Top Five Best Lamborghini's Ever

Because I couldn't think of anything else to write about, here's a list of what I think are the top five best Lamborghini's if all time.

Number 5-The Gallardo, which was introduced in 2003, is Lamborghini's all-time best selling car.  It served as sidekick to both the Murcielago and the Aventador, but despite its lower status, it could still move, both itself and people's heads.  With it's 5.0L V12 (Later 5.2L), which produced 552 horsepower, the Gallardo could hit 201 miles per hour.  But with a Lamborghini, specs mean nothing.  The Gallardo felt alive, despite using Audi parts (Later donating its engine to the Audi R8), and, especially in Spider form, looked fantastic.  In my opinion, the Gallardo is the best all-around car Lamborghini has ever made, though the new Huracan looks quite promising.



Number 4-The Murcielago was Lambo's flagship model from 2001 to 2010.  This car replaced the aging Diablo, and in terms of technology, speed and power, was miles ahead of it's predecessor.  In fact, the reason I include the Murcielago at all is because it brought Lamborghini into a new era.  At launch, it's 6.2L V12 produced 572 horsepower.  At the end of its nine-year tenure, the Murcielago's 6.5L V12 produced 670 horsepower.  And, thanks to all-wheel drive and its light body, cornered decently as well.



Number 3- The LM002.  Most of you will be surprised to see it in this list at all.  In fact, I planned on the Miura being in this place.  But then I remembered this, Lamborghini's first and so far only SUV, also its first all-wheel drive car.  The Rambo Lambo was introduced in 1986, and just 328 were made.  This car is in this list solely because I think it embodies all that is great about Lamborghini.  It's purpose was to be a tool for the oil exploration industry's elite, kind of like the rich baddies you'd see in a Bond film.  Ordinarily, it came with the V12 from the Countach, but you could spec it with a 7.2L V12 you'd normally see inside Class 1 Offshore power boats.  Find one of those in a Jeep Wrangler.  I love the LM002, and it embodies the spirit of Lamborghini's lunacy.




Number 2-The Aventador, Lamborghini's current flagship, is just utterly awesome.  It produces 700 horsepower and is good for 217 miles per hour.  Famously, Lamborghini said that its order of priorities with the Aventador was 1. Handling, 2. Acceleration, 3. Top Speed.  As for their new #1 priority, it is an incredible car to drive, still a big car but light and fun, as well as easy to control (relatively).  As for acceleration, well 0-60 takes just 2.9 seconds.  And for there new bottom priority, well it does 217.
The reason the Aventador is here is simple.  Its the best car Lamborghini has ever made.  Not the best all-rounder like the Gallardo, but just the best car for being an undiluted speed machine.




Number 1-The Countach.  Some will be surprised not to find the Miura in this spot.  And even more surprised to know I haven't even included it.  In fact, I'd rather include one of Lamborghini's original tractors from the 1940s.  No, the Countach is simply the best Lamborghini ever.  I said the Gallardo is Lambo's greatest all-rounder, and the Aventador their best car.  But the Countach is the best Lamborghini they've ever made.
In fact, the Countach isn't even necessarily a very good car.  It's steering was heavy, the gearbox was uncooperative and the ride was awful.  But the Countach made an excellent poster.  It was the most outlandish looking supercar the world had ever seen in the 1970s, and it still is today.  Lamborghini is best known for making cars young kids love to look at and dream about owning one day.  And while most kids today will look at a Pagani Huayrayayyahayhauahhjia and want to own that, i still look at Countach with awe and astonishment.
 

A Witness' Account of the Incident at Canandaigua Motorsport Park

Now, I realize its a bit late to offer my input on this story, especially seeing as I'm just a teenage blogger, but I can offer more insight than most, because I was at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park when Kevin Ward Jr. was struck by the car of NASCAR racer Tony Stewart.
The mood at the track towards Stewart before the race wasn't exactly overjoyed, much to my surprise.  To many people there, the accident last year involving 19-year old Alysha Ruggles, Stewart and 13 others is still fresh in their minds.  In fact, when the PA announcer casually mentioned the fact that Tony Stewart had arrived, there were more boos than cheers.
I was sitting in Turn 4 that night, which meant my view of the incident was blocked by barriers etc.  I did see the spin that caused Ward to be upset at Tony.  Essentially, Stewart and Ward were side by side going down the front stretch.  I didn't see any contact, and when they began the exit of the corner Stewart pushed wide, forcing Ward into a spin.  Being a racer myself, I would also be quite angry, despite the absence of any obvious contact.
I'm not going to place blame on either driver, because of my respect for both, but there are some things I would like to put an opinion on.  Firstly, many people are saying that the track was dimly lit and dusty, which, coupled with the dark suit worn by Ward, could have meant Stewart couldn't clearly see.  I would say, though, that I could clearly see Ward from my seat in Turn 4, an entire track away.
I also found it odd that Stewart didn't stop until the end of the backstretch after coming in contact with Ward in turn 2.  I'm not an expert in sprint cars by any means but I'm fairly certain I would notice if I hit somebody and immediately stop.  Adding to this is the fact that Stewart couldn't have been going more than 45 MPH, and in those cars it doesn't take a whole back straight to go from 45 to 0.  I'm not placing blame, I'm just saying its something to think about, perhaps he didn't stop because he thought stopping in the middle of the track under caution was dangerous (Plausible but not probable).
Regardless, the eeriest part of all was the crowds reaction.  After the red flag came out, I didn't know Ward had been struck, all I knew was he had gotten out of the car.  However, only one car had been involved (Ward's) and it had little to no damage, and all of the safety crew were surrounded around something on the ground.  I head the occasional scream and gasp, and soon police car after police car rolled in.  I counted 12 emergency vehicles by the time I left the track.  For about 20 minutes following the incident, the crowd was silent.  The announcer was silent.  None of the emergency crews went anywhere.  And when we were told the nights activities were canceled and everybody was ushered out, the fans still remained silent.  Only when I saw the crew members and drivers and family members in the paddock standing around in a circle solemnly, I knew the racing community had lost somebody.






