The best driving road...In the world.

Top Gear said, in their quest to find the best driving road in that world, that the best in the world was the Stelvio Pass in Italy.

I contend that the best driving world can be found on each and every continent. If you find yourself on a twisty mountaing road or even a straight highway at midnight that can be the best driving road in the world. It all comes together when that 12 year old part of us takes over when we look around and think, "I want to mash the gas a little." "I want to sit up a little straighter." "That turn there, I want to dive into it." All of these things are ideas that pop into a car guy's mind when he just lets the car loose.

The world would be a terrible place if it weren't for the little blessings that the good Lord sees fit to give us. Topping the list of wonderful things is cars and roads to drive them on. I understand life is a lot bigger than driving cars on wonderful roads, but at the same time I really don't.

Montana has the roads to top your car out on and California has the scenery on the roads. In the middle of the country there are some mountains and valleys that combine to form some excellent roads for driving. Florida has got good fun to be had, as long as you avoid the little brown bears in their Crown Victorias with lasers on them.

What you're looking at when you're driving is just as important as the road you're driving on. I could drive on a brilliant road that couldn't be more thrilling but if it's in Burford, United Kingdowm, then it might not have the same pleasure as the Italian Alps.

If there's nothing to hamper your good time and you even have some buddies with you then any road that you're driving on can be the best in the world. I know that the Top Gear guys weren't speaking literally when they named the Stelvio Pass as the best driving road, but they were accurate in their assesment. The Stelvio Pass is brilliant. Roads, like life, is what you make it. Grab some friends, fast cars and make it fun.

The Silver Lining

The economy is in the crapper and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. The Bamster is in the White House trying to pass every cockamamy bill that comes across his desk; in between making 'wtf' exective orders and visiting Jay Leno for a little Special Olymics belittling. Dogs and cats living together...mass hysteria!!!

Where is the silver lining?

Oh there it is.

The brand new Chevrolet Camaro is just about to be released and it looks fantastic. The performance of the Camaro is that bad either. It has 126 more horsepower than, what will be, its main competitor the Ford Mustang. Now, Edmunds has just recently tested one of these brand new modern musclecars on their internet channel and failed...epically. With that horsepower gap, and looks gap, the car should be faster than the five seconds that Edmunds mustered for their 0-60 mph time. Edmunds, please leave the testing of cars to people who are entertaining and can drive them.

The Dodge Challenger is already out and it also looks freakin' awesome. I don't think that it will be long for this world because Chrysler is the dumbest car company out there right now. Yes, even dumber than General Motors. Chrysler has a bad habit of thinking that their cars are extremely special and worth more than they really are. So if you've got more money than you need, blow it now on a car that will presumeably break.

Top Gear is still on TV. Many of you who are fans already knew that and were well aware that, unless you're a pedestrian, watching Top Gear on the internet is a more fulfilling endeavor than watching it on BBC America. Clarkson, May and Hammond will also be coming back for a new season (series) soon. So all the Top Gear fiends like myself will have our fix of our favorite British export since chlamydia.

In addition to cars being in real life and on TV, they are also in magazines. I must mention Top Gear the magazine because it is probably the 'top' car magazine out there. The writing and photography put Motortrend and Car and Driver to shame. Superstreet is a magazine that seems to be in love with Supras, Evos and other overplayed cars. Apart from that, the little import magazine that could is still up there when it comes to little news stand treats.

The police are still out in droves at the end of every month looking to fill their speeding ticket quotas and there is suicide enducing traffic at all the roads you want to drive fast on, but there are still roads that are open. Just wait a little while on weekend nights in the wee hours of the morning and look around there's nothing on the roads. There's just you and your car. Take advantage of Uncle Sam's road works and burn them back to the ground from whence they came.

The aftermarket is still going mad making stuff to speed up your's and my car. People are still having meetings and dragstrips are still open.

All of these things may be temporary, but there you go, it's your silver lining.

Nür-boring

Enough is enough. I've seen every fast car in the world go around the Nordschleife, or Nürburgring (Ring), in some astounding amount of time. There is a battle raging as I write to you, between the Corvette guys (ZR1 - 7 mins 26.4 secs) and the Viper guys (ACR - 7 mins 22.1 secs) about who is the greatest Ring ruler of them all. All of this, "Who's the fastest," talk has left the Nissan GT-R (7 mins 29 secs) guys crying like little girls because they're so close, yet so far. All of this arguing has me tired. When did the Ring become the trump card for any car guy to say that their favorite car was superior to any other.

