Few cars have reached “icon” status the way that Chevrolet’s Corvette has. Also, few two-door sports cars come in as many flavors. There’s the base, the Z06, the top-line ZR1, and then there is the Grand Sport. A bit of a cross between the Z06 and the base, the Grand Sport has the wider wheels and fenders of the Z06, along…

Few cars have reached “icon” status the way that Chevrolet’s Corvette has. Also, few two-door sports cars come in as many flavors. There’s the base, the Z06, the top-line ZR1, and then there is the Grand Sport. A bit of a cross between the Z06 and the base, the Grand Sport has the wider wheels and fenders of the Z06, along…

We all have a wish list of cars we’d like to own someday. Usually this list is made up of  cars that you could only afford if  you had more money than sense. The kind of money you could only get if that rich uncle you never met kicks off and leaves you his fortune, hell freezes over, or you win the lottery. Well this weeks show is all about those cars.

Question: What’s goes like a freight train, turns on a dime, and looks like sex on a plate?

Answer: The 2011 Ford Mustang 5.0

Question: What shares the Mustang’s 5.0 Liter motor?

Answer: The 2011 Ford F-150. But did you know that it also comes with a twin turbo v6 and the 6.2 V-8?

This week’s show is an all Ford extravaganza, where we’ll be discussing Ford’s plethora of new drive train options. But before that we talk Indy Car and Formula 1 as both their season begin to wind to a close.

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This is the most epic cast we’ve ever had. The most guests, the most live listeners, and the most people in the chat room ever on Burnout Radio. Why was this show so epically awesome? Two words… Dustball! Back when we recorded this show we had just completed our 3000 Mile 4 day long Dustball Rally. It was the first time we’ve ever been on something so awesome. What exactly is the Dustball Rally? Well you take a bunch of car nuts in everything from highpowered exotics to old beaters and go tearing out of El Paso, Texas, through the desert at break neck speeds looking for the spicy ass, and then some how end up in Denver. Where you take the day off drink yourself stupid, then get back in the car a day later and do it all again.

We had one hell of a time, made some great friends, and developed a veritable library of white lies and tall tales that just get better with every telling. So yes, You can bet your sweet ass we’ll be back next year.

***All apologies for the horrid audio quality, we had way to many guests to use our studio mics, so we had to improvise.

ALRIGHT! Shawn the Intern FINALLY gets a press car to review! Originally, it was supposed to be a Ford Fiesta, which is either just a coincidence since this is the car that allowed me to meet the Burnout Radio crew after auditioning for the Fiesta Movement 2, or this could just be a practical joke from Charlie and Nick by sending me the smallest car available to prove myself in an initiation style. Either way, a car was needed this weekend for the long excursion (no pun intended) that I was going to take on.

Due to “technical difficulties”, my one night stand with the Fiesta ended up turning into an upgrade to business class as it was replaced with a 2011 Mustang V6. The Camaro fan in me said no, but I’m in equal opportunity employer, so I couldn’t turn it down.

One of our fraternity brothers is giving up on freedom getting married in two weeks, so instead of a more classy, traditional trip to Vegas, the guys decided to keep things simple for our favorite Halfling and have a camping trip in New Braunfels and to float the river. I had a few extra stops in mind for this weekend to spend some time with college friends that I haven’t seen a few months, as well as a mission to prank one of our prankster friends at her new house.
I knew the trip was going to go well when it seems to be opposite day on the Texas Autobahn Interstate 35 as Sheriff Buford T. Justice a few state troopers decided to set the pace in the left lane for about an hour. It seemed the Mustang and I were going to take a police escort into in Austin area, but as all good things end, they exited too early. Better to have them in the windshield and not the rear mirror view…

The Mustang kept me pretty entertained on the long journey down south. It came with Microsoft Sync, which I never understood the big hype until now. It’s an interface that is uber addicting and is now causing me to have mega withdrawls not that the Mustang has moved on. Before I had a chance to use it I viewed it as just a gimmick for a tech junkie, but the voice commands ACTUALLY work, and call clarity is really superior to other regular Bluetooth interfaces on other manufacturers’ vehicles. I am still mourning over the convenience of it, and still keep pushing the nonexistent voice command button on my Camaro’s steering wheel hoping it will appear magically. Holding a cell phone up to your ear is so 2008.

After nearly 4 hours in the car thanks to heavy traffic and bad timing my part, I finally make it to Round Rock to visit one of my closest friends that has recently moved into her first apartment. It was mandatory (by her request) that we NOT take the Mustang down a long stretch of curvy roads or NOT test the 0-60mph times, but to take it to the local IKEA to see if a bookshelf will fit in the trunk. Please give me a second, as I need to tape my shredded man-card back together.

And Yes, it did fit in the trunk.

The next day, I headed out on an hour and a half drive to meet the guys down in New Braunfels to float the river. This gave me an opportunity to redeem myself and talk about the new 3.7L engine with the guys has they checked every nook and cranny in this vehicle. This is a well welcomed upgrade from the ancient 4.0L that as far as I can tell dates to the Precambrian Era. The engine has a split personality with its ability to sip fuel while cruisng to the shops or eating up boring stretches of interstate, but has the potential to hoon around your favorite back roads and rack up more than a few tickets. The only downside to the drive train is the new transmission, which which can easily be remedied by saving yourself a grand an ordering the 6 speed manual, but since our tester came equipped with the new 6 speed autobox which seems seems to not have been formally introduced to the 3.7L engine. Transmission, meet engine, you’ll be together until death or a rebuilt do you part. It has a hard time finding gears around traffic and low speeds. It seems to be tuned more for fuel economy to strive for that 31mpg, but if the Mustang is going to go in “that” direction, there needs to be two buttons on the center console, eco and sport, so that way the shifting algorithm can keep up with the diver’s mood.

As we floated away from the campsite and started our journey down the Guadalupe River, I couldn’t help but notice the color, Candy Red, and it.makes.this.vehicle. I’m not a fan of red by any means, but it.looks.goooooood. Period. It contrasts really well with Black leather interior and the growing-outdated-but-still-looks-really-nice stainless steel/chrome accents in the dash. My only complaint is if you purchase a premium paint for $395 over the standard selection of colors, Ford; please paint the rocker panels, the plastic trim on the front and rear bumpers, and the side mirrors. For almost $30k on this specific vehicle, this really should be a given.

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After 8 hours of induced sun burn, there was a small injury and causality…on the section that we took, there are four drop offs that we needed to navigate. According to our tube rental place, the only thing we needed to know is to stay to the far left on the last drop off. Guess who went right? Apparently, knees don’t do well when running into boulders in the river, and sombreros don’t stay on heads that end up under the water in the current. RIP sombrero, you will definitely be missed.

While the guys decided to stay for another night before heading back to Dallas, I took off to meet a few friends on Sixth Street in Austin to celebrate my now non functional knee. Parallel parking was the only option available, but wasn’t an issue for the Mustang. While the new Camaro has its visibility issues and the Challenger required an anchor for parking, the Mustang was really simple for squeezing between other vehicles. It’s not hard to see out of, but it might be a good idea to spring for rear sensors if you do this regularly because of a higher deck lid in the back.

The last day was specifically designed for mischief. While floating the river, my IKEA loving friend conveniently works at an unnamed pet store, who happened to have been giving away a gerbil that seems to have issues, especially since he’s been designated as the “evil gerbil”. Our mutual friend is “that” person that knows anything about everything, including animals. Caring is for sharing, so we decided to adopt the gerbil and unknowingly place it in her new house in San Antonio. After visiting and shopping at the market downtown, we headed back to Round Rock to drop my friend off, and I head back to Dallas. But not before calling the gerbil’s new owner through the Sync System to let her know it was in a cage in her bedroom. Before hate emails come in, the gerbil really is for her younger sibling that has been in the market for a new pet, so step down PETA fans, this was a humanitarian mission. If you still want to send those hate emails it was all Nick’s idea so please forward all messages for gerbil induced hate to nick@burnoutradio.com.

It was finally time to take the Mustang back to its home in Dallas, and continuing the trend of bad timing, I left San Antonio around 6pm, only to end up in traffic that required me to park the vehicle on the highway. This was a bonding moment between myself and the Shaker 500watt system. The clarity is only a step above mediocre, but the bass department more makes up for it. This is definitely an option that you check off with a permanent pen and never look back. The test vehicle came with Sirius radio, and a single CD player. Having 10 presets over the usual six that you have in the car is great for people with radio station A.D.D.

So the verdict?

Alright Ford… “I drove one”… and after 1300 miles on the odometer and four tanks of gas, I’ll give props where is it due. The Mustang is a great car, and has a lot of potential to be customized at the factory or dealerships to tailor to anyone’s fancy. My issue isn’t about the pricing on the Mustang in general, but how this test vehicle was optioned. It didn’t seem worthy of a near $29k window sticker. I felt it was still missing a few options that should be standard, such as a heated option for the leather seats, automatic headlamps, and a finished paint job. This was the Premium V6 ($25,845) with a 6 speed Automatic ($995) 3:31 Ratio Axle, Security Package and Red Candy Paint (each $395) with an $850 destination fee. MSRP totals to $28,875, which is about 3 or 4k too high in my opinion. For someone that’s in the market for this car, just pay attention to the options list and you can purchase one for a more appropriate price that is better equipped. The Mustang sets the bar high for it’s competition.

I’m still a Camaro fan at heart, but you almost had me at hello, Mustang.

We’ve had a number of listener requestes to see a behind the scenes look at a media drive. So I figured there couldn’t be a better media drive to showcase than the 2011 Mustang Drive. So here’s day one with the 305 HP 31 MPG v6. The SoCal weather was good, the roads were great and the car was awesome. Check out day two with the 5.0L v8 in the video response box below!

Special thanks to Adam Barrera from www.highmileage.org for guest hosting and to Shawn Carney from Ford Engineering for melting the tires on our v6 for us.

