Nearly a decade before American kids starting trying to oversteer their Cavaliers, Nissan had Steve and Rod Millen— future drift kingRhys Millen's uncle and father, respectively— toss the 1989 240SX coupe and hatch in perfectdriftingformation.
пятница, 31 декабря 2010 г.
Nearly a decade before American kids starting trying to oversteer their Cavaliers, Nissan had Steve and Rod Millen— future drift king
четверг, 30 декабря 2010 г.
The Dual-Engined Volkswagen That Never Was
VW eventually produced just two working models of the twin-engine hatchback, one with custom race engines, the other with a more production-ready setup offering 282 hp. Each engine had its own transmission and drove its closest axle independently;VW came up with a simple systemallowing the driver to vary the power split between the two engines. {BlakeZRong via Tumblr}
среда, 29 декабря 2010 г.
For $13,000, The Daily Standard Awaits
You couldn't Run DMC fast enough away from yesterday's1999 Range Rover boom box. The combination of legendary mechanical infidelity and a puketastic choice of wheels made its hoopty price harder to swallow than a Kanye apology. All that and a bag of chips wound up giving the blacker than the inside-of-a-well-digger's-ass Brit a stinging 87% Crack Pipe rebuke. MRSINGR sings a sad, sad song indeed.
Oh well, perhaps today'sMazdaspeed MX-5 turbowill have you all singing a different tune. Everybody likes the Miata, right? Reconstituting the form made popular and then all but abandoned by the British and Italians, the MX-5 has curried favor among a divergent group of drivers including fun-seeking women, teh gahz, and even hard core racers. And of course anybody who could check off all three of those boxes– cough*Betty Jack Devin*cough– would conceivably go apoplectic over this Velocity Red two seater.
Like the Hydrogen atom, what initially made the Miata so great was its extreme elemental nature— what was needed to put a big smile on its driver's face was there, and everything else was left off. While larger and less cheeky, Mazda's second swing at the plate refined the concept without losing too much of what made the first a good substitute for a barrel full of monkeys. What was gained was a couple hundred pounds and some government-meddling pedestrian-friendly headlamps, the previous pop-ups apparently having the potential for jaywalker genitalia removal. BTW, wouldn't genitalia be an awesome name for a sports car? Imagine being able to sayLet's take out the Genitalia todayorI spent the morning waxing my Genitalia, and it looks insane now!The question would remain, do you have what it takes to master a Genitalia?
You might ask yourself the same thing with this turbo'd 1.8, which the seller– Cody Strife – says makes over 200 horses. Now, I just finished watching Jeremy Clarkson blow sparkplugs out of a normally aspirated version of the Mazda twin cam so 9.5 PSI makes me a little leery. Of course Jezza is a buffoon, and the Mazdaspeed engine is a factory turbo which here has seen but modest upgrades to its intake and exhaust. That should keep its stress at theskidmarks called out in gym classlevel, and not at theterrorist hostage with ill-planned dotted-line neck tattoolevel.
Other mods here include a spate ofFlyin' Miatasprings, shocks and sway bars, plus a fresh set ofYoko OnosYokohamas mounted on Enkei 16 inchers. Externally the car has skirts like your sister, and its trunk lid benefits from an unobtrusive lip spoiler, while inside a roll bar appears to be the only change from stock. It's not a very old car so the claimed 58K mileage seems about right.
What's the downside? Well, there's a couple of douchie stickers that'll need to be heat-gunned off, and there's the fact that the seller calls this thelatest from Strife Performance,even though that doesn't seem to be an actual business. It's sort of like that Seinfeld episode where the spazzy dude kept referring to himself in the third person–Jimmy likes Miatas!– and that just seems a little weird. But the car otherwise doesn't seem off, and Strife Performance is willing to cut the price if you don't want all his add-ons. Should you want a strife sentence then this MX-5 will set you back $13,000. No Strife in your life? $10,750. That seems like an awfullot of work to remove the mods, so let's stick with the Strife. What do you say, is $13,000 a price that would make you Mazdaspeed over to buy it? Or, does that make you saydo you know how many (fill in the blank) I could get for that!?
You decide!
Nice Price or Crack Pipe: Custom 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata for $13,000.customer surveys
eBayor gohereif the ad disappears.
