RideLust

Thumbs Up: Kurt: The best front-drive hot hatch currently on the market. Mike: Yeah, what he said…

Thumbs Down: Limited rear seat leg room. Mike: Interior may be a little too over-stylized for some people.

Buy This Car If: You want a blend of entertaining and practical, and don’t need the rear legroom. Mike: OR if you’ve got a teenager at home, your car is boring, and you want something that’s a pisser to drive on weekends.

Kurt: In the time it took for Ford to bring the eagerly-anticipated Focus ST hot hatch to market in the United States, you could have gotten married, had a few kids, put them through college and started to eat into your retirement savings – or so it seemed. Some two years elapsed between the confirmation that the car would come to the United States (delivered at the 2010 Paris Motor Show) and the car’s actual appearance in 2012 as a 2013 model. Delay after delay after delay seemed to plague the 2013 Ford Focus ST, which begs the question: was it worth the wait?

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As the host of TUNED on Youtube’s DRIVE Network, Matt Farah is lucky enough to get behind the wheel of some of the baddest cars in the United States. He’s driven everything from the Hennessey Venom GT, to a widen Lotus Exige that would make most folks soil themselves. This episode however is different, because this week Matt climbs into a modified Ford Raptor pickup truck powered by an itty-bitty V6 (the Ecoboost) with a big-ass turbo on it. Click through and check it out.

Source: Youtube.com/DRIVE

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Not long ago we brought you the first part of Car and Driver’s Lightning Lap comparison featuring the 2013 Ford Focus ST, Hyundai Genesis 3.8 R-Spec, Subaru BRZ and Fiat 500 Abarth. Well, now it’s time for Part II, or the LL2 Class. This class features cars costing from $30,000 to $59,999 and include such vehicles as the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Camaro SS 1LE and the BMW 335i Sport Line. Click through to see who came out on top and let us know what you think!

Source: Youtube.com

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Back in the late 1960′s and early 1970′s, before shows like Motorweek or publications like Road and Track, there was this guy – Bud Lindemann of Car & Track Productions. Bud gave us the first full-on road tests of many of our favorite automobiles. However every now and again he’d veer off into space and throw in something fun, something like this 1973 Winnebego. His reviews, although good, were still pretty tongue and cheek and thus gained him a pretty loyal following. Check out his review of this behemoth after the jump and you’ll see why.

Source: Streetfire.net

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PRO’s: 662 hp / 631 lb.ft. of torque, all day burnouts and power-slides, the perma-grin it puts on your face every time you drive it.

CON’s: Fuel economy, severe lack of traction, super stiff suspension in sport mode.

FINAL THOUGHT: I fear the 2013 Shelby GT500 is the last of the true muscle cars. Yes things must evolve (IRS rear, coil over suspension, etc..) but I’m glad Ford just said “F*CK IT” and built this thing anyway.

Balls, brawn and f*ck you; the three key ingredients that make up the 2013 Shelby GT500. Over the years Shelby Mustangs have gone through various configurations. When first released back in 1966, the GT 350 was a full-on performance car with a take-no-prisoners attitude and the grunt to back it up. However by the time the 1969-70 models came out, the trend had moved from full-on performance to more personal luxury. The same can be said for those models introduced from 2007 all the way up to 2010. Yes they were fast, and yes they had power, but in the end there was always something missing from the formula.

Enter the 2013 Shelby GT500, a car that grabbed some DNA from the original ’66 GT350 and then shot it up with an overdose of steroids thanks to the boys from SVT.

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The 1968 Dodge Charger and the 1969 Dodge Daytona. Two cars based off the same platform with very different personalities. These two old sleds are different though, ’cause well, they belong to me (your host) and they’re the reason that BIG MUSCLE exists today. These are not show ponies, cruisers or weekend projects, but two warhorses that have been run in some of the toughest long distance and performance events in the United States. Built for reliability, power and performance, they are not technological marvels, but old school resto-mods that have been updated for one reason and one reason only – to put smiles on the faces of all those who see them.

Source: Youtube.com/DRIVE

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The 1950 Chevrolet 3100 Series pickup is the quintessential American farm truck. However, after Craig Morrison of Art Morrison Enterprises found it languishing in someone’s front yard, this little farm truck went from all-slo, to all-go. The original chassis was removed in favor of a new GT Sport bolt-on unit, as was the original Chevy straight-six engine. In its place sits a new GM Performance Parts crate motor with EFI injection that’s coupled to a Hughes Performance 4L60E automatic transmission. With the original paint and interior still intact, this old truck has been given a new lease on life while still retaining all the heritage that made it great over 60 years ago.

Source: Youtube.com/DRIVE

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Thumbs Up: Much better put together than Chrysler convertibles past.

Thumbs Down: Interior is on the bland side, not much fun to drive.

Buy This Car If: You want an affordable, four-passenger convertible.

Chrysler has not always been known for assembling solidly-built four-seat convertibles. Back in the LeBaron convertible days, we literally had rental cars shed interior pieces as we drove. The Sebring convertible was a step in the right direction, since it had less cowl shake than the LeBaron and stayed screwed together throughout every rental car experience we had behind the wheel, though we never really warmed up to its sub-standard ride or interior. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Takes styling cues from the Camaro, inside and out.

Thumbs Down: Takes styling cues from the Camaro, inside and out.

Buy This Car If: You’re looking for a solid value in a domestic family sedan.

Chevrolet sold a boatload of its previous Malibu sedan, which critics panned for not being as stylish, refined or well-equipped as the competition. The engineers at GM’s mainstream division took that criticism to heart when they set about designing an all-new Malibu for the 2013 model year. It’s better-looking and far more refined than the model it replaces, but that may be where the good news ends for Chevrolet. Read More…

Back in the mid-1980′s, if you wanted a real muscle car you had but one choice; the Buick Grand Nationals built from 1984-1987. These machines were unconventional to say the least and at first buyers didn’t know what to make of them. You see the Grand National was based on Buick’s mundane Regal sedan, a car that was about as exciting as toast. Then there was the issue of the turbocharged six-cylinder engine as opposed to a rip-snorting V8, a major no-no in the muscle car world. However once enthusiasts got a taste of the Grand National’s performance, they dove in with both feet and in the process made it one of the baddest cars ever to come out of Detroit.

Source: Edmunds.com

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