When I set out to write this article, my main focus was to offer a comparison between Toyota’s legendary AE86 and Mazda’s game changing Roadster. However, the more I tried to pinpoint just why these lightweight FRs are so great, the more I realized why today’s successors just aren’t. Keep reading my fellow ADDers, you will enjoy the article, or your money back!
At 9 P.M. the two girls in my back seat were still screaming and I couldn’t help but crack a smile. No fear, you Dexter-obsessed weirdos, they were having fun. With second gear about to explode, I carved the black e34 M5 into the wide, right-sweeping corner, touched the brakes, and guided it around the smooth ribbon of forest asphalt. The tach read seven grand, and I shifted to third gear. The girls were still giggling and hollering in the gray bucket seats behind me. Who knows, they may have been tickling each other in between make out sessions (pervs) but my peripheral-view guess showed otherwise. It’s almost twenty years after e34 M5 production ended, but it’s still sexy and driving strong. Plus the girls said it was “bad-ass” that I drove a stick. God damn, girls are getting easy to impress.
Before installing any 600hp supercar drivetrain into your Saab 9-3, it’s important to take it for a 5 mile test drive. If it doesn’t have a body, just spin the wheels in your lot for an equivalent distance. Make the jump for the story on the coolest super vagen ever.
A few months ago my friend Andrew-fellow car nut and current Nissan salesman-called me up and said, “Have you driven a Juke yet? It’s pretty awesome” I replied “no”, questioned his mental health, vision and taste and we moved along. Then Matt asked me to take one for a few days, seconding Andrew’s thoughts on the car. Like Andy Dick in Tijuana, I had to see if this donkey show was all it’s cracked up to be. Turns out Andrew isn’t crazy after all. Make the jump for a full review.
We know the future of our beloved cars has gotten brighter, thanks cars like the 918 Spyder Concept, Fisker Karma and Tesla Roadster. That’s great news for commuting adults, but like Michael Jackson, it’s important we ask, “what about the kids?” That’s where George Fortin, and his home-built electric go-kart come into play. The guys at Translogic paid him a visit, to see how a little ingenuity and hard work might light a little fire under the butt of the OEMs. Make the jump to see this brilliant and awesome Power Wheels + Four Loko do it’s thing.
The fear of the “Big 3′s” financial collapse in 2009 was certainly no fun for anyone. For years they had watched imported cars get better looking and more efficient, while their prices remained competitive. But GM continued building redundant models and 4×4 SUVs the size od Delaware; like standing on a frozen lake, watching the ice get thinner yet refusing to move. Then the ice broke, and after Uncle Sam threw them a life raft made of money, Detroit was forced to take a look in the mirror.
Since then Detroit has been doing pretty good. The Malibu was a big hit, and Ford (who never took any $) continues to produce cars that are inspired by the future, rather than clinging only to the past (Mustang aside).
Since one good turn deserves another, Chevy has decided it’s time to take another step forward. That doesn’t mean using hydrogen cells or cars powered by algae, or discarded tanning spray. It means diesel. Chevy is rumored to be building a Chevy Cruze diesel, slated to be done in 2013. It’s even rumored they’re testing a few clattering Cruzes around Detroit right now.
In 1992 Nintendo released a game called Super Mario Kart. It would go on to be accountable for 68% of the world’s procrastinating, 15% of drunken bets made in freshman dorms and even Bill Gates admitted it was really really fun. 2 Years ago a Frenchman (or as we call him, Freedom-man) named Remi Gaillard posted a video on youtube of him playing Mario Kart, real-streets in a shifter-kart style. He took his kart onto the streets of Paris, and the video now has over 35,000,000 views.
Four days ago Remi uploaded a new video, no doubt in an effort to give men something to smile about amidst the stress-test that is Valentine’s day. Remi is back, with his kart, bananas and awesome fake mustache. Of course, like any good video game sequel, there had to be some updates and changes to the original. So Remi added a shopping mall level. I hope the next version has Bowser in it.
There a lot of problems that can be fixed with the word, “more.” Hungry? Eat more food. Tired? Get more sleep. Blue Oyster Cult recording? More cowbell. But can the same be said for the Chevy Camaro with a healthy extra serving of horsepower? The 2012 Camaro ZL1 aims to find out.
As many of you may or may not know, Matt is about to embark on a 5 week road trip called the Focus Rally. I know, we all miss him. His laugh, his jokes, his musk… While that means TST videos will be on hold, you can still get plenty of Matt over at the Focus Rally website, where they’ll be streaming videos daily.
Before he left, he was contacted by a reporter from the World Famous KROQ. They wanted to talk to him about the SPEED pilot, and find what the direction is, what it means, and how it all came to be. So while we eagerly wait for Matt’s triumphant return, and more of the videos we love to watch (and make), check out his interview with KROQ.
