V8 Engines Are Dying Off and Carbon Fiber Explained: My Best Car Stories in 2017
I wrote more than 130 articles in half a year. These are my favorites.
Reflecting back on 2017, some of my articles were a joy to write, they left an impact, or were just plain entertaining. These are my favorites from over the past year.
I have been attending Global Rallycross races for years now. I think my Global Rallycross article from earlier this year is the perfect example of how much I enjoy my work. I went to the event with the goal of writing about something unique, finding a behind-the-scenes story, but I am also a big fan of the series and I think it shows in the writing.
My carbon fiber article is a favorite partly because it covered an authentic car enthusiast topic. It came from a discussion on the M3post forums. Through my personal research when I was obtaining carbon fiber parts, I found that it's very hard to figure out whether your carbon fiber is actually carbon fiber. Carbon fiber can be the car equivalent to pirated movies, and I found that many enthusiasts are unaware of the differences in carbon fiber. This article explains the different types.
I personally love the V8 engine. My first car, Camaro SS, had a V8 engine. My current car, a BMW E92 M3, has a V8 engine. I come from the fold that, if your car model has a V8 model, there is no question that you need to check that box and opt for the V8 or you will regret not having it. With this mindset, it hurts to see the V8 engine being phased out of car models, so I took a moment to discuss the slow exodus of the V8.
Why I picked Donut Media and Ryan Tuerck’s Toyota GT-4586 crash video was simple. They did not hide the accident. They owned it. They did not edit out the wreck and it shows that even a top-tier professional drifter can make a mistake around a corner and be entertaining after he does it.
Ken Block and his Hoonigan crew have been pushing content in 2017. They teased Gymkhana 10, released Climbkhana which was teased a year earlier, and released Terrakhana. I picked Terrakhana over Climbkhana because Climbkhana was teased for a year. We knew it was coming, but Terrakhana was an "oh we are releasing this glorious dirt content tomorrow" scenario. Well-kept surprises are the best.
These are the articles I think about when I reflect on my first calendar year writing with The Drive. I cannot wait to see what awaits me in 2018 in automotive news.
