The Ten Best Versions Of Terrible Cars insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® The Ten Best Versions Of Terrible Cars

Carmakers will always make mediocre products, but we'll forgive them so long as they give us one great version of a platform. Maybe it's a new engine, suspension, interior, or all the above. Here are ten cars that exceeded their humble origins.

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10.) Opel Kadett GSi

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The standard Kadett wasn't a godawful car, but as JayHova explains, the GSi was something people actually wanted to own:

The Opel Kadett GSI 16V. You might know it as Pontiac LeMans, Daewoo Racer or Isuzu Optima. But instead of less than 100hp (which the most powerful of these versions had), the GSi has 150, a reworked suspension and even a comparatively nice interior with Recaro seats.

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Suggested By: JayHova , Photo Credit: M.Peinado and Wiki Commons

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9.) Buick LaCrosse V8

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How to turn Florida's favorite into a sleeper? With a bit of chrome, and a V8 of course!

The last-gen Buick Lacrosse was a car that no one lusted after, but the 2008-2009 Buick Lacrosse Super was the best of the worst. It was the first time that GM had ever dropped a V8 into the Lacrosse, and at 300hp, it was a bit of a sleeper. A 300hp V8 sedan for under $34K? Not too shabby. But it was still a Lacrosse.

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Suggested By: Jagvar, Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

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8.) Volkswagen New Beetle RSi

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The New Beetle was all about cute styling appealing to female buyers. The RSi was a different animal. 220 horses and all-wheel drive made sure of that.

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Suggested By: Gamecat235, Photo Credit: Tom Burns and Wiki Commons

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7.) Shelby GLHS

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Carroll Shelby looked at the miserable Omni, put a turbo under the hood, and named it the Coyote. Chrysler didn't like the name, so they changed it to GLH. That stood for 'Goes Like Hell'. They had to add 'S'More' when the 175 hp Shelby GLHS variant came out in 1986.

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Suggested By: Arch Duke Maxyenko, a Dyslexic, Photo Credit:y DVS1mn

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6.) Ford Taurus SHO

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There's something about the 220 hp SHO Taurus...

v70RRRRRgh: I owned a white one for a few months and it was actually a pretty fun car, engine was fantastic...everything else kinda sucked though. add the fact that it looked like a police car everyone on the highway would move to the right lane and slow down when I came up behind them.

02BMW530: I had a 1st gen (90) and 2nd gen (93). Both were 5 speeds. To tell you just how good it is, I sold the 90 to make room for my 530i (considered one of the best all-around cars of all time) and I still miss my SHO. There was a certain mechanical connect you don't get nowadays.

TheMyth, aka Dart Hoarder: I actually just test drove a V8 last week. Sweet motor, great power, and actually handled really well for being a FWD family car. Alas, this particular car had shit tires and wheels with curb rash, and the AC went out on my test drive. The seller (my friend with a used car lot) wouldn't come off the price and would only fix the AC (in his defense, it would've been an even trade with my minivan) so no sale. Though I'm still arguing with myself over it.

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Suggested By: meccapanzer, Photo Credit: order_242 and dave_7

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5.) MG ZT-T V8

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MG took the rather boring and unreliable Rover 75 Tourer, and gave it a 4.6L Ford Modular V8 with rear-wheel drive. Meet the MG ZT-T V8. Don't ask about reliability.

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Suggested By: Unquantified, Photo Credit: Wiki Commons and FotoSleuth

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4.) Porsche 924S and 924 Carrera GTS

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The Porsche 924 made you a Porsche owner. The 924S was where the fun started, as angryenoughtopost explains:

I used to own a 924S, that I bought off the street, on a whim, in a "oh shit, I need a car and I can afford this one" type of situation, not really knowing anything about the model except that it was front-engine, rwd, water-cooled and stick shift. I didn't start doing any actual research on the car until after I already bought it. I saw tons and tons of hate on the internet about the 924, saying that it was underpowered, not a real Porsche, blah blah blah, but I didn't really see anything about the 924S. So, after a little digging, what I came to find out was that they had a few thousand old 924 bodies laying around, and instead of scrapping them, they decided to bolt them onto 944s, downgrade the interiors, and sell them for $17,995 as the 924S, only in 1987 and 1988. What a lot of people didn't realize, is the lighter, simpler body actually wound up making the 924S a bit faster than the 944...... not much faster, but a bit faster. Either way, it was a great car, excellent alternative to an RX-7 or an old Miata. The car was 20 years old when I got it, and it gave me three years of loyal service.

Still, the ultimate version is the road legal GTS, with 280 proper horses. The bus-engined original 924 has nothing on it.