I would like to send my thoughts to all those affected by the loss of Kevin Ward Jr.

From the Passenger's Perspective: 2014 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport

Here on the small Hawaiian island of Molokai, many of the roads are red clay/dirt paths, which require the use of a decent off-road vehicle.  In fact, in my four days here I have seen but three sports cars.  A Mazda Miata, a Chevrolet Corvette C6 and a Mercedes-Benz SL.  The Jeep, however (a rental) is exactly the kind of car for this island.
I'll start off by saying I've always been a hater of Jeeps.  I can't really explain why, but I was (Note "was").  This Wrangler is the Unlimited, which is the four door variant, and the Sport, which for some reason denotes the base model.  As far as the exterior goes, it looks decent, has the iconic Jeep grille, and for some reason I love the little plastic things that hold the hood on.  They make the car look like it wants to go trail driving.

The interior isn't exactly luxury, but that's not the point.  Everything is very close to you, which is good and bad.  I especially like the simple but functional air vents.  The stereo had nice sound, and the speaker placement on the roll bar in the rear was rather clever.  Drawbacks with the interior are few and far between.  The air conditioning knob button required several presses to get it to activate, and the arm rests on the door are very poorly engineered.  The only other issue was that the Jeep is very difficult to get into.  It doesn't have running boards, so to get in the back required some jumping.
My favorite feature of the Wrangler is the three-piece hard top.  I removed the two panels in the front (a very simple task), which essentially made the Jeep a Targa.   It was fantastic for blasting through the small roads of Molokai.  The panels are very easy to remove and re-install, however the rear piece appeared to be more complicated, but at the risk of rain, I never bothered with it.

As far as driving the Wrangler is concerned, I have been told that it drives like a little tank, though this isn't a bad thing.  The 3.6L V6 engine provides decent power and the handling isn't as bad as you would expect.  The Wrangler feels very solid to drive,if not terribly invigorating or sporty, as the trim level suggests.
The Wrangler Unlimited is actually rather comfortable.  Part of that may be down to Molokai's rather smooth paved roads, but we also took the Wrangler on some mild dirt tracks, where it performed very well.  The suspension absorbs most small bumps, though large ones seem to reverberate through the cabin.  The seats are nice and supportive (probably for off-road comfort), if maybe a bit stiff.
Where you may expect the Jeep to fall down is fuel economy.  Jeep rates the Wrangler Unlimited Sport (On their website) as 17 city/21 Hwy, which doesn't seem so good.  However, in around 250 miles of 45 MPH driving, we used about half a tank, which is quite good.
All in all then, the Wrangler Unlimited was the perfect car for the island of Molokai.  It does on-road driving, warm weather fun, and it'll go anywhere you like, provided you can get into it.
And, with prices starting at around $26,00, it is significantly cheaper than many alternative trucks or SUVs.  However, I have a sneaking suspicion that pretty well every other Jeep is still a bit crap.











http://www.jeep.com/en/2014/wrangler-unlimited/photos-and-videos/#filter=all&asset=13

From the Passenger's Perspective: 2013 Buick Regal

I don't like Buicks.  I really don't.  I think they're dimwitted, slow, boring, ugly, and far too cheap-feeling.  I also buy into the stereotype that the average age of a Buick owner is 112.  This Regal marked the first time I've been in a Buick, and in fact the first time I've been in a GM product since I was little in my dad's Chevrolet Silverado.  This particular Regal was a rental car for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
On first impressions, this white Regal seemed very boring.  Sure, it isn't ugly, but it is the most generic-looking car I've ever been in.  Something that emphasizes this fact is the cover of the owner's manual.  In my family's Mercedes-Benz C-Class, there is a striking photo of the car in front of what I remember as being a cityscape or some buildings.  In the Regal, though, you get a black and white picture of a bridge and the words "2013 Buick Regal" in block letters in the lower left-hand corner.  Ghastly.

