The warning disclaimer before the start of the video seems appropriate. Nobody in the right frame of mind should ever try duplicating this stunt, let alone even remotely think about it.
Leave it up to the pros, fellas.
MINI’s participation in the stunt is indicative enough that this won’t be your average performance. See, when you have the German automaker bringing in a heavily-modified MINI Countryman with GRAVIT-T team driver, Guerlain Chicherit, in the setting of the Tignes Ski Resort in the French Alps, you can do a whole lot of crazy things, including performing a 360-degree backflip that clearly goes way past the bounds of sanity.
To their credit, they managed to pull the stunt off and it looks pretty remarkable with the magic of video editing, but for the love of God, this is one stunt that no matter how good it looks, you better need to stay away from at all costs.
Watch the video; that’s all you need to do
The Aston Martin Vantage V8 S is currently offered with a seven-speed Sportshift II gearbox - not the best thing if you are a true pilot and want to feel like you are in the control of the car.
Things are going to change however, as now Aston Martin announced the V8 Vantage SP10 - a model inspired by the GT4 race car that races the VLN endurance championship at the Nürburgring. The car got its name from the SP10 class in the VLN series.
The best part of this new version is that it offers a standard manual transmission - as a first for the S model - while the Sportshift transmission is only available as an option. We are pretty sure this news will make lots of people very happy.
The new Aston Martin V8 Vantage SP10 will be offered in all European countries, except the U.K. The model is priced at €96,635 (around $130,000 at the current exchange rates).
Hit the jump to read more about the 2013 Aston Martin V8 Vantage SP10.
Full story
The SRT Viper is poised to battle with the recently unveiled Chevrolet Corvette C7 Stingray here in the U.S. for American-sports-car supremacy.
Over in Europe, however, that doesn’t appear to be the case after Chrysler announced that it has no plans to sell the Viper across the Atlantic anytime soon, citing its exclusive American concentration as its motive behind the decision.
The announcement is interesting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is Chrysler’s apparent reluctance in bringing the Viper to a continent chock-full with its own share of sports cars and supercars. Maybe they realized they would enter a saturated market, although the price of the Viper in Europe would be significantly cheaper than most of the supercars running around those roads.
Chrysler’s decision to keep the Viper in U.S. soil would be a coup for Chevrolet, who announced earlier this week that the Corvette C7 Stingray would hit UK dealerships in the near future. One less competitor is great news for Chevrolet, especially when you consider that the Viper is truly the only direct American competitor to the `Vette.
Make no mistake, the SRT Viper is every bit as fabulous and deadly as its Chevrolet counterpart. This move does raise some questions as to whether Chrysler believes the SRT Viper could fare well in Europe, or maybe just in the UK, something Chevrolet believes the Corvette C7 Stingray can do.
We may see Chrysler change its mind if the Corvette takes off in the European market.
The current-generation Honda Civic’s design has been much maligned by everybody, including Honda itself. The reception’s been so bad that even Honda tried to hustle through extensive interior and exterior design upgrades for the 2013 model.
Fortunately, the Japanese automaker’s in-house aftermarket arm, Mugen, has come to offer some assistance of its own in the form of a new styling package for the Euro-spec Civic.
The package is purely aesthetics, which actually is a good thing considering the amount of help the Civic needs to make it palatably desirable. Mugen’s new front spoiler and a revised grille are big bonuses to add a splash of aggression to the car’s front profile. Aerodynamic side skirts are also offered, as is a new rear diffuser, a carbon-fiber rearview mirror cover, a tailgate-mounted wing, Mugen badging, anodized aluminum oil caps in Champagne Gold, Silver Grey, Red, Blue or Black, and a choice of three different sets of wheels that can be had in a number of different finishes.
If only Honda had Mugen design the Civic, then it probably wouldn’t be in the pickle it is in now.
We understand the itch some people might get when wanting to drift their cars, but there’s still that line between fun and dumb that you shouldn’t cross, especially when you begin to put other people’s car - and lives - at risk.
This video, courtesy of the folks from Need for Drive, illustrates that example perfectly. We get it: drifting is fun and it provides a thrill that not a lot of things can replicate.
However, it must also be done in a closed environment that doesn’t pose a threat to anybody who isn’t sitting behind the wheel of the car. Last time we checked, a busy city street isn’t the kind of place you should be doing something like this.
We’ve seen, heard, and read so many stories about road accidents brought about by sheer recklessness. Those things can be avoided and should be avoided at all costs.
The video is "fun" to watch, but you have to wonder how fun it would’ve been if these guys took out a car or, much worse, a person. There’s no fun in that.
