Drivers

Hoonigan has been staging some of the craziest drag races, seen on YouTube. As part of the channel’s “This vs That” series, we now get “Hoonicorn vs the World” – a series of drag battles, where Ken Block’s teenage daughter – Lia Block – who is only 14, rocks the 1,400-horsepower Mustang, known as the Hoonicorn. In the previous episode, Lia Block raced an NHRA C6 Corvette and now, she’s going up against a Hoonicorn-inspired, 2013 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta twin-turbo.

Bob Bondurant who left an indelible legacy in American and international motorsport, died last weekend on, Friday in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88.

Max Verstappen managed to fend off the threat from Mercedes and a charging Hamilton at yesterday’s US Grand Prix, held at the Circuit of the Americas, in Austin Texas.

Porsche has refurbished a very special 962 C. The car seen here is chassis #009, which was completely restored to its original state by the Heritage Department and the Porsche Museum over the course of 18 grueling months.

Ken Block recently made the transition, from Ford to Audi. His relationship with the German premium brand took him to Audi Tradition, in Ingolstadt, Germany. The facility, which comprises of some unassuming, at first glance, buildings, houses the most legendary cars from Audi’s rich motorsport history. The cool part is that all of them get driven every now and then and Ken Block had a go in the rarest and ultimate Audi rally car – the Sport Quattro RS 002.

Lewis Hamilton becomes the first driver in Formula 1 history to win 100 races. This win though came with some luck as the rain gods opened up the heavens in the final stages of the 2021 Russian Grand Prix. Mercedes for once took the right call in bringing Hamilton in and switching him onto intermediate tires.

After that, it was just a matter of hunting down race leader Lando Norris who was dominant all weekend to clinch the win. Having been in the sport for the better part of 14 years, the seven-time world champion looks relentless and now is aiming for an unprecedented eighth title, as the man continues to break records.

The wait is finally over. The documentary ’Schumacher,’ is finally out and is now live on Netflix, and examines the life of the seven-time Formula One world champion. It gives us an insight into the life of the F1 legend, who was involved in a skiing accident, back in 2013 that left him in a coma.

Every now and then you hear about a ridiculous story that has all the right elements to make it sound like something out of a poorly scripted TV show. Such is the case with Miss Doody. Miss Doody – full name: Rebecca Sue Doody – was arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence after her boyfriend called the police on her when she arrived home, with her three kids in tow, drunk as a skunk. This would just be a story about bad – I mean horrible since kids were involved – judgment, but things went from horrible to ridiculous real fast once Miss Doody found herself in the back seat of a police car.

Travis Pastrana didn’t mince his words describing the NRX track, calling it a “hell track for cars.” Pastrana knows a thing or two about hell track for racers. He’s competed — and won — in supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, and rally racing. But even with his accomplishments, Pastrana still paid reverence to the track that will be used in the Nitro World Games by taking us on a flying lap around the circuit.

For helping to find the best cars for teens, the internet is completely useless. (Um, present company excepted.) Of course, you probably already know that, having likely found this article in your Google search results among similar lists compiled by people who have long forgotten life before mortgages. Oh, yes, Forbes — do tell how every teen would simply love a 2012 Kia. Because that’s totally a thing that your average 16-year-old could afford to buy and insure, and it will never wind up hidden in shame at the back of the biggest parking lot available. Yup. Rock on, old people.

But, maybe that’s being a little unfair to parents. Fact is, most teens will end up with hand-me-downs anyway, and you want them to have something that’s reliable, practical and above all, safe. The sobering reality here is that automobile accidents are by far the No.1 killer of people 15 to 19 years old. Forget suicide, murder, poisoning and drugs like The Reefer — car accidents typically kill more teens every year than all of those things combined.

So, there’s a fine balance to strike here. As a parent, you don’t want to put your kids in a deathtrap or encourage them to be self-destructive hooligans. But as a teenager, it’s pretty much your full-time job to be a self-destructive hooligan. About the only thing both parties can agree on is that they don’t want to spend a fortune in buy-in, insurance and gas.

So, here’s Topspeed’s list of five vehicles that tick everybody’s boxes — or at least make for a decent compromise. We’re going back 20 years, primarily on the basis that hand-me-downs and buying cheap are primary considerations for most people. But unlike most people, we’re also going to take into account style, customization opportunities, how the car fits into the average teen’s lifestyle, and (deep breath) even sportiness. In short, all the stuff that goes into picking out a car that teens won’t hate.

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When it comes to car guys, Steve McQueen was definitely a guy worth looking up to. Working his way out of a poverty-stricken and abusive childhood, McQueen became a top Hollywood star and an auto racing legend. By combining these vocations, he created some of the most iconic car-guy movies ever made. Most car enthusiasts know “Bullitt” and “Le Mans,” (and if you don’t, you should acquaint yourself immediately) but not as many are familiar with McQueen’s life, which was just as epic as his movies.

