Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul Is This Weekend's Top Gear Star insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul Is This Weekend's Top Gear Star

Yeah, bitch! The star of Breaking Bad and the upcoming Need For Speed movie Aaron Paul will be Top Gear's Star in a Reasonably Priced Car on this Sunday's episode, and he's in HOT PURSUIT of the top of the leaderboard.

For our friends in the UK, the episode will premiere Sunday night, but us yanks will have to (officially) wait until March 10th to see Jesse Pinkman tear up the track in the Vauxhall Astra. Hopefully Aaron and Jeremy will have good CHEMISTRY.

No bitch, unfortunately he won't be driving his Toyota Tercel from Breaking Bad that Travis drove a while back. In order to knock of the current leader Brian Johnson's impressive time of 1:45.1, Paul will have to have quite the NEED FOR SPEED and he'd better not be BRAKING BAD. Otherwise he'd be slow. Ideally, he wont be COOKING his tires, because he wouldn't have enough grip. If he does all this he probably shouldn't have a BAD lap time.

Who knows? He could have such a good lap time he'll become MOST WANTED by the former leaders.

He'll also need a good METHod for having the best line around the track. Get it? He was on a show about meth. Should I stop?

Photo Credit: BBC

Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul Is This Weekend's Top Gear Star

The Honda Insight Is Officially Dead This Time insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® The Honda Insight Is Officially Dead This Time

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It was a slow death, but the Honda Insight has been discontinued. For the second time in a decade. That's gotta hurt the little hybrid.

While I miss the old, weird first-generation Insight that died in 2006, this one isn't worth mourning. There are big reasons the Insight should've been axed and the way Honda dragged it out was just cruel. However, they did give it a send off of sorts.

Honda wrote an obituary, so I've decided to dissect certain excerpts of it because it was actually quite long for an announcement that they're killing it after this year.

02/28/2014 - TORRANCE, Calif.

Torrance is lovely this time of year, right?

Honda is reinforcing its commitment to a clear product strategy focused on further advancing fuel-efficient and alternative-fuel vehicle technologies that are better aligned with customer needs and that strengthen the company's U.S. sales momentum.

Keyed to the continued rollout of a new lineup of Earth Dreams™ Technology engines, transmissions and electro-motive technologies, the strategy will be executed over the next three to four years and will include changes to the Honda lineup of advanced technology environmental vehicles, including the Honda Insight. The U.S. model Insight will be available at Honda dealerships nationwide through the end of the year, with production scheduled to end in summer 2014.

Insight, we're killing you, but we're giving our other children CVTs. That's what all this means, right?

Honda's hybrid product direction in the U.S. will move forward with greater focus on expanded application of the innovative two-motor hybrid system. The two-motor system was introduced on the 2014 Accord Plug-In Hybrid and powers the EPA-rated 50 mpg city Accord Hybrid, which is the most fuel-efficient rating for a 5-passenger sedan in America.

See, we're doing it so much better now than when the Insight came on the scene. We don't need the Insight. And we're not going to mention the gas-only 2015 Fit will be almost as economical as the hybrid Insight.

The second generation Insight is the most affordable mass-produced hybrid vehicle on the market with a MSRP starting at $18,725¹, and an EPA fuel economy ratings of 41/44/42 city/highway/combined². It was introduced in the spring of 2009 and offered a unique blend of fuel-efficient hybrid performance, 5-door hatchback practicality, top safety ratings and a host of user-friendly features, including the first application of the Honda-exclusive ECO Assist™, a sophisticated feedback system that uses an adaptive color display to indicate overall driving efficiency. Long recognized as an affordable and practical hybrid vehicle choice for customers, the Insight was named a 'Greenest Vehicle' by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) for four consecutive years and a 'Top Choice' by Edmunds.com.

There was so much hope for it when it came out during an economic downturn because it was a cheap hybrid and initially had a lot of awards thrown at it. Then a little while later, the third-generation Prius came out. And we forgot about the Insight.

On the plus side, the CR-Z wasn't mentioned today. Let's take that as a good sign. And goodbye, Insight. Or better luck next time.

Photo: Getty Images

The Honda Insight Is Officially Dead This Time

It's Fine If Kia Sells The K900 Through Just A Third Of Its Dealers insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® It's Fine If Kia Sells The K900 Through Just A Third Of Its Dealers

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It's logical that an automaker's dealers would be thrilled to sell their biggest and/or most prestigious models. That's not happening lately. News the Kia K900 is only being sold at a fraction of Kia outlets sounds strange, but it isn't. It's actually smart.

Edmunds' report of only about 220 of Kia's 600-something U.S. dealers signing up to sell the K900 comes right after news that only half of Cadillac dealers are going to stock and service the ELR electric coupe. In both cases, dealers were being asked to pony up considerable chunks of change.

Kia is reportedly asking about $30,000 worth of dealership upgrades and staff training for the K900 to be on the lot. The "showroom kit," as it's referred to, sounds lovely:

The showroom kit includes dark wood inlays that are cut into the showroom floor, where only one car, the K900, will be positioned. The kit provides displays highlighting the car's exterior colors and trims, and an iPad-like device that offers a video showing some of the car's features.

