Car Control

Here's the thing,

So I've expressed before my compulsive need for manual cars. It would be very hard for me to own or drive an automatic transmission car every day. Worse yet, it seems these majestic creatures are starting to go the way of the dinosaur. Of course, every couple of years a manual-only car makes a splash, but then the maker folds to increased pressure and makes an automatic version. Think the Fiat 500 Abarth. And next up will be the Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost, I'm sure.


So what's the problem? Dual clutch flappy paddle boxes are faster, get the same or better gas mileage, and offer you the option of putting the car in Drive when not in the mood to change your own gears. Right? Well the argument that every enthusiast uses still stands: manuals offer a better connection with the car, and better control over the way it behaves. Will there ever be a way to change the set-up to better cater to the enthusiast crowd and bring over some of the three-pedal faithful?

I have one idea. Let's put the paddles in charge of everything. Many high-end models do this, but I've yet to see an affordable car where everything can be controlled by paddle. On many exotics that operate by flappy paddle, at any time the driver can pull both paddles to enter Neutral, and use them again to enter Reverse if so desired. In the affordable models today with paddle-shifted transmissions, they are simply extensions of the old Auto-Stick set up. Some companies call it Shifttronic, some call it Click-Shift, but basically all it does is let you think you have a bit more control than using the plus and minus clicks on the console shifter. A good bit of those will even upshift automatically once you get close to redline as well. Not much control over the car, huh?

So I propose this option. Start offering sportier models without a traditional P-R-N-D-S shifter. There should be buttons, and only 3 of them. P would park the car and engage the brakes. D would be for drive, and function much the same way as today's modern take would, also offering a. Then of course, offer an M button, for full manual control over the car. Offer the enthusiast a way to really take over and control the car the way we can with a traditional standard setup. As I said, offer these on the sportier models as not to confuse those that wouldn't be ready for this kind of change.

Without changing something, enthusiasts will be left out in the cold. Automatics will continue to grow, and we will be shoved towards the back of the class. If manufacturers are going to start taking away our ability to heel-toe and rev-match our own shifts, at least leave the pleasure of controlling the car's gears somehow in our hands. After all, it may even shift the minds of a few die-hards.

And that, that's the thing.
- Shawn

Dumping the Jalopy

Here's the thing,

Getting rid of a car is never an easy proposition. Whether you are giving it away, selling it or donating it. You have to plan for people coming and test driving it, hoping they don't notice that the muffler is half rusted out and hanging on by a thread. Or, like in my case, have a tow truck come and get it because you are donating it, and then break your phone so they can't reach you. Just hope they come when you aren't home. Any way you go about it, it's stressful and a bit depressing because you are doing away with your car. First and foremost, because it is your car, and nobody really, deep down, wants to get rid of their car. Yeah, they may get rid of it to make space, or they can’t afford it, or it breaks down so often it’s like having a car payment, but you still really don’t want to.

So I had this car, an 1986 Honda Accord LX-i, and man did I pick the more troublesome of the bunch when it came to the 3rd generation Accords. This is the only picture of my Honda I have not on a tow truck, I didn't take many pictures of it.

The best way to tell all about it, I suppose, would simply be from the start. Back in late September of 2013 the car I was driving (a 1989 Toyota Corolla GT-S, not a bad car by any means by the way, but it’s still no AE86), belonged to my roommate, and he had to sell it to get back home. He sold it without letting me know ahead of time, so I was scrambling to get a new one. I searched on craigslist for anything under 1,000 bucks, and it’s true by the way, if it costs 1,000 dollars or less, you cannot afford it. Anywho, I find this Honda Accord. And my first car was a Honda, so I figured, “What the hell, even if I have to fix stuff up, it will be cheap.” I knew I would have to do some work, but also knew parts were dirt cheap, which was the driving force behind allowing myself to purchase the vehicle.

I contact the guy about checking out the car, and I ride out to take a look at it. As expected, it looks like an 800 dollar car. I do a quick look over, there is rust around the vehicle as expected, but the engine bay looks cleanish for a 200,000+ mile car. Save for one tear per seat on the seams, and a messed up shifting boot, the interior was next to perfect (save for some stains, but those are easily fixed with elbow grease.)

I didn't get an inspection done or do a real thorough look through to be honest, however, I did at least take it for a test drive. It leaned a little and I heard the control arms making their trademark kill me now noises, but the engine and transmission were solid. So, I decide to purchase it. The guy wanted 950 and I gave him 950, but he gave me back 100 dollars. That should have been been a nuclear alarm, if someone gives money back to you when you are buying a car it's because they feel guilty that you are buying a piece of shit. The reason he said he was selling it was because he wanted a car to work on, but like so many people before him he was in over his head with it, thus he sold it to me.

I got it home and I noticed that the breaks were a little weak and it leaned to the left on the drive home, so I looked as to why. Three of the tires were 165's, and one of them was a 185 winter tire with the tread readily separating. I couldn't help but think 'wow this guy is is a dumbass'. I was planning for new tires anyways, and it's a good thing I planned for a harsh winter and got good winter tires all around, because this last winter was absolutely brutal. Definitely glad I drove that car through it and not my Porsche.

That, however, was only the beginning of my issues when it came to this car. Because I am used to things breaking and needing work, but what went down on this car, was more on the rarer side of things that go wrong. All of it, as it soon became apparent, was because this car wasn't maintained properly for at least a good 20,000 miles or more.

This is the fuel filler neck for the Honda. I was sitting in my living room, and decided on a whim to go look at my newly acquired vehicle before I wen to register and title it. The first thing I looked at was the gas filler area, and boy was I surprised. The thing had completely rusted out, and I wouldn't have been able to put gas in it. So, before I even really got to drive the car I already had to make a repair. Luckily the filler neck only ran 60 bucks, and to put it on was 200. I brought it down, got that and tires put on, and new brakes. I talked to one of the mechanics, and he said to put it on he had to drop the gas tank. Thank God for set factory maintenance times, or it would have been a whole lot more than 200 dollars.

Things were relatively care free until I got an oil change. The day after I got it, the temperature sensor went out, I found out by it overheating like a beast. So, thank God for being a part of USAA, free tows! I got it towed back to the shop that did the oil change where they did a block test. It was good, but they couldn't figure out what was wrong, so I had to bring it to a Honda dealership. A few hours later it turns out it was the temperature sensor, I gave the go ahead to fix it since it had to be done. After all, I needed my car. Necessity is an evil that costs more money then need be, because the part cost 60 bucks, on Rock Auto it costs about 7. Needless to say, however, I got it fixed, and everything was grand.

Up until 2 days before I go to take leave, that is. I heard a weird sound during turning, and a mile down the road I take a right turn and my left CV axle snaps in half. Talk about some breaking news. About a month later I hear the same sound and I need to replace the other CV axle, it wasn't as bad though. A hundred bucks each side for a whole new axle, and 100 each side to put it in. Like I said, this car was very poorly maintained. And speaking of maintenance, let me tell you. In order to put in the number 4 cylinder spark plug without putting it in at an angle, you had to disconnect a power steering hose, it was one of the hardened ones that wouldn’t budge. So you're left with 2 choices: either you add on several hours of work, plus refilling and bleeding a power steering system, or risk creating a misfire in cylinder 4. This car was nothing but compromises.

After a while, it just started to really beat down on me. I was constantly having to repair this car, and it was to the point that I had a car payment, because every month I had to get something fixed. Near the time I got rid of it, I had to figure out something, because April was when I needed a new safety inspection, and I was still fighting with the Honda Dealership to fix my seat belts. Both of them blew. And my whole front suspension, exhaust, and EGR valve needed replacing in order to pass safety, the EGR because it tripped a check engine light. Let me break it down:

October: Tires/Brakes/Fuel filler neck/Temp sensor

November: Upper rear control arms

December: Left CV Axle

January: Right CV Axle

February: Heater hose busted, needed to replace that along with radiator flush

March: Bought a new seatbelt to replace busted one, didn’t fit

April: Finally got seatbelts fixed by dealership under lifetime warranty, got rid of car.

