Oh great, just what we need, another SUV. Even if it’s small, and a BMW, I’m not sure if America needed more option on its SUV menu. Anyway, it’s official per the folks at BMW, the X1 small SUV will be in America by 2011.

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The race season is now into full swing as we have already completed the first 3 rounds of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup. There is currently a four week break between my last race in Utah and our next event in Ohio on the Father’s Day weekend.

One question I get asked a lot is “What does a race car driver do when they are not at the track”? In my last blog I talked at length about the realities and trials that each young driver must face in regards to the business side of auto racing. So much of a driver’s time is taken up with that. But there IS more to racing than just driving and business.

Take for example the fitness side of things. At first glance, one would think that being a driver means you simply have to sit in a seat and steer a wheel. Admittedly I used to be under that impression as well until I got into the sport. But I quickly realized after my first season of racing karts that if I were to move up to the fast 125cc machines, it was going to be a necessity for me to begin physically training. Continue Reading…

BMW is finally doing something they should have done a long time ago: Add all wheel drive (what BMW calls xDrive) to their top of the line 7 series. Their 3 and 5 series has it, why not the 7? What, rich people don’t need more traction? They don’t drive in snow or something … one way or the other, BMW has seen fit to give its top of the line AWD, and the technical details are, as always, interesting, and very German.

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To coincide with their expansion to new models, Lexus just announced that they will be offering a 20% discount on all equipment from their F-Sport accessories line, up to $2,000 ($10,000 worth of merch) for the month of July.

The F-Sport program, in case you haven’t heard of it, is designed to allow buyers of the Lexus IS (and now the IS C and GS) to add dealer-installed sport accessories to their cars. This program has been open to IS customers since early 2008, but just recently expanded into the IS C (convertible) and GS line. For the IS, the available upgrades include better brakes, clutch, engine cover, exhaust, performance air intake, quick shifter, shock set, lowering springs set, chassis brace, sway bar set, 18- and 19-inch forged wheels, floor mats and shift knob. In other words, a poor-man’s Lexus IS-F. Continue Reading…

When you hear the name “Bentley” what do you think of? If you’re like most people, me included, “young” is not the fist word to spring to mind. Sure, Bentley is less stodgy than their used-to-be sibling Rolls Royce, but they’re still not the kind of company you’re going to associate with hanging out with the cool kids.

Bentley is aiming to change that, and they’re starting with young engineers.

OK, here’s the deal, half of it is one of those corporate feel good things, they’re aiming to inspire school pupils’ and teachers’ interest in science, math and engineering by having a team of Bentley Motors’ Graduates attend the Rockingham Festival, an event organized by the Learning Grid (an education organization). And the other half, naturally, is to hook’em young. Continue Reading…

Back in 2001, when the Diablo was the only car that Lamborghini made, they made a decision to make the car only available with all-wheel-drive. Apparently they liked the idea, because no Lambo since then has been offered in RWD. Until now.

The LP550-2 will be considered the base model - which will be modified from the excellent Lamborghini LP560-4. As you can tell from the name, the new Lambo will produce 550 horsepower, all routed to the rear wheels. I’ve always found RWD cars to be more fun than their AWD counterparts, so I’m particularly impressed with this decision. Continue Reading…