Drive Wire: January 13, 2016
Lamborghini breaks records, a new Honda truck, a new Lincoln Continental, instant cold coffee, and skiing Alaska’s mountains.
Hey guys, it’s Christina Thompson and this is Drive Wire for Wednesday, January 13th.
Good news from Lamborghini. The supercar maker posted record sales in 2015, selling 3,245 cars, which brings it over the 3,000 unit mark for the first time in company history. The brilliant new Huracan’s impressive showing gets the credit here, tallying 2,242 new owners, and the still very impressive Aventador accounting for 1,003 more. The U.S. and China remain Lambo’s largest markets, and as Americans, we’re happy to represent the majority of owners. Please, Lamborghini, send test units to Brooklyn whenever you’re done celebrating.
In Detroit Auto Show news, the much anticipated Honda Ridgeline made its grand debut. In a segment made up of serious workmobiles, this Japanese mid-size pickup truck is trying to be the fun one, with an in-bed stereo system for those impromptu tailgate parties. It’s still a useful truck, with a 4-foot-wide bed and a decent 3.5 liter V6, but it’s definitely on the casual side as opposed to rock crawling or lumber hauling. Looking at the way most people use their trucks, we think Honda might be on to something here.
In long-awaited American sedan news, the all-new Lincoln Continental is here, debuting at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this week. There’s two main pieces of news, the first is the engine, a twin-turbo V6 making 400 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque, so the new Continental will move pretty effortlessly, unlike its boat-like predecessor. The other big development is the interior, which is quite striking, plus we hear the 30-way “perfect position” seats are almost offensively comfortable. For both reasons we’re looking forward to our seat time in the first really new Lincoln in a long time.
Today in cool gear news, the Hyperchiller is a nifty gadget that cools your coffee to iced-coffee-ready levels in under a minute. No need to wait and hand over 4 bucks to your barista. The Hyperchiller is dishwasher-safe, made of food-grade stainless steel and it will gladly make that 5 o clock adult beverage for you as well. Get yours at hyperchiller.com.
In today’s ridiculous video, we tag along with a rowdy group of skiers and snowboarders as they drop in on Alaska’s heaviest runs using a fan-propelled hand glider. Although this is a lot sketchier than dropping in from a helicopter, it’s a whole lot more compelling. Making light of an extreme sport that most of us wouldn’t dare try, these pros take winter sports to a whole new level.
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.
