This Race Between A Nissan 370Z And Flying Men Is Odd But Entertaining insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® This Race Between A Nissan 370Z And Flying Men Is Odd But Entertaining

Despite its honking exhaust note, no one can deny that the now-cheaper Nissan 370Z is a fantastic performance bargain. But one question has always dogged me: is it faster than two guys who jump off a mountain wearing wingsuits?

What, you've never wondered about that? Weirdo. Anyway, Nissan finally decided to settle this for, uh, me with a new video that pits a Nismo 370Z against two expert wingsuit flyers as they both go down Switzerland's breathtaking Susten Pass in their own unique ways.

The Z is piloted by 2012 Nissan GT Academy Champion Peter Pyzera, while the lead wingsuit man is world-renowned BASE jumper Dave Barlia, who hits speeds of more than 130 mph as he descends 4,501 feet.

Remember, kids, don't try this at home. Don't come crying to Jalopnik if you break your leg because you jumped off your house with a bedsheet tied to your back trying to beat your buddy's 280ZX Black Gold edition down the street. That's not on us.

This Race Between A Nissan 370Z And Flying Men Is Odd But Entertaining

How Detroit Artists Will Make Car Designers Battle In The Streets insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® How Detroit Artists Will Make Car Designers Battle In The Streets

What happens when street art, breakdancing and a car show all happen on the same grounds? A launching pad for what could become the next great Detroit automotive experience.

Trying to keep up with the art scene in this city is an exercise in patience. There are those who get the lion's share of attention (hello, RoboCop statue) and then there are those you see around events from time to time trying to make their way through.

The Grand River Creative Corridor, a relatively tiny strip of Grand River Avenue that calls to mind Little Five Points in Atlanta, is where you can find up-and-comers and veterans alike mingling and developing. Passers-by see graffiti; look closer, especially peering around corners and behind buildings, and you'll see modern interpretations of what Detroit's capable of.

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This weekend on the corner of Grand River and Calumet, not too far from historic Woodbridge, I stopped by DIM Battles, an exhibit for artists and gearheads to meet on common ground.

The setup was this: Artists were given canvas and spray paint to re-imagine car logos like Ford's Blue Oval or the Mopar symbol. Enthusiasts who brought their show cars to the event were judged by panel of designers in the field. All the while, there are breakdancers in between the engine roars and paint fumes.

It's a decidedly unpolished event, and that's the point. No corporates involved (although ZipCar was on hand to sign up new recruits), no onlookers from around the neighborhood turned away. No finger foods; just a food truck selling mac and cheese on one side and two older women selling chips and hamburgers on the other.

"These are cars built by regular people," Dino "D.J." Valdez, a designer with Heavenly Dogs, tells me. "These are the people who are in it because they love it."

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There's a modded Kia Optima with South Korean badging, a lime green BMW M3 with black matte accents next to a Toyota Cressida with mismatched wheels. Camilo Pardo, the former Ford GT designer who now runs his own shop, pulls up in his own creation next to a black '63 Lincoln Continental.

Pardo was a notable get for this event as organizers try to bridge a gap between Detroit's underground artist scene and the mainstream auto industry. This is the third year for DIM Battles, which has a low-key event for the summer. In the winter during the North American International Auto Show, the goal is to get designers from automakers to loosen up for the kind of sketch battles (maybe not so much the breakdancing, but who knows?) seen here at this weekend's events.

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A few companies, including Lincoln, Audi, Volkswagen and Fiat have shown early interest. "All the best designers from those companies, they all come together and battle it out on sketches," Brook Middlecott Banham, whose namesake outfit Middlecott Design hosted the event, says. "(It's) an Olympics of sketching, a World Series."

To boot, the event will be held far away from Cobo Hall and right here in the Grand River Creative Corridor at Kunsthalle Museum, which opened three years ago in a former bank.

Mainstream car companies may be involved, but Banham wants to keep it as underground as possible — nothing "jacked up on sponsorship tables," he says.

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If you've been to Detroit's auto show, particularly on press days, you know how stiff it can be. The guys in suits are beyond rehearsed, the displays are blindingly white, the food is bland and unsatisfying. The freestyles and grunge here is a definite contrast.

"I'm tired of the Eames, the Bauhus, all this mainstream stuff? I mean, come on — let's do some underground stuff. It can't get much more underground than this stuff."

For more information on DIM Battles, click here.

Photo credit: Alex Conley for Jalopnik.

