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October 13, 2010
Leilani Munter Battles Japan Dolphin Massacre
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
Race car drivers are almost always involved in some kind of charity work, and it usually involves causes that are strategically uncontroversial, like disabled children or breast cancer. While it’s great that those worthy charities benefit from the motorsports involvement, it’s also kind of cool to see drivers who follow specific passions to support something a little more edgy. Leilani Munter, who drives in both the ARCA series and IRL, has never let up on her hardcore commitment to green living and animal protection. But for her, it’s not just a matter of writing a check: she recently traveled to Taiji, Japan, the scene of the gruesome annual dolphin slaughter made infamous by the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, to get right up in the hostile, shouting faces of the “fishermen” responsible for the barbarism. Good for her–it’s a great cause, and one that any one of us can support simply by not giving our consumer dollars to captive swim-with-dolphins programs or marine-mammal exhibitors like Sea World–the corporations whose expensive purchases of captured display dolphins are what’s making the massacre possible in the first place. Read Munter’s account of her experience at Taiji here, and check out SaveJapanDolphins and SeaShepherd to learn more about the dolphin slaughter. Via Ecorazzi.
Corvette Z06 Reaches 216 MPH on the Autobahn
Tampa Sports Car Examiner
In one of the most glorious and magnificent top speed films of the Corvette Z06 I have ever seen. We get to ride along with this Corvette owner as he pulls 216 miles per hour while driving downhill on the Autobahn. Who said that cars couldn’t fly? Check out more Corvette fun at Tampa Sports Car Examiner!
October 12, 2010
Photo of the Day
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
duPont Registry is running a Sunset Photography Contest on their Facebook page, and the winner is determined entirely by number of likes. So if you’ve got some gorgeous end-of-day pics on your ride page, now’s the time to put ‘em to work!
Turn9 Trailer!
By Karan Singh
StreetFire.net
TURN9 is a groundbreaking new series in the style of the HBO comedy ENTOURAGE, but set in the perilous world of motorsports and racing.
Did This Used To Be a Squareback?
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
Throw this one in the category of cars you don’t expect to run into at a NASCAR race–this bizarre vee-dub was randomly parked off to the side in the garage area at Fontana on Sunday, probably one of the pre-race parade vehicles. It had a dual-carbed V8 fitted into the not-very-functional pickup bed. Interesting choice for a ute conversion. More pics below the jump!
Planar’s Next-Gen Battery Could Mean Big Gains For Automakers
By Ted Berner
GTwildfire
A company called Planar Energy has developed a solid state electrolyte for lithium batteries which is inexpensive to produce and is intended to replace the lest stable liquid electrolytes currently in use. This technology also yields extended capacity–which translates into extended range for EV’s.
It is time for auto makers to wake up and smell the coffee. The point is not just to make the batteries bigger, as Toyota wants to do. And most consumers will not accept recharging measured in hours. The Electric Vehicle is not a fad, worthy of planned obsolescence or strategic retirement. It’s time to jump in with both feet–they’re designing advanced vehicles, so they might as well make sure the battery technology is advanced enough to make the best of them. A battery that packed more punch would go a long way to increase the marketability of cars like the Volt and the Leaf, whose paltry ranges barely give you enough for an afternoon’s worth of errands. Read more about the new battery technology here.
Cherry Bomb’s Disturbing the Peace 1968 Camaro 8-71 Blown LS Install!
By Brian Lohnes
BangShift.com
Cherry Bomb ran an online poll for enthusiasts to decide what the company’s next project would be and the Camaro won out over a Mustang. In typical Cherry Bomb style, the car is going to be loud, fast, and pretty freakin’ slick lookin’. This isn’t just an exhaust upgrade, these guys are doing the Camaro from soup to nuts. Read more and see all the pics at BangShift.com
The Chevy Volt: Don’t Believe the Hype
By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief
I finally got to drive the Volt this weekend. It’s a real car! Runs, drives, the works. Looks good, too. But does it live up to the hype?
As I mentioned yesterday, GM is in a bit of hot water over Volt. Until recently, GM has been saying that the gasoline motor was only there as a backup, that it was only used to charge the battery. Well now it turns out that the gasoline engine may indeed directly power the wheels at speeds over 70 mph. So can GM still call it an electric car? Did they lie to us? Can the Volt still save GM? Is it all just a big scam? Should we all be feeling very sad and disappointed right now?
Honestly, I think the only people who are going to be disappointed are the people who bought into the hype to begin with. Because despite everything that has been said or will be said about the Volt, it’s still a very nice car.
Continue reading after the jump!
BumbleBee Crashes on Set… For Real
By Fireball Tim
Movie Car Design Master
Shoulda transformed first…