Unless I'm wrong, which I'm not, all this Ring talk really started right after the C6 ZO6 Corvette started lapping the Ring. To give the previous times some perspective the ZO6 did a lap in 7 mins 49 secs, and that's a really fast car.

That's not why I'm writing though. I left a comment on a video on YouTube.com about how the Ring lap times are trite and overplayed (see "Overplayed" blog entry for definition). I put forth the opinion that people are more interested in the lap times on the British Broadcast Company's show Top Gear than Ring times. I won't quote you the details of his response, but it was usual YouTube.com garbage. I think that the technical and hard professional driver numbers are of no use in the real world. Although Top Gear's, The Stig is some sort of professional driver his lap times are a more interesting argument than some dinky little 14 mile track times (insert sarcasm).

Top Gear is a world wide program and has spawned programs in Germany, Australia and, reportedly, America. The show's tame racing driver, The Stig, sets lap times weekly on the show in the world's most expensive cars. The show's hosts are hilarious and entertaining. The lap times are a hard number chaser to the entertainment.

What's the point of a professional driver from Dodge or Chevrolet beating the snot out of a car on the race track if it can't be driven by your average Miami doctor to beat little kids in Hondas?

I take this opportunity now to say that real world/Top Gear driving is more important/interesting than Ring/Motortrend/Car and Driver times. I submit that it's all about how we relate to the numbers. I love seeing professionals do what they do, that's why they're professionals. I would rather argue about the numbers set by a creature in a white racing suit than some dude from Ohio named Jim that only drives Vipers all day long.

P.S. - To fully put the argument between Corvette and Viper to rest, the Corvette has been around for 50 plus year and won numerous prestigous races. The Viper has been around for 10 plus years, not won a thing and is under consideration to be sold by Dodge. So, cheers, Viper fans. Way to put your eggs in the big worthless basket.

Will it be better by then?

No, it's not time to panic yet. If the car market and the aftermarket is in real trouble that we're going to be sitting in for a long time then November 3 – Friday, November 6 2009 will be some dark and depressing days.

Those dates are when the 2009 SEMA show will we held in Las Vegas. If the economy has cut really deep into the car market then there will be a couple Civics and some Mustangs at the show.

Car shows are the barometer for how bad things are going. Maybe not for everything, but definetly for the car community. Duh. If nobody is going to be willing to spend money on some sick cars for the show we can all look at that and start to pee in our pants.

For those of you who know God, please pray that there might be some glimmer of hope before the show. For those of you who don't know God, give your life to him so that you to can pray for the life of the car world. It's a blessing that we cannot afford to take for granted.

I hope that everyone out there gets the humor and the tongue in cheek-ness of my remarks. If you have to know how good or bad things are going for the car look at the car shows, especially SEMA. Be vigilante out there. Yeah, I meant to say 'vigilante.' If you want to be vigilant as well. Look out for what you love. I love the car and I'll be keeping a close watch on it.

I got it.

I got my car.

Wondering what it is?

It's a 2004 Ford Focus sedan.

Isn't that just awesome.

No?

Well, of course it's not awesome yet. It is cool though. For a small, four cylinder sedan it is spectacular. I would reccomend the car to anyone just looking to drive a car. Anyone who wants a nice car to drive and not do anything to, got one. After a long while of driving a Chrysler PT cruiser this car is a huge step up.

There have been Foci, Focuses, however you say it, that have made over 300 horsepower. My plans for this car is to make that and more. I have a soft sport for cars that no one has. The Ford Focus is a car that when you get one you become part of a community that is ultra exclusive with the same dynamics as any other car culture community. There are serious enthusiasts and then there are morons. Just peruse the photos on FocusFanatics.com. I like the car because I feel exclusive when I drive it. A car guy that drives a Focus. What a combination?

I don't want to write a love letter to my car (I love you sweetie), but, it's exciting to drive a car that you finally plan on driving for a long while. My car aspirations go far beyond the usual one car for me and the one car for my significant other. My dream is a big garage with a big collection in it. The Focus is car # 1. The baby of the collection. The genesis. I may be gushing a little, but I'm just excited and had to tell someone.

