Live Post: A ride along at an Autocross event

The smell of rubber from tires and exhaust fumes is pungent. The parking lot looks like a giant sea of bright orange cones but if looked at carefully, you can vaguely make out the autocross course that the cars are driving through. My brother pulls up to our pit spot in his '76 911 and asks me if I want a ride along through the course. Being the adrenaline junky and racing enthusiast that I am, instead of responding I grab my helmet and jump in the car. I strap my harness and wait anxiously at the start of the course. It's been nearly three months since my last ride along at Buttonwillow raceway. As my brother takes off on his cue to go, I realized that this ride along was long overdue. I got that butterfly feeling in the pit of my stomach and let out a faint giggle. The car is powerful enough to put me back in my seat and before I know it, I am being tossed left and right in my seat as we go through the turns, thank goodness for this five point harness! It isn't long before we hit a straight again and rather than sliding left or right, I am put back in my seat again. However before I even have time to blink we hit the next set of turns and I am sliding again. The sliding doesn't scare me but it does begin to bug me so I make a stupid attempt at tightening the harness straps to stay in place. Attempt 1 failed. My hand slips off as we go through the chicane and I continue to bounce around. Attempt 2 is successful, but the engine is no longer roaring, I look up and we're at the end of this  90 second course. I was so distracted by my harness that I didn't even get to soak up the last 30 seconds of the course. Luckily, we get back in line behind the other cars to go again. Round 2, and this time it has my full attention!

Good Car Bad Car: Chevrolet

This week's Good Car Bad Car piece is on Chevrolet

Good Car- C6 Corvett

Whenever a car enthusiast thinks of an America sports car they think of the Chevy Corvette. For over half a century the Corvette has been the staple of American sports car racing.  The C6 Vette was the obvious choice out of the entirety of Chevy’s model line up considering how impressive the car is in every aspect. Off the showroom floor, this car is right at home at the race track and also comes in enough variations to keep any car enthusiast happy. The base model is tame enough to drive in gridlock traffic while the ZR1 is the ultimate track weapon.  Despite the performance gap between the base model and the ZR1 the base model is still a monster on the track. The base C6 has incredibly impressive performance numbers. A 430 horsepower 6.2 liter V8, double wishbone suspension, and lightweight body panels make the base model put most manufacturers sports cars to shame.   The icing on the cake is the cars overall affordability.  While the interior may have more plastic than an Ikea, and most German sports car owners will remind you of this fact, it won’t matter when you pass them down the straight, around the outside of a corner, or dive bomb them in the braking zone.   

Bad Car- Aveo

While the C6 Corvette may be one of the best cars GM has ever built, the only thing the Aveo has in common with the Corvette is the offensive interior. But the pain doesn’t stop there. After you’ve gotten over how terrible it is inside the cabin, you’ll be greeted with the fact that your power to weight ratio is worse than that of a U haul truck. Most may argue that it was designed for dealing with traffic and commutes, but the overall lack of quality is inexcusable. While the smart car and base mini coopers may offer some quirks to perspective owners, all the Aveo seems to offer is embarrassment, plastic, and insurance that there will never be a second date. The $11,000 price tag may seem enticing to those buying car on a budget, but when one looks at what kind of newer used cars are available for $11,000 it’s obvious the penalty of buying a car that’s a few years older is easily overlooked.  When taking a closer look at the Aveo it becomes obvious why this Korean built “American” car is the cheapest car sold in America. 

Only 21 days...

And 58 minutes until the first practice of the 2011 Formula 1 season! With Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, and Lewis Hamilton battling it out for the championship during the last race of the 2010 season in Abu Dhabi, the final race let alone the entire season was anything but dull. Luckily, my main man Sebastian Vettel came out on top and became the youngest Formula 1 champion in history. With that said, I’m sure you can understand why I am beyond ecstatic to see what this season has in store for my personal favorites Vettel (of course), Fernando Alonso, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nico Rosberg. For now, enjoy them trying to imitate the sounds of their cars and doing a terrible job! 

Good Car Bad Car

This weeks Good Car Bad Car segment is about Nissan 

Good car: 370Z

Nissan is an automotive manufacturer where picking a single good car to write about is the most difficult part. For decades Nissan has built excellent cars from the Hakosuka GTR to the 370z.  Their sports cars have excelled in not only the motorsports world but the tuner scene as well.  For the good car I went with the Nismo 370Z.  I was inspired to use the 370Z after seeing it in action this past weekend at the track.  Nissan hit the nail on the head with this one.   The 370Z is an all around winner that does everything well. It has a great amount of power, a chassis and suspension that does anything you ask, and whether you’re going out for a night on the town or a weekend at the track, it will get you there comfortably and with the Nissan reliability everyone has come to love.  

Bad car: The Nissan Cube

What the hell was Nissan thinking with this one?! Talk about going a step in the wrong direction.  The Cube single handedly makes it difficult to compliment Nissan on making countless cult status cars. It’s the exact opposite of what any car enthusiast would contemplate driving.  While the Cube may fly with adolescent girls, to hardcore automotive enthusiasts the car is complete garbage.  It couldn’t possibly get uglier, down the quarter mile it’d lose to a school bus, and I won’t even comment on it’s corner carving prowess (or lack there of) considering I’d be too scared to take it around a corner quickly because it would probably flip at the apex.  The only purpose this car would serve is as a portable fish tank.  I’m disgusted thinking about it. 

The First Post...

Hello! My name is Touda and I made this blog for an opinion writing class of mine. This blog is about many different aspects of my favorite hobby, cars.  Each week I’ll have a segment called good car bad car in which I pick a certain manufacturer and two specific models and do a biased and opinionated comparison. I will also have lots of posts about the upcoming Formula1 season along with new car releases with a review, and a few other posts about random things within the car community here and there. Please keep in mind this has to be an opinionated blog, and it will be a VERY opinionated blog, but offending people isn’t my goal with this. I hope you enjoy it!