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Suggested By: angryenoughtopost , Photo Credit: cosmic_spanner and Firing up the quattro....

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3.) Dodge Caliber SRT4

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The Caliber didn't make any sense. The 265 hp SRT4 with a six-speed manual changed that.

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Suggested By: ezeolla, Photo Credit: Janitors and MSVG

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2.) Chevrolet Cobalt SS

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Chevy took the blunt Cobalt and supercharged it so that it could punch way above its weight.

Amazing what a supercharger and a tuned suspension can do.

Indeed!

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Suggested By: Kate's Dirty Sister, Photo Credit: Grant.C and IrisDragon

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1.) Buick GNX

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One is an underpowered G-body. The other is a legend.

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Suggested By: With.a.G, Photo Credit: Travis Isaacs and Generaal Gibson

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: Travis Isaacs

The Ten Best Versions Of Terrible Cars

Interviews from the Subculture: Juan Capo insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Interviews from the Subculture: Juan Capo

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When I was a kid, I remember driving through Atlanta with my family on our way to Florida. It was dark and the lights on the side of the highway illuminated a car pulling up on our left. The lights played over the bright green paint and I lifted my head from the window sill to look up at a Chevy Caprice. It wasn't too long before we saw another one and another one and another one. All brightly-colored and riding on impossibly big rims. It's hard to forget the first time you see a donk.

Born in the Miami, the term donk came from the Impala's logo which someone, somewhere at some time thought looked surprisingly like a donkey. The term stuck, but it also means other cars that are not Impalas from a certain period of time are not donks (If would like to know the other classifications of hi-risers, check out this link). A hi-riser is any car large, American sedan or coupe that has been modified with large rims and a lifted body. They are usually brightly colored, and occasionally themed. It's claimed that they are the most hated car culture, but I think there's room for everyone who loves cars.

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Juan Capo owns a donk, and a pretty unique one at that. His lifted Camaro is a new twist on donks, and he took a little time to answer some of my questions about donks and why everything I just said in the last two sentences is wrong:

TheSupremeLou: I'm going to start with the obvious question: How big are your rims?

Juan Capo: My wheels are 32'' Starr wheels 32 x10.

TSL: How much is the car lifted to fit those?!

JC: The car is lifted 12'' total 4'' body lift & 8'' suspension lift.

TSL: What else have you done to your car? Is it all for show or are there some performance parts under the hood?

JC: Well to put 32s on such a small coupe took a lot more than just a lift. I had to upgrade the steering, transmission, gears, drive shaft, bearings and install an upgraded tuner chip for extra HP. My car also has a 6,000-watt music system which consist of 2 15'' kicker solobaric l7s as well as all upgraded mids, high speakers and tweeters. It also has chrome halo projector lights, a custom white upper and lower grill and HID Lighting.

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TSL: What first attracted you to donks and the car scene?

JC: I was first attracted to the donk and the car scene when I was about 6 years old. Living in Little Havana, I used to be playing outside my grandmother's house with my friends, and used to see these outrageously painted cars with big wheels and loud music always driving by. It was then when I decided I would build the biggest, baddest one as soon as I was of age to drive.

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TSL: Are there any unforeseen problems with your car being lifted so much? Have you ever run into a low overhang at a drive thru window or something along those lines?

JC: No unforeseen problems with being so high because my car is a coupe and even lifted as high as it is, it's still not as tall as most trucks. Good things about being so high are easy oil changes, and you don't have to worry about floods or running something over lol.

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TSL: It seems most people who have donks tend to go for older American cars to modify, but you've got a new Camaro. What made you decide to go with a new model instead of something classic like a Caprice?

JC: Everybody chooses old school classic cars when it comes to building a donk. Miami is the originator of these donks and classic cars lifted on big wheels. You can drive through South Beach and see these things back to back every color, every size and style wheel possible. So when I had the chance to build a car like no one has ever seen I chose a new style body. It's a new age and, although the Donks will always be a part of our culture, I wanted to raise the bar when it came to the game. It's much less costly to buy a 1971 Chevy impala for $5,000 and put new paint, wheels, interior, and music into it than it is to buy a new car alone with no mods. Being that Donks are Chevy's I went and built what in my eyes would be a more modern day Donk. You can drive down any hood in Miami and see these classic Donks all over the place. But there is only 1 of my car roaming the streets of Miami.

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TSL: What type of reactions do you usually get when people see your car?

