Fun Stuff

You don't see much, but enough to know it's going to be fast, furious and partly airborne. But you knew that already, didn't you.

Victory Motorcycles country manager Peter Harvey says he expects "hundreds" to accept the "obligation-free" offer before it expires at the end of July.All dealers, all models and all Best Western hotels in Australia will be involved in the national test ride promotion."We don't disclose our conversion rates but we have high expectations from this promotion," Harvey says."There may have been similar offers in the past but we are unaware of the exact details of these promotions."One of our brand statements is 'Ride One and You'll Own One'. We want to prove this statement and to do so we need people to ride our machines. This is an Australian promotion that our Australian team created."Victory motorcycles are made in the USA and are similar to Harley-Davidson in style, being heavyweight V-twin cruisers. 

Hot Wheels stunt drivers have set a new world record after completing a 360-degree huge double-loop.The stunt track was modelled as a giant version of the toy Hot Wheels Double Dare Snare track, and mounted as part of the X Games in Los Angeles on the weekend.The drivers of each car, rally racer Tanner Foust and Hollywood stuntman Greg Tracy completed the double-loop in tandem, reaching 85km/h and 7Gs: seven times the force of gravity, and around the same that jet fighter pilots experience.The pair -- racing as Team Green and Team Yellow -- trained for a year to complete the loop, which always held the risk of the drivers passing out from the gravity forces.The massive 18.2-metre high spiral track broke the previous record set last year by Chinese racer Li Yatao, who circled a Youngman Lotus L5 Sportback around a 12.8m loop in Shanghai, which was performed partly as a promo for for the Chinese-owned Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. 

The fastest motorcycle wheelie on ice is 152.89 kmh, set as a Guinness World Record by Ryan Suchanek at Lake Koshkonong in Wisconsin, US on 5 February 2011. The US rider Ryan used a modified Kawasaki ZX6R which was fitted with studded tires in order to improve traction on the ice. He was timed over 100m to ensure accuracy.

Volkswagen's Jetta GLI races on a closed course as a driver competes against one of the world's top speed guitarists, John Taylor. The VW driver of the Jetta GLI sedan has to complete one lap around track before John Taylor plays Flight of the Bumblebee. 

Volkswagen's Golf R races on a closed course as a driver competes against speed Rubik's cube specialist, Anthony Brooks. The VW driver of the Golf R has to complete one lap around track before Anthony Brooks solves his Rubik's cube one-handed.  

The epic trip is intended to set a world driving record and raise money for children in Laos.The Melbourne-to-St Petersburg journey is the latest challenge for Rainer Zeitlow, who already holds a series of Guiness World Records.He intends to make the trip in 18 days during August on a roller-coaster ride that will take him from the outback through Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Khazakstan and Russia.Zietlow will be driving a near-stock Volkswagen Tourag TDI, only modified with a larger fuel tank to take the SUVs range to 2500 kilometres, special tyres and Monroe shock absorbers.The 'hook' for the trip is to drive from the southernmost city with more than 1 million inhabitants - Melbourne - to the northernmost city with more than 1 million people - St Petersburg.Zietlow and his team will leave Melbourne on July 27 and they will donate 10 Euro cents for each kilometre travelled, to be donated to a Pan International children's project in Laos. You can follow the trip and Zietlow's adventures at www.touareg-russtralia.com from July 27 until the middle of August. 

  

there's a car in there somewhere, too.

Either that or these grease monkeys have had a lot of coffee. But if that’s what it takes to strip and re-build a Subaru Impreza WRX STI in three minutes, then why not.And when the car is set to be driven by daredevil Travis Pastrana you’d want a speedy mechanic team. Pastrana’s had more smashes, spills and misshapes than a crash test dummy on a bad day – so hasty repair jobs are in regular demand.Maybe the techno overlay has something behind this swift strip and build? That track alone has got us twitching in our seats.Whatever the catalyst, we wouldn’t mind some in the Carsguide office.