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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...
Peugeot 106 Turbo Custom Build Has +400HP and AWD, Is the True 205 T16 Successor
Peugeot 106 Turbo Custom Build Has +400HP and AWD, Is the True 205 T16 Successor

18 Apr 2022, 12:54 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Among the many things the French have a reputation for (eating baguettes, beating a hasty retreat, smelly cheese), you'll also find their seemingly innate ability to build fast little cars. Throughout the years, the French automotive indust...

 
Carwow's Mat Watson Gets a School Nürburgring Lap Far Scarier Than Any Drag Race
Carwow's Mat Watson Gets a School Nürburgring Lap Far Scarier Than Any Drag Race

18 Apr 2022, 08:18 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Mat Watson's rise to fame coincided with the growing popularity of online videos showing drag races between cars that, generally speaking, were not built with that purpose in mind. One could argue that, when it comes to Mat and drag racing ...

 
Jeep Wrangler Magneto 2.0 Prototype Is Actually Gunning for Tesla's Acceleration Figures
Jeep Wrangler Magneto 2.0 Prototype Is Actually Gunning for Tesla's Acceleration Figures

10 Apr 2022, 12:22 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / One year ago, Jeep introduced the Wrangler Magneto concept, an all-electric off-roader that pretty much came out of the blue. Well, the carmaker had just revealed the Wrangler 4xe, the first venture into electrification for the venerable trail mast...

 
Cyber Rodeo: Tesla Is Getting Better at Organizing Events, Making Cars Next?
Cyber Rodeo: Tesla Is Getting Better at Organizing Events, Making Cars Next?

9 Apr 2022, 12:40 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Have you noticed how people - particularly Tesla die-hards - have started calling "cyber" everything triangular? I find it amusing and annoying in equal parts - amusing because it makes it seem as though these people think Elon Musk has j...

 
Ford Focus RS vs Focus ST Drag Race Is a +1000-HP Family Feud
Ford Focus RS vs Focus ST Drag Race Is a +1000-HP Family Feud

4 Apr 2022, 13:27 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / The Ford Focus-based hot hatches may not have garnered the same level of fame as something like, say, the Volkswagen GTI, but ask anyone who has driven both and they'll likely say the Blue Oval products are the more involving and more rewardin...

 
2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Drag Races Audi RS 6 Big Brother - the Revolution Is Televised
2022 Audi RS 3 Sedan Drag Races Audi RS 6 Big Brother - the Revolution Is Televised

6 Mar 2022, 08:26 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / For years, we've been told the Audi RS 6 is the perfect mélange of performance, practicality, and sporty luxury. That's because it has massive amounts of power, the quattro all-wheel-drive system to make the most of it, plenty of r...

 
Suzuki Gypsy 6x6 Rendering - the Tiny House Movement Reaches Overlanding
Suzuki Gypsy 6x6 Rendering - the Tiny House Movement Reaches Overlanding

5 Mar 2022, 06:12 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Everybody knows what a tiny house is by now (partially thanks to Elon Musk, but mostly due to the very descriptive nature of the name itself). A lot of people seem to think they are the coolest thing, ignoring the fact they have these thoughts from...

 
Elon Musk Says EV Range Is Overrated Beyond Certain Point, Debate Ensues
Elon Musk Says EV Range Is Overrated Beyond Certain Point, Debate Ensues

4 Mar 2022, 09:22 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Love him or hate him - and these seem to be the two reactions the Tesla CEO elicits in people with very few feeling indifferent about him - Elon does make a valid point here. But so do those who disagree. Let's dig in. The statement came in...

 
Home-Built 400-HP 1500-LBS Triumph Spitfire Is Quite Literally True to Its Name
Home-Built 400-HP 1500-LBS Triumph Spitfire Is Quite Literally True to Its Name

2 Mar 2022, 09:44 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / We don't exactly know what it is with the Brits and super-lightweight sports cars, but we're definitely not going to complain about it when it has given us cars such as the Lotus Elise or the Morgan 3 Wheeler. Those more in the know re...

 
Toyota "El Camino" Supra Rendering - You WILL Stare
Toyota "El Camino" Supra Rendering - You WILL Stare

27 Feb 2022, 08:33 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / These days, the Coupe Utility Vehicle segment is dead and buried, but that doesn't mean people don't still get sentimental when they hear about names such as the Chevrolet El Camino or the Ford Ranchero. This nostalgia might be caused ...