Not $30,000 worth of lovely, mind you.

But those wood inlays represent an important point in the K900 and Kia's prestige ambitions. Honda, Toyota and Nissan required separate buildings to sell Acura, Lexus and Infiniti models. That's why there were, and are, relatively few of those dealers compared to their mainstream parent brands.

Kia, and Hyundai for that matter, don't want to go through the expensive gamble of launching whole new divisions, but they need to make sure only the best of their facilities have something as expensive as a K900. Kia's rapid growth means a lot of its facilities were built to sell GMs or Chryslers or whatever brand that rid itself of a lot of locations in the last few years.

More importantly, though, the K900 is being pitched as something luxurious, something exclusive against Kia's mainstream offerings. Having mainstream availability will hurt that.

As it turns out, 220 dealers getting wood inlays on the showroom floor is probably plenty.

Photo: Kia

It's Fine If Kia Sells The K900 Through Just A Third Of Its Dealers

Is Maserati Making An F-Type? insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Is Maserati Making An F-Type?

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At the Geneva Motor Show, Maserati will show the production Quattroporte Ermenegildo Zegna Limited Edition. We've pretty much seen it before. What is though is this concept car rumored to be their Jaguar F-Type fighter.

All Maserati is saying now is this:

The second premiere is the much anticipated concept car that will give a nod to the style of Maseratis of the next 100 years.

Maserati's latest strategy has been to surprise, so that explains why we haven't seen much leaked before the show. What we do know, and what other outlets have reported previously, is the company is plotting some kind of Porsche 911-priced car.

Given that Porsche, like Jaguar, is in Maserati's line of sight these days you can bet this concept will be something that will replace the current line of GranTurismo coupes and the GranCabrio in the coming years.

We'll find out in a matter of days.

Photos: Jaguar, Maserati

Is Maserati Making An F-Type?

No Sign Of VW Plant Expansion After Workers Said 'No Thanks' To UAW insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® No Sign Of VW Plant Expansion After Workers Said 'No Thanks' To UAW

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Two weeks ago, Volkswagen employees in Chattanooga voted not to unionize and become members of the United Auto Workers. So, uh, where are those plant expansion plans Sen. Bob Corker promised?

A little backstory: the VW workers rejected the chance to become UAW members after a heated battle by both the union, which is dogged by declining membership and relevance, and anti-union forces that included Republican politicians.

One of those was Corker, the junior senator from Tennessee, who promised at the last second that the plant wouldn't get to produce the upcoming three-row, seven-seat SUV probably based on the Volkswagen CrossBlue concept.

That SUV, designed for maximum American appeal, will be a really big deal for the U.S. and VW's lagging sales here, and thus a great get for the Passat-producing Chattanooga plant. But here's what Corker said on the eve of the vote, according to the AP:

''If the UAW is voted down they're going to come here immediately, within a two week period, and affirm they're going to build a line here,'' Corker told The Associated Press the day before the conclusion of the three-day vote.

''There is no way I'd put out statement like I put out unless I was 1,000 percent that it was accurate in every way,'' Corker said at the time.

Now, as that AP story points out, it's been exactly two weeks since the vote, and VW has made no announcements about where they'll expand the U.S. plant to build the SUV or send production to Mexico instead. What gives, Corker?

VW declined to comment to Jalopnik on the timing of such an announcement.

It's important to remember that VW has never said SUV production plans were in any way dependent on the union vote. Corker said that and then VW denied it; the state's governor also implied more jobs would come if the UAW was defeated. The UAW has filed an appeal with the National Labor Relations Board claiming these statements interfered with the vote.

And maybe they did, but my stance on this is that the UAW didn't prove their case effectively enough to VW's Tennessee workers in the first place, which made it that much easier for the anti-union side to prove theirs.

The fight definitely isn't over yet for either side. We're still waiting to see a variety of outcomes, including who gets to build the SUV.

No Sign Of VW Plant Expansion After Workers Said 'No Thanks' To UAW

How Sweden's Roads Became The Safest In The World insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® How Sweden's Roads Became The Safest In The World

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Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today we have reports from The Economist, Los Angeles Times and Wired.

And it isn't just because the Volvo V70 has long been one of the best-selling cars there. It's helped that Sweden is one of the world's richest countries, but effective road planning has been the key to preventing deaths.

In 1997 the Swedish parliament wrote into law a "Vision Zero" plan, promising to eliminate road fatalities and injuries altogether. "We simply do not accept any deaths or injuries on our roads," says Hans Berg of the national transport agency. Swedes believe—and are now proving—that they can have mobility and safety at the same time.

Perhaps an overlooked part of what makes the night of the Academy Awards happen. And a lot of other important nights for people.

