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Totally Realistic Options List on Tony Stark’s Acura NSX

Friday, January 27th, 2012

by Zack K

Since the Acura NSX made so many people swoon at the NAIAS, I thought it was a good time to bust out this funny spec sheet of Tony Stark’s NSX from The Avengers. Of course it’s all fictional, but I love the amount of cool, “techy” words they mix together. It’s almost like a mad-lib; This hyper _____ wheel prevents neutron_____ and ____ attacks while modulating modulators. My favorite is the wheels made from, “particle matter technology.” Isn’t everything made with particle matter technology? Make the jump for the build sheet. Oh, price is about $10M. But the taxes are surprisingly cheap.

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27.01.2012 News, Photos No Comments

Honda CEO and I Disagree on the Cosstour (I hope he doesn’t kill me)

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

 

Before we begin, I would like to state that I like Honda. I owned one. When I moved to LA I had no money no friends no job so alone I needed to sell my STI and get cheap transport that was reliable and fuel efficient. Answer: Civic. Bought one, did the job. Honda makes reliable, cheap transportation, a formula that-a few hiccups aside- has been working for decades. They are the OG to the young thugs that are KIA and Hyundai. That said…

 

I do not understand the Crosstour. I don’t know why it exists.  Yes it’s for a niche market. Everyone is trying to build something for a potential high-maintenance discerning customer that may or may not exist. We treat everyone like they’re all hampered by a case of shopping OCD. “Now make sure the cardboard of my to-go cup is vertical, not horizontal.”  These days every company of every industry is trying to cater to a more specifically needy buyer. iPods in every damn color an acid trip can provide. Drinks sized from suppository shots to 72oz “to go” cups. The only place you go with those is to your sadness couch from your humiliation Rascal. Read on.. (more…)

08.12.2011 Editorials, Photos 2 Comments

Review: Honda CR-Z EX

Friday, October 14th, 2011


At times I am a walking contradiction. I support the EPA and Sierra Club but if you hand me a gun and 4 sets of tires I’ll Yosemite Sam Hubinette that shit all day long. And as much as I love burning as much gas as possible, it’s expensive, and I am poor. So when the CR-Z concept came out, I thought it was that bowl of porridge made of half hybrid MPG and half sports car. A few weeks ago I got one to try out. How did it do? Make the jump to find out.

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14.10.2011 Photos, Reviews, Uncategorized 12 Comments

For Sale: THE ENTIRE HONDA PROVING GROUNDS!

Friday, January 14th, 2011

Rarely, if ever, does something so cool come up for sale as this. Outside of Bakersfield, CA, lies Honda’s proving grounds. And as you’d expect from such a diverse company as Honda, it features a variety of testing areas, including a 7.5 mile high-speed oval, 4.5 mile “winding road” course, shorter terrain areas, a motorcross track, ATV test area, a warehouse, and security and fuel stations. The entire thing is for sale. Who wants to go in with me on a new crib?

Rumors are swirling that several developers are looking at the property in order to raze it and build a solar farm or some other form of green energy bullshit. Seriously, that sounds awful. Of all the God-forsaken desert in the western half of this country, these people want to destroy a perfectly good (and well maintained, according to the photos in the gallery) motorsports facility? We can’t let that happen. So, if you’re a fan of The Smoking Tire, and incredibly wealthy, which is very possible, we have a strangely wealthy fan base, please, cough up the loot and buy us a test track.

[CB Richard Ellis] via [BringATrailer]

14.01.2011 News, Photos 14 Comments

Bizarre Roadside Sightings: Menage-a-Fuel Cell

Friday, October 1st, 2010

While out road testing a couple of cars yesterday, I found myself stuck behind some slow drivers in the canyons. This happens from time to time, and while we occasionally make moves around them, we didn’t this time because of what cars we were following. There was a Mercedes-Benz F-Cell, a Kia Borrego FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle) and a Honda FCX Clarity all in a row, winding their way down the canyons. Strangely enough, the Kia and Benz had manufacturer “M” plates, while the Clarity seemed to just be another Californian on his way home from work.

01.10.2010 News, Photos 2 Comments

Quick Spin: 2011 Honda CR-Z – Could Forced Induction Be on the Way?

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Last year, Honda announced that they would try to do something different for its next hybrid car: make it fun to drive. How would they do that? By shortening, widening, and lowering the Insight’s chassis, make it a coupe, and provide a 6-speed manual transmission. Manuals have appeared in Hybrids before, in the first-generation Insight and Civic Hybrids, but all of a sudden, everyone is making a big deal out of it. I got a chance to take one for a quick spin around the block, and here’s what I discovered, in no particular order:  (more…)

17.08.2010 News, Reviews 4 Comments

Honda Fit Sport Review

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

When we went to San Francisco last month to drive the all-new Ford Fiesta, Ford provided a Honda Fit and a Toyota Yaris for comparison. The Yaris was a joke, but we liked the Fit a little more than Ford would have preferred. We promptly booked one for a review. How does the gold-standard Honda Fit Sport compare to Ford’s new cash cow economy car? Hit the jump to find out.

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08.06.2010 News, Reviews, Video 15 Comments

They Are Into WHAT in Japan?

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Isn’t it amazing how American tuners have become obsessed with everything JDM? I have a friend who spent thousands of dollars turning his Civic hatch into the JDM Civic, right-hand-drive conversion and all. I never got that, what’s so much better about the JDM market stuff than the US market? Well, maybe something, and maybe nothing, but it seems the Japanese have also started following the “grass is always greener” philosophy of car building, because just look what they are into over there. Americana galore, from full-size Ram vans on Panasports to SHO Wagons with NASCAR replica wheels and tires….. What will we see next? Japanese kids turning their Skylines into US-spec 240′s?

JDM Americana gallery after the jump.

Hat tip to Vinny for the tip!

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30.04.2010 News, Photos 1 Comment

Honda Shoots Own Foot with CR-Z Type R

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

What happens when the tuning world meets the Birkenstock-wearing world of hybrids? I never thought we’d find out, or at least not for another few years (Those modified Prius are just bags of money on fire, useless). Well we may find out sooner, because Honda is now working with Mugen on a CR-Z Type R. In principle it’s a good idea, if they can find a way to make a sporty hybrid, I’m all for it. But here’s what I don’t get: The Mugen CR-Z will have a 2.0 liter gasoline engine that produces 150hp. Honda had to upgrade the electric motor as well, so it gets a boost from the stock CR-Z’s 20hp to a 50hp unit, raising total output to 200hp. It will also have upgraded brakes, suspension, EM and throttle response. Sounds like friendly fire that will hit the Civic SI right in the face.

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17.02.2010 News, Photos, Viewer Submission 8 Comments

2010 Honda Civic Si HFP Review

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

The Smoking Tire relives our old high school days by driving around LA, picking up our buddies, and going Go-Karting at Adams Motorsports Park. Is the Civic fun enough to satisfy Matt’s taste for sporting cars, while practical enough to haul around his friends and gear?

02.02.2010 Editorials, News, Video 6 Comments

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