Parts Garage 29.6.11

Photo credit funnyjunksite.com.

Hi there everyone! Welcome to today's Parts Garage. Here's some of the stories making headlines today.

• Top Gear is back with its first episode of season 17. It's a pretty good one too. The season is set to have six episodes.
• U.S. President Obama wants car fuel efficiency to reach a standard of 56.2 MPG.  
• Car Envy laments on the disappearance of the hood ornament.
• Shell gives some tips to improving saving gas as well as offering a chance to win $1000 for gas.
• According to Top Speed, Lamborghini is unsure whether to bring an SUV into their line-up or stick with cars. Here, I'll help: STICK WITH THE CAR!

Drifting at Castrol Raceway

Throughout the summer months Castrol Raceway provides a place for Drifters to work on their craft, and on June 9th Semi Slicks was there to take in the action.

For those interested in participating in the event, it costs $40 for drivers, and $10 for spectators.

The schedule and more information can be found on http://www.spec-d.ca/p/edmonton-practices.html.

Sorry about the shakiness of the video (I don't have a tripod at the moment).



***Photos taken by Steven Wagers and Tyler Johnson
***Video taken by Steven Wagers

New Forza reportedly on the way

Forza is coming back.
Photo Credit reapergaming-news.blogspot.

According to a report from Top Gear, Forza 4 is not far away. This is good news for car fanatics with Xbox 360s all over the place.

The article says it is set to come out in Fall, which is somewhat vague, but it should be fun when it does eventually come out.

A couple things I'm hoping they fix this time around:

• Make the loading times a bit shorter.
• Stop sending me cars that I can't use until I purchase the car packs.
• Stop releasing new car packs every three weeks that cost about $10 and only have one or two cars I want anyways.
• No ridiculous 30-lap races around the Nurburgring.
• Make it so that I can actually buy some of the cooler cars without having to spend 5 trillion credits that will take me 43 months 2 days and 17 hours to get.

Just my two cents. What do you want to see changed or fixed?

Why mess with a good thing?

The new SLS AMG Roadster. Photo Credit Top Gear.

The Mercedes SLS AMG is an incredible car.

Upon first glance you can only revel in the beauty of its shape. From the long hood with the gaping front grill, to the gull-wing doors, everything on this car seems to look good.

The you consider the performance. It's fast. Very fast.

0-60 in 3.8 seconds, according to the Mercedes website, and on to a top speed of 197 mph (317 kmph) thanks to a 6.2L V8 creating 563 horsepower.

To buy an SLS AMG in Canada you would have to spend a hefty sum: $198,000.

So, to sum up, it's fast, expensive and absolutely stunning to look at.

Now, what about the convertible version?

Parts Garage 13.5.11

Photo credit funny-potato.com.

Hey readers, sorry about the erratic timing on posts. I'll try to keep them coming more regularly. Anyways here are a couple interesting stories in the auto world today.

• Top Gear is reporting that in just over a week, Aston Martin and Zagato are going to unveil their new concept car. Unfortunately, the picture doesn't really tell us much.
• Auto 123 tells us about a proposal in Quebec to make roads safer, but cutting down on the amount of time people age 16-24 can be on the road as well as removing limits on fines.
• Wheels.ca says police in Ontario are looking for a man who may have stolen a car. The giveaway: He was speeding going the wrong way down Highway 401.
• Auto Monster says American Cars are becoming "hot commodities."

McLaren's new MP4-12C: Can it even be compared to the old McLaren?

The McLaren MP4-12C. How can this one live up to the
last one? Photo credit ninjamedia.co.cc. 

The car company known as McLaren doesn't produce a whole bunch of street cars. In fact they have only produced a handful, one of which was the famous McLaren F1.

McLaren does have some pretty deep roots when it comes to racing. Their F1 team is one of the best in the world with Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton racing for it. 

Back in 1992 McLaren decided they wanted to build the fastest supercar the world had ever seen, and boy oh boy did they ever. 

