autoevolution
 

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.
Aston Martin DBX707 Needs 3.25 Seconds to Hit 60 MPH and 11.26 Seconds in the Quarter Mile
Aston Martin DBX707 Needs 3.25 Seconds to Hit 60 MPH and 11.26 Seconds in the Quarter Mile

8 Feb 2024, 16:08 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Brooks Weisblat of DragTimes is back with a new video in which he reviews the hideously underrated Aston Martin DBX707. Still a twin-turbo V8 affair like the regular DBX, the 707 is called as such after the 707 metric ponies (697 horsepower) it mak...

 
Nissan Recalls Leaf EV Over Potentially Damaged Rearview Camera Wiring Harness
Nissan Recalls Leaf EV Over Potentially Damaged Rearview Camera Wiring Harness

8 Feb 2024, 15:03 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Once the best-selling electric vehicle in the world, the Nissan Leaf slowly but steadily became irrelevant due to the likes of Tesla and legacy automakers trying to catch up to Tesla. Not surprising in the least, said irrelevance can be seen in the...

 
2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Shown to GM Dealers in November 2023, Will Debut This Year
2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Shown to GM Dealers in November 2023, Will Debut This Year

7 Feb 2024, 20:26 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Long before Chevrolet unleashed the eighth-generation Corvette, everyone and their dog knew that a twin-turbo V8 would happen at some point. For the C8 ZR1, the Detroit-based automaker will use a different engine from the RPO code LTA "Blackwi...

 
2024 Toyota Tacoma Real-World Fuel Economy Test Will Surprise You
2024 Toyota Tacoma Real-World Fuel Economy Test Will Surprise You

7 Feb 2024, 19:09 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Mere days ago, Roman Mica and Andre Smirnov from The Fast Lane flew to Houston to take delivery of a brand-new midsizer. The pickup in question is a Tacoma TRD Off-Road with little in the way of extras, a truck whose total retail price is $45,330. ...

 
Hyundai Recalls Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, and Genesis GV60 for Driveshaft Issue
Hyundai Recalls Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, and Genesis GV60 for Driveshaft Issue

7 Feb 2024, 17:56 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Hyundai Motor America's total sales increased 11 percent in 2023, with Hyundai selling a grand total of 801,195 vehicles in this part of the world. Its electric vehicles also proved rather popular, with the Ioniq 5 leading the charge (pun inte...

 
2024 Nissan Interstar Large Van Unleashed in Europe With Turbo Diesel and Electric Options
2024 Nissan Interstar Large Van Unleashed in Europe With Turbo Diesel and Electric Options

7 Feb 2024, 17:12 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / November 2023 saw French automaker Renault debut its all-new Master large van with turbo diesel, battery electric, and hydrogen powertrain choices. The Master's first ground-up redesign in 13 years has also spawned a Nissan sibling in the form...

 
GM Recalls HD Pickup Trucks Over QT5 EZ Lift Tailgate Issue, 323,232 Vehicles Affected
GM Recalls HD Pickup Trucks Over QT5 EZ Lift Tailgate Issue, 323,232 Vehicles Affected

7 Feb 2024, 16:00 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The largest automaker in the US market has identified an issue with the EZ Lift tailgate of the Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD. General Motors reports that an estimated 323,232 vehicles were produced with said tailgate between September 3...

 
Honda Recalls 750,000 Vehicles Over Safety Concern Stemming From Seat Weight Sensors
Honda Recalls 750,000 Vehicles Over Safety Concern Stemming From Seat Weight Sensors

6 Feb 2024, 21:26 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Honda has issued a mammoth recall comprising 750,114 vehicles produced for the 2020 through 2022 model years. The safety concern is unintentional deployment of the front passenger frontal and knee airbags during a crash despite the presence of a pe...

 
Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series V8 Drag Races Four-Pot Brother and Hilux, It's Pretty Close
Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series V8 Drag Races Four-Pot Brother and Hilux, It's Pretty Close

6 Feb 2024, 20:10 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Which is the oldest 'Yota that you can still buy new in 2024? The answer is Land Cruiser 70, which came out in 1984 as the successor to the 40 series. Toyota last updated the 70 series in August 2023 for MY24, giving the body-on-frame mode...

 
Ferrari Breaks Sales Record Again, Order Book Full for Current Models Throughout 2025
Ferrari Breaks Sales Record Again, Order Book Full for Current Models Throughout 2025

6 Feb 2024, 18:57 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / In 2022, the Prancing Horse of Maranello delivered 13,221 vehicles worldwide. Ferrari reported 13,663 deliveries last year, which is absolutely massive for a manufacturer that sells only high-priced exotica. As per documents published by the Ita...

