Madman and rally driver Travis Pastrana was up to something unusual on New Year’s eve. It was something quite awesome as well: he jumped a rally car (A Subaru Impreza to be exact) a whopping 269 ft – a new world record. So, take a look at his awesome clip and do not try to jump your rally spec Subaru Impreza over a harbour at home.
Click to read the whole article to see the video.
I’ve decided to make another slow motion video for the blog, this time with some fantastic archive footage of the Group B rally cars – the wildest and most powerful rally cars ever. As the footage is quite old, I highly recommend clicking the HQ button.
Note that the video is exclusively for The Blog of Cars!
Some brilliant bloke called DTMEnthusiast put up this amazing collection of old DTM clips from the “golden era” of the sport. I’ve found it and I thought I could share it with you as DTM is one of the biggest touring car championships in the world standing next to the BTCC and WTCC. Please note that the HD button is available and I highly recommend you press it.
Video found via Mycarvid
The first and the last Golf GTI's - probably 2 of the best from the bloodline.
This week, although a bit late, we have one of those great originals in the Car of the Week section – the VW Golf GTI. This is a car that revolutionised the world of hatchbacks, the very first hot-hatch. The GTI badge has been taken since then by a million companies and all the other tried to emulate the brilliance of the Golf GTI but none of them succeeded.
As it is a bit special this week, we won’t designate a specific Golf generations as the winner but 3: The GTI Mark I, V and VI – all of them brilliant, all of them worthy of the mighty GTI badge. You might wonder why? Why not all of them? Why just these random numbers: 1,5 and 6. Well, let me explain why. First of all, the Golf Mk. I was the original, the very first hot hatchback, one of the fastest cars at its time. It’s just brilliant: practical, good-looking in a subtle kind of way and fast like stink. However the next generations, the 2,3 and 4, all become more civilised and slower, eventually ending no longer as a hot hatchback but just as a normal one with a bit more power. VW got their act together though and the last 2 GTI’s, the 5 and the 6 were absolutely brilliant. Not the fastest anymore, but the best overall. Being the fastest today with cars like the Renault Megane R26.R is very hard while trying to keep practicality, so bear in mind the Renault is a hot-hatch, but transformed into a track day car.
Clean is the word I would use to describe the style of the very first GTI.
The Golf GTI offers you quite literally everything: from tedious practicality to insane speed, all in this decent, quite cheap package. The most amazing thing however is that the Mk. I Golf is one of the longest lasting cars in history having being produced from 1984 to 2009. Yup, until this year they were still making them in South Africa. It’s that good. And the fast, hot version is the best. It handles like a dream as it is quite a small car so weight isn’t a problem. Even though it’s front-wheel drive it’s responsive and accurate and corners neat and flat. Just brilliant. The first one may have been cheap at its time and sold like hot cakes, but it’s already a classic today, and a good one will set you back quite a lot more than you’d think for such a small car. Anyway, this is one of the best cars ever made so it’s definitely worth a shout in our Car of the Week section.
You don’t believe me? Then watch Jeremy Clarkson being seduced by the Golf in this classic video:
A strange BMW M1 has been spotted in Munich. It was covered in camouflage.
Now, generally, test mules are covered in camouflage. The BMW M1 was released back in 1978, so it doesn’t make much sense for this to be a test mule. The interior is covered up as well, which seems to be too extreme if this is simply a custom job of some M1 owner. So what the bloody hell is going on? Here’s the video of this car:
A few weeks ago I wrote an article on the blog about the Dacia Duster Ice Racer that was set to race in the Trophee Andros cup. Well, the guys have been busy at work testing it, including former Formula 1 World Champion Alain Prost . As a result, we are now able to bring you some videos of the thing.
So imagine you’re a millionaire. You’re looking for a high-end supercar, like the Veyron. You find that everything in that class is a bit slow though. So, of course, you commission someone to build something even better.
That’s exactly what’s happened here. Tuning company Underground Racing was commissioned by a customer named Jonah to build a twin-turbo Lamborghini Gallardo. The result? 1500hp at the wheels (Though it does require the use of VP C16 racing fuel). Compare that to the 1287hp the Shelby Supercars Ultimate Aero has at the crank, and you begin to realize just how fast this thing is. You may also bring up the Keating TKR as an argument, which has 1800hp at the crank. Now, there’s no official figure on the brake horsepower for this, but considering the drivetrain loss for AWD cars is about 25%, this should put out around 1875bhp, 75 more than the Keating. Admittedly, this is only an estimate, but there’s 75bhp of leeway before the Keating has the advantage, so I reckon this puts out more power.
The owner, Jonah, managed to clear the quarter mile in this in less than 10 seconds at a speed of over 160mph, and keep in mind that he isn’t a professional racing driver, hasn’t been to the drag strip in over a decade, and this was the first time he drove the car. Give a proper driver some time to practice in it, and I reckon this could clear the quarter mile in less than 9 seconds. Compare that to the Shelby Ultimate Aero Twin Turbo, which did the quarter mile in 9.90 seconds at 144mph with a proper driver in it, and you yet again see the sheer madness of this car.
Besides this insane engine, there have been some other changes. It’s got new wheels and new tires, the rear lights have been tinted, and a spoiler has been added. This may have come with the original car though, as it looks a bit like the Superleggera spoiler, so maybe the base car was a Superleggera. By the looks of the pictures, the car has also been lowered slightly. Details are a bit sparse, so I don’t know whether or not they modified the suspension, though I’d sure hope they did, as 1500whp with suspension intended for about 500bhp is insanity.
The engine is hooked up to a six-speed transmission of some sort. As far I can tell from the video below (Official video released by Underground Racing), the twin-turbo kit is now available for anyone who owns a Gallardo.
Source: WorldCarFans
Today’s Remembrance Day here in Canada, and I’d just like to take a brief moment to thank the veterans for fighting for our freedom, and to commemorate those who died. I’d also like to thank those who continue to fight for freedom, like the soldiers in Afghanistan. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have these brilliant freedoms which we find so normal and often take for granted. Here’s a Remembrance Day song for you to watch on this day, and while you’re watching it, you can give your two minutes of silence (Admittedly, the video is 5 minutes long, but nonetheless), simply by being quiet while it plays: