of drinks was enough to make me nearly fall over and spill what was left of my Heinekens.

As I’m putting empty bottles into my back pocket, I feel a tap on my right shoulder. I turn to look both ways, nothing, but the same woman was now a few feet behind me. Five minutes later, it happens again. Still apparently nothing. The third time I get tapped, I turn around to see this woman doubled over, laughing her ass off. Suddenly, I realize who this woman is: former supermodel Rachel Hunter, and ex-wife of Rod Stewart.

Now, despite being fat, bald, and fuzzy, I’m really good at talking to girls. I have no shame, which helps, so I will walk up to any woman I find attractive and just start talking to them. One of my best skills is storytelling, so I have an entire section of my brain stored up of great stories to tell people. However, I never, ever get approached by any girl that I would find even remotely attractive. To ugly girls, I’m fucking Spartacus, but when it comes to actual, attractive girls, I have to do all the legwork.

Now, finding Rachel Hunter playing the “tap on the shoulder” game with me threw me way off guard. I know the woman is 40 years old, but she’s still got it, I mean just smoking hot. And she’s at a PEARL JAM COVER BAND SHOW! She may as well be in my bedroom already. I know every word to every song. She’s impressed. We go to the bar and get another beer, finish it over chit chat, and go outside for a cigarette (don’t smoke kids, it’s bad for you. I, on the other hand, will probably die in a fiery car crash long before cigarettes will kill me).

Outside in the light, she tells her friends how bad she got me inside, and how I spilled beer down my arm, she even saw Tom’s attempted mosh pit. She thinks it’s all hilarious. I tell her how I thought the guy she was standing with (her friend’s husband) was her man, and how strange it was that he was 5’6″ and she was easily 6’3″ in high-heeled boots. She laughs and tells me she likes tall guys. I smile. (The irony of this statement will be seen later in the story)

Through this whole conversation, I never actually asked her name. As we finish our shared cigarette, we have the following conversation, which happened verbatim.

Me: I can’t believe I’ve waited so long to ask this, but what’s your name anyway? I’m Matt.

Her: Pleasure to meet you, Matt. I’m Angie.

Me: Oh, Angie. Nice. I gotta say, I thought I had a celebrity sighting there for a second.

Her: Oh yeah? Who did you think I was?

Me: Well, you’re a dead fucking ringer for Rachel Hunter.

Her: That’s funny, Rachel is a good friend of mine.

At this point, I’m actually quite confused.

Her: Yeah, my name is Angie Everhart.

Me: Fuck. My. Life.

Angie Everhart in 1998

…and today.

At this point, if you don’t know who Angie Everhart is, you should click here. The 120,000 images on Google Image Search should help. When you return to this article after 15 minutes or so of “man time,” we’ll continue the story.

My face turns beet, fucking red. In the late 90′s and early 2000′s, Angie Everhart was in every swimsuit catalog, Playboy twice, and was considered to be among the top 5 hottest women in the modeling industry. I even owned the February 2000 issue of Playboy in which Angie appeared on the cover, until I found, you know, internet porn. She used to date Prince Andrew, Sylvester Stallone, Howard Stern, and even Joe Pesci. I guess you don’t have to be tall if you were in My Cousin Vinny.

Angie sees my face, and hears my reaction, and immediately her and her friends start cracking up, not with me, but at me. Then, she feels bad for me, as a wave of full-on shame and embarrassment washes over me. I can actually feel the redness in my face pulsing through my normally thick skin. I am rendered, for perhaps the first time ever, totally speechless.

Angie: It’s OK, sweetie. You’re a funny guy. Don’t feel too bad.

This doesn’t help. I feel really bad. Not for her, mind you. I confused one 90′s supermodel for another, equally hot one. I feel bad for myself that I’ve just had this opportunity dropped right into my lap and I’ve completely blown it.

She left shortly after that, as one of her friends was apparently too wasted to be let back inside. She smiled, thanked me for the  drink and walked away. I didn’t see her again after that.

When I got home last night, my first thought was that I have to write this down and share it with people, because this is just the kind of ridiculous stuff that happens to me. But the story didn’t have an ending. She just walked away and I went back to drinking. I don’t remember much of the night after that, but the ending to the story came when I woke up this morning, and looked at my screen on my laptop.

You just can’t make this shit up. Welcome to my life.

There were so many movie cars there, it made my head spin. There was the real Elanor from Gone in 60 Seconds, Ecto 1, a Back to the Future Delorean in amazing detail (though disappointingly wearing incorrect chrome wheels), Mad Max’s RHD Ford, an original General Lee Charger, the Mercedes 280SE from The Hangover, the Flinstones’ “4 Heel Drive,” Starsky and Hutch’s Torino, Elvis Presley’s Stutz Blackhawk, several cars from Fast and Furious, and even a few unexpected wild cards.

Bonus points to the first person to correctly identify what movie the red Jaguar XJS appeared in.

Now in version 3.0, the Dodge Durango has an uphill battle to fight. The first generation SUV was an attractive, though shoddily built truck, more or less a Dodge Dakota pickup with some extra seats. A friend owned one, and it completely fell apart by 75,000 miles. Literally, trim pieces would fall off the damn thing if you smacked the dashboard hard enough.

Then Dodge tried again, and though build quality improved for the second-generation, it still wasn’t a good car. The styling was bland, and the driving position was so high, you’d think you were piloting the Sears Tower down the 405. I had one as a rental, once, so I forgave it’s fleet-specific shantytown interior, but it just felt like a poorly thought out mess.

Since then, I’ve driven a brand new, 2010 Dodge Ram 1500, and sat in a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. My, how times have changed. The new Ram’s build quality is absolutely stellar, and the new Grand Cherokee feels much more like the Mercedes ML-class on which its based than anything Chrysler has built recently. The new Durango shares the same underpinnings as the ML-class as well, but, unlike the Jeep, the Durango has a third row of seats.

It’s hard to ignore the similarities between the new Grand Cherokee and Durango, the body lines, front grill, and stance are nearly identical, as are the powertrains (3.6L V6 or 5.7L V8). Nevertheless, I like it. And if the build quality of the new Grand Cherokee and Ram are any indicators, Dodge may have, at long last, built a Durango that’s worth spending your hard-earned cash on. And since Ford has all but abandoned the “true” SUV, instead choosing to turn the Explorer into a crossover, Chrysler may, come next year, have the SUV game on lockdown.

When you hear the name Buick, what comes to mind? If you get a senior’s discount you’ll sit back on your hemorrhoid cushion and say, “Ah yes, fine automobiles. All the luxury of a Cadillac without drawing attention from the IRS.” If you’re reading this while living in a house that’s worth 50% of what you bought it for, you look at Buick the way Teddy looked at Matt Damon in Rounders; you owe me some f***in’ money. For me the brand reminds me of my grandma, because she’s the only person I’ve ever known who owned one. Sure, Tiger Woods did, but only because his endorsement deal made him.

