Browsing tag

TopGear

Can the New BBC TopGear Survive? By Anthony Fongaro

(Note: this is only about Top Gear, not about Extra Gear which airs right afterwards). May 30th, 2016. That date will be known as the day that “New Top Gear” was born. Officially known as season 23 of Top Gear, everything from the cast, set design, and track were changed. Gone were the three middle-aged buffoons that we knew and loved and in their place comes a couple of Brits, an American, and a German. Guess what? It sucked! As soon as host Chris Evans opened his mouth (whispering that Top Gear was back), nothing felt the same. Matt LeBlanc …

Keep reading

TVR Inks New Sportscar Deal with Gordon Murray and Cosworth – 2018 Launch Possible!

If there are two better names than Gordon Murray and Cosworth to attach to the TVR rebirth, we cannot imagine them. All are icons of English performance — and together promise great things. A new sportscar announcement today includes no new sketches or even outlines of the upcoming new TVR, but it does signal work behind the scenes. The car will be designed and produced using iStream from GMD and engine mechanicals via Cosworth. iStream is intended to be a highly robotized assembly system using the latest in 3D printing and materials to give low-weight and high-strength components. The iStream …

Keep reading

What To Watch: NISMO GT Academy Is High-Quality, Big-Budget Reality Competition!

Updated 11.10.14 The new season of GT Academy is online and watchable via the below YouTube embed! To celebrate, we’ve paired the episode with some of the coolest NISMO cars from SEMA 2014. Mostly, relaxing for me is commercial-free online television of some kind. Just stumbled upon the latest for GT Academy, and feel compelled to share this exciting series. Imagine a mix of a few shows like Toughest Soldier Challenge, TopGear, … and … America’s Next Top Model…. and you will get an idea of what GT Academy offers viewers. Instead of shooting or pouting, these guys train to …

Keep reading

Concept Flashback – 2008 Mazda Furai is 450HP, Rotary LMP2 Car That Met Two Tragic Ends

What were the two tragic ends that met the Furai concept? One: Laurens van den Acker leaves Mazda to take the top design job at Renault, where he delivered the Clio 4 and cars like the Twizy — and has imprinted his influence on ever product since 2010. The tragedy for Mazda’s NAGARE design philosophy is that it was hard to continue van den Acker’s ‘Flow’ themes without the true creator’s presence. So, despite being globally celebrated after its launch in late December 2007, the Furai was fairly doomed from the start. Designed first, and engineered second — the fantastic …

Keep reading

TVR Sportscars Brand Chronology 1956-2006 Plus a Roadmap to Global Sales for 2014 and Beyond

TVR is one of the greatest success stories in British sports cars. Not by sales or commercial volume, mind you, but the global popularity of TVR is evidence of: — universal appeal of low-volume sportscars with character — broad appeal of English-language auto journalism with a highly qualitative edge — global appetite for automotive and supercar-themed entertainment content — the power of visceral appeal to an exotic car that is nothing like anything sold locally or by big OEM makes As an American who has lusted after TVR’s since first glimpsing the Tuscan in the pages of BBC’s TopGear magazine …

Keep reading

VIDEO: 2014 Ford Fiesta ST is Most Fun at Road America Autocross Track

Do you ever want to reach into TopGear magazine sometimes and shake them by the collar, yelling: “YES, We know the Fiesta ST is fun. Next topic!” Oh, that is just me? Whatever then! I have gotten really fatigued with Fiesta ST rave reviews. It just didn’t seem relevant. Until the first peel-out. On the go-kart-track turned Autocross of Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin – the Fiesta ST comes alive. I finally get it. Finally. Finally! The 2014 Ford Fiesta ST really is a hoot. It is How Stella Got Her Groove Back. It is the g-spot in Octopussy. …

Keep reading

Ariel Atom Duo on Slicks at the Road Atlanta Skidpad for ATL Driving Experience

Ariel Atom ATL Driving Experience Q: what is even quicker than an Ariel Atom at any track, worldwide? A: an Ariel Atom on racing slicks! I’ll take the blue one. You hop in the orange. Let’s do this. The Ariel Atom is well-known as the elastic fun-cooker that shook Jeremy Clarkson’s face apart around Dunsfold Air Force Base in 2007, then hung his cheeks out to dry via a high-speed blast down those world-famous TopGear runways just moments later. The Atom is now on to generation 3.5, with the much-wider track and chassis making it even more like a shrieking …

Keep reading

Audi TT Quattro Sport Concept Promises 3.6s 60-mph Sprint via Hardcore Track Racing Upfit

