production

It's been a while since I've updated here.  Not much to say but I've been doing lots of drives when I'm not busy at work.  Here are a few videos I've made using a GoPro Hero camera I borrowed from a friend.








I've been playing around quite a bit with video editing as well and come to the realization that I need better software/hardware. Windows Movie Maker running on XP just kind of barely does the job, so I think I need something newer. Thinking about getting a MacBook or iMac or something like that too.

flow

Wow it's been a while since my last update.  I haven't been terribly busy with work but I have been keeping busy with other stuff.  I did get one business trip to DC where I managed to make one outing to Ben's Chili Bowl, one of my favorite spots in DC to get a couple of chili half-smokes.  Oh so good, oh so bad.

Notwithstanding the indulgent eating that is de rigeur for the holidays, I've been trying to exercise more, ride my bike, take more walks and do more time on the elliptical.  It's helped me lose maybe 8-10 lbs.  I'm going to try and keep it up with a target of losing about 15 more.

Still getting a lot of use out of my new iPhone 5.  The camera on the iPhone is decent but not awesome.  I get a lot of lens flare or reflections but maybe that's just poor technique on my part.  Anyways I do find myself using it out of convenience a lot more than the Nikon DSLR now.  I've been snapping away lots of pics and even started doing little videos.  Nothing worthy of the cinema or anything but it's kind of neat being able to hold the camera in places you couldn't normally squeeze your head, like under the car.  I also finally made some use of the Kensington phone/iPod suction cup mount I bought a long while ago, and mounted it in the windshield. Holy crap maybe they don't make the one I have anymore but why is it $149 to buy it on Amazon??  Trust me I did not pay that much.     Kensington Dash Car Mount for iPhone and iPod

Since things have gotten pretty quiet at work, I decided to take an extended time off from the office... I basically told them, I'm taking December off, I will see you in January.  And then added a week in January to top it off.  I have 37 days off starting tomorrow, which sounds pretty epic.  Helps me burn off a big surplus of vacation days I had banked.

So what am I going to do with all that time?  Hopefully a lot.  I need to make a list so I can remember to do everything and set some goals, but generally... a bunch of car stuff.  Go driving.  Go for bike rides.  Go for hikes/walks/runs.  Take more photos.  Listen to music.  Watch movies.  Play games.  Go shoot my guns some more. Exercise and lose weight.  Eat some good food (but not too much).  Cook dinner for wifey.  Bake some pastries or cookies.  I suppose somewhere in there I will have to do some holiday shopping (gag).  Wow I have a lot to do!  But for now, I'm going to bed.  Tomorrow is the first day of my vacation.

UPDATE:  I've started a  new blog to specifically cover this 37-day vacation.  Check it out at 37DaysOff.

shine

I've decided to name my new car Stitch, after the blue Disney character.

He's blue and has a big smile.

Saturday was quite a day!  First of all I was approaching 1000 miles on the odometer, so I took Stitch out for a nice long drive through some of my favorite roads.  Here is the odometer just as I was about to break 1000 miles.

The moment of truth.

It was very hard for me to keep the motor under 4000 RPM during the break-in period.  But once I passed the magical 1000 mark, it was finally time to let 'er rip!  I took it down Palomares Rd, which I think of as my own personal backyard test track, and then out past the wine country vineyards of Livermore, to Mines Rd.  Mines Rd is one of my most enjoyable driving routes.  It goes out to the middle of nowhere and then runs up Mt. Hamilton to the Lick Observatory above San Jose.  If you're an Initial D fan, Mt. Hamilton is like Bay Area's version of Akina.  It's a beautiful mountain road but an incredibly twisty and challenging drive.  Pretty unforgiving too -- if you make a mistake and go off the edge of the road, you're going off a cliff and down a long ways.  So you have to keep it safe and sane here.  I didn't switch the traction control all the way off, but did go to VSC Sport mode to have a little more fun.

And oh man, what fun it was!  This was my first real opportunity to see what this car is all about, rev it like it was meant to be driven, and push it a little in the corners to see just how crappy the tires are.  To my surprise, they gripped the road fairly well.  I like to drive with the windows down so I can hear the tires and they gave very good audible feedback.  A little scrubbing sound as you start to turn in, gradually increasing in sound as you push it harder.  On a few tight hairpins I got on the gas a little more aggressively at exit and got some wheelspin but as everyone has noted, nothing too dramatic and very easy to modulate.  The whole package was very confidence-inspiring and I was able to drive the car harder than I did the first few times I drove my MR2 there.  With an MR-layout you really have to watch for snap-oversteer if you get too aggressive, but the BRZ's FR layout is much more forgiving and predictable.  The suspension soaked up most bumps very well and I found it much more comfortable to drive than my fairly harsh-riding MR2.  And it offers fairly comparable levels of responsiveness and balance.  I was very pleased with the performance of the car, bone stock -- so I'm not sure I even need to do much upgrading for now, if my main usage of the car is for the mountain twisties I don't want to ruin the comfort and balance it currently has.  If I start heading to the track frequently, then that is another story.

