Drifting is a dangerous sport, and not just for the drivers. Having photographed several drift events this author is well aware of the risks involved – I’ve have even had a few close calls, on one occasion a friend of mine pulling me away right as the vehicle struck the K-rail. At another event the...
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Corner Carvers is the sort of internet forum where car setup and sanctioned, timed driving events dominate the conversation, rather than the usual forum drivel about street racing, JDM parts and insulting female family members. But even the best slip up at times, and Corner Carvers has found itself at the center of attention when...
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As we reported two weeks ago, GST Motorsports set a new Super Lap Battle record around Firebird’s main racing circuit. Well, the boys from Hayward, California have done it again, this time setting a new Redline Time Attack lap record at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s outside road course, posting a best time of 1-minute 39.657...
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Small cars and Mazdas are very popular in Canada. The Mazda3 is constantly battling with the Honda Civic for the title of “Best Selling Car,, and models like the Mazda5 and RX-8 are seen far more frequently in the Great White North than the United States. With that said, Canada is naturally a very important...
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Lexus has resumed selling its awesome drift-wagon full-sized GX460 SUV, with a new software update for the stability control system. The “stop-sale” order was given after Consumers Reports magazine deemed the GX460 unsafe and put it on the magazines “Do Not Buy” list, after the GX460 oversteered during Consumer Reports’ “Throttle Lift Test.” Astute readers...
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Mark this one under “you don’t say.” With a total of 11,000 pre-orders for its Leaf electric car, Nissan is predicting that demand for the Leaf will outstrip supply. Those 11,000 orders are for the U.S. and Japan only, and pre-orders for Canada and Europe haven’t even begun. It’s not much of a stretch to...
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A little over a month after the new Outlander Sport SUV (known as the ASX or RVR in the rest of the world) took a bow at the New York Auto Show, Mitsubishi has announced that it will be giving a variation of the sharp-looking crossover to Peugeot and Citroen, two companies which have had...
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Strong demand in emerging markets like India and China, as well as a recovering U.S. economy helped Honda post a quarterly profit of $774 million. The Japanese automaker reported a 28 percent increase in sales, to $24.5 billion. Honda is forecasting a $3.7 billion profit through the coming fiscal year (which ends March 31, 2011),...
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It seems like we’re going crazy with Honda‘s new CR-Z, showing off Mugen’s initial release, TEIN’s CR-Z and Spoon Sports’ rendition of the popular hybrid in Japan. There’s absolutely no denying the popularity of tuning and customizing hybrids in Japan, and the trend is slowly catching on in North America. It will be mighty interesting...
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According to a report by French auto-pub L’Automobile, the recent partnership between Daimler and Nissan parent company Renault could result in a new entry-level crossover for the Infiniti luxury brand. So far both automakers have only said that a new architecture will be used to build the next-gen Renault Twingo, Mercedes A-Class and B-Class, as...
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After reporting yesterday on the possible boycott of Round 2 of the FIA GT1 World Championship by both Nissan GT-R teams due to a controversial weight penalty assessed to them prior to the season opener in Abu Dhabi, we have since learned that the Swiss Racing Team and Sumo Power GT have confirmed their attendance at...
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“Add lightness,” is the world famous maxim of Lotus founder Colin Chapman, and decades on, the British specialty firm rigidly adheres to their mantra, producing cars like the Elise, Exige and Evora that can hang with the world’s best supercars and still deliver terrific fuel economy, thanks to their featherweight construction and efficient powertrains. But...
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Consumer watchdog, Consumer Reports has released its list of 2010 cars, which includes the Hyundai Accent and the Chevrolet Aveo, that do not come with the electronic stability control (ESC) safety feature. A computerized technology that improves the safety of a vehicle’s stability by detecting and minimizing skids in a turn, electronic stability control will...
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As reported in Autosport Magazine, the two Nissan teams competing in the new FIA GT1 World Championship have threatened to boycott the next round and to launch a protest unless the weight penalty heaped on the GT-R ahead of the Abu Dhabi series opener is removed. The first race of the season took place last weekend...
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Between sticking accelerator pedals and rollover-prone SUVs, this year has not been kind to Toyota. However the Japanese automaker is poised to return a handsome $532 million profit, despite expectations to the contrary. Toyota had initially forecasted a loss of $213, but a weak yen and a series of cost-cutting measures meant that Toyota is...
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Amanda Pogany’s 1996 Honda Accord was stolen from outside her Brooklyn apartment three years ago. When she called the police for help, they did little more than laugh. After all, the Accord is one of the top selling cars in America, and one of the most stolen to boot. But Pogany’s car did turn up,...
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Honda CEO Takanobu Ito criticized the “complacent” nature of his company at the Beijing Auto Show, taking aim at poor sales figures, a lack of product direction and a need to focus on improving the company’s hybrid systems. Honda’s market share slid by 0.4 percent, with Ito citing the disappointing sales of the Insight hybrid...
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In a little under 72 hours, Nissan has collected 6,635 pre-orders for its new Leaf electric vehicle, a rate of about 100 per hour. Potential buyers were asked to place a refundable $99 dollar deposit to secure a slot on the waiting list, but there was no guarantee that they would be one of the first to...
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Looks like cars of the future will have cameras everywhere. Subaru has just announced EyeSight, a camera-based driver assist option not unlike Volvo City Safety. It works in conjunction with Subaru’s new “pre-collision braking control” system — if the cameras detect an object or person in danger of being mowed down, an alarm will sound...
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While Toyota owners continue to be worried about “unintended acceleration” issues associated with faulty gas pedals, owners of other makes are eagerly testing the limits of their vehicles’ intended acceleration on the quarter mile. Sometimes, however, there are unintended consequences. Take this drag-racing CRX for example and an owner who got one seriously unpleasant surprise...
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Mazda‘s last attempt at their RX-7 rotary sports car was a brilliant but deeply flawed effort. Performance and styling were top notch, but reliability issues and a high price tag meant that the car lasted less than five years in North America. The RX-8 that replaced it was a fine car in its own right,...
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Despite a dearth of sporty cars in its lineup, Toyota has always managed to have at least one convertible, from boulevard cruisers like the short-lived Celica convertible and the recently departed Camry Solara convertible, to more serious sports cars like the MR2 and Supra. With the Camry Solara gone, Toyota is looking for another open...
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Subaru’s Impreza WRX and STI models are some of the best performance cars money can buy, but customers in the United Kingdom will now have an extra incentive to buy one of Subaru’s boxer-engined hatchbacks. Prodrive, a British motorsports engineering firm long associated with Subaru, is offering a free upgrade package for the WRX and...
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Toyota‘s highly anticipated FT-86 sports car might not be as affordable as company representatives initially expected. According to a report by AutoCar, development costs for the 4-cylinder sports car are likely to drive up its MSRP – taking away part of the little coupe’s appeal. When the it was originally shown in Tokyo a company...
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