Jump Fail: Can You Guess What Happens Next?

Here’s one jump that won’t buff out. For reasons beyond logic, the driver of a fairly new Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck decided to impress his buddies (and his….insurer) at a meet on the sand dunes of Silver Lake in Michigan, USA, by performing a high-speed jump stunt. The laws of physics pretty much explain what happens next.

If you're still wondering, follow the jump to watch the video and leave your comments below.

Read more »

Renault Teases More Potent version of Megane RS

One of Europe’s finest hot hatches is about to get better as Renault is readying a new edition of the Megane RS that will be unveiled to the world on June 17, 2011. The French carmaker released a teaser video of the car from the test runs at the Nurburgring racetrack in Germany.

However, that’s about all Renault is willing to reveal for now so we’ll have to wait and see what kind of upgrades the car will feature and if a power boost and / or a weight reduction and chassis enhancements are part of the package.

Read more »

Did Audi Import Its New A6 Avant Commercial from Detroit? Chrysler Thinks So

It’s not uncommon these days for certain companies to reproduce (or at least try to) the styling and/or the available technology features of Germany’s finest carmakers but this time we have a story that turns the tables the other way around. In mid-May, Audi aired a new commercial for the just launched A6 Avant in its home market. The ad shows the executive station wagon model cruising through streets of a German city as a version of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" song plays in the background.

If you watch the commercial in the video after the jump and it reminds you of Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” ad for the new 200 sedan from this year's Super Bowl event, rest assured you are not alone.

"It is absolutely shocking," said Joel Martin, manager of Eight Mile Style, the company that handles the song licensing for Eminem. "We believe Audi not only used 'Lose Yourself' to sell their product without permission, but their spot actually feels inspired by elements of Chrysler's commercial campaign,” Martin added.

Read more »

Ad Watch: Renault Wind Roadster and Lexus CT 200h Hybrid

Selling a car through advertising isn’t as easy as you might think. What good is it showing your product nimbly taking on Alpine twists and turns when your competitors are doing the same thing? Here are two ads that don’t really break the mould, but try something a little different. Read more »

Hail Fail: BMW 5-Series Owner Tries to Save His Car by Dressing it Up…

Unless you are able drive into to an enclosed garage nearby, there’s not really much you can do to protect your car -or anything else in danger for that matter- if you are caught out in a severe hail storm. However, this doesn’t mean that some people won’t try to prevent the inevitable like this owner of a previous generation BMW 5-Series sedan.

Said to be a Croatian tourist on a visit to Slovenia, the owner of the Bimmer attempted to save the body of his beloved car by covering it up with whatever he could find. In this case, the only available items were some clothes he had in a plastic bag. Somehow, it doesn't seem like such a great idea... Watch the clip right after the break.

Read more »

Video: Bloomberg’s Adam Haynes on the Aston Martin Cygnet

You can’t spell, “Cygnet” without, “cynical marketing ploy”. The Toyota iQ-derived stocking stuffer iPhone accessory subcompact has prompted a neat little op-ed piece by Bloomberg correspondent (an ex-pat Aussie) Adam Haynes that includes some fascinating dialogue from Aston Martin insiders.

Most of our readers will know by now that the Cygnet exists purely to counteract the 120 grams of CO2 per kilogram EU carbon restrictions to be introduced in 2012. With a combined CO2 g/km rating of 400, Aston Martin’s current fleet of high performance vehicles could never match this.

Read more »

VIDEO: Giant Pothole on Bridge Swallows Lorry in China

We have all encountered them, but as with anything else in this life, there are potholes and there are potholes. The one that opened in the city of Changchun, which is the capital of China's Jilin province, is what you would call a supersized pothole, and to make matters worse, it occurred on a road bridge as a large lorry was passing over it.

The giant hole, which reportedly measured close to 50 feet long (about 15 meters) and 16-feet wide (around 15 meters), literally swallowed the commercial truck which then plunged down to the river. Chinese media reported that there were two men inside the lorry and that both were injured. Hit the jump for a video report of the incident.

Read more »

More Screaming Passengers from the 2011 Red Bull Car Drift Event in Lebanon

We don’t know about you, but we certainly enjoyed watching the video of a male passenger freaking out during a ride around a drift course, so we decided to do a little bit of online research to find out what it was all about. We discovered that the joy ride was part of the Red Bull Car Park Drift 2011 event and it took place in Lebanon.

