Mircea Panait
20,328 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.
Feds Investigate Volkswagen Over Fuel Leaks Caused by Suction Pump Failures
14 Dec 2023, 21:13 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Published on the NHTSA's website in late 2016, recall number 16V-647 concerns the Volkswagen Golf and its Audi-branded sibling. Back then, Wolfsburg's favorite son recalled a grand total of 110,042 compact cars over failing suction pumps....
Alfa Romeo Revives Milano Nameplate for Italian Automaker's First "Sport Urban Vehicle"
14 Dec 2023, 19:18 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Once upon a time, Rome was the center of the known world. But after the fall of the Western Roman Empire at the hand of barbarian leader Odoacer, the cities of Ravenna and Milan gained prominence over the settlement founded by Romulus – the m...
Mercedes-Benz GLE Recalled Over Improperly Secured 12V Ground Connection
14 Dec 2023, 18:03 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Merc is recalling certain GLE vehicles manufactured for the US market for the 2021 and 2022 model years. According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 164 examples of the mid-size utility vehicle may have an ...
Seized Corvette C8 Joins Panama City Beach Police Department Fleet
13 Dec 2023, 22:10 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Earlier this year, the Panama City Beach Police Department seized a 2022 model year Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. The car originally belonged to a certain 25-year-old Alexander Casey. According to Panama City Beach PD, said vehicle was used to ev...
Hennessey Goliath 650 Supercharged GMC Sierra 1500 AT4 Hits the Dyno, Lays Down 516 HP
13 Dec 2023, 21:06 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / On December 12, the mad folks at Hennessey Performance Engineering rolled out the Goliath 650 supercharged upgrade for the GMC Sierra 1500 with the 6.2-liter small block. In combination with a Whipple-supplied blower, the L87 EcoTec3 engine belts o...
2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV Production Confirmed To Start Q1 2024
13 Dec 2023, 20:19 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Originally scheduled to enter production before year's end, the first-ever Chevrolet Equinox EV has been confirmed to start rolling off the assembly line in the first quarter of 2024. What assembly line? Similar to the Blazer EV, the smaller z...
2025 Volkswagen Transporter T7 Offers More Load Capacity, Payload, Maximum Trailer Weight
13 Dec 2023, 19:09 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Originally twinned with the air-cooled Beetle, the Transporter became its own thing in 1990 with the introduction of the fourth generation. The sixth generation rolled out in 2016 with underpinnings from the fifth generation. Otherwise put,&nb...
2023 Nissan Ariya Earns Top Safety Pick+ Accolade
13 Dec 2023, 18:06 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / A compact-sized crossover with all-electric propulsion, the curiously named Ariya had a rough start in the United States of America. In addition to supply chain-related constraints, Japanese automaker Nissan recalled a little over 1,000 examples ba...
Pour One Out for the Honda e (2019 – 2024)
13 Dec 2023, 03:21 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Revealed with much pomp in 2019, the unimaginatively named Honda e will be discontinued in January 2024. How did it come to this, especially after Honda tried to push the e with the help of Super Max? The zero-emission supermini's down...
2024 Dacia Duster Coupe SUV Rendering Proposes Sensibly Priced Renault Arkana Alternative
13 Dec 2023, 02:10 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / BMW is often credited with inventing the coupe SUV with the X6. On the other hand, some peeps argue that South Korean automaker SsangYong was first (in 2005) with the aesthetically-challenged Actyon. In any case, this kind of body style is extre...
Corvettes Drag Race Dodge Hellcat, Jaguar F-Type Also Joins the Quarter-Mile Fun
13 Dec 2023, 00:59 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / To be discontinued after the 2023 model year, the Challenger is going the way of the dodo with the Hellcat engine in tow. It's easy to blame fuel economy and emission regulations for the supercharged V8's demise, but as far as the Challen...
2024 Lancia Ypsilon Leaked. Or Better Said, Leaks (Literally)
12 Dec 2023, 23:49 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Not exactly a conventional automotive leak, the 2024 Lancia Ypsilon has been snapped without any sort of camouflage while taking a skinny dip in France. Pictured in the Rhone-Rhine Canal in the area of Montbeliard, the production-spec prototype was...
2024 Toyota Tacoma Build & Price Goes Live, Base Trim Costs $31,500
12 Dec 2023, 22:57 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The all-new Tacoma's build & price is live, although be warned that it's not functioning as intended at press time. Retailing at $31,500 (plus $1,495 for destination), the midsizer is quite a bit pricier than Toyota's previous-ge...
Hennessey Goliath 650 Off-Road GMC Sierra Costs Insane Money, Power Upgrade Is $27,950
12 Dec 2023, 21:02 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / For some reason or another, most likely its all-electric trucks, GM refuses to shoehorn a supercharged V8 under the hood of the Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500. Be that as it may, the aftermarket is much obliged to right this wrong. Enter Henness...
Kia Recalls the Seltos and Soul Due to Side Curtain Air Bag Manufacturing Defect
12 Dec 2023, 20:11 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / A small number of Seltos and Soul crossovers are recalled over a welding error in the stored gas section of the side curtain air bag's hybrid inflator. Otherwise put, side curtain air bags may inflate without a deployment command from the airb...
2024 Kia Sportage PHEV Gets Pricier Than 2023 Model, X-Line AWD Grade Costs $39,490
12 Dec 2023, 19:12 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Similar to the internal combustion-only Sportage and the Sportage Hybrid, the plug-in version is pricier than before. According to Kia, the X-Line AWD opens the list with a sticker price of $39,490 (sans $1,325 for the destination charge). Last yea...
LaFerrari Successor Flaunts Wild Aero, 2025 Ferrari F250 Makes Turbo V6 Noises
12 Dec 2023, 18:16 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Prancing Horse is currently developing a replacement for the LaFerrari. Codenamed F250 as opposed to F150 for the V12-powered hypercar, the newcomer is a turbo V6 affair with trick aero and some kind of hybrid assistance for good measure. Pi...
Volvo Recalls Certain XC90 Vehicles Over Insufficiently Tightened Seat Belt Buckles
12 Dec 2023, 17:08 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Developed by Swedish mechanical engineer Nils Ivar Bohlin, the three-point seat belt entered mass production in 1959 with the Volvo PV 544 and 122. The Swedish company from Gothenburg made a name for itself by focusing on all things automotive safe...
This BMW M3 Pickup Truck Rendering Ticks All the Right Boxes
12 Dec 2023, 02:23 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The M3 rolled out in 1986 as a coupe with four-pot muscle, yet the six-cylinder sedan we all know and love had to wait until December 1994. Previously offered as a cloth-top convertible as well, the segment's premier high-performance model too...
New Mercedes-AMG SL 63 S E PERFORMANCE Offers 805 HP and 8-Mile Electric Driving Range
12 Dec 2023, 01:07 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Unleashed in October 2021 with twin-turbo V8 muscle, the seventh-generation SL is now available as a plug-in hybrid. Slotting above the combustion-only 63 series, the obnoxiously named 63 S E Performance belts out a simply ludicrous 600 kW and 1,42...