Of all the things one hopes won’t happen in a race car, losing a right rear tire at 180 mph on the high banks at Daytona is likely at the top of the list. That’s exactly what happened to Dr. Jim Norman in his Porsche 911 recently. The pirouettes that resulted are the stuff of legend. Norman received a front-row seat to his machine’s nose and tail swapping places at least four times before coming to a stop facing the correct direction down pit lane. Miraculously, neither Norman nor his vehicle were seriously hurt in the dust-up.

Perhaps even more surprisingly, no one collected Norman as he went all Tasmanian devil on the road course. Another 911 directly behind Norman’s managed to avoid the spinning piece of German engineering, though that whole lift-off oversteer thing caused that vehicle to do its best impression of a tornado as well. Hit the jump to see both videos for yourself.

Continue reading Blowing a tire at 180 mph at Daytona is a wild ride

Blowing a tire at 180 mph at Daytona is a wild ride originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While we generally spend most of our time at SEMA walking through the halls of the convention center, there’s some pretty impressive cars outside, as well. Take this wild 1944 Mack fire truck, for example.

Built by Tom Stark of Precision Designs, the truck has been fitted with a 2005 Viper SRT10 V10 engine mated to a Dodge 48RE automatic transmission. The stock Mack axle remains up front, but the rear suspension and axle from a 2008 Ram truck resides out back. Other features include Dodge Ram SRT10 brakes, 24-inch American Force wheels and custom leather seating.

Lest you think this is just a show truck, Stark tells us that the owner plans to actually drive the thing. He is even going to make the trek from his home in Kansas City to the Goodguys Nationals in Columbus, Ohio come July.

You can see the Viper-powered 1944 Mack fire truck in detail in the gallery above.

Viper-powered 1944 Mack fire truck is one wild ride originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scion has turned its newest model, the iQ, over to some of the most ambitious tuners in the U.S. for SEMA 2011, and the results do not disappoint. Cartel has gone crazy with the company’s miniscule hatchback by turning it into a wild paddock service vehicle. With storage for tools and tires as well as a custom chop-top design, the Cartel Scion iQ Pit Boss is unlike anything else on the show floor. We’re not sure what we like best; the earth-shaking stereo system or the ever-ready impact driver in the center console.

Tatsu, meanwhile, has taken an entirely different approach with the Scion iQ. The shop started by surgically removing the vehicle’s tiny front-mounted four-cylinder engine and re-inserting it into back hatch. The result is what is very likely the world’s first mid-engined Scion iQ. The four-pot dumps power on the rear wheels, though the fuel cell has been moved under the hood for a little extra weight balance. Even so, the short-wheel base racer should make for a seriously entertaining handful out on the track.

Scion iQ Pit Boss by Cartel and iQ-MR by Tatsu are a wild bunch originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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