Thursday, November 17, 2011

Keating TKR

SSC Ultimate Aero TT
Do you remember the first generation of hypercars? The first one was Köenigsegg CCR, a completely bonkers beast from Sweden producing 800 horsepower and maxing out at 241 mph. But then came Volkswagen and said they wanted to produce the fastest production car, not with 800 hp, nor with one thousand, it had to be 1001! So they ressurected Bugatti and made the Veyron, possibly the best piece of engineering out there. It was a bit faster (254 mph), thus they succeeded in the quest of producing the fastest car. Not for long though - Shelby decided it has to be the US to make the fastest one. Few months later they made the SSC Ultimate Aero TT which was 2 miles an hour faster than the Veyron. And it took Bugatti 3 years to strike back with Veyron SS, capable of 267 mph. Are you trying to say there was no faster car then the SSC Ultimate Aero for 3 years? Of course not, there was one... And this is the story of one completely forgotten car.



Keating TKR
Once upon a time there was one man who had a dream - to build his own car. His name was Anthony Keating, the owner of Keating Supercars. He had a foolish idea to make a car so fast it will outrun all the hypercars and still run smoothly at 260 mph. They were capable of building such a chassis, but there was no engine that powerful. So Anthony called his friends in the US - Nelson Racing Engines. I'll definitely write another story about NRE, because they deserve it. Let's just say for now that they make engines so powerful, that I just simply can't believe it. Anthony used one of NRE's 427 TT Hot Rod Series engine, producing... wait for it... here it comes... one thousand and seven hundred horsepower! 1700 hp!!! Oh my god!


Keating TKR at El Mirage dry lake
The car was finished and ready to be tested, so they took it to El Mirage dry lake to make a run. They knew it was fast, so the staff from the Guiness Book of World Records was invited. It did 260.1 mph... That doesn't sound that much faster than the SSC, but keep in mind it ran out of track, there was still so much more power left in the engine, it could easilly do a few more miles an hour. I am just speechless, once more I have found a car that almost nobody knew of and it was the fastest production car ever made. And sorry for the big pause on my blog - Skyrim stole my soul :-(


Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Ready to have some fun?

What's the best recipe for a car that makes you smile? It's very simple - engine in the front, manual gearbox and rear-wheel drive. Seriously, there's nothing better than this, even the mid-engined supercars aren't that much fun. And who would know better than Japanese?



Subaru BRZ concept
Subaru have anounced the BRZ concept - it has everything you need plus some extras like a massive rear spoiler. It will produce around 300bhp and you know it will be brilliant just by looking at it. Jeez, I love it so much. They are planning on getting it into production in the summer, I just hope it won't change a bit from the concept version... actually, they have to put gold alloys on it! Just do it, Subaru, for me, please!!!


Toyota FT-86
Do you remember all the sporty Toyotas? The almighty Supra, Cellica and my favourite Corolla AE86... Well, they have finally decided to build a new sportscar - FT-86. It's very much like the Subaru I mentioned earlier, although it's a bit less powerful (around 200bhp) and lighter. And it will be cheap - 25.000€ is a bargain of the century.



Nissan GT-R 2012
Oh, I almost forget to show you the new Nissan GT-R 2012. This is different kind of fun, it's just out of this world. It has more power than those two coupés combined and more technology on the board than a space shuttle. This year they've tweaked up the engine to produce 550bhp (that's 20 more than last year's model) and reduce the 0-100km/h time from 3 seconds to 2.8! Two point eight seconds... It's actually faster done than said. I'm just worried what the 2013 version will have under the bonnet, I guess it will spin the Earth backwards!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

New Mini and 208



Bad timing, I was about to show you some more tuned cars from SEMA, but I just couldn't overlook these two cars. Mini Roadster - the first new Mini that actually makes sense to me and Peugeot 208 - probably the best car they've made for the past ten years.