Note: The audio is kind of jacked for the first 1:20 because I forgot to turn on the preamp for the microphone.

Here’s day two with the 412 HP 5.0L v8. The SoCal weather was good, the roads were great and the car was awesome. Don’t forget to check out the v6 from day one as well. Very impressive.

Special thanks to Adam Barrera from www.highmileage.org for guest hosting and to all the folks from Ford for providing us with this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Everyone knows me for being head over heels in love with the Dodge Challenger. It is the most beautiful car to have ever existed. Well, so certain glasses wearing, mail carrying, car nuts say. So much emotion is drawn from this muscle car and has thus far enjoyed a warm welcome by even the simplist of car lovers. Playing the waiting game from concept to my garage was border line torture. Unfortunately, this reborn beauty may be short lived.

In 2006, Chrysler revealed their newest eye catching concept. Demand of a production model came quickly. Somewhere in the design process, an accountant decided that the best retro muscle car to hit the market in recent years did not deserve a new engine. So it got the standard SRT8 6.1L V8, producing 425 horsepower. Yes, the nostalgia was purposeful, remembering that the old 426 HEMI from the 1970′s had 425hp. But we…cough, cough……enthusiasts were screaming for the more unique 6.4L which would put the approximate horsepower above the coveted 500 mark. However, Chrysler opted for a quick concept-to-production run, which I must say was executed quite impressively, and went with the proven motor.

It came near the date to finally put an order on the first of the true second generation Challengers. No, I don’t count that piece of *** Mitsubishi Galant that ran from the late 70’s into the mid 80’s. Excitement grew, talk abounded all over the internet forums, and enthusiasts flocked into dealership showrooms to hand over their astronomical down payments. But when they arrived, found that ALL the 2008 models would be AUTOMATICS! I’m tearing up just thinking of that saddening night in December. Don’t get me wrong, this newly designed Dodge Challenger has a smooth and quite responsive 5-speed automatic. Obvious though, the real men who like to enjoy their obscene automotive purchases prefer the love and control that only a manual transmission can give. 6-speed in 2009! Holy Mosses, that means no numbered badge. Crap!

If you purchased a Dodge Challenger in 2008, you got the SRT8. I know, history shows that most manufactures begin pushing the setup that will often bring the most money: the cheaper, lesser equipped cars. I believe Chrysler knew that while the Challenger had unanimously won the hearts of enthusiasts, the common buyer still didn’t “get it”. Let’s be honest, it weighs over 4,000lbs, is larger than many sedans currently on the market, but with two fewer doors, and the concept car’s color was orange when the whole country seemingly wants green. So if Chrysler wanted to bring this reborn muscle car to fruition, the only way to sell it would be to build the enthusiast car, get it out on the street and let others know that Dodge performance is back! Neighbors of the enthusiasts would then go to the dealership, figure out they can’t afford neither the sticker price nor the fuel mileage of the thirsty V8, so they opt for the 3.5L V6 instead. For 2009, Chrysler only sold a meager 25,852 Challengers, compared to Ford’s 66,623 Mustangs that same model year. You may think that’s pretty good, but consider just 10 years earlier, Ford sold a total of 126,067 Mustangs for 1999. Perhaps this is just a sign of the times.

For 2010, the Challenger got updates! That’s right, color choices now include Plum Crazzy Purple and Detonator Yellow, replacing Hemi Orange. Before your favorite colorful finger comes shooting out, let us think about how many other cars out there get any major changes within a year and a half of its generational debut. Yes, the die-hard, mullet wearing Challenger lovers were keeping their fingers crossed once again that the coming model year would include that dreamy 6.4L HEMI, but it didn’t. In reality, the let down wasn’t just the absence of the larger HEMI, it was the absence of really anything new coming out of Chrysler for 2010. Ford debuted the redesigned Mustang, GM released the sexy new Camaro after taking an 8 year break, and Chrysler, well…….brought yellow. Hold on just a second, rumor once again has it that the 2011 model Challenger WILL come with updated powertrains across the board. Please don’t let it be a HEMI Hybrid!

With US demand growing for more fuel efficient vehicles and Fiat/UAW/US Government owned Chrysler soon producing cars like the Fiat 500 and electric models on the way, the Dodge Challenger has little chance of surviving past its Chrysler-announced 2013 production end, where it may or may not get a 3rd generation update (once again, the Galant can rot in hell before I acknowledge it as a Challenger). If it does, it may come with two extra doors. The second-time demise of the Challenger might not come from popular demand of certain vehicles pushing out the muscle car, but rather the direction, or lack thereof, that Chrysler is headed. Currently, Chrysler is losing money hand over fist. The typical car buyer wants a car that is reliable, fuel efficient, and appeals to women; attributes not typically synonymous with Chrysler products. Therefore, it is my opinion that the Dodge Challenger in my garage will never have many brothers out there on the street. Some may think that’s a bad thing, but I almost prefer it that way.

So as I’m sure all of you heard on Episode 70 (You DID listen to Episode 70 right?!), we got to hang out with Berry Lowman of Team Hall-N-Nass fame at the Cadillac Culinary Tour. What was the CCT? A fun filled night of fast cars and really good food at some of the best restaurants in Dallas all provided by the good folks from General Motors.

So what happens when you mix Half of Burnout Radio, half of Team Hall-N-Nass and a side of 306 hp Sports Wagon? Well it’s a culinary  recipe for major hoonage all of which you can read about over at the Team Hall-N-Nass blog. Rest assured I’ll have something up over here in my defense shortly.

The new GT500 is like a snake, a very, very pissed off snake that’s looking to try and kill you and that’s what makes it so fun to drive. You always feel like you’re driving on the edge even when your not. This car is far from practical, but once you mash down on the skinny pedal none of it’s impracticality matters because once that 540 horse power super charged v8 starts to sing it’s siren song all you can think about is MORE MORE MORE!!!!!!

Without further ado here’s the video you’ve been waiting for and once you’re finished with that you can listen to our indepth review of the 2010 Mustang GT500 here.

Why do I keep hearing heavenly angel music every time I say Corvette Grand Sport. Oh, that’s right, because only God could have made a car this awesome! Yes, we at Burnout Radio land have finally got our review video of the 2010 Corvette Grand Sport up for viewing. Gotta say, we’ve tested a lot of cars, but this one has become a favorite.

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It may seem odd, but for years I associated the Camaro with speed. It’s true. I had no feelings of malcontent, and I did not associate the Camaro with wife-beater t-shirts, mullets, and bondo. It looked good, had a great V8, was relatively comfortable, and provoked driving fast. That was a win in my book. It still is to some degree.

My entire first-hand Camaro experience was with a 1989 Camaro RS which had the 5.0 liter V8 option. By today’s yard stick, the engine’s 170 horsepower and 255 lb-ft of torque is quite meager. But in 1990, even short the 70 horsepower which was available in the IROC-Z’s 5.7 liter V8, it was a monster to this high school student.

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in North Texas when a friend picked me up in his new RS. I immediately was addicted to the torque pushing me into the seat. The next thing you knew we were flying along at 135mph, T-tops removed, and my hair blowing in the wind. That’s right. I had hair once. Moving on…

Now let’s fast forward almost 20 years. Everything has changed. Here’s where the wife-beaters, mullets, and bondo come into play. In the 7 years following Chevrolet killing the Camaro in 2002 after 35 years of production, its reputation went drastically downhill. There still was that distant memory of high school, but that memory was all too often overshadowed by a giant mullet cutting me off in traffic with his bondo-covered Camaro apparently fitted with a smoke screen “feature”.

A few weeks ago, everything changed again. Chevrolet delivered Burnout Radio a 2010 Camaro 2SS, and I drew the long straw to drive it the first few days. This is the 5th Generation of the Camaro, and I’ve yet to find someone who dislikes the way the way this car looks. Every curve and angle blend together to make one of the best looking American cars produced in recent decades. This 2010 model urges you to reminisce of the first four generations while remaining wholly modern in design. Chevrolet nailed the styling, pure and simple.

Here is my experience:

As I slide into the driver’s seat, I am first amazed at how comfortable I am with no adjustments. I make a few seat adjustments and surprisingly quickly have the perfect driving position. The layout of the cockpit caters to the driver and everything is well within reach without taking my eyes far from the road. While I do like the gauge layout and design, the speedometer and tachometer need some work. First they are annoyingly vague with their sequoia sized needles. I want to know exactly how fast I’m going at a glance and not a 5 mph estimate. Yeah, yeah, I know there’s a digital readout option in the driver information center (DIC), but maybe I want something else on that screen. There are plenty of other good options to display there. Anyway, the gauges just feel a bit of an afterthought. Secondly, a few times the speedo even seems to stick a little while decelerating. It jumps down in 5-7 mph increments rather harshly instead of a fluid motion under braking. Otherwise, the gauges and DIC readout are very well placed and designed. The DIC is very easily navigated by controls on the blinker stalk. Most of the rest of the interior looks great. There is nifty ambient lighting in the top edge of the door panel inserts, which unfortunately is seemingly made of CD case plastic. The design continues across the dash, but for whatever reason the lighting does not. I am assured it is not broken and is not actually lit. Odd.

Now it is time to really drive this puppy. As I roll out, the clutch requires little effort while still feeling solid. It engages smoothly and quickly as a proper muscle car should. The 6-speed transmission is smooth with enough of a snick to know I am properly in gear, albeit with a bit of a long throw. Unfortunately though, there’s no good way to hold the shifter. It just feels peculiar in my hand regardless of how I hold it. The same goes for the steering wheel if you’re the 9 and 3 type (as all should be). Both are a bit awkward.

