Rally Racing, part 1: Building the Car

This is the first of three articles on Rally Racing. I intend to cover car set-ups, driver training, different classes, and whatever else I may come upon. This part will show a built of an Open Class rally car, which is essentially a race car based on a production car, but with the least restrictions placed on it. For instance, the engine has to use the original block, but otherwise is only limited by a 34mmx3mm restrictor plate.

Helping me write these series of articles is Bacon Motorsport. Bacon Motorsport is a privateer family race team from Chemsford MA. Team drivers are William Bacon Jr and Peter Watt. Bill has more than ten years of racing experience and  Peter was the Canadian rally champion in 2004. The team has recently finished in third place at the Sno*Drift Rally in Michigan. … Continue Reading

Behind the scenes at Rolex 24 at Daytona

The 48th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona is now behind us. With heavy rains, record setting 53 lead changes and a margin of victory of less than a minute, this year’s 24 was a spectacular race to watch. The coverage by SpeedTV was decent, but of course at night they had to throw in a re-run of some old NASCAR race that no one could care less about. Fortunately my friends from VelozMedia were in Daytona along with Turner Motorsport Team producing a behind-the-scenes documentary of Turner’s journey through the race.

VelozMedia’s staff photographer, Tim Hourihan, has been kind enough to share some of the images he has gathered for the documentary. Since we have all seen races, be it on TV or live, I have selected over a hundred pictures from Tim’s gallery that give us the best perspective of how it is to be on the crew of a three-car race team at Daytona. At the end of the day one questions remains: which did they consume more of, gasoline or coffee? … Continue Reading

Snow Run! Off-Roading in Snowy California

My buddy Andy, with whom I went off-roading last year, has moved to California for school. His trip west in the Jeep CJ-8 was quite adventurous, but unfortunately all the pictures from it went missing.

Now that Andy has settled in and got the Scrambler back in the proper working order, he went on an off-road snow run. To us normal people that means driving 4WD vehicles with big tires on what essentially are hiking trails. Below pictures are telling a story; from the meeting point, up through the mountains, until they get caught in a storm. At that point  they concluded that beer and burgers are more fun. Enjoy.

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2010 New York Motorcycle Show

I don’t own a motorcycle and I even failed my motorcycle license test (story below), but I really do appreciate them. Short of cars such as the Lotus Exige, Caterham, or Ariel Atom, motorcycles are the most direct connection between a man (or a chick) and a machine. There is no safety devices, no electronic nannies, no OBD2, no emissions systems, and nothing that does not serve a purpose. That is exactly what makes motorcycles so great. Combine that with the idea of freedom that these machines offer and it is no wonder why they are loved so much.

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UPDATE: Self-Assembling Motorcycle

Awesomeness, redefined. No idea who’s video this is, a friend just sent it to me and I loved it. That is all.

UPDATE: Please note the comment below which came from Annie Flanigan. The video was a made by her husband and her son as a project, in Annie’s own words: … Continue Reading

Turner Motorsport’s Journey to the 24 Hours of Daytona

There is only one answer to the age old question: what do you want to do when you grow up? That answer is “do what you love”. So what do you do when you love cars and movies? Simple, you do what what my friends Miguel Aponte-Rios and Baer Connard did – you start Veloz Media, a film production company specializing in motorsport programming.

Recently Turner Motorsport, a BMW performance shop and a race team, has contracted Veloz Media to do behind-the-scenes chronicle showcasing their efforts and journey in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona race. Turner is entering this race with a new Riley-chassis race car powered by a 5-liter BMW V8 engine racing the GT Class. Below is a teaser video of the preparations going into the race as well as Turner/Veloz Media press release. Have a look, this promises to be an epic series of films. … Continue Reading

Automoblox – Ambiguous but Fun Toy Cars

I have seen these toys being mentioned on both car-related websites as well as parental magazines, and I must say that I was a bit intrigued. First off, these toys were styled by a self-proclaimed “designer” which in and of itself worries me. You see, I have seen a lot perfectly fine products taken by these so-called designers and completely butchered, take the Bungled BMW 7-series for instance. What is wrong with a proper 1:43 model of a real car? I’ve had dozens of these growing up and I loved all of them. I still have my BBurago E24 6-series, somewhere – it is those toys have started my love affair with the car. So now, I look at these “designer toys” and the carguy inside me is screaming “What the hell is that!?” … Continue Reading

