Author: kurt

Biker Eats Asphalt In Front of Cop – Watch more Funny Videos

Sometimes you’ve just got to suck it up and take the ticket. Sure, this guy would have gotten popped for speeding (and maybe reckless driving or exhibition of speed), but instead he tossed his bike AND probably got written up for all of the above. Remember, boys and girls: brake before the corner, not at the apex. If you have to brake mid-corner, do it gently since you may already be pushing the limits of your tires’ traction.

Source: Break

You’ve got to love the Italian sensibility; things are definitely black and white. Or maybe they’re not. It depends upon who’s screaming the loudest and who’s funding the politicians. Pass the chianti and let’s agree to disagree, OK?

It looks like the regional Trentino government (where Italy borders Austria) has issued a ban on motor vehicles across high mountain passes in the Dolomites. The ban includes both cars and motorcycles, but excludes busses because you have to ship the tourists into the quaint mountain villages somehow.

Of course the ban has it’s opponents, and many local authorities are refusing to enforce it since it will greatly diminish tourist traffic. At the moment, though, the pro-ban crowd (which includes famous mountaineer Reinhold Messner) appears to be winning, so plan your vacation travel accordingly.

The area, if you’ve never been, is as close to paradise for riders, drivers, hikers and climbers as you’re going to find on this planet. The residents are friendly (though don’t plan on them speaking English), the food is unbelievable, the scenery is breathtaking and the roads were designed by God himself. I hope the two factions work something out; if they don’t, we may have lost more than we realize.

Source: Two Wheels Blog

Distraught that Toyota didn’t offer a ‘Woodie’ trim package for the Prius, Lance built his own.

Source: There I Fixed It

If you were born between 1955 and 1980, it’s all but certain you’ve seen the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” at least once. Memorable for several things, including Mia Sara at the peak of her hotness, the John Water’s classic is best remembered for the destruction of a vintage Ferrari 250GT Spyder California.

The Spyder, like most things in Hollywood, wasn’t real. Only 100 or so genuine examples of the Pininfarina-styled roadster were built by Ferrari from 1958 to 1963, so even Paramount Pictures wasn’t going to write off the genuine article. They built several replicas for the movie (including the one destroyed during filming), and Bonhams has one for sale at their upcoming Collector’s Motor Cars and Automobilia auction. Pre-auction estimate has it going for $45,000 to $60,000 in “ready to drive” condition. Unfortunately, Bonham’s doesn’t list any particular details (like what’s underneath the hood). Interested? The auction will be held on April 19, so plan your trip to the UK quickly.

Source: Bonhams

First it was the Ford Focus RS500 deemed unfit for U.S. shores, and now it’s the Subaru Impreza STi Cosworth CS400. While the name clearly wasn’t run by anyone in marketing, you can’t argue with the performance specs: 400 horsepower, zero to 100 kph in 3.7 seconds (shaving 1.5 seconds off a stock STI), six piston brake calipers and 14” front rotors developed with AP Racing. The limited edition CS400 also gets a unique interior, special exterior styling, an upgraded suspension and a tuned exhaust. Only 75 will be built, and you can bet that all that carbon fiber and Cosworth goodness won’t come cheap; while pricing hasn’t been announced, you may want to promise your first born child to the local Subaru dealer if it helps you get in the queue.

So what do we need to do for forgiveness, Europe? Adopt the metric system? Start calling soccer ‘football’? Stop treating Paris Hilton like a celebrity? You name it and we’ll make it happen, so long as you stop hoarding all the hot new hatchbacks on your side of the pond.

Source: Carscoop

Photo: Nissan

Despite what we told you earlier, the Nissan Leaf will have a starting price of $32,780 when it hits the market later this year. Factor in a federal tax credit for purchasing an electric vehicle, and the price drops by $7,500 to $25,280. Live in California? The state will kick in an extra $5,252 to bring your out the door price to $20,028 (excluding tax, title, license and ADM to be first on your block, of course).

Ready to place your order? Don’t forget the cost of a home charging station, estimated to be around $2,200. The good news is that the feds will kick you back half the cost; the bad news is that you’ll require an electrician and permits to get the charging station installed.

Source: Autopia

Riccardo Patrese drove in Formula One from 1977 to 1993. He was the first driver to make 250 starts and ended his career with 256, making him second only to Rubens Barichello in terms of F1 experience.

