Latest Lucid Air Dream Edition Review Proves That It’s Something Very Special

The all-electric Lucid Air may come from an automaker with no prior experience building cars but it has proven itself to be one of the finest electric vehicles on the market.

A bunch of journalists have had the opportunity to drive the Lucid Air over the past couple of months and most recently, the guys from Throttle House in Canada headed to California to put the Lucid Air Dream Edition Performance variant through its paces. They walked away from the review seriously impressed.

Powering this flagship variant of the Lucid Air are two electric motors that combine to produce 1,111 hp. It is the most performance-focused variant of the Air but it still offers a range of 471 miles (758 km). Those who don’t need all 1,111 hp can also purchase the Air Dream Edition in Range guise with 933 hp and 520 miles (837 km) of range.

Read Also: Lucid Makes The Very First Customer Deliveries Of The All-Electric Air

While testing the electric sedan, Throttle House notes that it feels like a luxury car first which is quite a bold statement considering the phenomenal performance that it offers. The Lucid Air also weighs several hundred pounds more than a Tesla Model S Plaid but despite that, it controls its mass incredibly well and offers up loads of grip and gives the driver heaps of confidence. Unlike the Model S Plaid, it also has a set of brakes that match the insane straight-line performance.

The Lucid Air has received a lot of praise recently and was even named as Motor Trend’s Car of the Year. Unlike some other electric vehicles, it has also started to reach the hands of customers and proves that while Tesla continues to dominate the EV market, it now has some serious rivals to worry about.

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It takes The Benz Patent Motorwagen More Than 1 Hour To Go Around The Nürburgring In Assetto Corsa

Mercedes-Benz is no stranger to wild lap times at the Nurburgring, but has it always been so? In a sense, yes.

YouTube sim racer and IRL race car driver Jimmy Broadbent recently decided to take the automaker’s first car and, indeed, the first gas-powered vehicle ever, the 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen, around the fearsome track to see exactly how deep in its DNA hot laps go.

The test is possible thanks to the Assetto Corsa modding community. User SATLAB is responsible for the project, which took place over the course of nearly 10 months. The car has been faithfully recreated for the racing sim, though SATLAB says that the nature of the endeavor led to some “bugs, or extra features…”

Read Also: Mercedes-Benz Selling A Replica Of The First Car It Ever Made

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The car cannot be played by the AI because it’s so slow that the computer stops immediately after the start of the race. The original car only made two-thirds of a hp (0.69 PS/0.4 kW), but it actually has 1 hp (1.01 PS/0.7 kW) in the game because any less and it wouldn’t have moved at all.

The result is a top speed of just 13 km/h (8 mph), which probably felt like a lot from the tiller, but does not look good when you consider that the Nurburgring is nearly 21 km (13 miles) long. The Motorwagen does have a secret weapon up its sleeve: neutral.

On downhill sections, Broadbent says that the car can just be popped into neutral and gravity can be allowed to help the car reach speeds Karl Benz could have only dreamed of. Early in the run, he’s able to more than quintuple the Motorwagen’s supposed top speed and hit 70 km/h (43 mph).

At those speeds, the dynamics are less than ideal.

“It actually turns very sharply, given that it has three wheels,” says Broadbent. “But it’s got a sort of, like, a Robin Reliant-style situation where you just go whoa! And you just go over. And that’s it.”

What goes down must come up, though, and the good work that gravity does helping the car down hills slows it to a crawl going up them. On the steeper inclines, the Motorwagen is stopped completely and Broadbent has to zigzag up, lengthening his lap time considerably.

In the end, it takes the car more than 80 minutes to do what it takes the fastest current Mercedes-Benz (the AMG GT Black Series) just 6:43 to do. That’s more than 100 years of progress for you, I guess.

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Tesla Model S Plaid Needs 15 Seconds To Run Quarter Mile In ‘Chill’ Mode

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The Tesla Model S Plaid has been in the headlines a lot in recent months and has established itself as the world’s quickest production car this side of the Rimac Nevera and Pininfarina Battista hypercars.

