Proving How Far You Can Take An $850 Craigslist Find

You'll often hear about many different ways to wash your car, and it seems that nearly everyone has their own opinion on this subject. In this article, I cover the products and steps needed for one method to safely wash your vehicle without leaving behind scratches & swirls⁠—all without the...

If Volvo were to be known for one thing, it would be its safety innovations. Not to take away from the rally and touring car heritage, the fantastic ad campaigns, or their overall quirky way of building cars, but their safety innovations have redefined and revolutionized the automotive landscape...

Last year, FCP Euro Video Editor Stephen Coppola and I discussed power delivery problems with his SpecE46 (an E46 330i built to an agreed standard) and how he was down on power and speed relative to other cars that should be more or less identical. The engine from his race car is original to the...

Compression testing is one of the most common procedures for checking the relative health of an engine. After all, engines are air pumps, and without compression, they tend not to work well. If you ever want to know where you stand in terms of the overall health of your engine, a compression...

I’ve found that the most modern, highest-performance vehicle often isn’t the most fun to drive.  Given a twisty road and the choice between a 650-horsepower, turbocharged, all-wheel drive supercar with 335-section tires or a 20-year-old M3, I would prefer the BMW. So how far does that train of...

Everyday cars need a level of practicality, though that often interferes with a light curb weight—a quality every great performance car strives to have. It all depends on how it’s packaged, though, and the Volkswagen Mk7 GTI is both practical and light, not to mention quick, affordable, and...

BMW fuel injectors have been a hot topic for many owners over the last decade or so. The switch to direct fuel injection made BMW’s N5X and B5X-series engines some of the most capable Euro tuner platforms of all time. However, their initial Piezoelectric-style injectors were anything but reliable...

The Mk6 Volkswagen Jetta GLI shares several parts with other high-performance VWs built on the PQ35 and MQB platforms. The standard components are reliable and tested designs that have been developed over years of GTI and GLI evolution. They also give the GLI excellent braking performance right...

The N55 was a welcomed replacement for the potent but problematic N54, but in recent years, it’s developed a reputation for eating connecting rod and main bearings. Even though the internet cites frequent failures, it got me wondering: Is that reputation justified, or are a few isolated cases...