Original article: Subaru Rally Team video series “Launch Control”: Episode 5

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The dark green overhead canopies and forests of pines reminds us of driving the equally heavily forested roads in the mountains of North-Central Pennsylvania in our earlier years, and the magic we found there.

And that, along with the right car, is what our enthusiasm for driving is all about!

Original article: Toyota of Japan releases 48th Toyota 86 Touge drive video: Nakahechi

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Original article: Vintage Ford Motor Company Film: “Harvest Of The Years”

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Original article: Toyota of Japan releases 47th Toyota 86 Touge drive video: Nakahechi

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s one of the best episodes, with a car theme (of course). Phil and Frankie manage to dump their boss’s Cadillac (played by Gale Gordon) into a swimming pool… then attempt to get it out. A typical Phil Harris disaster ensures.

From May 15, 1949, here is “The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show”. Alice Faye, Anne Whitfield, Bill Forman (announcer), Dick Chevillat (writer), Elliott Lewis, Gale Gordon, Jeanine Roos, Lois Corbett, Paul Phillips (producer, director), Phil Harris, Ray Singer (writer), Robert North, Walter Scharf and His Orchestra, Walter Tetley, Griff Barnett (Rexall druggist).

Enjoy!

Original article: Classic Radio: The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show: May 15, 1949. Cadillac and Lincoln disaster.

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

And, as is the norm in these videos, a visit to a traditional craftsman out in the countryside off the roads travelled in the video. All the more reason to appreciate the expert craftsmen that produced this series of videos.

Original article: Toyota of Japan releases 46th Toyota 86 Touge drive video: Nara Okuyama Driveway

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The latest, number 45 (!) in the series, takes us to the Tawarayama Touge. And that means more fun roads for Toyota 86 drivers, and for worldwide driving enthusiasts both a demonstration of the handling prowess and yet another reason to plan a trip to Japan to sample some of these roads ourselves.

Go full screen, turn up the volume, and enjoy the drive!

Original article: Toyota of Japan releases 45th Toyota 86 Touge drive video: Tawarayama Touge

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Original article: Toyota of Japan releases 44th Toyota 86 Touge drive video: Aso Mountain Road

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

When Pontiac needed a rear wheel drive sports sedan, the Holden Commodore was rebadged as a Pontiac, fixed with a new Pontiac-type grill land hood, and sold in the North America from 2008 thru 2009. This example is a base V-8 model G8, and the owner has started switching the Pontiac badges for Holden badges.

Except in the front and the interior. Perhaps those are future projects.

When GM went bankrupt on June 1, 2009, Holden lost a lucrative export market and got stuck with a bunch of unneeded parts. Enter the 2010 Holden Commodore SS V-Series, offered in sedan, wagon, and ute. Enhanced with the Pontiac grill and hood – and solving the problem of the leftover parts.

The back was again the same, although with a handsome large spoiler rather than the small spoiler that had been shared between the Commodore and the G8. We’d like to see the subject of this post change the rear spoiler. We’ve seen lots of Commodores with large rear spoilers and they are very distinctive.

The Commodore SS V-series was also offered in wagon form. Wouldn’t it be great to see one of these here?

Original article: Found on the road: Pontiac G8 as Holden Commodore SS V-Series

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Ford Press Release follows:

Ford Hybrid Vehicle Sales Break Full-Year Record in First Five Months of 2013

• Ford surpassed its previous full-year hybrid sales record set in 2010 of 35,496 vehicles in just the first five months of 2013

• Ford is projected to sell approximately 37,000 hybrid vehicles through May, for around a 375 percent increase over the same period last year

• Ford Fusion Hybrid is projected to deliver its best May sales ever; Ford Fusion Energi is also projected to achieve its best sales month since its introduction in February

• Ford C-MAX Hybrid and Ford Fusion Hybrid continue to draw new customers to the Ford brand, with conquest rates at 64 percent and 67 percent, respectively; Toyota is the top competitive conquest brand

Original article: The Hybrids are coming: unprecedented Ford sales success

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Original article: Toyota of Japan releases 43rd Toyota 86 Touge drive video: Yamanami Highway

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Episode 4 is here – turn up your volume, go full screen, and enjoy!

Original article: Subaru Rally Team video series “Launch Control”: Episode 4

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Episode 3 is here – turn up your volume, go full screen, and enjoy!