Mini Roadster
Let's start with the Mini, I love the original one - small, agile and ridiculously fast in rally spec. I wasn't that psyched about the new Mini from Germany - it's big, heavy and expensive. People who buy them pay just for the badge... Sure, it's cute and if you need a shopping bag and have that kind of money, there's no problem. So why does the Roadster make sense all of a sudden? Because it has only 2 seats - never in the history of the new Mini has an adult sat in the back and felt comfortable at the same time. You can squeeze your kids in there, but if you are a real man you don't want to be seen with your family in the Mini. Now you can take only one person - your gf/bf or just a friend and look cool as hell! It also has a bigger boot so it is more suitable as a shopping bag as well.


Peugeot 208
And why is the Peugeot 208 the best car they've made for a decade? Because it's light - that's basically it. It weighs 975 kg in the lightest spec (smallest engine). All modern cars have this problem, they are just too heavy. They have to be safe and carmakers just add more and more material in the deformation zone for the car to withstand EuroNCAP test with dignity. Peugeot have gone the other way - make a smaller car, simplify, loose weight. Tiny engines - both diesel and petrol with amazing fuel consumption (e-HDi with start-stop system gets 3.4 l/100km) and more space for passangers and bigger boot than it's predecessor (even though it's 7 centimeters shorter than the 207). I am speechless...

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

This is SEMA!

Today starts the biggest international tuning show - SEMA in Las Vegas. I'll be reviewing some of the coolest cars you can see there. Before it even started some pics of heavily modified Toyota iQs (basically a shopping cart with some alloys and seats) were posted on the web. Once again the Japanese have proved they are the maddest bunch around, just watch this:

iQ-RS Evasive
Toyota iQ-RS Evasive - nitrous injection, air suspension, racing seats, rollcage, 17" Advan Racing rims and uprated Wilwood brakes. These are the qualities we want from a shopping cart... Or maybe they aren't, but I can't help it, this car is just somehow awesome and I would definitely ride this to my local shopping centre just to see the looks on everyone's faces.




iQ-RX Sibal
   Or if you aren't that much into racing and don't like to waste time getting over the rollcage and fastening yourself into the racing harnesses, you can have a street version of iQ - RX Sibal. It comes with a custom grey metalic paint with a bit of a bronze pearlescent effect, 18" HRE rims (oh my god!). You get the same Nitrous Express powered engine and Air Runner suspension as the RS.



iQ-MR Tatso
Not enough? Here you go - the most radical modification of iQ by Tatso - the iQ-MR. A mid-engined rear-wheel drive piece of motoring excellence, you get a pure striped-out racer with 16" Axis wheels. And you know there will be a day when this car pulls out next to you at the lights and embarasses the sh*t out of you. Well done, Japan, you've done it again!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Japan = insane cars!

Damn, it's been a week since my last update... I really have to stop playing games all the time and get my life and blog together. I promise I'll make it up to you, so let's get to it.

Nissan Juke-R
   At first I'd like to share world's first official picture of that sick Nissan Juke-R. You either love it or hate it, it's that kind of design. I absolutely love it, but on one condition - the moment I see some footballer buy this car it's over. This is the ultimate vehicle to drive your children to school, imagine the credit they'll get when they show up buckled in those racing seats.




Infiniti FX50 Sebastian Vettel Edition
Next up there is a simmilar car although not that fast and nowhere near as crazy as the Juke-R. Sebastian Vettel just won the Formula One Championship (congrats, Seb...) and he managed doing that while secretly working on his own pimped-up Infiniti FX50. The Sebastian Vettel Edition is the fastest and most awesome Infiniti you will ever see. They've tweaked up the 5.0-liter engine to produce 420 bhp - it can do 0-100 km/h in 5.6 seconds, that's really not bad. It comes with uprated aerodynamics kit, every single piece made of carbon fiber and a speciall white matte paintjob. There's one big con though, there are nametags everywhere, if you aren't that much into Vettel, you have to cover them up, it's really not cool...


