There’s a 280hp Superb now, which is described as the smoothest Tesla 70D beater around. The only reason I didn’t buy one the last time around is that passenger space is prioritised over luggage space: I need a bigger boot than the Superb can offer.

Well, I see they were very generous. There’s also reason to believe that these wheels should have survived just fine. If they are ok for track use, they should be build with enormous tolerances. Also, there can always be a foul egg in a nest for good ones. Or four.

Excellent, calm and factual summary towards the end. I’d like to know how this went further down the road? Is the wheel manufacturer at all liable for what happened? How do good old steel wheels react to track day stress like that?

Bonered.

Yes, we’re talking about the 90s here. The 850 had just hit the market, the first 100% new car at Volvo since 1944.

The steadiness in the “uneven waves”-test is pretty impressive. A colleague of mine just sold his Octavia diesel wagon wth 300000+km. Never took care of it, a reliable machine. Škoda offers much better cars than VW: Cheaper and more reliable due to less advanced tech. Czech factories are also excellent.

Basic misunderstanding: Seeing Top Gear as education rather than entertainment.

5000? That’s ridiculous. Even Russians avoid buying Russian, if they can afford it. And this is obviously nothing to be discounted.

All I can think is: “Yay, firewood!”, but then I remember this is the earth’s oven.

Did they really think a potential S Class customer would have bought a Cadillac? I don’t know wether this is too pessimistic a statement, but I wouldn’t dare expecting the above without a clown custome.

Honestly, I was thinking about rusting Sprinters while reading your first paragraph, it’s delightfully obvious that you know what you’re talking about. :) I’ve never understood how Mercedes managed to sink so low - for so long. Sprinter’s always been a rusting POS.

It makes sense, but are these built to last? The European PSA vans, Sprinter, Movano etc are pretty much disposable, but they do 170kph on tight diesel budgets and are fairly easily maintained, too.

So...how hard is it to become one’s own manufacturer?

So how is this allowed on US roads? It’s hardly satisfying US regulations, is it?

The craftsmanship involved is truly engaging. How will any of this be applied to production cars though? Toyota is no basic science university, so I hope we’ll see some real wood in Camrys soon.

Definitely one of the most entertaining hoon videos.

C’mon, how is this even a blog post? Conspicuous consumption and dog mind speculation do not make interesting entertainment.

But...where are Volvo and Mercedes in this bit of history? I gathered these were the leading safety inventors for decades, Volvo having worked on crumble zones and more since before they were ten years old, on the 30s.

Volvo can do this better and more relevant (1974 ad from Germany).

I’ve always liked the restrained, unexcited design of the XV30. It’s much prettier than most new cars trying to convey the ultra-aggressiveness of everyday life. Design by committee? Maybe. But restraint is the real challenge designing a car, not showing off what can be done.

My wife has a Camry, which is a very rare…