Why do towing capacity and other weight ratings matter? We get into this topic in this week’s article. You won’t want to miss it! WOOOOO
Viewing entries tagged
cars
For some reason, these two spoke to me...
The STI parked outside Cook Street Coffee caught my eye not because of the Blue, nor the second-gen sculpted fender flares with a huge rally-inspired spoiler. No, it caught my eye because of what was behind it and got me thinking;
These two cars are more related than you might think.. First, they're both designed to be a car--they will go pretty much anywhere and are designed to get you from point A to B without much fuss (something you might go without in an earlier Ferrari). Second, they both have low-slung, unorthodox engine choices; a turbocharged boxer flat four in the Subaru while the Porsche has a flat six mounted way behind the rear wheels!
These two also seemed like they were actually driven by their owners, instead of just keeping them in the garage for Sundays only. Both had imperfect paint with subtle modifications: The STI had a pretty nasty-sounding exhaust system while the Porsche has tastefully-matched wheels and a free-flowing intake.
Two very different vehicles on the surface, but if you stretch it far af you can find similarities...maybe? wtf
Cheers
"Corvette Night"
Many car enthusiasts I know sigh when they hear it's Corvette night at the local show. That means a bunch of old corvettes from the 60s/70s and guys just sitting in their chairs watching you look at their car. Fortunately for me, there were some really cool additions to this specific show...
Like these two guys; two ZR-1s in the flesh! I really don't see many of these out and about and knowing they have 640hp stock makes it that much sweeter. When these came out, I was just getting into cars and journalists were ranting and raving about them endlessly. This was the fastest production car around the Nordschleife for a time...
I mean, sometimes I convince myself after doing a couple laps in Forza that I could actually hang with the other Nurburgring Cats on a lap--then I see something like this^. It's reinforced for sure, these guys are on another LEVEL of crazy speed and I'll leave it to them to flog these crazy cars on the death course...
They raved for good reason too--it was a raucous beast that demanded a lot from the driver and did one thing very well: go FAST! The seats weren't that well, and that was complained about endlessly it seemed as you wouldn't be able to stay put if you really wanted to step on it.
Then comes this Dino 246 GTS; mid-engined, rear-wheel drive, light-weight--this seems like the absolute PERFECT vehicle to flog through the twisties. Interestingly enought, the 2.4 liter V6 found in this ferkin vehicle eventually made its way into the Lancia Stratos rally car. I haven't heard this engine at full chat in a while so I can't remember exactly the way it made my soul heart feel in my face ya know? lemme see what we can find...down here
and here is the 2.4 liter v6 engine that powers both the 246gt & gts. Essentially, it's a transversely-mounted v6 that produced around 280hp that was first rumored to have been created--in part--by Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari, yet history has since proved he had no part in the creation...(more)
See, now that I know the backstory of Alfredo Ferrari and the Dino, it makes me sad. Sad to see this car as a pure expression--not only of Enzo's terminally-ill son--but of what it means to love car culture, to just DRIVE. Just looking at it you can tell the team at Pininfarina S.P.A. spent hours pouring their love for Dino, Ferrari, and automobiles into this project.
I'll leave you with this Frankenstein Triumph TR4. The owner says it is essentially a stock TR4 with a lot of the body panels cut off, a roll bar added, sticky wheels, and some trick suspension bits to top it all off. SWAA we LOVE this shit...now, let's see if I can get behind the wheel soon and bring you some nicer feature content :)
That's it for tonight guys, I love doing this honestly and writing about cars forces me to learn more about this crazy "hobby" (seems an understatement) I love so much. Let me know in the comments if you like the level of detail/need more, anything helps.
Cheers
The EVO X demands your attention...
Driving by the train station I spotted something different, a car I hadn't seen in my home town before. Sure, i'd seen EVOs before but I hadn't seen such a tastefully modified car. The stark white in the gloomy day got me for sure, and the dark wheels offered a much needed contrast.
I actually saw it driving by the other day, it seemed to be straight-piped and sounded awesome. Not much grunt to the sound though, like just the high frequencies came out to play heeeeeee--still, it held my attention of course driving by and I respect it so much.
I forgot EVOs come with brembo brakes, even if the owner added these later, they work for me. Especially behind these Volk ZE40s the dark blue makes the red calipers stick out. Add in these grippy Michelin Pilot Super Sports for good measure and you're looking at a track weapon. HEEEEEECK TO the yasss...
aaaaaand we are on to my favorite part of this build: the Varis-style front bumper. I love it when owners bight the bullet and buy an aggressive bit of aero...whether it's a crazy front splitter, wing, or sideskirts; a well-researched item can really bring the whole build together. If you look closely, you'll see an aftermarket intercooler peaking through the grill ;)
What is Outsider Garage? No idea yet, but maybe we'll get a feature going soon--Check out his youtube channel here
Looks sick, that's all for now big bois
Swee
My first spot of the day: a nice Fiesta ST. This car has interested me for a bit and I would love to get behind the wheel sometime soon. I sat in the driver seat at the Chicago auto show last year and it just felt right. I also like the idea of a 200hp lightweight hot hatch that you can park comfortably in the city and take down supercars in the canyons if you want...
I know air-cooled Porsches are bandwagon AF right now, but this looked MEEAAAN. Those black wheels under this turboed beast hit me right in the feels for sure. What do you think? Has the skyrocketing price of early 911s changed how you feel about them?
Having driven a couple air-cooled Porsches I can say I love the "raw" feeling to them, but I'm just more comfortable in an FR layout. I've just spent more time behind the wheel--both in rl and FORZA--exploring the limits, spinning out, DORRRRRRRRRIFTO.
aaaaand the lil baeby bro of Das Porschen peeking out from behind this support. Excuse the garbage picture, but looking closely at this car it is mint. I hate the color but man, would I love to take this car on a weekend getaway :) of course vintage roof rack would be in order.
Another prime candidate for RUFrack town. This 2002 looked awesome in the light of the parking garage. Anybody driven one of these? Impressions? It took a while for me to get used to this car's styling but now I get it, it's grown on me. Love the center-exit aftermarket exhaust, reminds me of a new Porsche GT3rs :))))))
The final car I captured during this quest is this old surf wagon. I've driven by it before but never had the chance to actually see it up close. I love the patina, and that the car isn't just a rust bucket. Look! It even has an old old old surfboard with a huge stabilizer fin on it. it's mahogany Perhaps a full feature is in order?
Well, that's it for today... I think next time I'll bring a real camera and take more pictures of individual features. Hope all is well with you fellas/ladyssssss ;)
Cheers, Al