Infiniti M35h
   And we stay in Japan for the day - Infiniti now oficially makes the world's fastest production hybrid car - M35h. 3.5-liter V6 and a powerful electric engine producing 270 Newtonmeters of torque all by itself launch this car from zero to hundred in 5.5 seconds (ok, so Vettel's FX isn't the fastest one, but it's still pretty fast) and promise to travel up to 50% of the time just on electricity. Expect an average consumption of a bit over 5 l/100km. Not bad for a car that big and that fast...

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Mysterious french hypercar

Today I came across some hot news on France's latest atempt in hypercar industry - the Genty Akylone. Sounds familiar? No? Well, that's probably because nobody has ever heard of them. Let's take a look at this car that literally came out of nowhere (I'll get to this later).

Genty Akylone

It's a V8-powered (what a surprise!) RWD beast made of some unspecified lightweight material (1100 kilos is impressive) producing 1014 bhp and is capable of doing 0-100 km/h in 2.7 seconds. Its top speed is 354 km/h, that's not bad at all. And it looks just right...

Akylone's rear end

They would like to show the production-ready car next year and make a very limited series of just 15 cars. The price is unknown, although they claim to tell the big number to their customers. Ok, so we have another nice and fast car here, what's the catch then? It's made by a company none has ever heard of in a middle of a forest where are no industrial buildings and last but not least - it's only a computer rendered model. Way to go, France!

And the interior


Thursday, October 13, 2011

Nissan Juke GT-R

At first I'd like to apologize for not updating my blog in last three weeks or so. I haven't given up, but my laptop crashed and I had to buy a new one. And I've got a big nasty car for you today.

   Nissan Europe decided that Juke, rather strange looking crossover (they should have named it Joke in the first place...), needs more power. And they have overdone it as usual. How much? A lot! They've taken almost all parts from Nissan GT-R and put it into this little car your mum would use to take you to your football session. Including the engine - twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6 producing 520 horsepower. OH MY GOD!


The new insane Juke has 20 inch forged wheels, racing seats with 5-point harnesses and a rollcage instead of the back seats. It isn't as practical as the original, but its 'fast and furious'! 0-100 km/h takes less than 4 seconds and it maxes out at 270 km/h ... in a crossover! Damn.


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Škoda Citigo

Škoda (the biggest car company in Czech Republic, part of VW family) have recently revealed all the details about their new city car - Škoda Citigo. It's closely related to VW Up! but it looks completely different. Citigo is a car for everyday use in the city, it's perfect as 2nd or 3rd car for the family. There's a 3-door and a 5-door variant (5-door coming later this year). It has the latest technology, even a braking assist to avoid low-speed crashes in the city, few airbags, iPod conectivity and a lot of places to put your handbag... Yeah, it is kinda girlish, but which small car isn't?

Škoda Citigo

It comes with a 1-liter 3-pot engine producing 44/55kW depending on how much you want to spend. Fuel consumption isn't that impresive though - 4.5l/100km. And it's not exactly a looker as well... I seriously advise you to buy a second hand Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion, you'll get so much more car for your money. 

Škoda Citigo - interior

Anyway, do you guys like it?

Saturday, September 24, 2011

IAA bits and pieces

I've got some more cars that have caught my eye in Frankfurt this year. Let's cut to the case, the first one is a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport L'Or Blanc. This rather complicated name is just another one-off Veyron, because Bugatti really like to show off. They've gone for a material you would find in your cupboard - porcelain! Don't worry, the car isn't actually made of porcelain, however some interior bits are. The company responsible for it is called Porzellan-Manufaktur (based in Berlin, Germany). It gets a special paintjob and some chrome wheels... What's not to like?

Buggati Veyron Grand Sport L'Or Blanc

The next one is something I haven't seen around for a while - four-door convertible concept by Cadillac. It's called Ciel and it looks absolutely brilliant. I love what Caddy have done here. Knock, knock... Who's there? The future...

