Getting right to it.
Assorted grab bag of stuff we like
•August 19, 2013 • 16 CommentsWe hate to admit it..
•August 16, 2013 • 4 Comments
..but joining Facebook is something we probably should have done sooner. It gives us the opportunity to offer you our whole automotive brain dump without necessarily having to curate as discriminately or painstakingly as we do for this site, which can sometimes result in, well, a slowdown in posts. If the site is the finished product, then the Facebook page is the sketch pad.
So if you find the volume of content or the amount of dialogue here to be a little lacking or stingy for your taste, tune in over at facebook.com/motoringconbrio, where the posts flow like milk and honey— it’s more of what you see here, but unfiltered. And no need to become a member just to read, either (we know, we hate Facebook, too). The page isn’t blocked off to members only, so the content is world-readable. And if the spirit moves you, join the conversation— there or here, it doesn’t matter. Either way, we’d love to hear from you!
Readers’ rides
•August 15, 2013 • 1 CommentIt’s been awhile since we’ve checked in on our readers’ rides, so let’s see what you all sent in since the last time.
Tom in Charlotte’s achingly lovely Porsche 964 C2:
His BMW E46 ZHP:
John Lor Special’s Toyota MR2 AW11 “Track Hack”:
Kiwialfista’s Alfa Romeo 75 Twin Spark:
Royce’s 1967 Jaguar E-Type in front of CKS Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan:
Allan in VA’s BMW 3.0 CS Coupe and BMW Bavaria:
His 1964 Porsche 356 SC:
That interior…
Billy in San Diego’s 928 S4:
Scott in Australia’s 1966 Alfa Romeo Giulia Super:
Keith C’s Audi V8:
Awesome, enviable rides as always.
See more or contribute your own here.
It’s a trade-off
•August 14, 2013 • 9 CommentsThis man said it best.
He knows. They all do. Good job representing, guys.
Scirocco and Scirocco
•August 13, 2013 • 2 Comments
Fantastic images (more here), although given our druthers, we prefer the wedge-y, Giugiaro-penned MkI. Surprised? No, we didn’t think so.
We don’t know if the latest ‘rocco is coming to the US (stop us if you think you’ve heard this one before), but Car and Driver likes it better than the AWD Golf R, for whatever that’s worth.
Assorted grab bag of stuff we like
•August 12, 2013 • 1 CommentWe’ve been away, which would explain the slowdown in posts recently. Still, we’d be remiss not to bring you the weekly grab bag, so without further ado..
Driving gloves from Autodromo
•August 9, 2013 • 1 Comment
We need to put in a plug for our good friends over at Autodromo; in fact, we’re happy to do so, and not just because we’re tight with them. Outside of the race track, we’ll be the first to admit we’re normally not big driving glove guys – we’ve always equated them with more ‘show’ than ‘go’ – but they really did come in handy as we navigated a particularly technical section of the Blue Ridge Parkway recently.
No, it’s not the track, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to work up a sweat – and how welcome a simple pair of leather gloves can subsequently be – on even a good public driving road. The Alpinestars are probably overkill for this application – chances are you won’t be needing that Nomex construction, unless you happen to own a modern supercar – but if you’re anything like us, you’ll be pretty happy you had these leather gloves the next time you hit up your favorite set of twisty roads.
Find them over on Autodromo’s website. Happy motoring.
Life with the E28 M5
•August 6, 2013 • 17 Comments
We’ve been living with the E28 M5 for a little over a month now, slowly addressing the various needs – large and small – with which it came to us (as these things inevitably go). In between servicing, here are some of our prosaic observations from our all-too-brief time with it thus far on the road:
- The thing is thirsty. We’re observing under 20 mpg (make that well under 20 mpg, to be slightly more precise) in city driving (we don’t have enough data from highway). We don’t recommend that kind of abysmal mileage for daily driving. The car is probably running rich. Which is making us poor.
- It doesn’t like puttering around town at low speeds. For that, the 535i that we had was really hands-down the better car. For all we know, the unsung 528e might be the best one of all.
- The car is happiest operating at speeds that are well above the legal speed limit. What’s more, these speeds still feel normal, even slow. Clearly, this car wasn’t built for US roads. It blasts down the highway with almost disturbingly little drama (though notice we said drama, not feedback).
- One never escapes the feeling that a big, heavy motor rests right in front of the driver. And yet, the car still manages to feel reasonably balanced and not oppressively nose-heavy.
- The car starts up quickly and without complaint (especially after new spark plugs and a valve adjustment) and settles into a nice, lump-free idle— it isn’t a long, drawn-out process. It almost feels… modern.
- Engine rebuilds are notoriously expensive, and like most examples that are on the road today, this one is on its original, 100k+ mile motor. Every time the car is revved close to redline there is a little voice in the back of our mind asking, Should you really be doing that? To which we invariably respond ‘yes’ — and therein lies our Catch-22.
- Individual throttle bodies look and sound the business. That is all.
We’ll post more photos as we have them. The car doesn’t exactly beg to be photographed – what more is it to the casual observer than a boxy four-door, after all – but it is rather neat to own, we’ll admit. We feel privileged.
Motoring Con Brio 