Toyota getting Sportier?

The FT-86 II. Photo credit gotbroken.com.

Do you remember the Toyota Supra? How about the old Toyota Corolla? Not the front wheel drive fuel economy one of today, rather the drifty rear-wheel drive one of yesteryear?

Since then Toyota hasn't really produced anything capable of even coming close to filling the shoes of the once mighty Supra.

Now though, they might be on the right track.

Edmonton Motor Show Preview

It's that time of year again. The snow is melting, the sun is coming, and the Motor Show is coming to Edmonton.

The Edmonton Motor Show will run from April 14-17, giving residents of the area a great opportunity to see cars that they likely wouldn't otherwise have had the chance to view.

Semi Slicks was on scene to check out some of the attractions coming to Alberta's capital.

Top Gear responds

Top Gear is facing a legal battle with Tesla Motor Company.
Photo credit chrisescars.com.

As you may recall, Tesla motor company recently sued the popular British car show "Top Gear" for malicious falsehood after a review Jeremy Clarkson did.

The full article from Semi Slicks can be seen here.

On April 2, Andy Wilman, the executive producer of Top Gear, wrote a post detailing Top Gear's side of what happened on that fateful day.

This story keeps getting more and more interesting...

Parts Garage 6.4.11

Sometimes a sign like this helps to make someone's day just
that much better. Photo credit guy-sports.com.

Hello car fans and welcome to another day at Semi Slicks. While you're here be sure to vote on this weeks poll: Who makes the best supercars? Are you a fan of the insane Italian supercars? Or do you like the technological wonders from Germany? What about the classiness of the British supercar? Let us know.

Anyways on to the car news.

• For those of you out there who say you would do anything to own a supercar, Jalopnik has a story about a guy who decided he was going to do something radical to get his own supercar garage.
• Also from Jalopnik, Daft Punk is auctioning off their Ferrari in order to help raise money for Japan's disaster relief efforts.
• Automotive News Europe is reporting that Chrysler is looking at a loss on every Fiat 500 they sell.
• Auto123 tells us that Vladimir Putin (yes the prime minister of Russia) has recently been test driving a new Russian car. 
• According to the Boston Globe, Donald Trump will be getting behind the wheel of the Indy 500 pace car.

Ford shows off their new engines

The Ford F-150 has four new engines to choose from.
Photo supplied by Ford.

The Ford "Built Ford Tough Tour" stopped in at Castrol Speedway in Edmonton on Wednesday to show off their four new engines that will be used in the 2011 Ford F-150s.

Most prominent amongst these engines was the 3.5L twin-turbo V6. Ford claims this engine is capable of rivalling a V8.

So the big question is: did it match up?

Tesla takes Top Gear to court

The Tesla Roadster. The car that has sparked controversy
 between Top Gear and Tesla. Photo credit blogcdn.com.

Perhaps some of you may recall the Top Gear episode in which Jeremy Clarkson tested the Tesla Roadster.

He raced it against a Lotus Elise, then he blasted it around the track in typical Top Gear fashion while giving it a very "Clarksoneqsue" review.

After a while the car supposedly ran out of charge and was pushed into the garage. Another roadster was brought out only to have alleged issues of an overheating engine.

It appears Tesla is unhappy with how the review went, and now, as reported by Leslie Horn from PC Magazine, they are suing the popular car show for libel. 

Parts Garage 28.3.11

Funny picture of the day. Photo credit thefunnyblog.org.

Hello readers! How are you all doing today?

F1 started back up and there's plenty to talk about concerning cars, so let's jump right into the links, shall we?

• We start with F1 news where Sebastian Vettel is starting this season right from where he left off. He won the Australian GP beating out McLaren's Lewis Hamilton to take the "w".
• Speaking of Lewis Hamilton, Jalopnik is reporting that the 26-year-old will be getting his own character in Disney's Cars 2.
• Ezine articles has a piece telling you how to prepare your car for the summer after months of winter driving.
• Autoblog has video of a Corvette taking a tumble at 230 mph. 
• We all know about the little old lady who lived in a shoe, but what about the guy who drove a shoe? Story courtesy of Auto123.

