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Vlad Mitrache

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Having the memory of an elephant suffering from amnesia, I'm the exact opposite of an automotive encyclopedia. That's exactly why you can very often find me studying the spec sheets of cars or asking my colleagues who are very much more knowledgeable than me about facts and figures. On the bright side, though, that means I get to learn new things every day.


Contrary to most of the people here, I didn't get my driving license right after my 18th birthday, but it wasn't because I didn't want to. I won't get into details, but three years later I was the proud owner of that piece of plastic and a piece of trash car with which I quickly established a love and hate relationship. Mostly hate.

However, driving I loved, so that's what kept me going until my first decent car. By this time, I started thinking about mixing my degree in Journalism with my passion for driving, and so there I was working as an editor for a car magazine. A few good years later, nothing much has changed. But don't take my word for it, I tend to forget stuff. Now, if I could just remember where I parked my car...
Tesla Shareholder Pleads with Board to Suspend Musk Over Controversial Comments
Tesla Shareholder Pleads with Board to Suspend Musk Over Controversial Comments

21 Nov 2023, 17:02 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Not to sing my own praises, but it was the end of October when I published an editorial calling for an end to Elon Musk's tenure as CEO of Tesla, on the back of his erratic behaviour and damaging decisions over the past few years. Did I get...

 
Izzy Hammond Tesla Model 3 Clip Proves the Grand Tour: Next Generation Could Be a Thing
Izzy Hammond Tesla Model 3 Clip Proves the Grand Tour: Next Generation Could Be a Thing

11 Nov 2023, 09:12 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Back in its heyday, Top Gear was the program that managed to make car shows accessible and enjoyable for everyone, not just die-hard motorheads. It was still heavily centered around motor vehicles, but it focused just as much on entertainment as it...

 
Forget Bullets, Why Are So Few Talking About the Cybertruck's Main Safety Concern?
Forget Bullets, Why Are So Few Talking About the Cybertruck's Main Safety Concern?

6 Nov 2023, 15:20 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Not that long ago, pictures of a Tesla Cybertruck bearing a lot of bullet marks - that were, very importantly, not holes - on its left-side doors were leaked online and, as it so often happens when it comes to anything related to Elon Musk's c...

 
This Isn't the DeLorean Reinterpretation We'll Get, but It Is the One We'd Like
This Isn't the DeLorean Reinterpretation We'll Get, but It Is the One We'd Like

4 Nov 2023, 03:34 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / I'm struggling to think of another car that's only been on the market for roughly two years and is even remotely as instantly recognizable as the DMC DeLorean. However, as you probably know very well, the model's fame has a lot less ...

 
I Can't Be Alone in Thinking Elon Musk Has Become a Liability for Tesla
I Can't Be Alone in Thinking Elon Musk Has Become a Liability for Tesla

29 Oct 2023, 07:20 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Anyone familiar with the true story of Tesla will know Elon Musk hasn't been part of the company from its very beginning. This is a fact no court settlement allowing Musk to call himself "co-founder" can change, and frankly, is not e...

 
Land Rover LR3 Handles Seven People and One Full Nürburgring Lap Like a Champ
Land Rover LR3 Handles Seven People and One Full Nürburgring Lap Like a Champ

28 Oct 2023, 08:00 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Out of all the stupid things you can do in this life, where would you place going around the infamous Nürburgring in a Land Rover LR3 (Discovery 3) with the 196 hp 2.7-liter V6 turbodiesel engine and seven people on board? I have a long-la...

 
Tesla Looks Set to Lose Battle for Delivering the EU Its Electric Hatchback
Tesla Looks Set to Lose Battle for Delivering the EU Its Electric Hatchback

24 Oct 2023, 13:20 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / To say that, only a few years ago, having a Tesla as Europe's best-selling vehicle seemed unlikely is a severe understatement. And yet, here we are in 2023, with the Model Y reigning supreme. The battery-powered crossover even managed to trump...

 
You'll Be "Shocked" To Know Some Things Seem Amiss With Cybertruck's Bullet Test
You'll Be "Shocked" To Know Some Things Seem Amiss With Cybertruck's Bullet Test

23 Oct 2023, 10:38 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / When did Tesla last do something most people who don't have a picture of Musk as their wallpaper and plans to name their first-born "Elon" would consider shady? I have no idea, but usually, "yesterday" is a safe enough answ...

 
Actual Le Mans-Winning Bentley Drag Races a Modern W12 Continental GT Speed
Actual Le Mans-Winning Bentley Drag Races a Modern W12 Continental GT Speed

21 Oct 2023, 11:20 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / If you are tired of all the spanking dished out by the current crop of instant-torque, perfect traction control EVs in every drag race they're part of, then this is probably the best cure you could have asked for but were too afraid of a refus...

