Gymkhana Quattro

Hello happy dippers! It's that time again for seeing our favorite super hero tear it up in a new off-the-walls-bananas driving video. Mr. Ken Block is back in his Ford Fiesta doing his best Homer Simpson impression "mmm donuts". This time he is on the back lots of Universal Studios, with a little bit of Hollywood special effects, delivering another entertaining demo of his skill and creativity. Enjoy!

2011 BMW 535i and 528i

The BMW 5-series, in my mind, have always been the quintessential sports sedan. I mean, sure, the 3er probably offers more driving performance since it is a smaller package, but the 5 has always managed to combine the driving dynamics expected from something with a BMW badge along with real usable space to be legitimately called a family sedan. Needless to say, many other car manufacturers have followed the recipe and produced, on paper at least, similar cars, such as the Audi A6, the Lexus GS series, the Mercedes E-class (ok this one has been around for a while), Jag XF, to name a few.

Honestly, while all those cars were and are wonderful machines, in the past, each have fallen just a bit short in trying to out-do the 5er. The previous generation 5 series, while a bit polarizing in terms of exterior styling, was still the benchmark. Actually, as far as driving dynamics go, even a 20 year old 5 series still gives a very satisfying drive.

But the competition has steadily been improving and now there is, inevitably, a brand-new 5. Is it any good?

I’ve heard some say that the new 5 is too bland, too much like a 3 series. But yet some say it’s the best looking BMW in quite some time. So I guess the polarizing views still stick. It definitely is less edgy than the last version.

More concerning for me though, is that some say the 5 has lost its versatile and engaging driving feel. Of course, I hesitate to believe everything I hear, so now that I have a chance to live with one for a few days, I can discover first hand if the new 5 has the charm of the lineage.

Personally, I like the looks. The interior is also very nice, with just that bit extra space to be really comfortable. The ride is marvelous actually, and the cabin is incredibly quiet. Both have the 8-speed (!) automatic. Talk about too many! But actually, it works rather nice, allowing the car to waft along effortlessly. The headlights are spectacularly bright, and the fit and finish is spot on. Even the materials are very nice. The electronic interface is much improved and easier to learn.

I got to try out both the 535 and the 528, the former w/ the “Twin-Power” turbo (as BMW like to call it). And yes, the 535 is quite the beast with something like 300hp and 300+lbs of torque. In all honesty, the 528 is probably all you’ll ever need though. But both cars averaged a good 26+mpg in mixed driving, with highway mileage at more than 30mpg easily. The impressive mileage probably is down to the 8-speed auto and regenerative braking, where the car uses the slowing down process to charge the battery, not unlike a hybrid. Both cars will cruise at very high speed without drama.

There’s the problem, however. Honestly, despite the fact that I am an avid BMW fan, the driving dynamics lets me down. Oh, for sure it’s not a bad drive. But the steering feels a bit too artificial; the body control isn’t what I’m used to coming from a history of 5 series. In fact, in the 528, maybe because of the particular car’s lack of a sport suspension, it was so vague that I almost crashed. As much as it pains me to say, I think BMW has actually taken a step backwards in terms of driving feel with this new 5. It has become much more isolated and dull… dare I say this, it has started to feel like I’m driving a Lexus… (no offense to Lexus owners).

I’m writing this in a café, and looking out the window, I have already seen many new Fives since I started. Undoubtedly, the new quiet and upscale cabin will appeal to more of the public in the market for a luxury sedan, and undoubtedly, this direction will bring BMW more profit. But I can’t help but feel that if I bought this car, I will feel a faint hint of disappointment each time I take it out for a drive, knowing that, though comfortable, it is now more of a machine to waft you from place to place, rather than a machine where you feel the drive is part of the destination.

12/20

2011 Camaro V-6

Ok, let’s cut straight to the chase. The new style Camaro is a handsome car for most people. There is a sense of presence, of muscular power, when looking at it. The interior is also, at first glance, very stylish, with its wrap around dash and starship like instruments. A bit of a retro touch to the face of the dials also adds to the car’s overall style presentation.

The 314 hp V-6 engine certainly adds to the idea of masculinity. This car, then, is not a shy car, especially in some of the colors available, such as “Inferno Orange” or in this case, “Victory Red.”

Sadly, things start to come undone once you step inside. The materials are much better than the previous Chevys that’s for sure. But some of the plastics still feel as if it was formed from recycled Barbie and Ken dolls, especially the faux aluminum pieces. The driving position is adequate but the visibility is rather terrible. Makes you wonder if this is what it was like fighting in full armor back in the middle ages. If there’s a car that needs a blind spot detection system, this would be it. On the other hand, the stereo is alright. The low end was a bit too booming and imprecise, but nothing too terrible. User interface could be improved however, as it was confusing trying to figure out how to access various information functions on the display.

