http://jalopnik.com/5390929/mustang-crash-gallery/

Do consider a Subie.

http://www.drive.subaru.com/Sum06_WhatsInside.htm

During an extrication seminar I was conducting, several members of an area fire department approached me with a question and a challenge. They had encountered a Subaru Forester involved in a crash and were unable to cut through the B-pillar with any of their extrication tools. Their cutter and their reciprocating saw were both unable to sever the pillar. They actually went back to the junkyard the next day and used a gasoline-powered rotary saw with an abrasive blade to totally remove the B-pillar. They brought it to the seminar to show me.

When I saw the pillar, it was clear that something was different about the Forester B-pillar construction. It was eight layers thick! One of the layers was a round steel rod that resembled a concrete reinforcement bar (rebar). That B-pillar had more layers of steel than I had ever seen in a vehicle.

I do realize that it’s not a totally fair comparison. Who knows if the Subaru’s roof could have withstood the same thing…but it does seem clear that the Subaru has superior reinforcement regardless. So why not? That and…I wouldn’t want a car with a live axle anyway.  I should note that the Mustang had a wannabe rollbar in it, too, that totally failed to do anything.

Now here’s an interesting site: http://www.boronextrication.com/2009/10/2010-ford-fusion-side-impact-protection.html

It’s basically a blog for firefighters showing where to cut up cars during an emergency.

Honda Chief: “Hyundai is awesome.” — Autoblog
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/04/honda-chief-hyundai-is-awesome/
Japan’s automakers know a threat when they see one, and based on their words, it sure isn’t in Michigan. Motown is fleeting image in the Japanese carmakers’ rearview mirrors, which they’re now nervously checking for a budding South Korean juggernaut. …

At the moment, I feel like many people have the same arrogant attitudes towards Hyundai that the whities apparently had towards Japanese auto brands in the 60′s-70′s. “Japanese cars? Pfffffft! Bwahahahaha.” History is repeating itself, but the players have changed places. This attitude includes me, to be honest. Mainly because of Kia. But realizing the hypocrisy, I’m trying to be more open minded.

Open Challenge: First person to meet a Japanese person that owns a Hyundai wins an ice cream!

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/08/video-another-reason-to-watch-rallying-burcu-cetinkaya/

http://racing.honda.com/hpd/

The new Bridgestone RE-11 ( successor to the RE-01R)

The Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec (I’m running on them now and I am quite pleased with them)

The Toyo Proxes R1R

and the Yokohama Advan Neova AD07

The Z1 Star Specs are about a year old now, so I was expecting the RE-11 to totally stomp on them, but that wasn’t the case. I wasn’t too familiar with the R1R’s, but I expected the AD07 to get destroyed by the Bridgestone and Dunlop offerings.

In the first segment they’re doing at least 3 laps per brand of tire: in lap, best lap, dick-around drift lap.

Best times:
Z1*: 1:10.145
RE-11: 1:10.661
R1R: 1:10.858
AD07: 1:11.859

The second and third segment consists of a 15 lap battle. The Z1* put in the fastest lap, but the RE-11 had a better average, though it was a lot closer than I thought.

Ignoring the in lap:
RE-11 averaged: 10.878
Z1* averaged: 10.885

Considering all that, I think I’d still give the RE-11′s a whirl once, but over the long run I think I’d stick with the Star Specs. They’re significantly cheaper. Both Bridgestone and Dunlop are offering special rebates on their respective offerings btw. All but the Toyos can be bought at Tirerack.com.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=763645

[Update: Yeah, it's fake.] Wow. One can never be sure if people are being flat out retarded or if they are just trying to create a new internet meme.  

This ranks alongside Direct Exhaust Injection (the guy thought if he routed his engine’s exhaust back into his intake, he would have unlimited, perpetual power), and the guy who ran sand into his car’s intake thinking it would polish his engine.

http://superbowlads.fanhouse.com/quarter1/Audi-Transporter/2409683

Don’t get me wrong, Lexus is very nice in a coddling, pampering sort of way.

