In countries like the Philippines, scooters and small commuters dominate the streets. They are admired for their practicality and usefulness, and are loved by both commuters and enthusiasts. Honda’s Click series of scooters is especially popular in the Philippines, and a new special edition of the Click 125 has just been unveiled.
Honda Philippines Incorporated (HPI) has been operating in the Philippine market for 50 years as of 2023. It is one of the largest motorcycle manufacturers in the country, with its scooters being widely seen on the roads. HPI not only imports models from other countries but also has a strong manufacturing presence in the Philippines, producing many models including the Click 125. To celebrate this milestone, a special 50th Anniversary edition of the popular scooter has been released.
The Honda Click 125 50th Anniversary Limited Edition stands out with its special design. Adorned with blue and red accents on a white body, the bike exudes a clean and sporty appearance. A unique 50th Anniversary decal is featured in the front, while a similar design can be found at the back of the scooter. Apart from the special design, the 50th Anniversary Edition of the Click 125 maintains the same technical specifications as the standard models.
Powering the Click 125 is a 125cc, fuel-injected, single-cylinder engine. It generates a maximum output of 10 horsepower and 10.8 Newton-meters (about 7.6 pound-feet) of torque. Like most scooters in its class, it utilizes a CVT transmission for optimal efficiency and convenience. As for technology, the Click 125 aims to provide an accessible option for commuters, keeping things simple yet functional. It is equipped with LED lights, including daytime running lights (DRLs), and features aggressive and sporty bodywork inspired by Honda’s larger sport motorcycles.
For practicality, the Click 125 features an 18-liter storage compartment under the seat, spacious enough to accommodate a helmet. It also includes a built-in USB charging port for added convenience, and a fully digital instrument panel that provides riders with essential information during their rides. All these features are available at an affordable price of only P83,900, or approximately $1,476 USD.
Ryobi offers a range of power tools that are perfect for working on your car. One essential tool to have in your automotive power tool collection is an impact wrench. While similar to ratchets, impact wrenches have the advantage of delivering higher torque, making them ideal for removing stubborn nuts and fasteners, including rusted or broken ones.
A highly recommended cordless option is the Ryobi 18V ONE+ HP Brushless 4-Mode 1/2″ High Torque Impact Wrench. This powerful tool can deliver up to 1,170 ft-lbs of breakaway torque and 700 ft-lbs of fastening torque. It features a four-mode speed control, onboard LED lights, a durable gear case, and a 1/2″ anvil with a friction ring for quick socket changes.
However, it’s important to note that unlike a ratchet, the impact wrench doesn’t have a slim design or as much versatility in tight spaces and tough angles. Nevertheless, if you encounter rusted fasteners that seem impossible to remove, the Ryobi 18V ONE+ HP Brushless 4-Mode 1/2″ High Torque Impact Wrench is the tool you need.
You can purchase the tool by itself from Home Depot for $219, but there is currently a sale on the kit, including the battery and charger, for only $159. Don’t miss out on this excellent deal.
The AirPods 2 were launched back in 2019 and are considered the best cheap wireless earbuds for iPhone users. While the second-generation AirPods usually cost $129, they are currently available on Amazon for $99, which is a fantastic price. Although the AirPods 2 can be used with Android phones, many of their features are exclusive to the iPhone. These features include one-touch pairing, Siri voice commands, audio sharing, and the ability to view battery life.
The AirPods 2 have automatic in-ear detection, which allows them to pause playback when you remove them from your ears. They also have touch controls on the stems that let you play or pause music, play the next or previous track, or summon Siri. These controls can be customized on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, but not on an Android or Windows device. The AirPods 2 earbuds also feature a speech-detecting accelerometer that can automatically detect when you’re speaking and filter outside sound.
While the AirPods 2 do not have active noise cancellation (ANC), their semi-in-ear design makes them a comfortable choice for users who do not like ear tips. The earbuds offer five hours of battery life, while the case extends that to 24 hours. Charging the AirPods for 15 minutes provides three hours of listening time.
