RideLust

When the 2009 Corvette ZR1 was released with its supercharged LS9 V8, the masses stood up and cheered. It pumped out 638 hp and 604 lb-ft of torque and took the big Vette onto a top speed of 205 mph. When I think of superchargers my brain instantly conjures up images of blown big block drag cars or wild eyed street cars like the Last Interceptor from the Mad Max movies or Vin Diesels 1970 Dodge Charger from The Fast and the Furious. Turbocharged cars remind me of small displacement front wheel drive imports with massive fart can mufflers and pillar mounted gauge clusters that in the end, are more show than go. I suppose this is why I was a bit taken back a bit when The Detroit Bureau reported that the next generation C7 Corvette was going to feature a small displacement turbo charged V8. I thought turbos didn’t go on fire breathing American muscle cars… or do they?
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No one likes being watched 24/7, but in a society where our lives are being publicized day-in and day-out, it’s kind of hard to escape big brother looking over our shoulder. It’s inevitable I supposed that one of our last true forms of expression and freedom is now being monitored in such a way that it can be used against us if things go array. Since he early 1990′s many cars have had event data recorders (EDR’s) installed in them which are basically the equivalent of the “black boxes” that are found in aircraft. These EDR’s record everything from your speed, to crash data, to whether or not your seat belt was buckled during the time of an impact. This information can be viewed by insurance companies, law enforcement agencies and or your local dealer and used to collect information about your driving habits.
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When the Bugatti released the Veyron back in 2003 for the lofty sum of $1 million, automotive enthusiasts the world over thought that the company had gone insane. It was one of the most expensive cars ever produced and market watchers weren’t sure if the company would move even one from the factory. Since the Veyron’s release other obscenely expensive hyper-cars like the Lamborghini Reventon, SSC Ultimate Aero, and Gumpert Apollo have come to fruition, and with that, a whole new type of consumer was created. The gentleman in the above photo is Neil Graham, co-founder of Mainfreight, a global logistics provider based out of Auckland, New Zealand. He’s worth about $60 million and aside from his other achievements, will now be known as the owner of the most expensive car ever ordered by a Kiwi. The car in question is the limited production Aston Martin One-77 that cost Graham a paltry $2.8 million. The One-77 is powered by a 760 hp 7.3-liter V12 that enables the car to sprint to 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds and then onto a top speed of 220 mph. Hopefully Mr. Graham will flog the snot out of the One-77 especially considering that New Zealand has some of the best driving roads on the planet.

Source: BornRich.com

The Southern portion of the United States has recently been getting ravaged by tornado’s, rain and mass flooding. States like Alabama, Mississippi and Kentucky have been getting pounded with property damage and loss thought to be over 1.5 billion dollars. It’s a tragedy no doubt, but there was at least one car enthusiast out there who refused to let Mother Nature toss him a beating. This photo was taken down by Louisville, Kentucky and shows how the owner of this yellow Porsche 962 Cabriolet did a little outside the box thinking to save his car. Taking what looks to be a an inflatable industrial airbag, the owner placed it under their beloved Porsche, inflated it, and then tethered it to their severely flooded home, thus saving the car from sure destruction. I don’t know if there is a “Car Guy of the Year” award, but if there is then this guy really needs to be nominated.
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Image: Morio

Sebastian Vettel put his Red Bull Renault on the pole for Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix, then proceeded to spank the competition once the red lights went out. In any other season, that would have made for a pretty boring race, but this is 2011: in case you’re not watching it, F1 now has passing, wheel to wheel racing and enough contact to remind you of a Saturday night figure eight race at the county fair. In Istanbul, there were epic duels between McLaren Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Jenson Button, and also among Renault teammates Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov. The Michael Schumacher of old appeared to be back, and Schumi’s battle with Petrov cost him a pit stop for a new nose. Read More…

*Photo Credit: Autocar.co.uk

The Land Rover Defender is considered by some to be the ultimate vehicle for use in off-road travel. It’s been around since 1948 and even though they’re a rare site here in the United States, these vehicles still draw a crowd wherever they go. Think of the Defender at Britain’s version of the Jeep Wrangler. It’s uncomfortable, brash and rough riding on dry paved roads. However, it’s when the roads disappear that the old brute really comes into it’s own. Right now rumors are swirling that Land Rover is going to develop an entirely new Defender that is said to go into production by 2015. The problem is we have no real idea on what the specifications of the vehicle will be. What we do know is that, according to Autocar.co.uk, that Land Rover is currently working on how the new Defender will be marketed once it is produced. Stay tuned as we’ll be posting more information as soon as we hear anything.

Source: Autocar.co.uk

For some, taking a trip from New York to Los Angeles is as simple as booking a flight, heading to the airport and then arriving safely at LAX a mere 5 hours later. For others like John Belitsky of Leonia, N.J. though, taking the simple route is simply no fun. You see Belitsky and friend Dan Wuebben decided to do this trip on a whim, but in order to do it, there was one little catch… they had to find a New York City cab driver to take them. At first, most NYC cabbies just laughed them off when they were presented with the idea of driving 3000 miles straight, however one driver, cabby Mohammed Alam, agreed to take them for the sum of $5,000.00. Belitsky who is an investment banker got the idea to run across the country in a cab to pay tribute to his father, a former cab driver, but neither he, nor driver Mohammed Alam was prepared for what turned out to be the adventure of a lifetime. Click through for the video.
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Image: Indian Motorcycle

Even if you’re an avid biker, it was easy to miss the re-emergence of Indian motorcycles in 2009. It couldn’t have come at a worse time, since the heavyweight cruiser market was virtually imploding back then, and it still hasn’t approached anything resembling a recovery. Throughout the years, the Indian brand has endured start ups, shut downs and more than a few scandals, but signs were promising that the latest iteration could succeed with the right backing. It wouldn’t come from long-time rival Harley-Davidson, but it did come from powersports giant Polaris, who also owns Victory motorcycles. Read More…

The current 2011 Chevrolet Camaro boasts a 3.6-liter direct-injected V6 that pumps out 312 hp and 278 lb-ft of torque. This is enough grunt to push this pony from 0-60 mph in about 6 seconds while still getting 29 mpg on the highway. Not too shabby for a base model pony car that starts out at just over $22k. We’re now coming up on the 2012 model year and because of this Chevrolet has decided to give their V6 pony car a little boost by releasing a 45th Anniversary Edition. This new model will feature a more powerful V6, a new interior package, graphics and more.
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*Photo Credit: SuperiorChronicle.com

I was recently speaking with a buddy of mine who was in the market for a used car for his 17 year old daughter. He was asking me about not only what I thought he should get her, but why. We talked about safety, performance, size, economy and reliability. Basically all the mainstays that anyone would want to know about. Since we were talking about a 17 year old girl, the first thing that came to his mind was how to prevent her from texting while driving. My answer… get her a car with a manual transmission. For some reason this never entered his mind, but when I said it you could see the light bulb go off in his head. If you’ve got one hand on the wheel and the other on the gear lever, then the probability of you texting someone goes down exponentially.
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