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вторник, 28 декабря 2010 г.
Meet The Track-Driven VW Van-Disco
понедельник, 27 декабря 2010 г.
For $9,500, How Gigolo Can You Go?
If you ask a lot of people about their memories of the Ford Pinto they'll likely get all wide eyed and goboom, raising their hands with fingers splayed, in mimicry of an explosion. That image of a Pinto's lightly tapped ass resulting in the car blowing up like an omertà-ignoring mobster's Caddy is pure fantasy, as the gas filler flaw in no way could have resulted in such a cataclysm. Instead, rear-end collisions above about 20 mph, could result in the car buckling and causing the gas filler to be wrenched from the tank, spilling fuel. While the gas pouring fromthe ruptured tank could possibly ignite - and flambé the car's passengers - it was far from the grenade-like danger many would have you believe. The defect was realized by Ford during the car's development, but as it had originally been mandated that the Pinto not weight more than 2,000 pounds, norcost more than $2,000, the necessary reinforcements were not introduced until a number of owners had discovered the flaw on their own, or at least their survivors did.
Fortunately the wagon version of the Pinto never suffered that flaw and by the time this1979 Cruiser editionhit the streets the Pinto's 5-mph bumpers and further reengineering had made the point moot on all Pintos. By this time the Pinto had been in production for more than 9 years and represented one of the most iconic of Ford's‘70s products. The Pinto, when introduced represented several firsts for Ford - first U.S.-produced rack and pinion steering, first metric engine, and the first four cylinder engine in a U.S.-built Ford since the 1934 Model B. And yet nobody ever considers the Pinto for its historical significance, just for. . .boom!
At least someone thinks it's good idea to keep the historical record of the Pinto alive with a nicely preserved example, and they picked a sweet edition to pickle too. If, back in 1979, your Friday night haunts included any place that advertisedhalf-priced well drinksorladies night,then you would have likely seen a Pinto Cruiser like this in the parking lot. The original Pinto Wagon took many of its styling cues from the larger Country Squire, including its segmented side glass and divided tail lights as well as its faux woodgrain flanks. The Cruiser throws those trappings of suburban malaise out its manually operated windows and replaces them with a panel van with porthole style that almost askswhat's your sign?Here, in red with orange, yellow and black tape stripes emulating the open road, the car feels like it's from a different era, one where form was more important than function. That may be most evident in the set of louvers which have been applied to the near vertical back glass, and maintain a level of anonymity required of the owner of anything called Cruiser. This year also enjoyed a new front end, including rectangular sealed beams with an enormous grille between them.
Down below there are a set of white-painted 5-spoke mags which haven't taken on the jaundiced pallor of age you might expect. The inside is equally lacking in evidence of age, even down to the curious rectangular buttons defining the centers of each of the 4 flat and shapeless thrones contained therein. The ones in the back sit so low that bottom squab is divided by the transmission tunnel, and makes your ass rub carpet should you be anything larger than a 32-inch waist. The inside on this claimed 16,000-miler is also black, and with only a pair of portholes in the back what happens in los Pinto stays in los Pinto.
There won't be too much going on there unfortunately as under the hood slumbers Ford's ubiquitous 2.3-litre four, an engine that has been turned rabid in everything from the Merkur XR4Ti to the Pinto Beans sand rail. Here, however, it produces its power in a begrudging manner, giving up only 88 ponies to pull the car's now nearly 2,300-lb weight. On the plus side there's a 4-speed stick and a tachometer in the dash so you won't get bored. There's also one of Ford's AM/FM stereos plugged in there, but your Leo Sayer 8-tracks will need to find another home.
The overall condition of the car is amazing for its age and provence, as there's only a few scrapes here, and wonky bumper caps there, plus some crazing in both the tape stripes and chrome roof rack. But, other than that it looks like something Disco Stu wouldn't disco duck.
And to do so, he'd need to come up with $9,500, and also need to not be a cartoon character. What do you think, does that price make this Pinto Cruiser Wagon pick-up worthy? Or, would it require more than just beer goggles to buy?
You decide!
Nice Price or Crack Pipe: Low-Mileage 1979 Pinto Cruiser Wagon for $9,500.online survey
Kansas City Craigslistor gohereif the ad disappears.
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вторник, 7 декабря 2010 г.