Next is the requisite downshift and foot to the floor to merge on the freeway. The 6.2 liter LS3 V8 roars to life, punches me into the seat with 400 lb-ft of torque, builds to its full 426 horsepower, and all thoughts of the aforementioned awkwardness go out the windows as I launch up the ramp. The colossal acceleration is well beyond anything I experienced that Sunday afternoon in 1990. That aside, this Camaro is different somehow. It is more composed…a bit mature even.

As I amble through traffic, I plug my almost dead iPhone into the USB port to give it a little charge on the way home. Much to my surprise, a few seconds later, “Trent’s iPhone” displays on the screen and my stored music begins to play automatically. Brilliant! I turn up the Boston Acoustics audio system equipped in this 2SS model. It sounds crisp and clean even at 70mph with windows down and sunroof open. It’s at this point that I notice the exhaust note could use a little tweaking, as it’s a bit of a nasal sound when behind the wheel. And since I’m nit-picking here, a little more volume under normal acceleration would be nice for those who like to roll the windows down and shift by ear. I have no complaints outside the cabin though, as a quick jaunt through a tunnel sounds great.

Yes, the 2010 Camaro SS has a few faults. Yes, it still has a bit of a back-woods reputation. Yet this is just the first year back from retirement. The Camaro will improve and will overcome the stereotype. Once again I am in love with the Camaro, although even with no hair I do miss the T-tops. The Chevrolet Camaro is back in the muscle car fight. Welcome.

Over the next few days, I was able to experience the Camaro in various scenarios. Unfortunately it rained almost the entire time, although I luckily got one small window of dry roads to explore the Camaro’s capabilities.

Ugh. More rain

THE RUNDOWN:

Rush-hour commuter: The comfortable seats, low RPM torque, and high gearing make bumper-to-bumper traffic easy. Throw it in 2nd or 3rd and leave it there. Gas mileage isn’t great, but if you’re buying an SS then it’s most likely not a priority. While on the gas topic though, the fuel cap needs a better hook to hold it while fueling. It is horribly small and rarely actually prevents the gas cap from hanging loose on the paint.

Highway cruiser: The comfortable seats and high gearing are great here as well. With the engine spinning less than 2,000 RPM at 80mph, it gobbles up the miles with ease. On-center steering feel could use a little adrenaline kick though, as it’s a bit vague.

Grocery getter: I wouldn’t advise going to Sam’s Club and grabbing a flatbed, but for an average grocery purchase there is reasonable space in the trunk. The back seats are easily accessible as well if the space is needed.

Family & friends hauler: If you only have friends under 6ft tall, you’ll all be happy with the occasional back-seat passenger. Notice I didn’t say passengerS. Unless you’re both jockeys, an average-sized adult won’t fit behind the driver. For those with kids, there is plenty of room for them even with a booster seat. If you have a child still in a rear-facing safety seat as I do, adult passengers over 5ft tall should avoid you like swine flu and take their own car. The passenger seat has to be fully forward and completely upright in order to fit the safety seat in back. Surprisingly though, it was relatively easy to install the safety seat in the back.

Occasional hoon-mobile: I find the SS suspension to be quite competent. The suspension is compliant, yet responsive and communicative with minimal body roll. As I stated above, steering feel does need some dialing in regarding on-center feel, which is a bit lifeless. However it is nicely weighted and communicative once you chuck it into a turn. If you take it into that turn smoothly and with a bit of reserve, there’s enough suspension compliance to get hard on the throttle on exit. Yet if you throw it in hard, you’ll get the obligatory initial understeer and a nice progressive switch to oversteer if you get on the go-pedal. I am quite pleased with the progressive nature near the limit. If one is to press the StabiliTrak button in front of the shifter once, traction control is disabled to allow tire spin while the stability control keeps you from getting sideways. If one is to press it twice, Competitive Mode allows a generous amount of tire spin and slip angle before bringing the tail back in line. It will make lucky bad drivers look good. Unlucky bad drivers will still crash. Competitive Mode also enables launch control. It’s as simple as holding the fun pedal down while the ECU limits engine RPM and dumping the clutch. Finally, holding the button for about 5 seconds will defeat all traction and stability systems and let you have your way with the Camaro.

Track toy: Most of the characteristics which make the Camaro SS a capable hoon-mobile apply here as well. The pedals are a bit widely spaced for easy heel-toe downshifts in my size 9s, but it’s manageable. The giant Brembo brakes work as expected and haul all 3849 lbs down quickly with good pedal feel. Modulating the brakes under hard braking is no problem. The Camaro handles well but is no Miata, so a tight course or autocross won’t suit it too well. Like usual with many production vehicles, a few modifications would be needed for a frequent track car, but the Camaro SS should easily handle a track day every now and then with no problem.

Dragster: Like all Camaros of yore, this car is at home on a drag strip. All but the novice will find faster times not using launch control. The engine and transmission beg to slammed through the gears and the suspension is compliant enough to give you a little of that muscle car squat under acceleration.

Click any image to view the gallery:

Thank you GM and Burnout Radio for providing the Camaro and making this review possible. Read more of Trent Landreth’s work at Reflections Of The Drive. ♦

Picture this… You adjust the temprature down a few degrees, turn on your seat ventilation and ask your chauffeur to open the panoramic roof so you can enjoy the beautiful Southern California sun. Then you sip your artisan spring water that’s been kept chilled by the built in refrigerator to quench that parched throat. How do the peasant folk survive? Now sit back and enjoy the beautiful scenery along Pacific Coast Highway… that is currently flying by at 80+ miles an hour.

That’s exactly how my trip to San Jose went this past summer. You see my chauffeur for the afternoon was none other than Jack Baruth, vetran of the CTS-V Challenge, author of Avoidable Contact, and professional racing driver extraordinaire. We’re not in just any luxury cruiser either. No, we are in the 2010 Lincoln MKT equipped with the 3.6L EcoBoost and All Wheel Drive, which makes this quite possibly the fastest station wagon ever manufactured in the United States. It’s fast enough to keep pace with a very distraught BMW 6 Series up ahead who’s driver is quite frustrated with the fact he can’t shake this 5000lbs station wagon off his tail, not even in the twisty bits. Yes it seems the designers and engineers at Lincoln have reinvented that quintessential “Hot Rod Lincoln”.

As we’re winding down the Pacific Coast Highway out in California, I can’t help but wonder if this is the start of a revolution in America. For years we have had to sacrifice luxury for performance or vice versa. You couldn’t have both. You could either have a pillowy soft suspension devoid of any feedback or you could have a wonderful kidney jarring experience every time you stepped in to your underpowered v8 “muscle” car that got shit for gas mileage. Not anymore. With Ford’s new EcoBoost technology you can have your cake and eat it to.

We’re talking V8 power (355hp.) in a Twin Turbo V6 with the flattest torque curve I’ve ever seen (350lbs.-ft. @ 1500 – 5700 rpm). Add to that All Wheel Drive, and a luxurious interior and now you’re pushing the right buttons.

However there are a couple of things I find a bit lacking with all of Ford’s new EcoBoost hod rods. First is the suspension. It could be a bit more planted. In it’s current form it gives a wonderful ride, but in the twisty bits it does not inspire confidence. Second is the Breaks. There is no way to tip toe around this… they suck. Not just in the MKT but in the MKS and the Taurus SHO as well. They are adequate for daily driving, but if you are as predisposed to “spirited driving” as we are (this show is called Burnout Radio after all isn’t it?) then the breaks fade pretty quickly and they just aren’t big enough to stop 4000 to 5000 lbs. vehicles with 350+ hp. So Ford / Lincoln listen up because apparently you missed the memo, $40,000+ “performance” vehicles get break upgrades these days. And my last complaint is fuel mileage. There is no Eco in EcoBoost so far. Don’t get me wrong I love the 3.5L EcoBoost. It is my current favorite motor. 22 miles per gallon just ain’t going to cut it for anything named EcoBoost. Yes I understand this is a 350hp motor powering a 5000lbs. station wagon, but it gets practically the same fuel mileage in the MKS and the SHO.

Even with the set back in suspension, breaking, and fuel economy, the MKT is still one of the best cars in it’s class. It has iconic styling thanks to its bow wave grill, curving shoulder line, and it’s delightfully weird rear end.

Even with the set back in suspension, breaking, and fuel economy, the MKT is still one of the best cars in it’s class. It has iconic styling thanks to its bow wave grill, curving shoulder line, and it’s delightfully weird rear end. Lincoln has also updated their color palate to include colors like Tuxeo Black and Metallic Cinnamon. Mmmmm tasty.

I’d never thought I’d say this but I’m in love with a Lincoln, and it’s a station wagon to boot.  Somehow it just doesn’t seem right. A superpower twin turbo v6 in a giant station wagon / suv thing with a luxury interior and it’s been styled by designers not accountants. Congratulations Lincoln you making good cars again. Now I just have to come to grips with my new love affair.

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Volvo, like most of the auto industry is in dire straights.They desperately need a flagship car for the future to bring in potential buyers. Because let’s face it, the only thing that stirs your pulse less than a Volvo is a Toyota Prius. In the past Volvo’s tended to be be at best beige and uninteresting and at worst down right coma inspiring. And so far only the Japanese and the Koreans have figured out how to coma inducing cars.

European cars need to have a sense of Euro-Sheik, a European flare if you will. We as American buyers want to be able to picture ourselves winding down and Alp, cruising across Millau Viaduct, or through the streets of Monaco.  Those things are decidedly un-Volvo… or are they?

“The all-new S60 will be one of the strongest players in a segment where the competition is razor-sharp,” says Volvo Cars President and CEO Stephen Odell. “Your damn right it is!”  is what I say. Provided it looks like the concept we saw at the 2009 L.A. Auto Show. I never thought I’d say this but, that is one sexy Volvo!

Sweet Jesus it looks like Volvo finally hired a designer! The panoramic glass roof, the killer chrome wheels, the elongated tear drop head lights and the knife thin tail lights, where in the hell did they come from? Not to mention the asymetrically split seat in the interior, the floating center console and did I mention the panoramic glass roof?! PANORAMIC GLASS ROOF!!!!!! It looks like the entire top of the car is glass. Look how they split the roof from the rear wind shield, it’s gorgeous!

