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Spumy Flinders! Dan Neil on the 599 Fiorano
In the video accompanying his review of the Ferrari 599, Se or Neil mentions that in a past life as a rock writer, he once interviewed Anthrax. He then proceeded to call them numbskulls. How can the band that recorded Among the Living and Persistence of Time possibly be a group of numbskulls? True, they did also record Fistful of Metal, an album that featured the lines, "I got thunder in my hands! I'm Metal Thrashing Maaaaaaaaaaaad!" So he could be correct. Regardless, Neil posits that the Fiorano is simply the best front-engined sports car ever made; a calling it a machine that will blow your mind to "spumy flinders." You okay over there, Dan? More »
news
No Klingon Love Poetry: Dan Neil on the Toyota Yaris
Yes, us oldsters still read the newspaper. This largely due to the fact that time is indeed marching on. Holding onto a bit of previously read pulpy words and pictures while sweating away at the gym always seems like a practical use of what time is left. Fellow gym goers likely thought marbles had been permanently lost witnessing this blog goon laughing out loud while reading Neil's take on the cheapest and tiniest of the current Toyota fleet. Neil also riffs on Klingons, Frank Sinatra, and an troublesome echo from Detroit that may be bouncing back to haunt the perhaps soon-to-be numero uno automaker. More »
news
It's Completely Mad: Clarkson on the Lamborghini LP640
That Jeremy Clarkson writes about cars by writing about other cars is about as predictable as an iron-gray sky and slight drizzle over Leeds. But even ol' Jezzah must have broken the soft-launch threshold in his latest Times piece. He doesn't mention the subject Lamborghini LP640 by name before word 786. And then, he lambastes its smart all-wheel-drive setup as "such a dim-witted set-up that you're usually going backwards before it's noticed the rear has lost traction." But in the end, with about a score of words left, he compares the alacantara steering wheel to dog fur and evokes the name of M torhead's Lemmy. And it's a positive review. Like digging for sushi-grade clams, this one. More »
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Dan Neil on the XKR
The most recent iteration of Jaguar's legendary XK line has been divisive at the very least. Some call it beautiful. Some cry "Ovoid Taurus" and others "carp." In his review of Jag's uprated GT car, Dan Neil admits to not being sure about the XK at first, but begins to warm to its design, commenting, "Maybe the effect is less aerodynamic than Jungian: This is the shape of a coveted thing slipping through your fingers." And while we argree that the 3/4 view of the car is quite nice, from head on, it still looks like a hip-hop-obsessed lamprey chugged a 40 of pure quinine. More »
news
Clarkson on the Evo IX
Los Jalopniks have only ever experienced the American-spec Evo (Farago likely excepted). One of us owned one. Another one of us thinks it's the greatest AWD car a man of average means could aspire to own, one would rather have a Jeep Liberty, and another would rather drive a hatchback and thinks another of us is slightly loony for saying that we would rather have an a souped-up Mitsu than an RS 4. More »
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Clarkson on the 599 GTB Fiorano
Los Jalopniks have yet to get our hands on a 599 GTB. But we oh, oh, oh, oh so desperately want to. So far, C/D has crashed one, we have drooled over it from Geneva to Pebble Beach to Paris to LA, and now Clarkson weighs in on the Enzo-engined bruiser, As is his wont, he rips the hyperbux GT a new one, complaining that the headlights are no more effective than "candles in jam jars," among other things before succumbing to its charms, commenting "After just three days the power and the excess that had originally caused me to question this car were now causing me to drool and dribble." We wanna expectorate on our chins too. Please? More »
news
Inside Line Drives the Evo IX
There is a part of us that thinks that the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo might possibly be the greatest car available today. Its performance belies its price. If you haven't been in one, get in one. Sure, the styling borders on the retarded and the interior is sheer crap. But Sweet Jesus on a Turbonique pogo stick in minimal-gravity conditions, once you're in the wheel, you simply don't care. You don't care about the dorky wing. You don't care about the chintzy plastics. All you care about is that this hypertuned shitbox goes, stops and turns like very little on the road today. And all of those cars cost way more money. More »
commentary
Why Mitsubishi Deserves a Second Chance in America
Yes, we all know that Mitsu is a somewhat beleagured brand these days. But they did give us the mighty Starion, the totally underrated Mirage Turbo hatchback, and of course, the nothing-short-of-obscenely miraculous Lancer Evo. Paukert drove the upcoming Lancer on some winding roads near Santa Barbara recently, and seemed to like it just fine. But that doesn't matter. Without Mitsubishi, we wouldn't have Super Active Yaw Control, Mitsubishi Innovative Valve-timing-and-lift Electronic Control or, most importantly, SUPER POTENTIAL!. There, Mitsubishi, we just came up with your new tagline: Super. Innovative. Mitsubishi. Check's in the mail? Great, thanks. Business doing potential with you. More »