Original article: Subaru Rally Team video series “Launch Control”: Episode 3

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

But it’s a tough life after all your new movie opens to an estimated $122 million USD over the 4-day opening weekend in the United States.

Original article: Fast & Furious cast in Singapore try to get thru boring press interview

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Original article: Toyota of Japan releases 42nd Toyota 86 Touge drive video: Sagiridai

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

As McCarthy says, “I can tell you all the actual crash and destruction of vehicles is real,” McCarthy said, when asked which stunts were real and which existed only on a computer screen. “That’s very rare. And I think that’s what keeps the Fast & Furious franchise above all the others, they keep it real. I think that it would disappoint a lot of fans if they didn’t.”

As you’ll see when you watch the film, there is extensive CGI (for example, bringing down the plane), but there is also a much higher degree of realism than you would expect in an action film.

And then there were the two actual Chieftain tanks (the main battle tank of the United Kingdom, in service since the ’60s thru 1995 – highly modified to look modern),  plus two mockups built on motor home chassis. You can only drive a real tank on certain roads because of their extreme weight. So you can’t try this at home, although you can in Minnesota.

Credit: Jaimie Trueblood / Universal Pictures

Fast and Furious 6 does indeed top Fast and Furious 5, which was not an easy thing to accomplish. For part 6, we’ve got the flip car, the tanks, and the plane. What could top those? We’ll see in Fast and Furious 7, which is already in pre-production for the summer of 2014.

Original article: Fast and Furious 6: “They Got a Tank”

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

You get this movie trailer in the Fast and Furious style for Bullitt!

Original article: A Fast and Furious Bullitt???

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The Falcon, Falcon ute and Territory will continue to be manufactured until 2016. Plans for those models after that are unannounced, but the future for them as rear wheel drive vehicles looks impossible since their platform is an “orphan” – not used anywhere else in the world. Same for the 4-liter inline 6 cylinder produced in Geelong.

Updated versions of the Falcon and Territory scheduled to arrive next year will still do so. Ford will also retain a design and engineering center in Broadmeadows, which is working on global designs. The Falcon nameplate will come to an end when production ceases. Undecided at this point is any future participation in motorsports from Ford of Australia.

Original article: End of the line for Ford assembly in Australia

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s two for you to sample. Go full screen, turn up your volume!

The first we had never seen before. We thought it was creative, represented the essence of the brand well, and was humorous. It’s titled “Ahab”.

And the next one had us laughing and clapping for the kid. It’s titled “Big Game”, and that is exactly what he is hunting at his prom:

The final question in the opinion survey was if this was a company we want to do be associated with. The answer is an unqualified “Yes!”.

Audi Press Release follows:

The Countdown Begins:  Starting at Midnight Tonight, Vote for How Audi’s Super Bowl Spot Will End

• Audi to let audiences choose the ending of its Super Bowl XLVII spot on YouTube • Voting to take place for 24 hours beginning at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Thurs., Jan. 24 and closing at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Fri., Jan. 25. • Final spot to be revealed online on Saturday, Jan. 26 and will also air during the big game on Super Bowl Sunday

Original article: Audi commercials make a fun night

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

So now it’s time to go even further out on a limb for the next Camaro, which we think will arrive for the 2016 model year. That could be as early as the summer of 2015, or as latte as the spring of 2016.

Facts: what do we know?

• The Camaro will be base don the new Alpha platform (used by the Cadillac ATS and CTS)
• The Camaro will be built in Lansing, Michigan instead of Oshawa Ontario: announced by Automotive News, confirmed with union complaints (described by the CAW version of Hugo Chávez as an “assault on Canada”), and not at all coincidentally also the home of the Cadillac ATS with which it will share an assembly line).
• The new corporate V-8 engine, as in the LT1 in the Corvette, will propagate across the line from the Corvette to GM trucks. Therefore, it will be the base engine in the Camaro as well.
• We have the full specs for the Cadillac ATS and CTS, as first uses of the Alpha platform.

What do we hope/fear:

• Fact: That the Camaro will lose some major weight. The currently morbidly obese 3800+ pound Camaro SS is just too heavy to positively contribute to a 54.5 CAFE mileage standard by 2025 (raised in increments).
• Personal opinion: that the Camaro will have better outward visibility. Yes, we’ve driven it on the track extensively, and the total inability to see anything around you except to the front is ridiculous. Lets hope the next Camaro doesn’t rigidly follow whatever wild showcar GM comes up with for it.