Basically, Buick’s have always had a reputation as being a car for old people, but after spending a few days with the 2010 Buick Lacrosse CXS, they might have been on to something.

It all goes back to the name, “doctor’s car.” Doctors frequently bought Buicks because they had all the luxury and comfort of a Cadillac, without the image of being an expensive car. So doctors could make house calls without their patients second-guessing their bill based on the doctor’s transportation. What the Buick was was an entry-level luxury car. Over the years their reputation has changed (doctors’ cars tend to wear German or Japanese badges now) but the idea never did. Buicks are still an Armani suit with a less pretentious label.

The Lacrosse CXS is just that. With an MSRP of $33,000, and a standard features list as long as Linsay Lohan’s CVS Pharmacy receipt, it’s an incredibly luxurious and well-equipped car. For the base price you get; leather seats (heated and cooled too), satellite radio, power everything, variable assist steering, parking assistance, fog lights, a heated steering wheel with audio controls, heated mirrors, dual-zone climate control and even an automatic rear sun shade. I found little use for the last item, but it tells you that Buick went all-out to provide it’s customers with every creature comfort on this planet at almost no extra cost. (By comparison, Buick’s main competitor, the Lexus ES350, makes you pay extra for leather.)

Under the hood is a 3.6 liter V6 feeding 280hp and 259 ft lbs. to the front wheels through a 6 speed automatic. It’s not a ton of power, but I had no problem merging with the over-caffeinated drivers on L.A. freeways. The power-band felt huge, and the top-end was good enough to have me wondering if a gremlin had bolted on some turbos during the night. It won’t do 150mph on the autobahn, but triple digits are more than accessible. Use a light foot and you’ll get 27mpg on the highway, with barely a whisper coming through the 5mm ultra-quiet windows. Not bad for a 4,200lb cruiser.

It also appears that Buick has been to art school.  The 2008 Lacrosse was a boring, dated, rounded mess. It looked like a dead fish laying in a heap at Safeway. This new design has some panache. It has a tall belt-line, nice creases and a great stance. Some of the chrome accents are a bit much (although the 3 “speed holes” are finally gone), a little too “This car is nice! We swear!” But overall I think it’s better looking than comparable cars from Lexus, Acura or Nissan. It’s a big, bold car, just like a Cadillac.

On the road it’s surprisingly good. Despite being 4,2000 lbs and longer than anything in it’s class, it stayed pretty flat in the corners and handled lane-changes without much discernible body-roll. Sure there will be under-steer at the limit, but it’s a Buick Lacrosse, so if you’re taking this car “to the limit” it’s probably because your parents let you borrow their car, not because you own it. AWD is optional, but even with the FWD-whether accelerating in a corner or from a stop-there was plenty of grip. It may not have the moves to keep up with the Bavarians, or be as fun as the rear-drive G37, but taken for what it is, it’s hard to find fault on the road.

The only options on our car were the Audio/Sat NAV system ($2000), Xenon lights ($700) and the heads-up display ($350) for a total as-tested price of $36,805. Fully loaded the Buick costs only a little more than the competitions base price.

As an entry-level Luxury car the most important aspect of this car is the interior. People don’t buy Rolls Royces or Bentleys for their looks or skid-pad score. They buy them because the interior is more welcoming and relaxing than a hot tub after 2 martinis. As shown above, Buick went all-out to provide a warm and comfortable environment to travel along in. As a whole the interior is a very nice place to be. Thick glass drowns out almost any outside noise, as did the suspension.

The materials are all pretty good. The fake stitching along the dashboard is one of many small details that add up to trick you into thinking you’re in a more expensive car. At a quick glance all you see is leather, wood and chrome. The blue accent lighting, soft leather seats and simple, well-laid out center console put your mind at ease. When you drive this car nothing will be loud, intrusive or complicated, just as a luxury sedan should be.

It wasn’t completely faultless though. The shifter is a bit too far back, making the move to Drive like pulling back a bow-and-arrow. The chrome around the NAV looks great, but it’s perfectly angled to shoot sun in your eye no matter what time it is. There’s also some parts that look straight-up old, and thus out of place. Amid the leather, new wood and Nav system you have what looks like a headlight dial from the 80′s and the cheapest window/mirror control I’ve ever seen.

There was one “wtf?” interior piece; the arm rest. People like resting their left arm. People also like being able to close the door. Buick knew this, but felt there was a problem with one piece capable of both. So they bolted a bi-planes wing to the door. There’s the recessed part you use to close the door, and then they put a narrow armrest right above it. What they ended up with is two things that do neither job well. The armrest is too narrow, and to close the door you have to thread the needle into this little hole, like Luke Skywalker taking down the Death Star. I can already hear the sound of annoyed grand mothers and uncles out there, “Where’s the damn handle?” It’s a door handle people, don’t get fancy.

It’s not the most exciting or artistic design, but it’s easy to use and nice enough to look at. Buick didn’t push too many boundaries (except that arm rest) in here, but with GM against the ropes it’s not the time to take chances. As is true with girls, I’ll take a functional, logical interior over a daring, useless mess any day.

At the end of the day, the number-one priority for an entry-level car is comfort. These cars won’t ignite your eyes, ears or soul, but you’ll drive to your destination in a warm, tranquil environment that has every gadget you could need. With that criteria in mind, the Buick Lacrosse CXS is a good car. It drives well, it’s quiet as a church inside and it’s not bad to look at. The interior isn’t perfect, and the body won’t cause a Twilight-esque stampede of women, but that’s true of all the cars in this class. The Acura TL looks ridiculous, the Lexus is as much fun as an empty, white room and the G37 isn’t as spacious.

What you get from any luxury car at this price is compromise on four wheels. None of those cars are great, none are terrible. Like choosing a flavor of NyQuil, none will taste amazing but they will all get the job done. With better pricing, standard equipment and more room than any of the others, the Buick CXS will do the job just fine and probably go down the easiest.

One of my favorite activities in the world is drinking with automotive PR people, generally at new product launch events. Because most journalists out there, good writers as they may be, aren’t all that social, I’m generally the most fun “car”  person in the room. The Racing Rapide and V12 Vantage premiere party last Thursday was no exception to this rule, and after some delicious food and beverages, I found myself speaking at length about the V12 with the one person in charge of the beautiful blue demo car that had been teasing me swirling around on its turntable like a go-go dancer in Vegas. I don’t know whether he was supposed to do this or not, so I’m withholding his name for now. But he said if I came back the next day I could have 2 hours of solid-gold alone time with all 510 of the V12 Vantage’s horsepower.

Fast forward the following day, and we’re off. Just to properly fill out my fantasy, I bring my beautiful friend Ariana along for the ride. I ask where I can find the nearest empty canyon road, and a Galpin employee gives me spot-on directions to a wide-open canyon with fresh blacktop. I look over at Ariana, then down at the hefty 6-speed manual shifter. I put the glass key fob into its fobgina and hear the V12 bark to life, then echo, realizing the salesman was kind enough to leave it parked in a tunnel. How considerate. I rev the engine a few times, look back at Ariana, then shifter again, and realize immediately that this is what heaven must look like. We haven’t even moved yet.