Importantly, virtually all performance tests you’ll see online of the Model S Plaid show it being driven in Plaid mode with the available Drag Strip Mode system enabled. Eager to see how his Model S would perform in the more relaxed ‘Chill’ and ‘Sport’ driving modes, YouTuber DragTimes headed onto the street for some tests.

Read Also: Tesla To Add $20,000 Carbon Ceramic Brake Kit Option For Model S Plaid

For the first test, he set a baseline with Plaid mode and Drag Strip Mode enabled, rocketing to 60 mph (96 km/h) in just 2.42 seconds and running the quarter-mile in 9.52 seconds at 148.58 mph (239.1 km/h). He then switched the EV into Sport mode. Doing so saw the 0-60 mph time climb to 3.51 seconds while the car then needed 11.14 seconds to run the quarter-mile with a trap speed of 129.36 mph (208.18 km/h). That’s still a quick quarter-mile time and just a few couple tenths behind a BMW M5 CS.

As for the ‘Chill’ mode, well it is exactly that. After pinning the throttle in this mode, the YouTuber is immediately amused with how much slower it is. It picks up speed very gently and ultimately needs a full 7.13 seconds to hit 60 mph and completes the quarter-mile in 15.27 seconds at just 93.81 mph (150.97 km/h).

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There’s Nothing Redneck About Jay Leno’s Rare OHC Pontiac Firebird Sprint

There are tons of reasons to love Pontiac’s Firebird, but for some people, the redneck image of the 1970s Trans Am versions can make the entire model line hard to love, even if some other Firebirds were nothing like as brash or crude.

Jay Leno’s 1968 Firebird Sprint is one such car. Here was a Pontiac pony car that had a closer kinship to fancy European sports car like the Jaguar E-type than machines like its F-body sister, the Chevrolet Camaro.

And the major reason for that was the surprisingly sophisticated engine under the hood. A 265 cu-in. (4.1-liter) straight-six with its valves driven by an overhead cam connected to the crankshaft by a toothed rubber belt, it was a world away from the pushrod V8s and sixes that powered most American cars of the time.

The OHC-6 was intended to be the star of Pontiac’s two-seat Banshee sports car, and although GM brass killed that project for fear that it might cannibalize Corvette sales, the six did find its way into the Tempest, Le Mans and, later, the Firebird.

Related: Which Classic Muscle Car Had The Best Badge Or Graphics?

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In base form for 1968, it displaced 4.1-liters, sucked through a puny one-barrel carb and made 175 hp. But stepping up to the Sprint-6 added free-flow exhausts, a high-lift cam, a higher compression ratio and a four-barrel carb, lifting power to 215 hp.

Unfortunately it also added a load of extra cost, making a Sprint-6 a Firebird that cost as much as an entry level V8 model, but still didn’t make as much power. You had to really want the more refined engine, and most people didn’t, or at least not enough.

And many Sprints have lost their engines in the years since, though fortunately these days they’re rather more appreciated. Leno added this one to his collection in 2019 after a long search, gave it a light restoration, and added some modern upgrades, including a five-speed transmission, to make it more enjoyable to drive in modern traffic.

The first generation Firebirds don’t get anywhere near as much exposure as their later brothers, and while the ’69’s pug nose is hard to love, the ’67-68 cars with their full width chrome grille surrounds are great looking cars.

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2022 Honda Civic Type R Takes To The Nurburgring In Anger

The forthcoming 2022 Honda Civic Type R has been filmed being pushed to its limits at the Nurburgring and looks very, very quick.

The new Civic Type R promises to be a significant improvement over the outgoing model, a car that has already established itself as the king of front-wheel-drive hot hatches. Honda’s eleventh-generation Civic is based on a new platform that’s stiffer than its predecessor while also having a slightly longer wheelbase and wider rear track. These upgrades alone should have a particularly profound effect on how the new Civic Type R drives.