Every month the amount of money I had to pay in order to keep this car going was at least 200 bucks, and that is ridiculous considering that right now I pay less than 300 a month for a brand new 2014 Fiesta ST. But I suppose that is the folly of us car guys, no matter how worthless the car is, we always want to keep it running and keep driving it. Because hell, that is just who we are. We love cars, we love to keep them going, and we hate admitting defeat. I loved that little car because it reminded me of my first car, and it was just this little daily driver that I got attached to because I spent 3 hours a day in it. But then I remember other things, like before the heater hose broke it constantly overheated because the hose got plugged up. No way I could be in stop and go traffic. Or it could be the fact that I always had to make sure that I was ready for it to break down.

In the end, I couldn't rely on the car, and that is a serious problem, when your daily driver isn't reliable. And it’s a serious problem when every time it goes in for a repair you are spending 1/4th of it’s original purchase price, especially when it’s a dime a dozen Honda. I love my cars like I would a dog that I love coming home to. I try my best to take care of it, keep it going, keep it happy, but in the end, sometimes when they get too sick, or try to kill you too many times, you’ve got to put them down. It hurts, but it just makes sense. I spent a few months making this car an economically unsound decision, and it was just time to let it go. I donated it to the Purple Heart Foundation, so hopefully it goes to someone who spends a few bucks and fixes it up the way it should be fixed, and keeps it going.

Here's me talking to the tow truck driver, and my daughter playing in the grass. Notice that missing quarter glass!I replaced the car with my new daily driver, my Fiesta, and I’ll tell that story another time. People talk a lot about taking chances, especially with cars. 'Hey, buy this one, fix it up, it’ll be great!' Or, 'fix this one up just a little, and you’ll have a great reliable DD'! But no one ever talks about when you need to get rid of these cars, everyone just sort of says, “I got rid of it.” And that is that, sort of an unspoken agreement that you never talk about getting rid of a car, that it’s just gone. And I can understand that, mainly because to a lot of us, selling a car, especially an older one that needs work, is seen as giving up, or quitting on it. No one wants to admit that a car was too much for them, but it happens. In my case, I just couldn't justify spending money on keeping it running anymore, and my love affair with Honda’s has waned considerably, so, it’s been passed along to whoever else receives it.

With that said, always remember that even when you finish a journey with one car, there is always a new adventure starting up with another…

And that, that is one thing about getting rid of your old busted car.

-Jeremy

Caffeine and Gasoline

Here’s the thing about caffeine:

Thanks to dictionary.com we know that one of the definitions of Ritual is “observance of set forms in public worship.” As car guys, we do this almost every weekend. I am talking about the ritual of combining caffeine and gasoline; I am talking about…Cars and Coffee.

 

When I was young, Saturday mornings were filled with cartoons, sports, and of course shows about cars. Numerous times, these shows would travel across the country and even around the world to different Cars and Coffee events.  Some of these events are even so large that they have become internationally famous, and a must stop is you are a car guy. I’m talking about places like cars and coffee Irvine, where normal car guys like us and rub elbows with celebrities such as Jay Leno and Tim Allen. But the great thing is that this is not just limited to long running events.

This past March, the long running Amelia Island concourse held it first cars and coffee. This allowed just normal run of the mill cars guys the opportunity to show off their pride and joys on the same plots of grass that would host some of the rarest and most expensive cars less than 24 hours later. And it let you rub elbows with some great people. People like Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann and Barry Meguiar.

I guess what I’m trying to say here in my rambling is that no matter how the auto industry changes through the years; and no matter how expensive a cup of Joe costs at that place with the green sign; no matter how many weird looks we get or the snarky comments made; we will always love to just stand in a parking lot and talk about what makes us smile. And we will stand there in the summer heat with an iced coffee of the cool fall weather up north with a hot chocolate.

And that the thing about cars. And coffee.

- Devlin

Into the Fire...

Here's the thing,

I'm a salesman who is also an automotive enthusiast. So enthusiastic, in fact, that I've recently decided to leave my cushy inside sales position for the wild world of car sales. It's a move that, I admit, makes me look a bit crazy. However, it's the right one for me for a couple reasons.


