RideLust

Mike Ryan knows a thing or two about going fast in semi trucks: he is, after all, the nine time Pike’s Peak class winner in his custom built Freghtliner race truck. Despite the fact that the truck weighs in at 5 tons, it’ll still turn a 13.2 quarter mile, thanks to the 14.7 liter, compound-turbo Detroit Diesel engine that puts out some 1,950 horsepower. In its current gearing, the truck will top out around 108 miles per hour, but you get the feeling it’s capable of much more with shorter gears. Not bad for an oil burning inline six.

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I guess it’s true when they say that, “necessity is the mother of invention”, but I have to wonder what this guy was thinking when he pulled this stunt. Isn’t it funny how we sometimes throw caution to the wind in an effort to get from Point A to Point B. I know in my past I may have done some less than favorable things on the road, things that I look back on now and think, “WTF was a I thinking?” This guy though, he’s taking it to an all new level. Apparently the tire on his trailer blew out and instead of waiting for a spare, he figured he’d just show some initiative and wedge a birch tree under the trailers axle. The scary part is, that the trailer is actually towing straight and true. Now while I don’t condone behavior like this, I do have to hand it to this guy for thinking outside the box.

Source: Streetfire.net

The correct answer is 5,000 pounds when properly equipped, which is enough to meet the needs of 99.6% of Explorer owners per Ford’s own research. Coincidentally, that weight also translates to $2.3 million in one-dollar bills, when loaded onto an open trailer. As the narrator of the video demonstrates, the 2011 Ford Explorer also has reasonably good acceleration when towing 5,000 pounds, and can be equipped with trailer sway control to ensure that whatever you’re towing stays behind you.

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Spy photo’s of the upcoming 2012 Porsche 911 have been floating around for awhile now. The new car is set to debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2011 and will mark the seventh generation of Porsche’s fabled super car. Details are still somewhat scarce, but according to WorldCarFans.com the new car is said to possess some pretty substantial changes over its predecessor. From what we can see in the photos Porsche looks to have updated the front end with smaller headlamps and fog lamps similar to those found on the current generation 911 Turbo. The car is also said to be 2.2-inches longer and .5-inches lower at the roof line as well.
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Chevy has provided first responder training on the Volt. Photo: © GM Corp.

It’s official: the first Volt to be binned was taken out by a 2005 Ford Explorer, whose driver was “distracted while reaching for a cell phone”. The 24 year old woman behind the wheel of the Explorer hit the Volt from behind at speed, which resulted in minor injuries to her 2 year old son when his safety seat failed. No injuries were reported to either driver involved in the incident, which occurred in Linden, Michigan. Since Volts have gone on sale in Michigan, it isn’t known if the Volt driver purchased the car or was driving a loaner vehicle. It also wasn’t clear if the driver of the Explorer was ticketed for the accident, but let me go on record as saying, “I sure as hell hope so.”

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PRO’s: Great ride, wonderful handling, massive amounts of room for the entire family and or entourage.

CON’s: Cramped drivers cabin, only partially adjusting steering wheel, high price.

FINAL THOUGHT: A full size American built luxury SUV, that can hang tough with the world’s best.

It’s over 18 feet long, has up to 137 cubic feet of cargo space and with an interior that rivals most high end luxury sedans, it’s one of the nicest SUV’s on the planet. Meet the 2011 Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum, the Big Dog of American SUV luxury. When I first picked this baby up from GM’s Manhattan storage facility my first thought was – Dear God is this sucker big, but as you’ll see, its size can be very deceiving. The Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum makes no bones about its in-your-face styling and the fact that it dwarfs everything else in the SUV world. It’s a favorite amongst celebrities, athletes and or anyone who wants to make a statement. As for me, I was just amazed at how good it actually was for its size.
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Drunk driving. Street racing. Texting and driving. What do these three things have in common? Aside from the fact that participants always believe they’re skilled enough to get by without having an accident or getting ticketed, they’re all behaviors that can get you (or someone else) killed. AT&T has really stepped up to the plate with this video, which shows the tragic results of four texting and driving accidents. The question is this: will the video, as well as efforts by the NHTSA, do any good? Sadly, I think the answer is no.

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With the average price of regular fuel in the United States teetering around $3.15 per gallon I got to wondering if die-hard car enthusiasts would change their buying habits. My daily driver for instance gets a whopping combined mileage of about 15 mpg. Obviously it’s not the most efficient vehicle on the planet, but as a performance vehicle I make the compromise to pay more at the pump so I can have more fun on the road. There are however times that filling up my tank to the tune of $60.00 does make me reconsider my choice in vehicles. This week for instance I happen to be driving around in a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, a car that gets about 35 mpg on the highway. It’s a car that gets economy car mileage, but one that doesn’t feel like an economy car.
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Slow, panning shots of the Ferrari 458 Italia, from multiple angles. Footage of the car in red, white, yellow or two-toned paint. Scenes of carbon fiber panels being manufactured, coupled with close-up shots of carbon fiber panels. Beauty shots of the leather and Alcantara seats, which blend the ultimate in comfort with the ultimate in support for aggressive driving. All set to a soothing electronic soundtrack, guaranteed not to offend anyone. Technically, it’s a video that shows the customization options available to buyers of the Ferrari 458 Italia, but we know better. This is car porn, solo car porn to be exact, and it doesn’t get better than this.

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Believe it or not, but there was actually a time in my life when I took art pretty seriously. I would spend days at places like the MOMA and the Whitney Museum in New York City, just walking around taking it all in. It was a great way to kill some time as it would provoke emotion and help get my creative juices flowing. Some art however I simply don’t get. Take this video piece that shows us a half-naked girl in a knitted bikini bottom riding an old clapped-out Vespa. The piece was done for a company called Insight Clothing who sells garments that make you look like a borderline homeless person, or a hipster from Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It’s pretty obvious that the director put his own spin on the naked chick motorcycle scene from the movie Vanishing Point.
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