The limos are gassed and the chauffeurs, GPS apps glowing from hand-helds, are plotting routes for Sunday's Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The drivers are the captains of a sleek, passing fleet of more than 1,200 cars and SUVs that will navigate police perimeters, barricades, bomb squads, helicopter searchlights, hundreds, maybe thousands of fans and probably a few stalkers lingering beyond the paparazzi flash.

The power Elon Musk seeks is, well, power. As we suggested this week, the plan for the Gigafactory to make 500,000 batteries by 2020 doesn't have to mean Tesla's going to make that many cars in that same year.

The same basic lithium-ion tech that fuels Tesla's cars also runs most of today's other mobile gadgets, large and small. If Tesla really produces batteries at the scale it's promising, cars could become just one part of what the company does. One day, Tesla could be a company that powers just about everything, from the phone in your pocket to the electrical grid itself.

Photo: Getty Images

How Sweden's Roads Became The Safest In The World

The One Thing You Should Do Right Now If You Own A Chevy Cobalt insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® The One Thing You Should Do Right Now If You Own A Chevy Cobalt

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As owners of 2005-2007 Chevrolet Cobalts, Pontiac G5s, Saturn Ions and other cars await the recall letters that should start arriving March 10, there is one thing they can do right now to reduce their risk of crashing: lighten their keychains.

GM is recalling nearly 1.4 million cars after a failure of the ignition system was found to be a factor in 13 fatal crashes. The automaker knew about the problem for nearly a decade before a recall order was issued a few weeks ago.

If you own one of these cars, you'll be able to get it fixed once you get your letter. But in the meantime, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and GM advise you to take stuff of your key ring, as that and bumpy roads can cause the ignition to switch off mid-driving, potentially also deactivating the airbags.

From a NHTSA statement:

NHTSA urges owners and drivers to follow GM's recommendation to "use only the ignition key with nothing else on the key ring" when operating the vehicle and seek the permanent repair remedy from GM as soon as replacement parts become available.

As I've said before, it's foolish to blame owners for crashes related to this defect, especially when GM never said it was a problem for the car in the first place; no one deserves to die in a crash because they had too much crap on their keychains.

But this is probably a good idea until the car gets fixed, and a good one in general, since a heavy keychain can often cause undue wear on the ignition system.

The recalled vehicles are the 2005-2007 Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G5 and Pontiac Pursuit (Canada); the 2003-2007 Saturn Ion; the 2006-2007 Chevrolet HHR; the 2006-2007 Pontiac Solstice; and the 2007 Saturn Sky.

The One Thing You Should Do Right Now If You Own A Chevy Cobalt

What's Better Than A Subaru That Can Drive On Water? insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® What's Better Than A Subaru That Can Drive On Water?

I'm sure this isn't what Subaru had in mind when they talked about "the beauty of all-wheel drive" many years ago, but a Legacy on water makes for an impressive and beautiful photo.

But what would be more impressive? Let's find out, with help from MonkeyPuzzle:

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"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied "tell me to come to you on the water". "Come", he said. So Peter dropped a gear, floored it, drifting past Jesus. It was epic!

Amen.

Top photo: Atle Rishaug via Facebook

What's Better Than A Subaru That Can Drive On Water?

This Is What Street Racing In Detroit Looked Like In The '60s insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® This Is What Street Racing In Detroit Looked Like In The '60s

Ah, 1960s Detroit. Such a simpler time for the first six years of the decade. (You know what happened in the seventh year, right?) Peer into this YouTube telescope of the past to check out some classic street racing on the city's Southwest side.

I didn't know this since this video was filmed 20 years before I was born, but apparently illegal street racing was OK (there are cops visible in this video) if you did it along streets that weren't as busy. Stecker Street between Michigan Avenue and John Kronk Street is just that street.

There are a bunch of strip clubs around that intersection now, but in the golden days it wasn't uncommon to see a bunch of American steel — and starters wearing suits and hats, apparently — going up and down the strip.

I'm willing to bet money at least one of those cars has survived today and now participates in the unofficial car shows on Belle Isle, like you'll see in this video below.

Hat-tip to Deadline Detroit via The Detroit News

This Is What Street Racing In Detroit Looked Like In The '60s

Texas Dealers: No Direct Car Sales, Even For Tesla's Gigafactory insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Texas Dealers: No Direct Car Sales, Even For Tesla's Gigafactory

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When you really think about it, what state wouldn't want to get Tesla's planned Gigafactory? That's 6,500 high-tech jobs and potential millions of dollars in tax revenue. But the head of the car dealers' lobby in Texas says the Lone Star State shouldn't have to change their laws banning direct car sales to woo Tesla there.

On CNBC today, president of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association Bill Wolters said he actually would like to see the factory go up in Texas, citing favorable business conditions there.

But he said he doesn't think Texas lawmakers should consider lifting their ban on direct car sales from the manufacturer — namely, Tesla — if that meant increasing their chances of getting the gigafactory.

Let's first note that Tesla has not said it will only locate the gigafactory in Texas if the state changes its car sales laws. But it would be silly for the factory to go up in a state whose residents can't buy the cars they go into at a manufacturer-owned store, which is how Tesla sells its cars. (Currently, Texans order their cars on the Internet, and can only get very little information when they visit Tesla stores; they also cannot do test drives.)