First off, I'm in sales already. I have been for the past year or so. As anyone can tell you, it's a messy business, doesn't matter what you're selling. For me, for the sake of professionalism, let's just say I sell "insurance". So why not use the opportunity to combine my passion of cars with my ongoing career field? I make sales, I work the prices, sometimes I even hold onto pricing that I could pass onto the customer. I don't always feel good about it, but it's part of the job. In retail, businesses do the same thing. People just get upset when salespeople do it because you can't get to the checkout in PetSmart and haggle over the price of cat cans.

Secondly, I just love cars. I've never, in the whole year that I've worked my current job, gotten fired up about the product I'm selling. It's probably because it's one of those things that could be considered a necessary evil. People hate talking about it. Even my prospects, who have the opportunity to make or save money with what I offer aren't excited to talk about it. Instead, cars make people happy. Even the people who see a car as simply a tool or means of transportation, even those people enjoy buying cars. Anyone who says they don't is a liar. I get it, everyone hate's spending money. But when you first open the door, smell that new car smell, and turn the key for the first time after signing the paperwork, it's an experience. To me, it's always felt like sliding into a bath that is just the right temperature. It's the home you never knew you missed.

I want to be a part of that for people.

So that brings us to the obvious. The hours can suck, and sometimes you have to make deals you're not comfortable with. Of course, that doesn't even begin to touch the 100's of different types of difficult buyers that are out there. But to me, that doesn't matter. I grew up in a car-loving family. I can't wait for the first time I get to sell someone a Christmas present for their daughter with the big red bow, or a graduation gift for themselves and put on the Alma-Matter tag bracket around the plates. To me, that's what it's all about. And I'll take that over a headset and a salary any day.

And that, that's the thing.

- Shawn

Vehicles We Often Overlook - Memorial Day Special

Editors Note - Happy Memorial Day to all of our veterans, active duty soldiers, and families of both. One of our writers, Jeremy, is currently in the Army, and wanted to do a military vehicle themed piece. Here it is, and thank you for your service Jeremy.

It’s Memorial day. And seeing as how I am in the military, I wanted to write something specific for the military, and the branch I serve in, the Army. Specifically, that thing is our wartime vehicles that help keep us soldiers alive. There are a lot of vehicles we have used, but there are 3 that have been used very consistently since their inception and the start of the war. Those vehicles are the MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle), the Stryker, and the Armored Security Vehicle. The last one, the ASV, is unique in the regards that only Military Police soldiers use it.

The MRAP family of vehicles came about because too many people were getting killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we didn't have a general purpose vehicle for everyone. ASV’s were for the MP’s, and Strykers belonged to the Stryker Brigades. Not every unit had Bradley’s. The local insurgencies realized they couldn’t really go toe to toe with a large, well equipped, and organized army, so they decided to resort to some hardcore guerilla tactics. There of course were other vehicles that we used, I mean we had the M1 Abrams tanks, and the Bradley Assault vehicle. But we had to take them out of Iraq because it caused too much collateral damage. So after the heavy armor left, we rolled with the MRAP, the Stryker, and the ASV.

I have the most experience with MRAPs. I rode in them a bunch of times, and there are a bunch of different designs for the MRAP and the Stryker’s. The most common I saw and rode in were the Maxxpro’s and MRAP Cougars. Let me tell you, these things are pretty nice rides. Of course they weigh in at around 14 tons, but the vast majority of that is from the armor it has on it. It also has a nice design on the bottom. It’s curved like the top of a roof so if something blows up undearneath it, it rolls the explosion off to the sides, instead of directly underneath it and destroying everything inside. They do their job and they do it well. According to Wikipedia, no service members died in 2004 in any of these. Even with more then 300 IED explosions. The insurgencies realized this though, so they got crafty and came up with something called an Explosively Formed Penetrator. It’s as nasty as it sounds and then some.

(Photo courtesy of http://laststandonzombieisland.com/2013/08/30/explosively-formed-penetrators-for-dummies/)

So, after they did this, we came up with the Duke System. The Duke System was pretty much a radio jamming system. It would jam every cell phone single and all of that, and it would also have something on the front of the truck that had wheels that would activate a pressure plate as well, looked something like this.