Read More: 2022 Honda Civic Type R Hits The Nurburgring, Probably Has A Lap Record In Mind

All signs point towards the new car retaining the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder as the FK8 Civic Type R, albeit slightly modified to deliver a bit more than the curent 306 hp and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm). Adding even more horsepower and torque than this is never easy with a front-wheel-drive platform but given how well Honda’s engineers did in eliminating torque steer from the outgoing model, we suspect it can work out ways to add some extra grunt without any downsides.

Throughout this clip, a pair of camouflaged prototypes are shown lapping some of the most difficult sections of the circuit, including the famed ‘mini-Carousel’ where the car briefly jumps into the air, lifting one of its wheels off the pavement.

Honda will no doubt look to set a new production car lap record for a front-wheel-drive performance vehicle around the ‘Ring. The current record was set in April 2019 by the Renault Megane R.S. Trophy-R at 7:40.1. If the new Civic Type R can dip below the 7:40 mark, that would be a huge achievement, especially when you consider that the Megane R.S. Trophy-R is a stripped-down variant with front racing seats, no rear seats, and a roll bar.

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Slammed 2021 Cadillac Escalade Required Much More Than A Set Of Lowering Springs

It is quite a common sight to see modified Cadillac Escalades roaming the streets in the States. However, this is the first heavily-modified 2021 Escalade that we’ve come across.

The latest-generation Escalade is one of the most luxurious SUVs currently on the market with a price tag that can exceed $100,000 for a flagship model. Evidently, the Escalade’s value didn’t dissuade the owner of this example from equipping it with a host of modifications.

Read Also: Cadillac Buyers Are Spending Over $102,000 On Average For The 2021 Escalade

This example is owned by a guy named Jake McKiddie who was recently interviewed for the Ridiculous Rides series on the Barcroft Cars YouTube channel. It may simply look like a lowered Escalade but much more work has gone into it than fitting a set of lowering springs.

Images from the build show that the chassis was completely removed from the SUV and totally rebuilt. It has also been equipped with 30×9 front and 30×11-inch rear wheels and an air suspension system that means it can be dropped so low that both the front and rear bumpers actually hit the ground. A set of enlarged Wilwood brakes have also been installed to better complement the massive 30-inch wheels.

Significant changes had to be made to the SUV’s interior to make this all work. In fact, a large chunk of the trunk is now taken up by the pronounced wheel wells, dramatically reducing cargo space. However, from the second row forwards, the interior of this Escalade is relatively stock.

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1980s Supercar Icons Showdown: Lamborghini Countach Vs. Ferrari Testarossa

If you grew up in the ’80s and were into cars, there’s a good chance you had one of two cars (or maybe both) as a poster on your bedroom wall: the Ferrari Testarossa and the Lamborghini Countach. But which was the best in real life?

That’s the question at the heart of this video from 888MF, which pitted a 1986 Countach LP 5000QV against a 1988 Testarossa to find out what they are like to drive on the road.

Although the Ferrari has been driven much less, showing only 8,000 miles (12,875 km) on the odometer, it feels like the car you’d prefer to drive day to day. It might be a little less visually striking than the Lamborghini but it’s a much more mature vehicle.

Read Also: Lamborghini Built A New 1971 Countach LP500 Prototype From Scratch For A Collector

With build quality that befits its price tag, a quiet engine, good visibility, and predictable handling, the Testarossa is a remarkably easy car to drive. The gated shifter does take some getting used to, but the rest of it just feels like a normal car. And a good one at that.

The host says he’d be ready to take it across a continent if he had to, something he’d be much less willing to do in the Countach. With somewhat questionable build quality, absolutely appalling visibility, and braking performance that doesn’t inspire confidence, the Countach is a much less civilized affair.

There is an advantage to that, though. On a short drive, it makes much more of an impact than the Ferrari. It’s loud, it’s heavy, and it looks wild. It’s an absolute showboat of a car and if you just want to experience something fun for a little while, it’s peerless.

