Weekend Video Roundup: 911 GT3 vs. M3 GTS, Hooning an Aventador, Top Gear: Electric Boogaloo and More!
After a few weeks wandering the desert (That’s the last time we drive through Bat Country…), Weekend Video Roundup is back. As usual, we’re serving up all the latest car-related videos that people are talking about (and some that they aren’t). We reckon this week’s edition has something for just about everyone. Don’t believe us? Judge for yourself after the jump.
Lamborghini Aventador Playing in the Rain
We already know Lamborghini’s new flagship, the Aventador LP700-4, can handle the streets of Rome, and that it can conquer the Apocalypse. But what about wet weather? As Steve Sutcliffe of Autocar demonstrates in his video review, the newest Lambo is hardly flummoxed by a little moisture on Italy’s Vallelunga race circuit and the surrounding byways. We suspect the sophisticated and suspension and all-wheel-drive system have something to do with that. And oh, that exhaust note…
Porsche 911 GT3 Locks Horns with the BMW M3 GTS
As great as Autocar is with solo vehicle tests, we really enjoy watching their head-to-head videos. This one sees the Porsche 911 GT3 squaring off with the BMW M3 GTS on the hill track at England’s Millbrook Proving Ground. While the Bimmer doesn’t quite have what it takes to run with the Porsche, we still wouldn’t mind owning an M3 GTS. But we’re in America, where the GTS isn’t available. Foo.
Top Gear Hosts Try to Charge Their Electric Cars
The latest season of Top Gear is still a ways away from reaching the U.K.’s TV sets, but we already know that one segment of one show will feature Jeremy in a Nissan Leaf and James in a Peugeot iOn (a rebadged Mitsubishi i). When they came upon the college town of Lincoln, they looked for a place to recharge their cars, fruitlessly driving around before Jezza’s Leaf apparently ran out of juice. The above video joins our protagonists as they are surrounded by a horde of bemused university students.
Man Gets “Trapped” in a Corvette (NSFW)
One of the more interesting features of the sixth generation Chevrolet Corvette (as well as its late platform-mate, the Cadillac XLR and the new Cadillac CTS Coupe) is its electronic door releases. Just reach into the recess in the quarter panel, press the backside of the door and presto, you’re in. There’s a button on the door panel to release the latch from the inside. Great idea…unless you have a dead battery or some other electrical issue.
Unsurprisingly, GM was aware of this when it introduced this technology and fitted C6 Vettes and other models using this setup with red pull straps tucked away on the floor between the seat and the rocker panel for just such eventualities. Unfortunately, this Southern gentleman didn’t get that memo, affording his cohorts a golden opportunity for public shaming.
Cars 2 Final Trailer
Finally, while not everyone is convinced it was the Disney/Pixar film that was most deserving of a sequel, we are very pleased that the 2006 hit Cars is getting a second go-round. In Cars 2, Lightning McQueen is competing in the inaugural World Grand Prix, but his buddy Mater – who’s come along to cheer him on – is mistaken for an American super spy, drawing him and McQueen into a web of intrigue and espionage. In case you haven’t guessed by now, we’re very eager to see this when it hits theaters, though we probably won’t try to battle the opening day crowds on June 24.