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.
We Find a Possum in TST Headquarters
Sunday, August 29th, 2010Video: The Woodward Dream Cruise and the Firebreather
Friday, August 27th, 2010
The Woodward Dream Cruise, now in its 16th year, is the largest single-day car show in the US. Literally millions of people, and tens of thousands of cars gather on Woodward Avenue and cruise up and down the 8 mile stretch of road for hours upon hours. Spectators can pick a spot along Woodward and just watch the whole show cruise on by, or hop in their rides and be a part of it. Of course, The Smoking Tire isn’t the type to sit on the sidelines, so we got ourselves an ass-kicking piece of Detroit iron, the Firebreather, and hit the road.
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.
Video: Best of the 2010 Bullrun Rally! – All the Good Stuff
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
As most of you know, we recently competed in the 2010 Bullrun Rally from New York to Las Vegas. We drove a brand new 2011 Shelby GT500 Convertible, and we shot way more video than we had available air time. There was so much great footage that we just couldn’t use, that we’ve decided to make just one more video, with all the best pull-overs, personalities, and driving footage from the 2010 Bullrun Rally. (more…)
VF Engineering Supercharged Audi R8
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
VF Engineering knows power. By strapping superchargers on everything from Porsche 911′s to BMW M3′s, they know how to give an otherwise stock car a major power increase without compromising any other part of the car. We’ve sampled all their Supercharger packages at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, and we filmed mini-segments with each of them. This is the 560 horsepower, Supercharged Audi R8 4.2. Video below.
The Smoking Tire Featured on G4′s Attack of the Show!
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010Tonight, 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.
2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS Review
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
After we posted our 2011 Mustang GT review and the subsequent Mustang GT vs. Camaro SS Drag Race video, we got lots of comments that the race was unfair, or that we drove the wrong Camaro. You see, that particular Camaro was an automatic, which means that instead of the 426 horsepower LS3 engine underhood, it only had a 400 horsepower. This is neither our fault nor Ford’s, however in the interest of satisfying our viewers, we took a 2010 Camaro SS, this time with a stick, to the track. We ran some hot laps to find out if these Chevy fanboys are on to something, or if the Camaro is all style and no substance. Of course, we also ran some hot laps to see if the Camaro’s 226 horsepower advantage is enough to take our Time Attack crown from the current leader, the 2010 Volkswagen GTI. Video review after the jump. (more…)
Video: Ferrari 458 Italia Review
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
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.
Video: Ken Block, Tanner Foust, and Brian Deegan Practicing for X-Games Rally
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
On Wednesday, we were fortunate enough to head down to the Metal Mulisha compound in Temecula, CA to watch Team Ford Rally practice for this weekend’s X-Games competition. This place is literally a car/bike/toy guy’s wonderland, with acres and acres of dirt, foam pits, garages, and jumps. It’s literally perfect. Ken Block, Tanner Foust, and Brian Deegan hustled the shit out of their Ford Fiesta rally cars around Deegan’s custom rally course, and we were there to catch all the action. Hint: They all looked fast. Check out the video after the jump.
Bullrun 2010: Video Recap – All 7 Videos In One Place
Monday, July 19th, 2010
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past week, The Smoking Tire just finished the Bullrun Rally as Team Black Magic. The Bullrun is a cross-country checkpoint-style navigational rally with 50 other cars, some exotics, some not, and full of great personalities. We shot, edited, and uploaded a video every day from the road, documenting all our adventures and the beautiful places we’ve seen. We put nearly 6,000 miles on our 2011 Shelby GT500 Convertible, and other than a few minor tire issues, the Shelby performed admirably. Hit the jump to watch all 7 of our videos from the road in once place, and be sure to check out my photos and written blog entries at Black Magic Shine.
2010 Bullrun Rally: Day 7 – The End
Sunday, July 18th, 2010Team Black Magic wakes up in the firey heat of Scottsdale to discover someone played a prank on their car…. We visit the Taser factory to watch Flag Girl Karen get shocked, we have a little run-in with the cops, and we have the most unique Bullrun finish of the year.