Sleepers, or “Q-cars” as they’re referred to across the pond in Europe, come in many forms, but the best ones are completely underdressed and indistinguishable from other cars on the road. The most popular form of sleepers in the U.S. come as performance sedans or fast wagons and barely give an impression of performance and speed, flying under the radar of unsuspecting motorists.
Finding its popularity in the 90s, this class of performance cars is what started the horsepower wars between automakers until now, where we’ve become jaded and 600-horsepower in a family sedan is common. Back when they weren’t as crazy and well-known, the best sleepers could go toe-to-toe with even the supercars of the period.
While sleepers back then made less power than their current counterparts, they hid their performance better in more understated clothing, making them more effective at keeping a low profile until it was time to boogie. No gaping ducts, canards and aggressive appearance packages that, ironically, make them standout when the point is to keep a low profile.
And arguably, the sleepers back then were genuinely fun cars to drive, having less weight and no need for complicated suspension systems and drive modes to compensate for their hefty mass. That said, here are some of the best sleepers that took the fight to supercars in their heyday.
By gathering information from Car and Driver, Evo Magazine, and Car Directory, we’ve compiled a list of the best sleeper cars ever.
Fast wagons have always been Volvo’s trick, building their brand on reliable, fast sedans and wagons, it’s almost a crime to not have one on this list. And the V70 R is arguably the best one they’ve ever made. Building on the 850 T5R, the V70 R is even more capable and unassuming than its predecessor.
Only a subtle grill badge and the 17-inch “Pegasus” wheels give a hint that Mr. Hyde was hiding under its hood. Nothing else about the Swede sleeper’s exterior gave away that it could hang with the sports cars of its day.
The V70 R owed its performance to the turbocharged in-line five-cylinder that was smooth and quiet even when harassing sports cars on the way to work after the morning school run. While its six-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission sent power to the front wheels, it only made the fast Volvo approachable and manageable through fast corners.
With a genuinely plush interior and space for the entire family, plus the dog, the V70 R was especially unsuspicious making it the perfect sleeper and the biggest surprise light-to-light.
9Maserati Quattroporte
0-60 mph: 5.6 seconds
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The most luxurious sleeper on the list, the Maserati Quattroporte “V” as its fans call it, is also the only Italian in the list. And later must be the reason for the statement prior. With a long history or making sports cars and sedans, its was inevitable that Maserati would blend the two.
The beautiful subtle curves penned by Pininfarina, its leather-swathed and wood-trimmed interior hide the screaming monster that Ferrari had developed for its fellow Italians.
Underneath its seductive lines and pretty face, the Quattroporte is a luxury land yacht with the heart of a Formula 1 car. Its elegant hips and flared haunches mislead unwitting motorists that it’s just another executive sedan to waft its chauffeured owner to and from meetings and brunches.
Little do they know that despite its shapely figure, the Maserati Quattroporte can also hold up its gloves and hustle. Its Ferrari V-8 gladly carries the Quattroporte to reveal its naughty side as it breathes down any other sports car like a gangster who’s owed money.
As Mercedes-Benz’s way to take the fight to the BMW M5, the 500E was directly at par with the E34 M5 of its time, with a reputation for being built like tanks, Mercedes took a different approach. If BMW built the ultimate driving machines, Mercedes made the most comfortable driving machines.
But that didn’t mean they couldn’t make fast cars. With racing history tracing back to the 1950s, they knew how to make a fast car and come out on top. And they have done it before when they put a 6.3-liter V-8 from their 600 into the smaller W108/109 chassis.
This time, with Porsche’s help, it put a 5.0-liter V-8 into its W124 chassis and it mated to a beefy four-speed automatic transmission, and called it a day. But the Benz didn’t flaunt that extra power at all. Save for the badge on the trunk and slightly flared fenders, there was no sign of the 500E packing any more performance than its lesser-powered siblings.
