Chief Engineer Andrew Farah brought Chevy’s breakthrough electric hybrid vehicle, the 2011 Volt to Leno’s Big Dog Garage for him to drive. The Volt can run on electricity for up to 40 miles, then switches over to a range-extending gas generator, driving for hundreds of miles on a single tank.
SOURCE: JayLenosGarage
What began as a relatively calm morning in the southern California foothills just outside San Diego literally became the stuff Guinness Book of World Records are made of when Monster Energys Johnny Greaves came roaring down a dirt road at 105 mile per hour and launched his 3,800-pound, 800-horsepower TORC off-road PRO 2WD Toyota through the air over the length of an NFL football field.
Landing quite peacefully some 301-feet later despite the overall violent nature of the jump. Greaves looped back around and was met by his Monster Energy/Toyota Motorsports team and off-road racing teammate McGrath.
With a spectrum of measuring and surveying equipment on hand, Greaves added more than 100 feet to the previous 2WD distance truck jumping record of 193-feet set last year…
Greaves:
I was a little bit nervous. I woke up and I was going to go ride down there and look at the ramp and talk about what we need to do, but my brother was already in Jeremys horse barn tearing the truck apart and getting the gearing right and I was like, All right, its on!
…you can really manipulate the flight of the truck with the rear wheels just like a dirt bike, said Greaves. Id actually hit the jump and rag the brake a little to get it to flatten out. Once I got the feel for that then I was like All right, Im good. Lets hit this wide open!
…Im not a stuntman or a jump guy, but Monster gave me the opportunity to do this and I took it. Its the greatest thrill Ive ever had. You cant believe how long youre in the air, just up there in this massive truck floating through the air.
SOURCE: Monster
Andrew Farah, vehicle chief engineer for the Chevrolet Volt, took the car for a lap around the parking lot in Dodger Stadium. He drove in EV mode, meaning its running solely on the batteries and the gas powered engine never kicks in.
SOURCE: Chevrolet VoltAge
Back in September got an early peak at the McLaren MP4-12C. What we didn’t get to see was while he was in England he was also gifted with a ride along in the prototype around the Top Gear test track.
More info, pics and vids in the forum discussion –> Auto-Focus Forum
SOURCE: YouTube
British photographer, Andy Willsheer, came within inches of meeting his maker at Pomona Raceway when Steve Gassparelli’s funny car slipped on some oil out of the hole, veered 90 degrees toward Willsheer and smashed into the barrier right in front of him. Amazingly neither Willsheer or Gasparrelli were seriously hurt, but perhaps more amazing are the photos Willsheer managed to snap.
While other photographers ran the other way, Willsheer snapped away as the 250mph funny car headed straight for him.
The wheels spun right in front of the Brit’s lens as it hit the barrier.
The funny car bounces off the barrier away from Andy leaving him to photograph another day.
SOURCE: Dailymail PHOTO CREDIT: Andy Willsheer
It’s real, and it’s spectacular. Travis has been practicing short distance jumps in preparation for his record setting rally jump… and not all of them have gone so well.
He’s fine. The car, not so much.
This New Year’s Eve, action sports icon Travis Pastrana will star in Red Bull: New Year. No Limits., live on ESPN. Travis will attempt to shatter the world record for distance jumping in a car at the Pine Street Pier in Long Beach’s Rainbow Harbor.
Stay tuned to http://redbullnewyearnolimits.com for more details.
SOURCE: Red Bull via YouTube
Jay Leno recently featured the new Mercedes gullwing over at JayLenosGarage.com. The SMS AMG features a handcrafted, naturally aspirated 6.3-liter V8 promising 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds with a top speed of 197 mph but personally I’m most impressed by its deep throaty roar. In fact that is the only part of Leno’s thorough review that I disagree with, it doesn’t sound anything like an Italian exotic…it sounds so much better!
More info, pics and vids in our forum discussion –> Auto-Focus Forum
SOURCE: JayLenosGarage