The new Impreza rides on a wheelbase that's 4.0 inches longer than before, but this is actually a fractionally smaller package, some 1.7 inches shorter although 1.7 inches wider. As a result, the 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI will weigh 3,263 pounds.

While the WRX is offered in a four-door sedan layout for the U.S. market, our sources suggest that the hot STI version will only be available in hatchback configuration. For the street, there will be two models of the STI fully equipped with curtain-type head-protection airbags, Legacy-style cupholders and even headlight washers, but later there will be a stripped version for competition use.

Compared to the base WRX model, the new STI incorporates a full set of aerodynamic trim pieces including a larger front airdam, a roof-mounted rear wing and an aero diffuser integrated into the rear bumper, plus big fender flares, all designed to smarten up its on-road presence as well as deliver an efficient aerodynamic profile. Even the vents behind the front quarter panels are functional, extracting hot air from the engine bay.

A six-speed manual transmission is part of the package, and it carries triple-cone synchros on 1st gear and double-cone synchros on 2nd and 3rd. Subaru is also promising better fuel economy than the previous engine.

The STI will highlight a revised version of Subaru's all-wheel drive with DCCD (driver's control center differential). This central differential combines a quick-response, electromagnetically operated clutch pack that actively varies the torque split between the front and rear wheels from 41 percent front/59 percent rear to 50 percent front/50 percent rear during cornering, thanks to input from an array of electronic sensors. A helical-type front limited-slip differential helps the front wheels carve through the corners, while a Torsen-type limited-slip does business at the rear. -Autopartswarehouse

Ranked as the 2nd most affordable small car.  Based from published reviews and test drives, just coming short from the Honda Civic.  A car that is easy on the pocket and good for an individual. With a small engine, Honda Fit wouldn't consume that much gasoline, especially when you really know jow to drive. May not be suitable for a family due to its small size, this baby can be good for office workers or just a drive around the city.

There are two key components to the Fit that make it so desirable. The first is its lithe, athletic nature, which makes you forget the vehicle you're piloting is a $15,000 small hatchback. The Fit is simply fun to drive, and its 109-horsepower engine is an eager partner to motivate the car's 2,500-pound mass. The second component is its hatchback body style and versatile interior. The four-door Fit can comfortably seat four people and boasts a tremendous amount of storage space. Its nifty backseat folds flat and features a seat bottom that flips up for a variety of different cargo configurations. Of course, the Fit's thrifty fuel economy also aids its cause.

Underneath the hood is a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine driving the front wheels. It's capable of 109 hp and 105 pound-feet of torque. A five-speed manual transmission is standard and a five-speed automatic is optional. Sport models with the automatic transmission feature steering-wheel-mounted paddles for sequential shift control. Revised 2008 fuel economy ratings for the Fit are roughly 27 mpg city and 34 mpg highway, with a 1 mpg difference in either direction depending on transmission.

If you have motice, Ive been blogging about stuffs about Gas saving. Now rising to probably $5 per gallon, we need to find ways to save more. Our economy is on its weakest point. I have posted about Hybrids and a great small car. This day I will be giving you tips about saving gas while driving. Hopefully this will help you be a responsible driver as well.

Autopartswarehouse tips:

1. Swear off drag racing. Gas is consumed more quickly during hard acceleration so if you spare the horses when you get the green light, you stand to improve your mileage significantly.

2. Look farther down the road. Do you really need to accelerate right up to a stoplight? Why not back off the accelerator if that traffic light two blocks away is red? Glide until you get the green and then accelerate moderately. This not only saves gas but also your brake pads.

3. Pick your lane and stick with it. Traffic studies have shown that changing lanes doesn't result in a significantly reduced travel time.

4. Pretend you're a hybrid.Most hybrids save gas by automatically shutting off at stoplights. We're not suggesting you do this. But if you are going to be motionless for a few minutes, shut 'er down.

5. Can you carpool? There are some very cool things about carpooling besides just the gas savings. You can use the carpool lanes and share the driving.