To put it another way, the man knows a thing or two about piloting a car on a racetrack. Also, like most successful race car drivers, he is blessed with an incredibly hot (and forgiving) wife. The above video is pure hilarity, but it makes me wonder: how long, exactly, did Patrese sleep on the couch for this one? How expensive was that sable coat he had to buy her?

Mad props to Hooniverse reader BGW for finding the video. It was too good not to share.

Photo: Manningmbd

Penske Racing’s Will Power appears to be the IRL driver to beat this year, claiming his second victory in two races at Monday’s IRL Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Monday’s 10:00 AM start time was pushed back to allow the street circuit additional time to dry; it didn’t appear to help much, as drivers ranging from Milka Duno to Dario Franchitti spun their cars on the wet pavement in the opening laps. Power held off second place finisher Justin Wilson (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing), winning the event by nearly one second. Ryan Briscoe, Power’s Penske teammate, claimed the last podium spot.

Photo: Kim Phillips

In NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, Denny Hamlin adopted a “drive it like you stole it” approach to claim victory at Martinsville on Monday. Despite leading 171 laps, a late race pit stop for tires forced Hamlin to claw his way up from ninth position with just four laps remaining. Hamlin had worked his way up to fourth when a yellow flag brought out a green and white restart; after passing Ryan Newman for third, Hamlin got lucky when a “rubbing is racing” duel between Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth took the two leaders out of contention. Hamlin took the lead with and crossed the line for his second victory in a row at Martinsville.

Ford Mustang I Concept

Lost in the other news and industry events this month was the death of Donald Frey, the Ford engineer who styled the original Mustang prototype and went on to lead the design team for the production car. Henry Ford II rejected the Mustang concept on four separate occasions, but Frey and his team persisted. Forced to work offsite and with a very limited budget, Frey, Lee Iacoca, and a team of engineers met in locations ranging from hotel rooms to storage lockers. Ultimately, Ford gave the Mustang project a green light, on the condition that Frey would be fired if the car was not a commercial success.

Despite his incredible achievement with the Mustang, Frey was proudest of his efforts to improve safety at Ford. He pioneered the transition from bias ply tires to radials and increased the use of disc brakes across a wider range of Ford products. In 1967, Time magazine called Frey, “Detroit’s Sharpest Idea Man”.

Frey left Ford in 1968, largely due to conflict with Lee Iacoca, but went on to enjoy success in both business and education. He passed away on March 5, at the age of 86.

Reference: Wikipedia

If you’ve ever turned a wrench on a car, chances are good you know the basic concept of a four stroke motor. The intake stage occurs when the piston is traveling down in the cylinder and the intake valves open, allowing a combustible air / fuel mixture to enter the cylinder. The piston reaches bottom dead center and is driven up the cylinder by the rotation of the crankshaft. The piston compresses the air / fuel mixture in the cylinder; hence, stage two is called the compression stage. The compressed gas mixture is ignited by a spark plug, and this explosion drives the piston downward in the cylinder, creating power. You guessed it – stage three is called the power stage. When the piston reaches bottom again, the exhaust valves open and the rising piston forces the spent gases out of the cylinder in stage four, the exhaust stage.

Sure it’s dry stuff to write about or read about, but it’s damn cool to watch.

Source: Neatorama

The European Community will once again examine the issue of a 100 horsepower cap on motorcycles, per the current limit in France. Despite the absolute lack of evidence to support a correlation between high horsepower and accident frequency or severity, the horsepower reduction is one of many options being reviewed to increase motorcycle safety. The EC will also consider mandating ABS on motorcycles, which would leave manufacturers frantic to install ABS systems across their European product ranges. Consumers would immediately feel the impact of higher motorcycle prices.

I feel your pain, my EU compadres. Back in 1987, U.S. Senator John Danforth nearly accomplished a ban on all high performance motorcycles in America, which he termed “killer motorcycles”. While he never clearly defined what a killer motorcycle was, he did single out the Kawasaki Ninja, the Honda Hurricane, the Suzuki GSXR and the Yamaha FZ. Our Insurance Institute For Highway Safety (IIHS) joined in on the party as well, and for years afterward the insurance rates for “sport motorcycles” were outrageously high (in some cases 1/2 the value of the bike per year, even for low risk riders). There was never any rhyme nor reason to the insurance ratings; back then, I rode a 1985 Suzuki GS-700ES, with the quarter fairing. My bike was cheap to insure, while the GS 700E (identical, but without a quarter fairing) was 3x the cost. BMW K bikes, not known for their stunning acceleration back in 1987, were also “blacklisted” as sport bikes.