Wolters, however, ain't even care, saying dealers provide a greater economic benefit to Texas than Tesla ever could:

"It is very interesting that a company would come in and say give us your tax abatements, give us our incentives and change the law. You would think they would come to the state based on its own merits," Wolters told CNBC.

"Once you start letting the manufacturers sell direct, then all of a sudden the dealers I have in 163 towns of under 15,000 population, they disappear," he said. "All we would have is dealers in the major metropolitan areas with one price controlled by the factories. That is not good for anyone, certainly not 26 million Texans."

Emphasis mine because COME ON, BILL. It's unrealistic to think all dealer franchises would die off overnight and immediately get replaced by company-owned stores. They would probably co-exist and provide competition with one another, like they do in other countries.

What's the matter, Bill? You afraid of the free market?

Texas Dealers: No Direct Car Sales, Even For Tesla's Gigafactory

Enjoy 30 Fantastic Minutes Of Pure Porsche 911 GT3 Rally Porn insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Enjoy 30 Fantastic Minutes Of Pure Porsche 911 GT3 Rally Porn

It's Friday. Kick those shoes off, close that office door (or, if you have a cubicle, just be discreet), and watch this 30 minute clip of rally awesomesauce. You're welcome.

Can a 911 GT3 do jumps? Yes. Can a 911 GT3 go on dirt roads? Yes. Can it drift? Yes. Does it sound amazing? Yes.

What this actually looks like is a 996 911 GT3 with a 997 front clip, if you want to be specific. Not that it matters. It's amazing.

You weren't doing anything important. This is important.

Enjoy 30 Fantastic Minutes Of Pure Porsche 911 GT3 Rally Porn

Lamborghini Huracan: Everything You Need To Know insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Lamborghini Huracan: Everything You Need To Know

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The Lamborghini Huracan has a hybrid carbon-aluminum chassis, a clever all-wheel drive system that can send all the power to the rear tires, 3 gyroscopes, a dual clutch gearbox and a top speed of 201 mph. A light two-wheel drive version is almost certainly coming, too, but the manual is dead for good.

(Full disclosure: Lamborghini wanted to explain us how the Huracan works so badly that they flew me to Bologna, took us to the Museum and made sure I always had enough mozzarella in my body to function properly.)

Most of the Huracán's (with a silent 'h') specs have been out already, and you've also seen one of the four cars currently in the US going sideways. That's great, but what's better is when you have Lamborghini's CEO, chief engineer, chief designer, chief test driver and the smartest man from Audi standing next to it answering your questions. Their body language reveals more than the figures.

The Huracán is a brand new car that replaces the decade old Gallardo, Lamborghini's biggest success story. They built 14,022 of their first small car, and with the Huracán's pre-orders coming in nicely, there's no question that this is supposed to be the new bestseller in town.

To catch up with the competition, Lamborghini started with a clean sheet design and enough tech to make it what they call 'cutting-edge.' Realistically, there are only two technologies in it that could turn heads at Maranello, just a few miles south from the factory.

The first is the electronically controlled all-wheel drive system that uses a 70 rear/30 front torque ratio as standard but can send all the power to the rear or up to 50 percent to the front. This works together with the Pattaforma Inerziale, a measuring device placed in the center of gravity of the car with 3 accelerometers and 3 gyroscopes inside, adjusting everything from the ESP to gearbox to fit the actual conditions.

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The other big news is Lamborghini's hybrid carbon fiber/aluminum chassis, which uses CFRP for the firewall and the transmission tunnel that's glued and riveted to the aluminum space frame. If we won't see this in the next Audi R8, I'll eat only vegetables for a week.

The same goes for Lamborghini's long-awaited 7-speed dual-clutch automatic called Doppia Frizione. That sounds a bit like Neue Direkt Schalt Getriebe to me, but compared to the Aventador's single clutch that could snap a neck, it's going to be faster and smoother.

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The manual is dead because nobody wanted it in the last few years according to Winkelmann, and also because it wouldn't work with all the complex electric aids. By getting rid of the gated shifter, Lamborghini took care of the last thing that could make the car go slower: Humans.

This also means that if you happen to have a late Murcielago or Gallardo with a stick, hold on to it because it's uncommon as a solar eclipse.

And just like how there's only one gearbox, there's alsoonly one engine for each Lamborghini. The dry-sump 5.2 V10 has evolved again and thanks to getting stronger due to the forged aluminum and low-pressure die cast silicone alloy components, it now produces 610 horsepower and 413 foot pounds of torque, 75% of which is available from 1,000 rpm. Throttle response has been further improved and the redline is somewhere around 8,750 rpm. The combination of direct and indirect injection and start-stop as standard makes it 11% more fuel efficient than the Gallardo 560-4 too.