Let the record show this review is written by me, Zack Klapman, and NOT Matt Farah. It may seem silly to have a review on Matt’s site for a show he’s on. Some people might assume it will be positive because he’s paying me to plug his new venture. Trust me and my Wells Fargo bank account balance, he’s not. I’m not doing this to kiss his ass, get a date with his sister, a ride in his Vette or the seemingly unobtainable accolade of shaving his scrotum (the car blogger equivalent of being in Bill Gates’ will). None of those things are happening.
The show is going to be good. Very good. There’s going to be car porn in it, so that means that every fan of this site and anyone with some amount of gas in their DNA will watch it. I can’t tell you what I saw, but when the clip ended I was pissed, because it was so good and exciting I wanted to see more. There’s going to be fast cars, exotics, junkers, economy cars, everything. It’s visually on par with anything out there.
Ok, so now we’ve hooked the the car geek audience. Since car nerds like us are as easy to please as the first time a 15 year old boy gets to put his Hogwart wand in a wizard’s sleeve I want to spend most of this review on what makes people lift Top Gear UK onto Everest but waffle over TGA; chemistry.
Not lets-put-drano-in-a-glass-with-those-bath-salts-and-drink-it chemistry. I’m talking about the hosts. Adam, Matt, John and Dan just have it. They’re funny, quick-witted, they follow each other’s lead, they have comedic timing, and whether they’re in agreement or not watching them talk is captivating. For example, at a field taping last week, Matt and Adam were discussing two cars. The banter between them was so good, so funny, and such a perfect game of verbal tennis that halfway through I asked a producer, “Did they write this whole segment?”
No they did not. Off the cuff. Out of nowhere. Improv. And it wasn’t just good the way Discovery probably films a speckled tree frog breathing for 20 seconds and says “Ok! We got it. Let’s move on.” It was bent over, bite-your-hand-because-they’re filming outright hilarious. I have probably watched and listened to thousands of hours of stand-up comedy in my life. I watch TV and movies with a different intent than the normal person. I’m constantly judging the writing and jokes of anything that comes through my ears. Basically, I’m kind of snob. So if the jokes sucked, or were old or too simple or too obvious, I wouldn’t be saying this. These weren’t cheesy Motor Week jokes that are safe for children 2 and up. It’s Adam being Adam, Matt being Matt, guys being unscripted, un-censored guys. They are funny.
And it’s not just Matt and Adam. Dan Neil, as proper/educated/professional/orthodontist-looking he may be, he’s great to watch. He doesn’t pile on the jokes with a snow-blower like Adam, but rather inserts moments of smart, snarky levity in between knowledgeable expositions that have everyone leaning in. I watch him as if if I look hard enough and listen intently enough, I will possess his power of knowledge. He’s an award winning writer, but he knows how to formulate and condense thoughts in his mind at lightening speed, and deliver them in a manner that is anything but dry. He is the yin to Matt and Adam’s sarcastic, shit-talking, comically-infused but still informative yang.
Then there’s John Salley. When I learned he was on the cast, my eyebrows furrowed. I said, “Does he know anything about cars?” The response was, “No, not really.” “Hm. So why is he on the show?” I thought the panel needed to be saturated with knowledge, like a group of automotive Wikipedia-i. I was wrong, he’s great. He may not know cars, but he adds a balance to the show you don’t think you need but quickly realize is essential. He’s a Garmin GPS; you got along fine without one for years, but now that you see it you know it’s essential.
John Salley is funny, he’s sharp, and even though he’s often the target of Carolla’s scathing wit, he adds something to the show I didn’t think it needed; normalcy. If you don’t click your mouse button to Zonda renderings, you can look at John having fun, and see that this show isn’t only for guys with SCCA Championship trophies.
The show will really be for everyone. I’ve seen some of the car footage, and it looks great. It will keep all of us youtube-drift-footage hunters happy. And after attending the studio taping yesterday, I know it will have mass appeal. Adam’s jokes are just common analogies, and in this arena they’re just fed by car topics. But as Matt has said, he’s king of tangents. So if they’re discussing cylinder heads from 1992 Le Baron (they didn’t) and you don’t know what that means, wait 5 seconds. The punchline will be as close to the topic as Matt is to buying a smart car.
What this all adds up to is a connection and repoire that other TV shows will envy. All the guys work great together. Hour after hour went by yesterday with the audience, crew, and even security guards busting up in raucous laughter. No one got bored, no one got tired, and everyone left charged up and excited, wanting to see more. “The Car Show” will not be Top Gear, and it’s not trying to be. In fact, it’s not trying to be anything. What it is is a bunch of smart, clever, really funny guys who know cars. You know how you and your friends sit for hours talking about new models, discontinued loves or the next hyper-car from Tanzania? This is that. It’s like a porno with dialogue by Louis CK. I think it’s going to be great, and I can’t wait til everyone else gets to see it. I love Top Gear, but it never made me laugh like The Car Show.
-Zack K
LP670-SV. Raw. Pure. Perfection.
YouTube / Facebook / Jason Thorgalsen Photography