On the way to Mt. Hamilton I stopped by a popular rest point for bikers and cyclists -- The Junction.  Got a few compliments from bikers as I rolled through, but I didn't stay long.  I was having too much fun driving!  When I got to the Observatory at the top of the mountain, there were no other cars there, just a few bicyclists.  The view up there is fantastic on a clear day.  Again, after a brief stop to take a few pictures, it was time to head back down and tear up the roads some more...

That wasn't the end of my day though.  I also had to take Stitch in to get smogged, so I could register it at the DMV this week.  So I stopped by my local smog test place, the guy there is cool and we talked about the car for a while and he even snapped a pic of it after the test.  Of course, Stitch passed with flying colors!

Then it was back home and time to give Stitch a much-deserved bath.  My wife was nice enough to help me clean the interior while I dried the exterior.

Then I spent the rest of the evening applying the 3-stage Meguiar's Deep Crystal Shine system.  Paint cleaner, polish, then wax.  My back is a little sore and my arms a little tired, but man the shine on the car is so impressive, like a mirror.  Maybe in the morning I will take the car out and get some more shots of it in its oh-so-clean glory.  

transmissive

I've been driving the BRZ for a week now, and here are my first week impressions:

Driving with a 4K RPM limit (during the break-in period) is a real bummer... I'd forgotten how difficult it is to baby a car in its early age.  This car revs really quickly and trying to stick between 2K and 4K all the time is not easy.  Thankfully the car has a programmable rev limit light that I set to 3800 and it reminds me when I hit that to upshift.  It really does feel like driving with one hand tied behind my back, knowing that the car should be revving up to 7400 RPM for the full experience.  Can't wait until the first 1000 miles are through with.  I can't really comment on performance and handling yet, as I haven't really pushed the car's limits very much... it's pretty much been just commuting to and from work.

Voodoo knob tested on BRZ.

Still getting used to the clutch and transmission.  Getting better with the clutch now but the 1-2 shift is still a little unsmooth.  All the other shifts seem fine.  Drove a few days sitting in stop-and-go traffic which is fantastic practice I guess.  I took the shift knob off to try some others I had available to put on there, and it is remarkable how heavy the stock shift knob is.  The Voodoo knob from my Spyder that I tried on there is pretty hefty but I think the stock one is pretty comparable.  The Voodoo doesn't fit perfectly so I am not going to use that one, but I might order another Voodoo knob specifically for the BRZ.  

The GPS/navigation is a bit of a letdown compared to the one in my Lexus.  The unit loses GPS signal often and it takes several minutes before it locks on again.  The voice sounds a lot more robotic than the Lexus lady's voice.  And the interface just isn't as smooth as the Lexus's.  You'd think after 6 years any ol' navi would be as good as a 2006-era Lexus navi.  But I guess it's not so.  Same with the phone/bluetooth function.  Maybe it's the old phone I'm using, but there is a 4-5 second pause when I get incoming calls and press answer, before the radio stops playing and I can start talking.  It's just a little unpolished and I expected a bit more from the 2012 technology.

Don't get me wrong, I think this car is pretty fantastic and it's definitely a step up from the basic feature set of the MR2 Spyder which it more or less is a replacement for.  Better seats, better stereo, better ride quality than what I remember the MR2 had before I modified the suspension.  Better information display and controls, better interior materials.  And more storage which is not hard to accomplish when you're comparing to the MR2.  One bummer I've found though is, my rifle case won't fit in the trunk without folding the seats down.  That could have some security implications, as I might not want to take this car out if I'm stopping anywhere else before or after the range.  Guess I should have just bought a big truck, eh?  No.

Well today's my birthday and I have to say I've got all the toys a boy could want.  New car, new rifle, and my  new iPhone is on the way.  Oh and my lovely wifey is making me stone crab for dinner.  Yummmy... OK gotta go!

reflections

My car is finally here!  Woot!  

Here is the truck delivering it to my house:

Since my car was going to be waiting around for a week or so before it got picked up, I figured I would get some things out of the way. 3M clear bra was applied to the front bumper, and window tint to the sides and back. The sales mgr at the tint place was nice enough to snap a shot of the car for me after the tints were done:

Here are some thoughts after only 2 days driving the car.  A lot of this is going to be duplicative or obvious to other BRZ owners, but this is more of a personal log of my impressions.  Perhaps it will be useful to future owners or people considering this car, who have similar automotive backgrounds to mine.