Cadillac Ciel

And last but not least - Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale. They really have to do something about naming their cars, this just isn't right. But underneath the long title lies the best Gallardo ever made. It's a tribute based on a combination of Superlaggera (the lightweight one) and Super Trofeo (Lamborghini's own racing series). This is probably the last special edition of Gallardo ever made, but you know the Italians, you can expect some more in the future. I won't bore you with the figures, because this car is about so much more than just some numbers. It sums up all 8 years of production, it's a masterpiece and on of the best looking Lambo's of all time. I would literally sell half my body parts to own this car... :)

Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Arrinera - Polish supercar

I've got something special for you today - Poland's first take in supercar industry. Arrinera is a Polish car maker funded by Fenix Automotive (founded by Lee Noble, former owner of Noble)... have I lost you? I'm sorry, but that's just how it is in a nutshell. Let's talk about the car, it's a RWD mid-engined two-seater made from carbon-kevlar composite. The chassis is made from steel, but it's very rigid and light as Lee Noble is a man that really knows how to make a proper car. So you can expect really good handling, the performance is also good - powered by Corvette's LS9 and supercharged for some extra oomph, now producing 650 hp. 0-100 km/h takes just 3.2 seconds and it maxes out at 340 km/h, which is quite respectable. Ok, so the figures sound good, but what about the looks? Well, if you enjoyed your meal and don't want to see it again in the bathroom, you should stop reading now.

Are you really brave enough to see it? Fine, here it goes... But remember I warned you!

Arrinera supercar

I'm sorry, but this is just Lambo design, they even stole the door mechanism. And you think this is the only thing they've borrowed? Oh hell no, headlamps look like the ones on Noble, engine cover is based on Porsche Carrera GT and orange leather interior? I'm sorry, but that was only cool in Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder in grey metallic paint, it's just disgusting in this car. Let's get to the rear end:

...and from the back

Just how many times has the designer seen Transformers? You think the taillights are cool? Nope, this was taken from Nissan Pulsar, the vents look like Lamborghini Reventon's and the tailpipe? It's inappropriate - you've got a V8 under the bonnet, let it breathe! And there's a bonus - from the side it looks like a DeLorean DMC-12. That's just it, I think they've crossed a big line here. I'm off to empty my stomach...

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

GT-R madness!

I was just browsing Nissan 200sx car owners forum (if you still don't know I own one myself) and came across some really interesting ad - a chance to drive my dream car Nissan GT-R for an amazing price of 40€. My mind was completely blown, I ordered one ride in a blink of an eye. I just hope this works out, it has to! I am so psyched right now I can't even write :D

   Let's calm down and let me give you some figures on GT-R. Nissan have built this car specifically to beat the almighty Porsche 911 Turbo round the Nürburgring and they have succeeded. It's got a twin-turbocharged V6 (VR38DETT for you Nissan fans) producing 478 hp and 588 torques. Don't expect some oldschool driving, this is a computer on four wheels but in a good way. Four wheel drive, launch control, control unit that checks just the right amount of torque goes to each wheel 100 times per second, flappy paddle gearbox and much more. But the thing I love the most about GT-R is it's looks, you really don't expect this car to do 0-100 km/h in 3.5 second and thus completely humiliating you on the lights! I will definitely write a post about GT-R's history some time in the future, once I taste the sweetness of the cherry on Nissan's cake of motoring excellence.

Nissan GT-R

Sunday, September 18, 2011

You vs. Universe

Don't worry, I haven't gone mad, this isn't about philosophy. You and Universe are Volvo's latest concepts and I'm keen to introduce them. Let's start with the older one - Volvo Universe, introduced earlier this year in Shanghai. It brings out completely new design using some classic lines from Volvo archives. I love it, the front grill looks very funky as well as the headlamps... This isn't a description you would expect for a Volvo design. And the bonnet is just somehow awesome. I'm not so sure about the rear lights though, they are a bit 'Jaguarish'.


Volvo Universe


Volvo You, unveiled at IAA Frankfurt, looks very simmilar, but it's a completely different car. It's design is affected by Geely's purchase of Volvo. It's a bit less funky, but still very good looking. I absolutely love the name - can you imagine the conversation? 'What's your ride? .. You. .. Me?!'

