Author: Jon

Lately it seems that there are three certain things in life, death, taxes and a weekly Toyota recall. Toyota has announced the recall of nearly 8,000 Tacomas that have a problem with their drive shaft . A report recently surfaced stating that a crack formed in the rear joint, causing the drive shaft to shake loose and may drop straight out of the truck. These “cracks may have developed during the manufacturing process.” Whatever the cause of this issue, it makes us ask ourselves, “How can one company self-destruct themselves in less than one month?” This most recent recall for the Tacoma’s drive shaft isn’t nearly as big of a problem as the previus recalls but how does Toyota expect to recover from all of these problems.  Anyone who may be affected by this recall can call Toyota at 1-800-331-4331 for more information. Toyota dealers will also perform a ten minute inspection of the trucks and if they find any problem they will replace the drive shaft free of charge. Tell us if you would still buy any Toyota.

So there is a guy who likes Fords, but he also likes Lamborghinis. What else is there to do other than dropping a V-10 and transaxle into a Mustang. Sounds simple right??? Its name is Tractorri, an unappealing name for a somewhat attractive car. This vehicle took one Mustang shell, parts of a must, parts of a Gallardo, and hours upon hours of labor. There isn’t much information about this car other than what the people who posted had to say about it.

The crown jewel of our private collection: The Tractorri. The short version? This is a body-in-white ‘07 Mustang shell with the mechanicals from a Lamborghini Gallardo underneath. From the ABS to the AWD to the E-gear transmission everything works. The long version adds two more Mustangs for parts, thousands of hours of labor and enough one-off parts to make most show cars blush. Oh, and our president drives it around—he put over 1500 miles on it this summer alone! Built and maintained by our own Rick Roush this is a werewolf in wolf’s clothing! Check out the pictures for now and we’ll have a full description of the build and show history up shortly!

I mean a Ford Mustang is far from a sleeper, but if I rolled up next to a Mustang and heard a V-10 roaring under the hood, I would be a little surprised and in shock. What kind of monster will they fabricate next.

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be “Bond, James Bond”, then you are far from being alone. Every man who as ever watched a James Bond movie has walked out of the movie theater or maybe just got up off the couch thinking, “Damn I wish i was that cool.” And while we all think we know what it takes to be agent 007, its not just the Golden Gun or unbelievable swagger. You must also have “cojones” the size of basketballs. No one in their right mind can tell themselves that they would perform a stunt like this car barrel roll seen in the movie “The Man with the Golden Gun.” The amazing thing is at the very end of this clip you see Bond’s face and it looks like the flip did not phase him in the slightest. And until we are willing to repeat that feat, we can all keep dreaming.

Now when we are looking to buy a car, not all of us really care about the “safety” of the car as long as it looks good. This is just because the NHTSA has put such strict safety regulations down for cars in America that we don’t really have to worry about it anymore. But just imagine if that car was available thirty or fourty years ago. They are just a moving death trap. Most cars today have a crumple zone in the front and rear of the car but the main body is a rigid structure, like a steel cage. The crumple zone decreases the force of the impact by extending the collision. Imagine the crumple zones as a soft foam. We would much rather fall on to soft foam than a concrete floor because the foam extends the time of impact, making it much less painful. But the engineers of this car forgot that if you make the whole car a crumple zone, the passengers will crumple as well. So the next time we complain about paying federal taxes, just think, this might have been your car.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who drives a Toyota Prius, recently told a group of people of an unexpected and unintentional acceleration problem he experienced. Remember the Prius is not currently under recall. This makes Wozniak believe that, “This is software. It’s not a bad accelerator pedal.”  Now Wozniak is not the first person to bring up the idea of the possible software problem. Two former administrators for the NHTSA, Ricardo Martinez and Joan Claybrook, believe that there is some electronic glitch causing all of Toyota’s problems. Many other independent saftey experts are also saying the same things. But its Wozniak’s expertise in software and programming that packs the  biggest punch in this claim. The computer guru has also stated that he can duplicate the acceleration problem over and over at a certain speed while in cruise control. Its important to take into account that cars in the Toyota fleet  have a gas pedal that isn’t actually connected to the engine mechanically, but the engine actually relies on software input from the gas pedal to relay acceleration information. This makes the possibility of an electrical or computer error much more likely. So whether Toyota is trying to cover some bigger problem by doing a quick and easy “fix” we will soon find out, but for the time being, it makes us think.

