Turn 14 Distribution, the performance warehouse giant which supplies aftermarket goods globally and prides itself on stocking its partners’ complete product lines, announced it will be the title sponsor for Evasive Motorsports’ Tesla Model 3 Performance campaign at the 2021 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Turn 14’s Director of Marketing, Daryl Sampson states, “Turn 14 Distribution’s goal to be an industry leader is consistent with our involvement in this project. We love the sound and emotion of internal combustion engines but recognize and support the increasing growth of the EV and hybrid market by the OE’s. Evasive Motorsports sees this, too, and we are happy to partner with them on this effort.”
Piloting the Model 3 is Turn 14-sponsored athlete and wheel ace, Dai Yoshihara, a talent who has competed—and realized success—in drift, time attack, and hill climb events.
This isn’t Evasive Motorsports’ first trip [...]
The past couple of weeks have not been good for catalytic converter thieves in California. Last week, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department raided four locations, arresting 19 people and seizing 250 stolen catalytic converters. This week, sheriffs in neighboring San Bernardino county raided a home and recovered 400 stolen converters. Meanwhile, in nearby Anaheim, a would-be converter thief died when he was crushed by the Toyota Prius whose converter he was trying to pillage.
If you weren’t aware that catalytic converter theft is A Thing, well, it is—and the problem is getting worse. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the pandemic has seen a rapid rise in catalytic converter theft. In 2019, an average of 282 catalytic converters were stolen every month; in 2020 the average had risen to 1,203—and that’s just an average. In December alone, 2,347 catalytic converters were stolen.
East Coast Defenders (E.C.D.) Automotive Design prides itself in meticulously crafting six-figure, bespoke Defenders and Range Rover Classics fit to impress even the pickiest of connoisseurs. But the company’s recent creation out-whizzes its robust collection of re-worked British machinery with a surprise underhood. This Range Rover Classic may look like the others, but it hides a ‘lil secret that helps it cruise with a futuristic whirr rather than a guttural growl. It’s from the past but powered by the future. It’s electric, the first of its kind from E.C.D.
In addition to its Rover 4.0-liter V-8 or Chevy 6.2-liter V-8 engine options for restored Range Rover Classics, E.C.D. now offers an “Electric Defender” conversion, and has successfully executed this EV powertrain swap in a customer build. E.C.D. sourced the Tesla Direct Drive EV powertrain and 100-kWh battery pack good for about 220 miles on a five hour charge [...]
Remember the 100th episode special of Dirt Every Day? Neither did Fred Williams or Dave Chappelle; they kinda forgot where the count was and celebrated the milestone, officially, at 103. But, boy was it a big one! Going to the island of Java in Indonesia to wheel with Fred’s long-time friend, Widodo, and the ProRock Engineering crew in that awesome Daihatsu Taft pickup conversion—fun times.
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But this is season 10 and it’s time to go bigger and better! How? By building a Suzuki Samurai rock crawler pickup conversion thingy! Hey, the Samurai is marginally bigger than the Taft, so that counts. And Fred [...]
Update: Drawings that Lucid trademarked of the Gravity with the European Union Intellectual Property Office have been added to this post. The drawings appear to match the teaser photos Lucid released of the Gravity and confirm that the electric automaker will bring the basic styling of its Air sedan to an SUV body style.
Not content simply launching an all-new EV with more than 1,000 horsepower and an expected EPA range of more than 500 miles, the mad geniuses at Lucid Motors are cooking up a new SUV, because of course they are, and today’s market dictates they offer one. It’s called the Lucid Gravity.
Little official information is available at this point beyond these two key items: First, the Gravity looks wider and will of course be much taller than the Lucid Air sedan, but it will sit on the same stretched-wheelbase skateboard platform so the SUV/CUV’s length should be close to identical. (Perhaps [...]
