Fast Cars

General Motors hit a home run with the Pontiac Solstice - a small convertible with an attitude! This is a sporty little 4 cylinder car that handles like a high end sports car.

Based on the all-new 997-based GT3, the RS shares its sibling's power numbers (its 3.6 liter six-cylinder produces the same 415 normally-aspirated horsepower), but ups the ante by shaving 20kg off its overall weight and leveraging an RS-exclusive six-speed transmission featuring closer gear ratios and a different flywheel.

Let me get a wee bit out of my normal NHRA lane here and mention Richard Petty's comment during an Associated Press interview published yesterday; "I just don't think it's a sport for women," Petty said. "And so far, it's proved out. It's really not. It's good for them to come in. It gives us a lot of publicity, it gives them publicity."

I will have to take Petty's side on this one. Besides, Indy Car racing and Formula One isn't really racing, if you win the pole you win the race, unless you break down. Dont' believe me take a look a look at Formula One racing today.

Whilst Schumacher may have been one of the best drivers in F1 (I think he’s past his peak), he bloody annoys me sometimes with these stunts.

Video clip showing a collection of illegal street racing aka drag racing

We had a blast yesterday at the Streets of Tomorrow. Even though we had a little mix up signing in, it was a lot of fun with the little ones and wife. My son was in heaven, as was I. Instead of seeing race cars on TV, he got to sit in an Audi LMP1 R8. He was way shy at first but not towards people but I think in awe that a race car was right before him.

One of my favorite cars at the Carlisle 2006 show was the gorgeous yellow Ferrari P4 kit car made by RCR (Race Car Replicas). I wasn’t sure if I’d fit, but I watch a pretty heavy-set guy get in (admittedly he had trouble figuring out how, but fit once he was there), and one of the people working for them was at least my height… and surprisingly the car was very comfortable and roomy!

For example, if you lease a $35,000 luxury car for 36 months and it has a residual value of 70%, it is worth $24,500 at the end of the lease. It has only lost $10,500 of its value, and you will have paid $291 a month (plus interest, tax and related fees). As a rule of thumb, monthly lease payments were about 30% to 40% lower than monthly payment resulting from an automotive loan from a bank – naturally, lower monthly payments was a major driver in accelerating the popularity of leasing.

今週の土日は、F1スペインGPがあります。だから今週も車三昧（笑）

A quick search at the Tire Rack will show that in the category of grand-touring all-seasons (these are tyres made for heavy luxury cars that go fast - i.e., Mercedes-Benz, BMW, etc.) there are only three good choices - and two of them aren’t even that good.

With all the hubbub over gas prices, and how SUVs are causing the problem. Here is a list of SUV’s that get over 24 mpg, which is pretty good for the class. If the government gets their butts in gear this standard could be raised shortly. At any rate here is the list of Japanese SUVs that are really good on gas.

Ford sent a fairly emphatic message to GM and Chrysler on Monday as it announced that the 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 officially produces 500 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque. Those numbers put the new Shelby on the same playing field as the Corvette Z06 and Dodge Viper, and set the stage for the inevitable King of the Hill comparison tests from all the big magazines later this summer.

The Aston Martin folks have pulled the Wraps off the Aston Martin DBS, the car specifically created for the upcoming James Bond film, Casino Royale.

These idiotic bean counter TV pundits (who are only on TV because they are reactionary blowhards with explosive controversial responses to everything) are demanding that the government tax oil usage into oblivion and use the tax money to pay for alternatives, but I think that we should let these technologies work themselves into the market. As you have seen (if you followed some of the links) there are technologies that can be used that don’t disrupt our current economic model and energy infrastructure and that won’t necessarily have to be forced on us. These options are ‘greener’ than existing sources and we have stop gap supplies to keep us fueled until they are fully developed, no matter what happens with Iran. You should be hoping that the government doesn’t overreact and put us into a situation where we are forced to use an inefficient energy source like corn based ethanol when it appears that there are far more efficient solutions that are nearly (some already are) developed.

Just this past week, I've watched Americans screaming about paying over $3 dollars a gallon to fill up their tanks, but I haven't heard any screams for better public transportaion. And that's because Americans don't want to take the bus, they don't want to sit next to that poor person who hasn't showered today, they don't really want to sit on the same seat as that person who hasn't showered unless they can spray some kind of anti-bacterial product on it first. Americans want to go on driving luxury cars and buying expensive homes on four acres somewhere really far from the rest of us who take the Metro and smell funny. They expect George Bush to pull a couple of oil wells out of his ass and produce enough petrol to keep our SUVs running forever.

I was surprised to recently learn that apparently, in California getting caught street racing is only a misdemeanor (i.e., there’s generally only a fine associated with it). However, as the phenomenon of street racing (and the injuries and deaths because of it) continues unabated, new legislation is being proposed that would reclassify street racing as a felony:

The only not-so-glorious moment of the weekend was when I was on my way to Ultimate and nearly broadsided an SUV who turned out right in front of me. The stupid driver was not so surprisingly on his cellphone. I layed on my horn but I doubt he even noticed he was so engrossed in his conversation. Grrr….