But come on now. It’s supposed to be a muscle car right? It is about straight line performance and power! Unfortunately, the snowballing continues when you start driving. Granted this was the V-6 version, but at 314 hp, I expected quite a little more pick up and go. The pick up and go seemed to have picked up and left. The car felt heavy down low, and sluggish when the speeds get higher (takes a while anyways). Maybe it was the automatic transmission of this particular car, but that shouldn’t be the case in a muscle car. If you’re looking for speed and power, forget the v-6.

I didn’t expect much as far as handling, but even then, it failed. The steering was vague and detached, giving the driver no sense of confidence. The brakes were numb as well. There was a lot of pitch and dive during any sort of transition, whether it be turning or braking. Yet even with such a soft suspension offering no body control, the Camaro somehow manages to amplify any and all road imperfections straight into your spine. This has to be some sort of engineering marvel. It manages to be soft yet punishing at the same time. But both at the wrong times.

The brighter note is that I managed to get around 26mpg. But if you’re looking to save gas, a muscle car pretender is probably not high on your list of choices anyways.

Depressingly, the Camaro fails to live up to its looks. I rather had high hopes for it, as it does look the part. They say that, for cars at least, you can tell if it’ll be good when you look at it (for example, you look at the Chrysler Sebring, or the late Pontiac Aztec, you knew they were rubbish). But in this case, the older adage of “beauty is only skin deep” definitely reigns supreme.

On second thought, it doesn’t even look that great. At least without the SS package, the tires are too fat, the front end looks cheap and the sides are too thick… But I guess you can’t expect too much since it is actually cheap, with a base price of $24k…

2011 Chevy Camaro 1LT

Pros:

- Standout looks

- Cheap price

- 314hp V6

Cons:

- Looks over function

- Detached…everything

- 314hp V6

Score: 10/20

Reasons why karting is like sex

I just came back from an afternoon of go-karting and had a great time. After going over stories of passes, crashes, strategy and all the fun stuff, I got to thinking: Racing and sex have a lot in common...

- It's pretty fun by yourself, but it's even more fun with other people involved. In fact, the more people there are, the more interesting things become.

- Although having too many people, will just cause a mangling of body parts, confusion and chaos.

- Going at it without the proper safety precautions could end up in a world of trouble.

- The more things get physical, aggressive, and borderline violent, the more fun it is.

- Make enough wrong moves and your can wind up in awkward and embarrassing positions.

- You might pick up some stuff by studying videos, but you'll get the most benefit by just going out and doing it.

- You'd like to see everyone finish, but you always try to finish first. And if you do, who cares about the other results.

- If you don't come out of a session drenched in sweat, sore, exhausted, possibly limping, and satisfied, you probably weren't doing it right.

- Even after a long day of going at it, you still have a urge to go back... once you recover from the injuries.

VW Beetle RS

VW is coming out w/ a new Beetle and it looks like more than just VDub fans are excited about the bug. VWVortex has tuned the new 2012 bug and given it the look of its more athletic cousin, a Porsche GT3 RS. If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, the 911 must be feeling a pretty good about itself (probably not, actually). While this is not the real RS that VW will release, the VWVortex version's got a little more power, performance, the sticker letters, and most importantly, the SHOES!

Rolling on orange dubs! 245/35/20s to be exact.

Pretty cool concept. Ferdinand Porsche was the original designer of the 911 as well as the original beetle, so its kinda nice that a tuner group would tie the two together. The old beetle was also referred to as the "Poor man's Porsche", probably more for the rear-engine RWD layout as opposed to both looking like bugs (one squashed and one inflated). Well still, if you could stretch these VW pictures, cover an eye, and squint really hard, you might really think its a GT3 RS.

I bet with some computer editing, I can make that first picture look just like one. With a little help from photoshop, I can get rid of the background, I'll just stretch out this image, apply some blur, do a little thingy majiggery, sharpen...and voila! There you go, Dip stickers! Check it out:



What do you think?! I even added some orange scaffolding and mirrors to match. You're welcome.

The Rolls-Royce of Mini

Check out this Mini and spot the reason why it costs about $67,000. If you couldn't spot it, don't worry, I couldn't either. The answer is in the interior. It turns out that the Mini wanted an interior as upscale as a Rolls Royce. This is a limited production Mini Copper S inspired by Goodwood. The exterior looks like a regular Mini except for a few styling cues and subtle badges on the side, but the interior is where the car really went upscale. Many a tree and cow gave their lives for this lil coupe. Honestly, the interior looks very posh for a Mini, but I still don't get why anyone would spend the money for one.

Maybe if you are a rich executive in the market for a zippy little car and still want the elegant furnishings of your Rolls, then I guess this is a good car for you. But for the price of one Mini S Inspired by Goodwood, you could've bought half the cast of Italian Job: the Minis, probably not the actors (though it'd be pretty sweet if one could buy Charlize Theron). This car doesn't make much sense to me. Why? A tiny little car like that will have a harsh ride and be very loud and uncomfortable. If you spend the money to make it luxurious, you'd have to soften the suspension, add lots of dampening and other things, which makes it, heavier, slower and more numb. Then why get a Mini? Minis are supposed to be fun, nimble, quick, and sporty.