6. Don't drive. How can "don't drive" be a driving tip? Well, we won't argue the point. But we will say that most people could stand to walk or ride a bike a lot more than they are doing now.

7. Drive on off-peak hours. Sitting in traffic isn't much fun for you or your car. You could try adjusting your schedule to avoid the traffic jams. You will save time and quite a lot of fuel.

8. Look for telecommuting opportunities. With rising gas prices and congested freeways, working from home one day a week might be an option that your employer will consider. Tell them that the time you save commuting you will use to increase your productivity. lol

9. Don't try to prove yourself on the streets. Street racing isn't as fun and easy as it looks in The Fast and the Furious.

10. Release the emergency brake. This tip saves a bundle. You've already done it? OK. But at least we got a longer-looking list of recommendations. Seriously, though, check the trunk and see if you're carrying around a lot of extra weight. Take out the sacks of concrete and you might notice an improvement in your fuel economy.

A SUPERCAR! An exotic car that made me say WOW! It is one of those ultimate cars; from every aspect of the car. Hand crafted with a central carbon fiber chassis and includes forged aluminum/magnesium alloy APP wheels. The interior continues to be draped in carbon, leather, and satin-touch aluminum and is meant to recall both the present and the past: jet-turbine air conditioning vents stand alongside leather door handles and glove compartments that recall deluxe luggage. Powered by a 7.3 liter AMG V12 engine, supercar can soar from 0 - 200 km per hour (124 mph) in just 9.8 seconds. Pagani chose to use the "F" badging to represent the first step up in performance for the Zonda above the stock Zonda S; it's the last initial of the late Juan Manuel Fangio, the F1 champion driver who served as both a contributor to and inspiration for the original Zonda supercar. The Zonda F was first introduced in 2005 and represents a major reworking of the design with a modified front end and spoiler, new venting, and a hydroformed intake chamber. More and improved lighting is also present. The Italian supercar maker's attention to detail is such that even the side mirrors have been revamped to improve airflow around the car at high speeds.

The F's six-speed manual transmission remains the same as for the S. However, Pagani has worked with Brembo to develop optional carbon-ceramic brakes that stop the car more quickly than traditional metal discs: a Zonda F traveling at a brisk 125 mph can come to a complete halt in just 4.4 seconds. Carbon-ceramic brakes also typically last longer under hard braking and don't require warm-up time to provide full stopping power.

Clubman; from the original station wagon offerd by the Mini during 1960 to 1982. From BMW, the Mini Cooper's mother company released this vehicle on the first quarter of this year. The Mini Cooper S JCW will go for $28,550, compared with $21,200 for a base Cooper S. The Mini Clubman JCW will sell for $30,800, as opposed to a regular Cooper S Clubman at $24,100.

For owners of the previous-generation supercharged Mini Cooper S who were not satisfied with the stock horsepower, a dealer-installed kit was the only option. It meant ordering a standard vehicle, purchasing the John Cooper Works kit, and going back to the dealer to have it fitted. Now, it will all be done on the production line. Compared with the standard Mini Cooper, the production Clubman will feature a wheelbase stretched 3.1 inches and a body stretched 9.5 inches; the rear overhang is increased by 3.2 inches to get the proportions and storage space right for a wagon.

For the time being, this is the ultimate Mini, as its 208 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque—207 pound-feet in overboost mode—translate into a top speed of 148 mph and a claimed 0-to-62-mph time of 6.5 seconds for the three-door hardtop Mini. The funky JCW Clubman Copoper-S takes 0.3 second longer; the top speed is unchanged.

The 1.6-liter engine, co-developed with French carmaker PSA, is upgraded with strengthened pistons, intake valves, and valve seat rings. The cylinder head is optimized as well. Although maximum boost pressure rises from 13 psi to 19 psi, compression is slightly reduced. The reward: 208 horsepower—which is 36 more than the standard Cooper S. Many of the changes are shared with the Mini Challenge racing version.

