By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Edmunds got their hands on an ultra low mile 1998 Acura Integra Type R and put it up against a 2010 Honda Civic Si. Guess which car they liked more? Kind of sad, really. Honda and Acura need to start building cool cars again. Full story at Edmunds Inside Line

By David Wallens

Grassroots Motorsports

We test drive a lot of cars here at Grassroots Motorsports, but it’s been a while since one has drawn such extreme love and displeasure. The car? The latest Honda Civic Si sedan. If you’d like to chime in, feel free.

Volkswagen’s Dieselution tour has been on the road touting the environmental benefits of clean diesel-powered vehicles. As a fossil fuel, diesel just doesn’t have the cachet of electric- and hydrogen-powered drivetrains, and it is pretty stinky. Diesel has historically been the answer to the questions no one in the US asks. But focusing on all that fuel efficiency and CO2 stuff misses the point. Diesel does answer one question we’re all asking: What to do about street racing. Why? They don’t tell you this part: passenger diesels are SLOW.

My spouse got a ticket last month for 61 mph in a 40 zone. We Google-mapped the location, and apparently he somehow got his 90 horsepower Golf (stock with an automatic) up to a 61-mph trap in the standing quarter mile. Up a hill. VW’s professional driver on a closed (and presumably flat) course was barely able to eke out a 71-mph trap speed. Compared to a gasser Civic Si (94-mph trap), that’s downright unmanly. We plan to head out to the local dragstrip soon for some timeslips to submit as evidence at the hearing. It should make for an interesting day in court.