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Mircea Panait

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Personal motto:

"If in doubt, flat out." - Colin McRae

Senior Contributor
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Little did he knew back then, but a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO is what sparked Mircea’s interest for cars when he was just a kid. Despite studying mathematics and informatics in high school and economics in university, Mircea turned his passion for all things automotive into a job.
 
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.
Lamborghini Spied Testing Huracan-Replacing LB63x and Urus PHEV in Sant'Agata Bolognese
Lamborghini Spied Testing Huracan-Replacing LB63x and Urus PHEV in Sant'Agata Bolognese

27 Mar 2024, 22:06 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Raging Bull of Sant'Agata Bolognese is putting the finishing touches on two plug-in hybrids, with both packing twin-turbo V8 engines. Spied by carparazzo Varryx just outside Lamborghini's factory in Italy, the LB63x and Urus PHEV will...

 
New Range Rover Sport SV Drag Races Old Range Rover Sport SVR, Both Are 12-Second SUVs
New Range Rover Sport SV Drag Races Old Range Rover Sport SVR, Both Are 12-Second SUVs

27 Mar 2024, 20:59 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The most powerful series-production Land Rover to date is – of course – a Range Rover, that model being the Range Rover Sport SV. Rather than Jaguar Land Rover's 5.0-liter supercharged V8, the newcomer uses a BMW-supplied turbo V8....

 
Nissan Smyrna Assembly Plant Celebrates the Production of Its 15 Millionth Vehicle
Nissan Smyrna Assembly Plant Celebrates the Production of Its 15 Millionth Vehicle

27 Mar 2024, 20:01 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Tennessee-based Smyrna Assembly Plant was built in the period between 1981 and 1983. Its first product came in the form of the Nissan 720 pickup truck, which offered regular and king cab options with either 2WD or 4WD. A little over four decades si...

 
Mystery Porsche Cayenne ICE Prototype Spied Testing, Raises More Questions Than Answers
Mystery Porsche Cayenne ICE Prototype Spied Testing, Raises More Questions Than Answers

27 Mar 2024, 19:00 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Our spy photographers have snapped a prototype of the Cayenne during winter testing in Sweden, a prototype that's obviously based on the 2024 model year facelift of the third-generation Cayenne. The question is, what is Porsche really testing ...

 
Subaru Recalls Outback and Legacy for Front Passenger Airbag That May Not Deploy
Subaru Recalls Outback and Legacy for Front Passenger Airbag That May Not Deploy

27 Mar 2024, 18:05 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The hugely popular Outback and its four-door sibling have been hit with a recall over a safety concern. Subaru has identified an issue with the occupant detection system, an issue that affects 118,723 examples of the Outback and Legacy. Affected...

 
New Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Crowned 2024 World Performance Car
New Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Crowned 2024 World Performance Car

27 Mar 2024, 17:07 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The World Car Awards has selected the Ioniq 5 N as its 2024 World Performance Car, marking the South Korean brand's seventh WCA title in the last three years. Twinned with the Kia EV6 GT, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is that little bit sportier both ...

 
The Most Powerful Land Rover Defender Ever Looks Out of Place at the Nurburgring
The Most Powerful Land Rover Defender Ever Looks Out of Place at the Nurburgring

27 Mar 2024, 16:00 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Originally a body-on-frame 4x4, the Defender became a unibody in 2019 for the 2020 model year. Still hugely capable off the beaten path, the best-selling Landie of 2023 will get a twin-turbocharged V8 and trick suspension this year. Land Rover call...

 
Ford Transit Trail Recalled for Tires Rubbing Against the Wheel Arch Liners
Ford Transit Trail Recalled for Tires Rubbing Against the Wheel Arch Liners

27 Mar 2024, 15:09 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Certain Transit vehicles produced for the US market for model years 2023 and 2024 have been recalled over insufficient packaging allowance that results in damaged tires from contact with the front wheel arch liner and body flanges. Ford claims that...

 
Dodge Hornet and Alfa Romeo Tonale Recalled for Missing Tire and Rim Information on Label
Dodge Hornet and Alfa Romeo Tonale Recalled for Missing Tire and Rim Information on Label

27 Mar 2024, 02:51 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Assembled in Italy with FCA Small Wide 4x4 LWB underpinnings from the Jeep Compass, the Dodge Hornet and Alfa Romeo Tonale have been recalled to the tune of 1,201 vehicles. According to FCA US LLC, subject crossovers don't comply with FMVSS 11...

 
2025 Cupra Terramar Spied Testing in Germany, Will Be Made in Hungary
2025 Cupra Terramar Spied Testing in Germany, Will Be Made in Hungary

27 Mar 2024, 02:10 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Cupra prepares to replace the Ateca with the all-new Terramar, which is underpinned by the MQB Evo platform of the 2025 Audi Q3. The Spanish crossover will be produced at the Gyor manufacturing complex in Hungary, which assembled 176,493 vehicles a...

