One of the best parts about being a member of the Autoblog team, besides all the chicks and autograph requests, is driving some of the best vehicles in the world and writing about it here. When it comes to hybrids, though, we tend to leave the heavy lifting to our brethren over at AutoblogGreen, and our eco-conscious friends never let us down. Gang green got their hands on a 2008 Chevy Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrid, and they knocked the review right out of the park. Hit the link below to see how a Tahoe with two electric motors and a 300-volt battery pack fared, i.e. what kind of mileage it achieved.

[Source: AutoBlog]

When a friend mentioned that he was heading out to El Toro Marine Base for a day of tuner fun courtesy of GReddy, we decided to tag along and check it out for ourselves. The 2008 GReddy Garage Sale and Performance Festival ended up being a pretty fun event, one of countless such organized automotive activities going on around the country on any given weekend. Seeing as how this particular day of fun was sponsored by GReddy, we were eager to see if we could spot our beloved Five Axis Yaris Club, which featured several GReddy goodies, but alas, it was nowhere to be found. We did see a bunch of GReddy-tuned goodness though, including a couple of Z-cars like the one above that were sporting that trick new VQ35HR twin-turbo system we spotlighted at SEMA last year. If you look closely at our gallery, you’ll also spot a different Yaris that tackled the autocross with aplomb. Well, maybe that’s a stretch. It certainly leaned a lot less than we expected through the cones.

Check out the gallery to see for yourself. While you’re there you’ll also see examples of cars participating in other activities, like the Drift 101 demo with a pair of tire-melting Silvias, the Groovy Drift RC demo that rivaled the action on the full-scale tracks, and the huge car club meet with dozens of S2000s, Z-cars, Civic Sis, Evos, STis, RXes, and the like snaking down the old runways for what felt like miles. Besides those sign-then-drive activities there were vendors, a huge free raffle and a big garage sale of GReddy parts with on-site installations and tuning available. Very cool. Best of all, the event was free to all. Without further ado, here are the pics.

[Source: AutoBlog]

You might love cars, but there’s a good possibility you hate going to the dealer. We’re not going to speak ill of this particular breed of pitchman, but we’re sure you’ve had your fill of car dealers and their antics. Thankfully, if you want to get behind the wheel of the newest hotness, there are other ways.

The Straightline crew over at InsideLine have put together a comprehensive listing of all the consumer track events that are available for people looking to actually drive some of the vehicles we’re constantly covering — without having to endure a trip to your local dealer and a “test drive” that involves little more than a run around the block. While most of the automakers represented on the list are for the more financially solvent, there’s a few, including Mazda, Saturn, Toyota and Volkswagen that are within the average car-buyers reach. That said, Aston Martin’s On Track program, BMW’s High Performance Driving School and the HUMMER Driving Academy shouldn’t be entirely discounted. Some charge, others don’t, but check out the list to see what’s available in your area.

[Source: AutoBlog]