Hooniverse Asks: What’s the craziest part you can find for your car for sale online?

Over on Jalopnik, there’s a post about a very curious part being offered for sale on eBay. It’s a turbocharger. Not just any spin-loving snail though, as this one is the type formerly employed by BMW to force air into its M12 Formula One engines. Yes, you can have the turbo components that help Megatron engines produce upwards of 1,400 horsepower.

It’s not cheap, of course. The asking price is nearly $12,000. That’s a lot of coin for a setup that didn’t even perform well in its day. Still, if you’re a BMW fan with money burning a hole in your pocket, it could as least make for some amazing automotive art.

It is certainly insane. It would be more insane if someone managed to swap this into a setup under their hood. Now I’m curious what might exist for other cars that’s on the same level of insanity.

What have you found for sale online that could be adapted to work in your own vehicle?

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Who wins when a Lamborghini Huracan drag races an Ultra 4 off-road race buggy?

The short answer is: everyone. Everyone wins, because this is the sort of random vehicular shenanigans we can get behind. In one corner you have the supercharged Lamborghini Huracan owned and driven by slideways extraordinaire Samuel Hübinette. In the other corner sits the Ultra 4 race rig driven by Jason Blanton.

There’s a serious weight difference here, as Blanton says his off-road machine weighs in at somewhere around 5,000 pounds. That Huracan is probably around 3,300 pounds and it’s also making 800 horsepower. Blanton’s beastie is no slouch though thanks to its 572 cubic-inch V8 that cranks out 900 horsepower.

Who’s going to win? Like I said all of us. Oh, and one of them too. It’s not a tie. Click play and give it a watch. If you don’t have time for the full video, you can jump to around the 2:35 mark.

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Hooniverse Asks: What’s the best vehicle to take on the Hot Rod Power Tour?

This year marks the 24th annual running of the Hot Rod Power Tour. For 2018, the festivities kick off in Bowling Green, Kentucky and then thousands of cars and spectators will wind their way over to the zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. It’s seven days, seven cities, and tremendous amounts of horsepower. If you were to attend the Power Tour, what sort of vehicle would you bring?

If you’re Jim Bassett, the answer is a 1954 Chevy School Bus that also tows a 1969 Chevy Camaro. Watch the video above to learn all about both vehicles, but you’re going to want to focus on the specs of the bus. Especially because it’s making 500-600 horsepower and possibly 1,200 pound-feet of torque.

All hail the Cummins the 12V.

So Jim already has a damn fine answer to the question being posed. How about you? What would you bring to the Power Tour?

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Podcast: Episode 232 – Back in action

We’ve missed you! It’s been a lot of SEMA episodes, but those episodes enable us to give you ear-hole content while taking in a much-needed holiday break. That break is now over, and we’re back in the studio talking car stuff (and all the other crap that rambles into our vapid brains).

Josh Ostrander joins us in the studio for this episode. We talk about his first time in Baja, how we met, and how he’s moved from a few entry jobs into a full-time video gig with a large company.

Also… car stuff!

Hooniverse – Back in action

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Shift Happens: A Kia Stinger GT AWD in the slush

I’ve already driven the new 2018 Kia Stinger GT. That was on California roads, under the sun, in perfect conditions. Heading back east for the holidays, I wanted to see if I could spend a bit more time with the car and experience the AWD version in the cold.

You might expect that I’d do a proper review… but it’s holidays and I just wanted to see if I could get the car to slide. Spoiler alert: The damn Michelin Pilot Sport AS3+ tires are better than I thought they would be. Couple that with the AWD system sending that power to the front and the result is some not-so-slidey circles in a slushy parking lot in Southern RI.

I’ve let you down, I’m sorry. But in other news, those are some damn good tires.

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HCOTY 2017: Vote now!

It’s that time. The end of the world year is upon us. As we shutter 2017 and open the doors on 2018, it’s time to honor the storied tradition that is the Hooniverse Car of the Year. So this is going to be the post where you toss your vote in the ring and hope your chosen vehicle rises to the top… and you also hope that the competition doesn’t happen to be a star vehicle with a massive fan base.

Either way, jump past the break and check out the nominations. Then cast your vote for the HCOTY 2017 winner at the bottom.

Then go get drunk on some delicious holiday booze…

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Hooniverse Asks: Did you give or receive anything car related this Christmas?

The holiday season is inching closer to its finally. A new year is nearly upon us. Looking back before jumping forward, we wanted to know if you got anything car related as a gift this holiday season. Or maybe you gave a car-related gift?

Share your holiday handouts in the comment section below. 

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Start your Thursday with a screaming Alfa Romeo

Not counting you sport bike lovers, is there anyone out there who has driven a car that runs to a 9,800 rpm redline? All of that angry noise is coming from a 1.6-liter engine making 225 horsepower. It’s delivering that power to the front wheels of this Alfa Romeo 33, which is competing in a hill-climb event somewhere in a part of the world that embraces this glorious form of motorsport.

This might be the angriest front-driver we’ve ever heard.

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Acura NSX: The real every day supercar

We’ve been waiting quite some time for a new Acura NSX. It’s arrived, and the early reviews were mixed. Those reviews missed something, because this thing is damn good.

Through a combination of batteries, motors, and a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine, the NSX producers over 570 horsepower and more than 470 pound-feet of torque. That gas-burning engine sends its power to the rear wheels. Up front, a pair of motors distribute power in the nose. There’s a third power unit that sits between the engine and a nine-speed dual-clutch gearbox, attaches to the crankshaft directly, and supplies a bit more torque out back.

When everything is working together, you have a super machine that behaves like a mid-engined sports car and is actually working like a million-dollar hyper car. Yet it’s still quite comfortable inside. The seats are excellent, the sound system is sharp, and the suspension is smooth when the Drive Mode is set to Quiet or Sport.

This is the real-deal daily drivable super car.

[Disclaimer: Acura tossed us the keys to the NSX and included a tank of fuel. We went through a few more tanks… it was hard to stop driving this one.]

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HCOTY 2017 Nominee: The Land Yacht

Christopher Tracy wants his kids to stop staring at their screens. He’d rather they point their eyes towards the beauty of the world all around them. How is he doing this? By taking road trips with the family in his 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser. A Land Cruiser that’s been given the nickname Land Yacht.

The first order of business was getting the Land Yacht ready for duty. Tracy purchased the vehicle from his uncle, and it lived a busy life under the prior ownership. Chris set to work on the truck though, making sure that it would be up for adventures both on and off-road. And those adventures are already taking place.

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