 
2024 Dacia Sandero Lineup Welcomes New Trim Levels, Engine, and Transmission in the UK
2024 Dacia Sandero Lineup Welcomes New Trim Levels, Engine, and Transmission in the UK

27 Mar 2024, 00:56 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Similarly priced to the Kia Picanto, the Dacia Sandero is one of the most affordable cars available new in the United Kingdom at the moment of reporting. The 2024 model year adds more choice and power in the form of two new trim levels (Sandero Jou...

 
Ram ProMaster Recalled Over Lighting Issue, Remedy Is Under Development
Ram ProMaster Recalled Over Lighting Issue, Remedy Is Under Development

27 Mar 2024, 00:10 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Better known as Fiat Ducato, the Ram ProMaster has been hit with a recall. According to FCA US LLC, an estimated 12,375 units of the 2021 to 2022 Ram ProMaster have been equipped with a wiring harness that may have a poor connection. The wiring ...

 
2025 MINI Cooper S Makes North American Debut in New York City
2025 MINI Cooper S Makes North American Debut in New York City

26 Mar 2024, 21:55 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / On the eve of the NY Auto Show, MINI USA took the all-new Cooper S for a spin on the streets of NYC, marking the North American debut of the 2025 model. As opposed to its zero-emission sibling, which is underpinned by a brand-new EV platform, the i...

 
Chrysler Recalls 38,164 Trucks, SUVs, Minivans Over Driver's Airbag That May Not Deploy
Chrysler Recalls 38,164 Trucks, SUVs, Minivans Over Driver's Airbag That May Not Deploy

26 Mar 2024, 21:07 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / FCA US LLC has issued a recall for 38,164 minivans, sport utility vehicles, light-duty trucks, and heavy-duty trucks with gross vehicle weight ratings lower than 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms). The suspect population was produced for the US market...

 
2025 Audi Q3 Spied With Less Camo, Sports MQB Evo Underpinnings
2025 Audi Q3 Spied With Less Camo, Sports MQB Evo Underpinnings

26 Mar 2024, 20:14 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / MQB is the Volkswagen Group's main platform. Used for anything from subcompacts to full-size luxury crossovers, the modular platform received was updated to Evo specification in 2019 for the Golf Mk8. Audi currently uses the MQB Evo for the A3...

 
Ford Recalls Certain Maverick and Bronco Sport Vehicles for Incorrectly Manufactured Tires
Ford Recalls Certain Maverick and Bronco Sport Vehicles for Incorrectly Manufactured Tires

26 Mar 2024, 18:59 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Ford has identified an issue affecting a small number of Maverick pickup trucks and Bronco Sport crossovers. More specifically, 225/60 R18 Michelin Primacy all-season tires fitted to 115 vehicles were produced with a hybrid cap ply made of aramid a...

 
2024 Lamborghini Huracan Recalled Over High Beams That May Not Activate
2024 Lamborghini Huracan Recalled Over High Beams That May Not Activate

26 Mar 2024, 18:30 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Automobili Lamborghini has identified an issue affecting 22 units of the 2024 model year Huracan. More specifically, the subject vehicles fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108 due to high beams that do not activate when the ...

 
2024 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Recalled Over Fuel Supply Line That May Leak
2024 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Recalled Over Fuel Supply Line That May Leak

26 Mar 2024, 17:04 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The seventh-generation Mustang has been hit with a safety recall concerning 362 examples of the breed, all of them equipped with the 2.3-liter EcoBoost and Ford's 10-speed automatic transmission. As per documents published on the NHTSA's ...

 
2025 Volkswagen Tayron Shows Fake Exhaust Tips, Will Be Marketed as the Tiguan in the US
2025 Volkswagen Tayron Shows Fake Exhaust Tips, Will Be Marketed as the Tiguan in the US

26 Mar 2024, 15:19 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Unveiled in full in September 2023, the third-generation Tiguan will soon receive a three-row version for the family-oriented. Dubbed Tiguan in the United States and Tayron in the Old Continent, the family-sized sport utility vehicle has been spied...

 
Quad-Motor BMW i4 M Performance EV Spied Winter Testing, Shows Wider Tracks Than i4 M50
Quad-Motor BMW i4 M Performance EV Spied Winter Testing, Shows Wider Tracks Than i4 M50

26 Mar 2024, 14:10 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of BMW Motorsport GmbH. To celebrate half a century of all things M, the go-faster division revealed an i4 M50-based prototype with four electric motors for infinitely adjustable torque vectoring at each wheel. S...

 

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