RideLust

Here’s what you need to know about the 2011 VW Touareg Hybrid: it’s got a blown V6 engine and it puts out 380 horsepower and 428 ft lb of torque. It’s one of the two fastest VW’s built, and 0 to 60 comes up in 6.2 seconds on the way to a 149 mile per hour top speed. That’s not great for a sports sedan, but that’s pretty damn impressive for a full size SUV. I’m not really a hybrid guy, and I’m not really a luxury SUV guy, but I sure hope that VW throws one of these into the press fleet. There are two videos below: the first is an oddly creepy VW ad, while the second features racer Ryan Arciero telling you why you’re going to want to dive this rare beast. Read More…

Wouldn’t it be great if everything we drove made us feel like a 6-year old again? Well, that’s exactly the feeling that George Fortin gets when he takes his all-electric, home built Z-Cart out for a spin. George is actually a Realtor by trade, but his real passion comes from slapping engines on anything he can get his hands on. Always the tinkerer, George was inspired to built the Z-Cart after looking at his son’s remote control car. His goal was to build something that was light weight, durable and more importantly fun to drive. The Z-Cart is constructed from recycled polyethylene with aluminum bracing, and is powered by a 72-volt DC electric motor that gets its juice from four neatly concealed lead acid batteries. Fortin then utilized basic parts like off-the-shelf dune buggy wheels, a retractable charging cord and an air intake that’s made from a piece of PVC tubing that he found at Lowes – talk about cool! The Z-Cart is great and will hopefully cause manufacturers to think outside the box when it comes to fun. After all, there’s no point owning a car if it doesn’t put a smile on your face. Click through for the video.
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Tree-hugging gear heads rejoice! Image: Porsche AG

Want to drive a green car, but aren’t willing to give up the occasional full-throttle run up a canyon road? Need a four door hybrid, but want something with entertainment value? Assume these two goals are mutually exclusive? You remember what happens when you assume, right? Porsche may have just what you’re looking for, since they’ve just announced a hybrid version of their Panamera S sedan. Designed as the ultimate green grand touring car, the Panamera S Hybrid produces a combined 380 horsepower yet returns fuel economy up to 49.89 MPG (based on EU standards) when equipped with low rolling resistance tires. Want the maximum grip, at the expense of a little fuel economy? Wearing standard tires, the Panamera S Hybrid still delivers up to 47.78 MPG. Read More…

Ok, I’m not sure if a pedal powered snowplow actually would make snow removal fun, but I needed a title for this post so that’s what you get. Meet Kevin Blake, the guy in the video and the inventor of “Mr. Plow” (catchy right?) Machines like this generally come about when you mix alcohol, loads of downtime and a bong that shaped like a tuba. It’s not pretty, but it looks to be functional and may help those who shovel keep their backs intact while losing some weight at the same time. Made from a combination of box steel tubing, old lawn tractor tires and a few Walmart snow shovels, Mr. Blake sees his contraption as a way to safely plow your driveway while at the same time, reducing carbon emissions. Now while I don’t think that he’ll be winning any awards for curing the effects of global warming, it’s good to see that there are still some folks who can think outside the box, while still being kooked up inside of one. Click through for the vid.
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If you care about the environment then you’d best look away now because this survey conducted by Carbuzz.co.uk is about to really piss you off. Everyone out there likes to think that they’re environmentally conscious when it comes to automobiles and emissions, but very few people actually do anything about it. In fact according to this study of 1,982 motorists over in the UK, only 1% of drivers actually give a crap about how much C02 they’re spewing into the atmosphere. It’s not a surprise really as most people look to get the best bang for their buck when it comes to automobiles and that usually means sacrificing on things like emissions and safety. The plain truth, whether in the United States or the UK, is that people want a nice cheap car that’s loaded to the hilt with options, it’s just the way it is. Still, the fact that safety and emissions are so far down on the list is quite surprising.

Remember back in the early 1990′s when import cars first came onto the scene. Films like The Fast and the Furious brought them into the mainstream and in the process gave birth to a whole new type of hot-rodder. Gone were the 7.0-liter big blocks that roamed the streets in the 1960′s-1970′s and in their place came pint sized, 2.0-liter mills that were smaller, lighter and turbocharged. At first these little imports were laughed at, but over time their owners proved that they could not only be fast, but could in fact, bring some serious heat to drag strips around the world. It’s now 2011 and the hot-rodding world is changing once again, but this time around the speed is silent and the cars are not what you’d expect. Read More…

If you’ve ever been to San Francisco then you know that these people ride their bicycles. They take them on the train, into restaurants and even into the stores with them. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen more people using pedal power as their main transportation than in this City by the Bay. I mean I thought that New Yorkers rode their bikes, but these west coast granola crunchers take it to a whole new level. One thing that you won’t see in San Francisco however are bicycles that are powered by anything but human legs. That hasn’t stopped the 2011 PiCycle from hitting the market though. The PiCycle is an interesting machine for a few reasons. First off it’s electric, second it’s two-wheeled drive and third, it has a built in theft recovery system that updates its location on your smartphone. Personally I don’t believe in bicycles that power themselves, but I do believe in getting back at the bad guys that stole them. The PiCycle is currently being sold through Best Buy for $2,495.00. It’s not cheap, but with up to 20 miles on a single charge and a way to get it back if it gets nicked, it’s actually not a bad way to get around.

Source: PiCycle.com

Kid’s these days, I tell ya. This is the Auto Union E-Tron Concept racer by Audi. It was made for kids. Really rich kids. Read More…

2010 was a good year. The venerable Lancia Stratos came back from the grave. Jaguar built a car with two jet engines in it. The Mustang shaved its mullet and proved itself as a more-than-capable sports tourer. Chevy’s long-awaited Volt turned out to be pretty good. And Cadillac made the most bitchin’ station wagon ever. But my favorite cars this year didn’t make the glossy magazines. They won’t end up in posters plastered to 15-year-olds’ walls. They won’t be featured in Forza or GT5. They are, however, spectacular in every way imaginable. Here they are, in no particular order.

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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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