Shown at Right: An MRAP Cougar after getting hit by an IED, everyone on board lived

Even if they get hit, these things are designed for maximum survivability. Trust me, they work. I rarely hear about people getting hit in their trucks and dying, usually the one that gets killed is the turret gunner.

I know there is probably some stuff I missed or glossed over, I just wanted to remind everyone on this day that, you should observe everyone that has fallen, and be thankful for them. And also be thankful that we’ve got people who spend an absolute ton of money for our guys, to give them some of the best tech to make sure they survive. ~ Jeremy

Forbidden Fruit

 Here’s the thing about forbidden fruit:

There is always at least one; one car, one truck one bike that we can’t have. It doesn’t matter if it is a financial issue or a government issue.

As you may have seen from my introduction a few days ago, I am a very large fan of BMW and their silky smooth straight six motors.  In my relatively short driving career I have had the pleasure of owning and wrenching on both the M52 2.8l motor as well the M54 3.0l lump.  Both are amazing in their own right, and it’s great to see the advancements in technology from one generation to the next. My favorite is the advancement from single Vanos (BMW’s fancy variable timing system) on the M52 to the double Vanos on the newer M54.

But the one iteration which has eluded me thus far is the grandest of them all the 3.2l 333hp S54 in the E46 M3.  This smooth six makes over 100hp/liter without the help of any forced induction or witchcraft, just six individual throttle bodies and a screaming 8,000rpm redline.

Now some of you may say, “But Devlin, those are plentiful in the U.S. of A”, but in fact they are less rare than the 3 series I drive now. However, what we never got here was the final version, the mighty M3 CSL.

The CSL has the same 3.2l motor but modified to pump out out 360hp. And this newfound power is used to propel a car which is a few hundred pounds lighter than the standard M3, all thanks to a carbon fiber roof, and other weight saving items. These included thinner walled exhaust just to give you an idea of the engineering dedication that went into this car. And still no forced induction! Now that’s witchcraft.

So what is it about these cars that make them so desirable?  Is it simply the fact that we can’t have them, or is there more than that? Everyone has some sort of forbidden fruit, everyone from Bill Gates with his Porsche 959 to the numerous people who have already crossed into Canada to buy a 25 year old Nissan GT-R. So I ask you readers, what’s your forbidden fruit and why?

~ Devlin

Fanboyism-Ism

Here’s the thing,

I’ve been thinking about something off and on for about a year now, ever since I went out and bought my Porsche 944. And that is the state of being a fanboy of certain cars, certain manufacturers, what have you. Growing up, I wasn’t much of a fanboy. I of course defended the car I owned at the time because, well, it was my car. I didn’t want people talking crap about what I drove. However, everything changed once I decided to buy my 2007 Chrysler 300 Touring. It had a 3.5L V6, was RWD as well as big and roomy. What else could you want (besides more power of course, I still kick myself for not getting the HEMI)?

Once I started really driving it, getting used to it, cleaning it, and just in general getting close to my car, I noticed that I started developing a love for Mopar vehicles. I wouldn’t give any other kinds of cars the light of day, whether it be European or anything JDM. I wasn’t having it. I specifically remember telling my wife that I would never, ever, own another Asian car again. And I hadn’t even considered any European cars at all.

And then, of course everything change. It was not by my choice however. My wife had to go to school for two months, and I had to take my kid to daycare. So naturally, once my wife came back, my kid still wanted to go to daycare. And seeing as how I have to be up at the ass crack of dawn to go run and do pushups and stupid stuff like that, we needed a second car so my wife could drop her off.

I had a roommate at the time, a fellow car guy, and he had told me how he was looking at a Porsche 944. I just wanted to check it out, because I had my heart set on a (again, Mopar colored glasses) Dodge Stratus R/T. I saw the 944, absolutely loved the shape, and I immediately started seeing anything from the 80’s with rose colored glasses because of my first car. So, I decided while looking for a Stratus, to look at 944’s as well. I looked at 928’s, and 924’s, but I loved the 944. Eventually I found one I was happy with. Really, what caught my attention was the guy had bought a cup holder that would fit in the car and I saw it in the pictures. So I figured this guy had probably drove it a bit and showed it some love. And he did. He had replaced a laundry list of parts, but only drove it 200 miles in the past year. So I went to test drive it, and immediately fell in love. So I bought it, and paid 2900 all in twenties for the thing (good thing he worked at a bank).