Compared to the E39 M5, the Lotus Omega, which refers to the left-hand drive versions, is slightly less inconspicuous with its Lotus-enhanced body kit. But back in 1990, it was legitimately faster than many sports cars available including the Porsche 911 Turbo 3.6 of the time and the Ferrari 348, both considered to be the best sports cars in the early nineties.
The performance of the Lotus Omega at the time was almost unheard of from a four-door sedan. With virtually every component tweaked, Lotus created one of the best sleepers out of the pedestrian Opel Omega and Vauxhall Carlton.
Making 377-horsepower, sporting AP Racing four-pot brakes and an expertly tuned suspension, the Lotus Omega was a British brute that was almost outlawed by its government for being too fast for the public.
Notoriously, the Lotus-tuned Opel was involved in several highly publicized crimes in the UK, ultimately getting away from the police after a high-speed chase. With its infamous reputation and performance disproportionate to its looks, it seemed the Lotus Omega could outrun just about anything.
Often regarded as the greatest sports sedan ever made, the E39 M5 was a true wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing back when it was first sold in 1998. With a slightly different front bumper, its face wasn’t aggressive at all. And though it had quad exhaust tips that was probably its biggest giveaway that it wasn’t just any other Bimmer, they were dainty and didn’t give a sense of the monster that lay quietly under its hood.
Known for being a competent all-rounder, it still showed that BMWs were “The perfect driving machines”. The third generation M5 was the first generation to come with a V-8 engine and was that V-8 just oh-so intoxicating.
The sound from its throttle bodies, the howling engine note towards the end of the tachometer, and its six-speed manual gearbox sending power to the rear, all made it clear that the E39 M5 meant business. With a sub-five second 0-60 mph time, this sleeper surely caught many sports cars off-guard in its time.
5Audi RS4 Avant (B5)
0-60 mph: 4.9 seconds
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The B5 Audi RS4 was the successor to the Porsche-aided Audi RS2. But like the E39 M5, the wagon had slightly more aggressive aesthetics compared to the regular Audi A4. But they were too subtle to tell apart unless you knew what you were looking at.
Its bigger front bumper openings and flared body panels were almost negligible compared to what the RS4 was capable of. And in its family-hauler form, was more deceivingly unremarkable to anyone non-the wiser.
Its motivation came from a buff twin-turbocharged V-6 and transmitted its power to a six-speed manual gearbox and an all-wheel drive system which meant the wagon is an all-weather sleeper. Capable of putting down its power in any weather condition, this is a fast wagon.
It could comfortably eat miles of roadway with the entire family. The Audi RS4 was quite the value proposition for a father who just couldn’t rid himself of the need for speed, especially when the B5 Audi RS4 could outgun a 996 Porsche 911 Carrera on the sprint to sixty.
For a car that was built with the magic formula, V-8, rear-wheel drive, and manual as a no-cost option, the Chevrolet SS was quite underrated which only helps its case as a sleeper. With relatively nondescript styling and its large size, no one would even suspect the SS was quite rowdy when you wanted to party.
And the performance wasn’t the only trick in its playbook. The big sports sedan had a spacious cabin reasonable trunk space and up-to-date amenities, that further underlined it as a sleeper.
The definite highlight of course is its all-around performance. Its 415-horsepower V-8 was well-matched by a surprisingly balanced chassis, brakes that stop it well enough, and Magnetic Ride Control suspension to manage all that weight properly.
With styling like a regular Chevrolet sedan to the uninitiated, the SS can easily fly under the radar as a daily runabout around the city and provide a fun canyon drive-hunting supercars during the weekends. Underrated as this Chevrolet SS may be, the ones who own them know the capabilities of the sleeper they have at their disposal.
3Lexus ISF
0-60 mph: 4.5 seconds
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Known as the elder gentleman’s choice of the car before the IS F was introduced, this high-performance sedan from Japan has to be one of the best sleepers on the list. Lexus up until this point carried the reputation for being reliable, comfortable, and refined, which to many, translated to boring and uninspiring cars.