Despite all that carbon fiber, though, it's no featherweight. The Huracán's dry weight figure of 3,134 pounds is only true with a bunch of optional extras. Put some oil in it and you get further from being superleggera. Still, with a power-to-weight ratio of 2.33 kg/hp, it can still get to 62 mph in 3.2 seconds or to a 124 mph in 9.9. Not 10, 9.9. And it keeps going until 201. Around the Nardo test track, it's about 0.2 seconds faster than the most hardcore Gallardo for the road, the LP 570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale. Get a base Gallardo, and the difference is a more significant 2 seconds.

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The brakes are carbon ceramics and there's a new Pirelli P Zero just for the Huracán (305/30 at the rear), which means you can brake later and stop earlier than with the predecessor. That will come handy on the track, just like the 50% more downforce generated by a flat underside and a large diffuser. Lamborghini is very proud of not using any wings or active flaps like the ones "you see on other cars".

The suspension will likely urge you to go faster as well, with a double wishbone setup and (optional) magnetic dampers that are linked to the Huracán's brain. The brain in question can be instructed via a button on the steering wheel called Anima. It's Lamborghini's Manettino basically.

All other buttons moved to the steering wheel as well, with your indicators positions on the left side after studying how the human brain operates. I'm not kidding, they've done their homework.

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The instruments are all digital now. The screen behind the multi-function steering wheel is a 12.3-inch TFT piece powered by an Nvidia Tegra 30 chip giving you 60 frames per second for the rev counter. You can switch between different views as well including a full navigation display or a giant tachometer. There's also a small screen on the dash with the temperature gauges.

So, what's it like in the flesh? A bit like an updated Gallardo, and that's a good thing since everybody liked that car. It remains compact, there are some beautiful details once you get closer, it's a very clean design and the interior is something I could get used to very quickly. Like, in five minutes.

The best? The technologies involved and the standard engine cover shades (the glass remains an option). The worst? The understandable death of the gated shifter and the massive (but fake) chrome exhaust tips. There was a rolling chassis next to the car and the normal pipes would work perfectly well enough. But that's Audi for you.

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The Huracán is bit heavy though and while the new four-wheel drive system supports going sideways by sending everything to the rear, a base car without its weight could be even more fun.

I dare say they will build one again because after the question has been popped by Evo (who else?), after some fairy tales from the Lamborghini side, Professor Ulrich Hackenberg grabbed the microphone and settled the question by saying the the platform is engineered to work with rear-wheel drive as well. That's a yes in my book from the main man at Audi.

He was smiling, too.

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Lamborghini Huracan: Everything You Need To Know

The Newest Chevrolet Is A Daewoo Sold As Buick Reworked As Baojun insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® The Newest Chevrolet Is A Daewoo Sold As Buick Reworked As Baojun

What you're looking at is the newest Chevrolet family sedan, to be built for markets such as Egypt and India. Only it's not really a Chevrolet.

As China Car Times explains, these spied photos from Autohome.com.cn show that the car is actually a Chinese Baojun 630 with the super cool horse logo pried off and a gold bowtie stuck in its place. Only the Baojun is only a reworked version of the old Buick Excelle. Only the Buick Excelle isn't actually a Buick, it's a Chinese-market version of the old Daewoo Lacetti.

So you're looking at a Chevrolet that's really a Baojun that's deep down a Buick that's actually a Daewoo.

Man do I love the Chinese car industry.

Photo Credits: Autohome.com.cn

The Newest Chevrolet Is A Daewoo Sold As Buick Reworked As Baojun

Please Never, Ever Watch This Mitsubishi Car Dealer Rap Video insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Please Never, Ever Watch This Mitsubishi Car Dealer Rap Video

Don't do it no, please, help anything but, no oh no this is help please stop never again no please whyyyyy

'We Rep The SouthSide' comes from Southside Mitsubishi in Alberta. So, if you're looking for a car dealer that can spit hot fire, there you go.

Please Never, Ever Watch This Mitsubishi Car Dealer Rap Video

We're Jason Kelce And Connor Barwin. Got Any Questions? insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® We're Jason Kelce And Connor Barwin. Got Any Questions?

Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce and linebacker Connor Barwin are in the discussion section below, answering your questions. Connor wrote this, and Jason might lend you some money if you ask nicely.

Update: OK, Jason and Connor had to run. Thanks for stopping by to chat with them.

We're Jason Kelce And Connor Barwin. Got Any Questions?

Drug Lord Chapo Guzman Had A Very Appropriate Car Collection insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Drug Lord Chapo Guzman Had A Very Appropriate Car Collection

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Notorious drug kingpin and head of the Sinaloa Cartel Chapo Guzman had, until very recently, a fleet of 43 vehicles. The list of cars has now been released and it's, well, fitting for someone in his job position. Starting with a RENNTech SLR, a cop car clone, and an armored Jetta.

