The other day I almost ran over Dave Coleman. Almost. The guy has quick feet. But it was close. Another coat of paint on the right front fender of the Nissan Altima I was driving, and Coleman would now be walking with a severe limp.
Coleman, for those of you who don't know is our engineering editor.He's also the only guy I could find with balls big enough to stand in front of the Nissan while I roasted the car's tires for Jacquot's camera. Jacquot, for those of you that don't know, is Josh Jacquot our senior editor.
Anyway, Coleman's job for the moment was to stand in front of the car holding a large golden reflector to throw sunlight onto the Altima's nose. It's an important job. Without the reflection of light, the Altima's beak would be too dark. Now Coleman is a college graduate. He has an IQ somewhere in the triple digits. And he has a keen sense for things, like knowing when his life is in danger. Still, he volunteered.
Why? Because we needed to get the shot. That's our job. Without the shot, we're as lame as all the other lame magazines out there. We don't want to be lame. We want the shot. And if that means I have to run Coleman over, so be it.
We got the shot. Check out the road test of the new Altima on page 88. It's a cool car.
Video StarLike MTV and Jenna Jameson, we've gotten into the video business. We have two. Trust me, they're right. The first one documents the G-Force Challenge we featured in the December 2001 issue.
If you want to see an extremely diverse group of 10 cars battle it out on the racetrack, through the slalom and around the skidpad, this is the video to watch. It's packed with hot cars, including turbo Supras, a twin turbo RX-7, an Acura Integra Type R and a Subaru WRX, driven in anger by guest test drivers like Steph Papadakis and Rhys Millen.
Several of the cars pulled more than 1.0g on the skidpad, and the rest burned their BFGoodrich G-force T/A tires off their rims trying.
The other video I'm hyping covers this year's Ultimate Street Car Challenge, which is on this month's cover. This year's event was so big and packed with so many killer cars, we broke out the video crew to document the action. And don't think these videos are amateur crap. This is professional stuff. Heck, we even had a real sound guy, and put the camera on a tripod. I'm telling you, it's good stuff.
Fact is, there's only so much we can show you with still photography on the printed page, but in the video you really get to see the action. It's as good as being there.
For instance, in the Gross Display of Horsepower portion of the competition, the twin turbo Hyundai Tiburon did this incredible, four-wheel burnout. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. We have a photo of it on page 64, but in the video, you get the see the smoke build, hear the Tib's two turbocharged engines scream and watch the car do the most outrageous burnout ever caught on film.
Sold? Turn to page 68 and order it up. You won't regret it. See you next month.