Car Throttle

Times are tough.  Credit used to flow like water, getting a job after securing a bachelor's degree in English was a sure thing, and the world was a lot easier place to live in.  Not so any more: those who once figured "Hell, I have a job and a pulse, I can get a new car" are now realizing that no, they can't.  They don't have a credit score of 700 and a 10,000 down payment sitting around.  What's a car enthusiast to do? If you're handy with wrenches and know a fuel injector from an EGR valve, you don't have to plunk down 40 grand for a car that will both plaster a smile on your face 95% of the time and not leave you

Dank: it's a noun, an urban-ism, with a lot of meanings. It can refer to food ("that burrito was dank!"), music ("this house DJ is dank!") or a number of other things.  In the car world, Dank is usually used to describe stanced/hellaflush cars.  So Dank-Fest seems like a proper title for a show devoted to the Stance & Offset crowd.  The show - which was the first - was organized and put together by StancedLyfe, Wilkseboro Crew, and Hoodstatus, and was supported or sponsored by ISO, TeamRPM, NOS Energy, Firestone (locally), GoGirl Entertainment, and SOHO Motorsports. So... what the hell is Stance & Offset?  In mechanical terms, it's a car that's slammed to the ground, cambered out, stretched tires and rolled fenders with the wheels

Fun on a budget.  Bang for the buck. Just because we're not all fabulous millionaires (and, ahem, we ain't) doesn't mean we can't all have fun.  While I finally decided to opt out of that like it was a TSA groping, it's not to say you can't acquire a seriously fun set of wheels for well less than half the average new-car transaction price in the US.  If you know where to look and what to look for, you can plaster a mile-wide smile on your face for less than 10 grand.  Here are a few suggestions of mine; please let us know what you think the best sub-10k funbucket is in the comments below! 4th-Gen Chevrolet Camaro SS (1998-2002) Do you like a car with

Drag racing as a form of competition is really nothing new.  Import drag racing, on the other hand, is still somewhat in the "development" phase. I mean, it's been around for going on 2 decades, but if you make your way out to one of these events you'll get the impression it's still in beta.  The cars (well, some of them) are fast as hell, but there's a whole lot of parts breaking going on.  I recently made the trip out to the Fayetteville Motorsports Park (in Fayetteville, NC) for the Battle of the Belts Imports Race, on Sept 11th 2010.  It was my first time out at a mostly-Japanese drag night, and the comparison with domestic or European drag racing is pretty interesting. First of all,

To me, it's funny how different cars age, stylistically speaking. A great example of this would be the Z32 (second-generation) Nissan 300ZX, which debuted in 1989 - and still doesn't look a day old.  Honda's well-regarded S2000 roadster is another example, with a production debut of 1999 (Japan) but stylistic roots tracing back to the Honda SSM concept car of 1995.  For such an old design, wouldn't you say the S2000 is still a rather stunning looking car? Of course, it helps that this is a particularly gorgeous S2000, and a particularly amazing photograph.  Still, for what are pretty simple aesthetic modifications, this S2k sure looks the business.  The CR front splitter, bronze alloys, and fitted hardtop (along with the drastically lowered stance) turn the S2000

It looks like Acura's replacement for the NSX is getting cancelled (victim of the recession, apparently) and that plans for a successor to the S2000 Roadster might be getting shelved as well.The absence of the high performance models leaves a gap in performance offerings for the collective Honda/Acura model lineup. Could there be a remedy for that? Automotive blog Carscoop apparently thinks so. The original Honda CRX saw somewhat of a resurgence with the meteoric rise in gas prices last year, with examples selling quite briskly. The car has always had a market though for people who want affordable gas mileage with a bit of fun. Could a new reborn CR-X (or CR-ZX) bring that back? I think it would certainly have an immediate audience for those fond

After Honda killed it's unsuccessful S2000 sports car, a gap was left in the company's line up that is yet to be filled. In addition, Honda Motor Co. has let it's other sports car models, like the NSX over at Acura, languish without replacement. What''s up with that? According to reports. Honda doesn't have any plans to produce a next generation model of the S2000. That hasn't stopped enthusiasts from dreaming or coming up with designs of what a new S2000 could be like though.  One such person is Swedish designer Lars Martensson, who has created some amazing 3D designs of a new S2000. Other than these designs, we know very little about his ideas for the next S2000 as far as acompanying information. I guess the technical