Just a few days ago General Motors announced that they would be offering a few incentives to any Toyota car following the recent recalls Toyota has announced. Ford and Hyundai soon followed after deciding that it would be a good idea to capitalize on Toyota’s misfortune, while Chrysler still had to think over the idea. Finally Chrysler is now following suit and will be getting into the action, but unlike Ford, Hyundai, and General Motors, Chrysler will be focusing their incentives at the minivan and truck owner market.  All the way through March 1, 2o10, anyone who drives a Toyota Sienna, Tacoma or Tundra will be offered $1,ooo to switch over to a Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep vehicle. There is also money available for any expiring Toyota leases as well. These new offers took in to effect earlier this week. The news of Toyota’s recalls may just blow over and they will be able to recover but with several companies “stealing” their customer base, we just can not make that judgement call right now. It will only take some time to see how these companies new incentive plans will effect Toyota

Better believe it, this post is about Toyota, but its not about their sticky gas pedals. Toyota Motor Company is planning a new performance line under the name of “Toyota G Sports.” Earlier this month Toyota showed off three new models from their new performance line, some more impresive than the others. The two less impressive cars, a lovely Prius with a bodykit, and a high powered Camry. Not exactly what we call high performance. However, the last car, an allegedly turbocharged Toyota FT-86, fitted with an aero kit, suspension and brake modifications made us do a double-take. Toyota’s performance division will focus on the high-end components made specifically for the street, and will most likely be sold as a complete model, but seperate componenets may be available as well. It is still unknown if these cars will make it to the United States, but if it does, expect Toyota, or maybe Scion, to offer similar packages.

You know its bad when you have to start attacking other car companies to make your own car’s mor appealing. It appears GM got their bashing  campaign idea from a Honda dealer in Dallas, Texas who was trying to steal a few Toyota customers away by displaing a sign that read, “Our gas pedals don’t stick.” While it is quite funny, it seems like they are getting kind of desperate.  General Motors just announced that they will be using a new incentive structure to lure Toyota car drivers towards GM vehicles. This incentive program will be in effect until the end of February. All of this comes after news that Toyota had to recall more than two million cars due to sticking gas pedals. Not only did Toyota have to recall two million cars,but several car rental companies(Avis, Enterprise, National) are pulling a larger percentage of their rental fleet. Just some more bad press for Toyota. Any current Toyota customer who wants to switch to a Buick, Cadillac Chevrolet, or GMC will be offered these three following deals.

             Lease Customers: Waiver of three payments up to $1,000

             Financing Customers: 0% financing for 60 months

             Cash Buyers: $1,000 Bonus

It is going to be interesting to see if this will knock Toyota back a little bit or will they will be able to recover from a loss of their customer base.

We all dread the morning after the weather channel predicts “The Storm of The Century”. Who wants to get up twenty minutes earlier than usual just to get the snow off of your car to make your drive to work possible. It’s cold and wet outside so we just do a mediocre job of getting the snow off and rush back inside for a cup of coffee.  But everyone has their own technique of getting the snow off the car. Most of us just use a brush or a broom to push the snow off but this guy’s method by far the best yet. If you have any better ideas let us now.

I’m sure you have heard about the guy would placed  a  winning bid of $16,125 on eBay for a Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T. Well the problem that insued was that the seller(Glenn Hyundai of Lexington) believed that the car was worth atleast $19,700 and refused to acknowledge the winning bid. They stay committed on the fact that they placed a reserve on the car, even though they didn’t, and they were not willing to negotiate. We all thought that the story would probably end up with the bidder getting hosed on this deal and not getting what he deserved but something just recently came up. Obviously the internet got word of this story and not many things excite people as much as a little  controversey can.  It’s not wonder that Glenn Hyundai started to recieve calls, emails, faxes and other things commenting on their dishonest actions. The attacks on the car dealership became some great that they contacted the bidder and told him that if he stopped people from harrassing them they would indeed give him a Genesis Coupe for $16,125…..allegedly. Allegedly because this deal was all made in a verbal agreement between the bidder and Glenn Hyundai and the bidder did not disclose much information about the deal. But here is the not so suprising news. Once the bidder called of the attacks, he still got no car. He is now claiming that Glenn Hyundai broke their “verbal agreement” and vehemently believes that they owe him a one. The bidder has now obatined a lawyer and contacted Hyundai but gotten no response. We will be sure to keep you updated on any new news of this conflict.

Honda is planning on giving the Toyota Prius a challenge…..again. Although the consumers have spoken and proved that they prefer the Prius rather than the Honda Insight, Honda is not willing to wave the white flag.

These numbers do not lie……

2009 Honda Insight Sales: 20,572

2009 Toyota Prius Sales: 139,682

Honda Insight MPG City/Highway: 40/43

Toyota Prius MPG City/Highway: 51/48

Can you blame drivers for choosing the Prius over the Insight? Let’s just say the average American drives 12,000 miles a year, and the average gallon of gas costs $2.75. We could save ourselves a decent chunk of change with the Prius. Even though the Prius is slightly more expensive, with the amount of complaints we have seen about the Insight, it makes the price worth it. Honda needs to step their game up. They have already worked up a new advertisement campaign for the Insight, and they are also looking farther into the future in hopes of eclipsing the famed Prius. Honda CEO Takanobu Ito alledgedly has told his researchers to develop a hybrid that has a better miles per gallon rating than the world’s most beloved hybrid(Prius). If the the next hybrid is going to be an improvement to the already establish Insight or a brand new design is unknown right now but its going to have to be something quite impressive to knock off the reigning champ.