I’m in love with the way the top of steering wheel’s hub slopes right in to the steering column and how they packaged all the controls, gauges, and screens to be driver centric thus creating an asymmetrical dash. That asymmetry is carried through out the interior.

Volvo claims this the S60 is inspired by Scandinavia with touches like Viking longboat inspired headlamps, and an open roof , continually flowing lines, and a shoulder line that has two separate and distinct curves. (Outside the long boat thing I’m not real sure what the rest of that has to do with Scandinavia but, hey if it works…)

One of the touches that really impressed me was the use of lighting as a design element something that seems to be becoming quite a trend in the auto industry. Volvo’s designers used something they are calling a DNA light on the front grill next to the head lights, and the transparent mounts for the rear view mirrors are also illuminated and work as part of the turn signal indicators.

This cars speaks of speed, but it’s not aggressive, loud, or overbearing. Hell they even painted it a lovely shade of beige, well they are calling it “Warm Liquid Copper” but we all know it’s beige. Strangely enough I like this car in beige. Here’s why. The world is full of boring cars and loud obnoxious cars. What we lack are beautiful, sexy, classy cars that are at the same time some how… understated. What surprises my is that Volvo, is the company poised to provide that classy yet understated luxury, that is if the S60′s style survives the engineers and accountants on it’s way to production.

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  The Mitsubishi 3000GT also known as the GTO in Japan was produced from1990-2001. The 3000 was not the only family member the Dodge Stealth that shared the same drive train was its first cousin which was produced in 1991-1996. A really cool feature on the 3000GT in 1995 and 1996 some models came in a hard top convertible and these jewels are fairly hard to find. The hard top convertible the Spyder was first of  its kind in the USA since the 1959 Ford Skyliner. Every cool car has a rival and this one’s is the Toyota Supra which both shared close stock performance numbers. This Mitsubishi is not hard to spot on the streets with its wide sporty body and quad exhaust tips.

  Its time to run down some numbers and stats on this DSM. All models including the Stealth had the same displacement a 3.0L v6. The different types came in a SOHC,DOHC, and the DOHC twin turbo. To keep it short and sweet the 3000GT VR-4 had the twin turbo engine with all wheel drive and came in a 5 or 6 speed. The 6 speed transmission was available from 1994-2001. The strongest models had 321hp and 315ft_lbs of torque. The 5 speed cars had a top speed of a 155mph +/-  and the 6 speed was in the area of 160mph+/-. Average performance was a mid 13 second quarter mile and 0-60mph around 5.4 seconds. This car is a favorite of many tuners to modify for big performance so if you stage up to one double check for the VR-4 lettering on the rear.

For all you new school car fans the answer is yes Oldsmobile made muscle cars if you did not know. Hurst the after market performance company known for their shifters teamed up with Oldsmobile to make this car. In 1968 GM had a rule for its companies that mid size cars could not have a larger engine than 400 cubic inches but the Hurst/Olds had a 455 big block. The directors in Oldsmobile pretty much lied to GM and told them Hurst installed the engine but in fact the 455 rocket was installed at the factory.

Here are a few ways to tell a Hurst/Olds form the other Cutlass models. The first give away is the Hurst emblem on the rear trunk lid. Second is the cut outs for the dual exhaust in the rear bumper which the cutlass dose not have. Automatic cars had a Hurst dual gate shifter and the four speeds were Hurst as well. Also floor mats and dash may have the Hurst emblem. The main give away is that Hurst used their own paint schemes that any other cutlass or 442 did not have, the white and gold is the most popular. Hurst on some of the early models like this one had a special narrow ram air hood scope. You will see a 442 these days before you will see a real Hurst/Olds and yes they are worth some money too.

The Plymouth Prowler, to many car fans, is believed to be the car that started the late model retro trend. This roadster is a smooth looking ride with its wedge shape that looks great from any angle you look at it. The larger size wheel in the back and the smaller wheel in the front sets off an aggressive stance. There were plenty of hot colors to choose from for your Prowler but the most I have seen is the famous purple. The Prowler was produced in 1997 and 1999 to 2002 with a total of 11,702 +/-  units made. Also I have seen many Prowler owners take off the front wheel covers and it really sets off the hot rod roadster look, nothing like open wheels cruising down the highway. The last Prowler made was in February 2002 and this cars successor was the Chrysler Crossfire.

Lets take a quick look at the Prowlers drive train and chassis. All models came with a 3.5L SOHC V6 and a 4 speed autostick automatic transmission. The first model had 214hp but in 1999 mopar bumped the power up to 253hp. The majority of the car was made from aluminum with 50-50 weight distribution. This car was the first wheel rear drive Plymouth since 1989. Performance is not what its known for but pretty quick 0-60mph in around 6 seconds and a top speed around 130 mph. Why go fast in a car that looks this cool when you can ride along side of that teacher in school that said you would never amount to anything. Too many suspension features to list but to sum it up the Prowler will hang some curvey roads with ease.

And that’s why the Plymouth Prowler is this weeks blast from the past!

  The 03 Mustang SVT Cobra or other wise known as “the terminator cobra”. The term terminator was used for fords answer to the SS Camaro and the WS6 Trans-Am which out performed the previous model, so to terminate to competition to say the least. Unfortunately there was no 2003 Camaro or Trans-Am to compete with this new stang due to being discontinued. The 2003 cobra was the 10th anniversary model for SVT since their very first foxbody cobra in 1993. To be able to tell the difference between the SVT verses any other mustangs this body style look for the snake emblem on the side,low profile spoiler,open front clip,sharp SVT wheels, and the dual vented hood. You had your choice of a coupe or rag top and one brand new cost around $35,000. The interior was done up by SVT with to many great design features to list. Many awesome paint colors to choose from for these cars but my favorate is the color changing mystic paint hands down look it up.

  Performance was very nice even bone stock. The supercharged 32v DOHC 4.6L V8 is a nasty set up. Factory rated 390hp and 390ft_lbs of torque was a modest claim by ford. I have seen reports of stock terminators chassis dyno at 381 rwhp. The bottom end of the engine is all forge material from the crank,rods, and pistons with this set up the engine can take some abuse well. Changing out the blower to a stout after market like a Kenne Bell Blowzilla among with some other mods can put you over the 600hp range on pump gas. Electronicaly limited the top speed is 155mph and will do 0-60 in 5+/- seconds stock. The only transmission option for this snake is a six speed manual which should be the only trans anyway for this beast. Change out the stock exhaust to a top shelf  system these cars make a wicked note going down the road. Last but not least these cars also handle very well with beefed up SVT suspension.

 And that is why the 03 Svt Cobra is this weeks blast from the past!

   The Pontiac GTO aka (gran turismo omologato). Most car fans believe the GTO is the brand that started the muscle car revolution. Well I agree to some point we cant forget the olds 442 among a few others that came out the same time. The first production model of the GTO came out in 1964 and was based off the la mans body. Pontiac used the tiger as a marketing ploy for these cars in the 1960s, so when you go to a car show and see a GTO with a tag on the front that says GRRRRRR you know what it means. In 1965 you could get a new GTO for around $3700+/-. A old school slang term for these is( goat) if you ever hear a old timer use it.

  The 65 GTO had some big muscle to flex on the streets back in its day. A Pontiac 389ci big block that cranked out 360hp with the tri power option and 335hp with a single four barrel carb. The tri power option was very famous it was three Carter AFB two barrel carbs, when you were cruising you had three primary jets flowing step down on the pedal and three more big secondary jets would open up. Performance stats had to many ranges to list due to many up grade options from the factory or dealership. The transmission options were a choice between a three speed automatic or a four speed manual. The hood scoop was non functional from the factory but some dealers would modify it for cold air if you wanted it. The Pontiac name might no longer exist but the GTO will always live on as a true performance American car for ever.

Yes, after months of working out the details of the Saturn exchange from GM to Penske Automotive Group, the deal is now dead. The thought was that Penske would continue to use rebadged GM vehicles over the next couple years and then open their repertoire to overseas brands. However, with GM still in bankruptcy limbo and the future/direction of the company in question, Penske saw the light and backed out of the deal. Coincidentally, Penske Automotive Group’s stock shortly there after got bumped up to “a good buy”.

  The gmc syclone is hands down one of the biggest sleepers ever produced. If you have never heard of the syclone its ok many never have. This truck had a very low production of only 2995 units in 1991 and only 3 in 1992 before it was discontinued. The retail price for one of these new was around 26,000 US dollars. The syclone was not a only child it had a big brother known as the typhoon and was a very close suv version of the truck. It only came in black with the red syclone lettering. I am a fan of changing wheels and hoods out on cars but GM tastefully did it right for the time and I would leave it alone if I owned one.

   Yes I said sleeper and here are the drive train, chassis and engine stats. Under the hood was a 4.3l turbo charged v6 that made 280hp and 350ft_lbs of torque and many believe that this was a under estimate that GM claimed. A Mitsubishi turbo was used along with a garrett inter-cooler  . All this was bolted up to general motors famous automatic 700R4 trans and into a Borg Warner AWD transfer case power split was 35% to the front wheels and 65% to the rear. The syclone was the very first production truck to feature four wheel ABS brakes. The suspension was beefed up form the factory verses the sonama’s  that the truck was based on. Not a bad resume for a 91 model compact truck.

  The syclone would handle well but that was not it was known for. Factory 1/4 mile times was a impressive with a 13.4 +/- second run. And a seat planting 0-60 mph around 4.7 +/- seconds. So knowing this just imagine the platform offered to you for modifying. If your feeling froggy at the line and you see the red syclone letters next to you dont say I did not warn you about this beast.

