I’m trying hard to enjoy Grand Tour, but it’s seeming more and more like a bad remix tape. As far as I can tell, the one and only takeaway from S1E3 was that the Hellcat is as effective around the track as an Aston DB-11, at about 1/3rd the price.

I faced the same question about 18 months ago. Bought a pristine VW Phaeton V8 for $11,800. It had 67,000 California miles on it. Because I’m paranoid, I also purchased a 5-year warranty that goes up to 134,000 miles. That cost about $3,000. And yes, I’ve used it. You can find V8 Phaetons for under $10,000 these days.…

One thing I learned about prep for track days worth repeating is, use racing gas. Most tracks have 103 octane racing gas available. To get the most out of it, reset your ECU by disconnecting the battery, then reconnecting it after filling up. Most modern ECUs will use the most advanced spark timing in the map before…

About 1973, I was changing the clutch in my Triumph Spitfire MkII when I learned that not all the bolts involved in the job (around the bell housing mainly) were identical, long after removing them. What followed was hours of trial and error in a cold, dim garage putting the SOB back together.

Moose on roads are nothing to joke about. My brother lives in Vermont, where moose collisions have killed about 20 people over the past several decades. Be aware that moose eyes do not reflect headlights, making the animals hard to pick out at night.

Here you go:

I owned and cherished a 1967 Fiat Dino Spyder for over a decade. In that period I dated a number of women, but only a few wanted to drive the Dino. One of those, who drove a Corvette automatic, swore she knew how to drive a stick, so I let her. At about 80 MPH, she went shift from 4th to 5th and got 3rd, instead. The…

Interesting story, but not HP numbers I’d hang my hat on. Our local speed shop has a Dynojet that I used a few times on my now departed Miata NA. The owner of the place made it clear that the main purpose of the dyno was for tuning and that the reported numbers weren’t to be compared to those of other dynos. Nor were…