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Vlad Mitrache

5,348  ARTICLES

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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...
Land Rover Discovery Rendering Looks Like It Could Succeed Where the New Defender Failed
Land Rover Discovery Rendering Looks Like It Could Succeed Where the New Defender Failed

1 Feb 2022, 08:30 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / When the new Land Rover Defender came out, and it became apparent that it kind of did the jobs of both the old Defender (emphasis on "kind of") and the current Discovery, do you know who breathed the biggest sigh of relief? It was act...

 
Do Tesla Owners Actually OWN Their Cars? New Alleged Code Discovery Raises Questions
Do Tesla Owners Actually OWN Their Cars? New Alleged Code Discovery Raises Questions

31 Jan 2022, 10:32 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / We might not all own a Tesla, but most of us do have a smartphone, so we're very much aware of the advantages of having a device that's constantly connected to the Internet. However, while being able to watch the latest cute cats video...

 
Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets Drops "Self-Driving" Term Because of Tesla Taint
Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets Drops "Self-Driving" Term Because of Tesla Taint

26 Jan 2022, 15:08 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Every high school movie I know has that cool kid who is brash, extremely self-confident, and doesn't shy away from bragging about himself every once in a while, either. More often than not, he's also the school team's quarterback or ...

 
Custom Land Rover Defender Pair by GAS and Undefeated Offers Posh Overlanding
Custom Land Rover Defender Pair by GAS and Undefeated Offers Posh Overlanding

26 Jan 2022, 12:48 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / When the new Land Rover Defender launched in 2020, the main complaint most people had was that it had lost the ruggedness and simplicity of the original. To put it in other words, it had become too posh. But then again, "posh" seems li...

 
This Is Why Tesla's Model Should Ultimately Fail
This Is Why Tesla's Model Should Ultimately Fail

24 Jan 2022, 10:24 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / What has been Tesla's goal so far? To electrify the automotive industry? Debatable. To save the planet? Doubtful. To build the best car on the market? Don't make me laugh. No, the only driving force behind the company is called "grow...

 
Introducing "Next Year," This Mythical Time Elon Musk's Been Talking About Since 2014
Introducing "Next Year," This Mythical Time Elon Musk's Been Talking About Since 2014

22 Jan 2022, 07:51 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Pied Piper of Hamelin", and "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" - all three classic tales, all three with a very strong connection to the case of Elon Musk. The first one is probably the ...

 
Next-Gen Tesla Model S Goes All-In on Performance in Optimistic Rendering
Next-Gen Tesla Model S Goes All-In on Performance in Optimistic Rendering

19 Jan 2022, 12:12 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / The Tesla Model S has to be one of the oldest models currently on sale, almost right up there with the R35 Nissan GT-R and some obscure vehicle from an equally obscure country most of us haven't even heard of. The all-electric sedan from Te...

 
The Dodge E-Muscle Car Gets Previewed in Speculative Rendering of a Charger EV
The Dodge E-Muscle Car Gets Previewed in Speculative Rendering of a Charger EV

17 Jan 2022, 19:40 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / There are still plenty of people who oppose the rise of the electric vehicle, and it feels as though a large part of them overlaps with the muscle car enthusiast community. To be fair, who did we expect to be the most aggrieved, the Prius bunch? ...

 
A 170-HP Ford Ranger Better Than 258-HP X-Class and Amarok? Trust Your Uncle Stig
A 170-HP Ford Ranger Better Than 258-HP X-Class and Amarok? Trust Your Uncle Stig

17 Jan 2022, 14:07 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Do you know how some actors have a life-defining role that ultimately blurs the line between their real person and the character they played in the public's mind? I mean, if I showed pictures of Daniel Radcliff and Elijah Wood to one hundred p...

 
Tesla Opens "When Tech Companies Lie to Us" Video From Well-Respected Tech Reviewer
Tesla Opens "When Tech Companies Lie to Us" Video From Well-Respected Tech Reviewer

17 Jan 2022, 12:05 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that nobody likes being lied to - in fact, it might just be one of the most infuriating sensations. However, the reason you don't hear about more people going up in flames for having been duped i...