The Cadillac ATS is the first user of the new corporate rear-wheel drive platform. It also underpins the 2014 Cadillac CTS. It is an extremely lightweight platform, very nearly state-of-the-art, and is designed for a wide range of users ranging form compact to mid-size products. It is designed for a near 50/50 fr/rr weight distribution, and also includes accommodations for all-wheel drive.

The current Camaro platform, dubbed “Zeta”, was originally designed by Holden for its mid-sized Commodore sedans (Caprice in long wheelbase form), and was adapted to the Camaro at the last moment. The Zeta had originally been intended to be used by a large number of products, but due to changing market conditions and raising fuel economy standards was finally limited to 2 (including some Chinese variations of the Holden products).  North Americans will see the Caprice in their rear-view mirrors as the new Chevy Caprice police car, and a (very) slightly updated Holden Commodore as the 2014 Chevy SS (unfortunately limited to ye olde 6 liter V-8, and offered only with a 6-speed automatic). When the Camaro moves to the Alpha platform, and Holden drops production of the current Commodore/Caprice after 2016 (exact date depending on continued subsidies by the Australian Federal Government), the Zeta platform will have come to an end.

Looking closely at the first iteration of the Alpha shell, for the Cadillac ATS, we see all kinds of weight-saving measures, including high tensile steel in some sections, and extensive removal of unnecessary metal via punches in the roofline and other parts of the structure. The net result of this is a 3315 pound weight for the base model ATS. Compare that to the current Camaro at a base weight of 3780 pounds – and you can imagine a new Camaro with over 465 pounds less. Furthermore, reducing the Cadillac ATS to a d-door, removing Cadillac accessories and Cadillac-class soundproofing, it entire feasible that the next Camaro could weigh in the 3200 pound range. That’s for a 2 liter 4-cylinder Camaro, which we believe will be produced for fuel economy reasons. And because a 3200 pound 4-cylinder turbo will be fun to drive and will be very attractive to more sophisticated North American buyers as well as a requirement for international buyers (where the current Camaro is far too portly).

2013 Cadillac ATS – Alpha shell

There is also the Mustang to consider… the Ford buys are eager to retrieve their status as the top-selling ponycar and the 2015 Mustang will certainly speak to that. However, as we extrapolated in our charts, it’s going to be difficult to compete with only a 5-liter engine and a 6-speed manual or automatic transmission. The Camaro SS will certainly use the 450 HP (450 torque) LT1 engine (it’s the corporate V-8 after all), and we would also foresee use of the new Tremac TR6070 7-speed transmission as well.  That will be expected by the marketplace in the year 2016. And we also believe that it will use GM’s new rear wheel drive 89-speed automatic then, too, currently be finalized for the next-gen GM trucks  and just a year or two away form the C7 Corvette (which had to launch with the old 6-speed auto). In other words, the stars have aligned and GM’s hot new LT1 will be in full production for a variety of GM products as well as what we extrapolate to be a 3485 pound Camaro (down significantly from 3849). Could it be any better? How about going from 9.1 pounds per horsepower, to 7.75? And that’s just the base SS model, not even a ZL1 or Z/28.

So let’s get on to the big spec chart then. Because of WordPress limitations (inability to embed the full width of the spreadsheet here), we’ll link to the 2016 Camaro section of our master site DrivingEnthusiast.net and open the chart in a new window. We’ve included specs for the 2010 Camaro LS and SS (V-6 and V-8), the new 2014 Z-28 (for which we likely won’t see a replacement at least a year after launch), the 2013 Cadillac ATS (turbo-4 and 6-cylinder versions), and then the 2016 Camaro (base turbo-4, V-6, SS in both manual and auto version, and also a 1LE that stretches the boundaries as the Z51 does for the Corvette) for the sake of comparison and to reinforce the Alpha points.

Let’s keep the comments civil, please. And remember that this isn’t the hopes and dreams of unrealistic fans to build something that will run with Ferraris. This is reality, on a reduced budget, developed under the umbrella of a Government-owned company, with platform sharing and all the benefits and limitations thereof, and selling at a price point comparable to today’s Camaro.

Original article: 2010 to 2016 Camaro Specifications Chart: Educated Extrapolation

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

And proves that the 86 is a car you can enjoy driving year-round, and is up to any conditions.

Yufuin and Hita are areas in the south of Japan, on Kyushu island. This is a very humid and wet area, and is well-known for its hot springs. Note how those springs come into play in the video.

