Not To Anywhere. Not For Anything.

"When was the last time you just got up and went for a drive? Not to anywhere, not for anything, just for a drive? See, motorcyclists do it all the time, so why don't human beings?" -- Jeremy Clarkson

NYIAS 2011: FPH wrap-up Pt. 1

Like most auto enthusiasts, I've been going to car shows on a yearly basis for as long as I can remember.  The gleaming sheet metal, new car smell, and the future promises held by concept cars are absolutely intoxicating.  As exciting as all that is, nothing prepared us for our first media day at the New York International Auto Show.

Join The Dark Side

LeMans Blue, British Racing Green, Blue Water, Black Sapphire, Alpine White, Palladium Silver, Indium Grey, the list of color choices is endless. Sure, all of these colors are great, but let's get down to the basics, the nitty gritty. I'm thinking of a color that's bare bones, yet it's something that invokes a raw feeling: Flat Black.

We don't see many vehicles on the road this color, but when we do, oh man! Luke, we're sorry, but FPH is turning to the Dark Side!

Battle at the most important premium segment

N-thusiast X-tinction Part 2

Look down at your center console (now at me, now back to your console...damn Old Spice commercials).  I bet there's at least 3 things that you notice right away.  There's the shifter, a cup holder probably, and the hand brake.  This last item goes by many names.  There's hand brake, parking brake, and emergency brake, or e-brake for short.  I've decided that e-brake will from now on mean "enthusiast brake."  Let me explain after the jump.

My Mazdaspeed 3

Enjoying the warm weather!

I'm done with midterms! Sunny 73 degrees! Wow, it's as if I've forgotten what 73 degrees feels like.

Though this would be the first weekend I'll get to enjoy the warm weather, the race season has already begun without me last week.

Bahrain kicked off a season that looks to be more dramatic than the season before (for all the good reasons). A significant rule change in F1 dictates that teams are no longer permitted to refuel after the start of the race. In the past, both teams and F1 fans could have calculated pit times to predict where each team will eventually finish. However, Last week displayed blazing pit stop times of less than 4 seconds on average for the replacement of tires only and losing only 2 positions in the process. To that end, where the driver will join and reform from exiting the pits is no longer significant.

Other than the redesigned rule for this season, we now see that there are four teams vying for the championship-- Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes Benz. Let's hope tight racing continues for the rest of the season.

The other racing series I'm excited about is ALMS this weekend at 12 hours of Sebring. The last few years have displayed some outrageous racing in the closing laps, most notably with the GT class Porsche Flying Lizard Team. Will they win again?