Ciprian Florea
7,287 ARTICLES
Personal motto:
"If you can make black marks on a straight from the time you turn out of a corner until the braking point of the next turn, then you have enough horsepower." - Mark Donohue
You'll never catch him drooling over the latest supercar but he could spend hours talking about why he loves 1940s windshield visors, Mopars, and Studebakers. Naturally, most of his stories are about barn finds and rare classics.
He can give you several reasons why speed and power are more about motorsport than silly street wandering, and Can-Am machinery tops his ridiculously fast all-time favorite car list. He claims he could die happy after a Rattlesnake Raceway ride in a Chaparral and a cup of coffee with Jim Hall on the other side of the table.
Before landing on these pages, Ciprian's work has been published on outlets like TopSpeed, AmericanMuscle, and ThisWeekInMotors.
BMW 518d Saloon & Touring UK Pricing
29 May 2013, 16:34 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / German automaker BMW has announced that the newly-released 518d model, in both Saloon and Touring version, is now available in the United Kingdom with On The Road prices starting from £29,830. Powered by BMW's new 2.0-liter turbodiese...
2014 GMC Sierra Denali Revealed
29 May 2013, 16:14 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The 2014 GMC Sierra Denali, GM's most luxurious pickup truck, was revealed today. Set to go on sale this fall, the new Denali promises to be the most powerful light duty truck thanks to its 6.2-liter EcoTec3 V8 that will produce an estimated 4...
BMW M5 & M6 Competition Package UK Pricing Released
29 May 2013, 15:43 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / German automaker BMW has announced full pricing info for its M5 and M6 Competition Package lineup for the UK market. Set to hit the market later this year, each of the four Competition Package models boast no less than 575 HP. Besides the upgrad...
Cult Classic Second-Gen Toyota MR2 Gets Cool Makeover
29 May 2013, 15:17 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Have you seen the recently-released “Fast and Furious 6”? No, we’re not going to make you read our reviews, but we would like to point out that the series’ latest iteration needed one more car in the making of: Michael Teh&r...
Mercedes Viano by Carisma Auto Design Is the Ultimate Luxury Van
29 May 2013, 14:43 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / When talking about luxury cars, one can’t help think about full-size sedans or range-topping supercars such as Ferrari or the Bugatti Veyron. However, some tuning companies such as Carisma Auto Design thinks that luxury can be brought into va...
Lexus Talks F Sport Performance
29 May 2013, 14:03 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced back in 2007 starting with the IS sedan, the F Sport performance line made a lot of Lexus enthusiasts happy through its aerodynamic and luxury upgrades, as well as its personalization program. With the release of the IS F Sport model,...
Roush Makes Sport Compact Market Comeback with Ford Focus Updates
29 May 2013, 13:35 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Mostly known for their Ford Mustang and F-150 pickup truck performance packages, Roush Performance is set to return to the sport compact market with a series of updates for the Ford Focus and the Focus ST. According to the company’s latest...
Lexus RX 450h Is the Most Satisfying Large SUV to Own, says JD Power
29 May 2013, 12:53 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The 2013 JD Power Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study has revealed that the Lexus RX 450h is the UK’s most satisfying large SUV to won and run. According to the influential study, which formulated its conclusions after asking people who b...
Study Claims Real-World CO2 Emissions Are Off 25 Percent from Official Estimates
29 May 2013, 12:32 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / There’s been a lot of talk about automakers posting unrealistic fuel consumption and CO2 emission figures lately, with customers and various agencies reporting relevant discrepancies between official and actual numbers. And a recent study ...
“Beyond Memories” Lexus Short Film Released
29 May 2013, 11:44 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The first feature of the “Lexus Short Films” series, resulted from a unique collaboration between Harvey Weinstein and Lexus, has been posted online after being premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Cristina Molino,...
Tesla Stock Breaks $100 Mark
29 May 2013, 09:40 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Having paid its full Department of Energy loan nine years early, Tesla Motors has recorded yet another growth on the stock market, breaking the $100 mark for the first time and reaching an all-time high of $110.33. Tuesday, Tesla jumped no less ...
Kia Sneaking Up On Entry-Level Luxury Rivals
29 May 2013, 09:19 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Korean automaker Kia is looking to attract more entry-level luxury sedan customers with its new high-tech featured Cadenza model. Forecasting annual sales of 12,000 units, Kia is aiming at the likes of Lincoln MKZ, Acura TL and Lexus ES on the US m...
New Vauxhall VXR8 GTS Packs More HP than BMW M5, Mercedes E63 AMG
29 May 2013, 08:39 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / British automaker and GM subsidiary Vauxhall has taken the wraps off its new VXR8 GTS high-performance sedan. Based on sister company HSV’s newly-released Gen-F GTS, the VXR8 greets its future UK customers with no less than 576 bhp under its ...
Entry-Level Caterham Seven in the Works
29 May 2013, 08:06 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / British lightweight sportscar manufacturer Caterham is getting ready to launch a new entry-level version of its famous Seven model as part of the company’s 40th anniversary. According to Autocar, the entry-level Seven will be built in the ...
2014 Toyota Corolla: Could It Look Like This?
29 May 2013, 07:34 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Teased for the first time about a week ago, the 2014 Toyota Corolla is being prepared for its grand unwrapping on June 6. We bet you’re probably as excited as we are to see Toyota’s future best-selling C-segment sedan, so we decided ...
2014 Corvette Stingray Official HP, Torque Figures Announced
29 May 2013, 07:02 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Chevrolet has finally announced the official power specs for the 2014 Corvette Stingray, confirming that the new iteration of the American sportscar benefits from its most powerful standard engine ever. Just like we told you late last week, base...
BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe in Motion
28 May 2013, 15:54 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Unveiled at the 2013 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe concept blends the ultimate German performance features with renowned Italian styling cues. Already showcased by a comprehensive batch of pho...
Ford Showcases Revolutionary Technology for F-Series Trucks
28 May 2013, 15:26 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Ford has announced the introduction of a new 3D mapping technology to better analyze rear truck axles for glitches that could affect the vehicles reliability. Called Photogrammetric Pattern Reader (PPR), technology instantly stitches together 9,...
€40K Toyota Supra Can Put Any Supercar to Shame
28 May 2013, 14:52 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The LaFerrari and the McLaren P1, two vehicles regarded as the ultimate supercars, created quite a stir at this year’s Geneva Motor Show. Packing more than 800 HP each, both hybrids command huge price tags that have made them impossible to ac...
Daft Punk Teams Up With Lotus F1
28 May 2013, 14:19 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Daft Punk, the famous electronic music duo which marked a spectacular comeback to the industry with its Random Access Memories studio album, has teamed up with the Lotus Formula One team ahead of the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix. To mark the occasion,...