RideLust

IndyCar’s 2012 competition rules should draw viewers back to the series. For the first time since the early years of this decade, American open wheel fans can watch cars powered by different engines and wearing unique aerodynamic packages compete against other, “different” cars. Lotus was among the first to announce an aero package (still under development) for the 2012 Dallara chassis. We knew all along that Honda would continue to build motors, and Chevy announced their return to the series last week. AutoWeek reports that Lotus has jumped into the engine competition as well, and will supply a V6 motor for the 2012 season.

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Looking back on this year’s Paris Auto Show, Lotus stood out as the manufacturer “most likely to throw away all their working capital building concept cars”. Worse, these concepts took the boutique automaker into some stratospheric pricing and seemed to ignore the basic premise of Colin Chapman’s genius. Instead of “adding lightness”, the five cars shown by Lotus in Paris seemed to add luxury and gadgetry, at the expense of lightness and performance. Even the styling of the concept cars was controversial, taking Lotus in an entirely new, Lamborghini influenced direction.

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If you’re in the DC area and want to check out an exceptional collection of exotic and immaculate classic rides FOR FREE, I suggest you head over to Great Falls, VA to the Cars and Coffee event that takes place every Saturday.

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Lotus is on a bender these days, showing five new models at this week’s Paris Auto Show. Not to diminish the significance of the Elite GT, the Eterne sedan, the Elan, the City Car concept or the redesigned Elise, but the new Lotus Esprit flagship is a mouth-watering testament that the supercar is indeed alive and well. How does 611 horsepower sound, in a 3,190 pound car? Is a zero to 100 kph time of 3.4 seconds fast enough for you? How about a top speed of 205 miles per hour?

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Everyone knows that Lotus makes some of the best handling and most well balanced cars on the planet. They’re light, agile and in the right environment in the hands of the right drivers are downright evil on a racetrack. For example, the Lotus Elise and Exige models are the equivalent of a 250cc two-stroke race bike and the Evora is essential the same with a bit more civility added in. Lotus is now getting set for the official unveiling of the new Elite, a car that Lotus says will redefine the concept of the “modern classic”. More of a GT car than a full on track weapon, the new Elite will be bigger than the Evora as well as more comfortable with enhanced seating capacity for 4 people.
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The problem with doing any sort of track event is that there is always the possibility that you could become “that guy”. What I mean by that, is that is at every track day there is usually a driver that has an unfortunate incident and either spins out, or worse yet, stacks his car into the wall. When this happens everyone else at the days event then refers to him as “that guy”. For instance; “Was it THAT GUY who spun coming out of turn 4?” or “Was THAT the GUY that hit the tire wall” or even better still, “Oh… THAT’s the GUY who took out 4 cars when he missed the apex”. The driver of this very nice Lotus 2-Eleven unfortunately found out what the above experience is like when he lost control and planted his little yellow beastie against the wall at the Nurburgring. Thankfully though the only thing that looks to be hurt is his ego and some bodywork.

Source: YouTube.com

Jacksonville, FL, may not be the center of the car culture universe, but we still have some interesting rides down here. My buddy Malcolm owns Automotive Addicts and sponsors a monthly Cars and Coffee style meet, and it seems to attract a different crowd every single month. Sometimes it’s Mustang filled, other times the Minis seem to bring the biggest numbers. Ferraris usually abound, as do Lamborghinis. Unlike some other Cars & Coffee events, I’ve yet to see anyone bin their car exiting the parking lot. Anyway, here are some random photos taken at this weekend’s show, which was sparsely attended due to the opening of football season and events honoring the 9th anniversary of 9/11.

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If there’s one thing I’ve learned with absolute certainty in my life it’s this: when something sounds too good to be true, it is. That waterfront mansion selling for pennies on the dollar is built on a toxic waste dump, that diamond you got at an unbelievable price isn’t real and that laptop you just scored on eBay will show up as a bunch of old magazines stuffed in a new MacBook Pro box. Genuine bargains are rare, and usually come at someone else’s expense.

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The secret to keeping your car safe is parking it out of sight. When possible, use foliage for camouflage.

Source: That Will Buff Out

If you’ve been following this series you’ll know that we’ve already covered the best new sports cars for $25k or Less and the best new sports cars for $50k or less. Well, it’s now time to bump up into the next tax bracket and find out what is out there for $75k or less. This is truly interesting category as we’re right on the fringe of the entering exotic car territory. The list as it stands may in fact surprise you as there are a few cars here that you may not have thought. One reason is they may have two to many doors, the other is that they’re all pretty damn expensive. Either way though, presented here for you are 5 great sports cars that can be had for $75k or Less. Oh yea… and just for the fun of it I figured I’d throw in some video so could see what I mean.

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