Welcome to The Smoking Tire. Kick ass automotive videos and more.

Presenting: The Slowest Porsche in the World

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Speed, lots of power and…. GREEN? The hottest cars on the market today push the envelope when it comes to performance, fuel economy, technology. With cars like the Porsche 918 Spyder looming on the horizon, promising rediculous performance figures (198 MPH, 0-60 in 3.2 seconds, 718 HP, all while giving us 78 MPG), the future of cars truly lies in the maximization of a cars efficiency as opposed to the old school approach of building a strong chassis, and then simply throwing power at it until it goes like hell. As evidenced by the 918 Spyder, along with the new GT3 R Hybrid and Cayenne Hybrid, Porsche has spearheaded the movement they like to call “Intelligent Performance”. There is no doubt that these new hybrid cars give us both performance and efficiency. But what if you can’t wait for a Hybrid Porsche and have a budget that is much, much smaller than the $800,000+ estimated price of the 918 Spyder, or even the Cayenne Hybrid’s $67,700? How about if all you can afford is a bicycle but you want the looks of a GT3 RS? Well, I’ve got the solution for you: The Ferdinand GT3 RS

Hit the jump for the build gallery and more information…

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Exclusive Mega-Gallery: The Worst Car Show In History

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Oh yeah, he’s sponsored by Mountain Dew for sure.

With a title like “The Worst Car Show in History,” this can’t be any ordinary posting. What do all the photos in this amazing gallery have in common? They were all taken at a single car show. That’s right, all the suck in these pictures can be found at a single car show. What can you expect in this amazing gallery?

Bondo? Check

Duct tape holding on body kits? Check

Heinous paint jobs with lots of overspray? Check

Stock econoboxes parked among showcars? Check

Dangerous wiring jobs, horrid interior treatments, extraneous lighting? Check, Check, and Check.

Lamborghini doors on a Toyota with side view mirrors broken off? Oh yeah.

Hit the jump for the Carslile 2010 Mega-Gallery of suck.

Thanks, Vinny for the tip!

Source: [Zilvia.net user CTNewman]

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Commitment or Crazy

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Oakland Raiders fans have the reputation of being…crazy. They’re known for wearing black on black on black, with spiked shoulder pads and crazy masks. It’s like a bad acid trip, as if GWAR’s costume designer got hired by KISS. Apparently that dedication is also shared by the players.

JaMarcus Russell was drafted by the Raiders in 2007, but spent most of his time negotiating his contract ($68 million) and training. His coaches may disagree, but it’s hard to question a guy’s dedication to the team if he’s driving a giant team helmet around. If you’re worth $68M, pass up rocking the usual array of Hummers, Mercedes and Bentleys and instead drive a VW beetle that looks like it should be towing a grill to a tail gate in the parking lot, you love your team. Bets on the top speed? I bet 48mph.

How To Wash And Detail Your Car – Part 2/2

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

The Smoking Tire demonstrates how to properly wash and detail your car without accidentally ruining your paint. Part 2/2

Can You Improve Your Old Car’s Performance With a Factory Tune? – Part 3/3

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

The Smoking Tire heads back to the race track and dyno to find out what kind of performance gains could be measured from our 166,000 mile VW Jetta.

Can You Improve Your Old Car’s Performance With a Factory Tune? Part 2/3

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

The Smoking Tire gets down and dirty on their Jetta Project Car, trying to improve the car’s performance with just a factory service, performed at home by Matt Farah, a first time mechanic.

Can You Improve Your Old Car’s Performance With a Factory Tune? Part 1/3

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

After a few months of playing about, The Smoking Tire decides to get all scientific on our good buddy Jason Thorgalsen’s 2001 Volkswagen Jetta VR6. The Jetta hasn’t been serviced in the last 40,000 of it’s total 166,000 miles, and surely some power has been lost during that time. But how much power exactly? And can that power be recovered simply by performing a routine service on the car? I guess we will see.