The man behind the steering wheel of the Subaru Impreza WRX STI is 34-year-old Abdo Feghali from Lebanon. He is a professional rally driver who also participates in drift contests and events such as the one organized by Red Bull.

If you liked the first video we showed you, then follow the jump to watch the reactions of the same male passenger, this time sitting at the back between two women (oddly enough no one was wearing seat belts…), as well as some new footage of other people that took a ride including the beautiful lady you see pictured above.

Read more »

Simply Epic: Pro Drifter Brings Out the Female Side of Male Passenger

In life, there are moments you wish you could bottle up and savor forever but there are also moments you wish never happened. A few seconds into the follow video are more than enough to find out which of two statements mentioned above are true for the man sitting in the passenger seat.

The poster of the video claims that the “Middle East man” was all shook up by a “professional drifter after he claimed to be a pro drifter too”. Understandably, there’s no way of being sure about the claim if we don’t understand a word they’re saying, so if you any of you guys or girls speak the language, we would be much obliged if you let us know what’s going on in the comments section below.

Read more »

EVO Takes Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 for a Spin Around the Track

Continuing our video finds on the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, here is a film from EVO magazine’s encounter with the brawny Italian supercar at the Vallelunga race track near Rome in Italy. After jumping into the driver’s seat and onto the circuit for a few quick rounds, EVO’s Harry Metcalfe concludes that the Murcielago’s successor is a “real game changer” and possibly the “best super sports car in the world right now”.

Follow the break to see Lamborghini’s V12-powered Aventador LP700-4 on the track, and then weigh in with your own thoughts in comments section below.

Read more »

Kia Launches Soul Hamstar Special Edition in the U.S.

The success of the popular Hamster advertising campaign that promoted the Soul in the U.S. in 2010 inspired Kia to launch a new special edition model of its boxy crossover model. Previewed by the Hamstar concept at the 2011 SEMA show, the red and black 2011 Hamstar is the sixth special edition Soul. The car sports unique exterior graphics and interior refinements, including a 315-watt audio system with pulsing speaker lights. Read more »

FAIL: Ferrari 599 GTO in Reverse hits a Pole

Bumping into or even just scraping against an object while pulling you car out of a parking space has probably happened to everyone at least once or twice. However, you would expect an owner of a spanking new Ferrari 599 GTO worth north of €260,000 or close to $400,000 to be far more careful that usual when attempting to reverse out of a parking space. Apparently, being careful was not in the nature of the owner of this blacked out 599 GTO in Cologne, Germany. Video follows after the break. Read more »

New Nissan Leaf Commercial Mocks the Chevy Volt for Using Gasoline

Electric carmakers are trying hard to promote their products, with the environmentally friendly nature of these vehicles being their most exploited feature in advertising. Nissan is going down the same path with a new campaign for the fully-electric Leaf entitled “Gas Powered Everything”, in which the company mocks the internal combustion engine by imagining a strange world where all appliances run on gas.

The result is a funny commercial in which people have to put up with gas-powered alarm-clocks, microwave ovens, computers and many more appliances. Even the Chevrolet Volt becomes a subject of joke for being a gas-electric hybrid. But we can't help but wonder: isn't Nissan's approach a little hypocritical? It's not like their range includes electric cars alone...

Read more »

VIDEO: Chilean Stunt Rider Leaps into Abyss on his Bike

Riding a motorcycle off a 3,300 ft / 1,000 meter high cliff is not something you see every day. Julio Munoz, a Chilean motocross rider, performed this daredevilish stunt in May 2011, as part of the 'BASE Project Los Andes' to promote the natural beauties of his country.

Rigged with special cameras, the 37-year-old paratrooper raced his 450cc motorcycle towards a specially prepared ramp and literally flew into the air before starting his descent. The bike crashed onto the rocks while Munoz successfully opened his parachute some 200 feet from the ground.

