Mircea Panait
20,321 ARTICLES
Personal motto:
"If in doubt, flat out." - Colin McRae
Interning for Top Gear was his first foray in automotive journalism, and not long after that, a full-time position was opened for Mircea to seal the deal. Just about three years later, autoevolution became his new home.
Especially interested in American ponies and muscle cars, Mircea also finds the Japanese domestic market appealing thanks to the quirkiness of kei cars. Full-size pickups like the Ram 1500 and off-roaders such as the Ford Ranger Raptor and Jeep Gladiator Rubicon are much to his liking as well.
A self-described master of pasta and an avid CCG player, Mircea’s past-time activities include playing his Epiphone Les Paul Special Vintage Edition electric guitar, discovering the wonders of the Carpathian mountains by foot, and driving to the Black Sea to get a well-deserved tan.
1994 Mazda MX-5 Miata With Under 30,000 Miles on the Clock Is Looking for Its Third Owner
13 May 2024, 19:05 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The first-generation Miata was the right car at the right time. Pretty much every manufacturer abandoned the small roadster in favor of heavier sports cars by the end of the 1990s, while Lotus made the baffling mistake of resurrecting the legendary...
2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid Facelift Starts at $38,690, All-Wheel Drive Adds $1,800
13 May 2024, 17:58 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Kia refreshed the combustion-only Sorento for the 2024 model year. The Sorento Hybrid followed suit for 2025, with prices kicking off at $38,690 for the front-wheel-drive Sorento Hybrid EX trim level. That's $38,690 plus $1,375 for the dest...
Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Manthey Kit Costs New Audi Q5 Sportback Money in the US
13 May 2024, 16:43 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The 718 may be Porsche's entry-level sports car, but that doesn't mean the 718 plays second fiddle to the 911. Remember that certain 718s come with a free-breathing sixer derived from the high-revving boxer of the 992-gen 911 GT3 and 911 ...
2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz for North America Will Be Available in Three Distinct Flavors
13 May 2024, 15:49 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Volkswagen of America has confirmed the ID. Buzz with both rear- and all-wheel drive. For the North American market, the three-row electric van will be available in Pro S, Pro S Plus, and 1st Edition grades. All rock a 91-kWh battery pack, but alas...
Next Mazda CX-5 Confirmed With SkyActiv Hybrid Powerplant, CX-50 Is Also Going Hybrid
13 May 2024, 15:03 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Mazda representative director, president, and chief executive officer Masahiro Moro has confirmed what everyone and their dog was looking forward to from the Japanese automaker's best-selling model. During the Financial Results Fiscal Year Mac...
2024 Toyota Tacoma 3.5-Inch Lift Kit From Rough Country Will Set You Back $799.95
11 May 2024, 22:02 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / From the factory, the 2024 Toyota Tacoma comes with tires no larger than 33 inches for the rock-crawling Trailhunter and dune-bashing TRD Pro. 33-inch rubber is optional on the TRD Off-Road, which is – without a shadow of a doubt – the ...
Bentley Edition 8 Bids Farewell to the Gas-Only V8 in North American Markets
10 May 2024, 22:45 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / At the beginning of May 2024, the folks at Bentley confirmed that something called Ultra Performance Hybrid will replace the 4.0L twin-turbo V8 in the Continental GT, Continental GTC, and Flying Spur by the end of the year. Not long after, the Brit...
New Mercedes-AMG CLE 63 Allegedly Packs V8 Muscle, C 63 and GLC 63 Could Follow Suit
10 May 2024, 20:57 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The C-Class became a four-pot-only affair in 2021 with the introduction of the 206 series. One year later, the GLC followed suit with the 254 series. Everyone and their dog knew that Mercedes would struggle to sell AMGs with four-cylinder engines, ...
NHTSA Investigates Ford F-Series Super Duty V8 Diesel Trucks Over Engine Compartment Fires
10 May 2024, 20:02 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Ford Motor Company has been hit with a probe into diesel-powered Super Duty trucks produced for the 2015 through 2021 model years, ranging from the F-250 all the way to the F-550. If the federal watchdog's preliminary investigation ends wi...