I guess it just depends on the type of consumer that Mini is targeting this exclusive car for. The kind of people who would buy this car would obviously park it next to their leather chair and tiger hide. My garage looks like that too, just kidding. No, it doesn't. I have a fireplace and lion head in mine.

Surprising Roads with a Surprising Car

Dusk. The chill of a forest mist and the smell of the trees. Ahead, the view of a spectacular stretch of tarmac winding through the woods, with barely a car in sight. This is what awaited us when we found one of the many brilliant driving roads in the Northern California region. This particular piece is called Skyline Drive. The road is not wide, but the corners are very flowing and the close proximity of trees the size of skyscrapers amplify the sense of speed.

In response to the fading light, we decided to head down the mountain via a shorter route, and took a small road off of the main drive. Sensory overload time! Kings Mountain Road: what a piece of asphalt. There are no guard-rails, apart from the ones formed by those huge coniferous trees of course. The road has no center divide either. Not many markings. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Littered with short straights and numerous switch backs, this road definitely ranks at the top of our list as one of the best roads we’ve ever encountered. It offers a test of grip, acceleration, and braking, with no rest in between. Have a car that doesn’t turn in on demand, or one with a lack of body control, you might be in for a heart attack.

In our possession, for those few hours, was a car with plenty amount of grip to tackle the hairpins thrown at it by Kings Mountain, enough body control to prevent any unintended oral regurgitation, and enough speed and stopping power to plant a smile on the driver’s face the entire way down.

Oddly enough, and perhaps a testament to how far automotive development has gone these days, it was not a sports car or even a sports sedan, but a big slab of SUV. It is in fact, a 2011 Acura MDX.

The initial impressions when we picked up the car for our short stint were the build quality and the overall sense of luxuriousness offered by the cabin. The exterior design could take some getting used to, but we found it to be rather pleasing and unique from the rest of the unassuming SUVs on the market. With big bold 19” wheels and sharp lines, the shape is instantly recognizable.

Getting in, we found the seats to be very comfortable, if a little down on side support. The passenger space was more than adequate, though the third row seats would probably still be most suited for short trips. On the road, the ride was very sedan-like, with minimal body sway.

With its 300 horsepower V-6 and 6 speed automatic, the car had ample power to get up to speed. The only issue we noted was that the engine seems to be slightly down on off the line torque, as compared with other trucks. The brakes also offered plenty of stopping power and we did not register any fade, even when tackling the downhill stretch of Kings Mountain. That said, there could be a bit more pedal feel. The steering too, although by no means near Lexus-level of numbness, could benefit with a bit more communication. Though we were not able to get a good measure on fuel economy, we estimate that we managed to get around 18-20mpg, which isn’t too bad considering the blast through the mountains.

The clear notable was the quite outstanding body control experienced when we took it through the twisties. The super-handling all-wheel-drive, or SH-AWD as Acura calls it, can be felt dealing the power to which ever wheel has the most grip. True that we did not drive it at 10/10th, for that would be stupid on a public road, there was not too much in the way of understeer or oversteer. Just good balance and good grip out of the corners.

This particular car came loaded with features, including DVD player, navigation system, heated and cooled seats, to name a few. The drawback of this technology is the cluttered feel of the dash, and the lay out of the controls, though attempting to mimic the often hated i-Drive system of BMW, it is slightly difficult to use and require too much attention diverted away from the drive. And perhaps not relevant to most, the navigation map was not accurate enough to provide a gauge for sharpness of the next turn; according to it, we must’ve fallen into the ravine and driving through the trees a half a dozen times.

The blind spot detection system, however, was definitely a very useful feature. It essentially puts on a little indicating light in the side mirrors if it senses there is a car in the blind spot area. Very useful. Same can be said with the radar guided cruise control. A gimmick maybe, but in less than constant highway traffic, quite saving on the old knees. But be warned. It does NOT seem to be able to come to a complete stop. Found out after a bit of girly squeal from the driver when we tried.

At the end of the day, the Woman was impressed as well. She noted the large passenger space, the comfortable heated seats, lots of cubby holes, and the overall quality of the dash and upholstery. She also particularly liked the blind spot detection system for a large car such as this, but did not like the difficulty of the user interface for the dash controls.

Final thoughts? Starting at just over $42K for the base model, up to a price as tested of $54K, it isn’t a cheap truck. However, those figures still under cut the nearest competition, the BMW X5, by a considerable margin. With the fit and finish as good as in the MDX, the fact that it’s a Honda and likely to last longer than the trees we did not hit, and since the driving feel is not far behind that of the BMW, if we were in the market for such a vehicle, the BMW, the former uncontested champ as the ultimate driving machine, has a big fight on its hands.


2011 Acura MDX with Advance and Entertainment Package

Pros:
-SH-Awd
-Ride quality and handling
-Fit & finish
-Value

Cons:
-Slightly sluggish down low
-Over-cluttered console
-Slightly light pedal feel and steering feedback
-Navigation was not accurate going through the woods

Verdict: 16/20