Car Throttle

Hybrids.  Blech.  Sick of hearin' about em. I don't know if you are too.  Electric motors, like CVT's, don't do a whole lot for me.  I like gasoline engines, the sound of a working valvetrain, the ticking of injectors, the blare of quad exhaust pipes on the back of a Carrera S as it pulls off of a stoplight.  I doubt Porsche really likes hybrids either, which is why it's been doing them it's own way.  In the past few days, details have snuck out regarding two Porsches with electric motors, and both are interesting from an enthusiast perspective. First up is the Boxster E.  Oh, lord - an Electric Boxster?  That's just what we need.  Take the flat six out of the world's most

I will admit some personal bias on this topic. The previous-generation Subaru Forester was, in my estimation, the embodiment of the "do anything" mentality when it came to automobiles.  Especially in 2.5XT (Turbo) trim with a 5-speed, it hit pretty much all the bases.  It was fast (Car & Driver clocked one at 5.3 seconds to sixty, which was considerably faster than a V8 Cayenne S), had huge aftermarket support, it was fun on the road, decent off road, great in bad weather, and combined SUV utility with car-like handling.  It was a characterful, likeable vehicle.  So when Subaru replaced the old-style Forester with a new, bigger, softer one in 2008, I couldn't help but be disappointed. It was taller, heavier, slower, more boring to look

If you've been eyeing the Aston Martin Vantage, but find the regular V8 too pedestrian and the V12 too dear (perhaps not a likely situation), Aston Martin has finally rectified this problematic situation. The British supercar maker announced a new member of the small Vantage line today, which is poised to sit in between the V8 and V12 for performance and price.  Called the V8 Vantage S, it's a little bit harder, faster, sharper, and prettier than a V8 - but not quite as much as the spectacular V12. The changes are mostly mechanical, which is good - the Vantage is arguably one of the most gorgeous cars money can buy, so avoiding the whole gilding-the-lily syndrome is for the best.  The Vantage's 4.7L 32v

If you're into cars, or hell, even if you're not, "Zero to Sixty" is a phrase you hear all the time. It's become such a standard phrase it has worked its way into everyday conversation, and media not even loosely related to automobiles.  Hell, there is (or, err, was) a whole magazine called 0-60.  At least in the United States and the UK, 0-60mph has become the standard measure of acceleration.  But why?  And really, why do we care? If common sense prevailed, the standard measure of a car's performance would really be it's power-to-weight ratio.  Nothing determines how a car performs in a straight line more directly than how much it weighs, divided by how much power it has.  Why?  Well, a 500bhp vehicle

The Lotus Evora, the first truly new Lotus since the Elise in the mid-ninties, has been universally praised by the press. Balanced, almost supernatural handling, a smooth ride, and the kind of luxury and refinement that has never before been seen in a Lotus vehicle make it worth the crazy $70k+ asking price.  The only drawback?  Although it's not underpowered by any definition, the 3.5L 24v V6 sourced from the Toyota Camry isn't the most exciting or characterful motor on the planet.  Lotus is aiming to fix this problem with the upcoming Evora S, which was recently spied testing near the Nurburgring in Germany. If the rumor mill is to believed (and these days, it's usually more right than wrong), the Evora S will gain additional

I love viral marketing.  It's way more amusing than real marketing. Whereas real marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry that bets on the fact the average consumer is dumber than the average advertising department, viral marketing is a bit more grass-roots, personal, and often times humorous.  I mean, who can forget the whole Audi vs. BMW billboard battle?  Or Bob Lutz's "The CTS-V will smoke anything on a racetrack!" challenge? The latest brand to cash in on this less-professional advertising tactic is BMW's Mini division.  As you may have heard, Mini challenged Porsche to a race-track duel at Road Atlanta in June.  Porsche, in their typical snobby way (hey, with a history like Porsche you're allowed to be snobby) said no.  Mini responded by

Porsche's had enough, and they're not gonna take it any more. What am I talking about?  Nissan's constant bragging about Nurburgring lap times, of course.  Surely all parties involved realize that the difference between a 7:26 and a 7:18 on the world's most difficult track is entirely academic, but praise be to the car Gods that Porsche is so obsessed with this matter, because I can't think of another reason for the newest (and arguably meanest) 911 derivative to exist.  I mean, for God's sakes, the first thing they say in the press release is the car's 'Ring time.  So while the numbers are pretty stupid (a different driver in different weather conditions with different traffic could be 30 seconds slower), the new GT2 RS isn't

It is beyond question that Lotus' entry-level Elise has been a runaway success. But Lotus has never been a brand to rest upon their laurels, and for 2011 the Elise is getting a mild nip-and-tuck as well as some mechanical revisions to make it more efficient, faster, and cleaner.  Hard to argue with that. On the outside, the Elise gets a new front end that I can't say I'm particularly fond of.  I know they're trying to channel the new Evora upper-end grand tourer, but the look is somewhat awkward (my friend Dom says "it looks like a frog!") and out of proportion for the diminutive Elise.  Still, it's hard to make an Elise look horrible - it's still an Elise, after all.  The headlights get

Another day, another special-edition Porsche 911. But, let's put it this way: if your house was overrun with Playboy Bunnies, would you be complaining about too much of a good thing?  I didn't think so.  Porsche's just released details on their latest special edition 911, and while it seems like just another 911, if you want to be technical, it is the fastest-accelerating 911 ever. It's called the 911 Turbo S, and it's quick. Based on the revised 3.8L 911 Turbo, the  new Turbo S boasts more of everything, but mostly it's more power.  Output jumps from 500bhp to 530bhp (same as the 2-wheel-drive 911 GT2), with torque rising to 516 lb-ft of torque thanks to revised engine management software.  The power is channeled through Porsche's

You might be tired of hearing about special edition Elises, but I'm not. In fact, what's wrong with you?  They're Lotuses, you like them if you're reading this site, so here we go. The latest infinitessimally different Elise is based on the entry-level Elise S, and it's called the Club Racer.  It's a modern Elise with some classic Lotus styling cues and colors, wrapped up in a fun (and efficient!) package with an attractive price. The Club Racer inherits the standard Elise's 134bhp 1ZZ-FE engine, shared with the Corolla and MR2.  While that sounds as fun as partying with a bunch of nuns, when coupled to the Elise's 860kg kerb weight (1896lbs) it equals surprising performance - 0-60mph in 5.7 seconds - along with surprising efficiency.  The