“Next!” a pit crew member shouts, shattering my daydream.

Is he talking to me? Elated at the thought of Mario-fucking-Andretti personally chauffeuring me around the track, I half-step forward long enough for another crew member to break my stride. Placing his palm flat against my chest, he utters a stern: “Not you.”

This is the Indy Racing Experience at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For racing enthusiasts, there’s almost nothing like it on earth. When would-be organizers of the IRE approached decision-makers at the Speedway, they were almost laughed out of the room. Their vision was to allow average Joes — anyone with a pulse and the height to reach the steering wheel and pedals — to pilot legitimate IndyCars at speeds of up to 130 mph. It sounds insane because, of course, it is insane.

But, if any city in the world could figure a way to realize this lofty goal, it would be Indy — home to one of the world’s premier auto races. With plenty of persistence, patience, and — I’ll hazard a guess — palm-greasing, their vision became a reality. Today, Indy Racing Experience visitors can choose from one of two options. The Drive Program allows wanna-be race car drivers to command their own authentic, detuned IndyCar for three full laps at up to 130 mph. With the Ride Program, riders hop into the rear of a tandem IndyCar to scream around the track for two laps at up to 180 mpr. Riders experience g-forces that few others — aside from fighter pilots and astronauts — on earth will ever know. Deciding which program to choose isn’t easy. But, because I love speed, I opted for the latter.

By the time my non-Andretti driver arrived, I’d been suited up for only 20 minutes, but it felt like hours. I was itching to just go. I climbed into the rear seat while the pit crew pulled my racing harness into place. My helmet was barely secured before we pulled hard out of the pit as though we’d been rear-ended by a freight train. I didn’t know that level of acceleration was possible without leaving the ground. My head, arms, and body felt magnetized to the seat behind me. I couldn’t move. For a second, I thought, “This is what astronauts must feel like upon lift-off …” and all I could do was scream. A raw, pure, animalistic howl which was completely drowned out by the engine roar. I couldn’t hear it. My driver couldn’t hear it.

We were through the first turn and into the straightaway in seconds. The driver goosed the pedal and we hit the max 180 mph almost immediately. My painfully tight-fitting helmet began to pull away from my head. Gravity and nylon were no longer enough to keep it reliably in place. The engine roar was so loud that my hearing was reduced to a narrow hum somewhere between my ears. The world on either side of the car — the track, the fencing, the bleachers, the spectators — all melted into a streaky watercolor painting without edges or definition. Still, I continued to howl.

I closed my eyes as we pulled into the second turn and time suddenly stood still. I couldn’t comprehend how the car was physically staying glued to the track at such speeds. What’s more: how was my driver skilled enough to keep the car on the asphalt?

As we completed the first lap, we passed the pit we’d just left seconds earlier. I later learned my girlfriend was waving, screaming for me, and snapping photos the entire time. Unfortunately, she was but a mute blur in my periphery.

We lapped once more before returning to the pit where I exited the car as quickly and unceremoniously as I’d entered. In minutes, I’d collected my personalized IRE plaque, stripped off my fire retardant racing suit, and returned to the parking lot. The ride was over and I struggled to ground myself back on planet earth. I was seeing stars and my hearing had yet to return. But, try as I might, I could not stop smiling.

Even though I’d only experienced a fraction of what world-class drivers contend with on any given race day, I left with a whole new appreciation for the sport. It was an exhilarating and, quite literally, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The post Life at 180 MPH: An Exhilarating Ride at the Indy Racing Experience appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Is it any wonder that the rich and wondrous covet this mix of heart-pounding decadence and environmental responsibility? Is it also any wonder that the low-slung, futuristic 918 has spawned its share of shocking tales?

Live the high life vicariously through the 10 mind-blowing Porsche 918 true stories below.

via CarBuzz.com

1. Will Trade Private Island for Porsche 918 Spyder

Want your own private island? A couple years ago a guy named Emilio Cirelli offered up his own private island in trade. If you’ve got a Porsche 918 going spare, you can make his dreams (and yours?) come true. The island? It’s in Florida, so no Caribbean daydreams there. It’s listed at just over $1 million in value. Since the Spyder originally retailed for around that price and has been discontinued, Cirelli would most likely wind up on the winning end of that deal. True story.

