I’m going to throw a hypothetical your way. Let’s say that, unlike certain people, you decided not to spend $350,000 (or more) to make sure your spawn—a budding Instagram celebro-shill with less-than-stellar SAT scores—gets into the University of Southern California. Let’s say you decide to spend that money on…
Last summer, I met a man named James Barbour III. I wrote about his remarkable life as documented original Tuskegee Airman, as a highly influential and respected racing official who’s had an immeasurable impact on the Sports Car Club of America and world-class competitions, and his time as an avid amateur race car…
I know that for some who pray to the Gods of Octane it is heresy to say this, but I’ll say it anyway: I like electric vehicles. I spent much of my misguided youth terrorizing the East Coast in electric golf carts and as I grew older that attraction never faded. So when I got the chance to be among the first to drive a …
A hairdresser’s car? A worthy alternative to the Porsche Boxster? The savior of BMW’s sports cars in a time when that market is declining? A Toyota Supra? The 2019 BMW Z4 M40i could be all of those—and maybe a bit more than people will give it credit for.
What if you took the best parts of the latest Porsche 911 GTS and put them in a package you could use to haul your family around? That may be a question nobody’s asked until now, but here’s the answer to it: the 2019 Porsche Panamera GTS.
Just like how Clark Kent and Superman are never in the same place at the same time, the 2019 BMW M850i xDrive shows up on the scene shortly after the 6 Series departs. Coincidence? Is the 8 Series just a replacement for the venerable 6 or, like Superman, something far more special?
For those who say a Porsche 911 Carrera S, GTS, Turbo or Turbo S are simply not enough, there are the GT2 and GT3 models. They’re insane, overpowered, meant for the race track and come with the six-figure price tags to match. And the 2019 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, somehow, is on a whole other level.
The idea seemed simple: we find a Toyota 86 that damaged in Hurricane Harvey, and then do whatever it takes to transform it into an endurance race car for a charity event aimed at helping the city’s residents get back on their feet after last fall’s devastating floods. But as with all my ideas, the execution itself…
Long after the news cycle moved to Russian Facebook meddling or debates on whether we should arm day care workers with rocket launchers, people from the Gulf Coast are still recovering from the effects of last fall’s devastating Hurricane Harvey. That kind of comeback doesn’t happen overnight. Fortunately, a lot of…
Winter in Canada makes you think pond hockey, hot chocolate or maybe... not going outside at all. But if you have a 2018 Porsche 911 C4S and a frozen skidpad to yourself, trust me, it’s worth braving the cold.
I may be a professional race car driver, but my writing gig for Jalopnik doesn’t suck either. (Just don’t tell Patrick that or he’ll take away the peanuts he’s currently paying me.) Case in point: a snowy, hoon-filled test of the new Acura NSX. Is it good to blast a $150,000 hybrid supercar around an empty winter…
You won’t be shocked to learn that the 2018 BMW M5 is fast, comfortable and expensive. But the big M sedan’s switch to all-wheel drive has raised some eyebrows. Rest assured, BMW’s done it well. And they’ve done it much differently than you might expect.
I’ve been racing cars professionally for almost 15 years now, and as soon as people find out what I do, the questions start coming in hard and fast. Questions like “What’s the fastest you’ve ever gone?” and “Have you ever had a bad crash?” and so on. But the two I get asked the most often are these: “So you race…
“That escalated quickly.” I know it’s a cliché, albeit a fitting one for a hill climb race. But it’s all I could think about after our car—a salvage-title C7 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 street car transformed into a race car in just a few desperate weeks—not only survived the Pikes Peak Hill Climb but finished just one…
I have spent most of my career helping to develop racecars. I have helped develop racecars for several manufacturers and top race teams. This, by far, has been the hardest, most stressful project I have ever done. The first challenge is the insanely short timeline to complete the build before the race. The second is…
My plan for this series was to break down the build of a Pikes Peak race car and make it nice and orderly. It’d start with buying a salvage donor car, designing a roll cage, then go through making carbon fiber parts and finish up with engine and performance upgrades before the race. Well, any plans of nice and orderly…
Last time you saw me, I had just picked up a brand new, salvage-titled Corvette Z06 and had less than three months to turn it into a Pikes Peak Hill Climb contender. I know you are all chomping at the bit to hear about all kinds of engine mods that will make 80 gazillion horsepower, but I have something more crushing…
If you’re a petrolhead like me, then at some point in life you’ve driven past some clapped-out heap at the side of the road and dreamed of turning it into the most badass car on the planet. I’ve been there. Now that dream is real.
I’ve always had a love hate relationship with the Porsche 911. Long before I was old enough to start a 911, let alone drive one, I had dreams about racing them, the monster 935 slant nose turbo ones being my favorite. Years later, driving license in hand, I got a chance to take a neighbor’s water-cooled 911 out for a…
I’m conflicted. A few months ago my good friend and fellow Nürburgring resident Dale Lomas wrote a review of the all-new 2017 Porsche Panamera. He said, and I quote, “The truth is that there’s a certain proportion of us who will never, ever, consider buying one. Because it’s not a ‘real’ Porsche, and it’s just not…
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