Volvo You
And if you still find the Volvo design a bit conservative, just look at the interior... Volvo, safe and slick :-)
 Volvo You - interior
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Thursday, September 15, 2011

My mum's FIAT

I'd like to devote today's post to my mum's Fiat Stilo 1.2 (2002). We've had this car for five years, it never let us down and worked hard. Until last week - one of the ignition coils broke down, I checked all the spark plugs and I did not know how this car was still working... I've seen a lot of spark plugs, but these were just the worst. Anyway, we ordered some new plugs and an ignition coil. I swapped them earlier, is what I would said if the idiot at the store gave me the right plugs... Damn, at least the coil works, so the engine runs on all four pots again! Hurray! I'm gonna beat the hell out of him tommorow, get the right plugs and change them.

  I absolutely love the car, it's just an honest piece of Italian engineering. We've imported it from Germany (it had done 70.000 km, currently 98.000 km) for about 8.000€, it has A/C, 6 airbags, 6-speed manual gearbox and electric windows, that's basically it. And it's a 3-door version, because it looks the best. We use it as our family work horse, it has a tow bar for our trailer and a lot of scratches over the years. The biggest scratch comes from an avalanche, my mum parked the car under a high roof covered in snow and as it begun to melt, the whole lot fell on our poor car. It broke the windshield and we lost the rear window wiper as well. I've had a lot of fun in this car, especially in the winter drifting like mad on local carpark (using handbrake as it is front wheel drive).

In case you don't know what the Fiat looks like, here are some photos:

Fiat Stilo

And here's one of the engine that was taken today. Notice the redneck air filter - yep, it's a stocking! I need the car today, so I made this temporary solution, because I'm a lazy person and I don't want to take off all the plastic covers and the original air-box tommorow as well.

The engine... :D

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Fisker Automotive

Today I found out there is an electric car you might actually consider buying! My world was totally crushed, I was always a bit skeptical about the whole 'electric-powered vehicle for everyday use' thing. Why? It's very simple - you wake up in the morning, have a coffee and comute to work. Let's say it's about 100 kilometers away, you jump into your electric car, because you want to save the environment... And the battery dies somewhere in the middle of your journey. You pull out the cord and recharge your car, 10 hours later it's fully charged and you can finally get to work... Or turn around and go home tell your wife you've been fired. Your choice.

   So what is this miraculous car? Let me introduce you the manufacturer first - Fisker Automotive. Founded in 2007 in California by Henrik Fisker (designer responsible for iconic cars such as Aston Martin DB9 and BMW Z8), the company decided to produce luxurious hybrid cars (aiming at Porsche and BMW customers). First one was Fisker Karma, powered by a combination of an electric engine and 2-litre turbocharged four-pot. The combined range is 480 km (80 km on batteries, 400 km), it produces 400 bhp and nearly a thousand torques. For the same money as Porsche Panamera... Brilliant!

Fisker Karma


They have unveiled a new model in Frankfurt - the Fisker Surf. It's a shooting brake (like the new Ferrari FF) and if you found Karma's design stunning, just wait until you see this one! Power output is slightly better, it produces less CO2 than Toyota Prius and the range is unchanged. Here it goes:

Fisker Surf

I am speechless! I just hope all future electric cars look this good...

Monday, September 12, 2011

IAA Frankfurt 2011

It's that time of the year again - one of the biggest car shows takes place in Frankfurt am Mein (Germany). The 64th IAA (International Automobil-Ausstellung) starts tommorow September 13 and ends 12 days later - September 25. There are 90 new cars/concepts, let me introduce the most important ones.

   Aston Martin will show their street racer - V12 Zagato, an amazing piece of Italian design (tribute to the original Zagato from 60's) powered by the 380 kW V12 engine from Vantage. I want one so bad!