The Mexican Attorney General's office estimates the value of the collection at 21,800,000 pesos, or about 1,646,000 in American dollars. To my ears, that seems a bit low, considering the staggering amount of cars, and the staggering amount of those that were armored, which isn't cheap. The list includes:

- The aforementioned RENNTech SLR

- A Nissan GT-R

- A Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

- A Mercedes-Benz CLA 45 AMG

- A Dodge Charger "police clone"

- A Ford F-150 (Armored)

- A Ford F-150 Lariat (Armored)

- A Dodge Ram 2500 (Armored)

- A Volkswagen Jetta (Armored)

-A Volkswagen Eurovan (Not Armored)

The list goes on and on, with heavy favorites including armored pickups, armored Jeeps, Mercedes AMGs, and, OF COURSE, a Mazda CX-5.

Gotta have that zoom-zoom.

See the full list over at redpolitica.mx.

H/t to Joaquin!

Photo credit: RENNTech

Drug Lord Chapo Guzman Had A Very Appropriate Car Collection

[Russian armored personnel carriers are forced to stop on the side of the road after one broke down insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® [Russian armored personnel carriers are forced to stop on the side of the road after one broke down

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[Russian armored personnel carriers are forced to stop on the side of the road after one broke down in Bakhchisarai, Ukraine. They are reported to have been heading for the regional Crimean capital, Simferopol. Photo via AP]

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[Russian armored personnel carriers are forced to stop on the side of the road after one broke down

How Are We Doing? insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® How Are We Doing?

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Your City's Finest Truck Graffiti insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Your City's Finest Truck Graffiti

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New York City has given me a whole new appreciation for the talent some graffiti artists choose to bestow on the blank panels of box truck flatness. Who else has seen some excellent illicit truck art?

A square commercial truck is really the perfect canvas for an opportunistic artist. Where else can you find such big, open spaces without climbing up the side of a building? Besides, truck owners are often too busy to remove all but the most offensive tags, and the truck's delivery duties guarantee a lot of visibility.

Show us the coolest and most interesting expressions of emotion you've seen sprayed on the sides of commercial haulers.

Image: robzand/Flickr

Your City's Finest Truck Graffiti

This Subaru Driving On Water Is Not A Photoshop insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® This Subaru Driving On Water Is Not A Photoshop

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This picture of a Subaru parked in the middle of a lake isn't a Photoshop. It's very real and here's how it was done.

The car is actually standing on 50 centimeters (a foot and a half) of ice. You're looking at Lake Storvannet in Ballangen, Norway, which has been completely frozen over this winter. Recent heavy rains, however, covered the ice with standing water.

The owner of this Subaru, Atle Rishaug, took this picture and explained to NRK News that he simply drove his Subaru a little bit out onto the water-covered ice, parked, snapped a few pictures, and then drove back ashore.

It was never danger. The ice under is a half meter thick. There is also a special permit to drive at high water to and from properties, Atle Rishaug told NRK.no.

Rishaug posted the picture to the Ballangen Facebook page and replies have been pouring in, most notably Jesus jokes Rishaug has been laughing them up.

We're a bunch of buddies who like to find funny stunts, and this incredible sight was a gift, says Atle Rishaug.

You can see more pictures of Rishaug's little on-water expedition right here at NRK.no. And you can find Rishaug on Facebook right here to tell him all the Jesus jokes you want.

(Hat tip to Hoccy!)

Photo Credit: Atle Rishaug via Facebook

This Subaru Driving On Water Is Not A Photoshop

Who Says You Can't Drift A Pickup Truck? insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Who Says You Can't Drift A Pickup Truck?

As well all know, the cheapest horsepower you can buy today is in the form of a pickup truck. But they're not good for anything but towing and the quarter mile, right? Not this 454 Chevy S-10.

You can thank French-Canadian madman Maxim Lemoine for this LSX 1999 S-10 pro drift car build. According to this interview, he had tried to trade this truck for a Silvia and when that didn't work out, he just made do with what he had. He's a regular winner with this truck, which is quite impressive.

I can't get enough of this thing.

Who Says You Can't Drift A Pickup Truck?

You Won't Believe How Quiet The Tesla Model S Is Until You Hear It insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® You Won't Believe How Quiet The Tesla Model S Is Until You Hear It

Everyone makes a lot of noise about how silent the Tesla Model S is upon acceleration, but it's hard to truly grasp the degree of quiet until you hear it in action. The Model S in this video accelerates up to 120 MPH, and until the road noise takes over all you hear is a little "whir."

In any other car, even a little four banger, you'd be met with some sort of growl or scream or complaint from the engine. In contrast, this just sounds like a laser gun charging up.

Oddly enough, I've got no complaints there.

You Won't Believe How Quiet The Tesla Model S Is Until You Hear It

Formula One's Official Team Bargaining Chip Is Officially No More insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Formula One's Official Team Bargaining Chip Is Officially No More

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The continuous political circus that is Formula One hit a new milestone today, as the once and former Formula One Teams Association is no more. Fraught by bickering, infighting, and a lack of money (of course), the group decided to disband itself today.

Oliver Weingarten, FOTA's secretary general, said that it was basically because F1 is different than when it came about, via Autosport:

"I can confirm that FOTA has been disbanded, as a result of its members having re-evaluated their requirements in the face of a changing political and commercial landscape in Formula 1."

