By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Anyone who feels that the littler Hummers are just yuppie commuter pods that need to stay on the pavement should check out Stan’s ride page. It’s amazing what he’s able to do with his H3, and the views from mountain trails in Colorado and Texas are beautiful.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I can’t even believe how horrible this is: an off-road truck rolled over and plunged into a crowd of spectators at the dry lakes of Lucerne Valley, CA, this weekend, and a too-close crowd of spectators camped out at the course’s treacherous “rockpile” paid the ultimate price. The driver was uninjured, but spectators–who by some estimates were within four feet of the hot track, with trucks racing by at 45-50 mph–did not fare as well after the Misery Motorsports truck went out of control after getting airborne, rolled over, and landed on its roof. Four bodies were found trapped beneath the truck once it was righted, and people had their kids out running around by this dangerous stretch of track–one victim was seen shoving children out of the truck’s path before he was crushed. Read more…

Continue reading "8 Dead, 12 Injured in California 200" »

By Karan Singh

StreetFire.net

When things go seriously wrong, don’t forget to grab your camera as you fall like the guy in this video! I personally think you’re asking for trouble when you’re as close to the track as this guy was. Hopefully he learned his lesson!

4×4 goes bad, or Russian Chuck Norris.

By Michael Berenis

Tampa Sports Car Examiner

Like a striped bass, this S2000 crosses the river with ease. After a few on-site modifications to make it water friendly, it quickly crosses the deep and rocky riverbed like a champ. I still can’t believe what I’m seeing here! Read more about the crazy crossing at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

It’s no secret that the StreetFire crew is filled with off-road newbies, but ICON’s Jonathan Ward is so confident in their $100K FJ recreations he invited us up to Frazier Park to thrash on them anyway. I didn’t get to go—somebody has to be in the office to take out the trash and answer the phones—but Naderi made it, and he brought back footage. Mike Levin from PickupTrucks.com and Johnny Lieberman from Jalopnik were also on hand, and after they got to drive these insane 4x4s, they shared their thoughts. Next time we get offered a chance like this, I’m going to let the phones go to voice mail and the trash pile up…

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

On Friday, I posted a clip of a Hummer climbing a wall, and while I was impressed, this caged Unimog puts that performance to shame. Obviously, the wheels are bigger and everything, but damn, the big-ass Benz makes short work of this obstacle…

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

OK, I’ve mocked the civilian, road-going versions of the Hummer plenty of times on this blog—I honestly think they’re more like codpieces than vehicles. And according to my Marine buddy who did two tours in Iraq, the military-spec ones are so cramped that unless you want to brain yourself while going over bumps, you have to wear a helmet. But I’ll admit I thought this clip was awesome. Damn.

By Ben Schaffer

The Real JDM

Our friend Rob sent us some pictures of him doing the unexpected… taking his custom imported widebody kitted Range Rover Sport off-road! As Rob said to me, this is a complete rarity to see a widebodied Range Rover off-roading… and you know what, the car did excellent out there, all while I’m sure pissing off a few purists (which is probably more fun than the off-roading part)!

I think the same can be said for this situation as for those that look at a pretty sports cars and instantly accuse them of being trailer queens. Assumption is a bitch. You just never know when you might see a clean, heavily modified car getting dirty… Continue reading at the Real JDM.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

There was a pretty cool off-road course set up at SEMA, and I paused to watch some baja trucks ripping it up as I was scuttling between exhibit halls. I loved how a low concrete divider was the only thing separating these monsters from the spectators–too bad that’ll only be the case until the first crowd-flattening episode forces SEMA to put up more lawsuit-proof barriers. Hit the jump for video of the off-road action!

Continue reading "Four-Wheelin' Thrills At SEMA's Off-Road Proving Grounds" »

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Since I’ve been assigned to the truck and off-road side of the market, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t uncover this contender for future Military Sales, The TAC-V Joint All-Terrain Modular Mobility Asset, or JAMMA for short. This vehicle is targeted for special operations users around the world. According to the builders, it’s the only armor-ready, four occupant, high-performance off-road vehicle that’s capable of being transported inside the V-22 Osprey aircraft. See more below the jump.

Continue reading "The TAC-V JAMMA V-22 ITV: Fighting for Military Sales" »