Your dream sports car that is fit for your every day life and has an affordable price.  A high-class technologies merge with low costs of ownership, dynamic driving characteristics merge with a high level of comfort, and a surprisingly spacious interior merges with an uncompromisingly sporty design. “In the Scirocco we will be bringing the kind of sports car into the showroom that people dream of. Yet it is a dream that an exceptionally large number of car drivers will be able to afford – despite all of the high-end technologies we have implemented.” as said by Volkswagen Chief Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn.

A calling card of the ambitious global concept is the new sports car’s avant-garde design. The fact being that the lines of the Scirocco study presented in August 2006 have been transferred to the production car nearly unchanged. This includes the long wagon/coupé roof whose form here is unique, and which pays tribute to the C-pillar design of the first Scirocco, the car’s athletic side profile, its distinctive engine hood and the entire rear end with its extremely broad shoulder sections. Only the design of the radiator grille has been changed for a more stylish and timeless solution.

Autopartswarehouse notes:

This contemporary Scirocco demonstrates unfettered everyday utility, and it can be clearly recommended as a sports car for every day of the year. With a length of 4.26 meters, the Scirocco is on par with the Golf. However, it is built significantly lower to the ground (1.40 meter) and is nearly as wide as the Passat (1.81 meter). Four adults can be seated with plenty of space inside. Once they are all aboard, the Scirocco provides 292 liters of cargo capacity; when the two seatbacks of the rear individual sport seats are folded down, capacity increases to a considerable 755 liters.

Good news music lovers! Audi has just created a new car for you. Designed to impress your royal tastes, the Audi O Concept is a stylish creation by Ondrej Jirec, a native of Czech Republic who is also a design student at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California. This concept synthizes an innovative and powerful audio system, with a nifty and pretty cozy four sport hatchback seats, and a panoramic roof, which fills in the interior with natural light. It also features a DJ mix, complete with mix decks, located upon pulling the rear pullout door. The decks can be Sounds like one hella party, eh? Its sleek look is designed with the Audi signature style (the Audi grille!), polished by neatly placed LED headlights.

Among the inspirations for its design are threefolds: the Audi Shooting Brake (a concept from 2005) the Apple iPod and well, music. Speaking of, this Audi O's audio system has internet connectivity so you can download your songs, as well as Bluetooth, which enables connection among Audi O cars that could play sounds even at a wider range. Sure they can not just play music all at the same time. Well one of them would play the sounds while the other cars would serve as speakers. Well talk about some cool street party. The Audi O also features a 650 GB built-in hard drive. Well the calculator says, that is just about... 130,000 songs! That is insane! An all night party will not be enough. Heck, you've already recovered from a hangover and this head turner is still playing! But enough of the partying. The Audi O runs in an efficient diesel/electric hybrid divetrain. So it does know how to give back to the society and has befriend Mother Nature as well. Cute isn't it?

Responsibility, responsibility, responsibility... I was browsing through some web pages when I came across a site about wrecked exotic or luxury cars. Its site name is "Wrecked Exotics" and it mainly features photos with some detail caption about what happened. Some are funny in a quite odd sense. Like for this example:

This is a photo of a trailer truck miserably annihilated by a low overhang, also known as, a bridge. The driver was okay but the ill-fated trailer was, well, the photo apparently says it all. What happened was the driver became too preoccupied with his GPS direction, that he totally did not notice the one way bridge. Poor guy. Maybe his GPS new?

But like some other car wrecks, there is also a resulting sad story. Casualties or injuries from road accidents that we hear on the news become nothing but an ordinary everyday occurence that we could just nudge away from our paths. Like for this one:

Here's a photo of a wrecked 2006 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. The driver was drunk and he was racing with another driver until he lost control and crashed into a taxi. The Ferrari bounced off until it ran on a passing young couple. The female victim survived but sadly, her boyfriend did not. The driver took off and twenty four hours later, he decided to surrender. But since the driver came from a pretty well off family, he is expected to receive a lighter sentence. Now how's that for a responsible "just" system? Anyway, this was in Timisoara, Romania.