Aston Martin V12 Zagato

Ferrari have cut the roof off their 458 Italia - resulting in a hardtop convertible supercar called Spider. They really did their best, it's only 50 kilos heavier than the standart 458 and it takes 14 seconds to put the roof up. But they still haven't convinced me their design is better than Lamborghini's...

Ferrari 458 Spider: Italia


Mercedes-Benz did the same thing as Ferrari, took their SLS AMG and made it a Roadster. It has the same performance as the original SLS, it's 40 kilos heavier and the softtop folds in 11 seconds. Well done, Merc! And they ditched the silly "gullwing" door, well done indeed!

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster and Coupé
And finally the new Porsche 911, 991 generation. I personally am not a big fan of current Porsche design, but I have to admit they did a pretty good job this time. Let's see who wins the epic battle Turbo vs. Nissan GT-R this year!

Porsche 911 (991)

I recommend you to visit the IAA, it's one hell of a show! Or if you are less lucky just stay tuned, I'll review some more cars later.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Agera R - the best of Sweden

If you ever wondered which hypercar is the most hyper, Koenigsegg's got an answer - Agera R. Let me show you some figures to prove my point. This beast has, and there is no other way of saying it, 1115 horsepower (using bioethanol E85) and over 1200 torques! All of them powering the 345/30 R20 rear tires, 345!!! Those tires are so wide you could park another car on them. But wait, Bugatti have made an 8-liter W16 engine to produce those figures, how could Koenigsegg make such an engine? Well, they started from scratch, this one is powered by Koenigsegg's own alluminium twin-turbocharged 5-liter V8. And here's some more - Agera R just set some new records:
  • 0-300 km/h = 14.53 s
  • 0-200 mph = 17.68 s
  • 300-0 km/h = 6.66 s
  • 200-0 mph = 7.28 s
  • 0-300-0 km/h = 21.19 s
  • 0-200-0 mph = 24.96 s

Would you just look at this sweet design.

I'm telling you - if this car was any faster, it would travel in time! You get basically the same performance as Bugatti Veyron SS (0-100 km/h is 0.4 second slower - 2.9s), stunning looks, more fun and it costs half the price of an SS. So this is the car to buy if you've got 1 million euros. Or is it?

   If you are the type of a person that loves the smell of a proper V8 in the morning, eats tires and drinks petrol, you should consider buying something a bit crazier, something even faster, something American. Hennessey have gone completely mad - they've used Lotus Exige's bodywork, pumped it up a little bit, ditched the 1.8-liter engine and put some Corvette engine back in. And turbocharged it, a lot! Thus the Venom GT was born. The V8 now produces up to 1200 horsepower!!! In a car that weighs just a bit over 1000 kilos. Top speed of this car is 440 km/h, oh my god! They are only making ten GTs, so you better hurry up and prepare one million dollars as well.

Venom GT - the craziest car around


Anyway, I'd like to apologize for not updating my blog during this week, I had an all-week-long houseparty. So I'm resuming to my usual 2 posts per 3 days :-)

Monday, September 5, 2011

Nürburgring record

Earlier this year Peugeot set a new electric car record around the Nürburgring. 9m 1.338s was almost a minute faster than previous record holder, Peugeot used their high-performance EX1 Concept electric car, a 340bhp all wheel drive beast. But the 'Ring demands some serious competition and to hold a lap record there is very prestigious.

 
Peugeot EX1 Concept

It didn't take long to beat that record again - by Toyota. About a week ago they let their own high-performance electric car TMG EV P001 (this really sounds like a kitchen appliance) lap the 'Ring and it did it in 7m 47.794s! This Radical-based 375bhp racer wiped the previous record so hard Peugeot's executives shed a tear...