I wrote a blog a little while ago about getting a new car. Now is the time to buy a new car at a cheap price and not have to pay a lot on a monthly payment. With this Focus I didn't go into debt. I traded the PT Cruiser on it and paid the difference in cash. Now that's a feeling I would be happy for a lot of people to have.

If you're reading this and don't know much about the worldwide disease that is cars, please read my other blogs. Do whatever you can to catch the disease. Lick a car guy, get a car and spend all your money on it. You'll never be happier than when you get yourself a car and drive it like yo stole it.

Top 10 Most Overplayed Cars:

Now this list is most defianetly going to make some people mad. Good. I can safely say that I could care less about feelings. We're talking cars here and they hurt more feeling than a woman does. The thing with cars is that you want to keep coming back to them. Women? Sometimes you can just take a nice long break from women. Cars? No. So, here it is for you visual and intellectual pleasure, my second top ten, the Top 10 Most Overplayed Cars in a particular order:

(Definition of "Overplayed" according to me. Overplayed is whenever you go to some car related magazine, video site or car show there are a million examples of that "overplayed" car and maybe two of something interesting that you actually haven't seen before.)

# 10 - Mazda RX-8

I had to fill the list somehow. Sorry Mazda guys. RX-8 goes on the list and at the bottom. There have been a bunch of articles of custom RX-8s and the Mazda would have gone higher on the list but it's just so crap that not enough people buy them. It looks cool. The gain in acceleration that you get after 40,000 miles is pretty cool, but, the car just isn't popular enough to go higher on the list.

# 9 - Honda S2000

The little 4-banger, sports car from Honda started out as a little fish in a big pond that won acclaim and adulation from anyone who drove it. Now that it has aged a few years and the second hand car market has gotten a hold on it, it's become overplayed. Driving around a college campus you'll need more fingers and toes to count all the S2000s on the roads. They start out fast and can be made to go faster. Too many folks driving these little rockets make them overplayed and not cool anymore.

# 8 - Subaru WRX STI

When this car first came to America about the same time Fast and Furious was coming out in 1999-2000 I loved this car. It looked great, had all-wheel-drive and a solid engine. It was just cool for the sake of cool. As new models came out and the performance just went up a bunch of guys who's fathers were doctors got one. A little too many suburban wannabes made this real life rally car their own and sucked to exclusivity right out of it. But, hey, it's still not as played out as its main competitor.

# 7 - Dodge Neon SRT-4

I cannot begin to tell you how much I wanted to put this car higher on this list, but I couldn't. A motorist can't go 100 yards without running into one of these products from Chrysler's SRT-4 division. Exhaust on them sounds great. The engine is massively powerful. When everyone has one, what do these plusses matter? This car harkens back to an era of drag racing big block muscle cars. This thing just has half the cylinders of those old boulevard burners. Everyone's got one = Overplayed.

# 6 - Nissan 350Z

Just like the S2000 the 350Z is a college campus all-star. Slap some rims on this baby along with a body kit and it looks pretty darn good. This car doesn't deserve to be overplayed. It's too nice. It's the japanese Mustang and a great value at the price. Sadness comes over me when I think about the fact that real car enthusiasts, like me, can never get one because of the number of club hopping, blow-out sporting and Affliction shirt wearing dudes that have already gotten one.

# 5 - Ford Mustang

Ouch! Yet another car that pains me to put on the list. I've had a Ford Mustang and it was cool. V8 engine, 5 speed transmission and rear-wheel drive, what more could you ask for? This car is an oddity, however. It is overplayed in its own realm. Look up videos of mustangs racing and there will be very few of Mustangs beating other car that aren't mustangs. Loud exhaust systems cannot make a fast car and it is time that the Mustang guys learn this. I reccomend that all the Blue Oval Musang fellas leave their cars in the garage until they can get some parts that allow them to race against other cars other than copies of themselves.

# 4 - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo

It is almost a four way tie between the top four cars on this list. The Evo is beginning to garner hatred from me. This car has got to get the magazine cover award. I have never seen a car that has gotten more cover stories in the car community. YES! They are quick. There are a lot of other cars that are quick to. Being bombarded with this car has made it lose its coolness. I'm not really sad that this car is overplayed. I can't have any remorse for putting it in the top five, it deserves it.