Powered by a sonorous, high-strung V-8, the IS F is invigorating past 4,000 RPM even more so when its paddle-shifted, eight-speed automatic gearbox lets you ride the rev limiter. Intended as an M3 competitor, the Lexus can hold its own even against sports cars costing twice as much.
Its interior is underwhelming but good enough and it may not be as spacious as other sedans of its size but what is clear is that Lexus hit the ball out of the park on their first swing at building a sleeper.
Unlike the other sleepers in this list, the Subaru Impreza WRX STI Type RA was an economy sedan turned gravel goblin. Even further, the letters “RA” stand for Record Attempt, meaning it is further massaged and optimized to set a record at the green hell. This of course means it is even quicker than its regular STI stablemate.
Nowadays, it is common knowledge that Subaru makes fast and capable performance machines, but back when the STI Type RA was introduced, it was an unknown brand. And in those days, Subaru preferred function over form and different versions of Imprezas could only be told apart by the stickers on their trunk.
And the Type RA was no different. Only distinguishable by its petite roof scoop and a sticker on its trunk, it might as well have been an imitation by a teenage boy rally fanatic. But the stickers do translate to something.
With the Japanese gentleman’s agreement of 280-horsepower maximum in effect, the Type RA’s 275-horsepower was right at the edge, but that was more than enough when paired to a close-ratio five-speed gearbox, four-wheel drive, and a light 2,700 curb weight. Enough in fact to beat the E39 M5 to sixty.
1Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon
0-60 mph: 4.1 seconds
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The second fast wagon on the list is a home-grown supercharged V-8 monster from Cadillac. For enthusiasts and those in the know, long gone is the stigma of being the old people’s car as Cadillac has been building its CTS-V sedan for quite some time when they released the CTS-V in wagon form.
Although the sedan was equally potent and unassuming, the wagon cloaks its supercar-slaying performance better. Disguised as a useful family wagon on a nice set of wheels, the CTS-V wagon is a sharply dressed heavyweight boxer and is easily one of the best Cadillac V-Series performance cars ever.
Wanting a bigger piece of the performance sedan/wagon pie, Cadillac borrowed the supercharged V-8 found in the Corvette ZR-1 and crammed it in their wagon’s engine bay. Paired with either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission spinning the rear wheels, the CTS-V even as a wagon was a rocket-powered lunchbox.
Even with its slightly more aggressive front fascia, grille, and larger diameter wheels, its performance was far greater than what its looks made it to be. With a proper luxurious interior and regular wagon practicality, the CTS-V is essentially an upscale sleeper.
In motorsport events around the world, you’ll often find at least one BMW on the list of participants. These BMWs are typically modified in various ways. However, there are individuals who believe that merely turbocharging a naturally-aspirated BMW engine is insufficient. One such person is Jimmy Giannoccaro, the owner of G&H Transport in South Africa, who has a racing background in Zambia. With both the financial resources and the experience, Giannoccaro has created something truly unique – a BMW Z4 with a Nascar V8 engine under its hood.
The project began with a roughly 10-year-old 5.7-liter naturally-aspirated Nascar engine imported from the United States to South Africa. The engine was then meticulously fit into the engine bay of the BMW. However, as the owner recalls, the car performed poorly last year, so they decided to start from scratch to improve its performance for this year’s Knysna Simola Hillclimb, the premier motorsport event in South Africa.
Among the modifications made to the Z4, the Americanized coupe was equipped with a sequential gearbox and a drivetrain borrowed from a BMW M5 to deliver power to the rear wheels. The engine was also converted from carburetors to fuel injection, which posed its own set of challenges. Additionally, the car’s brakes were upgraded to an AP Racing set with 15-inch rotors on all corners. The car now features luxuries such as a traction control system, ABS, and launch control, which were absent in the previous iteration.
The 5.7-liter Hendrick Motorsports engine is located behind the front wheels, effectively making the BMW Z4 a front mid-engine machine. Currently, the engine is limited to 7,500 rpm, but the owner plans to increase it to an ideal target of 9,000 rpm in the future. The car currently produces around 590 horsepower and 468 pound-feet of torque, which is commendable for a naturally-aspirated race car.
