By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

The runaway diesel engine is an interesting thing. The condition can be brought on by a number of factors. In this case it was apparently caused by overfilling the engine with oil. With no throttle to vary engine speed and a motor literally consuming its own oil, death is imminent. This poor van’s engine most likely got a mouthful of engine oil that was forced out of a breather vent into the intake tract.

With that oil acting like a big infusion of fuel for the engine, the revs pickup, and when that happens the engine begins to suck more oil out of the vent and things quickly spiral out of control. The only way to stop it is to block the air intake of the engine and choke it off. In many cases, like this one, there’s no stopping it and the motor runs until it breaks the connecting rods or the crank or simply runs out of lube to burn and locks up tight.

This Toyota van releases enough crap into the air to offset 100 Priuses for a year!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Thanks to John for sending this in! You know the drill: Come up with a caption for the picture below by noon PST next Thursday. If you submit the funniest one, we’ll send you some CarDomain swag. Three entries per member max. Good luck!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Our second Castrol Unlock Your Performance winner’s video is now live: it’s VegaVairBob’s incredible all-original Vega GT. Take a cruise with Bob and Matt Farrah below, and don’t forget to check out the “Contest Entries” tab at the Castrol fan page to vote up your favorite rides for our next video!

Unlock Your Performance Winner #2: Robert’s Chevrolet Vega “73GT”

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Brian Fox always has something cool at SEMA, and this year is no exception. Check out this wicked new luxury hybrid. He’s documented the build on his Lexus LS ride page and of course we’ll have lots more pics in our 2010 SEMA coverage!

Continue reading "Fox Marketing 2011 Lexus LS600hL Headed to SEMA" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Here’s another great shot from Deep South Mopars, who always seem to have brilliant photogs on hand for their meets. Gotta love those perfect fall colors! Via Dodge’s Facebook Page.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

This week’s win goes to crkni for “That’s enough rubbers to last all weekend!” Tune in tomorrow for another slideways caption contest!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Up to now the Challenger has been lagging a bit in the pony cars wars. For the V8 cars it’s been hurting in the price category–realistically Challengers end up being a lot more expensive than “equivalent” Mustangs or Camaros, and dealers don’t seem to budge on price. And compared to the other V6 cars it’s been straight up underpowered, especially when you factor in the Mopar’s added heft. Well today Chrysler announced that the 2011 Challenger will get the new 305 HP Pentastar V6. Pricing is in line with the 305 hp V6 Mustang and 312 hp V6 Camaro at $23,245. Yeah, it’s still heavier (366 pounds heavier than the Mustang and 78 pounds heavier than the Camaro), but I think it’s more practical (bigger back seat and trunk, better outward visibility than the Chevy) and better looking than the other two. No gas mileage figures yet but I imagine it will be close to the Camaro’s numbers (17/28). Sounds like great daily driver material to me.

No images of the 2011 SE yet. That’s Mike’s 09 SE below. Read the full press release after the jump!

Continue reading "2011 Challenger Gets the New 305 HP Pentastar V6" »

By Steve Little

SouthernGuy8503

Looks like yet another Toyota recall on the heels of the 10 million vehicles Toyota has already pulled from the field in the last year. This time, there appears to be a problem with the braking system–a master cylinder seal that doesn’t seal–as well as problems with the electric fuel pumps in some foreign-market vehicles. A total of 740,000 cars in the US, 599,000 in Japan, and a handful of others throughout Europe will be subject to the recall, which includes the 2005-06 Avalon, the 2004-06 Highlander, and a variety of Lexus models. More details here.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Forbes has released a list of cars most likely to get a ticketed, and while many of the candidates aren’t surprising at all (Hummer H2, VW GTI, Grand Prix, AMG Mercedes) the red-Corvette stereotype does not seem to hold true at all. Still, what’s with all the Toyota products that made the list? In any case, it’s no big surprise that what car you drive has an effect on how you’re treated by the cops, and how much of a dick you are in any particular vehicle probably factors in, too. I tend to get harassed by cops the most in my AMC Eagle, I think because it’s loud and kind of jacked-looking. Due to its stance and the way it lunges around, you can’t help but look like you’re driving it aggressively even when you’re not, and it’s got the dirtball-appeal that makes cops double-check for anything that might be amiss.

How about you? Do you tend to get more grief from the cops in any one vehicle more than the others? See the complete Forbes list here.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Congrats Mike! Having driven this thing I can say it’s every bit as awesome as it looks. Full article at Hemmings. And of course you can read all about the build right here on CarDomain!