JC: The reactions are crazy; Everyone wants a picture of it or with it. I had to put all limo tint on it because every time I take it out people just don't stop taking pictures of it and try to talk to me about it. I once had a little kid no older than 6 or 7 say, "God daaaaam" when I drove past him lol his mom didn't like the comment too much and gave him a bop in the mouth, but he stayed with a smile on his face the whole time.

TSL: If you don't mind me asking, do you know how much you've spent modifying your car?

JC: Just in mods and man hours of work I have over $20k into it and Around $50k into it including the car.

TSL: All I can say is: God damn. How does your girlfriend feel about you spending so much money on a car?

JC: No girlfriend No problem.

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TSL: Any big plans for the future?

JC: My current project and plans for the future are the same concept except a 2014 Camaro convertible on 32'' wheels as well. It's in the making right now and will probably be released at the beginning of the new year.

TSL: What would be your advice to anyone who feels like their rims just aren't big enough, even if they're scraping the wheel well?

**JC: **My advice to anyone who feels that their rims aren't big enough even though they scrape the wheel well is lift it go higher and go bigger. I always used to feel like my wheels weren't big enough so I just went higher and put the biggest size sold to this date. I no longer have the feeling that my wheels are not of size.

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You can find more of Juan's ride on his Instagram page @ibeenpaid_on32s

Interviews from the Subculture: Juan Capo

Bro Steals Truck, Kidnaps Woman, Rams Cars, Blames It On GTA V insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Bro Steals Truck, Kidnaps Woman, Rams Cars, Blames It On GTA V

You know, bro, Grand Theft Auto V is pretty badass. But sometimes it's not enough and you gotta try that shit in real life by stealing a truck, kidnapping an innocent lady, and then ramming some parked cars. Know what I mean, bro?

At least, that's the excuse this bro, 20-year-old Zachary Burgess, gave to police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana after being arrested on charges of motor vehicle theft, nine counts of hit-and-run, and kidnapping, according to this NBC 33 report.

Police in Baton Rouge say Burgess — a freshman lacrosse player at Auburn University in town for a game against Louisiana State University — walked up to a running truck with a woman inside near the LSU campus around 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 21 and stole it with her still inside.

Burgess, forcibly holding the woman captive, attempted to flee the parking lot, but several cars blocked his exit. So Burgess did what anyone would do in this situation: he began ramming into the cars with the stolen truck, police say.

The woman managed to jump out of the truck and get to safety, but Burgess drove away and later abandoned the truck. He was held by some witnesses until police took him into custody. He was later released on bond, which was set at $80,000.

When asked by police why he did what he is accused of doing, Burgess reportedly said he “wanted to see what it was really like to play the video game Grand Theft Auto.”

Didn't work out so well for you, did it, bro?

Photo credit NBC33

Hat tip to Carscoops!

Bro Steals Truck, Kidnaps Woman, Rams Cars, Blames It On GTA V

The Interior Of The 2015 Cadillac Escalade Is Like A Fancy Bookcase insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® The Interior Of The 2015 Cadillac Escalade Is Like A Fancy Bookcase

The 2015 Cadillac Escalade will be revealed next Monday, but because you aren't allowed to reveal anything these days without repeatedly teasing it, we now have the first look at the new Escalade's interior. Not bad.

As expected, the interior incorporates Cadillac's Cue multimedia interface, which isn't the worst system in the world but also isn't the best.

The rest of it is better. There is leather and wood everywhere, which means it'll be like sitting inside a really nice bookcase. I definitely mean that in a good way.

We're also hearing that the exterior of the Escalade looks insane, so here's hoping it lives up to everything we've been told and the headlight that we've seen. Here's also hoping that we weren't lied to. We'll see for ourselves on Monday.

The Interior Of The 2015 Cadillac Escalade Is Like A Fancy Bookcase

The Aston Martin Cygnet Is Dead And Now We Want One insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® The Aston Martin Cygnet Is Dead And Now We Want One

It was fun to laugh at while it lasted. But reports from Autocar and others reveal the most ridiculous city car you could buy in the UK, the Aston Martin Cygnet, is no more.

Which means it's now the most fantastic small car out there and you should all buy one some day.

Aston Martin introduced the Cygnet back in 2009 by pretty much buying Scion iQs from Toyota and sticking a grille inspired by a DB9 and some quilted leather seats and plush fabrics inside and charging buyers roughly three times what an iQ would cost. They wanted to sell 2,000 of them a year, but Autocar says only 143 are on British roads now. Clearly, they missed the target.

Everyone laughed at the Cygnet the whole time it was alive. It was a fair point. What was a company like Aston Martin doing by marketing a woefully overpriced Toyota? Why should we care about a thing that's only alive to lower a company's emissions average?