 
Porsche Taycan Turbo S vs Tesla Model S Drag Race Feels Like a Last Decade Rivalry
Porsche Taycan Turbo S vs Tesla Model S Drag Race Feels Like a Last Decade Rivalry

16 Jan 2022, 09:50 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Remember when the Porsche Taycan Turbo S came out and the only thing everyone talked about for a while was whether the first EV from the legendary German carmaker was quicker than the Tesla Model S Performance? Well, I don't know about you,...

 
Watch a Ford Expedition Rescue FedEx 18-Wheeler Stuck on the Side of the Road
Watch a Ford Expedition Rescue FedEx 18-Wheeler Stuck on the Side of the Road

15 Jan 2022, 19:55 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / SUVs find themselves at the receiving end of plenty of flak, and that's because people (the fewer and fewer among us who don't already own one, that is) tend to consider them rather fake: they pose as these capable off-roaders when in fac...

 
2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee or 2021 Defender - Which Is the Better Snowmobile?
2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee or 2021 Defender - Which Is the Better Snowmobile?

15 Jan 2022, 10:18 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / They say Big Data collects all sorts of information about you in various nefarious ways as you browse the Internet. However, sometimes you don't need cookies or spyware to find out stuff about, and you clicking on this article is a very good e...

 
Musk Says Tesla Will Crack Level 4 Autonomy This Year Because He Can Say Whatever He Wants
Musk Says Tesla Will Crack Level 4 Autonomy This Year Because He Can Say Whatever He Wants

12 Jan 2022, 15:12 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Elon Musk is definitely a fascinating figure for a lot of people. Some of them are wondering how someone so overwhelmingly brilliant and possessed only by good intentions can exist without a constant golden halo around his head, while others are co...

 
BMW Z4 Super Rendering Pays Tribute to Classic Z8 Roadster, Shows BMW the Light
BMW Z4 Super Rendering Pays Tribute to Classic Z8 Roadster, Shows BMW the Light

10 Jan 2022, 15:37 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / They say the universe needs balance. One way to obtain it would be by keeping everything level, but that would be boring as hell, so instead, it'll simply alternate between highs and lows. Have you seen the latest electric models unveiled ...

 
2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat Vs Mercedes-AMG GLS 63 Comparison – Who Did It Better?
2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat Vs Mercedes-AMG GLS 63 Comparison – Who Did It Better?

10 Jan 2022, 13:58 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Say what you want but, at the end of the day, it's pretty hard to justify the existence of these vehicles rationally, if not even impossible. They are seven-seat SUVs meant to offer room for an entire big family and all that comes with it, so ...

 
1972 Plymouth "Electrollite"  Mixes the Best of Two Worlds for the Perfect Daily
1972 Plymouth "Electrollite" Mixes the Best of Two Worlds for the Perfect Daily

10 Jan 2022, 12:10 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / If there's any chance for muscle car lovers to warm up to the idea of electric vehicles, it might be through something like this 1972 Plymouth Satellite converted into a battery-powered restomod. That's one way of looking at it. The po...

 
2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Drag Races Audi RS Q8, Gaps Galore
2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Drag Races Audi RS Q8, Gaps Galore

9 Jan 2022, 07:44 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / For a relatively brief moment, the Audi RS Q8 was the fastest SUV around the Nürburgring, but then the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT came along and left the Ingolstadt machine without any titles of its own. Well, apart maybe from the very unofficia...

 
Defender 90 Gets Toyota Supra Engine Swap Because Everything's Better With a 2JZ
Defender 90 Gets Toyota Supra Engine Swap Because Everything's Better With a 2JZ

8 Jan 2022, 14:13 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / The world is full of excellent, well-known engines that range from Porsche's flat sixes to GM's LS V8s, but when it comes to global fame, we're pretty sure nothing can beat Toyota's 2JZ straight-six. The powerplant is so deep...

 
2022 Charger Redeye vs AMG E 63 S Drag Race Is USA vs Germany at Its Purest
2022 Charger Redeye vs AMG E 63 S Drag Race Is USA vs Germany at Its Purest

8 Jan 2022, 10:15 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Drag racing a stock station wagon doesn't make too much sense, since this body style is usually reserved for family cars, and for people looking to maximize their in-vehicle storage space without having to give up on the comfort of a sedan by ...

 

Stories by Vlad Mitrache