Toyota TMG EV P001

To put this time in perspective, let me show you some other cars that lapped the 'Ring in 7m 47s - Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Lamborghini Murcielago LP-640 and Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. And here are some other amazing lap times:
  • production vehicles - Radical SR8 LM - 6m 48s
  • non-series vehicles - Pagani Zonda R - 6m 47.5s (fastest road-legal car)
And the absolute record holder Porsche 956 at 6m 11.13s driven by Stefan Bellof in 1983. I will definitely come back to this legendary car later, it deserves it!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Tuning failure

Today I visited a local tuning show to test my car in an 1/8 mile drag race. As I am not very skilled, my times weren't that good, the best one was 10.09... But it was enough to beat some Honda Civics, Integras and VW GTis. But I really wanted to push it below 10 sec. So there I was, the fourth run - great start, no wheelspin, ideal gearchanges, everything was looking good. But then i noticed a big cloud of smoke coming from my exhaust. I stopped and some dude ran towards my with a fire extinguisher, I told him it's definitely not on fire. The look on his face - disappointment. Later I discovered that the head gasket was blown and the smoke was actually water streaming onto the pistons and evaporating rapidly. A friend of mine towed me back home, what a shame! I'll keep this one brief, because I'm really pissed right now...

Here are some photos:
My car on the start
And some crazy wheelie in a Fiat 500

Friday, September 2, 2011

BMW recalls 120k cars

Have you worked hard and finally decided to buy a decent car? Yes! So you pay a visit tou your local car dealership and for some unknown reasons it's a BMW dealership. But which one should I buy? There are so many models... You finally decide to go for a 5 series and because the petrol prices went through the roof recently you buy a diesel one. What a smart choice... or is it? One day a telephone wakes you up in the morning and it's a BMW employee histerically screaming your car is dangerous and in some rare cases it can even burn you to death. Oh hell no, I should have bought an Audi or a Mercedes instead, runs through your mind. Yes, you really should have... But that's not the point.

   It seems lately the car manufacturers really mess up. BMW now recalls 120k cars because of a fuel filter malfunction and it's not just the 5 series, it's actually 1, 5, 7, X3, X5 and X6! You think this is the only case?
  • GM recalled 1.5 million cars because of a screenwasher malfunction (fire possible)
  • GM recalled 250k cars because the seat belts weren't working properly (death possible)
  • GM recalled 100k Cadillac CTS's, the airbag didn't work (death possible) ...Jeez, GM, do something about it! 
  • Toyota recalled 100k Priuses (every single car of the first generation) - steering and transmission issue
   And the big one: Toyota recalled 14 million!! cars over the last two years, no biggie, just the gas pedal jammed flatout from time to time. This could lead to some serious performance! Or, you know, a nearby tree.

  I mean how could this even happen? Apparently they just don't test the cars properly to discover some serious issues. Shame on you! And you would think that Toyota's and BMW's build quality and reliability were bulletproof.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Whopping design!

To stop my eyes from bleeding every single time I look at my blog, I decided to do some design improvements. I've also changed the name of my blog, because writing about everything that comes to mind isn't somehow satisfactory enough. So what does the World on four wheels stand for? Well, you can expect some fresh information about anything that moves fast and has some wheels on it! I'm a big petrolhead, I really am. Anytime something interesting happens in the motoring world, I will be there to summarize it and share it with you, guys.

   Just what do you mean by that? I'm thinking some reports from car shows, reviews of the newest models, commentating on concept cars, even doing some mini-series on car legends, or a brief history of some famous brands. Maybe some tutorials, the possibilites really are endless. So hold on, because I'm gonna dip your head in petrol!

Any feedback on the new design or theme is as always appreciated.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Thor

I've just seen the Thor movie and I did not enjoy it at all. This isn't just any regular Marvel flick, this one is really overdone! I'm a big fan of Age of Mythology, I loved the frost giants there and all the Norse gods. All there buildings were realistic and contemporary. So you can imagine I didn't like the modern look as seen in the movie, oh boy, this could have been a much, much better movie if it was set in the Vikings era. Natalie Portman, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the hammer of god combined? I don't think so...

  Have you seen it? And did you enjoy it? Or are you as cross as me and loved the AoM gods?

Anyway, here's some picture to ease up the mood...