Just a reminder to everyone to drift safely!
Infiniti Europe has launched a new special edition based on the FX luxury SUV. Called Back and White Edition, the new model is based on the FX S Premium version and will be limited to only 500 units. The model will be priced at €64,570 (about $85,000 at the current exchange rates).
This special-edition FX will be offered in Obsidian Black and Moonlight White and will be distinguished by exclusive 21-inch Turbine-style silver alloy wheels, and aluminum and chrome side air vents. On the inside, Infiniti is offering sports seats wrapped in a combination of black lacquer and soft aniline leather with light-grey stitching. The same stitching is used on the gearshift knob, in the door trims and around the steering wheel.
The model will also be offered with an impressive list of standard features, including: Around View Monitor with corner parking sensors, moving object detection and parking guidance, a touch screen display HDD satellite navigation system, Rear Active Steer and Intelligent Cruise Control.
Under the hood is a 3.0-liter V-6 engine with direct injection. This engine cranks out 550 Nm (405 pound-feet) of torque and 238 horsepower, and it hooks up to Infiniti’s Intelligent All-Wheel Drive.
Either the Lexus LF-A is that awesome of a supercar that’s worthy of celebration or the folks over at Lexus of Poland are relieved to have finally sold one.
We’d like to believe it’s the former after the aforementioned Polish Lexus dealership held a celebration after officially selling the 447th production LF-A, the first Lexus supercar to be sold in Poland.
The LF-A is a quite a doozy, as it was limited to only 500 units and it’s even rarer in a place like Poland where there aren’t as many of these exotics around. We’ll give credit to Lexus of Poland for understanding the significance of the occasion and to that new owner of the LF-A, you have one of the most awesome supercars in the world.
Congratulations on the purchase and please don’t wreck your new baby. It feels a little better knowing that you’re going to take real good care of this red/burgundy LF-A. It deserves as much.
Fiat has launched an all-new sports package in the European for the tiny 500 hatchback. The new 500S fills the gap between the standard 500 and the Abarth version, and will be distinguished by new alloy wheels, front and rear bumpers, side skirts, dark chrome trim, tinted glass and a rear spoiler.
For the interior, Fiat added sportier bucket seats, shift knob and steering wheel — all of them featuring cool red stitching. Of course, lots of 500S logos will remind customers this is indeed an updated Fiat 500.
The new version can be combined with all 500 versions, except the Abarth. This means customers will have the possibility to choose between five different engines: 1.2-liter with 69 horsepower, 0.9-liter TwinAir Turbo with 85 horsepower, 1.4-liter with 100 horsepower, 1.2-liter EasyPower with 69 horsepower and 1.3-liter Multijet 16v with 95 horsepower.
On the European market, the new Fiat 500S is priced from €13.750 to €16,050 ($18.200 to $21,229 at the current exchange rates.
With all due respect to all the other automakers who have released their own holiday videos, Ford of Europe’s holiday video may have just trumped them all.
Taking a page from the book, Parody 101, Ford of Europe decided to give us the gift that is Snowkhana 1, featuring no less than master drifter and shots stuffer, Mental Block. The stop-motion video was created with a toy version of Ken Block’s Ford Fiesta, one that apparently produces 2 bhp, as in "bored hand power".
The video itself is the epitome of hilarity, complete with cameo appearances from Santa Claus, a Stromtrooper, Luke Skywalker, and the Abominable Snowman. The effects, the sounds, and the drifts are all there, which makes us wonder if we’d been fans of the wrong "drift-khana" series.
Here’s a message to Block and his Gymkhana: this is the peg you should have for your Gymkhana series moving forward.
Happy holidays from Ford Europe!
Some people tend to take little things like moving their fingers or holding hands with somebody else for granted, but what happens when those “little things” are taken away? What happens when you can no longer hold something with your hands because you no longer have them?
Some people may head into depression, but some people, like Bartek Ostalowski, continue living their lives like nothing ever happened.
Back in 2006, Ostalowski lost his arms in an accident, but didn’t stop him from continuing his dream to become a professional racecar driver. Not only did he become one, but he also became pretty good at it, having competed in the Polish Championship Rally Raceway Cross and the Polish Cup, not to mention, his apparent skill as a drifter.
In this video, you’ll see how Ostalowski manages to drift his Nissan Skyline GT-T R34 using his two feet and his shoulder. For people who can’t even drift with all their limbs intact, what Ostalowski is doing is amazing, dumbfounding, and downright inspirational.
Way to go, Bartek!
