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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.
Ford Recalls Manual 2024 Mustang Vehicles Over Improperly Secured Clutch Pressure Line
Ford Recalls Manual 2024 Mustang Vehicles Over Improperly Secured Clutch Pressure Line

6 Jun 2024, 20:50 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Ford Motor Company has identified a problem affecting manual-equipped Mustangs produced for the 2024 model year between September 27, 2022 and May 23, 2024. According to the Dearborn-based automaker, the clutch pressure line might be improperly ret...

 
2025 Toyota Crown Signia Hybrid Wagon Arriving Stateside This Summer, Two Grades Available
2025 Toyota Crown Signia Hybrid Wagon Arriving Stateside This Summer, Two Grades Available

6 Jun 2024, 20:00 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The S230-series Crown is the most ambitious of them all, for Toyota has developed no fewer than four different vehicles: a crossover, a sporty crossover, a sedan, and a wagon that's marketed as a crossover. Internally referred to as S238, the ...

 
2026 Formula 1 Concept Car Unveiled: Smaller, Lighter, Active Aero, 100% Sustainable Fuels
2026 Formula 1 Concept Car Unveiled: Smaller, Lighter, Active Aero, 100% Sustainable Fuels

6 Jun 2024, 16:56 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The FIA has unveiled the 2026 Formula 1 regulations, along with a concept car that serves as the blueprint for all teams on the grid. Despite the switch to 100% sustainable fuels, the FIA couldn't make a case for the return of the 3.0-liter V1...

 
Jeep Rolls Out Moparized Gladiator Special Edition, Only 250 Available Stateside
Jeep Rolls Out Moparized Gladiator Special Edition, Only 250 Available Stateside

5 Jun 2024, 20:51 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / As if Stellantis-owned Jeep didn't have plenty of trouble moving the Gladiator off dealer lots, the automaker that brings together FCA and PSA decided to launch a special-edition Jeep Gladiator that starts at – please sit down - $70,295 ...

 
Honda Recalls Old HR-V and Fit for Inoperative Rearview Camera Display
Honda Recalls Old HR-V and Fit for Inoperative Rearview Camera Display

5 Jun 2024, 18:00 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / American Honda Motor Co. has identified a problem with HR-V and Fit vehicles that had been recalled in February 2023 for an improperly designed power circuit in the display audio unit. If the 12-volt battery state of charge drops below 9 volts whil...

 
Watch This G80 BMW M3 Roll Race C7 Corvette, S550 Mustang, Gen 6 Camaro, 997 Porsche 911
Watch This G80 BMW M3 Roll Race C7 Corvette, S550 Mustang, Gen 6 Camaro, 997 Porsche 911

4 Jun 2024, 20:54 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The M3 Competition xDrive is – without a shadow of a doubt – the performance sedan to have nowadays. Not only does it sound much better than AMG's four-pot C 63 S E Performance, but it makes a bit more power and torque than BMW say...

 
Land Rover Recalls 2024 Range Rover and Range Rover Sport Vehicles for Transmission Issue
Land Rover Recalls 2024 Range Rover and Range Rover Sport Vehicles for Transmission Issue

4 Jun 2024, 18:49 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The only MLA-Flex vehicles from Jaguar Land Rover have been hit with a safety recall over a transmission issue. According to Jaguar Land Rover North America, the clutch plates of the ZF-supplied 8HP had been incorrectly manufactured. The Britis...

 
Toyota Twin-Turbo V6 Engine Failures Total 824 Warranty Claims and 166 Field Reports
Toyota Twin-Turbo V6 Engine Failures Total 824 Warranty Claims and 166 Field Reports

4 Jun 2024, 18:00 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Toyota's Tundra pickup truck and the Lexus division's LX 600 sport utility vehicle have been hit with a recall totaling 102,092 units in the United States of America. Turns out machining debris not cleaned from the 3.4L twin-turbo V6 duri...

 
2,000-HP Lamborghini Huracan Drag Races 1,600-HP Nissan GT-R, They're Worlds Apart
2,000-HP Lamborghini Huracan Drag Races 1,600-HP Nissan GT-R, They're Worlds Apart

3 Jun 2024, 18:35 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Both the Huracan and R35 are hugely popular with quarter-mile crowed because both are tremendously quick from the outset and relatively straightforward to modify for insane power and torque. Hoonigan assembled two such modified vehicles at Texas Mo...

 
Chevy Teases 2025 Corvette ZR1, Newcomer Makes Twin-Turbo V8 Noises
Chevy Teases 2025 Corvette ZR1, Newcomer Makes Twin-Turbo V8 Noises

3 Jun 2024, 16:51 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / At the beginning of April 2024, the folks at Chevrolet published the first 2025 Corvette ZR1 video teaser, which included the following message: "The unthinkable is coming this summer." Fast forward nearly two months, and the Chevrolet br...

