Indiana
Epic Events You Can Drive: One Lap Of America
One Lap Of America is a set of driving competitions mixed with a non-competitive road trip. It starts and finishes in South Bend, IN, from whence you drive 3245 miles during the week to compete at tracks in Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and back home again in Indiana. There are 18 planned track events, of which 13 are time trials on road racing circuits. There are three drag races and two skid pad events. Scoring is based on overall ranking (not time) in each event. Since you need to drive (transit) between events, One Lap is for street legal cars. There are 13 classes. For our report on OLOA we engaged the eyewitness team of Tracy Ramsey and Jason Cange (Team Blenderblaster), who ran this year’s event in a 2012 Nissan 370Z sponsored by Winding Road Racing. The 370Z fits into SSGT2 (cars under $50k) Big Bore (engines over 3.5 liters). Up against Corvettes, Mustangs and Challengers, you would think they would be at a disadvantage. But, as we know, what you think and what actually happens can be different once the rubber hits the track.
2015 Chevrolet Silverado HD, GMC Sierra HD Trucks Revealed
General Motors has unveiled the 2013 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD pickups with some significant improvements, including a payload of 7374 pounds and a trailering rating of 19,600 pounds.
Driven: 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Coupe
Not surprisingly, this was a truly quick vehicle, capable of alarming speed. Like the CTS-V, there was more than enough power at idle to send the rear tires the way of the dodo. This was an entirely optional activity, though, as the power delivery and throttle response were quite smooth. In fact, we might argue that a sharper (or adjustable) throttle response could be fitted to make the ZL1 feel just a hair quicker off the line.
Long-Term Car: Windy City Road Trip
Some days ago, my wife Catheryn and I packed a night’s worth of luggage (some clothes, an air mattress and pump, snacks for the road) into the Mini and took off for Chicago to meet up with our friends Michael and Dina for a concert.
Driven: 2009 Ford Escape XLT V-6
One of the more ubiquitous sights on the American Road is the Ford Ranger pickup. It is handsome, in a hard-working, rectilinear way, and you don’t see many that appear to have suffered neglect or abuse. Now the Ford Escape (and Mercury Mariner) SUVs join the Ranger pickup in its ubiquity. Not only do you see a lot of them, and not only do they look good, they are good. They may be the class-leader of the compact SUV category.
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