BMW M2 Races Nissan Z NISMO, German Coupe Triumphs Over Japanese Challenger
10 May 2024, 18:10 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Everyone with a passion for all things automotive likes quarter-mile drag races, but Edmunds does it a little better than everyone else. Their U-drag format comprises a standing start to see which car is quicker to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers ...
Fisker Ocean Hit With Probe Into Unintended Automatic Emergency Braking System Activation
10 May 2024, 16:07 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Plenty of automotive and tech journos dismissed the Ocean as nothing more than a half-baked electric vehicle with ludicruously bad infotainment software, poor driving range compared to direct competitors, and so forth. Owners were screwed at least ...
Dodge Demon 170 Races Drag-Prepped Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, Loser Clocks 10.59 Seconds
9 May 2024, 20:58 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Cadillac V series of high-performance vehicles rolled out in 2003 with the 2004 model year CTS-V. The second-generation Cadillac CTS-V was offered in five-, four-, and two-door forms, with all three of them relying on a supercharged V8 mill. ...
Caterham Unleashes Euro-Market Seven 485 Final Editions, Only 85 Units Available
9 May 2024, 20:07 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The dinky Seven is available in many flavors back home in the United States, ranging from the turbocharged 660-cc Seven 170 to the supercharged 2.0-liter Seven 620. Across the English Channel, the lineup is topped by the Seven 485 Final Edition. ...
Bentley Discontinues V8-Only Continental GT and Flying Spur in the UK, Europe and MEAI
9 May 2024, 19:04 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Bentley stopped making the British automaker's trademark W12 engine in April 2024. The final application of the 6.0-liter mill is the Batur Convertible, of which only 16 will be produced. At the beginning of May 2024, the Volkswagen Group-c...
Ford Goes Back on 2030 Promise of All-Electric Passenger Vehicle Lineup in Europe
9 May 2024, 18:11 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Back in February 2021, the higher-ups at Ford of Europe pompously claimed that Ford's passenger vehicle lineup will be fully electric by 2030 in the EU and the UK. A little over three years later, the Blue Oval's European division has &nd...
Mercedes-Benz Recalls eSprinter Electric Vans Over ESP Control Unit Software Error
9 May 2024, 17:02 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Daimler Vans USA has recalled a handful of 2024 model year Mercedes-Benz eSprinter electric vans for an ESP control unit software error. Said error leads to an electrical fault in the brake booster, therefore activating a limited fallback level. In...
Chevrolet Malibu Will Be Discontinued This Fall, Next-Gen Chevrolet Bolt Coming Late 2025
8 May 2024, 23:45 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Come November 2024, the General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant will stop making the Chevrolet Malibu. Two months later, Cadillac XT4 production will be halted as well. Although the Caddy will return in late 2025 after GM retools and modifies the Kan...
2025 Lamborghini Huracan Twin-Turbo V8 Plug-In Hybrid Successor Will Debut August 2024
8 May 2024, 22:06 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Back in January 2024, the Raging Bull of Sant'Agata Bolognese said that Huracan clocked more than 25,000 sales over its production life cycle. Revealed in March 2014 at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland, the successor to the Gallardo is Lam...
C8 Corvette Drag Races Nissan GT-R, Victor Won't Surprise Anyone
8 May 2024, 21:07 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / How long has it been since Nissan introduced the R35? The Skyline GT-R's replacement was unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, meaning that the first GT-R not related to the Skyline will turn 17 later this year. Despite being technically outd...
2025 Bentley Continental GT Convertible Plug-In Hybrid V8 Spied Testing Stateside
8 May 2024, 20:00 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Volkswagen Group acquired Bentley in 1998, but the British marque's trademark W12 engine was introduced five years later by the Continental GT. Discontinued in April 2024 after no fewer than 105,000 units were produced in Crewe, the 6.0L t...