Search results for: porsche
Blog: Why Platforms Do and Don’t Matter, But Mostly Don’t
When an automobile company rolls out a new car there can be, from time to time, intensive scrutiny of the platform used. Generally, this scrutiny has seemed foolish to me because it detracts from the enjoyment of driving, so I devote most of this blog to articulating the reasons that “platform analysis” mainly counts as an annoying distraction. But there is a situation—applicable to some car people—wherein all this attention to platforms makes sense. I’ll get to that too, in the interests of (semi) fairness.
The Winding Road Guide To Beating $4 Gas
For drivers, this escalation in fuel prices sucks big time. But let us not despair. Some of our favorite driver’s cars also happen to best the competition in fuel economy, whether sipping regular, premium, or diesel, and even sometimes with a chaser of electrons from a battery pack.
Driven: 2011 Chevrolet Volt
The Volt is, first and foremost, a properly enjoyable car to drive. Ignore the on-board readouts and your fuel economy, and the Volt will happily dust other cars away from the lights, thanks to the 273 pound-feet of torque generated by its electric motor. This instant-on torque gives the Volt a feeling of immediacy that might be unfamiliar to the owner of a conventional car.
How Not To Work On Your Car: Too Far From Your Tools
It never fails to amaze me how much time one can spend just moving around while working on a car, whether it’s from one side to the other or in and out of the garage. I hear that some people actually have room for a car inside the garage—I am not one of those.
2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4: What Is A Lamborghini?
The best automotive brands have established some distinctive idea of what they are in the head of the typical enthusiast. This idea, or more likely set of ideas, gets built up, often over decades, through reading about, seeing and discussing the brand. For many enthusiasts, actually driving the cars is small part of what forms that brand image. After all, how many people have driven a McLaren or a Bugatti or, as is our case in point, a Lamborghini? Even among more common performance cars, many enthusiasts have no direct experience with a Viper or a 911 GT3 or even an M5. The result, we’ve noticed over time, is that many enthusiasts hold an idea of brands and models that don’t have much connection with the reality of what is rolling off the assembly line
Photo Shoot: 2011 BMW 335is
You may remember Winding Road Issue 61, in which we reviewed the 2011 BMW 335is. When we put together that issue, we left out a lot of gorgeous photography of the car. As we have done previously with some other vehicles, we thought we’d now share some of those images from that photo shoot with you.
Secondhand Gems: $50K Fast Sport Utes
High-performance sport utility vehicles are a lot like veggie burgers. Yes, they can be tasty, but the whole time there’s this sense that the meal is trying to be something it’s not, which of course, is the exact truth. That doesn’t automatically mean the feast is destined to be a bad experience, just don’t take a bite expecting it to taste like a medium-rare hamburger.
Tire Tech: Cooper Zeon RS3-S and RS3-A
Ultimately we felt a lot more confident driving on the Coopers, which showed through in the lap times—we were about five seconds faster on average on the RS3-S tires.
Driven: 2012 Fisker Karma
Soon after this hotly anticipated first drive of the 2012 Fisker Karma at the infield handling circuit of California Speedway, we met up with Fisker Automotive principals Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler on the floor at the recent Geneva Motor Show. They had various overseas publications opened to articles of their car strewn across a couple of back office coffee tables at their stand.
2011 Geneva Motor Show Round Up
The Geneva Motor Show came and went last week, and we got a look at some new production cars, as well as some concepts that might give a glimpse into the near future of the automotive world. Earlier, we mentioned some of the cars we were looking forward to, and here is the rundown of the other vehicles that got their big reveal in Switzerland.
Driven: 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302
After a day driving the new Mustang Boss 302 on and around the Laguna Seca race track, we’re prepared to nominate this latest Mustang as the newest member of the affordable but great. Just for reference, the other members of this august group are the Mitsubishi Evo X and the Mazda RX-8.
Secondhand Gems: Sneaky Sleepers For $25,000
Unsuspecting speed. It’s as American as a Kid Rock concert and more fun than a super-sized waterslide. Drop a big motor in a pedestrian machine, then go humiliate the local horsepower bully with your grandma’s Sunday cruiser. To anyone who has never enjoyed this sort of automotive hilarity, go buy an Oldsmobile 98 Regency and a 250 shot of giggle gas. Beating the guy in the flashy muscle car isn’t even the best part; it’s when you meet at the next light and say, “Didn’t you know? All Oldsmobile 98s are this fast.”
Winding Road Guest Blog: BMW E39 Wagon Wanderings
We continue our new Guest Blog series with this piece on the search for “soul” in a car that will also haul your kids. If you’re interested in becoming a WR guest blogger, check out the details, here, and then send us your best effort at [email protected].
Driven: 2012 McLaren MP4-12C
We can’t think of any bigger supercar rollout this year—maybe this decade—than the stunning McLaren MP4-12C and we’ve just been among the very first to drive it on track and road. Trust us right up front: you’re going to like this chapter in British high-performance history for years to come.
First Look: 2012 Hyundai Genesis Sedan R-Spec
In the Hyundai universe, R-Spec is a designation shared by the turbocharged four-cylinder and V-6-powered Genesis Coupe. These models denote cars from the Track trim that have had many of their luxuries stripped away in the interest of saving weight and money. For 2012, the R-Spec badge will adorn the larger Genesis Sedan.
Driven: 2011 Year In Review(s)
2011 has been a busy year in the Winding Road offices, with auto shows, new model launches, and the usual comings and goings of the automotive industry filling the virtual pages of our website. Even with all the activity, there has been a near-constant stream of automobiles filtering in and out of our parking lot, giving us no shortage of vehicular material to write about.
Friday Video: Supercharged Miata Has Elise Hearing Footsteps
Hey folks, happy Friday. We’re busy shoveling snow and pushing our friends cars out of their parking spots, still. But, to take a little break from it all, we bring you this delightful (yet admittedly nut tightening) video from YouTuber jberry813 who is seen stalking an Elise in his Miata as they cruise around Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California.
Secondhand Gems: Hardcore Performance
As auto enthusiasts, we love to drive. Some of us like it more than others. And then there’s the third group, filled with fleeting thoughts of going pro, or at least semi-pro.
Driven: 2012 Toyota Prius PHV
In reality, the Prius PHV differs mechanically and dynamically only slightly from the third-generation car that it’s based on. The biggest mechanical change centers around the battery pack, with the single nickel metal hydride battery being replaced by an advanced lithium-ion batteries.
Detroit 2011: Auto Show Round Up
Miss some of Winding Road’s coverage of the 2011 North American International Auto Show? Don’t worry, faithful reader, we’ve got you covered. Below you’ll find a list of links to all of our Detroit 2011 coverage: both First Look pieces, complete with stock images and press release about each vehicle, and “live” image gallery posts with all of our photos from the show floor. We’re still in the middle of producing some more great auto show content, too, so feel free to check back as we add to the list, and to the NAIAS fun.
First Look: 2012 Volkswagen Passat
Volkswagen has pulled the sheet off of its all-new 2012 Passat here at the Detroit auto show, revealing a car that the company is touting as the largest version of the model ever.
