Monday, April 12, 2010

Movin' on up

My first post with High Gear Media at CollegeCarGuide.com

Click this!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

My First Top 5

In the automotive world, the badge means everything. The badge can reflect quality, reputation and even performance. To many people, all a car is is its badge. People who only drive and buy Chevrolets or Fords, or only buy imports. It is all about the badge.

When an automaker wants to suggest performance, the badge will many times take the shape of an animal. Here are my top five animal related badges from the automotive world:

#5. The Dodge Viper



Although the badge might be a little bit lame by itself, the car it was placed upon drove the point home with an 8 liter jackhammer. When the car came out, the name Viper was on the lips of every kid on the playground that cared about cars. Think about it, would it have been as great of a success with a name like Dodge SRT-10 when it first came out? No, it was as ridiculous as its badge implied, and that is what makes it sad to see it finally go.

#4. The Ford Mustang




Obviously, this had to make it into the list, not just because it is the badge of one of the fastest selling cars ever made, but because of its status as an American legend. Show this badge to just about any American and ask "what car is this from?" and they will say "Ford Mustang."

#3. Jaguar




In third place come the Brits, with their infamous logo from Jaguar. Someone was crazy enough about this logo to turn it into a motorcycle. It had to be a great looking logo, as it was going on (and still is going on) some of the best looking cars in history.

#2. Abarth



Taking the top two spots, obviously, has to be Italy. However, there won't be any prancing horses or bulls on this entry, no no no. Second place goes to a maker that hardly any Americans have ever heard of. Abarth has been the in house tuning company of Fiat for a number of years, and will soon gain relevance in America with the introduciton of the Fiat 500 in the states. Face it, scorpions are so much cooler than horses or bulls anyways.

#1. Lancia HF


And my favorite animal related car badge in the world is... a prancing elephant. Surprised? Okay, if someone threw this badge on a performance oriented Hyundai from the eighties, I would have trashed it as a contender in half a second. However, this logo went on cars that won Lancia the World Rally Championship nine times. Plus, what is more unstoppable than a prancing elephant? Obviously, nothing, as Subaru, Mitsubishi, and any of the other big rallying names haven't even touched nine wins in the WRC. Way cool.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Cincinnati Auto Expo '10

As I said a couple entries ago, the Cincinnati Auto Expo was this weekend, and it brought some unexpected surprises.

I always enter the Expo not knowing what to expect. Sure, there will be all the new cars for the 2010 model year, but sometimes some newcomers sneak in early to make an appearance.

For example, the first car I saw wasn't a surprise, I had just forgotten about it for a minute. That is a little sad, considering that I am genuinely excited about the new Ford Fiesta that is coming to showrooms this summer. The excitement came right back as I got to walk around a white one on display. Sadly, as I feared Ford did have to change things from the fantastic looking European version to bring it to the states, and made it look not quite as nice. Still, it is a Ford that makes perfect sense, and from what I could see the interior is still stunning. However, I'd have a Fiesta over a Fit just based on the looks, and that is saying something.

From then on, things were just a bit... boring.

I had someone ask me after the show what looked good and would be worth looking at to buy in a year or so, and I couldn't really think of anything.

Anything, except the new Jaguar.

How can I put its beauty into words?

Obviously, its a four door limo, so it isn't as beautiful as the XKE in its blood, but if the XKE was a four door it would probably look something like the new XJ.

It beats the Quattroporte, hands down.

In fact, no new four-door in its class looks as stunning. End of story.

Also, to all the naysayers on the Porsche Panamera, reserve your commenting and judgement for when you see the car in person. All the pictures I've ever seen of it make it look like a slightly stretched 911, and that thought makes it drastically ugly. However, when you see it, the car is much bigger than the pictures make it look. Somehow, that makes it look better than the pictures make it look. The problem is, it still doesnt look good enough. I think the back end and the shape overall is brilliant, but the front kills it. The headlights are hopeless, and the front bumper makes the car look like it has a fat lip.

They're looks that can be saved by a car that is wonderful to drive, that's all.

What about the bad? Well, the BMW X6 is still hideous. Nothing new there. The new Hyundai Sonata is a step in the right direction, although it still feels like you're buying an imitation, not an original thought.

I can put it this way. Old Hyundais were imitation crab on a saltine cracker. The newer ones are imitation crab on sushi.

I'll leave you with another I REALLY WANT IT:

LANCIA BABY!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Another I Want It

Right here:

y'all

Cliche.

