Stelvio Pass

You say “dangerous”, I say “fun”. Maybe it was the good fortune of spending my formative driving and riding years strafing the canyons around Boulder, Colorado, but I can’t help getting worked up over mountain roads with plenty of switchbacks, blind corners and decreasing radius turns. I may prefer asphalt to dirt, but I’m no stranger to Jeep trails in the Rockies, either. I’ve learned the hard way why you never wash the mud from a rental Toyota 4Runner that you used to explore the Switzerland Trail (unless you really really like trying to buff out brush pinstriping).

This ARTICLE, posted on Waze, gives their take on the 19 most complex and dangerous roads in the world. Some are just interchanges; complex, but not particularly worthy as a vacation destination. Others may offer drama or sheer terror, but at such low speeds that it’s not worth the effort to get to them. Here’s my take on the best six and how I’d like to enjoy them:

In an effort to stay one step ahead of the media blitz launched by fellow Detroit automaker, GM, Ford has launched a new marketing campaign involving the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, relatively unknown comedian Mark Malkoff, and a 28-day road trip. It sounds like the campy plot to a Nickelodeon movie, but Ford’s goal is not to see how many painful eye rolls it can elicit in one sitting but rather to showcase the Fusion Hybrid’s astounding fuel efficiency. According to the press release, Malkoff’s lofty goal is to see how many mayors east of the Mississippi he can convince to hand over the keys to their cities while using Ford’s hand-free SYNC system to keep all 10 of his fans updated on his progress via Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr.

“Mark came to us with the idea, and we loved it,” said Jeffrey Eggen, manager, Ford Car Experiential Marketing. “It fits in well with our strategy to raise awareness of our new Ford vehicles by getting real customers behind the wheel and letting them tell their own story.”

Did you know that, in the United States, some luckless motorist slams into an unwitting Bambi every 26 seconds? That adds up to more than a million incidents a year … the roads are running red with the blood of cute, innocent woodland animals. Worst of all, the average cost of such an accident is now over $3,000 … What’s going on? Our tin-foil hat theory: Al Qaeda agents have infiltrated our national forests and are hell-bent on destroying our decadent infidel way of life by tossing wildlife at our indulgent BMWs. For the skeptics, click through for more.

Not unless you had a really good cause. And one John Macartney of the UK has one: he’s created the Triumph Trans-AmeriCan Charity Drive 2009, looking to raise money to support education about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The goal: to drive a restored ‘73 Stag 10,000 miles through North America in order to generate funds for 3 nonprofits who work with PTSD. It’s an admirable journey for a good cause, in an unlikely car for the job … Stags suffer from a host of problems due to their underdeveloped V8 engine. But Mr. Macartney has some good friends helping him out.

I have officially experienced super-envy. My buddy Andy called my a few weeks ago to tell me he was popping over to Germany on a whim to drive the Nürburgring. Worst part? He did it for less than two week’s pay. Here is his story.

Bullrun Host Bill Goldberg

If you are a fan of these less than spectacular “flag girls”, reality-based TV, or the Speed Channel, you’ve no doubt at least heard of Bullrun.  Just in case you missed the finale last night though, Team Shelby and their 2007 Shelby GT500 Supersnake took home the top prize.

This weekend, a star-studded Team Ford will kick off the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid 1,000 Mile Challenge by attempting to drive more than 1,000 miles on a single tank of gas. Drivers for the challenge include several Ford engineers as well as two celebrity guests; noted NASCAR racer, Carl Edwards, and famed hyper-miler, Wayne Gerdes. Intended to demonstrate the Fusion Hybrid’s outstanding fuel efficiency while simultaneously raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the 1,000 Mile Challenge will start at 8:00am Saturday April 25, from Mount Vernon, VA and end 43 hours later on Monday morning in Washington, D.C.

To achieve this fantastic feat on a single tank of gas, the Ford team will need to average at least 57 mpg. While that number seems nearly impossible, Ford engineers were able to average as much as 70 mpg during pre-challenge testing. To ensure that the playing field is as level as possible, the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid used for the challenge will be run on 87-octane fuel and will be equipped with only factory-standard parts.

As we mentioned during the introduction to our beginner’s course, Road Rage 101: How To Piss Off Other Drivers, poor driving isn’t an obvious side effect of limited cerebral capacity, but rather the result of countless hours of feverish, committed practice. Although drivers in places like New Jersey make it look effortless, the fact remains that dangerous, often illegal driving habits require fastidious dedication to the craft, and we here at RideLust are determined to help. To begin, you must first honestly asses your personal ability. If you feel as though you’ve successfully mastered all of the lessons outlined in Road Rage 101, or you have at least 5 years experience regularly commuting in the Tri-State area, you might be ready to graduate to an intermediate level of douchebaggery. However, be forewarned: the upper tier of jackassedness is an elite circle open only to those who have demonstrated an unfailing dedication to inciting blind road rage. If you still feel truly prepared to assume the responsibility of serving as an ambassador of the asinine, please proceed to study the advanced tactics we’ve outlined below.

Although not anticipated to be ready for release until about five years down the road, BMW’s newest in-car navigation system is poised to take driver connectivity to a whole new level. Dubbed ILENA (Intelligent Learning Navigation), BMW’s new navigational prototype tracks driving habits and compares them to the current location to anticipate where the driver intends to go next. In terms of usefulness, the ILENA system is aimed less at enhancing the driver’s ease of navigation, and more at improving the vehicle’s performance. By accurately identifying the next location, ILENA will allow other on-board computers to adjust the vehicle’s performance output and maximize energy efficiency (which is similar in theory to the way a dual-mode hybrid automatically switches to electric-only power at speeds of 25mph or less).

Thanks to the GM-exclusive On Star safety system and an extensive list of segment-leading technology, the GMC Acadia crossover utility vehicle has taken home top honors in the field of pet/animal safety. Granted top federal and insurance industry scores for crashworthiness, pet safety advocates Bark Buckle UP recently awarded the Acadia top bragging rights withs its coveted Pet Safe Choice Award for 2009. “With so many pet owners traveling with their pets today, safety is key – not just for pets, but for humans who travel with them – to making a conscientious purchase,” said pet safety expert and Bark Buckle UP founder Christina Selter. “We believe the GMC Acadia has earned high marks in this area for its outstanding leadership in car design and function.”

Check out live video coverage of the awards ceremony after the jump