Bad Drivers Are Killing Cars&Coffee
Cars&Coffee events give the guy with the GLHS a chance to hang with Gallardos in a judgment free zone, but someone is deserving of judgment: the assclown in the Viper trying to ruin it for all of us.
Cars&Coffee events give the guy with the GLHS a chance to hang with Gallardos in a judgment free zone, but someone is deserving of judgment: the assclown in the Viper trying to ruin it for all of us.This tirade's focused less on the individual jerkoff in the Viper from this weekend's Houston Cars&Coffee who wiped out on the frontage road above, and more on the type of car owner he represents. And I say"he"because I know who this individual is. I'd personally shame him, but then some other moron wouldn't realize he's also an assclown, or at least an assclown in the making.
Coffee&Cars, Cars&Coffee, Latte&Lambos... whatever you call it, these little weekend shows are constantlyat riskof being shut down. They require huge amounts of open space and a host willing to allow their parking lot to be overrun for a few hours.
The HoustonCoffee&Carswas previously hosted at one shopping center. A bunch of guys decided to mash the go-pedal too hard on the way out, one couldn'tcontrol his 'Vette, and nearly took out a row of people.
The harmonious gathering's everything that's right about cars. It's autopluralism at its best. It's a celebration of the automobile. All automobiles. It's a chance to show our children why we care.
It's not about you, the egocentric prick in the car you can't drive who wants to show off what you've got, not what you built, not what you care about. What you can afford. Pride is great, but you're just vain.
So bring your car out. Show it off. Answer questions. Don't get mad when a kid gets his hand on your"real carbon fiber"spoiler. Try to enjoy the atmosphere without being the one to ruin it.
понедельник, 6 декабря 2010 г.
German TV Show"Wetten Dass?" Halted After Car Jumping Accident
StudentSamuel Koch, 23, was trying to jump over a series of moving cars on the game show Saturday night while wearing 'kangaroo' spring stilts when he got caught by the fourth vehicle— driven by his father— and fell.
Koch underwent surgery on Sunday after he suffered multiple back injuries and fractures the previous night.
Dr Wolfgang Raab of Dusseldorf Hospital told German news agency DPAD that Koch was"in an extremely critical stage".
Wetten, Dass? has been running for nearly 30 years and regularly draws audiences of about 10 million.
US singer Justin Bieber had been due to appear on the show after the stunt.
The crash was not shown to American audiences watching replays this morning on the Today Show and Good Morning America, but that hasn't stopped us from showing it here, above. {viaBBC,
воскресенье, 5 декабря 2010 г.
Top Gear USA Season One, Episode Three: Open Thread
Tonight onTop Gear USA, the threesome of 'merican hosts spit fire while finding out what happens when you get a thousand bucks to buy a car to celebrate America's bootleggers. We find out whether that makes for interesting entertainment. Also, the news is finally here! Will they cut the make-fun-of-Buick-buyers lines? Let's find out.
Remember, we'll be watching with you and jumping into the comments at random, so let's get a-talkin'!
суббота, 4 декабря 2010 г.
Grid For The 25 Hours Of Thunderhill
The25 Hours of Thunderhillis about to begin. We know that 82 cars will see the green flag but after 25 hours of racing, how many will actually see the checker?
TheNational Auto Sport Association (NASA)25 Hours of Thunderhillis the longest closed course endurance race in the world, one hour longer than the infamous24 Heures du Mansin France or the American version the24 Hours of Daytona.
Some of the same players and even cars from those two different events actually make the trek out to California on a cold December weekend to compete in the world's longest race. Johannes van Overbeek (ex-ALMSdriver forFlying Lizard Motorsports) is competing in the event. He was once touted as one of the best Porsche drivers on the planet.
Six different classes will be battling for their own victory as well as the overall win. The faster cars (ES and ESR class) are mandated to run yellow headlamp covers so the slower classes (E0, E1, E2, and E3) know when to"look out!"
The first six hours of the 25 hour long race will be the finale for theWestern Endurance Racing Championship (WERC)where teams will be battling for championship points. After the first six hours is up, then all concentration is on"Surviving the 25"and finishing this punishing event.
We will keep you up to date this weekend here onJalopnikas the action unfolds on the track.
Photos byGotBlueMilk.com Photography
пятница, 3 декабря 2010 г.
