The VN Channel

Cars are to boys, as shoes are to girls. That explains why men often mark significant phases of their lives with cars: teenage dreams, personal achievement, male menopause, whatever. But sorry boys, as impossible as it may seen, according to a new study, a brand new car won’t help you much to attract women. Maybe that’s because more and more women are buying themselves cars, making them toys for big girls as well.

A study that was commissioned by the Australian Top Gear revealed that the brain of a typical woman does not show significant reactions to men whether they are driving a Ferrari of a beaten-down jalopy that was due for the museum, say 20 years ago?

Based on pop culture and belief, men who drive an attractive and fast vehicle automatically become more attractive to women compared to those pedaling away in bicycles. Also men who are generally attractive (or believe to be attractive) are immune to the type of car they drive. According to Neuro Insight’s Peter Pynta, the one who made the study, you don’t have to worry about driving a jalopy if you’re already attractive.

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I am giggling. I am giggling a lot.

I love Mitsubishi, I really do. Probably I have said it before, but the Mitsubishi Eclipse is my favorite car ever, second only to early model Jags.

And this — this is the Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport Air. Yeah, I don’t know what that means either, but the sight of it is sure giving me a chuckle or two. Or ten.

I do know that this does look kind of like a mutant VW Beetle — and that’s cool too, because I love a Bug.

In all due seriousness, this is the open air version of the original i MiEV Sport. It has two doors, wheels at every corner, accentuated fenders, and a chiseled body. The clear, cutaway roof features solar panels. It is an extremely eco friendly vehicle.

One week – it has only been about a week since the Lotus Evora Type 124 actually appeared on the radar and to me, it seems like longer!  This is a car that I have been waiting for – for quite a while and I have been watching for it to come out and now that it is here, I can not wait to actually see it in action.  The Lotus Evora Type 124 is actually one of the race cars that Lotus has put out and it is certainly one car that is going to go places.

We all know that the Evora is a car that already basically had some of the elements to switch it over into a race car, however the new Lotus Evora Type 124 – is truly a race car.  It has been restructured a little bit and it has certainly had a few things added and some weight taken away, as that is key to keeping the car awesome on the race track.

The Lotus Evora Type 124 is one car that I think everyone is going to be surprised by and one that is certainly going to show a hell of a lot of other cars up!

Yeah, I said it. The concept for the Aston Martin Cygnet, first glimpsed early in the summer, it looks … it looks kind of weird.

I typically love Aston Martin vehicles; it is probably unhealthy. This, one, though … I don’t know.

It is loosely classified as an “innovative commuter concept.” As has been pointed out before, it sort of looks like a smaller version of the signature Aston Martin grille got slapped onto the front of a Toyota iQ. That is sort of the truth.

It is expected to be around sometime in the future, at least according to Dr. Ulrich Bez, the Chief Executive of the manufacturer.

I don’t know, maybe they’re trying to be edgy or something, and they think this is the way to go.

I … do not.

Back in the month of April, Mercedes-Benz began making all sorts of plans to come out with the Mercedes-Benz F-Cell – on a smaller scale.  The German automaker wanted to start small in order to see how this particular car went – they are going to be starting with just about 200 cars throughout the United States as well as Europe and as of early next year, you should be able to lease the beautiful Mercedes-Benz F-Cell.

What is so different about the Mercedes-Benz F-Cell is that it actually uses a 100 kW electric motor that churns out about 214 lb-ft of torque, which is something that many – many cars do not have.  This car actually features a 2.0-liter gas-powered engine inside that will get up to about 60 mph in under 11 seconds, which is awesome!

The best part about the Mercedes-Benz F-Cell?  It can go up to about 86.6 mpg, which is fantastic because gas prices are on the rise again!

Now that the Cash for Clunkers program is out there and people are constantly taking advantage of it – how do you know for sure that your clunker is going to qualify and the car that you are looking at is going to qualify?  To be honest, I have heard quite a few horror stories about people bringing their clunkers all the way up to the dealer and then getting rejected because ‘apparently’ their clunker does not qualify for the program.

This is where you need to get online and do your research.  The government is a fickle thing, we all know that and honestly, you need to make sure that your clunker actually qualifies and the car that you are in the market for actually is in the program and you can get it – there are a lot of different restrictions and you need to make sure that you are within them.

Cash for Clunkers is a fantastic program, however you just need to make sure that you are within the program and can handle all of the restrictions!

Under normal circumstances, we try to focus mainly on cars which are launching for 2010 and beyond — but…

I have to be completely honest here, I only heard of the Maybach brand very recently. And upon seeing the 2009 Maybach 62, I just had to take a closer look.

Costing well over four hundred thousand dollars, this car is definitely a high end, amazingly luxurious vehicle — with quite a high performance level as well. Actually, the intent is that it should be driven by a chauffeur, so that should give you a clue about what kind of car it is.

Some of the features you can get with this car are just absolutely mind boggling. Even the standard features alone are astounding. They include air suspension which is controlled electronically, a variable ride height, traction control, stability control, a power sunroof, remote keyless entry — the list goes on and on, include a Bose sound system complete with twenty one speakers! Plus rear passengers get to enjoy dual video monitors, an audiovisual system, DVD player, and much, much more.

Corvettes are hot rides, that is practically a fact by now. The 2010 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is a hot ride as well — but its MSRP value is … over one hundred grand. It is actually $106,880, to be perfectly precise. Naturally if you have money to burn, this is not a problem — but for those of us who do not, what in the world could be great enough to make you spend that much money on a car?

Well … how about fuel efficiency? The Corvette ZR1 gets 20 miles per gallon for highway driving and 14 miles per gallon for city driving. Sure, those figures are not exactly great, but … they are pretty good when you consider the fact that we are talking about a Corvette.

Still, since it is a two seater like most ‘vettes, it is kind of disconcerting to think that you are basically paying fifty three grand per passenger.

Mitsubishi produces one of my very favorite cars — the Eclipse — so I am naturally very keen to review the new 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback Ralliart for The VN Channel.

Many people praised the 2009 version of this vehicle, so it is definitely worth it to take an in depth look at the newest, turbocharged model.

It does not come as much of a surprise at all that the 2010 Lancer Ralliart has quite a bit in common with its earlier sedan predecessor. Beneath the hood, it features the same great 4B11T 2.0 liter turbo four, as well as the exact 237 horsepower, not to mention the SST twin clutch automatic. In fact, the two models are also similar in size; this one is only an inch taller and 0.4 inch longer. It isn’t even more than one hundred pounds heavier than the 2009. By all accounts, however, the 2010 model is much more versatile with plenty of cargo space.

Have you ever seriously thought about getting yourself a Lotus?  I mean honestly, they are one of the hottest cars in the world and while they are rare – they are absolutely worth the investment.  This particular sports car though is now available for rent via Hertz in Italy!  To me – that is pretty awesome.  I know if I was going to Italy, I would absolutely want to drive around in style and now you can!

While this car may not be one of the top sports cars in Italy, it is certainly in the top twenty and I think that if they have the Lotus available for rent the next time that I am in Italy, I will be taking advantage of it and definitely get myself behind the wheel of this beautiful – great looking sports car.

Remember, Italy is the capital of style and if you are driving around in one of the Saab or Coopers, you will not look nearly as cool than if you rolled up in a Lotus!