How Detroit Artists Will Make Car Designers Battle In The Streets

Little Alfa Romeo 4C Sets A Seriously Impressive Nurburgring Time insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Little Alfa Romeo 4C Sets A Seriously Impressive Nurburgring Time

The Porsche 918 Spyder went around the 'Ring in 6:57. Compared to that, the Alfa Romeo 4C's 8:04 lap is about a week long. But that isn't really the case.

Porsche's 918 is an ultramegasuperOMGcar with a price tag of nearly $1 million. It has to be that fast, because anything slower is a disappointment. The Alfa 4C is a $54,000 sports car. It competes with the more powerful and expensive Porsche Cayman S, which set a lap time of 7:55.

8:04 puts it in the same realm as the E92 BMW M3 and Jaguar XKR-S. That's seriously impressive for a little lightweight car with a little 1750 cc engine taking on the big boys.

Supermodel good looks and speed. Way to go Alfa, you didn't build Anna Kournikova.

Little Alfa Romeo 4C Sets A Seriously Impressive Nurburgring Time

What's The Toughest Border Crossing In The World? insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® What's The Toughest Border Crossing In The World?

Some border crossings are as easy as showing a passport and getting on with your day. Others are slightly more involved....

It's a fairly open question as to which border crossing in the world is the very toughest. What might seem to be a fairly straightforward border crossing (like the US and Canada near Niagara Falls) can turn into a Kafkaesque episode (when the Canadians don't understand why someone would drive crosscountry for fun and you end up in interrogation for a few hours, not that I know that firsthand).

However, there are some border crossings that are unequivocally tougher than others, and they tend to be located in the more remote, more troubled, more bribe-friendly parts of the world.

What border crossing do you know to be the most difficult? Your stories are welcome.

(QOTD is your chance to answer the day's most pressing automotive questions and experience the opinions of the insightful insiders, practicing pundits and gleeful gearheads that make up the Jalopnik commentariat. If you've got a suggestion for a good "Question Of the Day" send an email to tips at jalopnik dot com.)

Photo Credit: US Customs and Border Patrol

What's The Toughest Border Crossing In The World?

Biker At Start Of Terrifying Range Rover Attack Arrested insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Biker At Start Of Terrifying Range Rover Attack Arrested

Yesterday the world saw a Range Rover driver run over a number of motorcyclists, sparking a massive chase through NYC that ended in the SUV driver getting beaten in front of his family. Now the police have arrested the motorcycle rider at the very start of the incident.

28-year-old Christopher Cruz can be seen in the video (and in the screenshot above) in a white t-shirt slowing down in the middle lane of the West Side Highway, right in front of the now-famous black Range Rover driven by 33-year-old Alexian Lien with his wife and two-year-old in the car. Cruz got hit by the Range Rover for this brake check and was later hospitalized and released for minor injuries, reports the New York Post.

The police have since arrested Cruz and thrown the book at him, effectively marking him responsible for the half-hour chase that ended with Alexian Lien beaten and his car smashed. Police charged Cruz with reckless endangerment, reckless driving, endangering the welfare of a child, and menacing, reports the New York Post.

What's worst about this whole incident is that much of it seems to stem from a number of misunderstandings. According to motorcyclist Rene Towles present during the ride and later interviewed by the New York Times, the bikers who surrounded Lien's Range Rover after Lien rear-ended Cruz didn't intend to be violent at all.

“No biker became aggressive with the driver after the incident,” said Mr. Towles, who belongs to a Brooklyn motorcycle club. “People were just trying to find out what just happened.”

This quote specifically refers to when Lien first hit Cruz, not later stops that ended with Lien getting beaten.

It's also in this first stop when Lien takes off for the first time, which is when one rider got his legs broken, according to earlier police reports. One Facebook group titled "Justice for Jay Meezee," however, claims that the rider was named Jay Meezee (pictured below in the purple shirt on the green motorcycle), and that his injuries extend far beyond broken legs.

Broken Spine, Broken Ribs, Crushed Lungs, Busted Aorta and the list is endless! Currently in a Coma and Paralyzed from the waist down!!

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Justice for Jay Meezee also posted the following two pictures of Meezee in the hospital.

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(Hat tip to williamforte and McMike)

Photo Credit: LiveLeak

Biker At Start Of Terrifying Range Rover Attack Arrested

Best of Oppositelock: September 30, 2013 insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Best of Oppositelock: September 30, 2013

Gathered here are the Oppositelock posts that people put a good deal of effort into writing over the weekend and Monday. It includes an ode to the VW camper van, a Lamborghini that time forgot, the Aston Martin Virage/Vantage and more.

