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.
Video: VF Engineering Supercharged E46 M3 Is the Ultimate Sleeper
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010Video: 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 But sadly, the RS4 is becoming outdated, having been out of production for two years now.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.
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!
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.
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…)
Skip Barber Offers Lifetime “Fast Pass” for $295,000
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Racing is expensive. Very, very expensive. Even at its most basic levels, racing can cost a driver/owner thousands upon thousands of dollars a year. The Truth About Cars columnist and racer Jack Baruth told us last year that for all the money he spends racing his 1996 Spec-Neon every weekend, he could have bought a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, which we absolutely believe.
Skip Barber Racing School wants to change that a little bit. We know $295,000 is a ton of money, more than enough to buy almost any brand new exotic on the market today, but for a lifetime of all-inclusive racing, it sounds like a bargain. With their new Fast Pass system, Skip Barber is offering a lifetime of lapping days, driving schools, and spec-racing events for one fixed price. With the Fast Pass, members can jump in any driving school, race, or lapping day, anywhere in the country, so long as the event isn’t totally filled up with cash customers (good idea if you ask us). Combine that with the use of their vehicles, instructors, variety of tracks, and not having to pay for gas or maintenance on cars, it actually sounds like a really good deal.
Depending on the response and demand for the program, spots may become limited, so if you’ve got the burning desire to go racing and $300k burning a hole in your pocket, head over to SkipBarber.com and sign on up. If you’re interested but don’t have quite that much to spend, lower level, more limited Fast Passes are available for $75k and $100k respectively.
[Source: Skip Barber]
2010 Bullrun Rally: Day 3 – Chicago to Omaha
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010The Bullrunners depart Chicago, in a mess of lost, for Omaha, Nebraska. There’s never a shortage of surprises on the Bullrun, and today doesn’t upset. We get lost and angry, drive the tires off our car, and finally figure out a good strategy.
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.
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.
2010 Volkswagen GTI Review
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010The Smoking Tire heads out to Adams Motorsports Park in Riverside, CA to test the most requested car of 2010, the Volkswagen GTI. Will it beat the Mazdaspeed3′s standard-setting lap time? Watch and see…
