A Weekend With the Acura NSX
Sam was lucky enough to get an offer to spend a weekend with the Acura NSX. A full review is coming soon, but here’s a few pics. [portfolio_slideshow]
Sam Abuelsamid
2017 Hespen Rally Photo Gallery
The 2017 Hespen Rally took place on August 7, 2017 to honor the memory of our friend and colleague Patrick Hespen and raise money for the cholangiocarcinoma foundation. Even if you couldn’t join us at the rally, you can still contribute toward finding a cure for this cancer. http://cholangiocarcinoma.org/ We were fortunate to have amazing photographer Steven Pham hanging out of the window of a Maxima provided by Nissan to grab some incredible images of the rally. You can find more of Steven’s work and hire him at http://www.stevenphamphoto.com/ [portfolio_slideshow]
Old And New Mazda Miatas Demonstrate Why Driving Matters
In the span of my time so far on this planet, I’ve seen a lot of “sporty” car models come and go. Few have lasted for more than a couple of product generations and they have often evolved into something far different than the original design brief as manufacturers have tried to appeal to a broader market. For many, the carmaker simply couldn’t make the business case to justify the engineering expense to keep it around. The one exception that has somehow stayed remarkably true to its original premise despite coming from a comparatively small brand is the Mazda MX-5 Miata. I recently got to spend time with the latest Miata iteration and compare it to one of the very earliest examples, a low-mileage 1990 that I personally own. Read the rest of this review here [portfolio_slideshow]
The Great Race 2017 Visits Ypsilanti
The Great Race is an amazing annual road rally for vintage cars sponsored by Hemmings Motor News and Hagerty Insurance. This year, the newest cars that were allowed are from 1972 with that year being represented by a first-generation Nissan Skyline GT-R and the oldest being a century old 1917 Peerless driven by Hagerty VP Jonathan Klinger. This event epitomizes the best of car culture. Despite their age, these machines aren’t museum pieces, they were built to be driven and that’s how they are being used today. Herewith is a sampling of the field as they made a stop in Ypsilanti, Michigan while travelling more than 2,000 miles from Jacksonville, Florida to Traverse City, Michigan. [portfolio_slideshow]
Launching A Hybrid Supercar – The 2017 Acura NSX
It seems like a lifetime ago that I first took a stab at developing control algorithms for a new traction control system on a heated asphalt strip near the arctic circle in northern Sweden. The specific piece I was working on didn’t have a separate name in those days, it wasn’t until much later that it became commonly known as launch control. 24 years and countless launches later, I was back at a strip of asphalt in southeast Michigan to sample the way Honda engineers have tackled the same problem with the new Acura NSX. Read the rest of the article at Forbes [portfolio_slideshow]
2017 Ford Focus RS – The Extra-Spicy Hot Hatch
It’s been just over four decades since the modern hot hatch was born with debut of the original Volkswagen Golf GTI. In the intervening years, most other automakers have produced higher performance versions of their compact cars but since the turn of the century a new class of even quicker machines has evolved. Until recently, with the exception of the Volkswagen Golf R, these machines have been forbidden fruit on American shores. Fortunately for enthusiasts, Ford finally homologated its legendary Focus RS and American Honda dealers will soon start delivering the latest edition of the Civic Type-R. Read the full review at Forbes [portfolio_slideshow]
2017 Acura MDX Advance SH-AWD Review
Cadillac -The Standard of the World. Built Ford Tough. Mercedes-Benz -The Best or Nothing. BMW – The Ultimate Driving Machine. Audi – Truth in Engineering. Well maybe not so much on that last one, but you get my point. Successful automotive brands have an image associated with them that may or may not be entirely accurate, but that’s what marketing is all about. Honda’s premium Acura brand has always struggled with trying to determine what it’s image should be, no matter how good its products have been and they have typically been very good. The latest stab at remaking the brand image image is the 2017 MDX SUV which I just spent a week with. Read the full review here
2017 Volvo XC90 T8 – The Big Swede Gets Plugged In
The launch of the second-generation XC90 marked the beginning of a new era for Volvo a couple of years ago. The XC90 is the first model to ride on the company’s all-new scalable product architecture (SPA), the first all-new platform to come from Gothenburg since Ford sold the Swedish brand to China’s Geely in 2010. After initially being available only with boosted four-cylinder engines, the XC90 is now the first regular production plug-in model Volvo is offering in America and I recently spent a week driving one. Read the rest of the review here
NHTSA Moves Ahead With V2V Mandate
More than two years after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) first issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to mandate vehicle to vehicle (V2V) to communications in the U.S. the agency is finally ready to move forward. Following an extended comment and testing period, NHTSA today published the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for what is expected to become Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 150. Read the rest of the article on Forbes
2017 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro – Autobahn Born and Bred
In Episode 5, Dan and I discussed the 2017 Audi A4 and now my full written review is available. Read the full review here [portfolio_slideshow]