Category: Track Test

2017 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Coupe | Shaun Keenan for Ignition

Tested: 2017 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Coupe

Improving awesome! _ Driving the new C 63 AMG S coupe is an exercise in restraint. I suspect that owning one, then, will be that and many more things. The car’s purpose is simple. To be the best C-Class ever. And it just might be. Along with its sedan counterpart, the C 63s are head and shoulders above the rest.… Read more →

2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R | Shaun Keenan for Ignition

Tested: 2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R

The Ace of Laguna Seca _ Carroll Shelby would be proud. No question. Were the Godfather of factory performance still here to take one of these out for a rip, he’d be impressed. Undoubtedly. Perhaps even in tears. They’re that good. The 2016 Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT350R are not only the most powerful naturally-aspirated ’Stangs Ford has ever built,… Read more →

2016 Cadillac ATS-V

Fast Test: 2016 Cadillac ATS-V

Kick-Ass Caddy for Grocery Gettin’ _ The new ATS-V has little more than half the displacement of the even newer CTS-V. It develops 464 turbocharged horses compared to its brethren’s 640 supercharged Detroit ponies (on two fewer cylinders I might add). It starts at nearly $26,000 less than the CTS-V. There’s clearly a little bro, big brother relationship going on… Read more →

2015 Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG S Model | Shaun Keenan

Tested: 2015 Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG

The Sultan of Studio 63 _ (Yawn) My chauffeur seems slightly miffed. “The guy behind just turned left,” he says while checking the rearview mirror. “On the straight!” he chuffs before saying something in German to a colleague over the two-way radio in his right hand while nonchalantly holding the steering wheel with his left. My German is at best… Read more →

Cadillac ATS-V.R GT3 | Shaun Keenan

Cadillac V-Series Tech

Track-Tested to the Driveway _ Just days before the L.A. Auto Show last fall, Cadillac hosted Ignition in Austin, Texas for an exclusive event at the Circuit of the Americas that included a sneak peek at the brand’s latest track weapon – the stunning Cadillac ATS-V.R race car – and hot laps with Johnny O’Connell in his 2014 Pirelli World… Read more →

2015 Corvette Z06 | Shaun Keenan

Tested: 2015 Corvette Z06

SUPERCORVETTE _ Spoiler Alert: Every time I think about the Corvette Z06, my mind wanders to the scene in Pulp Fiction where boxer-turned-fugitive Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) and lover Trudi (Bronagh Gallagher) flee town on a stolen motorcycle on the advice of mob boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), who lost a lot of money on Butch after he threw his… Read more →

2015 McLaren 650S Spider| Shaun Keenan

Tested: 2015 McLaren 650S Spider

Indulgence yes! _ From the front, the 650S looks like the McLaren P1. From the rear, the hindquarters taken from the 12C make it look like a spaceship! It certainly screams ‘Hey, look at me!’ and it blasts off like a rocket. That it costs more than many houses, I can only imagine what the neighbours were thinking. The interior… Read more →