In terms of aesthetics, the team imported a genuine GT3 body kit from Germany, making Giannoccaro’s Z4 the first in South Africa to have such a appearance. It’s truly an impressive creation. After watching the video above, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
Radio-controlled vehicles offer a downsized version of the automotive experience. They come in a range of prices, with some models being more complex and feature-rich than others. The RC rigs showcased in the video above go beyond mere replicas of dump trucks, excavators, semis, and other big rigs by incorporating intricate details.
The level of detail in some of these machines is remarkable. Many of them include functioning lights to enhance their realism, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Some vehicles even have illuminated dashboards and center screens, while their engine and reverse sounds mimic the actual noise produced by hard-working electric motors. In fact, some clips in the video sound like an actual construction site.
However, such detailed RC rigs come at a cost, with most models ranging well over $1,000. For example, the five-axle low-loader semi-trailer featured at 6:40 in the video retails for €5,512 ($6,004 at today’s exchange rates). This trailer is equipped with a front-end storage box, sunken lashing and anchorage eyes, fold-out chassis extensions, as well as complete wiring with rear lights and side markers.
Not everything in the video is as expensive though. The JDM-198 RTR loader shown at 5:25 is relatively cheaper, retailing for $2,241. The 1/14-scale articulated dump truck, available at 8:55 in the video, costs $2,052 on ToucanHobby.com. The Kabolite Liebhe 350 excavator featured at 3:30 falls in the middle range with a price tag of $3,456, while the LESU Lieghe loader, seen at 5:43, is an investment of $2,884 on the hobby website. However, it’s worth noting that the latter model comes unassembled and unpainted.
These hard-working RC rigs demonstrate the diverse range of car culture. Although they may not be the supercars that grace posters and magazine covers, they are equally awe-inspiring as functional machines. These scaled-down vehicles, even in 1/14-scale, are capable of performing tasks just like their real-world counterparts. The video showcases the excavators digging dirt and loading it into dump trucks that drive away, mirroring real-life construction scenarios.
While purchasing toys like these may not be feasible for everyone due to their high price point, there are always cheaper alternatives available. These alternatives may not have the same level of detail but still offer an enjoyable radio-controlled experience. The RC market caters to various budgets and extends beyond models, with options like RC engines and transmissions that celebrate the engineering found in modern automobiles.
Abandoned cars can be found in various places such as garages, barns, forests, and fields. One interesting example of an abandoned car is a 1987 Land Rover Range Rover discovered in a forest in Wales. Surprisingly, this car has only driven 23,000 miles.
The exterior of the Land Rover is covered in dirt and leaves. The hood is hidden under decaying foliage, and the car’s surface has green lesions. Inside the cabin, which now serves as a storage space for other forgotten items, the interior remains in fairly good condition. The buttons on the center console are still shiny, and the dials on the dashboard clearly display the mileage of 23,000.
Despite being abandoned in the woods for a long time, the Range Rover’s engine and underbody appear to be in good shape. The engine bay is dirty, but the engine itself looks well-maintained. There is a sticker indicating that the car was last registered for the road in 2005, suggesting it has been sitting there since then. The tires, although flat, still have a considerable amount of tread.
The Range Rover was discovered alongside an old Subaru Impreza and another Land Rover, both in poor condition. These vehicles are also covered in dirt and sap, with flat tires and their wheels sunken into the ground.
Through a check of the car’s license plate, it is confirmed that this low-mileage Range Rover is a 1987 model. The original blue color can still be faintly seen beneath all the dirt. The Land Rover is equipped with a 3.5-liter V8 engine, which had a power output of 165 horsepower 35 years ago and a top speed of 107 miles per hour.
It is perplexing to think about why someone would abandon a car in the woods. It’s sad that someone parked it there, walked away, and never returned. Clearly, the car and its contents were once important to someone, but now they are left to decay. Despite its less than excellent condition, the low mileage of this SUV makes it an ideal candidate for restoration.
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