The 405 freeway entrance ramp is right around the corner, and it was on this entrance ramp that I fell in love. I goose it a bit going around the corner to the highway and feel the tires start to break loose in second gear, but the Vantage stayed straight. At 4,000 RPM the exhaust baffles open and say,  “AAAAHHHHH,” doing their best impression of a pissed-off jungle cat. I shift into 3rd at 7,000 RPM, and the tires break loose again. I hit 4th, and by the time I reach the actual merge, I’m nearly double the speed limit. Fortunately, the V12 has the most effective brakes ever installed on an Aston, and the carbon-ceramic stoppers send Ariana’s “fuck me, I’m a librarian” glasses flying off towards the dash as I stab the slow pedal for the merge.

The canyon road was a few miles down the freeway, which gave Ariana time to fiddle with the Vantage’s many small, identical looking buttons. I’m sure we could get used to it if we actually owned the car, but the plethora of buttons are nearly indeciperable while driving, especially over LA’s concrete freway system. It’s not that the suspension is too stiff or bouncy, but the Vantage’s short wheelbase and relatively firm suspension make it impossible to see what any of those buttons did. Ditto the navigation system, which I learned from Vantage owner Ice-T, is a total piece of crap. If Aston Martin is going to license navigation technology from someone, can’t they just do it from Ford and not Volvo?

I looked up from the console to realize that several wannabe sports cars were tailing us, hard. There was an Eclipse, an early Dodge Avenger, and a Lancer Ralliart all following us, with cameraphones rolling. With visions of whisking away a paparazzi-hounded starlet, I smiled at Ariana, dropped 3 gears, and wound the shit out of that V12. Within 5 seconds, they were completely gone from my rear view mirror. If Princess Diana had one of these, she’d still be with us today.

The Galpin salesman’s “secret canyon” was everything he promised it would be. 10 miles of glass-smooth pavement, banked esses, and radically changing elevation. I drove that canyon at least 3 or 4 times in each direction, adding more speed and later braking points each time, as I grew more comfortable with the V12′s dynamics. Here’s what I learned, in no particular order:

- This is an angry, little demon of a car, that reminds me more of a Shelby Cobra than anything else. Short wheelbase, tons of power, and  the least invasive traction control system I’ve ever used make for a very interesting driving experience at speed. And by “interesting,” I mean this is the fastest, sharpest, most fun to drive Aston Martin ever built.

- There is more than enough power to break the tires loose in the first 3 gears. Because of this traction system, they often break a bit loose coming hard out of a corner or when shifting into second or third at full throttle. It was a bit unnerving at first, but quite a positive bonus once you realize the car won’t get too far away from you, at least if you leave the system on. Turn it off, and there’s only one word for it: “DORIFTO!”. (Note: I didn’t actually turn off T/C during my test. The car was hairy enough as it is. And I couldn’t find the button.)

- This is the only Aston Martin I’ve ever driven that I would even consider taking to a track day. I once took my 2003 Vanquish to a day at Monticello Motor Club, and, beautiful and loud as that car is, it’s an absolute pig on the track, with terrible braking, visibility, and transmission. Ditto the DB9 and, to an extent, the DBS, though it’s certainly better. The V12 Vantage, on the other hand, has a manual transmission, (stellar) ceramic brakes, a taut suspension, 190 mph top speed, and is an absolute rocketship from 40-140, the most effective performance range for a track.

- Despite its ragged-edge feel at speed, the V12 Vantage is just as docile as the V8 at low speeds. The steering is nicely weighted, and clutch feel is excellent. The 420 lb/ft of torque are enough that you could drive the car all day long and never exceed 3,000 RPM, keeping the exhaust quiet. But why the hell would you?

- Some people say the V8 Vantage was a tight squeeze for taller drivers, which I agree with, in the case of the Roadster. In coupe form, both V8 and V12 versions of the car have good head and legroom, given the car’s small size. The trunk is usable for a set of golf clubs or a few overnight bags, and there is a parcel shelf behind the seats with a cargo net, which kept my brand new Canon 5D in place during some of my faster canyon runs.

The most common question I got on Facebook when I posted up about driving the V12 Vantage was, “How does it compare to the DBS, or to your Vanquish?”

Well, it’s very, very different. My Vanquish is more beautiful and sounds better (because I’ve had the exhaust baffles wired permanently open), and will be one of those cars that, at least visually, really stands the test of time. In 50 years, people will still be lusting over the Vanquish, and I’m not sure if that will happen with the V12 Vantage. The Vanquish has the crap transmission and brakes, but it’s still a major panty-dropper. The DBS is an amazing car, but it’s a true GT car, like the Vanquish, not an all-out sports car. Its longer wheelbase makes it more stable at high-speed than the Vantage, but it’s also less involving.

The V12 Vantage is certainly the most “driver’s car” of the three, offering better performance, and a much more visceral experience than the Vanquish or DBS could dream of. It’s also the only one you’d want to take to a track. And, lets not forget, it’s faster in every way than the DBS and costs $45,000 less. **

What about the Porsche GT2 or Ferrari 458? Those are faster to 60 and cost the same or less. After punching you in the face, I’d leave you with this. If you care about every tenth of a second, this car is not for you. If you want to impress someone with your $240,000 car, this is probably not for you either, since a DBS or Ferrari will make more of a statement. But if you’ve ever heard a V12 engine at a full clip, and heel-toed your own gears while riding the ragged edge through a banked canyon corner, looked over at the beautiful, non-gold digging girl in the passenger seat, who thinks you’re James Bond, and thought, “yeah, I want that life.”

Start saving, now.

Big ups to Galpin Auto Sports for providing the car for this review.

** UPDATE ** This is what happens when you simply convert the european price to dollars, you get thrown way off. The V12 Vantage is only going to cost $185,000 in the US, making it a full $100k cheaper than the DBS. Why anyone would buy a DBS for $100k more than the V12 Vantage is way beyond me.

** UPDATE 2** By popular demand, I’ve added pictures of Ariana….

The American LeMans Series is probably the closest we can get to European-style LeMans competition here in the states. As such, we like it very, very much. The prototypes are cool and all, but our favorite is the GT2 class, where we can watch Ferrari, Porsche, Ford, and Aston Martin duke it out on the racetrack. When you find yourself with the opportunity to attend a race, you had better bring your cameras, like we did.

A couple weeks ago the American Le Mans Series visited the Mid-Ohio Race Track as part 6 of a 9-race season. As incredible as it was to watch these amazing cars fly around the track, it was even more amazing to watch the race teams intricately and flawlessly prepare these cars for the race. We were there, and brought our high-res cameras along for the ride.