Review: Dyson DC31 Vacuum Cleaner

Until now, if you wanted to properly vacuum your car you had two choices: go to a car wash and pay $0.50 per minute and hope that the vacuum you have chosen actually works (it’s a real crap shoot) or you bought your own shop vac, which was the size of a Saint Bernard and is as portable. Sure, there are small the cigarette lighter powered vacuum cleaners, but usually they are not worth the box they come in. … Continue Reading

Amazing Dakar Rally Pictures

I don’t often post pictures that I that I have not taken myself, but these really took my breath away. If you have never heard of the Dakar Rally, which for the last two years takes place in South America as opposed to Dakar due to terrorist threats, read up on it here. This is one of these things that I would love to do before I die… and hopefully not die during.

Imagine a combination of rally racing and off-roading, all done in a completely remote area with limited support, that is Dakar Rally. All other forms of auto racing are almost amateur in comparison. Enjoy more pics after clicking ->

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Expedition to Mongolia’s Gobi Desert

My whole family likes to travel. Both of my parents have been all over the world. My wife and I met in China (no, neither one of us is Chinese) and since then we have traveled together to India, Costa Rica, and all over Europe. When I was 13 and my brother 3, our parents packed up our ‘84 Buick Regal sedan and drove cross-country for a period of almost four weeks. When I was 20 I spent five weeks in Southern Africa riding around in a Land Rover 110 TD5 ( I need to find and scan the pictures from that trip). In the summer of 2009 my mother, her husband and my sister-in-law along with a group of thirteen other people spend four weeks in southern Russia and Mongolia, and here is a bit of car-related photo-journalism from this trip. … Continue Reading

Solution to the Run-Flat Tire Problem

In recent years many manufacturers, most notably BMW, have started installing run-flat tires on their new cars. Many people, mostly enthusiasts, have developed an instant animosity toward the run-flats due to the high replacement price, shortened life, quality issues, and increased unsprung weight which takes away from steering feel and handling.

Another issue on many new cars, such as the Mini Cooper, is simply the lack of proper space for a spare-tire. That however clearly did not stop the owner of the above Mini Cooper S. … Continue Reading

Why Do You Have a Kid!?

I don’t link to other websites often, but sometimes I come upon something so golden that I just have to share it. The website name explains it all.

www.WhyTheFuckDoYouHaveaKid.com.

Enjoy.

Calling all BMW enthusiasts!

The other day I get an email from a company that was hired by BMW to produce a series of short documentaries. The company is called DIGITALKITCHEN and the goal of the documentaries is to break down the existing BMW driver stereotypes and aim for an inspiring story or personality that revolves around BMW automobiles or motorcycles.

In order to accomplish this task, DIGITALKITCHEN is looking for a few good people – here is what they are asking for: … Continue Reading

2010 Lexus RX350 – quick spin

Thanksgiving* may be the perfect holiday – it happens to be the longest weekend, has no religious connections, you don’t have to give gifts.  All you have to do is eat and watch football – perfect indeed. Thanksgiving is also a damn good reason to meet up with people you haven’t seen in a while and of course check out their new cars!

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A family friend, Mark who happens to be an MD bought this new RX350 based on my recommendation; he was looking for a solid, reliable, quiet and comfortable ride which he’d keep for some time. Just about any car enthusiast will tell you that almost all Lexus and Toyota cars are dull and boring to drive. Personally, I think of them as quiet and comfortable and that’s just what the RX350 is. It is something you slip into at the end of a hard day and drive yourself home at a leisurely pace and relax, almost oblivious to the 20-mile back up in front of you; the enthusiast next to you in the Z350 with lightened flywheel and a set of coilovers does not get that same calming feeling, and he isn’t moving any faster either. … Continue Reading

CTS-V Challenge is on Speed TV

No, I still do not have a write up from the event, but you can catch the special on Speed TV tonight at 9:30pm EST. I’d assume it will me more of a Cadillac infomercial than anything, but you will see my friend Mike talking and driving. The show will show what GM wants you to see and not what really happened, but we still had time and that’s what matters. If you miss it, don’t sweat it, they will rerun it.