# 3 - Toyota Supra

Awesome car. Awesome engine. Overplayed. Every other video of a Supra on YouTube.com is of a 1,000 horsepower Supra. "Oh, look, another 1,000 hp Supra." "Now that's something I haven't seen before." If you can afford to put the money into one of these to make it a supercar, more power to you. Judging by the number of Supras on the internet that are fast, and the money that it takes to make them fast, the economy isn't that bad.

# 2 - Honda Civic

The rice burner that made rice poular. It's a Civic. Spit and you'll hit one. Do not make me explain this choice.

#1 Nissan GT-R

The big fat gold medal go to the Nissan GT-R. Just because of the hype associated with this car it goes # 1. A car that breaks and voids its warranty when the full potential of it is realized means that it's sub-par at best. Making excuses for it and talking about it like it's a better deal that a Chevrolet Corvette makes it overplayed. The GT-R was out of date before it came out. It would have been impressive were it not for the rest of the pack of supercars that came out at about the same time.

There you have it. The most overplayed cars in the world. Is your car on the list? Are you angry yet?

Possibly.

Just what is possible and not possible when it comes to building cars? The sky is the limit my friend it's within the realm of possibility to do pretty much anything you damn well please. Examples have been given to us over and over again that you can put what ever engine in whatever car you want. Like the "Civ-Vette" video below. A Honda Civic with a Chevrolet Corvette engine. Ignore the blasphemy first and just think about the pure awesome that thing is.

Civ-Vette - http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Civette-Civic-with-Vettes_142432.htm

A few years ago, before all this Fast and Furious stuff, mentioning carbon fiber to a regular person might have been met with an eyebrow that seemed to say, "Quoi (what in French)." Now everybody knows what that magical black/grey/red/blue/etc. sheet is. Its strength and versatility is unquestionable, but how much of a car can be made from it. If supercars and race cars are any evidence of this, everything can be made form it. I do mean everything. Doors, hoods, seats. This excludes all the other things that are made from carbon fiber like boats, planes and toilets. That's right. Toilets. Aston Martin is just another example of, "I may have seen it before, but that sure is sexy." Aston Martin has entered the Hyper-car market with its One-77 car. Guess what? It's going to use carbon fiber, a lot. Check out the link and see if you can find an inch that doesn't have the wonderful thread on it.

One-77 - http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/06/aston-martin-one-77-uncovered-in-depth-on-whats-under-the-skin/

Racing products make it onto the street all the time. We've got splitters, FUNCTIONAL body kits, performance upgrades that would make Micheal Andretti blush and all kinds of other dress up items to make heads turn more than Heidi Klum dressed in a thread of yarn. Sorry, no picture of that.

The performance insanity doesn't stop at cramming engines into cars that don't belong there. There are actually engines that come in cars that can be modded themselves and then are able to defeat much more powerful cars. Unbeleivable, I know. The guys from RiceKiller.com have a video posted on StreetFire.net that evokes feelings of disbelief among people like, well, me. The evidence is there none-the-less. A itty bitty Acura Integra beats a Cadillac CTS-V. Allow me to remind you that the CTS-V is the Cadillac with the Corvette engine. Now that that's sunk in watch the video below and have your brain scrambled.

Integra v. CTS-V - http://videos.streetfire.net/video/RICEKILLERCOM-Budget-VS_638166.htm

You may have already seen somthing like that. Whether you've seen giant killers before doesn't make it any less amazing, to me anyway. The accelereation (pun intended) of the car world has been staggering. When I discuss future mods to my own car with my buddy on many an occasion he seems to be of the ilk of impossibility. Usually, I convince him that it is possible and we continue to be friends. I cannot join the band of nay sayers on countless car forums that have the standard response to any remotely outlandish idea of, "Not possible." I say, "No" to them. I refuse to live in a closed box world where I can't cram an oversized engine into a $200 Civic and can't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a car that is made of carbon fiber. The answer to the question is always, "Yes."

No matter how crazy an idea, no matter how impractical, it it's for a car and it's cool then it's possible. Do it.