The Cygnet is now the most awesome buy out there. Sir Stirling Moss bought one (shown at the top), so it gets a little street cred there. It's a totally obscure piece of automotive history – so obscure that even Aston Martin has completely hidden reference to it from their website. Jalops like an underdog and a forgotten stepchild when it comes to cars. Yes, it only has a 1.3-liter four-pot that makes 94 sad horses in the iQ, but it's more of a laugh than any other Aston Martin ever made. Except for a Lagonda, perhaps.

A quick search of eBay Motors' UK site pulled up three Cygnets for sale, ranging from roughly £21-30,000. Still pricey, but a bargain for something this rare. The fact it wasn't really made by Aston Martin might add some confidence to long-term reliability prospects, too.

Cygnet, we hardly knew you, but you made us laugh.

Photo: Flickr/Paul Robertson

The Aston Martin Cygnet Is Dead And Now We Want One

FR-S Owner Catches Guy Dumping Dog Crap On His Car insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® FR-S Owner Catches Guy Dumping Dog Crap On His Car

First off: who does this? What sort of jackass goes out of his way to collect his dog's feces, gingerly carry it across the street, soft widdle hands shielded by a plastic baggie, and then dump it on a total stranger's car? Again: who does this?

This video was sent to us by one of our Manhattan-area readers, and the car is an FR-S. He got tired, somehow, of finding steaming piles of dog crap on his car, so he placed a dash cam in the car to catch either the human jerk or weirdly fetishistic dog.

I asked if there was any possible justification for why this guy is dumping dog shit on his car — not that any reason would justify this sort of cowardly, callow act, but still. Here's what I was told:

I work in the Google building at 8th ave and 15th street. Yesterday morning I came out to find a large wad of shit sitting on my car. Now, sometimes the homeless will use the space between cars as a toilet stall. Originally I thought this would be a video of a homeless guy upgrading to the first class toilet (score!)

No such luck. Probably just an angry automotive fan. Never seen him before and can't think of anything I've done to warrant his attention. There's no doubt he went out of his way to target my car, but that's not my usual spot and I haven't had a vandal incident in a few months.

Over the years I've had several cars vandalized here. My miata had a brick thrown through the windshield in two places, cigarettes placed on the roof to burn through.

I've also seen plenty of other cars messed with in the same area. In one case, every mirror on every car for four blocks had been smashed off. So far the FR-S seems to attract more problems. In other areas (far from here) it's been egged, splashed with liquids, spit on.

Possibly one of those most hated cars out there? The forums are filled with vandalism stories.

I'm pretty baffled. Aside from the inherent wrongness of messing with someone's ride, why pick on an FR-S in particular? They're relatively small and unobtrusive on a city street, they're not particularly expensive or showy, they're a blast to drive — what's the trouble here? Is there something I'm missing?

Or maybe Admiral Houndcrap there is just a colossal dickhead.

FR-S Owner Catches Guy Dumping Dog Crap On His Car

This Is What It's Like To Drive A Car At 633 MPH insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® This Is What It's Like To Drive A Car At 633 MPH

This Friday marks the 30th anniversary of Richard Noble breaking the world speed record at Bonneville in 1983 with the Thrust2 blasting through the salt flats at 633.468 mph. Now, his team aims for 1,000 mph with their latest record car, the Bloodhound SSC.

The British team started the Thrust2 project with £175 in their pocket back in 1979. But that wasn't their only problem. After successful trials in the UK, they went to Bonneville in 1981 only to find it washed out. The next year, Bonneville was under two feet of water once again. The team improvised and continued at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, a dried out lakebed that offered 12 miles of perfectly flat baked mud which perfectly suited their solid wheels. But guess what: after a few runs, it started raining. The British were followed by their clouds.

The team returned in 1983 and made 11 runs as they learned how the car handled at speeds above 600 mph. After the record was set, when asked why they did it, Noble famously replied: “For Britain and for the hell of it.”

So, if traveling between 300 mph to 550 mph in a car actually feels boring, and stopping from 633 mph is like being sucked into the earth, what will it be like to brake the 1,000 mph barrier with the latest car? Still, if somebody can do it, it's this team.

Richard Noble went on to direct the Thrust SSC campaign which, in 1997, culminated in RAF fighter pilot Andy Green becoming the first person to break the sound barrier on land. Their record of 763.035 mph still stands.

It's worth noting that Richard Noble will be here, Friday afternoon, answering your questions LIVE on Jalopnik. Better get those questions ready.

This Is What It's Like To Drive A Car At 633 MPH