Car Throttle

Speed, like everything in life, is entirely relative.  You might think you're "only doing 90, gosh!" but the cop writing you a ticket for doing that speed in a 45mph zone probably disagrees.  And when you hit the speed limiter at 155mph in your BMW M3, you might think you're going fast - but the guy in the ZR-1 with his foot planted in 5th shooting for 200mph can't even see your headlights.  And that ZR-1, well, it'd seem pretty mundane from the seat of a Bugatti Veyron. So what makes a Bugatti Veyron seem a little slow?  Considering a current Veyron Super Sport is good for 268mph flat out, it'd have to be something really, really fast. But when your hobby is Land Speed Record racing,

I brushed on this topic in my article yesterday, about the Higgins brothers both breaking track records in two different Subaru STi's on two different continents, but frankly it deserves an article of it's own: this Sunday, Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima, a Pikes Peak veteran since the early 90's, finally broke the 10-minute barrier up the world's most famous hillclimb.  And it's an impressive feat in a lot of ways. Competitors have been saying for years that this was the year they were going to break the 10-minute barrier; Rod Millen was saying it back in the 90's with his insane 3S-GTE powered Toyota Celica hillclimb special, but it never happened.  Tajima wheeled his custom-built Monster Sport Suzuki SX4 hill climb special (all 910 horsepower of

Some features that come standard in cars these days we take completely for granted. The type of stuff that if it wasn't there, we'd be very confused.  Power steering, servo-assisted brakes, a rear windscreen defroster, synchromesh in the gearbox, a parking brake - these are all things we take for granted, because cars need them in various ways to be functioning transportation appliances.  And as technology marches on, other stuff is becoming a given - it's pretty hard to find a car, any car, for sale in the US now without power windows, a radio or stereo of some sort, rear infant seat anchors, tire pressure monitors, traction control (still iffy; my 2007 Honda doesn't have it), variable-intermittent windshield wipers - even cool but useless

Continuing along with the rest of the new stuff at NYIAS this year, welcome to Part 2 of our "best of the rest" coverage, a sort of all-at-once splurt of information to keep you up to date on the latest developments, without boring you to death with new paint colors for the Kia Optima.  Here we go. 2012 Subaru Impreza Sedan/Hatchback Subaru has finally come to their senses with the Impreza.  While it's always been a relatively fun-to-drive car even in non-turbocharged form, it hasn't really experienced great sales in the economy-car market compared to more conventional rivals.  The biggest reason would be the big-car fuel economy in a small, unrefined package.  The current Impreza 2.5i makes a fairly impressive 173bhp from it's single-cam 2.5L horizontally

The Suzuki Kizashi has seen a lot of action on the performance front. It has become a favorite of tuners, who use the car as a perfect blank canvas for their creations. Also, there have been Suzuki-sanctioned extreme models like the Bonneville Special Kizashi. That car broke a speed record for its class, hitting 203.720 mph. A significant upgrade package comes now with the Platinum Edition Suzuki Kizashi from Road Race Motorsports. RRM says the Platinum Edition Kizashi can "boss around most double priced European Sport sedans" and that is a pretty big claim. Stylistically, we aren't too sure about those side sticker decals, but the ground effects package and rims look good. The Platinum Edition Kizashi is available from RRM in a variety of configurations  - you can

Suzuki set it's sights on the bigger things with the Kizashi, which literally means "something great is coming" in Japanese. Indeed, as the Kizashi has been welcomed to critical acclaim. It should be hitting the CarThrottle garage sometime soon for a full-review. For now, Suzuki is making waves - big ones, in the performance industry by breaking the speed record for its class. It all starts out with a Kizashi modified to produce 500 horsepower from its 2.4-liter four-cylinder. That is accomplished using a Turbonetics turbocharger at 16 psi, forged rods and pistons, an intercooler, new intake manifold and tuned "long tube" header to boost the 2.4-liter four-cylinder over 500 horsepower. Other modifications include seam welded steel wheels, coilover shocks, special Goodyear tires and a front air dam. As

Hands down, one of my favorite motorsports events has got to be the Texas Mile. In short, it's a balls-to-the-wall test of acceleration and top speed.  You've got a full damn mile to accelerate as hard as you can, and when you're done they give you a slip telling you how fast you crossed the traps at.  It's held in a small town in Texas called Goliad on a mostly-abandoned airstrip, and it's currently in it's seventh year of existance.  Initially only 35 crazies showed up to see how fast their cars could go; this year there were 220 participants with 40 on the waiting list.  Over 1000 runs were made down the air strip over the two-day event, and each of them was epic in

The new Kizashi (which means "something great is coming" translated from Japanese) is set to arrive in dealerships this month. As part of a promotional campaign surrounding the car's launch, they are announcing the Kizashi Test Drive Challenge incentive program that kicked off on Wednesday. Ever since introducing the Kizashi, Suzuki has tried to position the car as sort of an alternative to luxury brands. The feature list is quite lengthy, and while technically "mid-size", it actually is more on the compact end of the spectrum. I applauded it at introduction for the possibilities: a starting price of $18,999, a manual transmission, and the likelihood of great driving characteristics. Still, I never expected it to be compared against vehicles like the Audi A4 and Acura TSX. Apparently, Suzuki

Suzuki is a brand that has a history in motorsports - dirtbikes, ATVs, motorcycles - you name it and Suzuki makes it. Not only that, they rank quite highly in doing so. Ask about their automobiles on other hand and you'll get a different answer, as Suzuki has found it difficult translating that excitement to its automotive division. That is something they are looking to change with a product offensive here in the United States. That plan begins with the Kizashi - its name translated from Japanese means "something great is coming." Today Suzuki has announced pricing for the trim levels of the entire lineup. There are four: Kizashi S, SE, GTS and the most upscale model,  SLS. As rumored, the base Kizashi S comes in at only $18,999.

Suzuki first revealed the Kizashi mid-size sedan at the end of July this year. Spyshots came out quite a bit earlier than that, and some speculation swirled that the car could possibly have been cancelled after a delay in introduction. Thankfully that proved not to be the case! Suzuki recently held a media event for the Kizashi, and the reviews from the press are starting to trickle in. Unsurprisingly, they are quite good. From the first time the car was revealed, I was impressed with what it had to offer. The Kizashi's styling doesn't break any new ground (it looks a like the Jetta in the front) but it is good looking, and most importantly seems to offer a good performance value. The specifications list on the