A man from San Francisco just recently posted a listing on the infamous “Craigslist” in hopes to trade his mustang for two pounds of weed, claiming it would be used for pain relief. I guess he forgot about tylenol or advil? We can’t tell if this is undercover narcotics just hoping for some idiot to take the bait or a complete twit. The orginial post reads…

“5.0 mustang for TRADE for cannibis – $4000 (bay area)

hello, i would like to trade my 5.0 mustang for 2 pounds of marijuana.. NO LESS NO MORE. 454 grams. its clean titled good and reliable runnin real strong. this is a serious offer. i have a leg pain that wont go away without marijuana and doctors will not prescribe me a cannibis card.. please help me out. this is a serious ad and i have pictures. e-mail me and i will e-mail you back asap. i am not the police or narco or undercover.. i can meet in a location of your choice.”

And what makes the post even more comical is the keywords that this bonehead attached to his post, some of which include the common weed, marijuana, and kush along with the more comical Bone Thugs and Harmoney, Bob Marley, and Tupac, which we have no idea how they relate. To see this post  click here http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/1562754593.html. We are sure it will bring many laughs for weeks to come.

This three-wheel, two seat “motorcycle” is created by the Canadian auto/bike manufacturer Campagna Corporation in Quebec. Although the T-Rex is classified as a motorcycle, with the an altered seating position and the angle of the steering wheel, along with the suspension, makes it feel and drive more like a sportscar.  The interior has two seats with three point retractable seatbelts and is protected with a tubular steel roll cage for maximum safety and protection. With a 1.4 L, four cylinder engine, the T-Rex can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds and has a top speed of 157 mph. The amazing acceleration is due to the streetbike technology available today that Campagna  uses to their advantage. This motorcycle has been in production since the mid 1990’s however they’ve just recently gained recognition and popularity due to some television shows such as MTV’s Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory, where it is possible to see a white T-Rex in use. The three wheeled monster is available at the suggested retail price of $43,190 and can be purchased directly from http://www.campagnamotors.com/. For the average person who wants the thrill of driving a motorcycle but is looking for a little more safety and security, the Campagna T-Rex is waiting for you.

Its been more than forty years since the last release of a new Shelby GT350, and its been worth the wait. Shelby and Ford first teamed up back in 1965 but only after a few years Ford took over the Shelby production and ran it into the ground before the decade was over. Ever since Ford and Shelby got back together a few years ago, the lingering question in every car enthusiasts mind was, “Where is the GT 350?” Well the the 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 was just recently unveiled and it is every thing the people at Shelby America needed to kickstart their efforts. All we know now is that  base sticker price of the new Shelby will be $63,000 but expect to pay a lot more for the available upgrades.  The 2001 Shelby GT350 will go from 0-60 in an estimated 4.2 seconds, but other than this there is not much known about this recently revealed car. Carrol Shelby recently said, “We’ve come full circle with the GT350….Some people will be building their hydrogen cars and electric cars and hybrids. But Shelby will not be going down that road….We’re about performance and this car is built around the latest technology from Ford and the new 5.0 liter engine.”  Whatever the car delivers, expect it to be something special.

In many of American cities, it is just more viable to take public transport with gridlock traffic consuming the cities. But even if you don’t live in the city, public transportation may be a great choice, not only to help the environment but to also save yourself a considerable amount of money. Not only would we not have to pay for the the car itself, the gas that powers our cars to get us from home to work and back again, but you may also avoid tolls and car maintenance bills. We can also avoid the monthly car insurance bill as well and when the average cost of a car insurance premium in 2009 was $1,800, that breaks down to be $150 a month. That is $150 we can save or even use to buy something more important.

It was reported by the American Public Transportation  Associtation(APTA) that the average person driving in or to a city could save between $8,000-$13,000 anually. It is easy to see that by using a public transportation option, bus or rail, and only renting a car when we are planning to go somewhere where public transportation is not available is the most finacially responsible thing to do. Not only are we helping protect the enviorment and reduce city traffic, but we are also putting money back into our own pockets.