Beyond that, he seems pretty beaten up about it on Twitter:

Emotional day, tinged with sadness, because i genuinely believed there was a real need in current landscape for the Teams to work together.

— Oliver Weingarten (@OWeingarten) February 28, 2014

FOTA, as it's known, was originally created in 2008 as a way for teams like McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull to collectively organize and use their unity to negotiate commercial terms from a position of strength with flop-haired muppet Bernie Ecclestone.

They did pretty well, as these things go, at one point even promising to start their own breakway series. Even if they didn't actually go through with it.

Having (sort of) achieved its goals with a new Concorde Agreement, and faced with disagreements over a lot of things, but mainly new regulations, Ferrari, Sauber, and Red Bull all dropped out of the group in 2011.

With the most successful team in history not playing ball, and the most successful team of the past five years quitting, too, FOTA was kind of screwed. Throw in the fact that FOTA's chief, Martin Whitmarsh, was pushed aside at McLaren, and its days were numbered.

This can be all a bit inside-baseball for F1 fans, so for the casual reader, have no worry. F1 will still start in 12 days in Australia.

Probably.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Formula One's Official Team Bargaining Chip Is Officially No More

Why Engines Are Commonly Measured in Horsepower insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Why Engines Are Commonly Measured in Horsepower

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We owe this unit of engine power measurement to Scottish engineer James Watt.

In the early 1780s, after making a vastly superior steam engine to the then classic Newcomen steam engine, Watt was looking for a way to market his invention, advertising the fact that his engine used about 75% less fuel than a similarly powered Newcomen, among many other improvements.

At first, he tried selling his engine on a royalty scheme, where the customers would owe him one-third of the money they saved by using his engine over other steam engines. Of course, many at the time used horses, not steam engines, so it was difficult to compare without them actually buying the engine to see how it would perform for their particular usage. Thus, he scrapped the royalty scheme and decided to try a different tact to convince people to buy his engine.

Ever the inventor, his solution was to come up with a new unit of measurement that those in need of his engine understood -horse power, referring to powerful draft horses.

Thus, he set about determining how much power a typical draft horse could generate. It isn't known exactly how he came up with the numbers he did, as there are conflicting accounts of the experiments he ran. But after doing those experiments, he figured out a typical draft horse could do about 32,400 foot-pounds of work in 60 seconds and maintain that power rate for a good long workday. He then rounded up, going with 33,000 foot-pounds per minute for 1 horsepower.

So, in other words, by his estimation a good draft horse could lift 33,000 pounds of material 1 foot in 1 minute or 3,300 pounds of material 10 feet in one minute, etc .

In truth, that's a very generous estimate as very few horses could maintain that kind of power for a full workday, but getting a perfect figure wasn't that important to what Watt was trying to do. Further, by overestimating what a horse could do, whether intentionally or not, he made sure that his product would always over deliver what he said when trying to get people to buy it, which is a great word-of-mouth marketing trick.

In the end, Watt's engine was revolutionary and played a huge role in the Industrial Revolution. Thanks to this fact, his unit of measure of an engine's power, horsepower, also became popular. Funny enough, today the SI unit of power, the Watt, which was named in homage to James Watt, has widely come to replace "horsepower" in most applications.

If you liked this article, you might also enjoy:

Bonus Fact:

While Watt came up with the exact measurement of what would become "horsepower," he was not the first to propose the idea of equating a steam engine's power to a horse's. The first documented instance of this was suggested by British inventor Thomas Savery who wrote the following in a letter in 1702:

So that an engine which will raise as much water as two horses, working together at one time in such a work, can do, and for which there must be constantly kept ten or twelve horses for doing the same. Then I say, such an engine may be made large enough to do the work required in employing eight, ten, fifteen, or twenty horses to be constantly maintained and kept for doing such a work…

Image: Shutterstock/Gregory Johnston

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Daven writes for the wildly popular interesting fact website TodayIFoundOut.com. To subscribe to Today I Found Out's "Daily Knowledge" newsletter, click here or like them on Facebook here. You can also check 'em out on YouTube here.

This post has been republished with permission from TodayIFoundOut.com.

Why Engines Are Commonly Measured in Horsepower

What's The Most Audacious Car Theft In History? insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® What's The Most Audacious Car Theft In History?

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With a massive New Jersey carjacking ring in the news, I have to wonder was what the biggest car-theft operation in history?

Surely there has been a more outstanding car theft operation than shipping triple-digit numbers of luxury SUVs to West Africa. What stolen car ring do you think was the most audacious?

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

What's The Most Audacious Car Theft In History?

The Cheapest Horsepower You Can Buy Today insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® The Cheapest Horsepower You Can Buy Today

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Everyone is talking about the Scion FR-S like it doesn't offer enough power for the money. Here are ten new cars that may make you rethink that judgement.

