COVERAGE> Leavenworth Euro Cruise, Part 2
Through the mountain pass where it looks the gloomiest and down the other side; hope shines through. The clouds break away slowly as you come down Stevens Pass and the rays warm you through the windows. As you get closer to the end of the mountains, the river next to the highway rushes and you can hear it now that you've rolled down your windows. There, nestled at the bottom of the east side of the Cascade Mountains, lies a small and amazing little town called Leavenworth - where every year, for the last 10 years, hordes of Euro cars descend from the mountains to disturb its unsuspecting calm. Read more...
COVERAGE> Leavenworth Euro Cruise in WA
It's true what they say - as we get older, things change, our minds open up, and sometimes... we realize what we been missing. This cruise from Bellevue Community College to the touristy city of Leavenworth, with a stop at Washington's famous Steven's Pass was definitely something I've been missing out on for a long time! I attended the cruise with our writer Lucas Perez and photo newcomer Jeff Santiago, and even though we rolled up with Lucas's R32 Skyline and Jeff's Honda S2000, mostly everyone seemed cool with our non-euro cars attending. Well, at least they didn't throw eggs at us or anything. Read more...
NEWSWORTHY> Audi Sweeps Le Mans 24H Podium!
At this year’s 78th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the infamous high-speed Circuit De Sarthe in France, Audi R15 TDI Plus stood the test of time against their faster opponent – the Peugeot 908 HDI. It was the ultimate battle of the tortoise and the hare, where the tortoise came out triumphant in this modern take on an old fable. With a little patience and a lot of strategy, the Audis were able to capture their ninth Le Mans victory – placing Audi in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place on the podium!
These past two days, I saw myself riding a roller coaster of emotions as I watched the Peugeots take the lead throughout the race; however, I was hopeful in seeing how everything would play out during the course of the 24 hours. To those familiar with Le Mans, it’s by far the ultimate endurance race; testing both man and machine. It has got to be one of the most exciting races in the world, as it’s a battle of wits, not brawn. It’s a challenge to see who can go the distance and last the longest, and Audi has proven itself time and time again.
This year, the Audi #9 car took first, Audi #8 car took second, and the # 7 car took third – driven by the Great Dane Tom Kristensen, who has been atop the podium during the past nine years at Le Mans, giving him a personal total of eight victories at 24H Le Mans! Truly a remarkable feat.
The picture above shows the drivers of the Audi #9 car (Mike Rockenfeller, Romain Dumas, and Timo Bernhard) celebrating with the head of Audi Sport, Director Wolfgang Ullrich. On behalf of the Motor Mavens Crew, I’d like to congratulate the Audi TDI team on their longstanding success and their win of this year’s 2010 Le Mans. Audi has entered the history books with the ultimate 1-2-3 win. Amazing!
:: Tamer Omran
SHOPAHOLIC> GMG Racing Open House
For you MotorMavens readers out there who aren't familiar with GMG (a Porsche tuning company), here's a little info. Founded in 2001 by James Sofronas and Fabryce Kutyba, GMG quickly rose up in the ranks as a premier tuning facility through racing in the SCCA World Challenge GT Series and ALMS race series. The guys were able to draw on their extensive racing background (with knowledge gained through painstaking R&D) to bring racing performance to their customers' street cars. GMG's primary focus is Porsches, but their shop doesn't shy away from Ferraris, Audis and Volkswagens - they cater to all German/Italian automobiles. Read more...
VIDEO> Audi Quattro Sport S1 Rally Gr.B
Like I mentioned in my first post on MotorMavens, I am somewhat of a Euro car nut and I pretty much live for motorsports – from the sound to the tire-flavored scent…ahhh. So while I was racking my brain figuring out what I should post next on MotorMavens, inspiration struck. What better way to do this than to pay tribute to the granddaddy of four wheel drive – the Audi Quattro?
Back in the day (the early 80s), the Quattro had a huge advantage over its front and rear wheel competitors – so much so that it completely changed the face of racing; particularly in rally. The Subaru Impreza, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, the Cosworth Ford Escort, and the Lancia Delta Integrale are all brilliant four wheel drive road cars, but I think none of them would’ve existed without the introduction of the Quattro. Not only did it spawn the template for what we now think of as a “proper” four wheel drive car, but it revolutionized motorsport and changed the way we think of performance cars forever. For those familiar with 80’s Hip Hop – the Quattro is the Rakim of four wheel drive. If you disagree, read the first three words of the previous sentence – carefully.
To think that such an important car was created when a dozen Audi engineers decided to hook up unofficially and solve a problem that was considered a pipedream before the 1970s – how does one get power to all four wheels on a road car? The results of their efforts blew the hinges off of the world of motorsport with the Quattro winning on its first rally outing. It won the Austrian round of the European championship and then went on to win the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 1982, 1983, and 1984. Needless to say, the four-wheel-drive experiment was an instant success. (more…)
WEBMINING> DTM Battle for Deutschland
Wow, this has got to be one of the best videos i have ever seen on YouTube. I just happened to stumble upon this 2009 DTM recap video, as I’ve been really hooked on DTM cars lately.