Whereas the Ferrari is a real grand tourer that you might actually drive, the Lamborghini is more of a showpiece that you use to impress your friends. Today, as it was for the children of the ’80s, the Countach remains, essentially, the automotive poster child of that wild decade that, if you can afford it, you can have in your garage instead of on your bedroom wall.

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A Look Inside The Kia Dealership In New Jersey That Sells Lambos, McLarens, GT-Rs And Other Exotics

Last week, we reported on a Kia dealership trending online that stocks all kinds of luxury, sports, and exotic cars alongside their normal inventory. Naturally, we were curious, so we went to check the dealership out in person, and the story as to why those cars are there was so much more than we could have ever expected.

Some of the highlights of Kia of Riverdale’s inventory include three Lamborghinis, four McLarens, four Porsches, five AMG’s, five BMW M Cars, seven Audi RS cars, two Nissan GT-Rs, and a Tesla Model S Plaid. If luxury’s more your thing, they also have two Bentleys, a Maybach, four S-Classes, and a G-Wagen. The Kia dealership’s most expensive car, a Lamborghini Aventador SV, is listed for a whopping $475,999.

More: This Kia Dealer Augments Their K5s And Sportages With Bentleys, McLarens And Lamborghinis

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How It All Started

We spoke with Jeremy Rochelle, the dealership’s owner, as to how all these cars came to be here, and the answer was actually quite interesting. As it turns out, his dealings in exotic cars started around 15 years ago as an independent business, and it wasn’t until only a few years ago that he and his two partners decided to start selling them out of real dealerships.

Rochelle chose Kia for his dealership because he personally likes where the brand is headed (and we’d be inclined to agree), while his partners chose others like Nissan, Infiniti, Mitsubishi, and Volkswagen. He said that while the exotic car business was already in place and planned when he bought the dealership, the scale to which it’s grown was totally unexpected, and attributes the success to a combination of smart acquisitions, an ideal location, and the current state of the market.

It’s Simply Good Business

Rochelle and his two partners are set up in various locations across New Jersey, Florida, and Ohio, specifically so they can cover a wide range of demographics. All sales are data-driven from extensive research on market trends, and as a result, Rochelle says he would consider buying almost anything so long as he feels he can make a return on his investment.

To keep up with everything, Rochelle has a dedicated vehicle acquisition team at the dealership, and he and his partners are constantly swapping cars and data to maximize their success. And it seems to work, as sales for these high-end cars, at least at Kia of Riverdale, account for between 14 and 20 percent of their monthly turnover. On top of that, that figure only accounts for cars that sell for $100,000+, which means it’s likely even higher when you factor in cars like the AMG’s, M’s, and RS’s, which are under $100,000, but obviously don’t qualify as “normal” by any stretch of the imagination.

See Also:  Brand New 1970s Toyotas Abandoned On Dealer Lot In Cyprus

Customers Value Low-Pressure Environment

So while on the surface it may appear that the cars are just there on some sort of consignment or are just being used to draw eyes to the dealership, they actually get sold as regular inventory, meaning that the experience of buying a McLaren from Kia of Riverdale is no different than if you were to buy a Sorento from them. Given that, you’d think this type of purchasing experience for these high-end cars would turn some people off, but Rochelle says it’s actually the opposite.

Many of the dealers where these cars are typically sold sometimes have a perceived stigma of ‘un-approachability’ surrounding them, so by selling them out of something like a Kia dealership, Rochelle aims to make the buying experience much more inviting. He says that many people who are in the market for these cars actually value the low-pressure environment created by his dealership, and most figure that if the majority of their vehicle’s servicing will take place at its respective brand’s dealership anyway, who cares where it’s purchased from?

Regarding any skepticism about the vehicles’ condition, each and every one of them must pass a full mechanical inspection from their respective manufacturer’s specialists before Rochelle and his team even consider selling them. That being said, not all jobs get outsourced to other dealerships, as probably one of the most surprising things about Kia of Riverdale is that they actually have a Lamborghini technician on site for certain repairs. A white Huracan was being worked on at the time of our visit, so we got to witness the rare sight of a Kia Telluride being serviced 10 feet away from a Lamborghini.

