Leading up to the 2008 IMPA Test Days at Pocono Raceway, we had compiled a short list of must drives. Top spot on that list was held by none other than the Dodge Challenger SRT8. Few cars have created so much buzz in recent years and few cars have stirred the memories of so many. Getting behind the wheel and looking around, the car truly does feel like a bit of a time warp. The low roof and the cut of the C-pillar truly feel like the Challenger of old. I couldn’t wait to take it out on the track.
Oh yeah, having just spun the Viper, I managed to behave myself and keep the pumpkin on the pavement!
I don’t think there are many gearheads who don’t truly get the mystique of the Lotus name. The heritage behind the marque comes from years of racing success and innovation. The modern cars are nothing short of spectacular, combining lightweight construction that would do Colin Chapman proud with modern Toyota drivetrains which are infinitely tuneable and absolutely bulletproof. Oh yeah, they look killer too!
Now, I’ll let our video guru, Scott Simmons take up the story:
As the creator of the Garage Blog videos I had to indulge myself by creating a little piece of car porn. The Lotus Elise and Exige are two of my favorite cars. Brian Shepherd of Lotus Cars USA brought a yellow Exige S to the 2008 IMPA test days. At the end of the event I was able to hop in the car and take the last lap of the day around the track with Brian at the wheel. We didn’t have time to mic up for on track commentary but the lap around was one of the best of the day. The Exige S is one helluva car. Thanks Brian!
I have an uncle that has always driven the gold chain wearing, boss mobile. First there was the automatic Supra, followed up by a Cadillac Allante. Somewhere along the way, he picked up a new T-bird. Amazingly, he never found his way into an automatic Vette. While in The Poconos, a few months back we had a chance to spend some time with the 2009 Cadillac XLR. This thing may just be my uncle`s ultimate ride.
The sharp edged hardtop convertible looks great and has all sorts of electronic trickery. Doors with no handles, electrically powered everything and luxurious leather clad interior ensures that the aging super dude will have more toys than the other guys at the club. Hopefully the club offers storage for his clubs though, as the XLR doesn’t offer storage for much more than that box of domes he keeps around for his mistress. We managed to squeeze a camera bag (sans domers) in the trunk and that was about it.
The 320 horsepower Northstar V8 sounds great and propels the XLR along quite nicely. The automatic tranny is a nice unit, but why oh why is there no 6 speed? Yeah, yeah, we know; the segment demographic is more interested in elevating their status rather than the actual driving experience.
Enough from me, check out our newest video after the break. Continue reading →
At their 2008 Test Days, the International Motor Press Association chose to mix things up a little bit with the addition of a few new features. This year, the folks at Consumer Reports wanted to expose members to a bit of modern motorsports with a drifting demonstration. Instead of just whipping a car around the track, they showed just how much fun drifting is by loading a 4 door Infiniti G full of people. CR engineer Jake Fisher also happens to be an SCCA racer and drifter, so he spent a couple of hours wheeling IMPA members around the infield course at various angles of sideways. Our crew couldn’t just sit on the sidelines, we had to bring you a bit of the in car too!
I suppose getting up to speed is a relative saying. We definitely drove a whole bunch faster on Day 2 of the IMPA Test Days than we did on Day 1. How fast? Well, that’s the relative part. We spent quality time in a bunch of very different vehicles, with much different outcomes.
I suppose I should be the one to out myself before anyone else gets the chance. I’m the guy that managed to spin the Viper SRT10. In fact, I was the only one to spin the car! Was I pushing that much harder than anyone else, or am I just a tool? Who knows, but I’ll tell more details in another post. Continue reading →
The 2008 edition of the International Motor Press Association’s Test Days has come to a close and we couldn’t be happier with the event. Last year, we made a point of bringing our readers as many vehicle tests as possible, so we took a slightly different approach this year. Rather than testing everything under the sun and reporting on them, we spent more quality time with selected vehicles to provide our readers with some killer content. In fact, we brought along video stud Scott Simmons who shot miles of HD footage so we can bring you our own style of video reviews.
Day 1 was split between climbing the hill at the Split Rock Resort and taking advantage of the twisty roads around the resort. Mother Nature dropped a healthy dose of rain the previous day, which ensured lots of muddy fun for the off roading session, meaning we got a few trucks really dirty. The Pocono Mountains have some truly spectacular scenery, although it can be tough to notice when one is carving up the pavement in a BMW M3 convertible!
Today was supposed to be off road day, but it turned into something completely different. I had a road car awakening. You could even say that I broke my BMW cherry. I discovered M.
To say that I didn’t understand before would be wrong, but I truly fell madly, deeply in love with the experience that is built into M Cars and that was by driving the convertible M3. Not to mention a hoonage filmed photo session with the boys from NYC and an AMG SL.
There are tons of photos and more importantly, some great video to go along with our time with the M3. Unfortunately, the hotel wireless won’t allow me to upload any pics for now.
As for the off road stuuf, we only drove 3 trucks today. We’ll have full video reviews of the 2 door Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, Nissan Xterra and the HUMMER H3T. That’s right, the H3T started rolling off the production line on Friday and we got one dirty today! Not to worry, the videos and photos will be worth the wait.
We’ll get some photos up when we can, but for now there is a cocktail party calling my name!
