You will be seeing a video shootout between the Dinan 335i and the E92 M3 on WebRidesTV.com this May. In the meantime, let me give you my impression of the most touted M car since the E39 M5.

First off, the M3 we tested was equipped with the six speed manual. Actually, I prefer manual transmissions for driver involvement, to the DSG type paddle shifters which give you no brainer perfect performance shifts every time. Read the rest of this entry »

I had the pleasure of rolling in an RX-8, 40th Anniversary Edition, for five days, both in the city and in the canyons of Southern California.

Driving a 1300cc rotary powered four door sports car with only 238bhp at 8500rpm is unique to Mazda as the RX-8 is the last of the Mohecans and at first look would seem to be underpowered. Mazda redesigned the rotary in the RX-8 by locating the exhaust ports on the side of each combustion chamber instead of at the edge of the rotary housing. This change yields better economy, more power and lower emissions.

Okay, that’s enough about the technology, how is the RX-8 to drive?

The cockpit is coccoonish, comfortable seats nice finishes, zoomy design, with fuel and temp gauges on either side of a large central tach. What, no speedo, the speedo is a small digital window in the lower right of the tach. The Boise Audio system is top of the line with satellite radio. My car was missing a GPS which is a must event if you don’t need one as they look dope. The six speed manual, the only way to go, is operated by a short shifter that is as good as it gets.
This ride is all about RPM. It has decent torque off the line but around 5000rpm the engine starts to buzz, right up to the 9000rpm red line. The zero to sixty is 6.5 seconds.

But drag racing is not the RX-8’s thing. The RX-8 is a canyon runner at 3000lbs and a 50/50 wieght distribution. A stiffer chassis for 2009 with revised rear suspension make for some fun runs at the limit. I haven’t driven a street car that didn’t under steer of over steer or both. The RX-8 is completely neutral. Turn in is sharp and the car goes where you point it.

Ride quality is firm but not objectionable with enough suspension compliance that it doesn’t get upset easily by rough road surfaces.

The back seat, roomy enough for two six footers for a half hour trip or an eight year old with an Nintendo DX forever, is easily accessed by the rear doors.

The price for all this is around $32,000. I liked the car so well, and we drive them all, I have asked Mazda for one to test for a year with all the Mazda Speed accesories including the lightened fly wheel, cold air intake, front air dam, side sill moldings, adjustable rear spoiler and Mazda Speed Ben Hur wheels. I want one!

What averages 22 miles per gallon, high speed and city driving, over 600 miles, weighs two tons, has four doors, a big trunk, all wheel drive, a slick six speed automatic, the most comfortable seats in the industry, a direct injected twin scroll turbo charged three liter six with 285bhp and 295 lb-ft of torque at 1500rpm?Well, you’ve got it! The Volvo S80 T6 hauls butt and is built like an Abrams tank with the highest safety rating.

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A few years ago who would have thought that electric vehicles would be viewed as a viable alternative to fossil fuel powered vehicles. Tesla Motors has a roadster that does 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds, gets an equivalent 135 mpg, has a 220 mile range and costs two cents per mile cost of operation!

People speculate as to what an electric car race would be like. Can you imagine Formula One in electric cars? Does it matter that they don’t make engine noise? Well, from the perspective of the racer, I don’t think it makes a difference whether there is engine noise or not as long as you are going fast enough and have good competition. Anyone who has raced an electric go kart knows what I am talking about. Hit the jump for the story of the WebRiders Grand Prix held today at MB2 Raceway… Read the rest of this entry »

The Detroit Auto Show saw some interesting claims being made by manufacturers. One example that comes to mind is the claim by Ford that EcoBoost technology gives increased performance and better mileage! The numbers are approximately: 25 percent better mileage and 25 percent better power.

What is EcoBoost? Well it takes two old technologies, turbocharging and direct injection and puts them together in one eco friendly solution. VW, in the GTi, has been using these two approaches for a few years. And, diesels have been turbocharged and direct injected using common rail pressurized fuel delivery for years now.

Turbocharging was used on the A-body Olds Cutlass Jetfire in 1962. Direct injection was used on the 1955 Mercedes 300SL. So, what’s new?

What’s new, is that manufacturers are starting to come up with solutions that increases fuel utilization while increasing performance. By combining old technologies with new ones, like smart computers, low cost solutions can be achieved. Most people assume that to achieve higher mileage you need to produce smaller less powerful cars, that’s not necessarily so.

The Ford Explorer disproves this assumption with real gains where it counts. The new Ford Explorer gets 340 horses out of a 3.5 liter V6 that a few years ago would be a lot for a V8!

The horsepower race is still on and technology continues to surprise us!

Is the 2009 Nissan GT-R the second coming of Christ? I think not! It is, however, a very capable sports car when you’re looking at the lap times from Nurburgring. A stripped version in the spirit of the R34 N1 would be a step in the right direction when describing the car.

Putting the 2009 GT-R on a diet of 300 plus pounds would work wonders for it’s super car performance, why mess around?

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