This weekend is the Cincinnati Auto Expo, one of my favorite events at Cincinnati. A large amount of makes and models are now on display at the Cincinnati Convention Center for people to sit in and scrutinize. Yeah yeah, you don't get to drive them, but in Cincinnati it is one of the only opportunities people have to see so many different cars all at once. The first time I went was in 1998, when the biggest news in the automotive industry was the Volkswagen Beetle.

Today, that car is virtually unchanged. A couple new lights, engines, and other refinements, but still almost the same car.

However, that day I saw something much more exciting. The Ford GT90 concept car. A quad-turbo V-12 hypercar that was supposed to pay homage to the GT40. I still think it is one of the most interesting looking cars Ford ever put on display in Cincinnati. Four turbochargers however, sounds like a little much.

My problem is this:

Forced induction vs. naturally aspirated engines.

To demonstrate the magic of both, here are some Ferraris:

Turbo


Naturally aspirated


Of course, those being Ferraris, the sound they make is exquisite. Hard to choose right?

The first turbocharged car I had a ride in was a 1986 Merkur XR4ti with 188,000 miles and no muffler. It was massively exciting when the turbo started to whistle, especially with the lack of an exhaust system. The first turbo car I drove was a 1.8T Jetta with an automatic transmission, and even then once the turbo came into play it was an absolute hoot.

Both those cars had a bit of lag, which is one of the biggest problems with turbocharging. Therefore, you had to rev it to feel the real power. That meant if you were feeling the turbo, you were most likely speeding. Newer, more expensive cars have been able to fight lag with technologies like variable fin turbochargers, having a big and a small turbo, etc. However, those are on more expensive cars like BMWs and Porsches, so the common man looking for a cheap turbo car will probably still have lag to deal with.

Here is Jeremy Clarkson with a great illustration of lag

The biggest argument against turbocharging is the cliche:

"There is no replacement for displacement"

As shown here

True, you cannot ignore the boom of the American V-8, but you cannot replace all the fuel that burns up... all the time.

Its a tough one. It really is.

But the best replacement for both is an engine where you can... here comes the cliche... use all the power.

For example, the Honda Civic SI. I got to ride in two of these. They made me a believer in the often ridiculed VTEC system. At around 6,000 rpm, the engine goes from yelling to SCREAMING. It is hilarious. All of the sudden the car pulls even harder, all the way up to when the driver will inevitably hit the redline.

However, if you don't want a ticket, you can only do it in first gear.

And that, well, that kind of spoils it, even though there aren't any huge problems with the rest of the car. It's responsive, and handles well for a front wheel drive car. Still, you can't use the best part of it all the time.

However, if you get a v-8 with a manual gearbox you can use the power from the very bottom.

The fuel economy is still rubbish.

Regrettably, this leads me to a point I'm going to make way too many times.

You don't need all the power in the world to have fun. Take the Miata for example!

Mine specifically only has 125 horses. However, its lightweight, nimble, and makes the best of every last one.

That is why I wish Renault were here. The kings of the naturally-aspirated hot hatchback.

Power you can use, that is what wins. Lucky Europeans.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

The noise noise noise noise noise.

Right, I want to talk about exhaust notes.

Each engine type has its own unique sound. Inline fours, flat fours, straight sixes, V-8's, etc.

But which one makes the best sound?

Personally, my favorite sound comes from engines where the cylinder count is either five or ten. I'm talking old Audi's, the Lamborgini Gallardo LP560-4, the Porsche Carrera GT,

And this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6D7S2rcyIQ

A Lexus?

Seriously? Do you understand what that means? That means that this technological tour de force is...

A TOYOTA.

Hopefully they put in a different gas pedal.

All joking aside, this car has got to be one of the best sounding cars in the entire world. I just said that about a Toyota. It absolutely screams all the way up to its 9,000 rpm redline, and even just gurgling along it sounds wonderful. It sounds like the engine is more than just cylinders combusting gasoline. It sings. In fact, the engine revs so quickly, an analog tachometer with a needle wasn't quick enough, so they fitted it with a completely digital readout.

Sure, the price is a lofty $375,000 and people are constantly writing the car off because of that, but that isn't the point. If you have that kind of money in the first place, you probably wont care about the cost because of what you are buying. You're buying the absolute best a car company can do. This car isn't restrained or held back in any way at all.

We need more cars like this.

More importantly, Toyota needs more cars like this.

