Daniel Patrascu
18,656 ARTICLES
Personal motto:
"I truly believe men and fish can coexist peacefully" – George W. Bush
Following several years off the grid, Daniel is back at autoevolution, and seeing how the great crisis of the past decade made the auto industry boring, he grew bored with it too, so he slowly shifted his focus to custom cars, custom motorcycles, and other weird stuff. He also loves ranting about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
During his time at autoevolution, Daniel put his name on more news articles, coverstories, auto guides, reviews, and editorials than we care count. To slow him down a bit, he was given more responsibilities not long ago, so he is now also in charge with coordinating the editorial team on autoevolution.com.
Long time ago, Daniel also translated Arthur C. Clarke’s novel “The Fountains of Paradise” to Romanian for Paladin Publishing.
Mercedes E-Klasse, 2009 Austrian Car of the Year
27 Nov 2009, 12:34 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The Austrian Automobile Association (ARBO) designated Mercedes Benz's new E-Klasse the 2009 Car of the Year, the most sought after award on the local market. The E-Klasse got the award after it scored 177 points of 195. In the Austrian ver...
Chad Knaus, 5 More Years with Hendrick Motorsports
27 Nov 2009, 12:31 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / After in a seven years time frame crew chief Chad Knaus managed to steer Jimmie Johnson to four consecutive champion titles and no less than 47 victories, Rick Hendrick is ready to renew the contract the team has with Knaus for a period which can c...
2010 European Car of the Year Final Seven
27 Nov 2009, 11:30 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The 2010 European Car of the Year awards has designated its final seven, with the winner to be announced on November 30. The seven are Citroen C3 Picasso, Mercedes-Benz E Klasse, Opel/Vauxhall Astra, Peugeot 3008, Skoda Yeti, Toyota iQ and the Volk...
2010 BMW 5 Series UK Pricing
27 Nov 2009, 10:30 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / After earlier this week we gave you the official information and pricing for the new BMW 5 Series, the single question remaining about the sedan was what price tag will it wear. So far, prices have been made available for the UK market, with the US...
Subaru Outback, Best Aussie SUV Under 40k
27 Nov 2009, 09:46 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The Japanese from Subaru managed to get the first ever Australian award for their Outback model, as the car has been named Best SUV Under $40,000 in the Drive Car of the Year 2009 awards, a contest organized by several local publications, including...
Australia's Intelligent Transport System in the Works
27 Nov 2009, 09:30 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / After earlier this year, during the 2009 Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Summit in Melbourne, a so called "vision plan" aimed at improving Australia's transportation system was presented, local governments gave their green light ...
Jeremy Mayfield, Sued by His Former Attorneys
27 Nov 2009, 08:52 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Suspended by NASCAR after failing a random drug test back in May, during which he tested positive for meth, Jeremy Mayfield is now faced with a strange web of law suits, which will make his next few months very busy ones. As any driver in his p...
Eastern Europe Sales, Still No Recovery
27 Nov 2009, 08:06 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Despite the apparent signs of recovery coming from most of the world, at least as far as the automotive industry is concerned, parts of the Old Continent are still to see the light at the end of the tunnel. According to JATO Dynamics, Central and E...
Small Business Tax Ends in Five Weeks
26 Nov 2009, 16:04 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The Small Business tax break stimulus package set in place by the Victoria government will come to an end in less than five weeks. As a consequence, the lead Automotive Industry body in the state, VACC, stepped forward and reminded business owners ...
Fiat 500 Gets 95 HP Multijet II Diesel
26 Nov 2009, 15:13 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Italian carmaker Fiat will introduce to its 500 line a new Multijet II diesel engine, turbocharged into developing 95 hp, while at the same time meeting the Euro5 emission standards. The engine will be fitted on a version of the 500 which will also...
Mika Salo, One Step Closer to NASCAR
26 Nov 2009, 14:56 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / After completing, successfully, a first test with Michael Waltrip Racing, former Formula 1 driver Mika Salo is now seriously considering a full 2010 season in the Nationwide Series. After completing the test run at the New Smyrna Raceway in Florida...
FG FPV F6 to Join Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour
26 Nov 2009, 13:34 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The Class A – High Performance Rear Wheel Drive section of the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour Showroom Enduro, to be held in between February 12 and 14, will get a new entry in the form of the FG FPV F6 Turbo Six. Although the man who will en...
Chevron GR8 Racer in the Making
26 Nov 2009, 11:35 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Chevron Racing Cars is currently hard at work to develop what they call a Ferrari-like, yet cheaper racing car, to be used in a 2010 V8 GT series. The car is expected to cost some £49,500 plus VAT (although a price under 40k is still possible...
Winterkorn, Potsch Join Porsche Board
26 Nov 2009, 10:36 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Volkswagen is moving ahead with its Porsche merger plan and announced that Martin Winterkorn, VW's chairman of the board and Hans Dieter Potsch, VW's CFO, have joined the board of management of Porsche, effective yesterday. As you kno...
Family Silver, Auto Union VS. Mercedes Benz
26 Nov 2009, 10:10 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / An extremely interesting exhibition will open its doors on December 2, at the Audi Forum Ingolstadt. Called "Family Silver – the Auto Union Silver Arrows and their Rivals,” Audi's show of might will feature, all the way until ...
Mercedes Benz Econic NGT, Market Leader in Scandinavia
26 Nov 2009, 09:57 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / German carmaker Daimler announced it will deliver another 27 Econic natural gas vehicles to Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux (SITA) in Stockholm, Sweden, bringing the total number of Econic trucks in the country to 81 and making the Econic the market leader...
Black Friday 2009: Lucky Those with GPS!
26 Nov 2009, 09:19 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Gentlemen, start your GPSs! It is the start of the holiday season shopping frenzy and, crisis aside, there's no better time to buy things you really don't need than on Black Friday. {ad] Yet, because we are living in the information ag...
GM Works on EV, Hybrid Sound Alert for the Blind
26 Nov 2009, 08:26 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The advent of electric-powered vehicles, be it in the form of all electric or hybrid versions, posses new challenges for the blind, who no longer can rely on their hearing to identify the position and heading of a car by listening to its sound. ...
Champion's Week Starts on November 30
26 Nov 2009, 08:05 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Following the conclusion of the 2009 Sprint Cup series, NASCAR will debut the Champion's Week event on Monday, November 30 near El Cajon, California, the hometown of Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson. The Jimmie Johnson Foundation will ma...
How Toyota Plans to Fix Deadly Accelerator Pedal
26 Nov 2009, 07:52 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / After yesterday it announced and, at the same time acknowledged there is a problem with the accelerator pedal on some 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles, the Japanese carmaker released details on how it plans to fix the issue. According to t...