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

Optima Ultimate SC Invitational is a Must-Attend (Gallery/Video)

Sunday, December 18th, 2011

 

Note: Let’s call this Sunday reading. It’s a bit long but there’s pretty pictures, even one that moves! It’s Sunday, take some time for the story I spent hours on yourself.

 

SEMA was over. The AdultCon of car shows had packed up, making way for the AdultCon of people; AdultCon. Hundreds of thousands of people stared at thousands of cars, parts, dudes in company polo shirts, failed strippers promo models, obstructing the way for depressed humanoids trying to gamble. Everyone went home on Friday…and missed the best show of the entire week: The Optima Batteries Ultimate Street Car Invitational

 

You should have gone, because this event is the shit. Matt was invited to compete in his 1998 C5 Corvette. We figured between the car’s lightweight, power and suspension and Matt knowing Spring Mountain like the palm of his hand, he might do pretty well. However we were not prepared for what showed up early on Saturday morning. Make the jump for the story and massive gallery. (more…)

18.12.2011 News, Photos, Uncategorized, Video No Comments

Video Review: 710 HP STaSIS Engineering Supercharged R8 V10 Spyder

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010


We’ve tested a few different Audi R8′s on the show, and it seems that each one has been better than the last. We took a 4.2L V8 car on a frozen lake. I needed a substitute driver for our V10 5.2FSI review, but ripped my cast off and drove anyway. And we took to the track in a Supercharged 4.2L R8 in the second highest-viewed TST video ever.

Now, STaSIS has turned over the keys to the fastest R8 around: a 5.2L V10 Spyder running 7.5 psi of boost from a twin-scroll supercharger. This 710-horsepower beast can barely keep traction on our secret, closed canyon, and breaks Matt down into complete giggles, as a proper supercar should. Hit the jump to see what happens when Matt learns that when you have all-wheel-drive, no amount of power is ever too much.

Hit the jump to see the video.

(more…)

01.12.2010 News, Reviews, Video 16 Comments

Video: Jaguar XKR 175 – The Best GT Car On Earth?

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

The Smoking Tire heads out to a closed road in the middle of nowhere to test Jaguars newest special edition GT Sports Car, the XKR 175 Edition, built in a limited run of 175 units to commemorate Jaguar’s 75th anniversary. The result of a wonderful car, crazy weather, and a safely closed road is, quite simply, one of the best videos we’ve ever made. Hit the jump to see for yourself.

(more…)

02.11.2010 News, Reviews, Video 29 Comments

Video: VF Engineering Supercharged E46 M3 Is the Ultimate Sleeper

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

We’ve tested all of VF Engineering’s cars at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, and their E46 M3 was perhaps the most surprising. It certainly doesn’t look like much, with no fancy wheels, stickers, or massive wide-body kit, but the 9 lbs of boost that are being forced through that engine produce a massive effect in performance, increasing wheel horsepower by over 200! Hit the jump for a video of the VF Engineering E46 in action.

(more…)

23.09.2010 News, Video 14 Comments

Video: VF Engineering’s Supercharged Audi RS4

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

The Audi RS4 is a wonderful car, powered by one of the best V8 engines ever built. Its Quattro system helps the RS4 get around corners as fast as humanly possible, regardless of the weather. But sadly, the RS4 is becoming outdated, having been out of production for two years now. But alas! VF Engineering has come to the rescue, with a twin-scroll supercharger package for Quattrophiles to tack on some horsepower: 550 of them. Hit the jump to see how this scary-fast car sounds and feels on the track.

(more…)

16.09.2010 News, Video 2 Comments

Video: VF Engineering Supercharged Spyker C8

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

The Spyker C8 is certainly a unique car, with exclusivity and build quality that dwarfs most other mainstream supercars. Pull up to a Starbucks anywhere in the world, or even Cars and Coffee, and odds are, you’ve got the only Spyker around. We love them. But you know what we love even more? A Spyker with an extra 120 horsepower. Hit the jump to see what this maniacal demon of a car sounds like when you add 5.5 lbs of boost to one of the best sounding engines in production!

(more…)

09.09.2010 News, Video 13 Comments

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.

(more…)

18.08.2010 News, Reviews, Video 5 Comments

VF Engineering Supercharged Wide Body E92 M3 620HP and Supercharged Porsche 911 Carrera S

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

The Smoking Tire heads out to Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, where VF Engineering has provided us with an entire fleet of supercharged sports cars. Matt Farah takes a 510hp blown Porsche 911 and a 620 hp blown wide-body M3 out on the track to see what 30% more power does to two already great cars.

Video after the jump.

(more…)

01.07.2010 News, Reviews, Video 24 Comments

Video: Win a Trip to New York for the Bullrun Rally!

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Last year, The Smoking Tire went on the Bullrun Live Rally from New York to Austin, Texas. We drove the first production Ford SVT Raptor right off the assembly line, 10 hours to New York city for the start, and made a video each day, which can be found on Black Magic’s YouTube Channel.

This year, you’ve got a chance to come party with us in New York City for the kickoff of the 2010 Bullrun, and design our Shelby GT500! Hit the jump to find out how.

(more…)

18.05.2010 News, Video No Comments

Video: 2011 Shelby GT500 Posts Uber-Fast Lap at VIR

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Ford’s on a real roll with their 2011 Mustangs. The 412 HP Mustang GT is being compared to the M3, a car that costs nearly twice as much. Their V6 is the first car in history to come back from rental-car-dom. The new 2011 Shelby GT500 has been on a diet, dropping 120 pounds from the nose by switching to an aluminum engine block, and adding a few extra ponies as well, bringing the count to 550 hp.

As we’ve shown on The Smoking Tire, Ford is about more than straight-line performance; Mustangs need to go around corners. As this video shows, the new 2011 GT500 does that pretty well too. The Shelby’s weight trimmings and tweaks have helped shave 9 seconds per lap off what the 2010 GT500 ran at Virginia International’s “Grand Course” last year, surprising even Ford’s own people, who only expected a 3 second improvement.

The GT500′s 2:58.5 second lap time would place it 7th overall (according to Car and Driver, see chart below), behind such cars as the Ferrari 430 Scuderia and Viper ACR, but ahead of the BMW M3, Cadillac CTS-V, Audi R8, and, ahem, the Ford GT.

Here’s the best part: The Smoking Tire is going to be doing a 5,000-mile road test of the new GT500 in the 2010 Bullrun Rally from New York to Las Vegas this July. And you have a chance to win a trip to New York to come party with us for the kickoff party (and yes, test drive the car.) Go to Black Magic Shine to find out how.

Hit the jump to see the video and lap time spreadsheet.

[Source: YouTube via Jalopnik]

(more…)

18.05.2010 News, Video 7 Comments

Previous Entries