For $4,000, Go For The RX-7 Gold
Okay, today we're putting the brakes on shooting brakes, but not before noting that yesterday'sCorvette customwas shot down in flames to the tune of an 80% Crack Pipe loss. I think it was the wheels that did the trick.
Another trick is maintaining a 30-year old car in its original condition. After all, the siren's song of Pep Boys can be hard to ignore. But by somehow managing to eschew cheap seat covers, fiberglass body appendages, and aftermarket rims the size of orphan's eyes, today's1980 Mazda RX-7seemingly remains the gold standard for originality.
Sporting 61,000 miles and a clean Ohio title, this Solar Gold (claimed 1 of 500) RX-7 sports a 12A that's also clean- if fact enough so you could eat off of its blue plate special air cleaner. The seller claims the 1,146-cc, 100-hp twin rotor runs perfectly, and that its backing 5-speed shifts without complaint. Playing the role of mediator between those two is a clutch that was first put to work in 2003. Also renewed at that time were the brakes and tires, and the car still rides on its special-edition gold basketweaves.
A yank-out sunroof and seats covered in enough leather to pass for a dominatrix's den were additional parts of the LS package. Driving this RX wouldn't be masochistic, however, as the interior is remarkably clean right down to its crack-free dash and lack of cat-o-nine-tails. Even the A/C is claimed to be working.
The outside shows a little more wear, but it remains a damn-fine example of the breed. In the ad the seller does note a ding here, a dent there, andhis burning desire to have someone shit on him through the open sunroofa burn mark on the sunroof air deflector. Underneath the car, two things stand out- first the fact that, save for a tired muffler, the chassis is as nice as the rest of the car, and second; this guy appears to have a liftin his garage. Schwing!
Maybe part of the reason this RX-7 has managed– Dorian Gray Like – to escape the ravages of time is due to its historical plates – the AARP membership cards of the car world. People take one look at those and think your car is something special, like the Wright Flyer or U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, and tend to give you a wide berth. And whileit may not have the historical significance of Einstein's brain or John Holmes' tube steak, it's still a fairly limited production model. That's despite the fact that it represents only one of a number of RX-7s in this seller's lift-equipped garage. Being Mr. Mazda, it was natural, of course, for him to offer the car for sale on. . . Toyota Nation.
I'm not so sure Camry and Highpantser drivers will kitten to a sweet old Wankel, and the ad has been moldering there for a week or more, so maybe he ought to try a different venue like, oh say a Mazda forum? Either way, he's looking to convert the car into $4,000 so maybe he's trolling for a Toy owner looking for something withintended acceleration? So, what do you think, does that four grand price make this Solar Gold Mazda solid gold? Or, does that make it a golden shower?
You decide!
Nice Price or Crack Pipe: 1980 Mazda RX-7 LS for $4,000.survey software
Toyotanationor gohereif the ad disappears.
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четверг, 2 декабря 2010 г.
вторник, 30 ноября 2010 г.
Hooning a Septic Tank Truck in November Snow
Say hello to early wintertime, Northern Hemisphere readers, where wintertime equals snow and snow equals fun in rear-wheel drive vehicles, including East German septic tank trucks.
Say hello to early wintertime, Northern Hemisphere readers, where wintertime equals snow and snow equals fun in rear-wheel drive vehicles, including East German septic tank trucks.
The blue beauty pictured is anIFA, which was an East German umbrella brand for all things with internal combustion engines. Although rarely advertised, IFA trucks can be driven on the edge:
I’d love to embed a video showing massive volumes of raw sewage covering this charming snowscape but, alas, the driver was both skilled and lucky.
Hat tip toScheerti.
понедельник, 29 ноября 2010 г.
Shocking Photo Of Mugged F1 Boss
воскресенье, 28 ноября 2010 г.
Gran Turismo's Pursuit Of Visual Perfection, One Game At A Time
Gran Turismo is video game's premiere iconic racing game series. LikeLara Croft, it has improved graphically. Take a look, at how good-looking it's become, game by game, for over a decade.
Gran Turismo (1998, PlayStation)
The game doesn't look bad until the 1:50 mark or so, when the cars start bouncing off each other and the backgrounds start looking like a cascade of mud.