I read a blog over at Automobilemag.com by David Zenlea about how the current recall fiasco is exactly what Toyota needs. Why? He claims that leaning on their well established reputation for reliability caused a decrease in driving pleasure coming from their cars. With that crutch yanked out from under them, they need to draw attention back to themselves.

I completely agree.

Remember the Supra? The twin-turbo targa top Japanese muscle car? Do me a favor, try and find a bone stock last-generation supra online for a reasonable price. That doesn't exist. Those cars when in pristine shape command nearly $30,000. Did you know that in the 80's you could get a Corolla that had rear wheel drive with a limited-slip differential?

There was a concept car that Toyota revealed last year that is exactly where they need to head.
Called the FT-86, it is a rear wheel drive stylish sporty coupe.

It being a Toyota, it'll probably be cheap too.

Plus, those looks can make anyone forget about a few sticky gas pedals.

Simply put, being reliable isn't anything special anymore. You can get a 100,000 mile warranty
on a Hyundai, and in some cases, the Toyota would be the more boring car.

So let the LF-A show to the world that Toyota knows a thing or two about performance cars. Let its marvelous technology and build quality trickle down into the cars that you and I might want to buy someday.

And please, build the FT-86.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Today's I WANT IT on Ebay:

right here

Monday, February 15, 2010

What about me?

I've told you about the blog, now how about a bit about myself.

Well, since I was a lad I have had an obsession with cars. Something about the styles and sounds of cars would always get me excited. I would always be building Hot Wheels tracks or playing various Need For Speed video games in between my sessions of searching for concept car photographs on the internet or sitting on the front porch listening for an occasional V-8 thunder.

I even made a website about it. www.jsite.com/sizzlincars

My obsession became so fierce I was soon able to recite the make and model of every car that would pass by, just to annoy the rest of my family.

My first car was a 1995 Geo Prizm with an 85 horsepower 1.6 liter engine. Or, to put it even simpler, it was a Toyota Corolla in clothes from a thrift store. To drive this car and find true enjoyment in it, you have to be crazy about driving. I beat the poor thing to hell, but it is still going as a testament to Japanese durability.

The defining moment in my relationship with cars was when I started my second job at the end of high school. I started working as a lot technician (basically a salesman's slave) at a Ford dealership in Cincinnati. This got me behind the wheel of some pretty exciting (Miata, Tiburon GTV6, Civic SI, Mustang GT) and very lame (Dodge Avenger, Mustang V6, Dodge Neon) cars. Before I knew it, I would be running errands while reviewing the car for an imaginary audience much like my heroes James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond. It was then that I decided pursuing an education in journalism would be the way to go.

For now, I am trapped on campus dearly missing my '94 Miata that is parked in the garage back home.

So, what kind of cars get me excited?

All kinds. I get just as much of a kick out of a naturally-aspirated V-8 as I get out of a turbocharged four-cylinder. I'm more partial to simple, stripped out sports cars instead of muscle cars or luxury sedans, but it really depends more on the car. Some of my current favorites in the world are the Miata, the VW GTI, Focus RS, Cadillac CTS-V, etc.

Worst car I've ever driven?

Chevrolet Cavalier, late nineties, and that was just in a parking lot.

Best car I've ever driven?

Really tough, especially because I haven't been in too many genuinely exciting cars. I still want to say it was a Miata, but besides that I might go as far as saying it was one of the 2010 Mustang GT's I got to drive last summer, just because of how much of an improvement over the last Mustang it is. I feel like the new 5.0 may stack up to be the best entry level American musclecar.

Welcome

Xanga is dead, twitter is too short, and facebook is too shallow.

Welcome to my new blog, where for the first time in a while I am going to try and be professional. That means I am going to be posting things relevant to my hopes and dreams for a career, such as my work in photography and my comments on the automotive industry.

The name of this blog came from driving. More specifically, it came from one of the most important roads of my life. Route 50 goes from Maryland to California, and for a mile or two is the main road that passes through my hometown of Milford, Ohio. If you head west, you end up passing through Downtown Cincinnati, and if you head east you plow into a thicket of some of the best roads Ohio has to offer to the enthusiastic driver. Dry Run, Stonelick Creek and 132 to name a few.

There is an aura to 50 that mystifies me. Every time I stand on it in Milford I have to think to myself how far this piece of road goes, and how little of it I have seen. All 50 has ever done for me is take me from college to home, and vice-versa. I know where it goes, but I don't know the road.

And that is where this blog gets its name, a road. A road that I will head straight for when the snow stops and the sun shines on Ohio again.