 
Tesla Leak Seemed to Point at New Model 3 Plaid, Reality Likely Less Exciting
Tesla Leak Seemed to Point at New Model 3 Plaid, Reality Likely Less Exciting

21 Oct 2023, 06:28 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / If you don't know what Plaid is, at least one of the following statements applies to you: you're not Scottish; you never watched the 1987 Mel Brooks Star Wars parody called Space Balls; you did watch it, but you didn't find it too en...

 
Will Tesla Ever Learn? New FSD Beta Clip, Same Old Questionable Antics
Will Tesla Ever Learn? New FSD Beta Clip, Same Old Questionable Antics

19 Oct 2023, 14:36 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Anyone with kids (cats qualify as well, maybe even some dogs) must be familiar with the feeling you get when you watch them do something you've explicitly told them not to countless times, sometimes even during the five minutes leading up to t...

 
Porsche Mission S Independent Virtual Project Is the Tasty Racing Minivan No One Asked For
Porsche Mission S Independent Virtual Project Is the Tasty Racing Minivan No One Asked For

17 Oct 2023, 13:32 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / In 2020, Porsche released a book featuring 15 secret (at the time) concept cars the company had come up with. Not only did this introduce the public to a host of exciting Porsche-branded vehicles never before seen, but it also confirmed something w...

 
Watch the Tesla Model S Plaid With Track Pack Boss Around Nürburgring at Over 186MPH
Watch the Tesla Model S Plaid With Track Pack Boss Around Nürburgring at Over 186MPH

17 Oct 2023, 08:07 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Tesla's relationship with the Nürburgring is a tricky one. Various models from the electric carmaker have made it on the infamous German track over the years, and the results have varied from impressive to downright catastrophic and every...

 
Patrol and Land Cruiser Legends Take On Defender and Grenadier Freshlings in Off-Road Test
Patrol and Land Cruiser Legends Take On Defender and Grenadier Freshlings in Off-Road Test

16 Oct 2023, 14:22 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Whether it's football teams, smartphones, or, indeed, cars, we all have our favorites that we're willing to support blindly, if not sometimes even irrationally. Sports-related violence between fans is well documented, but even though I�...

 
Is Automotive Design Really on a Downward Slope, or Are You Just Getting Old?
Is Automotive Design Really on a Downward Slope, or Are You Just Getting Old?

14 Jan 2023, 10:34 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / For two concepts that are quite literally antithetical, beauty and ugliness have quite a few things in common. For one, they're about as old as time - or, more likely, as old as there was anyone around to pass a judgment. That brings us nea...

 
The Curious Case of the Car Everyone Wanted, But Nobody Bought: The Land Rover Discovery 5
The Curious Case of the Car Everyone Wanted, But Nobody Bought: The Land Rover Discovery 5

11 Jan 2023, 16:36 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / What are Land Rover products best known for? If you ask enthusiasts of the brand (and there are plenty of them), they'll say it's making pretty darn good off-roaders straight out of the box. If you ask anyone else, they'll say it is ...

 
Surrounded by Traffic: Residential Building Sits Dead-Center Inside Roundabout
Surrounded by Traffic: Residential Building Sits Dead-Center Inside Roundabout

11 Jan 2023, 13:14 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Look, if anyone is going to sit here and tell you city planning is simple, it won't be me. I mean, I have my fair share of hours spent (wasted?) playing SimCity in its various iterations, but that hardly makes me an expert. Well, I'd vent...

 
Tesla Driver Narrowly Escapes Explosion After Being Pulled Out of Burning EV
Tesla Driver Narrowly Escapes Explosion After Being Pulled Out of Burning EV

11 Jan 2023, 09:12 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Whenever a car crash involving a Tesla makes the headlines, the vehicle's pseudo-self-driving technology tends to be the main talking point. Well, I'm not entirely sure whether the fact this Monday night incident from South Korea makes an...

 
Hummer H1-Based DIY Overlander Is a Hell's Revenge-Rated Miniature Mobile Home
Hummer H1-Based DIY Overlander Is a Hell's Revenge-Rated Miniature Mobile Home

10 Jan 2023, 12:01 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / More and more people are getting fed up with their nine-to-five jobs that have them sat in a chair the whole time and only very rarely actually allow them to get up and leave at five in the afternoon. However, they need the money, so taking the obv...

 
Driver Claims BMW SUV Hit 110 MPH in 30 MPH Zone on Its Own Volition
Driver Claims BMW SUV Hit 110 MPH in 30 MPH Zone on Its Own Volition

9 Jan 2023, 14:28 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / It would appear Tesla is not the only brand whose cars are becoming sentient, trying to "terminate" their human masters. At least that's what happened to a 71-year-old British driver, if you can believe it. As cars become more and...

 

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