Canadian Supercars

This is the old "Canadian supercar." Now we have something
a bit better to be proud of. Photo credit heartymagazine.com.

For decades the world of supercars has been owned by the Europeans.

The Italians in particular have done an extremely good job of creating some of the craziest supercars the world has ever seen (think Pagani, Lamborghini, Ferrari). The Brits have Aston Martin and Noble, and the Germans have Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, and BMW all with supercar aspirations.

Even our neighbours to the south have done some supercar work. The Shelby Supercar Company challenged the Bugatti Veyron (another German supercar) for the world speed record with their SSC Ultimate Aero.

In fact even when it comes to just normal cars, Canada doesn't own any well-known car companies.

Now though, they want a piece of the supercar cake.

Canada used to only produce cars for companies based out of other countries, but today we have not one, but two supercars built by companies from the land of hockey.

Parts Garage 23.3.11

Imagine driving behind this. I'd be willing to bet
he doesn't get many tailgaters.
Photo credit: tribalgod.nl.

Welcome to this Wednesday's edition of Parts Garage.

Take a gander at today's interesting picture. Have any of you ever seen a semi with anything crazy on it? I know I haven't but apparently they are out there. Then again it could also be someone playing around with photoshop.

Ok, it's time to take a quick look at what is going on in the world of cars today, so without further ado here are your stories.

• Israel is getting electric. Forbes has more on the story.
• BMW just suped-up an X6M, so naturally Mercedes also decided to spend some time in the shop. Vijay Pattni tells us more.
• The Earthquake in Japan has caused some major problems amongst some of the country's car suppliers. Bloomberg's Kae Inoue and Yuki Hagiwara have the story.
• Torque News writes that the Fiat 500C is set to debut in New York.
• Auto123 is reporting that Google is preparing a cordless charging station for electric cars.

Fog-proof windows, courtesy of Canada

A woman battles the fog menace.
Photo Credit watchmojo.com.

It appears Crown Royal will have another Canadian invention to use in their advertisements while we are watching Hockey Night in Canada.

Imagine this: You are leaving work after a long day. It's been tough, but finally the day is over and all you have to do is hop in your vehicle and drive home.

As you leave your work building you are buffeted by a strong gust of freezing cold wind, making the -30 degree weather feel more like -40.

You sprint to your car and enter, but you are already frozen. With your arm shivering you put the key in and start the ignition. Just as you are about to put your car in gear and start your trek home, you look up to see the ghostly fingers of fog creeping their way across the windshield.

You curse as you come to the realization that you simply cannot drive as you are unable to see. And then you hear the howling of wolves...

Now, what if I told you it didn't have to be this way.

Parts Garage 21.3.11

The funny picture of the day. Photo Credit allfunnypictures.com

Some of you viewers may notice a couple changes have been made to the site. We now have a new banner, a blog roll, and we are going to start putting up a few more pages as well. I hope you like the changes, let us know what you think.

Now, onto the news.

***

• Kirby over at Top Speed says BMW is planning to show off a new eco friendly vehicle in Shanghai.
• If that article didn't get your motor running, then maybe this one about a 726 horsepower bimmer can.
• Auto News has more on the new Chevy (I refuse to call it Chevrolet!) Colorado.
• Auto 123 has 5 clips you should definitely check out, especially the first and third clips.
• John Leblanc from Wheels explains why Audi has managed to beat their German rivals from BMW.
• All I can say about this is "wow." I think you'll agree.

Parts Garage 18.3.11

Here is a funny picture. Enjoy!
Photo credit funny-games.biz.

This blog is all about trying to provide as many car stories as possible.

School combined with work and other things has made it difficult to update frequently as I'm sure some of you may have noticed, so I've decided to introduce this new segment called "Parts Garage." 

