luxist reviews

Tesla Roadster Sports Car: Drives Like A Charm

The last time I drove a car with this level of performance I couldn't hear myself think. The people at Tesla would probably have frowned at my driving style on off-highway roads during this specific part of my ride – but it isn't my fault they decided to design a sports car to house their all electric engine.

I'm zipping to over 60 mph in what feels like an instant. The Roadster Sport I am guiding doesn't feel phased by its rapid acceleration as many combustion engines do. The quick little car does 0 to 60 in under four seconds (3.7 seconds for the Roadster sport), but getting there is made more pleasurable by what it has under all the carbon fiber. Electric motors have some interesting benefits, it seems. Press down on the "Go" pedal (no gas here), and you'll get 100% of the horsepower and torque right away. There is no lag or waiting to gain RPMs. Going forward fast is only a matter of waiting for the actual mass of the car to gain speed. I suddenly feel like I am driving a life size electric toy car. In a sense, that is exactly what it is. And this toy is fun.

Tags: drive, experience, luxist reviews, motors, opinion, review, roadster, sport, Tesla

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Stay Puft Marshmallows Specially Made For Ghostbusters 3 Movie Are "World's Finest"

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Why didn't they make this before? Direct from the Ghostbusters universe and in time as a promo for the upcoming third installment of the Ghostbusters movie, you can now get your very own box of Stay Puft Marshmallows. Yes, it is possible for marshmallows to be luxurious - especially when they cost almost a buck a pop. Right on the box they proclaim to be "the world's finest..." These sugary treats are made in very small batches by hand in the US and come in a reusable collector's box (I know for a fact that I will be keeping this box forever as I was a hardcore Ghostbuster fan as a kid).

1980's Saturday morning cartoons never tasted so good. In addition to being delicious blocks of marshmallow goodness, Stay Puft brand marshmallows will keep you pumped as they are loaded with caffeine. That's right, these are energy marshmallows! At least this time the compound "giving you life" is mere caffeine and not highly concentrated Ectoplasm!

Gallery: Stay Puft Marshmallows

Tags: food, luxist reviews, man, marshmallow, marshmallows, stay puft

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Luxist Drives the Audi R8 V10 Spyder, the World's First Unfair Droptop Supercar

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Chas Murphy, until recently the U.S. product manager for Audi's TT, R8 and RS sports cars, said of the R8 V10 Spyder: "You have to drive the car. It can't be put into words." Well, we drove it over the hills and through the woods of the Cleveland (Cali, not Ohio) National Forest, and we can put it into words. Rather, we can put it into one word: unfair.

The ways in which the R8 V10 Spyder is unfair leave us thoroughly taken with this open-air supercar and yet a little melancholy. You see, as good as the R8 V10 Spyder is – and there's no doubt about that – when you look at it, what you behold is the dumbing down of driving civilization. On the upside, this particular kind of dumb is among the most rewarding, outstanding kinds of idiocy you could ever hope to achieve. Find out what we mean after the jump.

Gallery: Luxist Drives the R8 V10 Spyder

Tags: 2011 audi, 2011 audi r8, 2011 audi r8 v10, 2011 audi r8 v10 spyder, audi, audi r8 v10, audi r8 v10 spyder, luxist drives, luxist reviews, r8, r8 v10, r8 v10 spyder

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Review: 2010 BMW 550i Gran Turismo, Ultimate Riding Machine

by Sam Abuelsamid (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

2010 BMW 550i Gran Turismo – Click above for high-res image gallery

Last year's introduction of the BMW 5 series Gran Turismo marked the entrance into yet another mark segment for the Munich based automaker. It was immediately apparent that this machine was quite unlike anything ever to carry the blue and white roundel before and most observers were not immediately impressed when they first laid eyes on it.

However like Porsche's Panamera, this machines shape was driven more by function than style. While BMW's tag-line since the mid-1970s has been "The Ultimate Driving Machine" the new Gran Turismo is more like the ultimate driven machine. This is a car shaped more for the passengers than the person sitting behind the wheel. It's also a machine with no shortage of technology throughout. With this change in emphasis, is it now less of a driving machine?

Gallery: Review: 2010 BMW 550i Gran Turismo

Tags: 2010, 2010 bmw, 2010 bmw 5 series gran turismo, 2010 bmw 5 series gt, bmw 5 series gran turismo, bmw 5 series gt, bmw 550i gran turismo, BMW 550i GT, bwm, featured, features, luxist reviews, review

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Benedetto: A Chocolate a Dieter Could Love

by Ann Brenoff (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

One of the single-greatest undermining factor of most diets is the craving for sweets, chocolate in particular. While not marketing the Benedetto cacao and protein products as a diet food per se, the confections get close enough to doing the trick that they're worth a second bite.

The dark chocolate Cupola Mints come packaged as five bite-sized confections with a grand total of just 122 calories, and only 26 of them from fat. And, more importantly, they serve up a powerful energy protein wallop of 11.4 grams -- almost 25% of a 2,000 calorie diet's daily value.

The whey blend of proteins in the Cubetti (cube in Italian) raspberry confections, with 178 calories per five candies, provide 18.8 grams or 38% of the daily nutritional dose. Each flavored center is made of all-natural, pure why protein with no sugar or fat -- hence the relatively low calorie count.

Taste-wise, my palate wasn't fooled into thinking these were Godiva's by a long shot, but they nevertheless satisfied the 4 p.m urge to raid the kids' candy jar. The manufacturer describes the inside mint as pillowy. I would call them gelatinous, better served after some refrigeration than mushy as they were when the UPS driver delivered my samples from Utah.

The caramel-centered confections covered in gourmet dark chocolate (63% Cacao) were my favorite and did stave off a late afternoon munchies attack. The manufacturer says the products are suitable for any diet demanding the leanest proteins and are safe for diabetics' use.

Benedetto, a Park City-based company, is clearly striving to raise the bar for taste, texture, and nutrition in what is found in traditional protein bar supplements. On that level, they've succeeded.

The idea was hatched in a gym workout by friends in San Francisco in 2006, who reasoned that "protein bars taste bad" and candy bars with protein additives are "still junk food." After funding research and development for three years, they came up with these confections -- just in time to join the juvenile obesity drumbeat.

Three packs retail for $19.95.

Tags: benedetto, benedetto chocolates, chocolates, health, luxist reviews, mints, protein chocolates