Read: The Sad Story Of The Swiss Dealer Who Mysteriously Hoarded Over 110 Brand New Cars For Decades

Has Anyone Traded In An Exotic For A Kia?

Nearing the end of the visit, there was still one more question on our minds that we felt had to be asked: Has anyone traded in a Kia for any of the exotics, or vice versa? According to Rochelle, the answer is no, at least not yet. In the end, the fascinating story behind this dealership went so much deeper than we could have ever expected, and we’d like to thank Jeremy Rochelle, James Morando, Henry Lopez, and the rest of Kia of Riverdale for taking their time to help us tell it.

Video and Photo credits Andrew Gutman for Carscoops.com

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A Special Car Like A Brand New Brabus Rocket 900 Needs A Special Paint Protection

Brabus is building just 10 examples of its insane Mercedes-AMG GT 63 4Matic+ based Rocket 900 and the owner of the first unit to be delivered recently headed to a UK specialist to have the paint finish protected.

This particular Brabus Rocket 900 started out life painted in a typical gloss black finish but the owner brought it over to Topaz Detailing to be fitted with a satin paint protection film (PPF).

While it would be easy to opt for a satin black wrap on a super sedan like this, typical vinyl wraps do not provide the same kind of protection as a dedicated PPF. Typical films like this are gloss but Topaz also offers matte and satin finishes.

Read More: Brabus Rocket 900 Will Hit 205 MPH And Is Capped At 10 Units

A number of the original glossy exterior parts have been retained. For example, the carbon fiber wheel covers retain a gloss finish, as do the wing mirrors, front splitter, grille, rear diffuser, and rear wing. The roof also remains in gloss black. Topaz also went to the effort of adding some paint protection film to certain interior parts that would otherwise be vulnerable to normal wear and tear.

To transform the GT 63 4Matic+ into the Rocket 900, Brabus has increased the displacement of the twin-turbo V8 from 4.0 to 4.5 liters, while also fitting a bespoke billet crankshaft, new piston rods, larger forged pistons, unique turbochargers, a new forced induction system, and a carbon fiber ram-air intake. When combined with a recalibrated ECU and a stainless steel exhaust, the car now pumps out 888 hp at 6,200 rpm and 922 lb-ft (1,250 Nm) of torque from just 2,900 rpm.

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British Thieves Used A $27,000 Device Disguised As A Nintendo Game Boy To Steal Cars In Seconds

Three car thieves have been arrested in the UK after stealing five Mitsubishi Outlanders with a device disguised as a Nintendo Game Boy.

Authorities arrested 29-year-old Dylan Armer, 33-year-old Christopher Bowes, and 31-year-old Thomas Poulson after they were caught on a security camera stealing a Mitsubishi Outlander from a driveway in Scholes on July 20.

Read Also: The FBI Says Motor Vehicle Thefts Rose 11.8 Percent Last Year

The video shared online by the BBC shows the men using the device to unlock the Outlander before reversing out of the driveway with it. Local police were able to use the video to identify the men and tracked them down.

While searching one of the cars owned by a thief, the police discovered the fake Nintendo Game Boy, complete with a fake Supreme case. The device was apparently stored in a secret compartment in the car and is allegedly worth around £20,000 ($27,000). It allows users to unlock cars and then start them and had been specifically coded to crack into Mitsubishi Outlanders. Police also discovered a video that showed one of the men demonstrating how the device works.

“The utter disregard they had for the victims, whose hard-earned vehicles were whisked away in seconds, is totally apparent from the flippant tone heard on the video footage we recovered from one of their phones.”

Armer has been sentenced to 30 months prison while both Bowes and Poulson were handed 22 month prison sentences, suspended for two years, for their involvement in the thefts.

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