Review Your Cars

On Sunday, September 13th of this year, the best racing in the western hemisphere concluded its season at nearby Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca but few actually witnessed it. Why is it so good? Because the Pirelli World Challenge GT cars are closely related to what is sold to the public, it is a 50 minute sprint, and the action is fierce. The short race duration means it is easy to follow without a scoreboard, there is no pit stop, driver change or fueling strategy. It is intense and spectator friendly. The problem is awareness, competition from another series, lack of a timely broadcasts on a major network and overall malaise regarding auto racing in the US. Imagine seeing your favorite exotic and performance cars racing neck and neck in a big group of twists and turns. These are not overweight, under-tired, under-braked special construction cars that go around in circles with no relation whatsoever to what is on the street. This series features raced prepped models such as: Ferrari 458, P...

The Goodwill Festival of Speed, held this past June 27th through the 29th, 2014, is best described as a Concours D’elegance worthy car collection, an airshow, an international car show, a rally race, an exotic car show, a racing motorcycle show and demonstration, a hot rod show, a motocross exhibition, an off road driving experience centered on a hill climb time trial event disguised as a huge outdoor festival and bucket list to-do deep in the English countryside. To properly take it all in, plan on attending all three days and bring charged back-up batteries and extra memory cards for your devices. Ideally a laptop to store it all nightly if you're appetite for speed is ravenous. If it isn't, it will be. The Hill Climb is the central event that the rest of the show follows on either side of the track. The course is 1.6 miles long so plan on walking, a lot. Some nasty blind and off-camber turns greet really fast straights below the main house and well up into the countryside. Y...

Three letters in the March 2010 Car & Driver question the 3.3 second 0-60mph time of the Porsche Panamera Turbo that was tested the December 2009 issue. That makes it potentially quicker than many cars with much more power and less weight including the McLaren F1, Ferrari Enzo and Porsche's own GT-2. Weighing 4409lbs with 500hp, on paper it shouldn't beat any of them. There are three reasons it's so quick. All-wheel drive, the dual clutch transmission and gearing that is probably more aggressive than any performance car in history make it accelerate quicker than much more powerful and lighter cars. The Panamera Twin Turbo is in 3rd THIRD! gear by the time it hits 60mph. Many extreme cars like the Bugatti Veyron, Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 and others go over 60mph in 1st gear. Check out the Bugatti Veyron road test with the top 10 quickest cars they have tested. The all-wheel drive ensures no slippage unlike the others where power delivery has to be managed with available...

Do you have a favorite exhaust or engine sound? A thunderous domestic V-8? The shriek of a Formula 1 car? The muted roar of a turbocharged powerplant? The big-rig huffing of a massive diesel? My favorite has to be the furious bark of the Global Motorsports Group exhaust installed on the already demonic sounding Porsche Carrera GT. I once heard an '04 CGT being driven after a clutch! replacement. Yes, clutch. The full-throttle howl reminded me of an air raid siren from hell. It was at once obscenely scary yet cool beyond words. This unique system adds 19hp and 16ft lbs of torque at the rear wheels on the dyno. What's another $6,400 on this beast. Click on the video and skip to the 54 second mark. It's THAT good. The mid-mounted 605hp V-10 in Porsche's supercar is a work of automotive art already. Unfortunately having only a 3 model-year run producing 1,270 units, it is quite rare. Some speculate disappointing sales due to it's $440,000 MSRP and not-q...