I’ll admit it: this has absolutely nothing to do with cars. I don’t know how, but for about 5 days, an Opossum was living in my house, underneath the furniture. Tom and I found and captured it. Here’s the video.

In addition to the madness that is the Dream Cruise, we learned the story behind the Firebreather, along with the film, Jinn, that it stars in. And, in usual The Smoking Tire fashion, we throw a twist into the mix, when Matt convinces a car fan to get the Firebreather logo as a tattoo. Video after the jump.

For more information about the Firebreather, including full specs, pricing, and customization options, visit the Official Firebreather Site

Parked in Galpin’s “Vault” was the Racing Rapide, fresh off its 24 Hours of Nurburgring stint and still dirty and worn, as it should be. The body is mostly stock Rapide, except for the bitchin foglights, and the interior is fully gutted. It’s basically exactly what you’d expect, but damn cool nonetheless.

The evening’s main event was the US unveiling of the new V12 Vantage, a car built on the Carrol Shelby formula of stuffing the biggest engine you’ve got into the smallest car you’ve got. Take on V8 Vantage, add the V12 from a DBS, a manual transmission, and some carbon fiber and hood louvers, and voila! If you ask us, it sounds like a damn good idea. In person, this car is gorgeous. I don’t know the exact name of the color, but it’s a metallic sky blue with irridescent gold flake. It’s not a fully transforming color like the 1996 “Mystic” Mustang Cobra, but it definitely shifts depending on the direction and amount of sunlight. Galpin owner Beau Boeckmann was so taken back by it, that he said he wanted to paint his SEMA show car this year the same color. The interior is much of the same as the V8 Vantage, as we don’t get the Europe-only carbon backed seats, and its quite comfortable, even at my size. I love the suede-covered wheel and substantial, weighted feel of the 6-speed manual shifter.

Also making appearances at the party were the new Jaguar XKR “XK175″ edition, several Spykers, Lotus’s, DBS’s, a Union Jack Xk8, and a very cool matte white Jaguar XJ with blacked out badging and roof.

The best part of the evening? When the Aston Martin sales manager told me that if I came back the following day, I could have 2 hours of alone time with the V12 Vantage, which I took advantage of this morning. Sadly, we didn’t have quite enough time to film with the car, but expect a written review and more photos tomorrow. A hint: It’s amazing.

I’ve heard of Lexus-powered hot rods before, but never actually seen one. The engine is a fully-built motor based off a GS400, which originally made 300hp. It now makes about 420, and is mated to a Tremec 6-speed transmission. Unlike many other deuce roadsters, the pedals and shifter are set up for actual driving, and the sound of the engine is extremely unique for a hot rod, because of its small displacement. Think late 1950′s Corvette, but with a little extra bass thrown in. We love the headers and carbon-fiber valve covers as well.

Spotted at the Ruby’s Cruise Night in Redondo Beach. Apologies for the camera phone pics, it was an impromptu visit.

To put things in perspective, I drive a bright orange Ford Raptor, also known for being one of the more obnoxious vehicles on the road. My truck is a full 4 inches wider than this F-250, and yet, in this same parking lot, I was able to fit in a single space, no problem.

Bonus douche points for the American Flag nose spoiler. What other country would you be from when parked like that in something that big?

We were first shown a bare powertrain chassis with only seat and steering wheel attached. We were shown how low the internally developed 3.8L, twin-turbo V8 sits in the middle of the car. We were shown the carbon fiber tub, and the fact that the entire car was designed around the perfect driving position. We were shown the lack of swaybars, replaced by an electro-hydraulic damper system that adjusts itself on the fly, and, in “comfort” mode, is deactivated entirely for the smoothest ride possible. We were shown why the exhausts go upwards, through the rear bumper, instead of downwards: it saves 2 kilograms, and doesn’t interrupt airflow over the rear diffuser. We were shown the 7-speed DCT transmission and why it is the smallest and lightest unit available, to keep the center of gravity closest to the middle of the car. And we were told how the McLaren MP4-12C doesn’t share any componentry with any other car on the road. Every piece, down to the last nut and bolt, is pure McLaren.

And then they took the cover off the finished product. Any way you slice it, this car is a looker. I had seen photos before, and thought it resembled a Lamborghini Gallardo, but in person, nothing could be further from the truth. The design is very compact and cohesive, and, stands out from the current generation of exotic sports cars. Just for a second, lets look at the numbers:

Ferrari 458 Italia: 3042 lbs / 560 hp

Lamborghini Gallardo LP570: 2954 lbs / 570 hp

McLaren MP4-12c: 2860 lbs / 592 hp

Though acceleration and top speed numbers haven’t been released yet, the basic power-to-weight numbers don’t lie, and the Mac is set to outpace both of its closest competitors. Because of its carbon tub and extruded aluminum space frame, the car’s actual body doesn’t need to be structural. It’s simply draped over the structure, a fact reinforced the second you open one of the doors. Even though it has a full, luxurious interior, the door weighs next to nothing; as close as I’ve ever felt to a full-on race car in terms of weight. Even mechanical door handles have been left off in order to save as much weight as possible. Simply wave your hand under the MP4′s door scoop, and the door pops open, vertically and forward, using just a touch sensor. The reason for the vertical doors? Only one hinge mechanism is required, as opposed to 2 hinges for a “normal” door. Further weight savings.

Mechically, we’re told that, not only does the MP4-12C’s engine have the highest output in its class, it’s also the cleanest, with lower CO2 emissions than any offering from Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Porsche. Turbo lag, we’re told, is non-existent, a major sticking point with McLaren’s engineers, and that 80% of peak torque is available from just 2,000 RPM, all the way to the 8,500 RPM redline. We hear that development engines for the MP4 have run at up to 10,500 RPM, but redline was lowered a bit to preserve longevity and increase user-friendliness.

What about shift times for the new Dual-Clutch transmission? Louie (who’s last name I regrettably forget), the head of product development, tells us that the bespoke transmission has a pre-load function, much like an automatic camera, and because of this, shift times are reduced to “effectively, zero.” Yes, that’s right. He said zero.

How crazy is McLaren about saving weight? Look at the image above, of the magnesium support structure behind the dash. Originally, the “McLaren” logo went outward. By punching it inward instead, McLaren engineers saved 2.1 grams. The MP4-12C is simply chock full of weight-savings, the kind of obsession you can only find when dealing with a multi-time Formula One Constructors champion. The funny thing is, as soon as you sit in the car, you realize that there are virtually no compromises in luxury. It’s not like a Lotus Elise, where you can immediately see why the car weighs nothing: there’s nothing there. In the MP4-12C, however, everything is there. Navigation system, dual-zone climate control (with the controls nicely integrated into the doors), gauges with LCD displays, comfortable leather seats, high-end audio system, and fit-and-finish that would make an Audi engineer blush. It even has two cupholders and a three-camera video system that can record and play back your Mp4′s adventures on the built in screen.