Here’s some choice parting quotes from people:

The S2000 was my very first sports car, I have excellent memories of it. I eventually crashed it due to loss of control (hydroplaning)… traction control would have been nice.

It is a very ‘green’ sports car and maybe the most ‘fun’ car I’ve ever had. It is a blast around town, and you don’t have to break all the speeding laws to wind it out and have fun.

I now drive a Ferrari 360, M5, and 135i, and have had all types of sports cars, but will always remember the S2000 as one of the best engineered cars I’ve driven.

BTW, it’s shifter is FAR better than any car I have ever been in! BMW, you could learn a lot from the shifter in the S2000.

I wish I could be like him, haha. One can dream. But I do intend to try to hold onto the S as long as possible. I’ve already raved about it in the past, so I’ll try to spare that here. But his comment is pretty consistent with reviews and owner/ex-owner comments that I’ve seen or heard in the past. I still remember working on the car at Brian’s garage, when a middle aged man pulled up in his loaded family SUV, and lamented selling his S.

Another S2000 owner here. As others have mentioned it’s so much more than the spec sheet would suggest. It’s all about the driving experience and satisfaction from extracting everything out of the car. I am happy to see that its been finally put to rest though. Honda’s been neglecting it for years, focusing on its bread and butter economy cars. It should be no surprised to anyone that sales are down on this 9 year old roadster. At least now mine will feel even more special

I do have to give props to Honda for even making such a purist car to begin with. Other than Lotus (and am not even sure), I can’t think of any other manufacturers that offers a rear wheel drive, sub 3K pound car that’s offered ONLY with a manual transmission. That right there should tell you what sets this car apart, although unfortunately that also probably contributed to poor sales.

There’s a special place in my heart for women that can drive a stick.

And for the nerdier:

because honda doesn’t do that. They do have common platforms which are shared civic/tsx/crv/rdx/tsx etc…accord,tl…mdx/pilot/ridgeline…as you can see, there aren’t really any RWD models in their lineup unless they’re AWD. it’d be VERY stupid to create just to have two RWD models, and then share it w/ the s2000. That was the beauty of the s2000, and why for many years it was able to whoop any competition in its segment. It was a purpose designed, purpose made sports car…not a parts bin frankenstein like you find in many other segments. The 350z for example, great performing car…but there were a lot of tradeoffs that it had. Boat like steering feel, excessive weight when compared to other cars…all due to parts sharing. The lack of a good transmission from the sky/solstice would be another good example (from last i remember, didn’t the first year 5 speed manual use the same transmission that was used in pickup trucks?).

In short, a special platform like the one the s2k got…high cost, but great performance.

Well it was fun. I wish Honda was making a replacement, but they aren’t. I can’t even think of a car from another marque that’s less than 1.5 tons.  Ok, well yes I can, but they’re extremely expensive.

Eco Assist uses a dashboard display and speedometer backlighting that effectively turn hypermiling — the fine art of maximizing fuel efficiency — into a videogame that coaches you on your driving style. There’s also an Econ Mode that decreases throttle sensitivity, reduces air-conditioning demand and pulls a few other under-hood tricks to maximize fuel efficiency.

The irony is the Insight is the first hybrid with the driving dynamics that might encourage you to ignore your inner environmentalist and just have fun. While we didn’t drag race a Prius, our seat-of-the-pants impression is the Insight has snappier acceleration, not to mention more responsive steering, better brakes and superior handling.

During a day behind the wheel last month, we managed an impressive 42.4 mpg without even trying. When we pushed the Econ Mode button and used Eco Assist to mind our hypermiling P’s and Q’s, the Insight returned an amazing 65.6 mpg. That’s on par with the best figures we’ve seen from the Prius.