Yes, the T2-gen Type 2 – the last classically styled Volkswagen live-in trim microbus – has finally bitten the dust, set to cease production in Brazil later this year. The axing of an old car rarely tugs at my heartstrings, and the Camper Van should lend little exception; it was introduced by VW in 1951, far before my time, and the last thing a sports car enthusiast should care about is a 29hp split-window panel van. But, while never a dream car, the Camper Van was the car of my dreams.

[A lot] of you saw Rush last [weekend], and I'm certain you have some opinions about it. I thought it would be interesting to aggregate these opinions and see what the average Jalop auto enthusiast thought about the movie compared to the average non-enthusiast.

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As a wee lad growing up, I had my walls decorated with the usual allotment of posters. But I made it a point to seek out those magical creations from stuttgart to fill my wall space. The 911, 928, 944, 956, 962, and 917 rotated on my walls as I was growing up. It didn't help that my dad was a porsche tech when I was young. It was like having an addict working for pfizer or bayer. But when I got older, I happened upon one of these in a dimly lit corner of a European specialist repair shop. I have forever felt like I wasted some wall space because of it.....

After our jaunt down under we're back in Europe for the final three rounds of the championship, starting with a return to tarmac in France. France is the final all-tarmac event of the season (Spain's first day is gravel) and has been known for its share of dramatic moments. With the return to tarmac and the return to Europe comes the return of the WRC's winningest driver, as Sebastien Loeb straps in one more time for what is to be his final WRC event ever, his swan song in front of his home crowd.

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Between the gorgeous Astons of the 1960s such as DB5s, often remembered for being driven by hairy chested men boasting triple digit names, and their striking newer cars like the DB9 or V8 Vantage, it’s easy to overlook some of their underdogs from between those periods. Enter the Aston Martin Virage built through the 1990s...

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Today, my mercedes is having its 500th day living in my home! So I think she deserve a review. I got when my boss told me to get a better car. Then he told me to visit his friend, a coal businessman, that was bored with his W140 and needed something new. I think i like it better than the other cars on my list, the BMW 530i E60, and the Jaaaaaaag XJ 3.2 Sport. Why? Because V12.

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1980’s world was normal life punctuated by big hits of excitement. Concerts began to sell out stadiums! Normal concert halls or bars were not enough. Pot turned to Cocaine! Normal highs were not good enough. Cars widely became turbocharged! N/A was not enough. Yep, everything we knew was boosted instantly when we were dissatisfied so why not boost our TV shows!! Television and life took a big jump embracing all things turbo charged. TV or drugs, a boost had to be there or we didn’t care.

Welcome to World War Oppo, where two similar cars yet different from each other battle it out and you decide on who wins. Today, we take a look at a Japanese twin, one that is down-right boring and one that is surprisingly cool: the Honda Civic, international vs. European spec.

The Best of the Rest

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505Turbeaux found some great old F1 photos. MR2_FTW did a photoshoot with his Cressida wagon and MR2. McMike attended Cars & Coffee in Great Falls, VA. Rabbitman took his wife to meet some celebrities and saw some cool cars. SteyrTMP made some videos on his drive home in his Locost. NinetyQ took the '52 Buick for a drive before it turned a little incontinent. SnapUndersteer drove his e36 M3 in an HPDE session around Mid Ohio. 71MGBGT shared some photos of his 'turbopumpkin' WRX. TwinTurboBMW's dad bought a Volvo P1800s. BiTurbo228 drove a Peugeot 106 GTi. JawzX2 bought a Fiesta ST. Drunkenup2 bought a e92 335i. Doodon2whls spotted a 1938/39 Plymouth Jubilee P6 on the street in colonial New Castle. Hermann saw some interesting cars.

As always, If I've missed something and you would like me to include it, let me know.

Fun Discussions

There were several posts that asked questions and sparked some good discussion over the last day. Take a peek and chime in on some of them listed below:

Just the #tips

Honourable Mentions

These posts have already been shared with Jalopnik directly but deserve to be mentioned again because they were first posted in Oppositelock:

Want to participate on Oppositelock? Check out the general handbook for posting on OppositeLock as well the Oppo tools to help you get started.

Best of Oppositelock: September 30, 2013

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