This segment will include links to some car stories on other sites which should make it a little bit easier to keep up. 

So without further ado here are today's stories:

• Not really a story, but who doesn't like Chuck Norris jokes. Jalopnik is providing all the hilarity with a bit of a car twist.
• Top Gear is reporting that one Lamborghini owner took matters into his own hands after a breakdown.
• Drew Johnson at leftlanenews is reporting that Honda will be recalling over 33,000 Odysseys due to defective windshield wipers.
• The earthquake in Japan is causing GM to halt production on certain models. Auto123 has more on the story.
• Also from Auto123: A 1966 Shelby GT350 is going to be up for auction in Toronto at the beginning of April. 

The appeal of rally racing

A rally soars through the air during a race.
Photo credit recently.rainweb.net.

Since there have been cars, people have wanted to race them.

This has resulted in a great many forms of racing. For those unable to do anything other than turn left, Nascar was invented. F1 was created for the major speed freak and physical specimen who could also handle corners.

But the craziest of the crazy, who wanted nothing more than to hurtle along gravel, dirt, mud, and snow at insane speeds while risking death at every turn something even more exciting was created: Rally racing.

Geneva Motor Show

The Koenigsegg Agera R, one of the many visitors in Geneva.
Photo credit realeasecars.com.

The 81st International Geneva Auto Show is upon us, with car companies from around the world bringing us their concept cars and showing us what they have in store for the years to come.

It is a time of showcasing the achievements and progress made in technology. Also there are some sweet cars.

Everybody wins!

Who is the icon now?

The Lamborghini Countach was the king of the supercars.
Who took over the throne? Photo Credit lamborghinifans.com.

The year was 1974 when one of the most insane, incredible, and influential cars ever made was put into production.

That car was the Lamborghini Countach.

For years the Countach reigned supreme as the car that 11-year-olds would dream of owning when they grew up. It sparked the imagination with its striking design, and sharp edges. The only children that didn't want to own one of these cars when they grew up were the kids that wanted to be a Countach when they grew up.

But what about kids today?

What is the Countach of the here and now?

Camaro ZL1 revealed in Chicago

The 2012 Camaro ZL1. Photo credit auto123.com. 

As you may know, my stance on the muscle cars of today is that they simply can't compare to the muscle cars of the past, at least from a coolness perspective. Even so, I am perfectly willing to give credit where credit is due and in this case Chevrolet may deserve some praise.

Even though they have recently decided to be finicky about whether or not their employees are allowed to call them chevy or not, they have also managed to find some time while dealing with such trivial matters to build the new Camaro ZL1.

BMW getting ready for Geneva

The BMW Vision ConnectedDrive Roadster to be unveiled at
the Geneva Auto Show. Photo credit auto123.com.

With the Geneva Auto Show only a few weeks away, companies are making the final preparations for their unveilings in hopes of capturing the public's eye and imagination.






BMW is no different, and they have something rather special planned for this year's edition of the show.

They plan to show off the BMW Vision ConnectedDrive Roadster.

Drifting RCs

I came across this on the Top Gear website, and immediately thought I WANT! I WANT!

I'd be willing to bet you will have the same reaction as I did.




For the full article click here.

Safely speeding?

Speeding makes you safer, according to a new study.
Photo credit freakyhumor.blogspot.com.

Mike Spinelli of jalopnik.com wrote an article today about how increasing the speed limits on highways can actually make them safer.

This comes as a result of a study done by HighRoad Automotive Research. According to the study, the adrenaline released by your body when you drive fast increases your awareness, and decreases your reaction time, thus making you a better driver.

The study asks for increases in speed limits in Australia, for anywhere from 20 kmph (local city streets) to 50 kmph (highways). In addition people would have to be given advanced driver training when they get their license.

And just like that, I am totally on board with increasing the speed limits. I also like the idea of handing out demerits to people going too slowly, as there is nothing more disappointing and frustrating than being caught behind a slow driver.