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The Short Life and Sad Death of the Acura RSX
Acura is a strange brand. Only now is Honda beginning to figure out what they want it to be, and as the Civic has moved upmarket, it's edged out its more sophisticated cousin. Production ended this summer but there are still a number of them left on dealer lots. We've always liked the RSX, which seemed more grown-up and less boy-raceresque than its predecessor, the Integra. TTAC's Bill Montgomery, with whom we crunched terrain in the FJ Cruiser last month, pens a mash note to the little coupe. Czech it, and then pour out a 40 of Old E for our departed friend. More »
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Clarkson On the Alfa-Romeo Brera
You stateside types might think the Brera is a pretty car. You might even wipe a bit of drool from your chin looking at pictures of it. You might even be praying nightly for its arrival on these shores. But the sheer beauty of this car needs to be seen in the metal to be appreciated. Alfa simply has the best-looking lineup of cars of any company in the world right now. When we walked their display in Paris, we couldn't find a styling dud in the bunch. The 8C Competizione is the dead-sexiest exotic since the Miura, and it's possibly less likely to catch fire. There. We said it. More »
news: test drives
Rental Car Reacharound: Toyota RAV4
As a frequent business traveler and a Hertz Gold Member I've had my share of Fusions, Mustangs and Tauruses (Taurii?). On a recent trip to the Bay Area I was surprised to see a utility-company-white 2006 Toyota RAV4 parked in space #312 at San Jose's Norman Y. Mineta International Airport. My company requires employees to rent at least a midsize vehicle, and occasionally Hertz has upgraded me to a full-size SUV or convertible. I guess this is one of the few times one could classify a mini-SUV as a midsize vehicle. More »
news
Edmunds Crash-Tests the Jeep Commander
Thankfully, Inside Line's Kelly Toepke and her husband Barry escaped this wreck with a few broken bones and their six-year-old daughter was fine. In an attempt to avoid a spinning Forester smacked by an alleged hoon, Barry ended up driving the long-term test Commander onto a grass median and into a tree. Interestingly the Toepkes' injuries (a broken ankle for him and multiple fractures in her foot) were caused by the engine coming back through the firewall, which freaks us out a little bit. Meanwhile the po-po are still looking for the hoon, who left the scene. Facking 'oun. More »
news: test drives
Mass Displacement: PistonHeads Drives the Weineck Cobra
What do you get when you stick an Englishman behind the wheel of a berzerker German interpretation of an iconic American adaptation of a British sports car? How do you handle an English country lane in roadster with 12.9 liters of V8 (780 ci) under the hood, a billet crankshaft the size of Martin Short and more torque than the 7th Armored Division? Do they even make wheels (that aren't steel and set atop rails) that can handle nearly 1,300 ft.-lbs of torque? So many questions. PistonHeads' Ian Kuah has some of the answers. [Thanks to CJ for the tip.] More »
news: test drives
Rental Car Reacharound: 2007 Dodge Caliber
On a recent trip to Reno, I was "upgraded" to a 2007 Dodge Caliber by the good folks at Enterprise. (Having reserved an economy-class car, I was surprised that they would call the Caliber something other than that.) Approaching the car, my wife actually said it was "cute." I was expecting her to hate it, given Dodge itself calls the Caliber "Anything But Cute." I thought she'd much prefer the curvier Jeep Compass (which essentially is Pat to the Caliber's Hans and/or Franz). Fortunately, they didn't have a Jeep Compass on the lot. More »
news: test drives
Test-Drive Video: Crikey, the Holden VE Commodore SS-V
Our mild obsession with / jealousy of Australians' access to muscle cars continues with a video from Drive.com.au of the Holden VE Commodore SS-V carving up the Holden test track in Victoria, with one of the company's engineers at the helm. Nine'een inch wheels, big V8, a lotta fun to drive. Roight! More »
news: test drives
Herefore Art Thou: First Drive of the Holden Commodore VE SS-V
What does a billion bucks buy you? If you're GM's Aussie Holden division, it's a kiss on the cheek from the 6.0-liter V8 gods and a rear-drive platform that will affect many more of the General's products. Not enough? It'll also buy into production the Commodore VE SS-V, one of those distinctly Australian muscle cars that does more to get Americans scratching their heads than two seasons of "My Fair Brady." Why, we ask, do we — the freaking muscle-car capital of the world (if we might be so bold) — not get similar machines in the states? Don't give me business-case reasons — give me cars. Aussie Drive lets us know what we're missing. More »
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