 
NHTSA Investigates Tesla for 2,388 Complaints Alleging a Loss of Steering Control
NHTSA Investigates Tesla for 2,388 Complaints Alleging a Loss of Steering Control

6 Feb 2024, 18:01 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Back in June 2023, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation opened a preliminary evaluation into Tesla following 12 allegations of inability to steer and the loss of power steering from Model 3 and M...

 
Ferrari FF Drag Races Kia EV6 GT, Deeply Regrets Decision
Ferrari FF Drag Races Kia EV6 GT, Deeply Regrets Decision

5 Feb 2024, 21:07 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Closely related to the F12, the FF was a fabulous machine. Produced between 2011 and 2016 in a little under 2,300 units, the Ferrari Four is named as such after its trick all-wheel-drive system. The Prancing Horse of Maranello calls it 4RM, which i...

 
Nissan Recalls 2024 Murano Over Detaching Glass Panels
Nissan Recalls 2024 Murano Over Detaching Glass Panels

5 Feb 2024, 20:07 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / It's hard to believe that Nissan still makes the Murano, and it's harder still to believe that Nissan advertises it as "the luxury SUV that makes every commute a memorable one." Not as large as the Pathfinder, the Murano is due ...

 
Ferrari Spied Testing Old and New Prototypes of the 812 Superfast-Replacing F167
Ferrari Spied Testing Old and New Prototypes of the 812 Superfast-Replacing F167

5 Feb 2024, 19:06 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Ferrari stopped taking orders for the coupe-bodied 812 Superfast and its convertible sibling in early 2022. The Prancing Horse is close to canning the 812 series, though, for its long-awaited replacement will be presented in 2024 for the 2025 model...

 
Kia Recalls EV6 and Niro EV for Improperly Heat-Treated Driveshafts
Kia Recalls EV6 and Niro EV for Improperly Heat-Treated Driveshafts

5 Feb 2024, 17:50 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Kia's first electric vehicle based on the Electric Global Modular Platform has been hit with a recall. The Niro EV has also been recalled over the very same problem, said issue being a manufacturing error attributed to Hyundai World Industrial...

 
Why Is Ferrari Testing a Tesla Model S Plaid in Maranello?
Why Is Ferrari Testing a Tesla Model S Plaid in Maranello?

5 Feb 2024, 17:06 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Last year, the Raging Bull of Sant'Agata Bolognese was spied testing a Tesla Model X Plaid on public roads just outside Lamborghini's factory. That sighting is hardly flabbergasting due to the Lanzador, a zero-emission concept vehicle tha...

 
Ferrari F250 LaFerrari Successor Caught Testing With Final Body, Premiere Draws Nearer
Ferrari F250 LaFerrari Successor Caught Testing With Final Body, Premiere Draws Nearer

3 Feb 2024, 18:53 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Remember the 288 GTO homologation special? The Prancing Horse of Maranello produced fewer than 280 units between 1984 and 1987. Also engineered by the hideously underrated Nicola Materazzi, the succeeding F40 was produced in a little over 1,300 exa...

 
2026 BMW iX3 Neue Klasse SUV Caught Winter Testing, Will Start Production July 2025
2026 BMW iX3 Neue Klasse SUV Caught Winter Testing, Will Start Production July 2025

2 Feb 2024, 16:43 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Similar to what Mercedes-Benz is doing with the GLE-Class and EQE SUV, fellow German automaker BMW intends to separate the internal combustion-engined X3 from the iX3. For the time being, the rear-biased sport utility vehicles are based on the Bava...

 
NHTSA Investigates 2021 Ford Bronco Sport Over Two Safety Concerns
NHTSA Investigates 2021 Ford Bronco Sport Over Two Safety Concerns

2 Feb 2024, 15:33 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Headed by ODI general engineer Joseph Teitelman, preliminary evaluation PE24-002 was opened after the NHTSA received no fewer than 31 vehicle owner questionnaires alleging the sudden loss of motive power accompanied by complete electrical system fa...

 
The UK's Most Affordable New V8 Car Goes on Sale, 2024 Ford Mustang Starts at £55,685
The UK's Most Affordable New V8 Car Goes on Sale, 2024 Ford Mustang Starts at £55,685

1 Feb 2024, 23:50 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / 2024 Ford Mustang deliveries kicked off in August 2023. On the other part of the Atlantic Ocean, the Ford Motor Company opened the order books for the S650 in Continental Europe and the UK today. Over in Germany, which is the largest new car m...

 

Stories by Mircea Panait