  The most intoxicating new TT for speed freaks? The latest TT Quattro Sport Concept — which appears to be a possible production reality as a ‘Cup’ or ‘club racer’ model. This makes perfect sense when considered a bit more. The chassis and price points of the base TT and the previous-gen TTRS mean it was ripe for a halo performance flagship. A car so fast and loud that it might force the world to show some respect. If only to banish the popular TopGear critique of a hair-dresser’s car. Sidebar: do hair stylists in the UK make more than …

Keep reading

HyperGallery – 2.6s Porsche 918 Spyder in 77 All-New, High-Resolution Photos

Porsche 918 Spyder This article’s turntable is more of a DIY effort — on your part! (Excluding these first snippet spinners) Simply scroll down at your own pace to take in all of the angles we could capture on this exotic hybrid supercar. The 918 is approximately 70-percent sold, but act fast to make sure you are not left out in the cold in the upcoming hypercar rumble royales. After tonight’s TopGear feature, the Porsche team is sure to knock that sold percentage up to 80-percent! Why not sold out? Porsche will make 918 of these cars, which is 3X …

Keep reading

Vauxhall Astra Hits 300HP In VXR-topping Extreme Spec — A Production-Ready Front-Drive Z/28?

The latest Astra from Opel in Europe and Vauxhall in England is a really handsome machine. Surprisingly, it pips even the latest Focus on style, even in hum-drum TopGear “Star in a reasonably Priced Car” trim. The LEDs (at night) are far better than anything out of Woking, so far, glowing a bright white around Dunsfold on the rainiest, grayest days of this never-ending winter. The upgrade here adds 30 horsepower, a huge carbon-fiber overhall outside for racing aero, and a very impressive grip setup. I was trying to think of what race series this car seems from — and …

Keep reading

Helicat22 At Miami Boat Show — Twin-Engine Catamaran is Cool and FAST — Even In Very Rough Seas

Most of the boats and yachts in the world employ a single-hull design, with the classic shape offering merits via the huge enclosed living space they can provide. But every bit of hull displacement becomes extra problematic over rough waters. These videos show: a wakeboarding trial with the red Helicat22 a rough-water scenario at speed. Watching some of the bone-jarring impacts suffered by James May and the TopGear team over the years is proof enough — and reason enough — to slow down to a crawl in any rough seas. But how un-fun is going slowly in a fast car?  …

Keep reading

“Maybe The Twingo Ate Your Babee…” All-New Renault Twingo Packs Rear Engine, Four Doors and Cute New Style

The Twingo is a car we will likely never see on American shores. Even so, it is a favorite of almost all city-dwellers in Europe. Will they know the very silly Seinfeld reference in the headline? If not: [Interior, cocktail party. Heavy Australian accent and snarky grin] Elaine- Maybe the dingo ate your baby. The previous few generations of Twingo have virtually epitomized ‘cheap but cheerful’ style for city cars. It just seems like a car that is always having fun. Cheap ‘n cheerful is far better than the aging Aygo/C1/108 triplets — which might be better described as ‘cheap …

Keep reading

Favorite Big-Boost Driving Videos – My Personal 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Wagon

“Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” — R.W. Emerson Leave it to a poet to summarize capitalism. So what was I doing for driving thrills before founding Car Revs Daily? Took this quick video today while waiting for 80,000 images – seriously – to find their new homes. Broken links repaired next week, or simply add “-” dashes to the previous “carrevsdaily.com/” URLs. I was doing just about the same things as today, but with less car variety. I was active in forums and receiving a similar zero-dollars paycheck for the efforts. …

Keep reading

What To Watch: NISMO GT Academy Is High-Quality, Big-Budget Reality Competition!

Updated 11.10.14 The new season of GT Academy is online and watchable via the below YouTube embed! To celebrate, we’ve paired the episode with some of the coolest NISMO cars from SEMA 2014. Mostly, relaxing for me is commercial-free online television of some kind. Just stumbled upon the latest for GT Academy, and feel compelled to share this exciting series. Imagine a mix of a few shows like Toughest Soldier Challenge, TopGear, … and … America’s Next Top Model…. and you will get an idea of what GT Academy offers viewers. Instead of shooting or pouting, these guys train to …

Keep reading

Eagle Low Drag GT Finished! Only Two More Chassis Available…

Eagle Low Drag GT Launches New Website Since discovering Eagle’s latest project a few months ago, the anticipation of the finished car has been palpable. After hitting the lawns of Buckingham Palace with the St James’s Concours d’Elegance in early September, it appears that the car is in finished form for the latest photos on http://www.lowdrag-gt.com/ Secrets Secrets While the pricing and the buyer for this first Eagle Low Drag GT are very private, Mr. Brace let us know that the single car has been in progress for more than the last five years. He also hinted that there is …

Keep reading