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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...
What's Worse Than a Traffic Jam? A Traffic Jam in a Tunnel. Just Ask Musk About It
What's Worse Than a Traffic Jam? A Traffic Jam in a Tunnel. Just Ask Musk About It

6 Jan 2022, 18:50 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / It may be easy to lose track of how many companies Elon Musk is running, but it's pretty hard to forget about the Boring Company. You may think that's because the tunnel-drilling outfit achieved something out of the ordinary, but you'...

 
Tesla Model S Plaid Takes on Harley-Davidson LiveWire in Six-Wheel All-EV Drag Race
Tesla Model S Plaid Takes on Harley-Davidson LiveWire in Six-Wheel All-EV Drag Race

6 Jan 2022, 17:19 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / The Tesla Model S Plaid has the unofficial (just because there is no authority that could award it) title of the world's quickest-accelerating production car, so you'd better bring something heavily modified if you're going to be lin...

 
BMW's Next-Gen Hypercar Imagined as an M12 Spiritual Successor
BMW's Next-Gen Hypercar Imagined as an M12 Spiritual Successor

6 Jan 2022, 16:15 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / It's hard to imagine what BMW would have to do today to cause the same stir as the Italdesign Nazca M12 did back in 1991 when it was first uncovered at the Geneva Motor Show. Actually, it's not that hard at all: releasing a beautiful car ...

 
Is It Time for Tesla to Start Signaling When FSD Is in Use to the Rest of the Drivers?
Is It Time for Tesla to Start Signaling When FSD Is in Use to the Rest of the Drivers?

5 Jan 2022, 14:32 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / As far as the rest of the road users are concerned, the best thing you can do behind the wheel of your car is to be predictable. Just stay in your lane, maintain a constant speed, indicate your turns or lane changes, and, generally speaking, play b...

 
Tesla FSD Tackles Snowy Road - Is This What "Better Than Human" Looks Like?
Tesla FSD Tackles Snowy Road - Is This What "Better Than Human" Looks Like?

5 Jan 2022, 10:41 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / You may not believe it after watching the clip below, but Elon Musk actually said at some point that autonomous driving was a "solved problem" and that Tesla's FSD Beta is already safer (and therefore better) than human drivers. T...

 
Tesla Backtracks on 2022 Cybertruck Production Estimate, Removes Mention From Page
Tesla Backtracks on 2022 Cybertruck Production Estimate, Removes Mention From Page

4 Jan 2022, 15:56 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / The Cybertruck is the latest in a series of Tesla vehicles that were announced with big fanfare but have failed to materialize anywhere close to the timeline presented initially. To be fair, the pickup truck is the smallest offender from the lis...

 
Manual Vs Auto Debate Settling Attempt #4851 Using the Ford Focus ST and a Track
Manual Vs Auto Debate Settling Attempt #4851 Using the Ford Focus ST and a Track

4 Jan 2022, 15:08 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Those a bit younger may look at a manual transmission and see something resembling a rotary-dial telephone: the kind of thing their grandparents grew up with that has absolutely no benefits compared to the more modern options. However, if we wer...

 
V8-Powered Tesla Takes Gas on the Side of the Road on Its Way to First Dyno Session
V8-Powered Tesla Takes Gas on the Side of the Road on Its Way to First Dyno Session

4 Jan 2022, 13:36 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / When someone says they're going to build a V8-powered Tesla Model S, the only thing you can do is sit and watch, rubbing your hands in excitement at the thought of the number of people who are going to lose their minds once this vehicle gets o...

 
Ferrari 812 Superfast Vs Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Is a UK Vs Italy V12 Drag Race
Ferrari 812 Superfast Vs Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Is a UK Vs Italy V12 Drag Race

4 Jan 2022, 12:16 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / These two cars seem destined to be pitted against each other. Not only do both of them answer "GT" when asked what is their main occupation, but they're also two of the very few V12-powered cars that remain in production. That bei...

 
Grandma Mistakes Gears, Injures Grandson's Hand, and Smashes G-Class Merc
Grandma Mistakes Gears, Injures Grandson's Hand, and Smashes G-Class Merc

3 Jan 2022, 17:50 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Things may vary in different parts of the world (they most certainly do, in fact), but where I'm from, once you get your driver's license, the only way you're going to lose it is if you do something really stupid while driving a car....