Obviously this is Australia that we are talking about, and they don't have to worry about having ice and snow on the roads for half of the year so maybe it makes a bit more sense for them, but for the summer months in Canada, why not?

Audi skis to hit slopes

Audi going downhill, but not necessarily in a bad way.
Photo credit luxatic.com.

The car company that brought you the R8 is now trying its hand at something other than cars.

They are developing a new ski along with the ski company HEAD, and it appears they couldn't have picked a better time to give it a shot seeing as though there is no shortage of snow.

The skis are going to be made with carbon fibre, aluminium, titanium and wood, in order to give them the best balance and flexibility possible, and in the end they will only weigh a little under two pounds a piece.

It looks like they will be available later this year, but before you buy them think about how ridiculous you'll look first of all, being a skier, and second of all, having skis with the carbon fibre weave on them.

For more information http://www.freshnessmag.com/2011/01/31/audi-carbon-skis-carbon-fiber-skis-concept/.

New Pagani teaser (Updated)

Pagani released a new teaser for their upcoming super, the C9.
Photo credit: classiccarhireworld.com

Pagani, the inventors of one of the most striking supercars, has recently released a new teaser video of their upcoming model, theC9.

The C9 is the successor to the Pagani Zonda, which was a supercar in every sense of the word. It was loud, fast, and drew people's gaze as it ripped past.

The Zonda has been around since 1991. The Italian supercar has manifested its image in the minds of male children as one of the most stunning cars ever made. The styling alone makes it a fantastic piece of engineering, but when you add the sound, which is heavenly, and the speed, which is ferocious, you have yourself the ultimate playboy car.

In other words, if Darth Vader drove, he would drive a Zonda.

Tesla Model S gets Detroit charged up

The Tesla Model S. Photo credit teslamotors.com

Most people know Tesla for creating the Tesla Roadster: an electric car that resembles a Lotus Elise and can accelerate from 0-60 in less than 4 seconds.

As cool as the Roadster is, It was Tesla's Model S that caught people's attention at the Detroit Auto Show,  as well as the announcement of the Model X.

The Model X will be Tesla's electric powered SUV, and while it is still in the beginning stages (Tesla wanted to do the Model S first) just the idea of it is helping to turn Tesla from a one-off car company to a legitimate car maker.

The Model S is a little bit closer to production.

World's weirdest motorcycle

This may be the weirdest motorcycle ever made. It's a uni-motorcycle, only it's not because it can transform into the two-wheeled breed we are accustomed to seeing.

While it obviously falls into the category of motor transportation that is outside the norm, chances are this video is the only time you will ever see it because people buying motorcycles want a proper motorcycle, but hey, maybe somebody is looking for a novelty vehicle.

Either way, it's still worth seeing.

Winners announced at Detroit Auto Show 2011

The Volt takes home the prize for Car of the Year.
Photo Credit Tannen Maury/EPA.

The winner of the North American car of the year were announced at the Detroit Auto Show on Monday.

The Chevrolet Volt won the award, beating out the Nissan Leaf and the Hyundai Sonota to win.

Chevrolet's electric car has been in the works for many years, and now that it's arrived, people are starting to see the genius of it. It is an electric car, but it has been able to do something other electric cars haven't.

Winter carnundrum

Winter takes its toll. Photo credit thetruthaboutcars.com.

It is now, in Canada at least, the middle of winter and despite all the snow and ice, people still need to get around the city.

Some switch over to public transportation, but it can be hard to make the change from the convenience and greatness of a car, to the bus.

I could go on and on about how much better cars are than buses, trains, walking, or even biking which some hardcore environmentalists continue to do even in the -30 degree weather. I could talk about how you can listen to your own music without having the yabo sitting in front of you blasting his "beats" drowning out your modestly volumed iPod, or the fact that in your own car you control the smells that come aboard.

I could spend a lot of time ripping on the bus, but today it's going to get off easy.

There is different group of people that deserves a tongue-lashing today. And they already know who they are.