Even with all the luxury features, it’s clear from the first second you get in, that this Mac is all about driving. There is plenty of legroom and headroom even for a big guy like me, and the steering wheel (a work of carbon fiber art) is damn near perfect. All the gauges are totally visible and the large, central tach is clearly the dominant feature, as it should be. The seats are immensely comfortable. Storage space in the cabin is a bit lacking, but such is the case with mid-engined exotics, and the relatively large nose trunk makes up for it.

My favorite feature on the MP4-12C is definitely the shifter paddles. As they say, the simplest solution is often the best, and McLaren may well have revolutionized the idea of what a shifter paddle needs to be. Instead of having two separate paddles, like all other exotics, both paddles are a single unit, mounted to a rocker switch behind the airbag. This means that you can shift up or down with either hand. For instance, you can shift up by either pulling the right paddle or pushing the left paddle. This is brilliant, because for the first time, you can truly drive a paddle-shift car with one hand, which leads me to my final point:

McLaren’s North American CEO calls the MP4-12C the “and” car. As in, you can drive it to work, and to the store, and at the track, completely without compromise. After seeing, touching, and sitting in this car, I have to agree 100%. And I haven’t even driven it! Based on the interior comfort, technology, fit and finish, and balance between ultimate performance and daily liveability, it seems like the MP4-12C has raised the bar in terms of what a supercar can and should be. I have to say, I’m more excited at the prospect of wheel time with this car than I have been in a really, really long time. So can I please have a set of keys? PLEASE?

For more information, visit www.vf-engineering.com

Tonight, I appeared on G4 TV’s Attack of the Show, which, if you haven’t heard of it, is essentially a show about cool tech gadgets, video games, and the best of the web. I spoke about the Camaro SS, Ferrari 458 Italia, some of our experiences on Bullrun including the ticket tally, and spill some secrets about what’s coming up on the show. I’m even moderately funny.

This past weekend, I participated in an amazing event known as the 48-Hour Film Project, here in Los Angeles. Teams are randomly given a film genre, character name, and line of dialogue, and they have 48 hours to write, shoot, edit, and submit a film. Our genre was “Femme Fatale,” our line of dialogue was “I have no idea,” and our character’s name is Jessica. Our team, Eat at Dino’s Productions, made a 7-minute film about a female assassin who’s last job is to kill her own sister. I can’t post the movie online until after the screening, but it’s safe to say that no other team in this contest will use full-on CGI, explosions, glass shattering, and blood splatters to the extent that we did. There are no fewer than 6 graphic murders in 7 minutes of film.

My role in this film was simply to be a Camera/production assistant, contribute creative ideas when I had them, and provide the grip truck to carry all our gear around in from place to place. I did play a murder victim, strangled while getting into my Corvette, but the shot was eventually cut for technical reasons.

But about the truck’s usefulness as a work truck: it works great. Although the load height is a few inches above a normal F-150′s, it’s not high enough that loading 60-lb cases of camera gear are remotely a problem. When loading gear in and out by yourself, the “man-step” is absolutely invaluable. Make fun all you want, but when you have to climb in and out of a truck 100 times in a day, this is the best option box you could ever check. Here’s all the stuff we were able to fit into the Raptor’s bed:

2 Monitor Cases

10 C-Stands

Rolling Dolly and Hardware

Cooler of Water

10 Hundred-foot extension Cords

5 Directors Chairs

3 Cases of Lights

2 Camera Cases

3 Apple Boxes

1 Prop Crate

4 People

If the stuff wasn’t so clumsy and oddly shaped, I’m sure we could have fit more, but when asked the question, “Can the Raptor be used as a Grip Truck?” The answer is most definitely, Yes.

For those of you interested in seeing our film, Allure, the screening will be held September 24th at Laemmle’s Monica 4-plex, 1332 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA, at 9:30 PM. Would love to see some TST fans out there.

2) Honda really knows how to build a driver interface system. The pedals are perfectly placed, the steering doesn’t have a ton of feel, but is nicely weighted with a great wheel, and the shifter is among the best in the business. All other manufacturers need to take note of how Honda builds a shifter, because it has the perfect throw length, precision, and feel.

3) The CR-Z isn’t fast, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t capable of fun, spirited driving. At around 2,500 pounds, and with 124 hp on tap, the CR-Z takes around 10 seconds to hit 60, and most of its go-juice can be found between 20 and 50 mph.

4) Despite the low, 6,500 RPM redline (by Honda’s standards), the 1.5L engine, lifted out of the Fit, revs smoothly and makes a pleasant sound.

5) Start/Stop technology should be applied to every car. There’s no reason the engine should be running at a red light, and when you put the CR-Z in neutral, with your foot on the brake, the engine shuts off. When you push in the clutch and put it back into first gear, it kicks back on. Of course, there is a quick shudder as the engine fires up, but it’s not even close to annoying. The only downside I can see so far is that the A/C compressor shuts off along with the engine, so rush-hour traffic in a hot city could be a problem. Conversely, the Prius (and all other Toyota hybrids) keeps its A/C running when under battery power.

6) Calling the CR-Z a sports car would be a lie. In fact, calling it a sporty hybrid is even a bit of a stretch. However, it’s a first effort, and a mass-market one at that. Honda should be given credit for trying, and hopefully this technology will evolve to the point where they can produce a real Hybrid sports car in the next ten years.

I would really like the opportunity for a longer-term test of the CR-Z, and we’ll work on that, but my quick spin left me optimistic that the future of Hybrid cars doesn’t necessarily mean we all have to drive beige jellybeans without driver inputs, even if we haven’t made it all the way there just yet.

As a sub-text to this drive, I should tell you how I got behind the wheel in the first place:

A friend of mine, who owns an unnamed tuning shop, is being contracted by Honda to develop a forced-induction system for the CR-Z. I am not at liberty to say anything else about the specifics of this system, but it seems promising, so maybe the future of Hybrid sports cars from Honda isn’t as far off as we think.

[Source: Yo! Venice]

Police cornered him in a parking lot, and he nearly decapitated himself after trying to drive under a chain fence. Amazingly, the first shot from the Taser didn’t stop him. The second shot stopped the kart, but the moron tried to fight the officer, and it was the third shot that got him in cuffs, facing multiple misdemeanor charges. From the looks of the kart, the driver may also have hemorrhoids, which would suck in jail.

[Source: Jalopnik]

As we continue to use the Raptor for its intended purpose, shuttling our crew and all our gear to shoots, it becomes immediately apparent how good this truck is. Even without the Super Crew configuration, we can fit 5 people in the truck in total comfort, while using the bed for the gear. Or, if need be, we can fit all of our gear into the back seat of the truck, if we need to lock it up safely. The seats are supremely comfortable for any distance, and so far, I’ve spent up to 8 hours a day in the drivers seat of the truck. Remember, this is 3,500 miles in 9 weeks, 3 of which the truck didn’t even leave the driveway, while we were on Bullrun.

The multimedia interface is the best in the business, hands down. It has tons of useful features that I actually use, such as the fuel price finder and live weather map, and nothing superfluous that I don’t need. I was never a fan of voice-activated systems before, but a few days with SYNC, especially when paired with the screen, and I do pretty much everything by voice commands now. It can even understand me at freeway speeds with the windows down. The only downside to the system is that twice so far, it has sent me down dirt roads that don’t seem to lead anywhere. Maybe the truck is trying to tell me something.

My Raptor is no pavement queen. Although yes, in daily duty it doesn’t leave the streets of Los Angeles, we made a point to get it dirty early and see what it can really do. So Autoblog.com photographer Drew Phillips, along with 2 friends, accompanied me out to El Mirage for a little shakedown session and photoshoot. Everything the 5.4 Raptor did in the dirt, this truck does better. With 4×4 mode engaged, and the differential locked, we easily hit 95 mph on a dirt/gravel trail, on the first pass. This truck truly is the Nissan GTR of off-roading; it’s almost too easy. Leave the diff locked and go back into 2WD, and drifting corners is an absolute breeze, totally predictable. Even with 4 people in the car, and the air conditioning on, radio blasting, and the outside temperature approaching 105 degrees, I beat the snot out of it on the trails for an hour. It never missed a beat.

One of the problems with the 5.4 Raptor was that, with its relative lack of power, the transmission would often hunt for gears, and kick down a gear at the smallest throttle inputs. It wasn’t a deal breaker, but it wasn’t ideal either. The 6.2L version has much more power, and the transmission has been re-calibrated to allow for some in-gear acceleration before it kicks down. With 411 hp and 440 lb/ft of torque, in daily driving, the truck never has to downshift to keep up. By switching on “Off-Road Mode” in the dirt, the entire powerband of the truck is shifted higher, so instead of making big torque down low like a street truck, it makes big power up high like a race truck. Amazing what software can do with an engine, even a naturally aspirated, relatively low-tech V8.

The Raptor comes pre-wired with four Auxiliary switches on the center console just forward of the shifter, and I wanted to hook up something, anything to one of them, just so I would have something else to play with. So we hardwired the Valentine One to Aux4. It works, and I now feel cool flipping the switch.

People have asked me a few times how I plan to upgrade my Raptor, since I have a bad habit of turning every car I own into a race car. The answer is, I don’t plan on upgrading this truck at all. I really think SVT has done a really good job with it, and with my 100,000 mile Bumper-to-Bumper warranty and 100,000 mile maintenance plan included, I can use the truck for its designed purpose without having to worry about voiding my warranty because I had to have that extra 20 horsepower. It doesn’t need it, and I like being covered. I do plan on driving this truck for 100,000 miles at least, and I already have one obnoxiously loud sports car.

I do have a couple of gripes, albeit minimal ones. Why is the driver’s window the only automatic one? When I put down the windows, it’s almost always the front 2 windows together, and there’s no point in having just one automatic window. For almost $50,000, I expect at least both fronts to be automatic. In fact, if anyone knows of a software upgrade for this, please let me know. Also, because both Tom and I drive the car regularly, and he’s much smaller than I am, I wish the driver’s seat had a memory function. It’s full power, of course, but considering how different our settings are it would be a nice treat to not have to reset everything all the time. ** I’m an ass. It does have seat memory, and I’m just a dumbass for not seeing the buttons. Thanks, Jamal. ** Of course, the fuel economy is positively terrible. I’m not at all surprised by this, and if you care about that sort of thing, you shouldn’t be buying a Raptor anyway, but it’s noticeably worse than the 5.4 model. Over those 3,500 miles, I’m averaging 11.6 mpg. For reference, my old H1 Hummer would get 13 (on diesel). Nevertheless, the tank is at least big enough that we can go 340 miles per tank on the highway.

Speaking of highway driving, when you’re on the freeway, you have to pay constant attention to your speedometer. Because of the smooth Fox suspension and tall ride height, you have no clue how fast you’re going. 30 mph feels like being parked, and 85 mph feels like 50. I have accidentally crept up to the truck’s 100 mph limiter without even realizing it, and gotten road rage for people driving slowly in front of me, only to look down and realize they are going 90, and so was I. Fortunately, the Raptor’s brakes are much better than you’d expect from a vehicle this size, and panic stops aren’t a problem at all. Neither is handling, surprisingly, and our friend Jamal, who runs shit over at SVT, tells me the Raptor will handle 0.85G on the skidpad. Impressive numbers for a truck with 35″ off-road tires, and a number I completely believe.

What’s interesting about the Raptor is that, unlike a Hummer, everyone loves it. When I owned my H1, the only vehicle out there that is really comparable to a Raptor in terms of off-road performance, people hated it. They kicked it, spit on it, keyed it, left me angry notes when I would park it places, and generally glare at me for being a wasteful asshole. The Raptor, on the other hand, is close enough to a regular F-150 that most “normal” people don’t notice it, and people who do know what it is, positively love it. Even though the fuel economy is awful, and it’s painted bright orange, it doesn’t carry the Hummer stigma, which is a huge bonus.

I’m going to keep this series going as we continue to go on adventures with my Raptor, and until then, enjoy these amazing photographs of my truck taken by Drew Phillips of Autoblog.

Is there something specific you want to know about the Raptor 6.2L? Leave a comment and we’ll answer your questions.

Skip Barber Racing School wants to change that a little bit. We know $295,000 is a ton of money, more than enough to buy almost any brand new exotic on the market today, but for a lifetime of all-inclusive racing, it sounds like a bargain. With their new Fast Pass system, Skip Barber is offering a lifetime of lapping days, driving schools, and spec-racing events for one fixed price. With the Fast Pass, members can jump in any driving school, race, or lapping day, anywhere in the country, so long as the event isn’t totally filled up with cash customers (good idea if you ask us). Combine that with the use of their vehicles, instructors, variety of tracks, and not having to pay for gas or maintenance on cars, it actually sounds like a really good deal.

Depending on the response and demand for the program, spots may become limited, so if you’ve got the burning desire to go racing and $300k burning a hole in your pocket, head over to SkipBarber.com and sign on up. If you’re interested but don’t have quite that much to spend, lower level, more limited Fast Passes are available for $75k and $100k respectively.

[Source: Skip Barber]

The Smoking Tire takes Ferrari’s newest supercar to an appropriately exotic location for a thorough road test. Somewhere home to celebrities, billionaires, and guidos. Somewhere like New Jersey. Host Matt Farah wrings the 458 Italia out on New Jersey’s beautiful roads to find out if it is truly the best Ferrari yet.

*If we had realized this past Sunday’s episode of Top Gear would have been the end of the season, we would have rushed this video out, just to beat Top Gear to it. If you think I’m ripping off Clarkson, remember we filmed this a month ago, before anyone had seen Top Gear. Video after the jump.

