Driving sensations, not just specifications
I fell in love with the BMW M2 when I drove the little beasty at BMW’s Performance Center West. The twisting training track at the Performance Center West became a playground where I freely chucked and slid the M2 through the corners. I discovered that BMW’s littlest M car is a joyous creature, one that… Continue reading Review: 2019 BMW M2 Competition
The Civic Type R is my second rental car for my Nürburgring vacation. Like yesterday’s Renault Clio RS 200, I picked the Civic because it is FWD, so it should be stable and safe even in the wet. (It rains a lot at the Nürburgring.) As the Type R has 50% more power than the… Continue reading Review: RSR 2018 Honda Civic Type R
I rented a third-generation (2005—2012) Renault Clio RS 200 from Ringfreaks.de for my first ever Nürburgring track day. The car was a fully prepared race car that seemed like an excellent introduction to the Nürburgring for several reasons. First, I intended to share the car with my brother and do as many laps as possible… Continue reading Review: Ringfreaks Renault Clio RS 200
Our rental car for our trip from the Frankfurt airport to the Nürburgring is a 2019 Audi A5 Sportback 40 with the S package. Decoded, this means our Audi is a four-door hatchback with a gasoline 2.0L turbo engine, FWD and Audi’s sports suspension. It is a good-looking car, and reasonably spacious too. The S… Continue reading Review: 2019 Audi A5 Sportback 40
I’m going to admit that I’ve been a Tesla Model 3 skeptic. My skepticism wasn’t based on driving experience with Tesla, but rather umbrage over the grandiose and over-promising proclamations from Elon Musk. I try to under promise and over deliver in my life, while Elon has a tendency to do the opposite. What I… Continue reading Review: 2018 Tesla Model 3 Mid Range
Curiosity, disappointment, acceptance. These are the emotional stages I went through when receiving a 2019 BMW X3 xDrive30i as a dealership loaner. You see, I’d hoped to draw the X3 M40i, a giggle-inducing SUV I briefly sampled last year and an SUV which seems honestly ready to romp on a mountain road. The xDrive30i? It’s… Continue reading Review: 2019 BMW X3 xDrive30i
It has been four years since I last took my 2011 BMW M3 to the track. I remembered that my M3 was good on the track, but I forgot exactly how good it is. The track is truly the M3’s spiritual home. Today’s track day was at Thunderhill on the 3-mile track (CCW with the… Continue reading 2011 BMW M3 at Thunderhill
After years of making dynamically excellent sedans and a financially excellent (for GM) large SUV—the Escalade—Cadillac is following the money and rolling out new small and midsize SUVs. The smallest of this new litter is the XT4, a compact SUV that fits between BMW’s X1 and X3 for size and price. The XT4 is sharply… Continue reading Review: 2019 Cadillac XT4 AWD Luxury
From the get-go of the Model 3, Tesla put a target on the back of the BMW 3-series and aimed to make a better compact luxury sedan. The Model 3’s price range of $35k to $71k mirrors the BMW 3-series, and the two cars have similar passenger space, performance and handling capabilities. Did Tesla really… Continue reading Comparison: 2019 Tesla Model 3 vs. 2019 BMW 330i
The king is dead! Long live the king! After seven years of the F30 BMW 3-series, BMW has delivered the next generation 3-series, code-named the G20 chassis. The reboot is very welcome. The F30 was decidedly “meh” upon its release and only improved incrementally in its mid-cycle update. My chief complaint about the F30 was… Continue reading Review: 2019 BMW 330i