 
Review Says Mercedes-Benz EQS "Will Make You Puke," But for All the Right Reasons
Review Says Mercedes-Benz EQS "Will Make You Puke," But for All the Right Reasons

26 Feb 2022, 10:56 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / You don't have to be new to cars to call the Mercedes-Benz EQS a "spaceship," and you don't really need to spend that much time with it to come to this conclusion. The German electric sedan (I'd call it a "limousine...

 
Ferrari FF Top Speed Autobahn Blast Drops Just in Time Amidst Purosangue Craze
Ferrari FF Top Speed Autobahn Blast Drops Just in Time Amidst Purosangue Craze

23 Feb 2022, 15:40 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / It was only a few days ago that the first camouflage-free images of Ferrari's upcoming crossover somehow surfaced on the Internet, so talk about the Italian model is probably at an all-time high. Most people will be focusing on its exterio...

 
Don't Trust This Snow Vs All-Season Tire Comparison, But Follow Its Advice
Don't Trust This Snow Vs All-Season Tire Comparison, But Follow Its Advice

23 Feb 2022, 10:03 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / People who drive in the snow regularly know all too well what a big difference having snow-rated tires (proper ones, but more on that later) can make to the way a vehicle behaves in winter conditions. It's actually those who only come across t...

 
Ferrari Purosangue Crossover Caught on the Street With Big Hump, Production Wheels
Ferrari Purosangue Crossover Caught on the Street With Big Hump, Production Wheels

20 Feb 2022, 07:31 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / With every new spotting of Ferrari's Purosangue, it gets clearer and clearer that we're dealing with a good news, bad news situation. The bad news is pretty obvious, and it's been with us ever since the first serious rumors about the...

 
Peugeot LE-O Concept Shows the French Lambo Urus in All Its CGI Glory
Peugeot LE-O Concept Shows the French Lambo Urus in All Its CGI Glory

19 Feb 2022, 09:16 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / After the year 2000 and the abrupt ending of the Mayan calendar, the next big fright concerning the end of the world came when Lamborghini announced it would release its first SUV model. We've all been there before, more or less, when Porsc...

 
Guy Secretly Installs Blower on Wife's Escalade for 640 HP, She Still Wants the V
Guy Secretly Installs Blower on Wife's Escalade for 640 HP, She Still Wants the V

13 Feb 2022, 13:17 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Having our stock, the naturally aspirated truck turned into a supercharged monster literally overnight (okay, over two nights) would probably be the dream present for most of us, but it seems like not everyone is that impressed with a +50 percent i...

 
2021 Ford Bronco Wildtrak Does 0-60 in the Low 5s With Tune and E85, Runs Out of Road
2021 Ford Bronco Wildtrak Does 0-60 in the Low 5s With Tune and E85, Runs Out of Road

12 Feb 2022, 16:48 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / The 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor will obviously be the quickest version of Ford's SUV you'll be able to buy off the shelf, but if ultimate speed is what you're after and you already bought a Raptor, there's no need to despair. The...

 
U.S. “Dream Car” Survey Shows Americans Have Forgotten How to Dream
U.S. “Dream Car” Survey Shows Americans Have Forgotten How to Dream

9 Feb 2022, 15:01 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / The idea of a "dream car" seems to have altered a little over the past few decades, and even though I'm not entirely sure why that is, it feels as though it's not something to be celebrated. Back in the day, if you asked some...

 
Massive Tug of War on Snow Features TRX, Raptor, Tundra, Titan, and Bronco Trucks
Massive Tug of War on Snow Features TRX, Raptor, Tundra, Titan, and Bronco Trucks

3 Feb 2022, 15:34 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Might we say that tug-of-war is to off-road vehicles what a quarter-mile drag race is for performance vehicles: the easiest way to have some fun and find out which one is better under a more or less relevant metric? To be fair, at least two of t...

 
Hyundai Koniq Electric CUV Rendering Looks Like Ioniq 5's Evil Bigger Brother
Hyundai Koniq Electric CUV Rendering Looks Like Ioniq 5's Evil Bigger Brother

3 Feb 2022, 13:50 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / You may not like the exterior design of the Hyundai IONIQ 5 - after all, these things are profoundly subjective, aren't they? - but you have to admit it's a bit of a game-changer. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that people would h...

 

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