2. He Stole a Porsche 918 in Broad Daylight. From a Dealership.

A 22-year old man was able to live the dream of driving the Porsche 918 for six hours after he stole it from the showroom floor. The man, Francisco Gonzalez-Velazquez, took off with the machine from a dealership in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2015. He was later caught by the police, but if you’re picturing a dramatic chase like something out of the Fast and Furious films, don’t. In this true story, the guy was driving slowly when the cops pulled him over. He surrendered instantly and the car was still in mint condition.

via CBC News

3. He Wanted Porsche to Pay Him Back Nine Times What His Car Was Worth

Michael Wekerle, a star of the Canadian Shark Tank knockoff show Dragon’s Den, bought a Porsche 918 as the culmination of a lifelong dream. One problem? The car suddenly burst into flames and burned to a beautifully engineered cinder. Claiming the auto was defective, he sued Porsche for $9.4 million. That’s nine times the car’s original purchase price. One little wrinkle in his lawsuit? Witnesses say the 918 fire started when Wekerle filled its tank to overflowing at a gas station. You can’t make this stuff up.

via: CarBuzz.com

4. Porsche 918 Spyder Has Actual Balls

If you owned a hybrid supercar, would you let somebody fill it up with balls? For Canadian car tuning company SR Auto Group, the answer was a big “yes.” They hatched the idea of filling a Porsche 918 Spyder with plastic balls for charity. Strange but true. They let people guess how many balls the car held as a way to increase donations to their local food bank. The prize? Alas, not a free Porsche. Sadly, the winner only got a Liberty Walk Lamborghini Aventador. What a gigantic letdown.

via CarNewsChina.com

5. Oops! Girlfriend Crashes Porsche 918 in China

Here’s a true story about the Porsche 918 with a heartwarming conclusion. A guy let his girlfriend take the million dollar auto for a spin. What a way to score relationship points, right? Well, while the owner was sitting back in the passenger seat and thinking about how awesome she was going to think he was, they hit a little snag. Namely, the girl mistook the throttle for the brake and piled the supercar into a tree. Ouch. The two were on their way back from a shopping trip in the eastern city of Shanghai. After the crash, the car’s owner was reportedly calm. Rather than reading her the riot act, he told the driver it was no big deal, since he was planning to replace it with a Bugatti Veyron anyway. Oh yeah, he’s a multi-millionaire. That helps.

via YouTube.com

6. Thanks for the Test Drive. Now About That Front End…

How would you feel if you took a Porsche 918 for a test drive and crashed it? That’s just what Walter Rohlr (no kidding, that’s his name) did. If you’ve never heard of him, he’s won two World Rally Championship titles and he’s actually part of Porsche’s development team. He’s held that position for 25 years, but the 918 just proved too much for the 68 year old. He lost control of the muscle machine on a test track and slammed it into a wall. As a representative of the company, he was quick to say the crash had nothing whatsoever to do with any defect in the car. Was it driver error then? Let’s not be hasty. According to Rohlr, a flaw in the track itself bears the blame.

via Stuff.co.nz

7. Hold My Beer

There’s nothing like the feeling of turning a crowd of people green with envy as you rev up your new $1 million Porsche 918. A beautiful girl in the front seat, no shirt, a pair of shades, and metal horns round out the experience. Of course when you crash the car a moment later and everyone laughs at you as you turn red with embarrassment, the feeling fades a bit. In a video that has since been pulled from Instagram, the unknown driver revved the engine, popped the clutch, and almost plowed into a crowd of bystanders. Moments later, he smashed into the back end of a parked 4WD vehicle. He probably wasn’t feeling quite as chipper as he slunk away with a crumpled hood and steam hissing from the car’s innards.

8. The Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups of Porsche Driving

There’s nothing quite like that moment when you accidentally back your million dollar Porsche 918 Spyder into someone else’s $90,000 Porsche 911. Unless it’s the moment just after that when the owner of the car that costs 1/10th as much seems more agitated about it than you. Of course, if you can afford a 918, you probably aren’t that worried about putting a dent in the fender, whereas the guy who owns the 911 might have mortgaged his house to pay for it. Luckily there was no damage to either car.

9. A Porsche 918 Got Beat by a Nissan Patrol, Really?

You wouldn’t think a supercar that delivers 944 pound-feet of torque would lose a race to a Nissan SUV. In a 2017 episode of Grand Tour though, that’s exactly what happened. Turns out the Nissan Patrol actually has a good reason for beating the 918 — it had 1900 horsepower under the hood. The soccer-mom vehicle packed an R35 Nissan GT-R VR38 drivetrain and a 4.1 liter engine, put together by T1 Race Development. So it’s not exactly the average drive-the-dogs-to-the-park model.

10. Canada Wants You to Buy a Porsche 918 Spyder

The government of Ontario would like to extend a heartfelt incentive to induce you to buy a Porsche 918. In truth, this is probably one of those, “Whoops, we didn’t see that side effect of our well-intended law coming” moments. The Ontario Government gives car buyers a tax break equal to about 3% of the value of any hybrid auto. The goal? To incentivize environmentally friendly spending habits. They didn’t see this coming though: that means anyone who bought the hybrid Porsche 918 Spyder got a nice $$5,500 credit. They’ve plugged that loophole now, limiting the credit to $3,000 total. In the meantime, five millionaires got a nice bonus with their supercars.