The Infiniti “M” series, now into its third generation, has had a rough run so far. The first-generation car was closely based on the JDM Nissan Gloria, so much so, that the design was considered outdated by the time it hit US shores. It was considered a sales flop, which is sad because it’s actually quite a good car. The second-generation M35/45 sold much better, but always seemed to play tag-along with the BMW 5-series, Lexus GS, and Mercedes E-Class in sales, despite winning several comparison tests.

Now, we’re testing the third-generation car, and wow, is this something new and improved. But is it new and improved enough to take down the German heavy hitters in the mid-large segment? Hit the jump to find out.

The beautifully sculpted curves are as anti-Mercedes as we’ve seen recently, and the design is quintessentially Japanese luxury. We’ll let the photos do the talking when it comes to exterior, except to say that the car was clearly designed with the optional 20” wheels in mind, which our car didn’t have; the M37 is all about what’s going on inside.

The interior is a model of perfect fit and finish, and honestly feels worth every penny of our test car’s $59,460 asking price. Although the center stack requires some getting used to, as it contains about 30 buttons too many, the seats, workmanship on the doors, wood and aluminum trim, dash, and gauges are damn near perfect. Its not a Bentley, but at this price, you’d be hard pressed to find better build quality. The best part is, most of the good stuff can be had for the $46,250 base price, plus the $3,800 Deluxe Touring Package. Our test vehicle also came with the $3,000 Technology Package, which we would pass on, since it mostly comes with drivers aids that people who can actually drive properly don’t need.

Speaking of driving, the M37 makes a fine daily driver, and even a good canyon carver. Though it lacks the low-end thrust of the optional 5.6L V8, the 330 hp, 3.7L V6 is more than enough power for most any driver, and when mated to the 7-speed transmission, will yank the car to sixty in the mid-five second range. Not bad for the “base” engine. The 7-speed does hunt for gears sometimes, a downside of having one cog too many, but it returns up to 26 mpg in freeway driving, so for many, the compromise is worth it.

One of our favorite features? Forest Air, which basically oscillates the air in the cabin through the vents to give an impression of a natural breeze. It sounds cheesy, but in practice, is a very neat trick that we love. Another is the slick integration of the tweeters into the front seats, a nice, functional touch.

The $3,350 Premium Package is also worth the money, as it adds in the Navigation system, 9.3GB hard drive, and our other favorite feature, heated/cooled seats. I don’t know what it is about cooled seats, but we just love them on a hot day.

The Infiniti M37 has so much available technology that on a price sheet, it far outclasses the competition. And if you don’t need it all, the M37 has a relatively low price of entry compared to Ze Germans.

We wished we could have had some more time to really explore what the Infiniti M37 can do, butwe will be testing the M56 soon, and we can really do a thorough review (and possibly even a drag race, we hear it’s a rocket). But we do know one thing: Infiniti has really come into its own, and the new M-class is destined to be a big hit. Now that Acura’s styling is out to lunch, Infiniti is poised to take its position on the podium as the best value in luxury motoring today.

There’s something about convertibles that make people feel glamorous, exclusive and special.

I don’t get it.

My feelings on Volvo and convertibles are similar: strong, passionate indifference. The term”open air motoring” makes me think of an old British man trundling down a road in the cold fog on wheels made of wood. There are exceptions of course, but for the cars with a roof made of metal.

It’s the same for Volvo. My family has owned 3, and while the 2 wagons (a ’91 940 and a 2008 V50) have provided perfectly acceptable transportation, that’s all they provided. The only one that makes me feel anything is my dad’s 1972 P1800ES, and that’s because every time you climb in you get to play “What part will stop working today?”

But when I picked up a 2011 Volvo C70 from Matt’s house it was clear Volvo was hell-bent on changing both of my preconceptions.

As a hard-top convertible it was offering the best of both worlds. Volvos were to cars what the Scranton Office of Dunder Mifflin is to the Empire State building and only one attracts tourists.  That’s starting to change.

Re-designed for 2011 and dressed in Flamenco Red with simple but handsome 5 spoke wheels, it’s a pretty good looking coupe. The nose has been upgraded with more aggressive headlights, helping distinguish this car from the front of the S40, V50 and C30 (A.K.A. cheaper models).

The new headlights bulge and curve back along the fender, like an angry over-caffeinated Camry. It’s no Alfa, but it’s an improvement from the 2010 nonetheless. Looking at those is actually a homeopathic remedy for insomnia. It doesn’t just make the C70 look sportier, it looks more expensive, and that’s never a bad thing. (Although the new badge seems to have been a design collaboration between Lil’ Jon and Austin Powers.

The competition in this market primarily comes from BMW and Infiniti, and with the new design the C70 holds its own. I think the design is more well-rounded than the BMW, and it doesn’t lose anything when the top is down either. Some convertibles only look good with the top down (or up), but I found the Volvo to be equally appealing roof up or down. After class one night I asked a few girls (late 20′s, early 30′s) and they all liked it, calling it cool but mature. “It’s a good-looking car and you know the owner of it isn’t trying too hard. It’s nice.”

Powering the C70 is a brilliant 2.5 liter inline 5 cylinder turbo. I love this engine. It only makes 227hp, but the 236ft lbs of torque comes on at only 1,500 RPM (read:torque steer) so from a stop this mature-mobile moves. It yanks you forward with a deep thrum and the long gears of the 5 speed automatic make it a really practical power-train for both city and highway use, while providing us with a combined 26mpg. The thrust slows eventually, but the owners of this car aren’t the kind to complain about a power-band that falls off at 90mph, and triple-digit speeds are still plenty accessible.

Inside is the same story as the exterior: hardly flashy but very nice nonetheless. One thing Volvo does well is functionality, so all the buttons are clearly marked and where you’d expect. The different textures and colors look good next to one another and there’s plenty of stowage.

It’s also filled with freebies. Volvo said that although the 2011 is only $40 more than the outgoing model, it has $4000 in upgrades. Among the standard features are leather, SAT radio, 8 way automatic seats and BlueTooth compatibility.

Rear seat room is good, as long as you’re not sitting behind Matt and with the top up the trunk is on par with many sedans, making it an all around good traveler. Just don’t expect to do a sun-filled road trip, because although the Volvo’s top-down trunk space beats the fanny-pack sized area of the G37, it’s still on par with the carry-on space you get on a plane.

Our car also had Volvo’s BLIS (BLind spot Information System), which uses sensors mounted under the side mirrors to alert you when a car is in your blind spot. It works fine, but I wish it alerted you a little earlier. My concern is people will assume that unless the warning light is illuminated they’re free to change lanes, and while you wouldn’t hit the car next to you, you’d come close to polishing their license plate. It’s not a substitute for driver awareness.

As nicely appointed as it is, there’s room to improve.  While those nice complimentary leather seats were comfortable, don’t depend on them keeping you in place, my toilet has more lateral support. Some of the plastic look dated and cheap, the gauges get lost in a sea of black plastic, and the screen in the center stack is tiny. Size matters here because this screen provides you with all the information from the phone, HVAC, stereo and car settings and due to it’s TI-82 sized display it can only show one thing at a time. That won’t be an issue when the top is down though, because the glare makes it hard to ready anyway.