We are using this video series to learn more about Japan, but also to plot a drive around the country one day. There are thousands of great roads to drive in Japan and places to see and this terrific series by Toyota has shown us dozens of places that we wouldn’t have known about otherwise.

Doumo arigatou gozaimasu, Toyota!

Original article: Toyota of Japan releases 41st Toyota 86 Touge drive video

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Ford EXP in 1982

We came across this video the other day of the Ford EXP introduction. We were surprised because we certainly didn’t think anyone would ever fondly remember this thing. But we do remember the EXP very clearly… but certainly not fondly.

We never owned one… we never wanted to and we never would even imagine such a thing. But we did drive one once in the mid-eighties. This was in the fall of 1983 (the beginning of the 1984 model year). A brand new 1984 120 HP turbo EXP had just come in at the dealer (1.6 liters, DOHC, transverse 4 cylinder with 5-speed manual). The dealer’s owner, being a friend, tossed us the keys. We closely looked over the car – it was odd beyond belief. The styling appeared to want to imitate a car with pop-up headlamps… up! Perhaps the budget failed at the last-minute and the car was originally supposed to have pop-ups? We seem to remember a spy pic in AutoWeek of such a thing.

The EXP has a bit of an infamous history. Car & Driver and Road & Track entered matching EXPs against each other in the (in)famous 24 hour endurance race at Nelson Ledges. These were naturally aspirated cars – with all of ~90 HP! As we remember, both entries failed due to repeated front wheel bearing failure. The hot ticket, discovered too late for the event, was the European Escort Diesel bearing, and of course Ford of N.A. got cheap with their development budget. Seems to us that the entire line of Escorts have all had this issue. Ford apparently never got it right.

The test drive started well enough.. we started the car and remember a nice burble in the exhaust. When we took off, there was HUGE torque steer (far more than in the Rabbit GTI we had driven a few months before). It was all we could do to immediately let off the gas. One tire was spinning like mad… there was traction from (barely) only 1 side. If the EXP wasn’t already entirely pointless, it sure was once you drove it.

The handling, despite Michelin TRX tires, was also poor. The seats were a cheap version of the Thunderbird Turbo Coupe seats (Lear Siegler), the same cheap seats used in our own (and much-hated) 1983 Mustang GT. Again, in both ways, the GTI was far superior. When we finally got back to the dealer, one front tire was ruined (and not from me abusing it, all it did was spin the entire time) and the engine was very hot (Fords were as bad from over-heating in street driving as they are now).

All in all, a very very *very*  poor effort by Ford.

Some time later, we did notice a somewhat better effort – but not by Ford. We were at a swap meet in Columbus when there was a huge exhaust and induction roar behind us. We turned around in came… an EXP! We walked over to talk to the driver… the car had been converted to RWD and it was powered by a BOSS 429 engine. Built for drag racing, it was nonetheless registered for the street (something you couldn’t get away with these days). Thsi same car was featured in Super Ford sometime later (you may be able to find that issue for reference).

The EXP evolved a bit over the years of its lifespan, eventually switching to the front end from the later Escort GT (circa 1986) along with its far better 1.9 liter “CVT” engine. That engine was the first Escort engine specifically designed for North America, and had decent torque and acceleration – especially in the even later  high-output “GT” form. But, as is so typical from Ford, even that car never approached the far more serious Escorts in Europe – such as the 1982 Escort RS1600i.

Seems that Ford takes forever to learn, although today the North American Focus ST is identical in spec (although not options) around the entire world. Finally – after 30 years!

Original article: Ford EXP Memories (all bad)

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

But in this test, a test the usual car magazines can’t do (because they would risk their press credentials and advertising revenue), a car designed in the mid-nineties, which went on sale in 1999, beats it hands-down. With clear results so there shouldn’t be any controversy.

Of course owners will always find controversy. But personally, as an owner and driving enthusiast, and as a driving instructor who has put significant miles on all three ourselves, we enthusiastically agree with the results of the test.

Original article: Finally a road test comparison of the S2000 versus FR-S versus RX-8!

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

While frankly we can’t see any point whatsoever in promoting the Juke, we’ve driven the NISMO Z and it’s a very well crafted and balanced track-oriented machine. That we can appreciate. And while there aren’t any published specs of the upcoming NISMO GT-R yet, we’re sure that it will be even more finely tuned than the already excellent GT-R.

What we’d like to see next in North America is the line of NISMO parts that is offered in Japan.  Major engine and suspension parts are offered, for a range of current and classic Nissans going back many years.