 
Ferrari Spied Testing LaFerrari Replacement, F250 Hypercar Packs Twin-Turbo V6
Ferrari Spied Testing LaFerrari Replacement, F250 Hypercar Packs Twin-Turbo V6

3 Jun 2024, 15:16 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Codenamed F150, the LaFerrari was the Italian marque's first-ever hybrid vehicle. It rolled out in 2013, and production concluded in 2018 after the Prancing Horse of Maranello finished 500 coupes and 210 examples of the Aperta. Rather than ...

 
Maserati MC20 Cielo With Novitec Upgrades Certainly Sounds Mean, Packs Over 700 HP
Maserati MC20 Cielo With Novitec Upgrades Certainly Sounds Mean, Packs Over 700 HP

3 Jun 2024, 12:41 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / German tuner Novitec has rolled out quite a few upgrades for the Maserati MC20 Cielo, a carbon-tubbed supercar that – peculiarly – weighs more than the aluminum-intensive Ferrari 296 GTS. The list starts with a power-optimized exhaust s...

 
Toyota Recalls Gas-Only Tundra and Lexus LX for Potential V6 Engine Machining Debris
Toyota Recalls Gas-Only Tundra and Lexus LX for Potential V6 Engine Machining Debris

2 Jun 2024, 22:13 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Tundra forums are full of horror stories alleging catastrophic engine failures. Toyota has finally issued a mea culpa for a metric ton of trucks and Lexus LX 600 sport utility vehicles equipped with the V35A-FTS engine, a twin-turbo V6 that premier...

 
1,000-HP Ford F-150 Raptor R Races Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, Both Sound Incredible
1,000-HP Ford F-150 Raptor R Races Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, Both Sound Incredible

2 Jun 2024, 17:01 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Louis Flory has recently taken his Lamborghini Aventador SVJ to Hennessey Performance Engineering to spec his ideal Venom F5. It should come as no surprise that Hennessey president Alex Roys welcomed the supercar and racing enthusiast known as The ...

 
VinFast Recalls VF8 Electric SUV Over Inert Airbag Ignitors
VinFast Recalls VF8 Electric SUV Over Inert Airbag Ignitors

1 Jun 2024, 20:46 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Everyone with the slightest interest in all things automobiles knows what VinFast stands for. The first thing that comes to mind is the VF8, an electric sport utility vehicle from Vietnam that also happens to be one of the most negatively reviewed ...

 
1,000-HP Cadillac Sedan Races Limited-Run V12 Supercar, They're Both Stupidly Loud
1,000-HP Cadillac Sedan Races Limited-Run V12 Supercar, They're Both Stupidly Loud

31 May 2024, 20:04 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Which is quicker in a straight line between a Hennessey-tuned Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing and a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ? In terms of top speed, the answer is pretty obvious. The Super Veloce Jota isn't the most powerful or the fastest Aventa...

 
2026 Chevrolet Bolt EV Poised To Become the Most Affordable Electric Car in the US
2026 Chevrolet Bolt EV Poised To Become the Most Affordable Electric Car in the US

31 May 2024, 19:04 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Automotive News recently had a chat with GM North America president Marissa West, who promised that General Motors would have the most affordable electric vehicle on the market by 2025. The official said that GM would launch the all-new Bolt EV by ...

 
Mercedes Recalls AMG C 43 Over Incorrectly Routed Seat Wiring Harnesses
Mercedes Recalls AMG C 43 Over Incorrectly Routed Seat Wiring Harnesses

31 May 2024, 18:04 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Certain examples of the Mercedes-AMG C 43 may have been produced with incorrectly routed seat wiring harnesses. Over in the United States, the German automaker has recalled 18 units of the C 43, with said vehicles featuring performance seats. At...

 
Fiat 500e To Gain ICE Sibling With Mild-Hybrid Assistance
Fiat 500e To Gain ICE Sibling With Mild-Hybrid Assistance

31 May 2024, 17:13 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Converting an EV platform to accommodate internal combustion sounds pretty stupid, but guess what? Italian automaker Fiat will do exactly that with the 500e, which is a completely different animal from the ICE-powered 500 under the skin. Given t...

 
Rivian Recalls R1S, R1T, and EDV for Improperly Aimed Headlights
Rivian Recalls R1S, R1T, and EDV for Improperly Aimed Headlights

31 May 2024, 16:05 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Rivian has identified an issue affecting 2,334 examples of the R1S sport utility vehicle, R1T pickup truck, and EDV electric delivery van. As per documents published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the automaker identified a ...

 

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