And I'm also planning on some design improvements this week, so stay tuned! :-)

Monday, August 29, 2011

Roadtrip

Yesterday me and my mate went for an epic roadtrip throughout the country (just kidding, it was like 120km). I've got a Nissan 200sx and he's got Skoda Octavia, which is on of the most common cars in Czech Republic. My car got some sporty tuning, so the suspension is quite hard and the ride isn't that comfortable, especially on local roads. But it's fast! :D

   We decided to go for a swim in a nearby dam and visit a famous hill climb track called Ecce Homo. As we climbed the hill like pros, we stumbled upon a race that was going on there as well. We had to turn around and come back later. Time to go for a swim, it took us an hour or so to find a place suitable for swimming, but in the end we found the best one. Nothing better than a swim in some cold water on these summer days! Anyway, we chilled there for entire afternoon and then went back.

I decided to have another go on that hill climb, but from the opposite direction. Here's some footage:

 

Sorry for slightly bad camera angle, I used the redneck style camera - taped my phone to the rearview mirror :D And it somehow looks very slow, but trust me when you're sitting there, it's pretty damn fast! It was my second attempt on that track, so I really didn't know the corners, but I tried to go as fast as my car and brain let me. And cooked the brakes doing so, the last few corners I had literally no brakes at all! :D

I hope you enjoy the footage, although it might have been much better. Rev up!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Fire in the house!

Today I was woken up by a smell of burning wheat and a fire alarm. At first I thought it was far away so I fell back to sleep... 5 mins later a firetruck passed my window and stopped just behind our house. I quickly got up and ran to the garden to check out what was going on. Some IDIOT thought it was a good idea to burn leftover bark and sawdust he got from chopping some wood earlier this week. Hell yeah! The temperatures were above 30 degrees celsius all week long, so the corn field behind our house was really dry. The fire got out of control very, very fast, so he ran away, coward! My dad called those fire-fighters and they quickly regained control of it. What a wonderful day, had my dad been sleeping at the time, our whole house could have burnt to ashes. Thanks, dad! And cheers to that idiot... How would you punish him for his idiocy?

Anyway, tommorow I'm going on a road trip with my mate, so you can expect some report and even possible on-board footage from my car (it's a Nissan 200sx).

Friday, August 26, 2011

DOTA 2

I've been playing DOTA a lot for past few years, but I took a year off so I didn't know what was going on in DOTA world at the moment. Anyway, my friend sent me this link and said "dude, you gotta watch this, it's awesomeness in it's purest form", so I was like "whatever, it's some of those shitty links he is always sending me". Then I got a little bored so I checked it out. It was a live stream of DOTA 2 International tournament... It kept me nailed to the screen all week, I literally watched every game and enjoyed it very much.

At first the new graphic engine by Valve was a bit weird, but then I got used to it and I actually think it's awesome. Well, it took some time to memorise all those new avatars and item pics. The gameplay is unchanged, still one of the best online arena RPG based games.

The International tournament that took place August 17th -21st at gamescom in Cologne, Germany was amazing. 16 teams in a fierce battle for winnig prize of 1 million dollars (!!!), 1.6 million prize money in total divided among the best 8. I was hoping for some great performance by SGC, because these guys are actually from my country. That didn't end well, but I have to admit there were much better teams. The finalist were EHOME (China) and Na'vi (Ukraine), I don't want to spoil you the experience, so I won't tell you who won. But you can watch all the replays here. You'll witness some amazing DOTA action with excellent commentary by Slesh and Tobi Wan, big props to those guys! You can also sign for beta or wait till the game is out later this year.

After "living DOTA" for a week I decided to resume playing it and I really enjoy it now. I'm really looking forward to playing this amazing game, so what's your opinion? Do you play it? Do you like the new graphics? Did you enjoy the International as much as I did?

Thursday, August 25, 2011

I just created a new blog

Hey guys, I finally decided to make my own blogger.com account and share some thoughts and interesting things with you all. I'll try to update my blog as frequently as possible, just hope I won´t run out of topics to share :-) Anyway, I think this will be a whole new and exciting experience for me, so keep on following.