I named her Rosie.

But at the same time it felt… strange. The 944 was the first car I had ever purchased solely with my money, solely for myself. Everything just clicked, everything felt right. Everything from how I sat in it, to how they designed the center console perfectly to have your arm rest on it when you weren’t shifting so that your hand didn’t rest on the shifter. My wife loved to remind me all the time how I used to say, “Mopar or no car huh?”, and I always felt like a dumbass. Because in all honesty, being a fanboy to a degree of shunning all other vehicles is kind of like being a bigot towards cars just because they aren’t a Chrysler, Ford, or Honda. All cars have something to offer, you just have to be willing to really look.

For example, let’s take a look at my 1986 Porsche 944. It was my first RWD car with a 5 speed attached to it, so I learned the amazing feeling of being able really control my car. It was really just meant as a car for me to drive, but I bought it before I really understood it. I didn’t know it had a transaxle, I didn’t know that transaxle was in the back, hell at the time I didn’t even know what a transaxle was. I had to look it up. I was still sort of in the mindset of “It’s not a Mopar, so it’s just some car I’ll drive.” It was just some car I drove, until I started driving it more, and more. Within a month it had over 1000 miles on it, I just loved driving the damn thing. Now, to get to my point, the clutch started screwing up. Eventually I found out the transmission was perfectly fine, great even. The clutch grabbed fine, granted it slipped a little at maximum torque, but the culprit was the pilot bearing. What I didn’t know, and what the previous owner didn’t know, was that the clutch in it was a good 20 years old. And whoever did the last job, only replaced the disc and pressure plate. Everything else was old and chewed up, and the flywheel had never been resurfaced. So my point here is even though I just bought it to be just another car, I ended up seeing it more for what it was. I saw it as a sports car, an amazingly balanced RWD car, and more importantly, a German car. When I was looking for a clutch kit, I realized that I wasn’t just messing with another car, I was messing with a Porsche. That’s because the clutch kit ran me 800 dollars. Ouch.

It wasn’t until after I dropped the transmission, the torque tube, struggled getting the bell housing off, and I bought the clutch kit that I realized: I cannot just jump into a car and hope for the best. I can’t just shrug off not knowing about a car before I buy it. And in order to really learn about a car, you can’t just write it off and not be interested in learning what makes it move. Honestly before I started working on my car, I didn’t know truly how a clutch truly operated. Now I do, along with knowing how it works with the rest of the car. I know exactly how the transmission works, including the gearbox, and how everything moves together. I didn’t know what an interference engine was, and honestly if I had when I was looking at a car to buy, I wouldn’t have bought my Porsche. Timing belt change every 30,000 miles? Come on, that is just sadistic.

Along with me trying to figure out exactly how everything worked, because there was a lot of mystery to the car, I ended up getting a few vehicle reports. Through these reports I had found out my car was originally built in West Germany (just think about it, my car was built in Germany during the cold war, that’s just crazy cool. Even with all that stuff going on they still managed to build amazing cars). It was also sold in California, had a ton of miles put on it quick, then sold at auction in Arizona. And then through the years it eventually made its way to me, in Virginia.

I would say that my refusal to really allow myself to be interested in cars, other than the ones I was all obsessed with, led me to arrogantly purchasing a car I knew nothing about. And I paid for it in more than one way. But, because of this car I learned how to do a clutch job, rebuild an entire brake system, take apart a fuel system, drop a transmission safely, and even drop a rear suspension. So even though I bought it for the wrong reasons, I’m keeping it for the right ones. I’m going to fix it up right, throw it around a track, and keep it in great fighting shape. If there is one thing buying the wrong car taught me, it’s to always keep an open mind, and allow yourself to like a car outside of your comfort zone. You might be surprised, and you might have quite a unique story to tell.

And, that’s the thing that’s been on my mind.

~ Jeremy