 
Watch a 600-HP Audi RS Q8 Climb the Alps – Can It Get More European Than This?
Watch a 600-HP Audi RS Q8 Climb the Alps – Can It Get More European Than This?

3 Jan 2022, 15:04 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Do you know how they say there are a few things everyone should have on their bucket list? Stuff like, I don't know, sky diving, swimming with the dolphins, saving someone's life – though you can't really plan that one – ...

 
Range Rover Sport Fail in the Snow Turns From Funny to Shady After New Clip Is Released
Range Rover Sport Fail in the Snow Turns From Funny to Shady After New Clip Is Released

2 Jan 2022, 12:44 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / There's a reason why fail compilations have so many views on YouTube: it's because if there's one thing we’re all good at, it's watching others flop and thinking how well we would have done in their situation. Some peo...

 
Porsche 944 Vs BMW E28 M535i Drag Race Is Even Cooler Now Than 34 Years Ago
Porsche 944 Vs BMW E28 M535i Drag Race Is Even Cooler Now Than 34 Years Ago

1 Jan 2022, 13:44 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / The lure of German brands such as BMW or Porsche goes back a pretty long time, and even though these two are by no means the oldest examples you could find, they make for a pretty enjoyable contest, nonetheless. In the red corner, if you'l...

 
1969 BMW 2002 Is Part Surf Board, Part Hand-Crafted Masterpiece, 100 Percent Real
1969 BMW 2002 Is Part Surf Board, Part Hand-Crafted Masterpiece, 100 Percent Real

1 Jan 2022, 11:34 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Most people owning a classic BMW 2002 would be satisfied with a completely by-the-book restoration to have it brought back to its former glory. And, given the cool design of the classic Bimmer, it's easy to understand why. Some people, thou...

 
Here Are Ten 2022 Resolutions the Automotive Industry Should Make for the New Year
Here Are Ten 2022 Resolutions the Automotive Industry Should Make for the New Year

1 Jan 2022, 10:00 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / It's the first day of 2022, and, as much as last year has sucked for almost everyone, you can never truly be happy about the passage of time, can you? We all know we're getting older, it's just that we don't usually have the tim...

 
Tesla Community Comes After SpaceX Mission Pilot on Twitter After She Buys a Ford Mach-E
Tesla Community Comes After SpaceX Mission Pilot on Twitter After She Buys a Ford Mach-E

28 Dec 2021, 21:19 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Earlier this year, SpaceX was the literal driving force (the figurative one being Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman) behind the first orbital spaceflight manned exclusively by private citizens. Takeoff happened on September 16 and, after reach...

 
BMW 7 Series Family (i7, M7) Renderings Don't Shy Away From the Dubious Reality
BMW 7 Series Family (i7, M7) Renderings Don't Shy Away From the Dubious Reality

27 Dec 2021, 15:42 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / If you kept an eye on BMW's testing of the upcoming all-new 7 Series, then you too must be praying each night that everything the spy photos seem to be pointing toward is just an illusion - a ruse organized by the Bavarians to throw us off the...

 
Tesla's New Light Show Leaves a Couple of Owners With Non-Functioning Headlights
Tesla's New Light Show Leaves a Couple of Owners With Non-Functioning Headlights

26 Dec 2021, 13:43 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / Tesla vehicles can do quite a lot of things most people would categorize as "useless,” but another significant part of the population would say are "fun." There is a far machine, for instance, or a setting where you can make th...

 
Watch a 2022 Audi S3 Sportback in "Grinch Green" Launch, Slide, Have Fun in the Snow
Watch a 2022 Audi S3 Sportback in "Grinch Green" Launch, Slide, Have Fun in the Snow

26 Dec 2021, 11:59 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / One way you could describe the Audi S3 Sportback is "the poor man's RS 3", and if you find that offensive, then you can always resort to "the rich man's Volkswagen Golf R." However, the best way to refer to it is by it...

 
2021 Car of the Year According to... Two Entertaining Canadians Sitting on a Sofa
2021 Car of the Year According to... Two Entertaining Canadians Sitting on a Sofa

26 Dec 2021, 10:44 UTC · By: Vlad Mitrache / 2021 has been a good year. Having just written that sentence, I feel as though it's missing something. Oh, that's right, a big fat "NOT" inserted after "has" and ahead of "been." Yeah, that looks a lot better...

 

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