The Acura NSX is in a league of its own. Honda made these bodies and sub frame all aluminum with a fairly low total weight in 1997 of 3164+/- pounds. All were mid engine cars and this model was rear wheel drive and came with a all aluminum 3.2l dohc v-tec V6. Screaming with a red line of 8000 rpm good for 290 hp and 225 ft-lds of torque.

This high reving engine was bolted up to a 6 speed gear box which was the only option for the NSX-T. This car will run the 1/4 mile around 13.3 seconds at 106mph and will get you to 60 mph in around 4.9 seconds not to forget the top speed of 162 mph.

In the rear was a 17×8.5 alloy wheel and the front had a 16×7 with vented ABS brakes.  These cars are not so much known for their straight line performance but more for handling and dependability making them great for the track. The sleek  exotic body style will for sure turn heads while your rolling down the parkway. In 1997 you would have spent around 80k for one these depending on what options you added. Don’t look for a new NSX at your local Acura dealership these cars where only produced from 1991 to 2005.

That’s right. Coming to a full sized family garage near you, Ford has developed a new minivan called the C-MAX. It’ll be powered by a 1.6L I-4 and carry up to 5 passengers. Is it just me, or does this look a bit too similar to the coming Fiesta (which also sports a 1.6L)? If room for five passengers isn’t enough, a stretch version that will tote 7 people is in consideration as well. If a twin turbo charged V6 ecoboost becomes an option, I’ll let you know.

According to CBS News Dimitrios P. Biller, the former managing counsel for Toyota claims his complaints about the company’s legal misconduct cost him his job.

Biller’s 75-page complaint says that when he came to Toyota after nearly 15 years in private practice, he was “surprised and alarmed” to discover that the company was not producing e-mails and other electronically stored information to plaintiffs as he said was required. According to the lawsuit, Biller repeatedly complained to supervisors that the company was illegally withholding evidence.

- CBS News

Biller apparently suffered a mental melt down over the issue and was forced to leave with a $3.7 million dollar severance package. News of the impending lawsuit has peaked a few lawyers intrests who hold suspicions that foreign automakers have been withholding evidence.

Toyota states that the chargers are “inaccurate and misleading,” and in a statement made to CBS News Toyota states that, “Toyota takes its legal obligations seriously and works to uphold the highest professional and ethical standards.”

Toyota denies the accusations, calling the lawyer a disgruntled former employee out for revenge. Analysts say the allegations, if true, could have enormous financial consequences for the company. “The petition alleges conduct by Toyota that would cause every case ever resolved by Toyota in the past 10 years to be reopened,” said one Texas lawyer. “We intend to ask the courts to re-open these lawsuits.”

The Newser reports that:

Toyota denies the accusations, calling the lawyer a disgruntled former employee out for revenge. Analysts say the allegations, if true, could have enormous financial consequences for the company. “The petition alleges conduct by Toyota that would cause every case ever resolved by Toyota in the past 10 years to be reopened,” said one Texas lawyer. “We intend to ask the courts to re-open these lawsuits.”

-Rob Quinn

Regardless of the cases outcome this does not look good for Toyota’s Public Relations.

It looks as if the guys over at fordbastards.org can take one bastard off their list… or can they?

Sadly enough the SHO is not what it’s cracked up to be, but that is NOT a bad thing, it’s just not the SHO we were expecting. What we got instead was one bad ass full sized sedan. Gone are the days when the Taurus was the boring beige sedan of the rental car stables. The 2010 Taurus is beige done right and if you opt for the SHO version you will be pleased.

The 2010 Taurus SHO makes one hell of a sleeper thanks to it’s austere exterior. Anyone that misses the small SHO badge on the trunk will be surprised when you uncork that twin turbo v6 monster hiding under the hood. And yes it is a monster, but a mild mannered one. Cruising at highway speeds, Ford’s EcoBoost v6 lopes along at 1200 rpms, but a slight blip of the throttle raises the engine to 1500 rpm where it makes peak torque all the way to 5200 rpm. That hefty torque curve sends the SHO screaming to 60 mph in just over 5 seconds and then it rockets on to the quarter mile in just 13.92 seconds at 100 mph! Hard to believe that from a 5.5ft tall 4,000 lbs 4 doors sedan, but the video below proves it.

It may have one bad ass motor and a good 6 speed electronic gear box, but the spongy suspension, and Good Year all season tires will left me wanting more in the handling department. In hard corners there’s just too much body roll, and the all wheel drive system is setup to bias the front wheels, so it suffers from massive under steer thanks to the all season tires and the SHO’s 2 ton bulk. It doesn’t end there, as soon as the under steer is under control, the all wheel drive system sends power to the rear wheels resulting in tail whipping over steer.

So, no the Taurus holds no love for the twisty bits of road, but to dwell on the lack luster handling would be to miss the point of this new Taurus SHO. Ford may have missed the mark on recreating the old SHO, but what they ended up with instead is one of the best highway cruisers I have ever driven.

The car looks the part too, it’s low slung appearance hides it’s 5.5 height and it’s massive bulk. Earl Lucas has done a wonderful job with the exterior styling. The huge 20 inch tall wheels and low profile tires give the Taurus SHO an aggressive stance. That combined with the raking shoulder line, narrow projector style headlights, and a touch of chrome in the grill, narrow windows, and faux finder vents all serve to give the 2010 Taurus SHO an attractive yet unassuming design… beige done right. Who better to tell us about the exterior design that Earl Lucas himself as he was nice enough to give us a wonderful interview about his role in designing the exterior of the 2010 Taurus, which we’ve included below.

The interior of the Taurus SHO is one of the best in it’s class. Every single person I have seen get in to a new Taurus has said exactly the same thing, “Wow! This is a Taurus?” The exterior may have a subdued attractiveness but the interior fit and finish is anything but subdued. There is no mistaking the comfort and luxury afforded the occupants of the 2010 Taurus.

The heated and ventilated front seats are equipped with both 5 way adjustable lumbar support, and massaging seat backs / bases. Making them comfortable even on the longest of trips. The back seats are more than comfortable and have ample space for three adults. They are even equipped with seat heaters and rear air-conditioning vents.

The high center console in it’s slick piano black finish and the wraparound dash, give the feeling of sitting in a very large cockpit although some of the head unit controls are a bit difficult to reach. All of the storage bins are hidden under flush mounted covers that open by merely touching them. Under one of those covers hides the buttons that control the rear window shade and the ambient lights located throughout the interior.

With a tech options list that reads like a Mercedes: blind spot detectors, active cruise control, a collision detection system that primes the breaks in preparation for an emergency stop, back up cameras, back up sensors, and cross traffic alert that keep you safe in those ever dangerous mall parking lots; the new Taurus SHO has everything you could imagine in a car but for me in the end it is Ford’s Sync system that really rises to the top as one option I can’t do with out. Sync’s voice activation makes using the system’s many features very intuitive such as asking for directions; simply say Italian food and Sync will show you a list of nearby Italian eateries.

Sync’s Bluetooth interface allows complete voice control over your cell phones contacts list by simply loading your contacts into the system. Add to that A2DP connectivity, which allows you to stream your music (or even the Burnout Radio podcasts) wirelessly to your cars speaks. No wires to plug in, and nothing to connect.

I could go on for days singing the praises of Ford’s Sync system but that is for another article, suffice to say, Sync is the icing on the cake that is the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO.

So, no the new SHO is not what we were expecting, it’s something completely different. What it turned out to be, is possibly the best luxury sedan under $45,000.

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. . . sort of. Yes, you heard me. Tesla Motors has recrutted Audi’s general manager of sales operations John Walker and YouTube’s head of global communications Ricardo Reyes.

John, taking the role of V.P. of N. American sales, and Ricardo, becoming Tesla’s V.P. of Communications are just some of the interesting changes going on at this innovative electric car company. Along with attracting some interesting talent, Tesla is reportedly moving their operations from San Carlos, California, to nearby Palo Alto in order to acomidate the building of the Model S sedan.

With John and Ricardo joining Tesla Motors, what do you think their next car down the road might be called? I’m thinking roadseightatube!

With Ford having success in the retro Mustang and Dodge recapturing the hearts of the Mopar crowd with a new Challenger, it was time for Chevrolet to step up to the plate. After a long absence, the Camaro is making its way back on the scene and what a way to do so.

We tested the 2LT/RS and right from the start you can tell this car is special. It’s curb appeal is second to none in the muscle car category. But we were a bit hesitant with the interior, from all the photo’s we had seen it appeared that the interior might have been a bit too retro but that isn’t the case at all. Chevrolet took a trip to some of the previous generation Camaros to get their inspiration. While some parts of the dash were inattentively boring, namely the passenger side, and the quality of material used was a bit disappointing, the interior still deserves an B+ overall. The old school gauges mixed with a touch of modern innovation really makes the interior a pleasure to look at. Outside of a few ergonomic issues with the steering wheel controls, all the other gadgets and amenities within the car are easy to understand and operate. And the seats are some of the best we’ve been in.

However, the exterior of this car is the real hero of the story, as you can see in the gallery below. Compared to its competitors, the Camaro is by far the sexiest design rolling out of Detroit. With the RS package you can get the V8 look without the V8 price, and few individuals will ever be able to tell the difference. This Camaro’s aggressive looks gather quite number of thumb-ups and appreciative head nods from passers-by.

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Not only that, but the ride and drive is both smooth and firm, thanks in part to the independent rear suspension. If you want the convenience of an automatic and the control of a manual, the 6 speed auto delivers some of the fastest shift we’ve ever seen in an automatic. However, the paddle shifters on the steering wheel are not very accessible while cornering.

Chevrolet designed a whole new 3.6L direct injected V6 that is a huge jump in both technology and performance from the previous generation Camaro. This 304hp pony will do 0-60mph in just 6.1 seconds. Unexpectedly though, a good burnout was quite difficult to come by.

If you’re the kind of guy that lusts after a big motor then, this is not the Camaro for you. Yes, the V6 has plenty of powerful, but with it’s weak exhaust note and lack of torque you’ll be left longing for the big V8 from the SS Camaro. No, this car meant for the individual that enjoys the history, the attention, and the overall persona that only a Camaro can bring.

If you still can’t get enough Camaro, then be sure and check out our video review below or listen to Episode 58 of our podcast.

Well it looks like after a 103 year reign the Stanley Steamer’s world land speed record of 127 mph have been shattered by Charles Burnett III diving a car simply known as The Steam Car. check out cnet for the full story.

This one is just a tad bit late. I found this gallery of images just languishing on our server without a post to house it so I decided to give it a home.  A few months back we visited the RiceKiller.com Exotic Car Show. With cars like the Ferrari Enzo, Lamborghini Gallardo Ford GT, and Aerial Atom it’s probably the only time you’ll ever see this much car porn sitting in one place for free.

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And gearheads every where rejoice! Because not all of the great American Iron was destroyed as part of this ill conceived government plan. As a matter of fact most of the trade in were American SUV’s.  

In case you ‘ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks, I’ll fill you in on how the program works. You take your old gas guzzler down to the dealership and they give you $3500 – $4500  cash for it provided it:

• gets horrid gas mileage
• has been insured for the past 12 consecutive months
• has been registered for the past 12 consecutive months
• and has been owned by you for the past 12 consecutive months

You are then allowed to trade it in on something green and tree hugger friendly, preferably something like a Toyota Prius, or a Honda Insight, but in reality you can swap it out for anything that gets something like 6 or 8 mpg better that your old ride.

That doesn’t sound so bad now does it? It really doesn’t and Cash for Clunkers has been a huge “success” and I use the term loosely, because although we the American people have paid out over 3 billion in U.S. tax dollars to bail out SUV driving soccer moms everywhere, the majority of that money did not end up in the hands of U.S. car manufactures.

As you can see from the two list’s below, ALL that’s right ALL of the top 10 traded-in vehicles were U.S. trucks and suv’s. Where as 8 of the top 10 vehicles purchased under the CARS program were Japanese or Korean.

CAUTION SOAP BOX WARNING!

Since when did the American government start giving tax payer money to foreign auto manufactures? Especially ones located in countries that limit the number of cars America can export to them, while they sell hundreds of thousands of cars here in the U.S.? WTF?! Is it a requirement that once elected to office and upon arriving in Washington, all politicians must turn in both their commonsense and their calculator?!

Seriously, I am 100% against sending tax payer dollars overseas. If the government feels obligated to spend billions to help out AMERICAN owned companies then fine, I may not like it but I can at least understand it, and I probably wouldn’t have a problem with Cash for Clunkers if it only went to benefit American companies, but I see no reason why we should send 80% of the tax payer dollars spent on Cash for Clunkers overseas.

END SPOAP BOX!

It seems to me that Cash For Clunkers was the first government bail out to put cash in the hands of real American people, and that was the reason for its success. The bad thing is that the program was skewed towards imports because of the fuel mileage restraints and thus it missed it’s mark. It did not help out our American auto manufactures and instead it helped out their competition.

In the end we survived the CARS program and many many soccer mom mobiles have been removed from the roads, so in that I will rejoice.

So you’re a broke bastard dreaming about just how you’d put together your ultimate Mustang GT. You know, the one you’ve dreamed about since you were a little kid? We’ll Ford has been nice enough to develop a program you can play with call The Customizer. It allows you to make the perfect image of your dream ride and then download it to your desktop so you can use it as your background of the week. Don’t worry if you find yourself weeping sobs of sorrow because you know yrou wife won’t let you get that dream car, *sniff* There are many many guys out there like us doing exactly the same thing.

Finally GM is listenening! We now have the affordable Corvette we’ve always wanted! this bad body falls right in between the base Vett and the Z06. Base vett price with Z06 performance… err well close enough. Bravo GM!

Do you bleed Ford blue? If so then this show was perfect for you. Earlier this month we got the chance to attend the Yellow Rose Classic, which is an all Ford or Ford related car show held at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.

Not only were there plenty of the requesit Mustangs in all varieties but there some anchient Model A’ s and T’s as well as a number of Tigers and Panteras. Not to mention some beautiful examples Shelby Cobra Kits and a handful of some of Ford’s more rare cars. Don’t worry you can see many of these fine rides in the gallery below. But first a little Yellow Rose history…

The Yellow Rose Classic is the North Texas Mustang Club’s answer to the demand for a quality indoor show-featuring classic, antique, and collectible Ford automobiles and trucks. This annual event began in 1990 with 50,000 square feet of display space at the Amon G. Carter, Jr. Exhibit Hall. Demand exceeded space and this show grew to 100,000 square feet of space in 1992. Show participants include individuals, Ford enthusiast car clubs, and both local and nationally known vendors.

-North Texas Mustang Club

And now a little Yellow Rose history for our listeners not lucky enough to reside in the great state of Texas…

“The Yellow Rose of Texas” is a traditional folk song which has long been popular in the United States and is considered an unofficial state song of Texas. The actual author is unknown…

…the song is based on a Texas legend from the days of the Texas War of Independence. According to the legend, a free African American woman named Emily D. West, a mulatto and hence the reference to “yellow”, seized by Mexican forces during the looting of Galveston, seduced General Antonio López de Santa Ana, President of Mexico and commander of the Mexican forces. The legend credits her supposed seduction with lowering the guard of the Mexican army and facilitating the Texan victory in the battle of San Jacinto waged in 1836 near present-day Houston. Santa Ana’s opponent was General Sam Houston, who won the battle literally in minutes, and with almost no casualties.

- Wikipedia

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This car should be illegal because it will stop traffic everywhere it goes. Autoblog has some awesome pics on their site which you guys can see here.

I love the center console, and the way the radio screen hides in the dash and the steering wheel controls look to be dead simple. But we all know that no one is going to care what the inside looks like when the exterior looks like that. ^

Now you guys know that I’m not the biggest fan of BMW’s. I got much respect for what they build but they are just not my cup of tea. A bit to techy for my tastes. And the designs tend to be pretty beige. But then I found this over at BMWBlog.com… and I fell in love. If BMW can design something like the M1 Homage pictured to the left then what to we keep getting the boring drivel they call the 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10 series? They may be decent looking super nice, super quick cars, but they just blend in with everything else on the road.

This M1 on the other hand, now that is a beauty. It’s just too bad it’s only a design exercise.

The purpose of the new M1 project is uncertain and the M1 Hommage is strictly a design exercise meant to celebrate the past of its supercar. The car displayed at the Villa d’Este Concours was  a non-functional prototype, with no engine and interior, but with working lights and steering. Of course, the speculations will start flowing now and many people will probably look forward to a future design similar to the M1 Hommage, but there are no clues on whether BMW will ever manufacture an M1.

- BMWBlog.com

If you guys will remember, awhile back we talked about the Garlic Bread Baron who offered to buy Viper from Chrysler Motor Corp. Well it just happens to be that the infamous Garlic Bread Baron goes by the name of Mr. Devon and he owns a little company called Devon Motorworks. In case you are not familiar with them they are the master minds behind the GTX which is the lovely beauty you see to the left… the car not the woman. Although I must say their taste in both is impeccable. Just look at this beautifully designed car.

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So what is the GTX? Well it’s exactly what it appears to be. A Dodge Viper with a body kit… or not really. That’s like saying a full on Saleen is just another Mustang. Take a look at the video below and see what I mean.

So we’ve established that it looks sexy as hell. So what about power? We’ll all we’ve got to go on is a rumored 650 ponies. Not too shabby considering the base Viper V-10 is pushing out just 510 horse power and 530 ft.lbs torque.

Beneath the skin of the Devon GTX is an 8.4-liter (510 cubic inches) V-10 engine that produces 650 horsepower (484.7 kW) at 6100 rpm. The V-10 engine is mated with a track-proven six-speed manual transmission.

- Devon Motors

Deveon didn’t stop there, the entire body is made from ultra lightweight aircraft grade carbon fiber. So that’s a combo that put the GTX in the books at Laguna Seca. Don’t believe it? Here’s more video proof below.

The GTX isn’t  just a boy racer though. It’s a full on super car as is apparent by it’s price. a whopping $500,000 dollars. Yes you read that right that’s 5 zeros. And for a half million dollars Devon Motors has got to deliver the goods and it appears they do with some trick stuff like fold a away gauge cluster and “sensory touch switchwork” that replaces mundane things like door handles and knobs. I’m not exactly sure what “sensory touch stichworks is”  but I’ll bet it translates roughly as “expensive” in English.

The Devon GTX is – on one hand – a race-inspired performance car, offering a 650-horsepower engine and a complimentary transmission and induction/exhaust system that will make it the most powerful naturally aspirated production powertrain system on the market today. On the other hand, the vehicle’s muscular shape represents a new expression of modern industrial design, blending both classic and futuristic cues to warn of the awesome power that exists within its shape.

- Devon Motors

It may be expensive but it appears you get a lot of techy gadgety stuff for that half million price tag and seeing as how Devon Motors is only building 36 GTX’s per year they shouldn’t have any problems finding some ex-hedge fund managers to buy them.

So it may be just another toy for the rich, but I’ll guarantee that little kids all over the U.S. will be hanging posters of what promises to be the next American super car. Not a bad first try from the upstart underdog, but if I could offer a few words of advice, the next Devon Mortors car needs to be an all Devon Motors car not a re-skinned something else. Source the motor that cool, but build the car yourself.

With that I’ll leave you with a bit more car porn courtsey of Devon Motors.

To produce the next Tata Nano of course. In an age where most manufactures are cramming as much tech as humanly possible in to every price segment to satisfy new safety laws, fuel economy regulations, and the consumers insatiable demand for more and more modern amenities, it seems as if GM is racing to produce a car that seems to be heading in the wrong direction.