For those of you not really familiar with DTM, heres some history behind it. The DTM Series (or Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, which translated, means German Touring Car Masters) started out in 1984 and was only exclusive to Germany. In the early years, race fans found DTM racing very exciting, due to the fender-to-fender action and violent crashes. Unfortunately, the original DTM series came to an abrupt halt after the 1996 season… so Thank God the series was revived in 2000.
In my opinion as a Euro-car nut, I don’t think any race series even compares to DTM, but I’ll let you be the judge of that. This video is from last year, but it’s still incredibly exciting to watch. Watching the Mercedes AMG C-class and the Audi A4 duke it out… I just don’t think it gets much better than this.
:: Tamer Omran
WEBMINING> Wagenwerks and DubKorps AWOL Teaser
AWOL – The Teaser from wagenwerks on Vimeo.
First off, I recently realized something. Just because I may have seen a video, it doesn’t mean everyone else has. This being said, my New Year’s Resolution will be to pass on video links to every bad ass video I have seen.
So, I bring you a Wagenwerks and DubKorps video from 3 months back. This was the first time I had heard of DubKorps, so you Euro guys hold your horses!! I am incredibly familiar with the Wagenwerks videos and the guys who make them. Hey! They are from my home state of Virginia! After watching this video I suggest you check out their website Wagenwerks.net (their DVD is beast by the way) then hop on their Vimeo channel and watch everything you have not yet seen.
These guys produce legit videos. Their film and editing style are top notch in my opinion. If anyone actually could muster up the ability to claim their videos suck and back it up with a proper argument, send an email my way! I have a knuckle sandwich my mom made me a few years ago that has been waiting to be gobbled up. HAHA!!!
And one more thing… Our readers will begin to learn a few things about me… I don’t just stick to one car scene, I love them all (in a manly kind of way). While I do have a passion for rotaries, I follow the Euro, Honda, and Toyota scenes just as much. I even ride a fixed gear bike, (that would be a fixie for those of you want to call it that!) Bet you might never have guessed that!
(In case you are wondering: First song: Hollywood Undead_ City , Second song: Innerpartysystem_ Don’t Stop ) Both of which are amazing bands.
:: Scottie Scheetz
CARSPOTTING> The Audi e-Tron
COVERAGE> FixxFest 6 Euro Meet in FL
That's enough about me... Let's talk about the car scene in Florida. Before moving here, I heard lots of talk about Florida having a terrible car scene. I must say, since I relocated to this amazingly warm state, I'd have to disagree with that completely. My view point has completely changed. There is quite a large scene for car enthusiasts that are into Hondas, VWs, Toyotas, Nissans, etc. There are car events every weekend, from huge blowouts to smaller 60 car beach meets. I legitimately mean every weekend something is going on. Read more...
WEBMINING> Peugeot 908 HDI
Peugeot 908 HDI FAP from Clashproduction on Vimeo.
Ever since watching Truth in 24 and seeing the engineering going into the new generation diesel engines, I’ve become a big fan of the racing diesels. Then when I saw this video featuring Peugeot’s 2009 Le Mans winning 730HP V12 098 HDi from Stephane Benini of Clash Production, I had to share. The car itself is something to behold. Coming from a film background however, I think the low slung shots of the car and camera car are Siiiick! Fantastic job.
Enjoy!!!
::: Travis Hodges
WEBMINING> H20 is the place to go!
You can call me biased (having been raised with a rust covered MkI Rabbit in the driveway and learning how to drive in a MkII Golf) but in my humble opinion, the Euro scene has some of the best car shows in the country. Especially the VW/Audi crowd or VAG if you prefer. (VAG… hehe)
With that said, my boy “Mooch”, Dave Mucci drove all the way to Maryland this weekend from Chicago in his E30 BMW and he sent over some great photos from the H20 International Fest. I’ll post the photos up in the coming days but I thought I’d start you off with this awesome video from Steven Nawrocki. He did a great job of capturing the automotive onslaught of Ocean City that is H20. Enjoy all of the great cars from the show (Especially all the pristine MkII Golfs that I dream of owning!) Great job Steven!
:: Pat Daly
CARSPOTTING> USP S4 Turbo: The Fastest Audi in America
However, don't let the purposefully plain jane outer skins fool you - East Coast gearheads are all about going fast. Their whole intent is on building sleepers - these guys build cars that only look mildly modified on the outside, but if you ever try to step to them on a highway or even a stoplight, they will make your shiny "chick magnet" feel as slow as your girlfriend's first car in no time flat. Read more...
