By Mike Musto

RideLust.com

The title of this blog should pretty much sum up Dodge’s Caliber SRT-4. I’ve been driving this little bugger for 4 days now and although it’s not a bad car, it’s not overly wonderful either. The SRT-4 is Dodge’s answer to cars like the Honda Civic Si, Mitsubishi Lancer, and Subaru WRX. A domestic import of sorts, the SRT-4 is the kind of car you may buy when you’re in your early 20′s, as this is the image that the car projects. Is the car quick? Yes, it actually is–with 285hp under the lid, 0-60 in about 6.3 seconds, and a top speed of 155 mph, the little Dodge is able to hold its own with the imports.

Continue reading "It's Quick, Expensive, and Made of Plastic" »

By Ryan Porter

IN-N-OUT Editor

The weather was rather mixed this weekend, but Mother Nature decided to give us car lovers a dose of pleasure on Sunday. Rob had an extra skip in his step after getting the Satellite out this weekend. Jen had three of her four cars out in her driveway for some tinkering, and I ran into her twice on two separate days at Home Depot while picking up random tools and supplies. As for me, I got down to a fierce Audi A5 wash early Sunday morning before hitting the NWmoting.com meet.  Cleaned up A5 photo after the jump!

What did YOU do this weekend?

Continue reading "What Did You Do This Weekend?" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

On Sunday the White House ousted Wagoner and told Chrysler they have 30 days to jump in bed with Fiat. Has the White House gone too far?

[polldaddy poll="1502033"]

By Katherine Helmetag

Atomicalex

Over on GM-Volt.com, readers got a personal response from Rob Peterson, spokesdude for the EV group. The initial build is due to start on June 1st. The cars from this initial production run will be used for safety and other testing, and general working-the-bugs-out of the production system. The goal remains to drive the official first consumer-ready car off the line on July 4th. For those who wonder about the concept cars’ suitability for the road, no, none of the concept bodies shown have been runners. It’s a poorly-held secret, but nearly every mobile concept car shown at an auto show is a golf cart underneath. They wouldn’t be concepts if they were in production, would they?

By Katherine Helmetag

Atomicalex

Did we call it or what? I’m still shocked and, frankly, appalled that our administration went this far, but I applaud Rick W. for stepping up and doing the team thing by stepping down. Fritz Henderson, the not-so-new guy who is taking over, has great street cred among the auto crowd and is sufficiently nuts-and-bolts to handle the job. He also has a reputation for bluntness, so I expect at least a few quotable quotes in the near future.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

After seeing Katherine’s blog post with the Mazda3s, Highspeedhijinks came up with this caption in the comments on my 2005 vs. 2010 Mustang post. Nice work, David!

By Katherine Helmetag

Atomicalex

OMG, it’s really happening! I’ve had confirmation of the planned GTD for months now, but it was coming from inside of VW so I took it with a grain of salt–a lot of wishful thinking comes out their operation. However, production GTDs have been spotted, and now the car is scheduled to show in Leipzig this week. I can’t wait–I’ve been quietly drooling over the prospect of getting this car in my driveway for nearly a year.

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Welcome to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the notion of what a muscle car is, and to see if there’s room in the muscle car universe for a German sedan. This is the second Mercedes Benz über-sedan that I have profiled in this series, and I think it was the better of the two. So, let’s take a look at what happens when you take a standard, everyday German Sedan, stuff a huge engine under the hood from what is essentially a large limousine, and bring it to a performance-hungry market. Introducing the Mercedes Benz 300SEL 6.3.

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot: The Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3" »

By David Wallens

Grassroots Motorsports

Everyone watch the 12 Hours of Sebring on TV? Despite the smaller than usual field, what a finish. While the big show takes place on Saturday, Friday’s card always features some excellent action: two SCCA Speed World Challenge races plus Star Mazda, Skip Barber and Formula Atlantic. I usually go down to Sebring for Friday but then watch the 12-hour race on TV back home. Most of the support races will eventually be broadcast, so keep an eye on your local listings.

By Craig McAlpine

imotormag

Owners of earlier-generation 4.3L V8 Vantage complained that it didn’t have enough grunt, so Aston made it a 4.7 and added a few tweaks. So I went up to Aston Martin to take one for a few days–and now, parked outside a stunning building in a sea of Aston development cars, is my Peugeot 306. The Vantage sounds awesome with a butterfly valve in the exhaust that engages at 4000 rpm. I’ll keep you posted on how I get on with the new Vantage, and if I actually give it back…