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Monday, September 30, 2013

Guy Crashes his Lamborghini Diablo, Shows the World How He Feels in Video



Ah, first world problems… If you thought that owning a Lamborghini is pure awesomeness 365 days a year, prepare for a reality check. Especially if you’re planning on buying a Lamborghini Diablo in the future, you should watch the following videos made by the owner of a 2001 model.

In the first video, Rob Dahm tells the story (a pretty long one in fact) of how he crashed the car while driving in the rain on used tires (a big double-no for any supercar owner).


The repair bill is not for the fainthearted: $11,000 for a set of four brake rotors (he couldn’t buy just one, they’re only available in sets of four), $10,000 to replace the carbon fiber front bumper and front fender, more than $4,000 for the wheels - and there's also a damaged suspension for which he didn't do the math yet. That's at least $25,000 for a car he bought used for $130,000. Ouch!


In the second video, he points out some inconveniences of the Lambo in a funny way, such as the fact that, although it’s a supercar, it still runs out of battery sometimes, and that the interior has no concept of ergonomics whatsoever. The video may seem annoying at first, but his remarks are simply sarcastic.


Finally, there’s a third video in which he shows what it’s like to drive the Diablo. If you want more, you can check out his YouTube channel where there are many more videos about his experience with the Diablo.


By Dan Mihalascu




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Meet Europe's 10 Biggest Automotive Money Losers



Everyone knows that the Bugatti Veyron is one of the most expensive cars to build and that VW loses a lot of money on each unit made. But while the Bugatti is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of losses per vehicle in Europe (€4,617,500 / $6,231,316), it is not the vehicle that inflicted the biggest loss on its company.

According to a research by brokerage firm Sanford C. Bernstein that was published by The Economist , the “honor” goes to the first generation Smart ForTwo , built between 1997 and 2006. The 749,000 units produced generated a loss of €3.35 billion ($4.52 billion) for parent company Daimler.


The main reason was that the automaker injected a huge amount of cash in the project, building a new dedicated plant, an all-new platform and 3-cylinder engines. As if that wasn’t enough, the Smart also failed to meet its sales targets by 40 percent. The maths show that Daimler lost €4,470 ($6,032) on each ForTwo it made.


Other vehicles, like the Fiat Stilo (2001-2009), simply failed to convince their target group of customers. The 769,000 units made were 70 percent less than Fiat’s estimates, bringing the company a huge loss of €2.10 billion ($2.83 billion), €2,730 ($3,685) per vehicle.


The top 3 is completed by the VW Phaeton , which is a rather different case as it was built simply to satisfy the personal whim of VW chairman Ferdinand Piech. Between 2001 and 2012, VW made 72,000 Phaetons and lost €28,100 ($37,910) on each of them. Total loss was €1.99 billion ($2.68 billion).


The top 10 of Europe’s biggest loss-making cars is completed by the Peugeot 1007 (€1.90 billion), first-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class (€1.71 billion), Bugatti Veyron (€1.70 billion), Jaguar X-Type (€1.70 billion), third-generation Renault Laguna (€1.54 billion), Audi A2 (€1.33 billion) and Renault Vel Satis (€1.20 billion).


By Dan Mihalascu


Story References and Chart Credits: The Economist











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New Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG Sounds Angry Around the Nurburgring



The all-new 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a lighter and more nimble replacement to the old model. This affects all variants in the range, but it should perhaps be most noticeable on the 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 AMG powered S63 . It may be one of (if not) the last cars to use that engine, according to a report we did not long ago, so we might as well enjoy its sound while they last.

Below we posted a video of what is believed to be the S63 being driven around the often-painted the Nurburgring Nordschleife , courtesy of TouriClips, and I can say that it sounds just as good as I was expecting it to - no surprises here.


Moreover, it looks really composed and clean through the bends, though, that may also be a byproduct of it not being driven particularly fast around them – I can’t tell for sure, but it looks quite slow in and fast out, to me.


Regardless, it’s quite a sight on the track, and it can’t be any slower than its predecessor, since it carries around less weight, so it should be better at trying to be a sports car. It remains to be seen if it's sharper than the Panamera Turbo, but then again, the Porsche isn't as good as the S at being a plush limousine, nor does it look as classy and clean.


By Andrei Nedelea




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Student Says Grand Theft Auto Drove Him to Act Senseless, Stealing Truck, Ram Nine Cars



I get the attraction of Grand Theft Auto 5 ; publisher Take Two Interactive may be pushing its story and characters a lot, but they’re not really what reels people in and keeps them hooked. That job is left to the immersive open world that allows you to fulfill the grimmest of mass destructive fantasies (if you have such ideas floating around in your head, that is – some players seem to do…).

Those behind the game will always insist that their product is not to blame for any mirroring of the digital violence that is transposed into the real world, even if the perpetrators themselves say it drove them to commit their acts.


I'm not taking sides here, but at the same time, I feel that even with basic knowledge about the human brain, one should be aware of the sponge-like nature of the subconscious, which soaks up pretty much all that we see in an manner most have little control over.


With that in mind, do you think Zachary Burgess’ actions are in any way related to spending lots of time behind the controller playing the new game? He stole a truck from a parking lot with a female passenger still inside. Apparently, the driver had hopped out and went to a store, leaving the engine running.


According to NBC News , Burgess says he saw this as an opportunity to “see what it was really like to play the video game Grand Theft Auto,” so he drove off, and rammed nine cars in the same parking lot in his attempt to flee.


Do you find any of this odd from a 20-year-old freshman and lacrosse player going to Auburn University? He now faces multiple charges, the most severe of which is kidnapping.


By Andrei Nedelea


Video: WDSU/YouTube




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