Gran Turismo 2 (2000, PlayStation)
The sequel had an excellent intro movie. The cars looked smoother, the roads rougher, as they should be.
Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec (2001, PlayStation 2)
Yes, the PlayStation 2 made a difference. The U.S. intro movie from GT3 A-Spec showed grand visual improvements.
Gran Turismo 4 (2005, PlayStation 2)
The gameplay footage from GT4's intro doesn't kick in until around 2:40 but when it does you can see that the backgrounds in this series are so much better in this game than they'd ever been.
Gran Turismo 5(2010, PlayStation 3)
And this is how Gran Turismo looks in 2010. This is the intro to the brand-new GT5. Gameplay kicks in around the 3:40 mark, though to be honest— and to praise this game— it doesn't look much like a video game, now does it?
пятница, 26 ноября 2010 г.
Gran Turismo 5: First Drive
The vehicle graphics of GT5 are amazing on any of the 200"premium"cars that are new to the game (on the 800 cars ported over from previous games in the franchise? Not as much). But the star here isn't the visuals. It's the driving dynamics, where the rubber meets the road. Moreso forGran Turismo 5as the franchise has long prided itself in its claim of having the most true-to-life driving dynamics of any other game on the market. Given how long GT5's been in development— five years— the gaming public's got some high expectations.
Jalopnik Reader Tip#1:
Level up quickly in the beginning of the game by doing the"Special Challenges"as they dispense experience and credits faster than the Spec races.
The expectation bar's been met. Polyphony Digital's built a driving game with the most accurate individual vehicle driving dynamics mapping I've ever seen. That's right,Gran Turismo 5is the most life-like racing game ever.
Go ahead, dump the clutch in a Camaro SS for a devastatingly stable tire-shredding burnout. Skitter around a corner like an excited puppy dog in a Mini Cooper S. Take off in a GT-R with launch control. It all feels spot on.
And when I mean spot on, I mean it causes flashbacks. I took a level left-hand corner hard in the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 (no driving aids on other than ABS brakes) on a city course and felt the same sloppy steer-with-your-right-foot cornering I last remembered feeling driving around a Michigan left on Metro Detroit's Woodward Avenue. Entering the corner a touch too fast, I actually felt, through the controller, the rear end shift out from underneath me and start to slip sideways. Applying throttle while exiting the corner corrected the muscle car's big back end just like in real life.
But, for a real treat— and after eight hours of continuous play turned my thumbs raw and blistered from numb-on/off button-controlled acceleration and braking— I decided to pair the game with a Logitech Driving Force Gran Turismo Racing Wheel provided for me by Sony's PR team. The result was a driving experience that let me feel a car's weight, suspension set-up, and road surface in a way I've never felt before in anything but a multi-million dollar automaker simulator. The wheel changed the entire feel of the game, sucking me in for another 12 hours of gameplay.
Jalopnik Reader Tip#2::
Having trouble with the Top Gear Test Track Samba bus race? Try ignoring the racing line and follow these rules: Tap the brake at Wilson. Take the inside at Chicago and tap the brake, Take the inside at the hammerhead and tap the brake, then cut the corner when you start turning right, then flat out until you hit Bacharach start outside of the racing line, don't cut the inside so much that you go off the track, but come close, and just tap the brakes, then let off the gas a bit through Gambon, and across the line!
Remember if you hit another bus or try to pull a Tom Cruise you'll be disqualified. You are allowed to sideswipe buses as long they are turning into you also.
After a few tries you should be able to pass them all in one lap.
So, after a Thanksgiving Day 20-hour marathon gaming session, I can conclusively say that the phenomenally realistic driving dynamics and true-to-life individual vehicular profiles make Gran Turismo 5 a must-drive. The game's so real you'll cringe at the thought of trading paint with the other cars on the track.
That's a good thing because other areas weren't quite as straight-forward and realistic— like vehicle"interaction"— an odd puppy for GT5. You don't start the game in GT mode with vehicle damage unlocked. We've been told once you reach level 20 (we're only at level 11), you'll get access to realistic damage including mechanical problems and then, when you reach level 40, you get access to simulation-level damage where parts can fall off and cars can be completely totaled. But, for the first few levels you get a bumper car-like effect that's almost comical. Instead of wrecking, you just sort of smack into each other and bounce off. It doesn't matter whether the car you're driving is one of the 200"premium"cars or one of the 800"standard"ones.
