Ferrari

This past weekend Sub5Zero traveled once again to the beautiful Monterey Peninsula to bring you coverage of American Le Mans Series at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway. After 6 grueling hours, Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf took their Honda HPD ARX-03a to the top step on the podium.

Historically speaking, the convertible versions of Ferrari berlinettas (i.e. coupes) have been heavier, flimsier and altogether wussier than their fixed-roof brethren. Sure, they’re great for enjoying the fresh air (and the siren song of the engine), and they make it easier for people to see who the Richie Rich behind the wheel is. But if you were into performance, you were better off with a coupe.

That changes, however, with the 458 Spider. The stiff structure and remarkably light retractable hardtop mean the performance drop-off versus the 458 Italia is miniscule. Of course, that performance gap could be made smaller still, or even turned into a performance advantage. And that is precisely what Novitec Rosso has done.

Not too long ago, I popped Need for Speed: Underground, one of my very first racing games, into my Gamecube just for kicks. Having considered myself to be a car enthusiast for a number of years now, I was curious to see how far the tuning scene had come. I really wish I had some screenshots to show you just how much my own interpretation of “cool” has changed. My entire stable of Underground cars rocked wild metallic paint jobs, tear/stripe vinyls, neon, and planet-sized chrome wheels.

My lasting impression of Hot Import Nights was that the cars that turned up were all somewhat like my virtual Underground garage – most show, little go. I fully expected to see some Lambo doors on cars that weren’t Lamborghini’s and maybe even hear the distinctive plume of nitrous purging. How things have changed. HIN has matured and grown up in time with our scene and even with the closure of Irwindale Speedway, the show had to go on.

The Geneva Motor Show is one of the auto industry’s best-known rites of Spring. Every March, the motoring world converges on the lakeside Swiss metropolis to gawk at all the new models (vehicular and otherwise) on neutral ground. It’s absolutely one of the crown jewels of the international auto show calendar.

And because it’s such a prestigious show, the manufacturers tend to bring their best production and concept cars to the Geneva Palexpo. This means picking out the best of the best is a mighty daunting task, which is why we’ve decided to expand the field to 25. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s hop to it.