http://www.speedsportlife.com Covering the latest in Automotive News, Events, and Trends Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:49:15 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Click for Larger Image Price: $52,425 Major equipment: : Premium Plus Package --- bi-xenon headlamps, LED running lamps, auto-dim side mirrors, 18-inch wheels ($1,500) In the fleet: 6/23/2009 - 6/29/2009 Approximate mileage driven: 750, including 30ish laps of Nelson Ledges Road Course J. BARUTH: Johan de Nysschen, Audi's dashing head honcho here in the ... http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/07/02/speed-read-2009-audi-a6-30t-quattro/ Last night I attended the premiere of the new film "Raptor - Born in Baja" which is a joint production between Ford Motor Company and Brentwood Communications. The premiere was held at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood and it came complete with a few celebrities and a red carpet that ... http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/06/29/ford-svt-raptor-born-in-baja-premiere/ Photographs by Jack Baruth It would be poetic to say that the return of the Great American Sedan was announced as the speedometer of the 2010 Taurus SHO swept past the one-hundred-and-twenty-mile-per-hour mark with the insouciant prowess of a young Mark McGwire taking practice swings in the batter's box. And it ... http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/06/23/2010-ford-taurus-and-taurus-sho-the-return-of-the-great-american-sedan/ It seems that just about every time I turn the TV on these days, I'm flooded with images of violence and terroristic activity going on all around the world.  With attacks becoming more and more common, people from all walks of life are trying to stay as protected as possible.  ... http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/06/18/a-visit-to-the-texas-armoring-corporation/ Every once in a great while, one comes across a writer with a truly unique voice. Cherise LaPine Grueninger is one of those writers. Unfortunately, she and I spent the first few years of our acquaintance sparring over various issues related to auto enthusiasm in general and the VW hobby ... http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/06/11/promises-to-keep-adventures-in-mk2-ownership/   So, you watched Travis Pastrana in his Subaru at the X Games and now you're convinced that you can get your Mom's Outback at least six feet off the ground if you were just given a dirt jump and the chance.  Well, it's time to put down your PS3 game ... http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/06/11/racer-boy-rallycrossing-%e2%80%9clet%e2%80%99s-get-dirty-baby%e2%80%9d/ In a recent column, I detailed my experience driving the Switzer P800 Nissan GT-R. This outrageously powerful vehicle was as fast as any reasonable person could possibly want... but there was something missing. What was it? Perhaps it was the frisson of complete and utter terror. If that little chill ... http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/06/09/if-800-horsepower-was-fun-before-imagine-it-in-a-car-that-wants-to-kill-you/ Price: $22,165 Major equipment: 2.5-liter Duratec four-cylinder, six-speed manual transmission, sunroof, SYNC, autodim rear-view mirror. In the fleet: 5/15/2009 - 5/22/2009 Approximate mileage driven: 450 J. BARUTH: Remember all the things we used to love about "foreign" sedans back in the dino-sized Big Three days of the Eighties? They were good-looking, reasonably-sized, fuel-efficient vehicles ... http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/06/08/speed-read-2010-ford-fusion-se-6-speed/ We didn't have a chance to shoot the TorRed Challenger SRT8 so we're using photos we took of a HEMI Orange one that we shot earlier in the year.  We aren't colorblind, I promise. -- ZCarl Modesette: The thought hit me somewhere along the lazy, post-rush-hour, 12-mile drive home from ... http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/06/05/speed-read-challenger-is-challenging/ Everyone knows what the term midlife crisis means and the type of car that often accompanies it. I am not at this stage in my life (yet), but I have happened upon a term/concept which I find quite amusing - the quarterlife crisis. Many folks under forty are finding themselves ... http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/06/04/road-tested-mitsubishi-lancer-evolution-gsr/