I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, being an automotive journalist has it’s privileges, well… most of the time anyway. The guys at Motor Trend Magazine have been reviewing cars since 1949 so while we here at Ridelust.com are jealous that they got to beat the hell out of the new Mercedes Benz SLS, the V10 Audi R8 and the Porsche 911 Turbo we have to say that they’ve definitely earned the right. What we have here are three of the best super cars in existence with three very different engine configurations. The Mercedes Benz SLS for example sports a traditional front engine rear drive layout, the Audi is mid-engine and the Porsche a rear mounted engine (I still don’t know how they get that too work). The Motor Trend guys not only got to drive these beauties but managed to get the California Highway Patrol to close down a really nice section of road so that the boys could go play.
Now I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call this video a comparison test in as much as I’d call it a symphony of engineering wonder. There is very little talking, loads of driving and most importantly the wonderful exhaust note of three of the best automobiles on the planet.
At this stage of the game the Audi TT is starting to feel a bit dated with the first versions of the little roadster coming out in 1998. In those 12 years the TT has developed a wonderful following and helped owners enjoy the experience of some good old fashion open top cruising. Audi is now working on an all new sports car called the R4 and to be honest, it’s pretty cool. Keep in mind that the R4 has NOT been touted as a replacement for the TT, but one look should tell you that the TT’s days may in fact be numbered. The mid-engine coupe will sit upon an entirely new chassis that was conceptualized on the VW BlueSport roadster concept car. An all electric R4 is also said to be in development and based on the Audi E-Tron’s concept car. Power will most likely come from a version VW’s 2.0-liter TFSI engine.
Automobile manufactures have been advertising for years on television, in magazines and on the internet. They do anything and everything they can to bring us in a little closer so that in the end, we may feel some kind of connection with their product. The utilize music, high production values, top directors and even enlist the help of psychologists so that they may better tap into the human psyche. For them a car commercial isn’t just about selling you a car, but selling you a lifestyle, a thought process and more importantly confidence and self-esteem. For the most part we are used to seeing commercials for normal everyday automobiles like a Honda Accord, Nissan Maxima or a Ford Taurus, but what about the big guns of the automotive world, what about the super cars? Believe it or not automobile manufactures have spent millions on getting you to believe in their heritage and what they’ve done for the automotive society as a whole. I know it sounds hokey, but believe me when I tell you it’s the truth. Take a look at the following commercials and I think you’ll see what I mean.
As I sat on my couch the other day filling my head with boob-tube nourishment I came upon a channel that was showcasing rally cars of the past, specifically the Group-B rally cars that were produced from 1982-1986. These cars were some of the fastest and most powerful rally cars ever created and because of this (and a few deaths) there were outlawed after only four years. Formed in 1982 Group-B cars had very few restrictions placed on them and were in a sense, a designers wet dream. They could be as light and as fast as you could make them and with no restriction on horsepower levels these cars would push the boundaries of both man and machine. Below is a video showcase of what most consider to be the top 10 Group-B rally cars ever produced.
Does everyone in your family drive an Audi at your insistence? Can you never get enough of merchandise with the four-ring logo emblazoned on it? Do you have a vacant spot in your game room for a world-class foosball table? If you answered ‘yes’ to all of these questions, I’ve got some good news for you: Audi’s design team is releasing a limited edition, hand-built foosball table designed to meet the rigors of international competition. Each Audi logo’d table features a brushed aluminum frame offset by a white painted body. The flowing lines of the table were built to meet tournament rules, and even the Chairman of the Bavarian Table Soccer Association showed enthusiasm unusual for a German official by saying, “…this is a very good table. From a sporting point of view, it could certainly be used for an official tournament series”. Lofty praise, indeed.
According to Wikipedia acronyms are: Abbreviations that are formed using the initial components in a phrase or name. We here at Ridelust.com began to think about these acronyms and how they’ve related to certain automobile manufacturers over the years. In the end we came to the conclusion that just about every one of them has had a few shots taken at them over the years, so we decided to compile as many as we could and post them up. Now I know we didn’t get all of them, so if you guys have any new ones feel free to throw them up in the comments section and add we’ll them to the list.
Sometimes a weekend comes together in a fashion that just makes you smile. Here in New York I have a select group of buddies that I’ve been driving with for years. We have a set routine of waking up at the crack of dawn, meeting up at a rendezvous point, going for a nice spirited drive through the hills of upstate NY and CT and then hitting someplace that serves heart exploding meals for breakfast. As I hadn’t seen my friends in awhile I thought it may be a good idea to get together. The emails went out and we ended up setting a meeting place for 7am Saturday morning. There were only seven cars but together we made up a nice eclectic group of road going hardware.
It’s clear by now that the planet doesn’t have an endless supply of dino-juice buried underground, and recent events in the Gulf of Mexico show what happens when something goes wrong pulling the remaining stuff out from under the sea. The writing is on the wall, boys and girls: the days of 400 horsepower hoon-mobiles that get eight miles to the gallon are numbered.
If you’re an enthusiast who also wants to save the planet, you’re options are limited. Sure, there’s the Tesla Roadster and the Commuter Cars Tango T600, but both are expensive and the Tango is just plain weird. Plus, you can’t hop in either one and do a trip from New York to California without recharging every hundred miles or so; in other words, electric cars haven’t yet reached the practicality of their internal combustion counterparts.
If you were into cars in the 1980′s you’ll remember that times were tough. Performance numbers were in the toilet, as were most of the cars themselves. I was in high school out on Long Island’s north shore and back then and I remember my high school parking lot very clearly. IROC Camaro’s, old Trans Am’s, Datsun 210′s and old Mustangs filled the lot. As high school kids we took anything we could get our hands on and simply ran with it. Hell, I remember my first car… it was a 1981 Mercury Capri that my Aunt gave me. It was blue, rusty and had 4 different tires on it, but it ran and back then that was all that mattered.
The 1980′s were filled with a fair amount of automotive atrocities, but if you looked hard enough there actually were some bright spots. Listed below are 10 rays of sunshine that helped shed some light on an otherwise miserable automotive decade.
Shooting brakes or station wagons as most people like to call them, are apparently the newest trend amongst high end automakers. The concept here is actually quite simple and one that has been around since the 1940′s. Take one normal everyday car, extend the roof line so you have loads more space in the back behind the rear seats and then sell it to the public. In America we call these station wagons, but on the other side of the pond they’ve dubbed them “Shooting Brakes”, and thus use it as an excuse to charge more money. Bentley has the Flying Star Touring, Mercedes has the CLS concept and now, photoshop guru Theophilus Chin has thrown Audi into the mix with his rendering of an RS5 Shooting Brake.