But, damage works from the start of the game in Arcade mode. So, after smacking the front end of a Camaro into the rear bumper of my friend's Camaro in front of me in two player mode, I was satisfied to see a crumpled plastic rear end after we disengaged. Sadly, however, after shifting my camera view, I saw my front end was none the worse for wear. So it doesn't seem to be quite perfected.
Jalopnik Reader Tip#3:
To get the Penniless trophy, buy a Dhiatsu Copen Active Top and then go to the"Gran Turismo"Dealership and buy a Go-Kart. MAKE SURE you do this before buying any cars or doing any races, otherwise it will probably be a lot harder getting to zero credits.
Still, there's weird times where vehicle interaction works realistically— even before you've unlocked damage mode. For instance, while finishing the second level of the go-karting special event (go-karting, by the way, is far and away the most enjoyable part of the game— with the exception perhaps of Schwimmwagen and Kubelwagen racing), I found that when I smacked another kart in between its wheels with my driver's side front wheel well, it got snagged on the side of it until I braked to break away. Then, just like what I've had happen to me when I've been karting in real life, my opponent spun away in front of me, sending me spinning in the opposite direction.
Nagging problems with vehicle interaction are one thing, but given the time Polyphony Digital's had to put together this game, you'd think they'd have put together a better process for upgrading vehicles. For starters, Gran Turismo 5's menus are like the love child of a first generation iDrive and Jaguar's last-gen non-touchscreen interface— it's a terribly frustrating combination of being ridiculously time-intensive to navigate and completely unhelpful. But I'll let our friends atKotakusmack them around for those type of user interface complaints.
Jalopnik Reader Tip#4::
When you've finished your License tests, turn off"User BGM"and disable"Race BGM"in order to save precious RAM bandwith. Trust us, Gran Turismo 5 needs it.
Instead, let's focus on how realistic it is to upgrade and maintain your cars. To begin with, the 800"standard"cars— the vehicles ported over from the last generation of Gran Turismo— can't change rims or some body parts.
Although that's silly, there's a more glaring issue we've found with the upgrade function that affects both"standard"and"premium"cars— the ability to upgrade brakes is conspicuously absent. That's right, you can't swap in a set of Brembos or super size them.
Jalopnik Reader Tip#5:
The oil change glitch is still present.
When you buy a brand-new car, IMMEDIATELY take it to the shop and get the oil changed. It's only 250 credits, and you can get a significant power bump—on an Audi R8 5.2 FSI it's around 30HP, but it'll be different with each car.
And speaking of where the rubber meets the road, there's also a lack of brands on tires. No Conti SportContacts, no Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s. Instead you're given three options— Comfort, Sports or Racing tires. While that's better than the old N, S and R naming for tire upgrades from the rest of the Gran Turismo franchise, it's still a far cry from realistic.
Still, these are somewhat minor issues given the massive addition of functions available once you unlock the more simulator-like option levels. You can choose a"fuel/tire depletion"mode that allows you to actually run out of gas and burn through your tires. There's a repair shop that's separate from the upgrade store that does everything from car washes all the way up to engine rebuilds and body work.
So what's the verdict? Three days in— and with many more days left to go— I have to say that while Gran Turismo 5's driving dynamics are better than any other racing game on the market, Forza Motorsport 3's nipping closely at its heels*. And given some of the latter's better (and more clearly labeled) vehicular upgrade options, smoother interaction with AI vehicles, and GT5's installation"challenges"(like a 133 MB required update to make multiplayer mode somewhat usable), Forza Motorsport 3 provides a much more compelling option for a car enthusiast looking to jump into a realistic and entertaining video racing game.
But, if you want to lose yourself for days in the most utterly realistic yet overly-complex driving game ever, pausing only to defecate, urinate, sleep and eat (in no particular order), buy Gran Turismo 5.
Or, do what I did. Buy both.
*Full Disclosure: There's been one Jalopnik car pack for FM3 and one more on the way. But that doesn't mean we're biased. We'd love a GT5 car pack as well. Apparently Kazunori Yamauchi, GT5's cultish scion, said he'd like to see one happen too.