As a larger-than-life celebrity, it seems natural for Steve McQueen to share shelf space with superheroes. Motorbooks has released Steve McQueen: Full Throttle Cool, which renders McQueen’s life story in graphic novel format. Written by Dwight John Zimmerman and illustrated by Greg Scott, this graphic novel illustrates the actor and racer’s film and real-life exploits in unforgettable fashion. McQueen’s story unfolds like a hero’s origin story. Zimmerman and Scott start with his early life in Indiana and spin the whole chronicle up until McQueen’s death at age 50.

I am an avid reader, but I’m not usually one to pick up a biography. This one drew me in, however. The graphic novel format of Full Throttle Cool was a more inviting style that’s designed to appeal to a wide range of audiences, and I consumed all 96 pages in a single sitting. McQueen’s exploits have a, “Wait, this guy was for real?” quality that keeps the pages turning. The story is told through dialogue and background text, and rises above the occasionally stilted prose that’s often found in comics. Scott’s art is realistic, telling McQueen’s fantastic story while making sure that the cars and celebrities who feature in it are rendered instantly recognizable.

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In 2012, the Institute of Advanced Motorists performed a study on the use of smartphones while driving. The end result showed that it is more dangerous to use a smartphone while driving than it is to drive with a legal amount of alcohol in your system or when under the influence of THC (marijuana).

This month, the IAM performed another study. This time they asked 500 drivers about their use of smartphones and tablets while driving. The study showed that 9 percent of people admitted to taking a selfie while driving in the last month, 8 percent said they used video calling apps, and 19 percent said they accessed and used the internet. Of those who admitted to taking selfies while driving, 5 percent were women, and 12 percent were men.

Results were also broken down into different age groups. Of those aged 18 to 24, 15 percent admitted to selfies, 16 percent admitted to video calling, 13 percent watch streaming videos and 27 percent accessed and used the internet. Those aged 25 to 35 proved even higher numbers: 19 percent have snapped pictures of themselves; 34 percent have watched streaming video, and 34 percent have browsed the internet.

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In just the last week, we’ve seen three separate fuel economy records fall and go permanently to rest. Probably the biggest and most important, the record for non-hybrid fuel consumption on a long-distance trip. After trekking across 48 states and 8,233 miles, the driver of a certain bone stock 2015 VW Golf diesel managed a truly stunning 81.7 mpg — in a car rated for 32 city and 44 highway mpg. And who, might you ask, managed this incredible feat of skill and determination? Why, that would be Wayne Gerdes — the very man who coined the term "hypermiling" so many years ago.

The idea of driving a car for maximum fuel economy isn’t entirely new, but it did catapult into notoriety some years back with the birth of hypermiling. As our newest extreme motorsport, hypermiling quickly (and quietly) found a home among engineers, scientists, and other people who enjoy talking about things like adiabetic efficiency and the First Law of Thermodynamics.

That might not sound like the most exciting company in the world — but there was a lot of science, a lot of technical stuff and a lot of trial and error in the beginning. All very science-y. But now, after many years and many records fallen, hypermiling’s anorak forefathers have finally cracked the code of how to regularly double the average car’s gas mileage with driving technique alone. In truth, the specifics are all still very technical, and techniques will still vary greatly from vehicle to vehicle, and road to road. But here’s a basic primer to get you started on doubling your fuel economy with nothing more than patience, brains and precision driving.

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When a headline asks me a question, I feel compelled to answer it, sometimes cryptically. In this case, the answer is: no more than men are. In the United States at least, driver’s ed courses suck, so the majority of drivers aren’t properly trained, and don’t care (or know) enough to do better.

It’s not even a matter of loving cars or not (though it’s true that the average person who doesn’t care much about cars isn’t going to put too much effort into learning to pilot one well). I’ve got some bad news for the legions of gleeful hoons out there: Just because you did something on purpose doesn’t mean it’s not bad driving. It does serve as a nice way to camouflage the fact that there are just as many men who can’t drive as there are women, regardless of what you think you’ve seen.

Hello, confirmation bias, our old friend! The good news (in terms of debunking the “bad women drivers” myth) is that there’s not much basis in fact. The other bad news is, it’s pretty much impossible to tell someone that they’re wrong. It’s awfully hard to deny what someone has observed with his own eyes, even if it’s wrong. But really, this stereotype, just like that all BMW/Prius/Grand Am/whatever drivers are jerks who don’t know how to drive, or that guys get lost because they won’t ask for directions, is entirely rooted in you seeing what you expect to see.

Don’t believe me? Try this, then:
What does this say? (Don’t cheat and jump ahead.)

"Once
Upon a
a time."

Say it out loud. Go on, humor me.

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