One individual on the GenCouple forum seems to be a little upset over an bid on a Hyundai Genesis Coupe that he believes he won from a dealership in Kentucky on eBay Motors. It appears that the dealership is not planning on honoring the bid and several accusations have surfaced from both parties but it appears there is one thing that both sides can agree on. What they can agree on is that there was a 2010 Hyundai Genesis 2.0 T was listed on eBay Motors in December of last year, and the winning bid was $16,125. That is all  can be agreed upon. The individual buyer believes he won the bid at $16,125, almost $6,ooo below the sticker price, and there is the proof on eBay’s item listing. Eric Manley, the internet manager for the Kentucky car dealership believes that he put the car up for sale with a “Buy It Now” price at $19,700, and had no intention at selling it at a lower price. And because no one placed a bid higher than $19,700 the car was removed from eBay. The disgruntled buyer is attempting to get his voice heard buy speaking his mind through media outlets, the Kentucky governement, and eBay itself. It may be a few days before eBay can determine who is in the right and who is in the wrong and the legal implications that may follow. According to the dealership they have already sold the car and the prospective buyers threats are futile. It’s going to be interesting to see how this one shakes out.

One of the best known auto-tuners from Japan, Tommy Kaira, who has modified cars such as Nissans Skyline, has unveiled their newest package for the Nissan GT-R. Tommy Kaira cars have appeared in numerous racing video games including the Gran Turismo series. Their latest project for the Nissan GT-R is called the Silver Wolf.  Now whats different about the Silver Wolf compared to almost every other Tommy Kaira tune kit is that the engine is not touched. It was released by officials at Nissan when the GT-R was first released that the engine performace could not be improved anymore, any modifications would only reduce its supercar ability. What the Silver Wolf does include is a new carbon fiber widebody kit, and a custom interior with Tommy Kaira logos, along with new wheels, exhaust, brakes and suspension. Although no changes to the engine are going to be made, it is expected that the new suspension and a new exhaust will add a few horsepower to the 480 horsepower engine, as almost every Tommy Kaira packages brings out that extra little performacne that any speed junky would be looking for. If you are interested in getting the full Tommy Kaira Silver Wolf edition, just remember the body kit alone will run you $18,000, plus the GT-R’s $80,000 price tag. However, if you want to see Godzilla breathe fire, the Silver Wolf is what you are looking for.

Moteur Development International(MDI), has built a car that doesn’t run on gasoline, electricity, or any biofuel. No, it is powered soley by compressed air, hence the name MiniCat, Compressed Air Technology(CAT). The developer, Guy Negre, may have come up with the most innovative engines in the car industry for several decades. The use of compressed air makes the MiniCat one of the most enviormentally friendly and economical cars ever. And with the addition of dual energy, which is the use of fuel and compressed air, the MiniCat can gain a range of over 1200 miles, emitting a noitceably less amount of pollution into the enviorment. Now if your air compressor is running low, gas stations are planned to supply an air supply and will only take a few minutes to refill. With all the the uncertainty of rising gas prices and the search for a more enviormentally friendly car, MDI has delivered the answer. Instead of having expanding fuel push the engines pistons back and forth, the MiniCat uses cold, compressed air which will also cool the inside of the engine. This breakthrough car will also include some of the most technologically advanced car features, wireless control system, voice recognition, gps guidance, and internet connection just to name a few. The MiniCat will run about $11,000, cheaper than the average car and it will also save us money at the pump.

General Motors plans on stopping production of Hummer later this week until the sale proposed Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. is approved by the Chinese governement officials. President of GM’s China group has said that he is optimistic  but not certain that the deal will be approved. The reason for the delay is due to the fact that Sichuan Tengzhong is not a deep-rooted car manufacturer and the Chinese government has regulations against companies sporadically entering  an industry that can have economic effects. The deal has already been approved by the U.S. governemnt. It has been reported that the Hummer manufacturing plant in Shreveport, La., will halt production on all H3 models until completition of the deal. The H2 Hummer, which is manufactured in Mishawaka, In., ceased their production in late 2008, but under the deal with Sichuan Tengzhong, production of the H2 will also resume. Under the deals of the sale agreement, the Sherevoport GM plant will continue producing Hummer models for Sichuan Tengzhong all the way through 2011, with an option to extend the production through 2012.

CT&T, a car manufacturer coming out of Korea, debut their four-passenger Multi Amphibious Vehicle(MAV) at the Detroit Auto Show. This car is suitable to traverse on both land and water, and what’s this???? It’s electric. Sounds about as safe as taking a bath with a toaster or hair dryer. However this six wheeled machine is powered by the electric motor when on the road and that same motor powers the propellers when in water. The electri  motor can get the MAV up to speeds of 40 mph on land and a reported top speed of 10 mph in water. The performance from this vehicle can not be considered out of this world, or even James Bondish, but for a family vacation this might be the type of enterainment we are all looking for. What this vehicle does not have is a roof, something usefull on a rainy day, or high sides/doors to keep the younger part of the family in the vehicle. There hasn’t been a price tag put on the MAV yet, but one of its sister vehicles that was introduced at the same time, the C Square, an electric sports car, was priced at $50,000. Expect a similar price for the Multi Amphibious Vehicle.