Cars
Dan Wheldon dies in horrific crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Oct 16th
Two time Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon died today in a lap 12 crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the Izod IndyCar Series season finale. The crash, which included 15 other drivers, was one of the most horrific on-track incidents I have ever seen. This type of crash has always been IndyCar’s worst nightmare; A high speed track that was built for stock cars, with 34 open wheel cars that can reach speeds in excess of 220 MPH wrecking near the beginning of the race when all of the cars are nose to tail. Simply horrifying.
Yes, motor racing is a very dangerous sport, and yes every time the drivers step into their cars they know that what happened today is a possibility, but that doesn’t make it any less shocking or sad when a tragedy such as this occurs. The remainder of the race was cancelled and the remaining drivers conducted a 5 lap tribute in Wheldon’s honor.
Dan Wheldon was a fantastic racer who loved what he did, he will always be remembered for his friendly smile and jubilant victory celebrations.
33 years of age is too young to die. My thoughts and condolences go out to his wife Susie, his 2 year old son Sebastian, 7 month old Oliver and the rest of his family and friends.
R.I.P. Dan Wheldon (1978-2011)
R.I.P. Dan Wheldon
VIDEO: This is what happens when you break the record time at Pikes Peak. Monster Tajima kicks ass.
Jun 28th
The only think that Pikes Peak king, “Monster” Tajima, wanted to do on Sunday was break the 10 minute mark at the historic hill climb in Colorado.
He didn’t just break it, he killed it, coming in at 9:51!! And that was with the car overheating and spitting out water all over his tires.
Crazy.
Lucky for us Tajima was sponsored by GoProHD, the fantastic HD camera that attaches to pretty much anything, and caught the whole thing on video from the roof of his car.
Check out the fantastic video below.
VIDEO: This is what happens when you crash at Pikes Peak. You fall off a cliff.
Jun 27th
Woah!!
This is what happens when you crash while racing up Pikes Peak during the famous Hill Climb TT.
Luckily for the #44 car of Bobby Regester yesterday he crashed almost perfectly and didn’t sustain any serious injuries. It could have been much worse. The car didn’t even flip, it just spun around like a top.
That’s some pretty crazy stuff. Thankfully for us, a quick fingered spectator caught the crash on his camera. Check it out below.
Jackass star Ryan Dunn, DEAD.
Jun 20th
Breaking news from Jalopnik. Jackass and CKY star Ryan Dunn died this morning in a car accident, along with another unidentified passenger.
The crash happened just outside Philadelphia this morning at 3am. The car he was driving in was reportedly going over 110 mph. It was a single car accident.
It is not known whether or not drugs or alcohol came into play, but Dunn did tweet a picture of himself drinking with friends just hours before his death.
TMZ has confirmed with April Margera (Bam’s mom) that Dunn did in fact die in the accident.
As you can see in the picture below, not much was left of the car.
This comes as a complete shock to everyone in the Jackass community. Dunn’s new TV show “Proving Ground” on G4 TV had just premiered a couple of weeks ago.
ZACHISGOD would like to send their condolences to all of Ryan’s friends and family. Ryan made us constantly laugh, and he will be sorely missed.
RIP Ryan Dunn. FULL ARTICLE HERE.
UPDATE: Police have confirmed that Dunn was driving his ’07 Porsche GT3 when it crashed this morning. The car was in flames when police arrived.
UPDATE #2: Check out the new picture of the crash scene below. Wow.
UPDATE #3: Hollywooddame.com is reporting that the other passenger was Dunn’s friend Zac Hartwell. I cannot confirm this.
UPDATE #4: The passenger was in fact Zachary Hartwell. Confirmed by a new police report.
Eric Lewis/NBC Philly
This is the wreck. Dunn's Porsche GT3.
TMZ - This was tweeted just hours before the crash
Check out the ugly new NYC taxis
May 4th
Yuck.
Check out the picture below of the new NYC taxi by Nissan. Isn’t it ugly?
Nissan beat out Ford and a company from Turkey, for the right to build the next generation taxi in New York City.
The taxi is based off of Nissan’s NV200 utility van platform and looks more like your mom’s minivan than the iconic taxis that we all recognize.
But it is the cheapest to make, with the price at $29,000 per taxi. They will be made in a Mexican factory (Yeah! More money that we lose out on!).
They will be the first taxis to have passenger airbags and other safety features that will supposedly save us when the driver decides to run a red light.
These things are hideously ugly. But I guess if they are cheaper then we can’t complain. I’m sure the rates will go up though.
Nissan
ZACHISGOD Original Video: Hummer blows up on I-80 W in New Jersey
Apr 21st
I was on my way home from work yesterday when a hummer on the side of the road decided to catch on fire and blow up. It was pretty awesome. There was no one in the car so don’t worry about anyone getting hurt.
The firetruck got there really fast.
Sorry the video is so crappy, all I had was my Blackberry.
The new VW Beetle looks pretty damn sweet!
Apr 18th
Wow, VW did one hell of a job with the new redesign of the Beetle. Volkswagen introduced the sleek new model this morning and is preparing to show the car to the public at the New York Auto Show this week.
The new racier look features a lower roof and less rounded lines. The rear almost resembles a Porsche and the front takes its styling cues from the old model that was so popular in the 60′s.
I actually like the look of this version of the Beetle. The 1998 redesign really could not ever be driven by a man because of its feminine styling, so it was mostly marketed to women, but this version should really appeal to both sexes.
The base model features a 170hp 2.5 liter engine, but VW is also offering a 200 hp turbocharged engine (pictured below) that is sure to be fun as hell to drive. For our eco-friends, there will also be a clean-diesel engine that will get 40mpg’s.
The base model is expected to be priced somewhere around $19,000.00.
Should be interesting to see how this Beetle competes with the new Ford Fiesta, Fiat 500, and the Mini.
UPDATE: Jalopnik has some great pictures of the new Beetle from the NY Auto Show, HERE.
Mike Segar/Reuters
Yeah, your Nissan Leaf doesn’t actually get 100 miles per charge
Mar 22nd
Surprise, surprise! That 100 miles per charge claim that Nissan says the new all electric Leaf can get is false, according to new owners.
Leaf owners have been complaining that their cars have been suddenly losing charge, even when the indicator is showing many miles left. This has been leaving many drivers stranded on the side of the road waiting for Nissan’s complimentary towing service to pick them up and take them home.
Bummer. But what were these people actually thinking was going to happen? The technology for full electric cars just isn’t there yet. Too many factors like driving style and weather conditions can effect the batteries charge and make driving more than 20 miles from home almost impossible.
Waste of money.
Travis Pastrana knows how to wreck cars
Mar 1st
I wish I got paid to wreck race cars. That is apparently Travis Pastrana’s full time job nowadays. In a 24 hour stretch this past week, Pastrana crashed not just one but two race cars.
The first was in Thursday’s NASCAR K&N Pro West race at Phoenix International Speedway, where he crashed his #99 car twice and finished 25th.
The second was on Friday during the 100 Acre Wood Rally, where he jumped in Colin McRae’s (R.I.P.) old car with a new co-driver and subsequently rolled it, doing three full rotations.
Way to go Travis!! One more life down, and two more cars totaled.
Check out the video below.
The VW Microbus is back! (Maybe)
Mar 1st
Volkswagen revealed it’s new concept for the return of the Microbus at the Geneva Auto Show today. The van, which was made popular by hippies who liked to use it as a home, will now have more modern accessories such as an iPad controlled sound system and an electric motor that can get up to 186 miles on one charge.
Sadly this is just a concept and VW will not say whether or not they will put it into production. My bet is no.
Full article HERE.
AP