Car Throttle

The automotive world is filled with rivalries.  STI owners think EVO drivers are mentally handicapped, Mustang owners laugh at Camaros, Prius drivers have those "pissing on Insight" stickers, and Holden owners like to pull Ford drivers out of their cars at stoplights and beat them to death with pipe wrenches.  Another to add to the list: Cobalt SS and Neon SRT-4 owners.  On the surface, both cars are pretty similar: high performance versions of domestic economy cars, with drastically more power and braking abilities and not a lot of interior luxuries.  I love both; I love the Cobalt SS Turbo more. One way to settle the whole argument is to quit the bullshitting and bench racing, assemble some teams, slap them on a dyno (or

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

British auto maker Morgan is bringing back their iconic three-wheeled sports car after an absence of 60 years. Before Morgan started putting an even number of wheels on their cars, they sold a 3-wheeled sports car (2 in front, 1 in back) powered by motorcycle V-twins, and later by Ford 4-cylinder engines.  The point, I think was to take advantage of tax breaks for motorcycles - since the 3 wheeler didn't have to be registered as a car. They went on to make plenty of great four-wheeled sports cars - the Plus 8 comes to mind - but in 2012, the Morgan Three Wheeler will return, including it's first officially imported debut in the US.  It will be powered by a Harley-Davidson-based S&S V-Twin,

"Oh, a Cobalt?  I think I rented one of those once.  What's the big deal?" Well, before you click on another article, let me put some numbers in front of your face:  355 horsepower and 426lb-ft torque on a stock turbocharger.  Those aren't "oh, it might be makin' this" crank output estimates - that's how much this white Cobalt SS sedan puts down at the wheels on a dyno. In the world of sport compacts, the Chevrolet Cobalt SS is an under appreciated vehicle.  Most people take one look at the pedestrian exterior - no huge hood scoops, stripes, giant blingy wheels - and immediately think "rental car."  And it's true there are a lot of Cobalt rental cars out there.  They make good rentals; they're cheap, reliable,

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

Muscle trucks are one of life's gloriously pointless indulgences. They make absolutely no sense in any traditional regard.  If you wanted functionality and utility, you'd get a pickup truck.  If you wanted to drag race off stop lights and burn rubber like it was going out of style, you'd get a muscle car.  Why would you want both in the same vehicle if it would seemingly do neither task very well? Well, because it's a ton of fun, that's why.  It's a distinctly American product, a huge engine stuffed somewhere it really doesn't belong, the only benefit being the smile it puts on your face when you stomp the gas pedal.  Sure, some of these trucks would manage single-digit fuel consumption if you enjoyed the loud pedal

Lately, one of the things you've all undoubtedly heard enough about is the Camaro. For god's sake, Chevrolet brought an entire tanker load of modified Camaros to SEMA in virtually every imaginable form.  Yenko Camaros, Camaros that look like Trans-Am's, evil Camaros, Red Camaros, there was probably a Camaro with wings. And the new Camaro has been getting a lot of press everywhere, really.  And for good reason - it's an extremely attractive car that people actually want to buy, rather than settle for, which seems to be par for the course in today's automotive market.  But all the attention is really sort of centered around the SS model, which is the high-performance one powered by the 6.2L LS3 Corvette engine.  So of course people are going

Editor's Note: this is a new series I'm starting, called "You're Doing It Wrong."  It's focused around cars that look good on paper, but in the real world it just doesn't add up.  Let me know what you think. To most domestic enthusiasts, the moniker "SS" carries some weight with it. Chevrolet has been using the SS (Super Sport) designation for it's hot-rod versions of standard models since the dawn of eternity.  Or at least the 60's.  SS has always stood for large amounts of horsepower, some blinged-up trim, nice wheels and tires, and some more horsepower. Classic SS Chevy's like the Camaro SS396, Chevelle SS454, and Nova SS's demand unusually large values for what are essentially overmuscled underdeveloped cars.  People these days are nostalgic for cars built

After some reports of the contrary, it looks like the official Chevrolet Camaro Convertible is back on track for a launch in 2011. For some people, that's too long of a wait, especially since it isn't confirmed right now (it's nearly ensured that we'll get one though, in my opinion). Newport Convertible Engineering (NCE) is working to produce a conversion for those who can't wait. The official model was rumored to have been put on hold due to financial problems with the German supplier of the car's roof mechanism as well as GM's own situation. Apparently that has been resolved now though, with the supplier and GM inking a new agreement for the parts. So while GM is sorting things out with the Camaro Convertible, Newport has

Caroll Shelby may be a stuffy old codger born in the Great Depression era, but you can't deny the man still has one of the keenest understandings of what a muscle car is.  Shelby's name has been on everything from little crappy British sports cars stuffed full of hi-compression Ford V8, to crappy little Chrysler K-car derivatives with turbochargers the size of your face - but lately, ol' Shel's name has been all over a whole bunch of Ford Mustangs.  If you're going to plaster your name on anything, an icon of American muscle isn't half bad. And what do you know - Caroll's got a whole slew of new Mustangs with his name slapped on them, and chances are like most Shelby products, they're all capable