My Grown-Up Christmas List

I was thinking on my way to work about what I would like to have if money was never an issue. Since it is the season for gifts we figured Austin and would write our Christmas lists out and explain why we want what we want. I believe most of the stuff on my list pertains to vehicles, speed or various things having to do with elements of this site.

Allen:

1. A Red Rider Double Pump Action BB gun. Why? Duh, haven’t you seen A Christmas Story? Besides I can shoot out tires on Austin’s Sentra. And no, won’t shoot my eye out. (Austin: I grew up with one of these. Good luck killing a bird with it. It’s hard.) I’m not trying to kill a bird, just shoot out your tires…

2. This one is a triple whammy. A monster truck, Lotus Exige, and Toyota Prius. The Toyota Prius is for my sister Laura (Austin’s wife) which she will need after I demolish Austin’s Sentra with the Monster Truck, crushing it so far in the pavement that it will become a permanent fixture for everyone to look upon. That leaves the Exige, which I will drive up in and hand Austin the keys. Finally his mouth will stop hurting…

+ =

3. A Triumph Daytona 675 – Because it just looks so good I want to hang it on my wall like a piece of art. But seeing as how it is a motorcycle, I can ride it around and show it off.

4. A private race track with facility for modifying and testing cars. Seriously? You have to ask why I want this? I could do anything I ever wanted to do on my own private race track.

5. A BMW 135i – I must have one. Twin turbo straight six putting out over 300 HP and rear wheel drive. Sounds like powerslide heaven!

6. 1967 Volkswagen Bus – I always wanted one of these with a Keg-O-Rator, couch and 42 flat panel T.V. inside. Sound like a party, right? The Keg will be Four Peaks Oatmeal Stout for good times with Austin.

7. World Peace – This is on everyones Christmas list, right? (Austin: Not mine)

9. (Don’t ask about #8 my wife made me remove it.) $10,000 to put into my Corolla GT-S and an additional $10,000 to put into my 240sx.

10. To win the Lottery and purchase everything on my Grown-Up Christmas List.

Austin:

1. For reals I want to fix my motorcycle. Last year the battery died and it was really cold. Since then other problems have arisen and it has not been ridden more than 200 miles in the last year. It is sad and it hurts me to see it outside. It is an ‘01 SV 650. Allen and I are both attached to this bike.

2. A Lotus Exige. It is totally unreasonable but I want a car that I can feel uncomfortable in for a reason. I want to drive my daughter around and hear her excited laugh when we drift a turn in the coolest car in the world.

3. A Subaru STI. For some reason this stays on my list. Great function, great performance, terrible fuel consumption

4. A Gyro-copter. What better way to fly the friendly skies legally without a license. (I think, I haven’t done the research) (Allen: Is that safe? It looks like something MacGyver put together.)

5. And this is really a very desirable car for me and has been for a very long time. Every racing game I have there is an Nissan S14 Silvia (or 240sx) sitting in the virtual garage. I think they are one of the best looking RWD Nissans out there. Simply smashing. They are the painful lust of a smaller more reasonable nature.

6. For 2008, I want an HDTV and a PS3 in time for Gran Turismo 5. I am not the only one out there I am sure, but I am very excited for this to come out, but unlike the other times, the technology is missing in my house.

7. I am going to agree with Allen that if I had the means, a private track would be great. I am sure the site would improve significantly if we had a track to test stuff on.

8. A 2008 Yamaha R6. When I go to the dealership, this is the bike that I sit on and feel at home in. I love my SV, but the R6 just seems like something from the future. It is so light weight that it just feels like a natural extension of my body. Yamaha, If you are reading this, send it my way.

300 HP for 2008

WRX STI

There are a number of vehicles coming out in 2008 with over 300 HP and under $40,000. What is the best? Well, I’d love to tell you but odds are unless a manufacturer gives a few vehicles to test I won’t be able to give you an honest opinion. I can only list the car and based on specification from the manufacturer and give you a best guess. I’ll try not to let my Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) bias get in the way. With the criteria established – 300 HP – under $40,000 – here I go. Continue reading →

Cars with Heritage – The Chevy Corvette

There is not a vehicle that I can think of that is more iconic then the Chevy Corvette. When I look at a Corvette I see the red, white and blue. The car symbolizes American history almost as much as the Statue of Liberty and is recognized through out the world. It is an engineering masterpiece that General Motors spares no expense on, and it is truly one of best vehicles available for the price.

I really have never met a person who didn’t know what the Corvette was or looked like. I’ve known about it since I was five years old, because my first Hot Wheels cars were a ‘76 Sting Ray Corvette and an ‘87 Corvette, and I loved both of those little cars.

Continue reading →

I’ll Take The Red Pill

“Kizashi!”

“Gesundheit!” That was the response I got when I told Austin about this Suzuki Concept I saw.

Suzuki is thinking about putting out a new sedan/wagon and I think it looks awesome. It reminds me of the matrix, you know, the red pill that Neo took to get to the real world. I mean that in a good way.

Continue reading →

Drifter’s Do it Sideways!

How to Initial your D…

“Drifting” is basically defined as a controlled slide, and it can only really be accomplished in a Rear-Wheel (RWD) or All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) vehicles that are rear wheel biased. There are many techniques to accomplishing drifting around corners all resulting in oversteer. Continue reading →

Behold The Power Of Cummins

It’s about time we wrote about a truck! Geeze, what kind of gig are we running here, Austin? I’ve been rolling it over in head on what truck would be worthy enough to be the first that we talk about and I could only think of one. The Dodge Ram. Particularly with the Cummins Turbo Diesel.

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Suppressing my “URGE” to…

I was glancing around the other night, in hopes of finding a concept car that would meet my profile. You know the rear wheel drive, lightweight, enthusiast’s car I love so much, and guess what happened to appear. Something to spring life back into my hopes. Something that I could drive sideways and all I have to do is suppress my urge to… Continue reading →

The Right Reasons To Buy Hybrid. (My Reason – TORQUE)

I’ve talked to a few people who own hybrid cars purchased right from the factory. Their main reason for the purchase is gas mileage. That is one reason to buy hybrid, but it may not be the best reason.The biggest and best reason to buy a Hybrid is emissions. Hybrids don’t run while stopped or even under hard accelerations in the city, this fact alone reduces emissions tremendously. If you own a Hybrid it should make you feel good to know that you are polluting this planet far less than 90% of the vehicles on the road today.

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62mph Launches!

62mph has officially launched as of today. We are still working out a few kinks but the main site is now up.

It is 62mph.com. We are doing vidcasts of car reviews in addition to continuing to provide regular blog posts. Check it out, bookmark it (RSS still coming) and feel free to give us your feedback. We would love to hear it.

Thanks from Allen and Austin.

The Man’s Sedan (Part 3) – The New Dodge Charger

I was feeling a little guilty about my first Man’s Sedan feature on the BMW M5, choosing a car that probably wasn’t remotely in anyone’s price range and certainly not mine. I can dream, right? After being pulled back down to Earth by Austin I decided to choose the new Dodge Charger. Continue reading →