“We need to run your numbers before you can drive the GT S,” the courteous salesman tells me. I hesitate. “Oh.” Do I trade my personal information for a test drive in the Mercedes-AMG GT S? Yes, yes I do. “Alright, what do you need to know?” I’ve had a crush on Mercedes-AMG’s GT line since I… Continue reading Test Drive: 2016 Mercedes-AMG GT S
My 911 love has been inconsistent. I fell head-over-heels for the sonorous and soulful 2005 (997.1) Carrera S, but that lusty flame was extinguished four years later when I drove a 2011 (997.2) Carrera S and found it to be too imprecise and understeer-prone for my sports car cravings. The 2015 (991.1) Carrera S was… Continue reading Test Drive: 2017 Porsche Carrera
Disappointed with the 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera S’s discordant rear-engine dynamics, I book a test drive of a 2014 Porsche Cayman S. I’ve sampled 987, 981 and 982 generation Caymans on prior occasions and found them dynamically excellent. Perhaps I’m a mid-engine man? Sadly, my 981 Cayman S test drive starts out on the wrong… Continue reading Test Drive: 2014 Porsche Cayman S
When I reserved my airport rental, the tiny GIF showed a Porsche 911 Carrera of the 991.2 generation. While not the latest-and-greatest, seat time in the base 991.2 Carrera sounded fun. I’d get my first taste of the 911’s electric steering and turbocharged engine, try to fit my 4-year-old’s car seat in the 991’s enlarged… Continue reading Review: 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S
After six years and eight months, I am finally out of extended warranty on my 2011 BMW M3 Competition. The M3 has been, by far, the highest-maintenance vehicle I’ve ever owned. How needy was the M3? I’ve owned it for 65,123 miles, 6 years and 10 months, and in that time the M3 needed $43,706… Continue reading Long Term: 2011 BMW M3
No one buys a sports car because they need one. Such purchases are emotional. Equally true is that no one needs a V8 sedan or a Baja-ready truck for the commute and daily errands. Yet, so many people buy extreme vehicles for mundane duties. Case in point: My brother-in-law uses his 2019 Ford F-150 Raptor… Continue reading Review: 2019 Ford F-150 Raptor
When BMW originally introduced its M Sport line of cars and SUVs, it felt like an exercise in trickle-down badge-o-nomics. The M Sport treatment tarted up BMW’s standard models with M-inspired fascias, seats and steering wheels. More recently, BMW developed the M Sport lineup to bridge the comfort-focused base model BMWs and the hard-edged—and expensive!—M… Continue reading Review: 2020 BMW M340i
“Location, location, location.” This overused real estate mantra is shorthand for the idea that two identical houses in Bel Air, CA and Birmingham, AL have vastly different values. Well, the mantra applies to automobiles as well. As I’ve just learned, two identical BMW X3 M40i’s can be either pleasures or curses depending on their locations.… Continue reading Review: 2020 BMW X3 M40i
This November, I had a frustrating track day in my 2011 BMW M3 at Sonoma Raceway. While it was a beautiful day with a dry track, a quick run-group, and a purring M3, the best lap I could manage was over 2 seconds slower than my personal record at Sonoma Raceway. I left the track… Continue reading Performance Driver 3 at the Sears Point Racing Experience
Well, that was quick! In a blink of an eye—seven months to be exact—our Tesla Model 3 has accumulated 10,000 miles. We love the fleet, frugal and tech-forward Model 3 as much as ever, but we have discovered a few things about the car, and ourselves, that we’d like to share. To our surprise, we… Continue reading Long Term: 2018 Tesla Model 3 after 10k Miles
Mike's Steering Column 