That is if you only look at the American and European markets as we are used to doing. It’s when you consider the eastern half of the world that this product begins to make a measure of sense.

“When Tata Motors in India came out with their $2500 Nano vehicle, it put a lot of automakers on the spot,” said GM executive vice president of international operations, Nick Reilly, at a recent press conference in Brazil

…”So we are looking at lower-cost vehicles, but do not know yet where it will be made or where will it be sold, though most likely in Asia.”

- MotorTrend

Take this into account along with GM’s decision to keep Buick, which is very popular in China, but not so much so in the States, and is appears as if GM is setting themselves up to be a major player in the Far East, going head to head with Honda, Toyota and Hyundai / Kia on their home turf so to speak.

So Ford has a really cool program call The ’10 Gets Unleashed where people submit their Mustang Dreams and then they get to go live them Vaughn Gitton Jr. style. This time around a student gets to challenge his former teacher at the track!

Ever wished you could challenge one of your teachers to a competition? Ford Motor Company gave Derek Murrell of Lake Mary, Florida, the chance to do just that, pitting him against his high school shop teacher Bill Rosenblum in a 2010 Ford Mustang GT drag race grudge match.

A racer in the local central Florida scene, Mr. Rosenblum was a big influence on Derek and his passion for cars. Hearing Mr. Rosenblum talk up his racing skills in class, it became Dereks dream to face off against his teacher and mentor. Derek submitted this racing dream to the 2010 Mustang Unleashed contest, and to his surprise, he was selected by Ford and arrangements were made to build and test Mustangs for a drag race.

To watch the entire “Mustang Payback diary from race preparation to the showdown, head to www.the2010mustang.com. While you’re there, be sure to submit your Mustang dream for a chance to have your story featured in an upcoming episode

There’s two bonus episodes but to see those you’ll need to become friends with FordMustang on YouTube

We all know racing old school high dollar cars around Laguna Seca may be every gearheads dream but, AutoBlog was kind enough to remind us that that dream can quickly turn in to a nightmare.

Caution: clicking on the image to the left may make you cry like a little girl, so you may not want to open this at work.

We happened to be at the Corkscrew, camera in hand, when the 250 TR went off course, and were able to capture Love’s off-track excursion. If you can handle seeing a beautiful, multi (multi) million dollar Testa Rossa getting damaged, then check out the entire sequence of photos in the gallery below.

- Drew Philips @AutoBlog.com

Well the guys over at Autocar say hell yeah it can. They ran them both around Millbrook and as it turns out the ZR1 gives the SV a run for it’s money. Let’s hear it for some good old American Muscle. Check out the video after the jump.

Infiniti Essence look like a clone of the Fisker Karma design, but it’s still dead sexy. See the video after the jump.

“Web Exclusive: Nissan Infiniti design chief Shiro Nakamura on the Essence debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the future of the two global brands.” – Fox Business

Looks like the guys from Garage 419 are back in action with a new show called The Smoking Tire. You can see their first episode below. Their first episode is an awesome one, the Ford SVT Raptor. Yeah baby!

I love it when manufacturers create one off customs based on production model cars. Ford has done exactly that with the AV-X10. Check out the video below. Not only is it a cool one off custom car being auction off for a good cause. It’s built to pay tribute to one of my favorite airplanes the P-51 Mustang, and it’s sporting some nice nose art in the form of the Dearborne Doll.

How cool is that? Terry Box did an awesome write up on us and the Fiesta Movement in Today’s Dallas Morning News. You guys can check it out here. (link works after the jump)  There’s also a really good video, although we sound like goobers in it.

Now don’t get too excited, no v-12 for this go-kart. Aston Martin is taking the Toyota I-Q  and giving it that Aston Martin flair. Why? Because Aston Martin has a problem with their vehicles. That wonderful big rumbley v-12 they are so famous for, just isn’t kind enough to the environment for European Union. So to combat this, they commandeered Toyota’s I-Q and renamed it Cygnet. For the extra money, you’ll not only get the Aston Martin emblem, but the plush interior and some sexy but squished Aston Martin styling on the exterior. But sadly no v-12 to go with it.

That’s right! Charlie’s favorite origin of car makers is sending us yet another top quality brand of vehicle. CT&T wants to tap in on the electric car craze going on in the states right now and wants to do it quick. Their e-Zone vehicle may be here as early as next year! I wonder if it will also come with a 1,000,000 mile / 1,000 year warranty.

Holy Jesus I have to have this.

And for those of you who want to see it in action.

If you guys are in to street bikes, or motor cycles in general. Get a hold of this video. It’s a training video the Marines put together for their guys because more of them were dying in motorcycle accidents than they were loosing in Iraq. There is some bad ass stunts in this video. Very Very well done. I’m currently trying to find the full version, but no luck so far. I guess it’s not for sale yet.

We got a call from Mission Control telling us to “Grab a friend, blindfold them, drive them to a place they know and see if they can guess where they are.” Which we intepreted as “Grab a friend, take them to the middle of nowhere, dump them off with the Fiesta, and tell them to find their own way back to civilization.”

So, of course we chose Jini. She’s the voice you hear at the beginning of all our podcasts, and we wanted to say thank you for all the hard work she does for us. And as we all know there is no better way to say thank you to a friend then dumping them off all by themselves in a strange place with no directions home.

So, needless to say we failed gloriously. Not only did we get the mission instructions wrong, as it turns out, the middle of nowhere we picked out for the mission happened to be right down the street from Jini’s friend’s house.

So Vaughn Gittin Jr. is a huge name in drifting. Right up there with Tanner Foust and The Crazy Sweed. Apparently Vaughn got to live out his life long fantasy of drifting all the best tracks in Japan. What car did he use? Why the 2010 Ford Mustang of course. Which is only fitting since he is sponsored by Ford.

Why is this such a big deal? Because Ford wants to share the love with their new program The ’10 Unleashed They want you to live out your once in a lifetime fantasy in a 2010 Ford Mustang. All you have to do is follow this link and tell them what you want to do in 250 words or less and you could be one of 6 lucky people chosen actully live out their once in a lifetime opportunity.

I found an intresting article over at www.rpmgo.com. Turns out that if you do the math Tesla Motors is now worth more that General Motors. Say what?! Yup you see it works like this. Daimler paid a cool $50 million for a 9% stake in Tesla Motors. If you multiply that you get $550 million dollars. And seeing as GM’s stock prices are still hovering around the dollar bill mark (as in one George Washington) that means Tesla is worth more. So that means one of two things, either GM is at an all time low or Daimler is pretty dumb. But I think I shall take a third option. GM is at an all time low, and Daimler is dumb. We all know why GM is sucking it up right now, but the Daimler thing takes a bit of explaining. Daimler paid $50 million dollars, for a company that has sold todat around 450 cars. Each at around $100K. So if I whip out my handy calculator we can see that Tesla Motors has done a total of 45 million dollars in revenue and they just managed to sell 9% of their company to Daimler for 5 million dollars more than their entire revenue. Talk about getting to wool pulled over your eyes. Poor Daimler never saw it comming.

For the love of God why does VW keep all the cool cars in Europe?!This drives me nuts! Incase it wasn’t bad enough that the Scirocco isn’t comming to the U.S., Volkswagen  is releaseing the R20T.  Well wait just a second, I just happend to find this little article on How Stuff Works.

Here’s an excerpt:

It’s not a done deal yet, but VW’s new sporty compact coupe may be coming to America after all. With GTI spirit and sexier style, the reborn Scirocco should be a bona fide European driving machine with good fuel economy and a reasonable price.

Regardless to whether or not this bad boy is due to hit the States, the Scirocco has a 2.0L 4 cylinder pumping out around 200hp. Not to mention it’s beautiful. But then agian I’m a tad partial to the hot hatch segment and the Scirocco is one hot hatch. The R20T is rumored to be powered by the same 265hp 2.0L 4 cylinder found in the Audi TT-S. Which leads one to wonder if the Scirocco would inherit the Audi’s all wheel drive system?

The R20T may be making it’s debut at the 24 hours of the Nurburgring. Which if you are unsure what that is, it’s possibly the best race track int he world. And you can drive it when ever you like, so long as you care to fly to Germany.

SWEET JEBUS! The Mustang 5.0 will live again! Or at least it is rumored to be in the works. According to Jalopnik Ford will replacing the current range of v-8 engines in the F-150 with the new 5.0L Coyote V-8 which will be shared with the Mustang. What makes me all giddy inside is the fact that the block is supposed to made out of aluminum and the intake manifold is as well! No more plastic intake! Awesomeness!

It looks like Nissian has plans to drop the drive train its developing for the Infinity M35 in the 370z. Finally some one has been listening to the crys of gear heads like me that want a hybrid sports car! 

Though it seems like the new hybrid Z may have a bit of a weird clutch going on. It’s rumored to be a dual clutch, but it’s not like the dual clutch gear boxes we’ve been seeing in recen years. Supposedly there’s a clutch for each motor. Even with a funky clutch this promisses to be a sweet ride. 370z performance with Honda Civic fuel milage.

If these rumors are accurate, expect the fuel-saving sports car to be equipped with a lithium ion battery from corporate partner NEC that feeds power to a lone electric motor sandwhiched between the Z’s 3.7-liter VQ V6 engine and transmission. The dual-headed powertrain is reportedly expected to achieve 35 miles per gallon on the mixed cycle, though those are likely Japanese figures that don’t often jive with U.S. EPA numbers.

-AutoBlog.com

The Beast a 2009 Euro Spec Ford Fiesta

Have you driven the Fiesta? Then tell us about it! We want everyone who has driven The Beast, that’s what we named our Fiesta, or if you’ve drive another agents Fiesta we want to here about that too! And if you’re an agent then we defiantly want to hear from you too! Basically, we want to hear from any and every one who has driven the Fiesta. Tell us what you think about it. What did Ford get right? What do you think needs to be changed for the Fiesta to be better suited to the U.S. market?