This is a list of cars that charge you the least for each horsepower they provide. You'll see these cars judged by US dollar/hp, and the lower the number, the better. For instance the Scion FR-S starts at $24,700 and offers 200 horsepower, so that makes it $123/hp.

This top ten isn't an absolutely comprehensive list, but it gives you a sense of the market.

What you do notice as you go through all the cars is that the cost of horsepower isn't really a good metric for measuring performance car bargains. Cars that you might think as offering a good amount of speed for their price don't even factor in this list.

So consider this as a bit of a thought experiment, and see if complaining about a lack of power for your money is really what you should be griping about.

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10.) C7 Corvette

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$/HP: 111

Cost: $51,000

Power: 460

Nothing else on the market offers as much power for the price as the 2014 Corvette, right? Well, you'll be surprised by the car that just barely beats in how much you pay per horsepower.

Suggested By: Neon - Smart Stig, Photo Credit: Raphael Orlove

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9.) Nissan Versa

S $/HP: 110

Cost: $11,990

Power: 109

Ye, the Corvette's horsepower is just a smidgen more expensive than the horsepower offered by the lowly Nissan Versa. Things will only get weirder from here on out.

Suggested By: DeeVeeOus, Photo Credit: Nissan

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8.) Mazda Mazdaspeed3

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$/HP: 92

Cost: $24,200

Power: 263

Of all the hot hatchbacks on sale today, you get the most power for your dollar out of the torque-steer-your-arms-off Mazda. A Fiesta ST is $109/HP and a Focus ST is $94/HP, if you're curious.

Suggested By: Nerd-Vol, Photo Credit: Raphael Orlove

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7.) Shelby GT500

S $/HP: 82

Cost: $54,200

Power: 662

I have driven the GT500, and I can tell you from experience it is the an irresponsible amount of power not only for its price, but for the street at any price. That doesn't mean it's the cheapest power per dollar of the Mustang family.

Suggested By: TheCrudMan, Photo Credit: Raphael Orlove

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6.) Mustang V6

S $/HP: 74

Cost: $22,510

Power: 305

That honor goes to the lowly V6 Mustang. If you're wondering, this is about $15 per horespower cheaper than the Nissan 370Z and almost exactly $10 per horsepower cheaper than the Hyundai Genesis V6 R-Spec. A Mustang GT? A mere 50 cents more per hp.

Suggested By: offroadkarter, Photo Credit: Ford

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5.) V6 Camaro

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$/HP: 73

Cost: $23,555

Power: 323

Everyone was sure that the V6 Mustang would win this game, but it's the V6 Camaro that offers an ever-so-slightly better horsepower deal. That's not to say it offers more performance, since both these cars are beaten by a Mopar...

Suggested By: vroompshhh, Photo Credit: Chevrolet

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4.) Dodge Caravan V6 American Value Package

S $/HP: 71

Cost: $19,995

Power: 283

...minivan. Yes, get a V6 Caravan at its cheapest (almost certainly not pictured above) and you're getting more horsepower per dollar than any new sports car, supercar, muscle car or pony car on the market today.

Suggested By: thisistheemailiuseforcommenting, Photo Credit: Dodge

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3.) Dodge Avenger V6

S $/HP: 67

Cost: $18,840

Power: 283

All hail the Pentastar. There's actually a lot of debate going on about how cheap the Avenger SE with the V6 and four-speed auto combo is. The MSRP is just over $20 grand, I priced the car out into the mid nineteen thousand range, but reader ColoradoFX4 got it down to just $18,840 on the Dodge website (proof is right here).

This is the last year of this turd being on the market, so there is absolutely no doubt in my mind you could get one of these things for even less. The question is would you want to?

Suggested By: ColoradoFX4, Photo Credit: Dodge

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2.) Tata Nano

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$/HP: 61

Cost: Rs. 141,200/$2,278USD

Power: 37.4

If you happen to order yourself the cheapest Nano on sale, you can get the price below 1.5 lakh, though most are going for 2.36 lakh these days. The Nano is indeed the king of the low power/low cost game. That being said, it's the Land of the Free that beats it with big power, low price.

Suggested By: willkinton247, Photo Credit: Debarshi Ray

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1.) Ram 1500 Tradesman with the 5.7 V8

S $/HP: 57

Cost: $22,440

Power: 395

The clear winner in the cheapest horsepower on the new car market is base pickup trucks, and the hemi Ram with a six-speed auto is the cheapest of them all. Next time your friends whine that the FR-S doesn't offer enough power for the price, tell them to get one of these if they're looking for a performance deal. That should piss 'em off.

Suggested By: OldMarriedDull and Prius_Repellent, Photo Credit: Dodge

All that being said, there is an effective way to measure the cost of performance, and that's when you factor weight into the equation. Check out this list of cars as measured by dollar-kips/horsepower and you might find your best way of looking at performance bargains on sale.

But dollar per horsepower sure ain't the way to do it. Feel free to post your favorite performance car with the worst dollar/hp ratio below, just to hammer the point home.

Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!

Top Photo Credit: Dodge

The Cheapest Horsepower You Can Buy Today