Read more »

Hoon Crackdown: Two Anti-Hooning Ads from Different Ends of the Spectrum

In Australia and New Zealand, “hooning” is a term applied to any anti-social and often dangerous behavior behind the wheel of a car. Burnouts, car surfing and illegal street racing all fall under this rather broad definition. And it’s an ever-growing problem. Each year there are more reports like, “Hoons kill innocent driver in Dandenong, say police” and, “Man killed in Burwood Highway 'hoon' crash.”

So it’s obvious that cracking down on hooning is very important to the governments of both nations. Here we have two adverts, one from Oz and one from Kiwiland, that use tactics both old and new to get their message across. The Aussie one plays on that, “If you hoon, you’ll lose your car” message while the NZ one plays on the, “If you hoon, you’ll lose your life” vibe. Who knew that New Zealand’s roads were covered with hidden landmines?

Read more »

Jaguar-Land Rover Opens Assembly Plant in India, Rolls Out its First Model [with Video]

Gone are the times when you knew where cars were made just by looking at the brand, and when luxury carmakers made the manufacturing of their vehicles in their home country one of their top selling points. Nowadays, you have BMWs built in China, India, South Africa and the USA, Mercedes-Benz cars made in Russia, Thailand and Egypt and so on.

The latest premium automaker to go global is the Jaguar-Land Rover group, which inaugurated its first Indian factory on Friday. A Land Rover Freelander 2 SUV was the first vehicle to roll out of the assembly plant, which is located just outside Pune in the Maharashtra region of India. We’ll remind you that Ford Motor Co. sold Jaguar and Land Rover to India’s Tata Motors in 2008 after losing some US$15 billion in two years.

Read more »

Pakistan’s Hell Road is Not for the Faint Hearted [Video]

Pakistan’s 240 kilometre (149 mile) Lowari Pass is the only supply route between the town of Dir and the small villages in the mountainous Chitral Valley. It is here on the Afghan border in the country’s northwest that truckers risk their lives for a paltry US$60 (Pakistan’s average wage) and a bonus of US$180...if they make it back alive and with their precious cargo unharmed.

The trucks are old, some nearing the one million-kilometer mark (620,000 mile) on the odometer, with avalanches, landslides and falling rocks marking the four-day journey. The roads are worn and there are no crash barriers; there is not even enough room for two trucks to pass side by side. The highest point is 3,100 metres (10,170 feet) above sea level where the air is so thin it is difficult to stay awake or even move. Brakes overheat on the descent and without them death is a long drop to oblivion.

Read more »

Chevrolet Shows How it Tests the 2011 Camaro Convertible’s Top

A new video from General Motors gives us an insight on how its engineers test the durability of the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible’s soft-top. The company said that during the development phase, the electrically operated tops of the prototype models were opened and closed more than 22,500 times, which is claimed to be three times more than what an average driver would do in 10 years of use. GM added that some of those tests were performed in extreme weather conditions with temperatures ranging from minus-22° F to 170° F and humidity of up to 95 percent. Read more »

Airbag Fail, But Not the Way You Might Think….

It is full of air, it reacts in a fraction of a second and has saved thousands of lives over the years. We’re talking about the automotive airbag, the invention of which is credited to an American industrial engineer and member of the U.S. Navy, John W. Hetrick, who patented the original system in the beginning of the 1950s. As is often the case with innovative designs and ideas, the importance of the airbag in safety was neglected at first and it took several more decades for automakers to accept and incorporate it into mainstream vehicles.

But along with automakers, came some not so bright individuals who found a new use for the car airbag which doesn’t involve safety but the exact opposite. Joining a long line of bored but dim-witted folks who pass their time playing around with airbags is this man. You can enjoy his encounter with the safety cushion and see what happens next in the video after the break.

Read more »

Audi's Allan McNish Explains 24 Hours of Le Mans in Animated Film

Audi will attempt to achieve a new victory next month at the Le Mans endurance race, with last year's victorious trio of veteran drivers (Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello) aiming for a win in the new R18TDI. Audi has won the Le Mans 9 times in the past 11 years, with both petrol and diesel racing cars.

In this eye-catching animated film, driver Allan McNish walks us through some interesting facts related to the famous 24 hours race, the Audi team as well as about him. Entitled “A Day in the Life of an Audi Driver”, the video shows us in an interesting way the difficulties a driver has to overcome during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Roll down after the break to see the race through the eyes of the Scottish driver.

Read more »