Drive Wire: February 10, 2016

EPA’s racing rules, a new Volvo wagon, a revived performance brand, cool porch lights, and frozen lake drifts.

byThe Drive Staff|
Drive Wire: February 10, 2016
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Hey guys, it’s Christina Thompson and this is Drive Wire for Wednesday, February 10th.

In amateur racing news, the Environmental Protection Agency is trying to drop the hammer on all you enthusiasts. The EPA wants to make it illegal to modify your car for racing in any way that might affect emissions. The exact wording is as follows: “the EPA is proposing to clarify that the Clean Air Act does not allow any person to disable, remove, or render inoperative emission controls on a certified motor vehicle for purposes of competition.” In other words, the EPA prefers you race your stock Honda. We understand the EPA’s logic but the emissions from amateur races is a drop in the bucket compared to the total car emissions in the U.S. anyway, the proposed regulations would go into effect this July, just in time for the historic races at Road America, where the trees are doing just fine.

In the world of rare but beautiful station wagon news, the Volvo V-90 will make it’s official debut in Chicago next week. It’s the latest in a long tradition of Volvo wagons – a third of all vehicles ever sold by Volvo have been wagons! And it looks like the V-90 will uphold that tradition. Look for Volvo to emphasize safety at the launch, but to sneak in a high-performance version pretty soon. Personally, we’d like a shooting brake in the spirit of the P-1800, but a sleeper in the style of the killer 850 T-5R is more likely and just as good.

In oddball news, one of our favorite weird performance brands of the last ten years may be making a comeback. Remember Wiesmann, the company that combined mutant British roadster looks, BMW motorsports power, and had a gecko for their logo? Maybe you don’t, but Wiesmann was that kind of weird we all learned to love. They also went bankrupt in 2013. Oops. But now with new investors, the company is poised for a big return. We’re hoping they pick up where they left off on a fast track to the U.S. we need more weirdness, and that weirdness needs to be as fast as possible.

Today’s gear features the world’s coolest porch lights. Kuna Lighting features built-in cameras you can control through a mobile app to interact with visitors no matter where you are. Handy for dealing with neighbors, messing with carolers, or accepting deliveries when you’re still stuck in traffic. Order yours at get kuna.com.

In today’s ridiculous video, Rallycross racer Liam Doran takes his race car out on a frozen Norwegian lake to do some boring tests. Just kidding! He’s out there doing exactly what you should be doing on a frozen lake – drifting like a maniac at high speeds. If you’re going to follow in his footsteps, just make sure the lake is actually frozen.

That’s it for today’s edition of Drive Wire. For more, be sure to come back to thedrive.com, and follow us @thedrive on all your favorite social media platforms.

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