If you can keep the issue out of the hands of the politicians, you may still have a fighting chance. I’m not sure you have a voice as powerful as our AMA, but here’s hoping you do; otherwise, I’m afraid the writing an die Mauer ist.

Source: Two Wheels Blog

Photo: Shelby American, Inc.

It’s a thankless job, but someone’s got to do it: I’m headed down to Palm Beach, FL later this week to give you coverage of the Barrett Jackson auction. I’ll be there on Friday and Saturday, focusing on interesting cars and automobilia, with maybe a backstory or two from this year’s event thrown in. Want to see a particular car up close and personal? Email me at [email protected] and I’ll see what I can do.

Up for grabs, at no reserve, will be this 2011 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350, serial number 350. Carrol Shelby himself will drive the car before the owner takes delivery at Shelby American’s Las Vegas facility.

SPEED TV will broadcast live from the event, so tune in or set your DVR to tape it. Barrett Jackson always puts on a good show, and I’m real curious to see how the economy will impact sales of mid-priced collector cars.

A pace car with the aerodynamics of a housing complex

I’ll bet you didn’t see this one coming: a “highly modified” Kia Soul will be used as a safety / pace car for the 2010 U.S. Touring Car Championship. The Soul made its debut at the March 21 race, at California’s Infineon Speedway.

Built by GoGoGear, the Soul pace car features an upgraded suspension, new tires on Konig wheels, a Borla exhaust, a Takeda short ram intake and strobe lighting plus the required light bar.

The purpose of a pace car is to collect the field and maintain a moderate speed to ensure track safety (while retaining some heat in the tires). I’m not sure a Kia Soul, even a “highly modified” one, would be my first choice to pace anything other than a cycling event. Still, Renault did build one kick-ass press van (the Espace F1 – Google it), so I suppose anything is possible.

GMC Savannah, parked per GM’s advice

Heads up if you own a 2010 Chevy Express or GMC Savannah van built between February and March of 2010: GM has determined that faulty alternators may, under the right conditions, start a vehicle fire. GM has issued a “stop build” order and has halted sales until a remedy can be found.

Chevy Express 2500 and 3500 vans effected will have VINs between A1129327 and A1142523; GMC Savannah 2500 and 3500 vans impacted will have VINs ranging from A1128784 to A1901915. Owners are advised to stop driving the vehicles, park them away from buildings and other vehicles, and disconnect the negative and positive battery cables.

The alternators were manufactured by AC Delco, and also distributed as repair parts. If you’ve recently had an alternator replaced on a 2005 to 2010 GM or Chevy van, or any other 2005 to 2009 GM or Chevy truck or SUV, you may want to get in touch with the shop that did the work. Alternators involved in the recall are part numbers 15200110, 15288861, 15263859 and 15847291.

Source: Autoevolution

It’s no secret that GM has high hopes for the soon-to-be-launched Chevrolet Cruze. To be debuted at this week’s New York Auto Show, the Cruze will be offered as everything from a 40 mpg commuter (the Cruze Eco) to a sporty-but-sensible compact (the Cruze RS).

The Cruze Eco will feature a 1.4 liter turbocharged motor, optimized axle ratio, low rolling resistance tires on light alloy wheels, a lowered stance and an “air shutter” that closes at speed to reduce drag. When mated to a six speed manual transmission (and driven conservatively), Chevy alleges the Cruze Eco will hit 40 miles per gallon on the highway. Despite it’s role as a fuel sipping commuter, Chevy has still clocked the Cruze Eco at around 9 seconds from zero to sixty – not bad for a car whose primary mission is saving money.

The Cruze RS will feature “appearance upgrades” such as revised wheels and bodywork. The interior will also be upgraded from other Cruze models (the LT and LTZ); unfortunately, the RS package doesn’t include anything to actually make the car go faster. Rumor has it that an SS version of the Cruze is also in the works, but we won’t see it this year.

Source: Left Lane News

It’s official, and lovers of the boxy-but-safe brand everywhere can breathe a sign of relief this morning. Despite last minute hurdles that looked like they would block the deal, the definitive agreement between Ford and Geely was signed on Sunday, March 28. Geely will acquire the automotive pride of Sweden for $1.8 billion, and the transaction is expected to be complete by the end of the second quarter.