Note: Thank you to our readers who provided us with tips in Wednesday night'sGran Turismo 5 Open Threadand here in the comments of this post. We've peppered some of them in the sidebar. We hope they help.
четверг, 25 ноября 2010 г.
The $20 Chukudu is The Pickup Truck of the Congo
The giant swath in the middle ofAfricacurrently known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo has about as sad a history as humanly possible. Brutal Western
But then human ingenuity will prevail even in the absence of roads, cars, and any semblance of government. Since the‘70s, chukudus—simple, homemade bikes, designed to be pushed rather then ridden—have been the transport vehicle of choice for Congolese. Despite their primitive appearance, the chukudu is pretty sturdy: a well-built one will take 1300 pounds of cargo and not buckle. They also cost no more than $20 or so.
In the same way a regular bicycle is a very efficient machine to convert muscle power into speed, a chukudu allows its owner to transport significantly more stuff than he would otherwise be able to. Which, as a young man recentlyexplained toThe Washington Post, is the difference between eating and starving.
Photo Credit:Khanjan Mehta
For $23,900, Welcome to the Ram-per Room
Yesterday'sPorsche Boxsterhad been modified by its owner in an attempt to make it a Super Boxster, but which apparently resulted only in it becoming a full-onDouchebagatti, at least according to the 83.34% of you who shamed it with a Crack Pipe loss. Man, that last .34% must have really hurt.
A modified vehicle is usually much more palatable when the changes are undertaken by folks who have the original manufacturer's name on their pay stubs. That's the case with today's33,000-mile Dodge Ram SRT-10, which has received - at the hands of Dodge's Performance Vehicle Operations (PVO) - a heart transplant from a snake.
The Dodge Viper, lamentably late of this Earth, proved that the perfect tool for nearly any job is a hammer - a big-ass hammer. But Vipers are cars of compromise, and their sexy beast styling attracts cops like Kanye attracts the haters. Dodge built another two-seater that was powered by the company's all-alloy V10, however, and unlike Viper with its immutable S-plastered chest, this one can be Clark Kent when needed.
Dropping the 500-bhp engine in the Ram should have been a no-brainer as the platform was designed to handle the less staccato iron-block version. Along with that Perfect 10, this rabid Ram comes with a Tremec T56 lickity-six speed, and massive 22"alloys- bigger brothers to those on the Viper GTS. Performance figures for the 5,130-lb standard cab were 4.9-ticks to sixty and a 156 mile per hour top speed, with quarter mile jumps being made in under 14 seconds. Fuel economy is. . .well, not something you'd care about once you get the Ram SRT-10's loud pedal under your suddenly leaden right foot.
Both of your feet will have plenty of room inside the Ram's cab, although the seats are not as comfortable - and offer less help in corners - than they first appear. At least they look good, as does the rest of the clean, if overly plasticky interior. One piece of metal available to you in here is the donkey's dong of a shift lever, topped with a generous leather and silver knob. That bit of bling stands in stark contrast to the rest of the cabin, which is black as a Deathly Hallow, broken only by some silver plastic bits, and is mirrored outside by the chrome GTS-esque rims offsetting shiny ebony paint. That color happens to have been the most popular for the SRT-10 (1,269 of the 3,059 trucks built for 2004), and also covers the truck's bespoke bed-capping wing. This one lacks any kind of go-faster stripes, making it a little more innocuous in appearance– at least as far as it can go with chrome wheels, a honkin'-big hood scoop, and harlot red brake calipers. The exhaust note on these things also falls in the sauropod beer fart category so on second thought, maybe it's not so much Clark Kent.
But then, if you're driving what amounts to a two and a half ton Viper, maybe covert action isn't your goal. And driving this SRT-10 will require a deft hand, er foot, as you'd be planting over 525 ft-lbs of torque under its relatively unburdened bed, potentially making for tire-melting smoke screens while leaving lights, picking up grandma, or attempting to play it cool around the local po-po. That's just something you'd just have to learn how to manage.
But before you get to be schooled on the nuances of clutch-throttle timing, you'd need to pass a pop quiz, the most important question of which is whether this '04 SRT-10 is worth its $23,900 asking price? What do you think, does that price move this snake-powered pickup to the head of the class? Or, does that give it an F in econ?
You decide!
Nice Price or Crack Pipe: 2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10 for $23,900.survey software
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