Nissan press release follows:

VIDEO REPORT: The World is a Race Track for Nissan’s Expanding NISMO Line

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (May 2, 2013) – Nissan’s Motorsports brand, NISMO, is growing and changing beyond the racetrack.

To show off what’s new, Nissan staged a special NISMO event for media at the Nashville Superspeedway. It was an event to provide a glimpse into what is new, and what is coming next.

On site were both the 2013 and 2014 Nissan 370Z NISMO, the JUKE-R, the 2013 Nissan JUKE NISMO, and the 2014 GT-R Track Edition.

As part of the performance line, these cars sport uniform, race-inspired exterior and interior styling. And, enthusiasts will find new features designed specifically for the driver.

“We think the track is a perfect place to showcase NISMO because NISMO is Nissan Motorsports.  It’s the racing, the motor sports heritage that has inspired cars like the new JUKE NISMO, and it’s about bringing that excitement from the track to the street,” said Carl Phillips, chief marketing manager, NISMO and Nissan sports car marketing – Nissan North America.

The first new Nissan production vehicle to get the NISMO treatment, the Juke NISMO, is already on sale in Europe and Japan and launches in the United States in the spring. The 370Z NISMO is now in its second generation in the U.S., with a revised 2014 370Z NISMO set for sale this summer.

Nissan is promising a rapid pace of introduction of even more NISMO models – at least one model every year during the Nissan Power88 period, encompassing the breadth of the Nissan model range. This of course includes the flagship of Nissan’s performance and technology efforts, the Nissan GT-R.

# # #

Original article: Nissan expands NISMO plans and products

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Rallying is the most original form of motorsports. It takes us back to the days when there were no paved roads in the country – but with modern cars and engines. The object is simply to get the fastest time on a closed off section of back-country road, called a “stage”, and there are several of them over the course of a day or two.

No restrictions, no excuses. And thankfully, no Olympian egos, no Danica Patrick love life, no redneck fist fights, or any other drama. Safety? No whining about how many guardrails a track should have – there isn’t a track and there are no guardrails. Just driving in its purest form.

One of the highlights of our own motorsport hobby has been attending professional rallies in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Washington. We were never able to attend the Sno*Drift rally, unfortunately, but hope to do so one day. As the name says, it’s in the dead of winter, and the conditions are the worst possible. And that’s exactly what ralliests do.

Go full screen, turn up your volume, and enjoy!

Original article: Subaru Rally Team video series “Launch Control”: Episode 2

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

You’ll note from the video that the parts are extremely well built and integrated into the Focus ST: no open filters (always a dumb idea), elimination of cats, or a droning exhaust. In other words, this is top-quality and very professional work. We’re very tempted to get a Focus ST and install these parts ourselves.

Original article: COBB Tuning Focus ST packages – everybody wins

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The latest model to hit the sad fan is the upcoming 2014 Subaru WRX. The concept car hit the show circuit recently and it was more than fabulous, although also obviously not tenable:

And then the final production model was spotted at the Nurburgring. It’s a Legacy, with model-specific flared front fenders, hood, front cap, rear fenders, rear bumper, and of course the expected wing. Some fans who believed that Subaru would build something like the blue Concept above were let down – even though it was clear that it never could have happened, especially given the budget Subaru operates under for the WRX and STI. It had to be based on a production car.

Fans get disappointed a lot in this hobby. Take the current Mustang, for example, which was introduced for the model year 2005.  Ford first released two concepts, however, styled as shown below, and on an entirely different chassis – the DEW-98 platform, used for the Lincoln LS, Thunderbird, and Jag S-Type – and originally developed for the Mustang  but dropped due to cost concerns. What we were shown was a great looking car, with the DEW-98 state-of-the-art chassis ( all aluminum double A-arms up front, and IRS out back), and featuring a supercharged 4.6 DOHC V-8:

The inexperienced observer would be excited and hopeful because it appeared the Mustang was about to get everything every (sophisticated) fan could have hoped for. However, reality is a cruel mistress. What Ford actually delivered is this:

Not only was the uber-chassis lost, the sharp styling was lost as well. Were we cheated? Yes. When will Ford learn? We’ll see.

