Autoblog's best videos of 2016

Our video team works hard every year to produce some of the best moving pictures of cars on the Internet, and 2016 was no exception. Autoblog tested, raced, reviewed, and, occasionally, blew up some great vehicles this year. We met the most interesting cab driver in Cuba, pitted a Mustang and a Camaro against each other, and gave you an inside view of the Porsche museum in Stuttgart, Germany. We even went to space.

As 2016 wraps up, we're looking back at all of the fantastic cars and technologies we've featured on the site. Enjoy the best our video team had to offer this year, and stay tuned for even bigger and better videos in 2017.  

Why pay $40,000 for a Focus? Because it has 350 horsepower, that's why. We took the new Focus RS to a race track to see what it's all about. (Spoiler: It's tons of fun.)

For the 200th episode of Translogic, we wanted to send host Jonathon Buckley where no Translogic host had gone before. And while it isn't technically the final frontier, astronaut training at NASTAR and the Zero-G experience got us that much closer to the stars. First, Bucko feels the crushing g-force of suborbital flight in the Phoenix centrifuge simulator at the NASTAR center in Southampton, PA. Then it's off to Las Vegas, NV, to experience weightlessness during a Zero-G Experience parabolic flight.

The Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro are ancient rivals. We took the latest iterations, both powered by healthy V8 engines, to a track to see which of these two classic nameplates has the edge in the modern day.

This Chinese bus concept shows a vision for the future of public transportation. The Transit Elevated Bus, or TEB, rides high above the roadway allowing traffic to pass underneath. This one got a lot of attention, but it sounds like the dream may be dead.

Autoblog Senior Editor Alex Kierstein traveled to the desert outside San Diego to test Ford's new Baja beast, the 2017 Ford Raptor. There was sand, there was speed, there were some sweet jumps. Just watch this one for a taste of what the crazy pickup can handle.

AutoblogVR launched this year, giving viewers an inside look from the passenger seat of some special cars, old and new. In this episode, we tour Porsche's hometown museum and also go for a ride in a classic 911 Targa. 

If you own a Miata, you owe it to yourself to take it to a track. Executive Editor David Gluckman drove our long-term Miata out to GingerMan Raceway to tell you why that's so important. Warning: You're going to want to buy one after this if you don't already.

CarBoom! is our way of sending dead cars off in style, often with flames as well. This episode features Robosaurus, a fire-breathing transforming bot with sharpened teeth and hydraulic claws. Watch as this massive robot takes on a few four-wheeled foes. The results aren't pretty, but we dare you to look away.

Our Stare Selling Cars series follows celebrities going undercover to try and push metal at a dealership. This episode, one of our favorites, follows Danny Trejo, a tough guy that has been in some tougher roles. From Heat to Machete, he has battled the best of them. But can he conquer his toughest role yet - selling used cars to unsuspecting buyers? 

Autoblog’s Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski tested the new 2017 Honda Ridgeline this year. He put this midsize pickup through its paces, testing everything from towing to off-road capabilities. The unibody Ridgeline has always been a curiosity in the midsize truck arena, and it's even more interesting now with new competition from GM and Toyota. Watch to see how Honda's only pickup handles what we threw at it.

Autoblog Senior Editor Greg Migliore drove the plug-in version of Volvo's all-new flagship SUV, the XC90. We've been intrigued by the styling of the latest Volvos, and there's a lot to like about the four-cylinder-only powertrain range. Watch to see what Greg thought of this new tech-filled crossover.

Nelys Navas was a doctor in Cuba. She saved all she had, restored her father's 1929 Ford Model A, and quit her job to start a taxi service, driving tourists around Havana. Hers is one of the many stories we were able to tell on a recent trip to the country.

Autoblog Green Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Blanco got behind the wheel of the Tesla Model X this year. Thanks to a generous owner, he was able to test a Model X P90D shortly after the car went on sale, and he found a lot of similarities to the Model S as well as some interesting new features, like those crazy falcon-wing doors.

Our Car Club USA series follows interesting car enthusiast groups doing interesting things, and in this episode the crew headed south to the Auburndale Speedway to take in a Night of Destruction. The Tour of Destruction combines destruction derby concepts with outlandish motorsports challenges like boat trailer racing, an armor-plated gauntlet challenge, and the main event: school bus figure-eight racing. It has to be seen to be believed.

Our list of 1,001 car things to do before you die is full of fun and exciting automotive adventures, but there are a few items that on it we hope you'll never have to endure. On this episode of The List, hosts Jessi and Patrick face one of the most terrifying automotive situations imaginable as they attempt to escape a car hanging off a cliff. With the assistance of a stunt coordinator and industrial crane, we simulate a teetering car that's one move away from going over.

We also launched Autoblog Details this year, which features professional detailer Larry Kosilla from Ammo NYC sharing his years of knowledge in making cars clean and keeping them that way. Here he details how to clean your car quickly and properly, without having to break out the tools and buckets.