Ford’s decision to sell Volvo came after a disastrous financial performance in 2008. Sales in the key North American market were declining, and increased sales in emerging markets such as Russia and China weren’t enough to offset the losses. Geely emerged as the likely buyer for Volvo in October 2009.

Despite growing sales in their native China, Geely has an understated presence outside of their home market. Geely was the first Chinese manufacturer to display a vehicle at Detroit’s North American Auto Show, in 2006, but they were unable to turn this exposure into increased distribution. By purchasing the well-established Volvo brand, Geely hopes to quickly expand both their presence and their manufacturing capability on a global scale.

Will Volvo’s traditional customer base of conservative, safety minded, bland-is-a-selling-point buyers embrace a Chinese Volvo? Only time will tell.

Just in case you spent the weekend hunkered down in your bomb shelter, you’re probably unaware that rain washed out or delayed a lot of racing this weekend. It made for a very interesting F1 Australian Grand Prix as well.

For those of you who haven’t set up to tape the races, here’s what you need to know: the IRL Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will air at 10:00 AM on ESPN2, and the NASCAR Goody’s Pain Relief 500 will air at 12:00 on Fox. If you’re a racing fan, you might want to just take the day off. You’re not looking that good, and there’s no sense in getting the rest of your office sick, is there?

Photo: Andrew Griffith

Still think that F1 racing is a boring game of follow the leader? Think that F1 drivers are talentless robots dependent upon the latest technology for speed? Beg, borrow or steal a copy of today’s F1 race from Australia, and I guarantee it’ll change your mind.

Want horrific crashes? Got one, when Kamui Kobayashi lost his front wing (and all steering control of his car), then t-boned Nico Hulkenberg and Sebastian Buemi at speed. Miraculously, none of the three drivers was injured in the accident, which destroyed a few million dollars worth of carbon fiber.

Want wheel to wheel racing, complete with the occasional bump or head game? You’ve got Lewis Hamilton’s battles with Mark Weber and Felipe Massa, or Michael Schumacher’s battles with Jamie Alguersuari.

Want strategy? Jenson Button’s early gamble on switching from intermediate rain tires to soft compound slicks, while the track was still wet, won him the race. Want to see sheer driving talent? Watch any of the drivers pilot an F1 car around a wet-but-drying track on cold slicks. That takes some serious skill, not to mention some large huevos.

In the end, it was Jenson Button with the victory, followed by Robert Kubica for second and Felipe Massa for third. Mad props to Button, who is well on his way to proving that last year’s World Driver’s Championship was no fluke, and to his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who again proved that he is probably the best driver in the series on a wet track.

Best Car Commercial Ever – Watch more Funny Videos

There’s a bizarre double standard in the United States. It’s perfectly suitable to show a horrific traffic accident on the evening news, but we can’t show T&A in advertising because that’s ‘obscene’. We can show a gunshot / hunting knife / chainsaw murder on television, but God help anyone who pushes the boundaries with too much sex in advertising: you’ll have people picketing outside your office the very next day. You can choose from a dozen or so televangelists who’ll save your soul for the low, low price of $59.95 per week, but you can’t listen to an unedited rock song on the radio.

And then there’s the PETA crowd. I love animals, and have had dogs for a lot of years. At the same time, I can recognize the difference between animal cruelty and satire; sure, I’d jump right in if my neighbor was abusing his dog / cat / trunk monkey, but I can laugh at these commercials without feeling guilty.

Enjoy these, or not. Your choice.

Funny Car Commercial – Watch more Funny Videos

Banned Ford commercial – Bird – Watch more Funny Videos

Banned Ford SportKa Commercial watch! – Watch more Funny Videos

Rear wings, like this one, are gone for Martinsville

After 93 races utilizing a rear wing, this weekend’s race in Martinsville, VA marks the return to a traditional spoiler on the rear of NASCAR Sprint Cup cars. The wings were implemented back in 2007 as part of the “car of tomorrow”, and were supposed to allow for closer racing as part of the modified aerodynamics package. Despite their potential, the wings were universally reviled by drivers, crew chiefs and fans alike.

Don’t expect the change to have a dramatic effect on the next two races, since neither Martinsville nor Phoenix are considered “high speed” tracks. The first real test of the old style spoilers on the new cars will come at Texas Motor Speedway on April 18.