It's quite sad if you imagine. Sometimes, there are people whose sense responsibility are just thrown off the out in the window. Of course, the reality is that this world is full of assymetries but that doesn't give everyone the license to flee from his or her responsibilities. Anyway, enough with the preaching. Just imagine how much you could save when don't drive while you're drunk.

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source: http://www.wreckedexotics.com/

A cute little pup was spotted dillydallying around in London and...

What the...

That doesn't look like a...

It looks like a... a cat. A scary black cat...

Nah it's not a cat, obviously. It's a black fox that was photographed in London, wandering around a cemetary (Geez...). It was probably feeding on the flesh of dead bodies or something (oh God!). Well, the person who took the photo is still alive to show this. That's a good sign. Anyway, it was often thought that it brings bad luck among the midieval times people, just like the poor black cat. But wildlife experts say otherwise. There are only a small number of black foxes left in London because they were hunted frequently. However, much of them survive around North America because they were hunted less. So now you understand the Brit frenzy over this eeringly cute black fox?

So anyway, I've never imagined that there is such a thing. Because honestly, I haven't really seen any photograph of it around besides the one shown above. And I've never had any idea about it if i haven't been to this site: Kitsune Noir by Bobby Solomon. "Kitsune Noir" is a combination of Japanese and French words (respectively) that literally means "Black Fox." It's a blog mainly about design, music, design, design, and more design. It has been quite popular among art and design lovers in America now. Well, you can see it in the comment counts if you visit the site. They're quite a lot (do I smell jealousy?). And I have to admit, I first saw the Audi O Concept at Kitsune Noir. If you would notice, Audi O was niftily crafted for looks and of course, music. Anyway, Bobby expresses his thrill in his blog over the news about this black fox and he's proud to have it as his blog's mascot...

Now I wonder, could I ever get a mascot for this blog too? Maybe a tap dancing car or something...

DXMN! I just got home from work and everywhere there was water.. dark, murky, stinky water. Apparently, there has been a flash flood along the Ortigas Extension and it took me three long hours (3 hrs) to get home. It usually takes me only thirty five minutes (35 mins) when I take the same, normal route. This has been all over the news. Heck, I've even seen it on TV when I got home. It's like deja vu! Anyway, I'm too tired to even blog this but you guys have to know this. Maybe some of you already do but I ain't going to risk it.

So to all you drivers, I bet you've already seen that old road triangular or quadrilateral sign with and a set of wriggling lines when you drive down the hill or a mountain. Yeah, it's the "road slippery when wet sign." And I bet you already know what it means.. No no. It doesn't tell you to turn off your engine and let your cars slide down! It tells you to slow down! A lot of accidents happen when drivers can't control their cars because of the slippery road. And it's just too bad that they don't have it around at the metropolitan area.

Didn't you notice that too? But that's ok, it's already a given. But I do hope that you are aware that your brakes get slippery too sometimes. Yes. It happens more often when you get to drive through flash floods or... a creek? Why the heck would you want to do that? Anyway, a slippery brake could obviously make things a lot worse for you when driving down a wet road. So how so? Well, your brakes have this things we call brake disc and brake pads. The brake disc is attached in the tire area and it turns at your tire turns as well. By that time your car is actually moving... obviously. The brake pads are attached on each side of the brake disc. And so when you step on your car's brake pedal, the brake pads clip on to the brake disc to make it stop turning, then your whole car would be put into a halt. The brake pad is made of a strong friction material so that it would, well of course, work on the brake disc. So just imagine what would happen to you if water penetrates to the brake disc and brake pads and make them become too slippery.

Sadly, other than getting a good set of brake pads or waiting for the flood to subside, the only best solution to this kind of problem that I could propose to you is to, uhmm.. save the trees.

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Photo Sources: [1][2]