Meanwhile, Camaro fanboys were shown a concept in 2006 which greatly excited them – not only because their car had been cancelled permanently and was now unexpectedly resurrected from the dead, but also because the concept was a knockout (if more than a bit retro):

The production model for the 2010 model year was all but identical, including the huge bulk, terrible sightlines, enormous width, and the full concept interior with its terrible ergonomics. All that was dropped was some over-the-top orange treatment of the instrument gauges (which themselves retained the concept’s styling). But it was popular and as acceptance grew it finally out-sold the Mustang.

Now we are approaching a new round of ponycars: the Mustang will be all-new in 2015 (well, sort of all-new, being simply an evolution of the existing S197 platform), and the Camaro in 2016 (based on the all-new Alpha chassis, also shared with the ATS and CTS).

We’ve seen several Mustang development mules thanks to spy photographers, showing the Fusion-like front end, but not yet the final rear shape:

The styling of the production car, like the Fusion and all new Fords going forward, is based on Ford’s 2011 Evos concept. As Alan Mulally says, when he steps off a plane in another country, he wants to be able to instantly recognize the local Fords.

From spy pictures, including an underhood picture, we know that the 2015 Mustang has the same grill and swept-back headlamps. We’ve also seen pictures of several small-scale clay models in Ford’s styling studios – and while none of those are production (hundreds of drawings would have been made, and many of the most promising converted to clay), they do all show the same shape and dimensions as the Evo.

So the question is: will Ford deliver a concept of the 2015 Mustang before production commences (presumably in the spring of 2015)? And will that concept accurately preview production… or will reality again be cruel to us?

If there will be a concept delivered, we may see it as early as the LA Auto Show this coming November, but traditionally it would be far more likely to appear in Detroit at the NAIAS in January.  And while most observers are assuming that the production model will be shown at the Mustang Club of America 50th anniversary celebration event in April 2014, it’s possible that only a concept could be shown there with the production car introduced later. No doubt this is all being decided now… and we’ll just have to be patient in the meantime. And that, folks, is the car hobby.

Original article: Concept versus Production: will we be cheated by the 2015 Mustang?

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Now this new featurette has been released.. and the story is in here. It’s the only spoiler in the video that is new.. otherwise the previous trailers (trailer #1 and trailer #2)have revealed several elements of the storyline. If you don’t mind the spoiler, or can’t help yourself, watch the video.

Set your system to full screen, turn up the volume – and enjoy!

Original article: New Fast and Furious 6 Story Featurette Reveals the Letty story

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Kudos to Subaru for keeping support of the hobby going thru the economic downturn! And for creating the following *terrific* video. Learn more at Subaru’s dedicated site: http://subaru.com/rally.

Subaru Press Release and video follow:

Subaru Releases “Launch Control”

• Action packed new web-series with an all-access pass behind the scenes of the Subaru Factory Rally and RallyCross Teams

Cherry Hill, N.J., – Subaru of America Inc. has released the first episode of “Launch Control”, a bi-weekly web video series that chronicles Subaru Rally Team USA and the Subaru PUMA RallyCross Team as they prepare for and compete in a fast-paced 2013 race season spanning the globe. With a mix of in-car video, car prep and driver interviews, “Launch Control” is the story of two teams, everything it takes to win and everything that gets in the way.

In the debut episode of “Launch Control,” Subaru Rally Team USA driver and defending Rally America Champion David Higgins is training for the upcoming season at his home in Wales, UK, while the crew at Vermont Sports Car, the Subaru technical partner managing both teams, is hard at work in the shop preparing the 2013 Subaru WRX STI team cars for a the season ahead.

If there is a team that knows what goes into winning a championship, SRT USA would be it. Subaru’s 2012 Rally America championship victory marked their second in a row and their sixth in seven years.

RallyCross, on the other hand, is relatively new for the team. Competing in the emerging Global RallyCross Championship the team must tackle new venues, new race formats, new rules and new cars. Challenging the established RallyCross teams from Europe, the learning curve for team drivers Bucky Lasek, Dave Mirra and team leader and three-time European RallyCross Champion Sverre Isachsen, has been steep.

“Launch Control” will follow the trials and triumphs of these two teams throughout their 2013 seasons and give viewers a behind the scenes look at the efforts of the drivers, engineers and mechanics as they fight for victories.

Episode 1:

Episode 2 will air on May 1st

Original article: Subaru Rally Team video series “Launch Control”: Episode 1

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.

We’ll find out more on May 24, 2013, the North American premier of Fast and Furious 6!

Original article: Fast and Furious 6: returning stars!

©2013 DrivingEnthusiast Blog. All Rights Reserved.