By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

I’m guessing this is the only pink FJ on CarDomain. See all the pics on Jenny’s ride page.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

This week it’s the battle of the import rock crawlers! Both start at around $24k with 4WD. Both have 4.0 liter V6s (the Toyota puts out 239 hp @ 5200 rpm and 278 lb-ft of torque @ 3700 rpm, the Nissan puts out 261 hp @ 5,600 rpm and 281 lb-ft of torque @ 4,000 rpm). Which would you choose?

I realize that some of y’all are big FJ haters, but you’ve gotta hand it to Todd, who’s built a supercharged baja version of Toyota’s retro SUV into an ultimate "high-speed desert exploration" machine. Check out this dramatic and extra-hilarious video to get an idea of what he means by that, and don’t forget to check out his ride page!

This supercharged FJ is Todd’s daily driver. He built it with help from the guys at Demello Offroad, and the engine work was handled by URD. Click through to his ride page for full documentation on the build, a ton of great pics and even a video on the amazing off-road lighting system.

Generally, bad reviews of anything—records, restaurants, cars—are just more entertaining. Even when people are just saying, and not even hating, commentary which tears a product, or person, to shreads makes for pretty compelling copy. Why do you think buying a 12-pack of High Life without seeing a picture of Britany Spears is unlikely? But leave it to Consumer Reports to do the impossible, as the magazine’s list of 2008′s 11 worst cars is as boring as you’d expect from the consumer advocates. Reading this list is only slightly more gripping than reading my mother’s recipie for corn chowder. And I really didn’t like how the reviews dismissed off-road performance, then proceeded to trash a bunch of off-road vehicles. Bravo y’all!  Of course, domestics make up the lion’s share of the field, but there are also a couple of foriegn marques in the mix. What do you think about this list? 

• The Alpine Imprint RLS will always be one of the most amazing demo cars ever produced. But before the Imprint made it’s impression on car audio history, the Alpine crew built the Sinister Six. What started out as an innocent $84,000 BMW 645ci ended up a jaw dropping, road raging, Sinister sports coupe. And SoundDomain has two videos  from Alpine following the crew through the amazing build.
• It interesting what you can find in life if you just look a little bit closer…. SoundDomain’s new guestblogger, Ben, writes about the hidden easter eggs found on circuit boards. Who’da guessed engineers had a sense of humor?
• Car manufacturers aren’t the only ones getting hit by Chinese knock-offs; even car audio manufacturers have to step into the ring. Check out the pics of this bogus Alpine amplifier found out in the wild. Would you have spotted it?
• Our main man Steve Meade is back and shaking up a ruckus at Taco Bell. Watch what happens when the two drive thru guys ask for a sample of the Tahoe’s beefy beats. Notice the bills in Taco Dude #2′s hand when Steve gives the magic knob a twist… The looks on their faces are pretty priceless too: from excitement to satisfaction to shock & awe. It’s always a good time with Steve.
• Bored? Add Bluetooth to your 5G iPod.
• We’ve also got a video of CarDomain member Jamminwagon plugging in and jammin’ out on his electric car through his Dodge Magnum’s sound ssytem. Boy’s got some skills, car’s got some beats!
• Scosche built out a pretty crazy demo car for SEMA 2006: a bright orange FJ Cruiser stuffed with EFX gear: eight 12" woofers, twelve amplifiers, seven monitors (including a 32"monitor in the rear door!), twenty speakers, three batteries, and over 9000 watts of power!

I stopped counting after a while cause our Wrangler vs. FJ contest wasn’t even close. UG’s comment seems to sum up the general feeling:

If you plan to attack trails with your rig, go with the Jeep.
If you plan to attack speed bumps at the mall, go with the FJ.

Ouch. I noticed that it ended up on a few Jeep forums and at least one FJ board–maybe the Jeep guys are just more vocal. Anyway, I’ll try to pick a closer match-up next week. Let me know if you have any ideas.

Okay, so this is not meant to inspire hate, or to imply anything about what Toyotas should be used for. I personally kind of like the new FJ Cruiser, especially its rocket-ship tail lights. But this pic of an (accidentally) color-matched FJ and port-o-potty is just too precious. They should get a little trailer and tow it behind them to car shows! Check out a whole thread of silly pictures at VWvortex.