Thats right we’re on the news! Miss Vanessa Brown did an awesome piece on us and the Fiesta Movement for KDAF.

Tell us what you think! We’ll also be on her show, DFW Close Up, Sunday at 7am.

I am truly speechless…

I want one!  Rather, I want the engine!  Rumor has it that the all new for 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee will be nicely equipt with the long awaited 6.4L Hemi, putting out at least 505 horsepower and 510 lbs-ft of torque.  This engine is expected to trickle through to other SRT8 models such as the Dodge Charger, Challenger, and Chysler 300.  Along with the awesome engine upgrade, the Cherokee SRT8 will also be updated with a lower, sportier suspension, larger rotors and brakes, and a cold air induction system utilizing a cowl air hood, though in the rendering there is a ram air hood.  Go figure.

Yes he did, all by himself with absolutley no help from me. So this time I can honestly say, “I blame Nick!” Three days ago he some how screwedup the background image trying to upload his avatar to the site.

Why he was trying to upload an avatar when we use gravatars I don’t know. Nor do I quite understand why the button marked upload background image apparently reads change my avatar in Nick Land. But regardless he broke the site and I have yet to figure out exactly how he did it. So until then you get to stare at my feet. hope you enjoy them!

As said in the title, the Cadillac Converj Concept is largely that, a Volt.  Well, in all fareness, the Converj is a Volt powertrain in a really really really nice luxury package.  As with the Volt, the Converj utilizeds the latest electic motor design.  220 lithium ion batteries power the 270 lbs-ft torque electric motor.  A tiny gas engine, regenerative braking, and solar panels keep all those batteries charged.  We’ll let you know later how big your pocket book needs to be to get one as soon as we find out.

Does anybody really care to hear about the ugly puddle of  crap that GM is becoming.  GM will be closing 1,700 more dealerships in the coming months.  Supposedly, a dealer needs to sell roughly 1,000 vehicles in a year to stay profitable.  They currently have 6,500 dealerships, requiring them to sell about 6.5 million vehicles per year.  They only sell about 2 million annually, enough to sustain around 2,000 dealers.  In a nut shell, there you go.

So I was talking with the guys over at Dynamat on twitter the other day and they gave me permission to show our listeners this…

Now that my friends is freaking sweet! I think I have a new favorite hotrod. They’ll be releasing more photos over at www.dynamat.com so be sure and check them out. Their sound deadening stuff rocks too. I used it in my trunk and it killed about 30% of the road noise in my ’08 eclispe. Now I just got to get the cash together to buy the material to do the rest of my ride.

So twitter has been full of fiesta agent woes over the manual transmission in the Fiesta. I could have sworn one of the first thing they asked me on the phone was “Are you comfortable drive a manual transmission?” To which my reply was “Hells yes! And I’d prefer it if the car was a manual.” But it appears some of my fellow agents are a tad rusty with their up shifts and down shifts, so I though I’d help them out. Here’s a video from ehow.com show you guys how to drive a stick.

How to Drive a Car with Manual Transmission — powered by eHow.com

Today’s reason for loving the near perfect british auto maker is the 2010 Vantage V12.  Once again Aston Martin has created a work of art, inside and out.  This model will boast a 6.0 liter V12 putting out 510hp and 420 lbs-ft of torque.  She’ll do 0-60 in 4.2 seconds and will top out at 190 mph.  If that’s not enough for you, they utilized todays usefullness of carbon fiber to lighten the car to about 3,700 lbs.  Unfortunetely, sense the Vantage is not the most road-hugging car aerodynamicaly, Aston Martin had to redesign the stability control program to keep her down.   To me, it’s unstability just means it’s that much more exciting!

It’s a tad after 1 am and we just got done with Hot Import Nights. Not at all what I was expecting. Way to many ricer civics there. There were only about 10-15 cars there that were really well done. It was nothing like we saw on TV. We were told that it was because the Austin show is not a big as the rest of the HIN tour. Regardless fun was had by all. There was some some crazy guys flipping dirt bikes, and a Formula Drift competition. Not only that but we met some really hot NOS girls, and an awesome sargent in the National Guard who built the car pictured here. Sargent Ashby was nice enough to gives us a really good interview we’ll be uploading in the next couple of days. We also got to meet a bunch of other really cool car nuts who will hopefully be joining us here. All in all it wasn’t what we expected, but we still had a blast, met some awesome people, and got to get really drunk down on 6th street last night. Pretty damn good way to spend a weekend if I do say so myself. now all that’s left is the drive home in the morning.

 I don’t get it. I was just poking around over at Autoblog yesterday and I found this.

When the next step in the road to 35 mpg by 2020 CAFE standards was announced recently, those in the know made it clear that the Obama administration’s upcoming goal of 27.3 mpg by 2011 would not be hard for automakers to meet. In fact, the 2007 average was already 31.3, so the 2011 goal would not require any change in product lineup (more difficult changes are scheduled to come into effect down the line). The 2011 standards were so light, in fact, that the Center for Biological Diversity took the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Department of Transportation to court last week, saying that the Obama administration’s standards “ignore greenhouse gas emissions and the climate crisis, are illogical, illegal, and very disappointing from a president who has promised to make the United States a leader in the fight against global warming.”

Not something I was expecting out of the same administration that wants to tax carbon emissions… Wait, never mind, this makes perfect sense now…

On a slightly less political note. Let’s take a look at the Proposed CAFE standards for fuel economy for a minute.

The EU, as expected has by far the highest standards, and Japan is pushing a close second. And surprisingly enough China has set their standard at 35 mpg in 2009 and it doesn’t look like it’s moving. Australia, Canada, S.Korea, all have 30+ mpg standards already. Seems to me that the U.S. is the only one lagging behind. And we are pretty damn far behind.

California seems to be ahead of the rest of the country….wait… what?… WHY THE HELL IS CALIFORNIA ON THIS LIST!!!!! Now I am more in-line with their view on fuel mileage as I see no reason why manufactures should be waiting until 2020 to clear the 35 mpg average on their new cars in the U.S when they are already producing fuel efficient cars for other parts of the world (Japan and the EU already receive cars with an average of 40mpg). But California is a state not a country, or as in the case of the EU a group of nations, and as such should have no ability to regulate cars that are NOT PRODUCED IN THEIR STATE. (My GoogleFu could find no major manufactures that produced cars in California. Please note that I said major. Tesla is not a major manufacture.)

Back on topic. So why are we lagging so far behind in fuel economy? The technology currently exists to produce more fuel efficient cars. Europe already has them. So why are our standards so low? Cheep gas. Yup that’s right cheep gas. So long as our fuel prices stay so much under what the rest of the world is paying we will continue to drive large gas guzzling cars. (And by we I mean the collective SUV driving soccer moms of the country) Don’t get me wrong I love the throaty roar of a big displacement v8, but I also realize that most drivers will never even use the power that a modestly tuned 4 banger can put down.

As proof I offer this: Most of you know my daily driver is a 2008 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS, you know the one with the 4 cylinder, and I drive it like I stole it. It’s plenty fast for every day street use, it’s a hoot to drive, and it gets almost 30 mpg.

Want something even quicker? You’ve got the Subaru WRX, VW GTI, the Evo, Cobalt SS and yes even Honda has something to offer in the Civic Si. That’s just off the top of my head. But you notice how there’s only one U.S car in the list? That’s becuase all the really cool feather weight hodrods we have to offer live in Europe. Cars like the Ford Focus RS, The Fiesta  Zetec S, and GM’s just came up with the Spark concept, but it is destined for Europe.

So Americans can produce a good small car, we just don’t sell them here. But the Big Three are aim to fix that little issue, with Ford leading the way in 2010.

Click to View the Rest of the Fiesta Gallery at Autoblog

Looks like the guys over at autoblog got first dibbs on the 2011 Ford Fiesta that were shipped in from Germany for the Fiesta Movement.  Ford was kind enough to let them spend an hour with one tooling around the streets of Manhattan, New York. You can read the full article here. Or click on the image to see the gallery of photos they took.

Ok so last week Vauxhall announced that they have been in colaboration with some famous shoe designer in Brittan (Jonathan Kelsey) to come up with a line of designer accessories for their cars, including a silk steering wheel cover. And GM wonders why it’s going out of business? I mean seriously. Silk steering wheel covers? How about building a better steering wheel instead of covering a crap one with more crap!

But not to be out done, Hyundai anounced than it was partnering with Parda to make special edition Genesis Sedan. We now have definitive proof that Korean cars are the devil, because we all know that the devil wears Prada. Although I have to say I do like the matt finish on the paint.

For some reason Russian’s hate fast cars. The Owner of Spyker, the Dutch auto manufacture responsible for the absolutely gorgeous C8, survived an assassination attempt in Russia last week. He was shot 5 times in the stomach and once in the finger. I’m pretty sure he lost the finger.

yup thats right we are in desperate need of your help! You see we just got our entry in for the ford fiesta movment. www.fiestamovment.com. and we really need help getting views and comments for our video since these weight pretty heavy in ford decision to give us the car for six months. This could be a huge break for us! so we’re trying to get all of our friends from across the interweb to stop by our youtube channel and comment / rate our video!

you can stop by our channel at www.youtube.com/burnoutradio.

Sorry ladies, but this doesn’t help your case for being good drivers.

fanboys

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Millionaire Yari Bar recently received a speeding ticket that would make most people bankrupt trying to pay.  While out for an afternoon drive in Siiligarvi, Finland, Mr. Bar got clocked doing 82 km/h in a 60 km/h zone.  Apparently, in Finland, the price of the ticket is based on a percentage of your daily income. That percentage is detemined by how much  you were going over the speed limit. For Yari Bar, that ticket comes to a grand total of $143,196 in US currency. Ouch!