Archive for January, 2008

Authorities have been putting the squeez on underground street racing in Southern California. Chalres Hoang and Daniel Maldonado share a common bond without even knowing eachother, their cars are set to be crushed by local law enforcement. This is all a part of a crackdown by police on the illegal street racing subculture that is “suspected” in 13 deaths in Southern CA in less than a year. “That’s my heart, my dream,” said Hoang as the glass exploded and fell to the ground from his 1998 Acura Integra.

I sit on the fence of this issue. Read the rest of this entry »

The Fast and the Furious franchise is back and looking towards its roots as Justin Lin and Chris Morgan are behind the cameras again. And finally Vin Diesel and Paul Walker return as Dom and Brian O’Conner as many are touting this installment to be the best of the 4. In reality this installment should be Fast and the Furious 2.5 since it’s plot is actually a prequel to F&F Tokyo Drift. It tells us what happens after Brian lets Dom go at the end of the first movie.

Of course no one expect Oscar worthy performances, but then again the Fast and the Furious franchise is built on cars, women, and music. It almost single handily built an entire subculture into what it is today, a multi-billion dollar industry. Thanks to Latino Review we have been given a sneak peek into the first scenes of F&F 4.

Click Read More if you want some good insite into the new movie and if you don’t want to know details I suggest not reading any more of this post

Read the rest of this entry »

Hot damn! With Lexus flirting with european styling for quite some time. Now, they have not only flirted, but they have taken it to dinner, a movie, and got some action on the first night. With the introduction of the 2008 Lexus IS F, the Japanese car marker has stepped to the front of the line and given BMW the crazy eye. The 5.0L V8, 32 valve, VVT-i, 2UR-GSE power plant delivers a heart pounding 416 hp and 371 ft-lb of torque through an 8-speed Sport Direct Shift automatic with paddle shift and Manual mode. These stats lead to a 4.6 sec 0-60 mph and a top speed electronically limited to 170 mph. With all of the goodies like, adaptive front lighting, bluetooth, SmartAccess keyless entry with push button start and pretty much anything else you would expect from a top of the line vehicle. Big thumbs up Lexus and to the rest of Europe watch your back because Japan is pushing out more than just cute little sub compacts.

23 MPG, 500 HP, and 738 lb-ft of torque with Lamborghini DNA running through its veins. Damn, sign me up. The 2008 debut of the updated Audi R8 with the all new 6.0L V12 from their Q7 concept from last year was all but subtle. I believe it will make a large splash on this side of pond. With a target price of some where just over $100k there is now an eco-friendly option for those with the cake and the want to eat it too. The R8′s power delivery system will even surpass 2014 EuroVI emissions standards and is proving that diesel is not just for large trucks and heavy equipment any more. This is a great step between normal petrol driven dreams and the eventual rise of hydrogen powered vehicles (even though BMW has already proven hydrogen as a viable power source). Good job Audi, now send one my way for an in depth review.

So I’ve been mulling it over recently about all the buzz surrounding Hydrogen as a viable alternative fuel. Many say that Hydrogen won’t make it because there is no infrastructure to support it. I honestly believe that a government sponsored intiative to solve this problem would be that hard. To devote some serious federal minds and money towards this “global energy crisis”. Its amazing how much money the government wastes on things such as the steriod scandal in major league baseball or giving $10 billion back to tax payers in the form of tax refund checks. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll take my check but honestly do they believe that it will affect a slowing economy?

 Hydrogen is the most abundent element in the universe, so why would we not develop a system of integrating it into our lives? Australia has had great success with solar hydrogen production. The use special tiles made of Titanium Oxide that has the ability to spit apart the water atom into oxygen and hydrogen simply by harvesting sun light:

It would be the cheapest, cleanest and most abundant energy source ever developed: the main by-products would be oxygen and water. Rooftop panels placed on 1.6 million houses, for example, could supply Australia’s entire energy needs.

This coming from the University of New South Wales in August of 2004. Click here to read the rest of the article. This of course would spell bad news for the auto industry in its current state. The laughable goals set by our government of 35 mpg for passenger cars and light truck fleets by 2019 are absurd. 2019?! Even with the current set of technology 35 mpg should be easy no less by 2019. Why doesn’t the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee try setting some goals that actually mean something.

The money and the man power are there to implement some real change. Its just a question of when will something actually happen. The opportunity is there for hydrogen as a very real energy source, but it will take steps by our government to actually instigate any real revolution.

I sat and wondered for quite some time about how to introduce this blog and in what direction it would take. The car industry has become an international machine that spans the globe. Most major countries have auto makers and national specific brands. We are also seeing the introduction of Chinese and Indian brands that may soon be arriving on our country’s shores, such as the Indian made TaTa, whos base model is a mere $2500.

 A change is coming in the auto world, all of which will effect everyone’s lives. It will be my goal to stir up opinion and report on these changes as they come about. My only question to United State’s auto makers is “are you ready”?