.....Your other ally is the handbrake. Need to make a sharp turn? Suddenly feel like going
the other direction? No one around? Slow down a bit, cut the wheel, stomp the clutch,
and pull the handbrake. It really works, and you don't have to be Ken Block to pull it off.
Last year I suffered through enjoyed a brief stint at a salvage yard, and I found it similar to working in a one-stop hospice, morgue, and crematorium that accepts coupons. Especially depressing was seeing some vintage Volvo or BMW being shoved unceremoniously into the crusher and hearing the scream of its European body being flattened into tomorrow's Chrysler 200s.
I'd like to stop alluding to Top Gear UK while reviewing Top Gear America. But in this week's episode, the boys are each given a sum, told to buy a GM, and meet in Detroit, where they would be given...a series of challenges. If this sounds familiar now, by the end of the episode it will be sharing your blanket and playing with your hair.
My chief concern when I heard about Top Gear America was that it would be too American. Don't get me wrong. This is a great country, but we've much to learn from the rest of the automotive world. And while this week's episode was rather local, Tanner actually said “gearbox,” and Adam pronounced “Le Mans” without the “s,” earning six metric tons of my respect.
With a chorus of angels and resounding fanfare, episode three brought back two of my favorite features of Top Gear- the epic road trip, and...the news. This may seem odd, but it's often the funniest segment, and the presenters' opportunity to join us in gawking, stupefied, at the strangest, funniest, and coolest bits of automotive news. If you don't watch Top Gear UK and don't know what I mean, just Google “Great news! James May.”
Sagely, my dad recommends not buying the first model year of a new car, “so they can work out the bugs.” TV series don't always work this way, but Top Gear USA seems to be fixing itself nicely. Though a great chasm of talent and good writing still separates it from the original, you can see the episode one review for those details.
For a petrolhead, Top Gear is sacred ground. So it's understandable that anyone casting a critical eye on Top Gear's American cousin would be quick to compare the two. But Top Gear USA is a different show, and for a review of episode one, it might be better to start with what made the UK version so brilliant and work from there.
With all of the car companies that are deciding to go "green" with electric cars, you would think that safety would be a factor, as well. But Audi, the German auto company, has decided to put out its own version of an electric car, complete with all the bells and whistles, literally..........
Toyota believes that its "green" car, the Prius, will be the top-selling electric vehicle in the United States by the year 2020. Although "going green" is a topic on many individual's minds, and these vehicles are better for the environment by far, I still do not believe that Prius will become a top-seller. I am not sold.....
Now that the Mercury line of vehicles has been discontinued, all of the money that was used to fund Mercury's advertising has been funneled into Lincoln's line of vehicles for their ad campaigns. According to a source within the company, Lincoln could really use it.....REALLY?
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