The interior isn't a whole lot better.  All of the buttons are absolutely gigantic, probably owing to the older demographic who buy this car.  For example, the traction control (On a Buick?!) button is about 4 inches long and an inch tall.  It is huge.  And in the center is a tiny, tiny little white picture of skid marks behind a car.  It's much the same story with the parking sensor button.  This Regal has Buick's IntelliLink system, which is the most user-unfriendly system I've ever seen.  To navigate the system's very limited features you have to do a combination of spinning the wheel and clicking it from one side to another, not too complicated.  The problem is that it is virtually impossible to do because the wheel only moves to the sides about a billionth of an inch.  And the wheel is on the center stack, not the usual place on the center console like what BMW and Mercedes do.  Another thing was that every time I  clicked the wheel, it never really did the same thing twice.  However, I was finally able to get into the car's settings.  So I hope whoever rents that Buick next can speak French-Canadian, can convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, and knows how to tell time on a 24-Hour scale.

Another thing I noticed was that the steering wheel was absolutely massive.  It is like something you'd find on a 1600s pirate ship.  Except with more useless buttons.
The driving experience is rather similar.  Obviously, it doesn't handle with much aplomb, but it is reasonable.  However, the engine is pretty pathetic.  It has virtually no power, and whenever you go near the throttle, it makes a terrible belching noise, and doesn't give any noticeable change in velocity whatsoever.  The handling is bearable, not exactly sporty, but that isn't what the car is for.  This car was clearly made for a specific demographic.  I won't say which demographic that is, but I think you know what I mean.  Many of them live in Florida.
So the Buick Regal is not my kind of car.  It try's to do luxury, which takes away from the driving experience, but then it doesn't do luxury very well either.  However, it is rather comfortable, even though the seats are a bit stiff.  The Regal is, however, a decent little runabout that retirees (oops) can use to run around town and occasionally visit friends.

Top Ten Best New Cars of 2013

I realize I am slightly late with this, as it is already 2014, but better late than never.  This is a list of what I thought were the coolest new or heavily revised cars of 2013. (Sorry for the small images, Google wasn't letting me click on images.....technology.....)

#10. Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black
I know it is just a performance version of the now discontinued SLS AMG, but it is still quite a car.  It gives you the feel of a GT3 racer in a road car.  The standard SLS was never the greatest handling car, but the Black fixes that and more.  Downsides? A $300,000 price tag.  Come on depreciation!


#9. Lamborghini Veneno
Though it is crazy expensive and crazy exclusive, it is still a ridiculous Lamborghini and that's special.  It looks awesome and it sounds amazing, though your chances of seeing one are about one in several hundred million.....


#8 Porsche 918 Spyder
This is the successor to the epic Carrera GT, and even though it is hybrid it is still a Porsche in the purest form.  It is one of three hybrid supercars to enter the market this year, and though it is my least favorite of the three, it does prove that hybrids can be very, very fast.


#7 McLaren P1
This is my second favorite of the three new hybrid supercars this year.  I can't seem to grow accustomed to it's looks, though there is no denying it's awesome speed.  However, I think McLaren could have done it without adding batteries.



#6 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
The S-Class has long been the king of luxury cars.  Whatever you saw on an S Class was going to be used in every other car 15 years later.  It has been the spawning ground for countless innovations, and it continues to be with this new model.


#5 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class
Mercedes introduced the CLA to America with a reasonable base price to attract young buyers.  And that it did, which means every day on the way to school I see at least three.  It looks wonderful, has Mercedes quality and driving feel, and costs no more than a Ford Fusion.  Wonderful.


#4 Ferrari LaFerrari
This is my favorite of the hybrid supercars.  I don't know why, considering its rather silly name, and insect-like front end, but it is still a Ferrari, and it produces upwards of 900 horsepower.  That'll do it for me I think.


#3 BMW 4 Series
I know this is just a BMW sedan in the 3rd place, but this car, for, me is hugely important, especially the M4.  It looks great, drives great, and best of all, still retains it's BMW comfort and quality.  I know it is just an M3 with a new badge (essentially), but what's not to like?


#2 Chevrolet Corvette
Everywhere I look these days the new Corvette is winning "Best New Car of the Year" awards, and Road & Track's Performance Car of the Year Award.  This is all well and good, but I'd like to be different and give the 'Vette second place, purely because I still think in the end, the next car is better.


#1 Jaguar F-Type
People complain about the gas mileage and trunk space on the F-Type.  Who cares?  What person who just bought a $100,000 convertible sports car cares about that?  For me, the spiritual successor of the E-Type is in itself enough to be my first place car.  But when you learn about the incredible looks, sharp handling, awesome engines and a sound to rock the world, its a no-brainer, really.