Here. Sounds fun. The steering comments aren’t surprising. All Toyotas and Lexuses feel really loose and disconnected to me. I don’t like it. It’s perfect for people who don’t like to drive (Toyota’s primary market!), but for me, it feels really goofy.  Hondas, on the other hand, feel more connected, more direct with the road, perhaps not quite as much as the famous BMW feel (been awhile since I’ve driven a bimmer tho), but certainly far more than a Toyota/Lexus.

I love my car.  I’ve had it for over a year now, but I still have so much fun when I drive that thing. Someone once asked me if I could recommend a car, what would it be, etc, and I realized then that my car had totally changed my perspective on cars in general. See, I used to be a luxury-performance sedan guy.  And that’s because I didn’t know any better. “Hey, I’m gonna get that nice people-moving Audi/BMW/Infiniti with the monster engine, and it’s gonna be cool. The sound system is going to be awesome, it’s going to be quiet, the seats are going to be soft, it’ll go fast, and I’ll secretly revel in the badge prestige.”

Yeah…..That’s all gone now. Basically, when I was shopping for my first car, I looked at a few of those. Even a 6 speed manual Accord coupe. They have leather, and they are sporty, they’ll be fun right? And then I randomly decided to test drive an S2000. Why? I’m not sure. The S can’t be that different from the Accord, right? They both have manual transmissions. Then I drove one. Woa. It was not like any other car I had driven.

Personally, I loathed the idea of a convertible. “It’ll get dirty inside. My hair will get blown all about. It’ll be loud. The convertible is obnoxious. It’ll be impractical.” But once you get over the fact that no one gives a shit about your top being down, it’s kind of exhilarating. And practicality? Screw practicality. I’m young now, with no kids. Unless I become ridiculously wealthy, it’ll only become more difficult to own a two seater as time goes on. And if people need to be chauffered, well, we’ll use their car =p.

Anyway, I could see why the S2000 has a legion of fans, past and present. The handling is sharp, the transmission is slick, the car…it just communicates to you. The model is coming up to its 10th anniversary, yet it’s still for sale, and it’s still loved by many. In fact, I hear many ex-owners often do buy another one after testing the waters with a different car. And it’s not even particularly fast compared to other cars these days, but there’s just something about it that makes it so fun.

But there are a lot of haters, too. It’s very loud, the suspension is very stiff, and the sound system is mediocre. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. And now I’m a total car snob. I’ll admit it. I don’t think I could ever go back to a front wheel drive vehicle (“wrong wheel drive” as I like to call it these days).  Or a heavy boat luxury car. My old favorites, the Audis, the BMWs, the Infinitis, they’re all friggin fat as fuck. And they are soooo quiet. I want to hear the engine roar. I drove an Audi S5 on the track once, and I thought, is this thing even on? Am I hitting redline? Oh shit, yes I am.

So when my friend asked me that question…I had trouble answering at first. I knew he just wouldn’t understand if I spoke honestly. Recommending a sports car to the uninitiated just…doesn’t work. I mean, it didn’t work on me. You just get strange, incredulous looks. I knew what he wanted to hear. Something lux-performance. “Sporty” but not a sports car.  Something fast, but practical. Something that will pamper you as you mash the gas. So I reverted to my old self. I recommended an Audi/BMW/Infiniti. Trusty and safe. Universally liked. Something the Mrs. would want to drive. I’m not trying to enrage the female enthusiasts out there; I have met a few female S owners, and it’s very awesome.

I’ve often thought about what I would do when it comes time to replace my car. It’s a sad day to think about. I’ve decided unless I’ve become too old, or a future Mrs. lays down the law, I’ll be sticking with two seaters. A 911 GT3 would be awesome. Sigh. One can dream.

Well, I might as well continue nerding out. The 370Z, the 2010 BMW Z4, and most Porsches look very promising. But I want to keep my car as long as possible. Sometimes I almost want to name my car like a pet, but then I snap out of it and realize how stupid and lame that would be.