By John Coyle

Editor

Even if you're strapped in and there's nothing around, jumping a vehicle is still risky business. So you have to wonder what this idiot was thinking when he climbed into the bed of this truck. What exactly did he expect to happen? He's damn lucky he just ended up with a face full of sand.

By John Coyle

Editor

Everyone knows a tornado can fling vehicles cars around like a toddler tossing Matchbox Cars, but actually seeing it happen is still pretty wild. No one was hurt, but something tells me the cars won't be quite the same.

By David

aka Highspeedhijinks

No, I'm not talking about the time you conned your buddy into seeing how many mini donuts he could stuff into his mouth, I'm talking about the smartuki. What's that? It's only the coolest Japanese and German collaboration ever! The smartuki is a smart car packing the punch of a 160hp GSX-R 1000cc motorcycle engine. So the engine could fit, the designers put it in the passenger seat, and of course, the little smart is still rear wheel drive. It's a good thing, too, because a set-up like this, the pocket rocket makes more donuts per minute than your local Krispy Kreme. Just look at this video and tell me you don't want one right now. When will someone release a conversion kit for US-spec models? Even if you had to give up a reverse gear, it might be worth it. via Jalopnik

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Check out all these tough One Lap cars launching off the starting line at the BMW Performance Center for their autocross session: the Lotus 7 replica, the Ford GT, the Ultima GTR, the Porsche 996, and the Challenger. I like the sound of the Ford GT, but if you've got speakers I'm sure you can pick out your own favorite.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Some guy in California popped the hood of his F-150 to find a Pit Bull staring back at him. The pooch was stuck there for several hours, and before it finally wriggled its way out, managed to chew up the ignition system pretty good.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

As promised, here's the video that'll give you an idea of what a totally sodden Texas World Speedway looks like from behind the wheel of the Boxer4Racing STi.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Check it out if you wanna know what it's like to ride along in a track-tuned One Lap car, currently through disgusting Chicago traffic. To keep it family-friendly, we've been trying so hard not to use any real bad swears, especially since discovering a big old crack in the windshield.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Get an eyeful of one of the two incredible mid-engined, LS7-powered Mongoose GTP's designed by Dean Hoskins as it rumbles out of the Tire Rack garage after stickering.

By John Coyle

Editor

First, there's no question burnouts are awesome. And this Saleen Fox body is clearly a bad-ass machine. But laying rubber in your own driveway? I thought this was something you did to people you hate, like a more permanent version of turning donuts on their lawn. Isn't this kind of like s***ting where you eat? That's what I think anyway. What's your opinion? Or is this a boneheaded idea?

By John Coyle

Editor

The National Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's crash test of smart's fortwo has leaked, and the results are pretty impressive. But maybe I shouldn't be so surprised. After all, Rob posted about a collision between a Nissan truck and a fortwo a couple of weeks back, and the micro-machine more than held its own. What do you think? Would you be worried about driving a smart?

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

The weather in Seattle has been terrible for the last few months. Seems like every time I've had a moment to take the Mopar out it's been raining. But yesterday I finally had an opportunity to take it for a cruise and clear out the cobwebs. Here's a short video of its first start in two months (I'd actually cranked it a bit without giving it any gas to build up some oil pressure--that's why it catches so fast). And anyone with an old Mopar will know what I'm doing with the shifter--working it through the gears before shifting into reverse. This fills the torque converter up to avoid the dreaded clunk. From there I backed it out of the garage and let it warm up for a few minutes. Pretty exciting, huh? So what did you do this weekend?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

This very amateur fan video, taken with my hundred-dollar point-and-shoot Casio, might give you some idea of what it's like to watch the Talladega race from the stands. Well, some idea, minus the tire-smoke and the bone-shaking engine rumble and the soot in your hair and that yummy high-octane emissions smell. Actually scratch that, you can't really approximate on film what it's like to be there no matter how fancy a camera you have. I'm still divided about the best vantage point for a race. Front-row trackside like I was at the Daytona 500, where you can almost taste the cars as they blast by—or up in the tower where you can see more of the action, which is almost always the recommended position. I'm leaning toward trackside, just for the in-your-face experience of it all—at superspeedways, the cars are always tiny dots on the backstretch anyway, so it's not so much of an advantage to be seated higher up. But you can decide for yourself—I got footage from all over the stands.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

When the Codemasters guys wanted to make sure the drifting in GRID was as realistic as possible, they went to European Drift Championship judge and Team Orange Manager "Sleepy" Hiroki Furuse. Here's his take on the new game, which comes out in June.

Oh, and we sent in all your questions to the developers at Codemasters. They are heads down getting the game out, so it may be another week or two before we hear back, but stay tuned...

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

While it lacks the in-your-face street-racing action of the spy video we showed you on Tuesday, this set footage from Hollywood spy site X17video gives some interesting clues about what's going on in the new Fast and Furious film. Paul Walker and Vin Diesel hop out of their rides and act like they're gonna throw some hands. The Skyline gets a thorough dousing with a smoke machine at around 2:30, and the Chevelle appears to have sustained some body damage. We're wondering if Brian still owes Dom a ten-second car.

By John Coyle

Editor

Mitchell Pierce started racing motorcycles on dirt tracks, where cornering involves sliding the back end of the bike around turns. But while this technique is common in that arena, in the world of road racing, it's pretty unusual. Basically, he's using the rear brake as a rudder to turn the bike, and if you've spent much time on a crotch rocket, you're going to find this video of him tearing up Pacific Raceways pretty insane. The amount of bike control it takes to pull off these maneuvers is staggering, and this 19 year old kid makes it look like a walk in the park. Yikes.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

A big smoky burnout by a burly late-70's Cadillac is generally a good thing. But the red smoke makes it all the more satisfying.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Somebody's been leaking spy footage from the set of the new Fast and Furious movie, and it's found its way onto CarDomain video. The series of takes appears to depict a race between four of the cars that'll be playing major roles in the film, including that wheel-standing Chevelle. Can't wait to see what this dramatic start will look like on the big screen!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

I mentioned this wreck yesterday in New on the Net--a stunt driver lost control of an Aston Martin DBS while attempting to deliver it to the set of the latest Bond flick, and ended up in Lake Garda, Italy. Well, here's some video of the car after they pulled it out of the drink. I can't believe the guy didn't get killed! My Italian is getting a bit rusty but the guys walking around the car sound equally amazed.