But the winner is still the SAT/NAV, i.e. total garbage. You can only navigate it with a remote, slowing the use of the already over-complicated system further. And in a car made by people so focused on safety they probably wear life jackets on a Slip-and-Slide, I can’t think of anything more accident prone than giving people a remote to look for as they get lost.

Volvo said they essentially added $4000 of upgrades for free, so the cost-cutting had to happen somewhere. For example the old center stack was made from solid aluminum, but has been replaced with a piece of plastic covered by some shiny plastic. It looks good new, but I doubt it will hold up over time.

This is probably because the topic of lateral G’s falls far down the list of a Volvo production meeting. Although the suspension is tight and body roll isn’t atrocious, it’s turn-in leaves a lot to be desired. You know when the UPS man knocks on your door at 8am and you get up, get dressed, and stumble to the door? That’s the C70. You ask it to turn now, but it needs a minute.

You’d think that would mean it drives like a boat floating on pudding, but it doesn’t. It’s a strange no man’s land. The firm springs that keep it from wallowing around corners mean every ridge, bump and crack is sent through the chassis, gently rattling my grey matter. It wasn’t loud or jarring, but every change in pavement was felt and announced with a very muffled but noticeable sound. Imagine your neighbor has a garage band, but they “sound proof” the garage with egg cartons. You don’t hear each note clearly, but you know when they play.

There’s a simple way to get rid of those muffled screams from the chassis though; put the top down and let the noise escape. Raising and lowering the top in the C70 is pretty simple: put the car in park, depress the brake and push down a little plastic button. 29.4 riveting seconds later and the clam-shell trunk closes with a *whump*, the windows roll themselves up, and you’re done. In my 3 days with the car I noticed only 1 real annoyance: You can’t raise or lower the top while in Drive.

It doesn’t matter if you’re going 2mph and surrounded by EMTs, it won’t let you. I found this very annoying one day after putting the top down and getting stuck in traffic on the 405. Knowing it takes a full 30 seconds to raise the top, I was forced to sweat it out for an hour. Volvo would say it’s for safety reasons, but I  point to that stupid NAV remote and ask that they fix this.

Once it’s all said and done though, it’s almost as comfortable as when the roof is in place. The cabin is relatively wind-free up to about 75mph, and the stereo (USB and aux. jack come standard) overcame road and traffic noise with clarity and ease. Apparently Volvo built its heater system out of wind-tunnel fans and molten lava, so you could drive with the top down all year, even in Minnesota. Just as it does aesthetically-save for cargo space-the car loses nothing when the top is stowed.

The G37 and 328i, both start at $45k. From a performance standpoint the G37 has the better drive-train, and the Bimmer handles better, but for a price. A 328i with just BlueTooth, heated seats and NAV will set you back 50 grand, and that’s with ugly wheels, leatherette seats and a standard stereo. Get drawn into all the pretty option boxes and you can easily spend $60,000. It might rive better, but it’s not as pretty as the coupe or (for the money) as well-equipped as the Volvo.

Climbing in for my last drive I paused to consider whether I should drive with the top up or down. And that’s the key. They give you options. Sure it’s not going to handle as well as a true coupe, but most people don’t care about lateral grip so they basically get two cars in one.  And unlike soft-tops (which generally look terrible with their tops up) you don’t have to compromise on noise, looks, safety or security.

Volvo’s best cars, like the S60R, are like B+ students, always somewhere in the middle but nonetheless very good. And just because a B+ student doesn’t command the highest salary, doesn’t mean they’re not capable of some very good work.

For what it is, the 2011  C70 is fine. It’s MSRP is $39,950, and it comes with more features than it’s competitors from BMW or Infiniti. Our car had the Dynamic Package, Multimedia Package and Convenience Package, raising it’s price to $46,650.  It’s not super-fast, and it doesn’t handle like sports car. It’s not supposed to. It’s a Volvo.

But it’s also… a Volvo. That means it comes with a stigma; it’s boring and thus, you’re boring. That’d be ok if we were talking about simply “a car” but we’re not. We’re talking about a convertible, and those are supposed to be exciting. Without that, what’s the point? The people shopping for convertibles are looking for something specific, and are willing to pay for it. Convertible people buy fun cars, Volvo people buy the C70.

Comrie-Picard, known simply as ACP by, well, pretty much everyone, was looking great, hustling his Evo IX around the short course and scaring the crap out of any journalist willing to hop in the passenger seat.

Mega-Rally-Gallery after the jump!

Supercar Sunday mega-gallery after the jump.

Ever wish you could go back to 1994 and buy a like new Ford Mustang Cobra?  (No? Me either. – ed) Though this may not be a dream for a lot of people, the Mustang is our eBay find of the week.  What evidently makes this particular Mustang worth its asking price of $39,900, is the fact that it was an Official PPG Cart Series Pace Car.  It has just 3,800 miles and it is finished in an umm… interesting shade of sea foam green.  This body style isn’t the most sought after today, but you have to remember that this was the first year for replacing the oh so 80s fox body style.  In 1994, there were only 1,000 Cobra Convertibles, and all were finished in red.  This car was provided directly from the factory for PPG to produce a limited edition Cart Series Pace Car.  If you were wondering what the powertrain in this beast is, it is of course the five-oooh (well 4.9).  In this application, it has 240-hp and a 5-speed manual.  0-60 is a blazing 6.9 seconds and the quarter mile is just over 15 seconds.  It’s crazy to think that currently, even the V-6 mustang has more power than this top of the line mustang, from just over 15 years ago.  This is a true testament to how much automotive engineering has improves over a few years.

When you take a look at the option list for the standard 1994 Convertible Cobra, you will also appreciate how nice cars are today.  Some of the options were: air conditioning, illuminated entry, cruise control, CD player, rear window defroster, and remote keyless entry.  These are all standard features a majority of the cheapest cars available today.

When it’s all said and done, the best thing about this car is how much this color and body combo would stand out on the road.  It’s also safe to bet that this Mustang sounds like a proper V-8 Mustang and it should hold it’s value, due to the rarity.  This could be one of those cars that you could see on Barret-Jackson in 10-20 years and say, wow, I could have bought that car for under 40 grand back in the day.

[Source: Ebay]

Well, not only does he have a great career going for him, he’s looking to get rid of an interesting car. I wouldn’t have pegged Peter North as a Nissan guy, (although I’ve never seen him anywhere near a car, as he’s generally within firing range of 2-10 girls) but he’s got a sweet, STILLEN modified 300ZX that’s got about 36 hours left on Ebay. We know how cool STILLEN’s cars are, and this one’s got 518 horsepower at the wheels, a big number even today. At  time of this writing, the bidding’s only up to $9800. I’d toss an even $10k if it came with a really, really good detail. Who knows what that leather’s been covered in?

[Source: Ebay]