The post 10 Mind Blowing Stories About the Porsche 918 appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

I remember when the first generation Nissan Rogue was announced and shown off.  It had unique styling, that while boring, made it stand out.  The pronounced, thick grill was noticeable, and the headlights gave off a bit of a bug look to it, but you knew it was what it was.  There was no mistaking it.  And while the looks on the outside were different, it delivered the appeal of a fairly standard interior layout for smaller SUVs, ensuring new customers were comfortable inside.  Overall, for a first generation ride, it wasn’t bad.  It lost a few points in comfort and overall fit, but the popularity showed as more and more Rogues hit the road for families.

Then came the 2014 debut, and I hate to say it, but it was a bit underwhelming.  Don’t get me wrong; this is a great looking car.  It has solid styling, great features, covered the need for the improved interior, and brought it to the next level, but gone was the rogue feeling the first generation invoked.  And while it may seem that I am judging a vehicle based solely on the name, I feel the name of a ride should really help define it and not be more about marketing.  Instead, the 2014 Nissan Rogue is missing those unique features that helped it stand out before, the elements that could be hinted at in other vehicles, such as the headlights that were shaped similar to the GT-R with the vertical curve.  I missed those unique factors immediately.

So what are the redeeming factors of the new non-rogue Rogue?  Honestly, almost everything.  I loved the interior, the creature comforts, and the ride was fantastic.  The power was a bit on the low end, but knowing this ride is more for the family made that acceptable.  Storage was everywhere, and it was easy to drive.  Gas mileage was beyond impressive, especially with the number of hills, mountains, and traffic jams it was involved it.  Back seat spacing was fantastic, which is something I feel Nissan has done well across all of it’s 4-door lineup.  The driver controls and switches down by my left knee were a bit out of place and inconvenient to use while in the car, but aside from that, it was impressive.

But going back to the styling, it felt too safe and easy.  Every time I looked at the profile, I saw the Subaru Forester’s design elements.  I wanted to see another vehicle, something that stood out.  But maybe that’s the appeal; maybe that is what the customers are looking for in a car.  Just like planned communities, maybe they want unique on the inside, which the Rogue does well, and standard on the outside.

So where am I going with this?  Well, let’s call it a challenge to Nissan.  Let’s see you make this ride stand out again.  Let’s see the Rogue be unique; actually be rogue-ish.  Let’s see you step away from safe exterior styling and deliver something in this size just as you did with the Juke.  I want to have heads turn, not to lose the vehicle in the parking lot.

The post A Swing And A Miss For The Rogue appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

He remains one of the few big screen stars, past or present, that you know you could hold a quality and meaningful conversation with. He was accessible. He was a racer and motoring enthusiast who just happened to act as a way to pay the bills. Being a star was just his day job, and he made that clear every chance he got. Who he really was boiled down to being an average Joe who only wanted to pilot the fastest, loudest, and meanest vehicles around. He was any one of us petrol-heads, and he was successful enough to buy all the toys many of us can only dream about.

Oh and what wonderful toys! A veritable stable of motorcycles, the Porsches and famous Jaguar XKSS, and even the odd plane were all in his collection at one point or another. The man certainly had a taste for having the best of the breed. However, that generally did not extend into being ferried around in a cushy Rolls or Bentley. No, Steve McQueen was a driver. It is clear from his personal garage that he always sought to optimize his vehicles for their intended purpose. For commuting and getting around LA, the open top Jag that could dart in and out of the lumbering American cars of the day suited Steve just fine. For working on his ranch, an old pickup that could take a beating and be repaired easily fit the bill.

This quality is what is referred to when commentators obliquely mention his “style.” His style was function, and his preferred function was generally speed. There is everything to admire about that. Flash and luxury do not factor into speed, and thus were not a part of his world. If you’re looking for something to emulate from Steve McQueen it is this central lesson: Distill down to what is most important to you, and live around that tenant. That is how you live with style.

The post Steve McQueen’s Functional Style appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

We do it because it challenges us.
We do it because we feel like owners working on their own vehicles is becoming a lost art.
We do it because people look up to us for being able to fix the oft quoted but mystical “blown head gasket.”
We do it because we think the old ways were more beautiful and have a feeling of soul.
We do it to customize our rides and be unlike anyone else on the road.
We do it to gain confidence, to gain friends, and most importantly to gain time to think away from the distractions of this future world.
We do it because as children we recklessly and foolishly decided that this is what we wanted to be like when we grew up; because our 8-yr old selves fell in love with a rat rod, an ancient Indian motorcycle, or a custom Impala.
We do it to feel in control. Despite the rest of the world, no matter what happens to this mechanical beast we can fix it. We can deal with it and make it right again.
We do it to proudly proclaim, “I did this.” To drive and show the world what we are capable of doing – a mobile trophy case to our skill, dedication, hours, and personal taste.

We do it because this is a craft that we can always work toward, always learn more about, but never master. The beauty is in the journey not the destination, in the task not the output, in the time spent rather than the miles undertaken. This hobby, this craft, this life is in us. As much as we have bled and sweat on our machines, they have leaked and spread into us in kind.

We do it because we are it.

The post Why We Love Owning Vintage Cars appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.