Day 1 impressions.  Exterior.  Car is very low to the ground, and the overall look is aggressive.  Very classic GT-car proportions.  A poor-man's Aston Martin Vantage.  Even when dirty the WR Blue paint is very shiny and eye-catching.  In photos I feel the BRZ looks a little awkward, the big "mustache" bumper in front and the the rear trunk lid/tail lights were in my mind weak points in the design.  In person these things seem to fade away as the overall look is very handsome.  I had been previously considering all kinds of cosmetic mods to improve the look, but now that I see it in person I'm not so sure I feel so strongly about needing to modify these things.  It looks fine the way it is.

Interior.  Getting into the car the seat sort of embraces you and it feels a little weird compared to most other car seats but it's still comfortable.  As everyone has said the basic controls are right where you want them to be and everything falls into place.  I was able to get in and just drive the car with minimal adjustment.  Move the mirrors, adjust the seat, ready to go.  Having driven mostly Toyotas all my life there was very little confusion about what does what in the Subaru, all the controls felt very familiar.  The interior style is very basic, subdued, functional.  I like that.  No fancy wood trim or excessive chrome/metal to distract your eye from the pure function of driving.  I might replace the shift knob with something a little heavier (and a little more flash), and call it a day.

Driving feel.  I have not really pushed the car much in my limited time in it, but am very pleased with how the controls feel.  The steering is tight and well-proportioned.  The brake pedal has the perfect firmness and responsiveness.  I feel the throttle is a touch sensitive but I probably just need to adjust to that.  Clutch as many have noted, has a very high engagement point.  I know it can be adjusted but I will leave it alone for now, starts were a little unsmooth to begin with but I think I am getting accustomed quickly.

Day 2 impressions.  Commuting with the car is very comfortable.  Ride is decent, certainly smoother than my MR2 Spyder which is on Eibach Pro Kit springs and Koni shocks.  Sound of the car is fairly mellow, especially since I am upshifting at 4K.  I imagine it will get louder above that, but for now it's definitely one of my quieter cars.  All my other cars have aftermarket exhausts on so I am probably used to more sound and enjoy it.  I went ahead and programmed my shift light/buzzer to come on at 3800 RPM to help keep me in line during the break-in period.

Took a coworker and a friend out for rides in the car, both commented on how low the car is.  When you are sitting in the car with the door open, it's easy to just reach over and touch the ground.  That is a huge component of how this is a sports car, the low center of gravity design is key to the handling and driving feel. I haven't really thrown the car into a corner at speed yet, but so far it feels very sure-footed and stable.  Cruising on the freeway seems easy and uneventful, the car needs nowhere near the amount of attention and correction that my MR2 does.

I'm no audiophile, but the sound system in the car seems decent, I have listened to music via FM, HD Radio, Satellite radio, and through an iPhone via USB.  A fair amount of bass coming from the door speakers, enough to feel the vibration hitting my left leg which is a little annoying.  I managed to pair my phone to the head unit, but haven't made a call yet.  I have a fairly old-school basic phone, the LG Chocolate 2, so the pairing seems to be a little wonky.  I think I have to hit OK on my phone everytime I get in the car to allow it to pair to the car. A little lame but I have an iPhone 5 coming and that should pair without issue.

I've noticed a few weird ergonomic issues.  Visibility seems compromised by the left side mirror when I'm making a left turn. And the pointy triangle window on the forward part of the doors that remains in place when you have the window down, seems like a safety hazard when getting in and out of the car, my face seems to get uncomfortably close to that pointy piece on the way in or out.  My old SW20 MR2 had a similar window piece but I don't think I ever had issues with it.  Maybe I have to train myself to move differently.  Or roll the window all the way back up first.

This is my first 6-speed manual, and I've been driving my old MR2 5-speed for over 12 years so I've gotten pretty used to driving it and this is a bit of a change.  For the most part the shifting is straightforward, but I do occasionally stumble on a shift due to the spacing on the shift pattern being a little wider on the BRZ.  The 5-6 shift is easier to get used to than I thought.  But one thing I tripped up on a few times already is thinking that R is where it was on the MR2, namely where 6th now is.  I have caught myself shifting into 6, then remembering that I have to lift the reverse lockout and shift back into where 1 is to get to R. I feel like it's a little bizarre that you back up in R, then you have to pop it back into neutral, the lockout ring pops back down, and then you put it right back into the same spot to get to 1.  Will just take some getting used to I guess.

Also, I woke up extra early so I could wash the car before work and was able to inspect all the exterior of the car more closely.  Cosmetically I'd say the car arrived in 9.5/10 condition.  Most of the cosmetic issues are actually with the clear bra and tint that I had installed -- there are a few small bubbles here and there, or some imperfections in the bra install.  Minor issues really, and I am not going to worry too much about it.  I'm still really glad I got them installed, the benefits outweigh the minor downsides.  One thing that kind of caught my eye though was the rear bumper film installed at the port, part of the Pop1B package, there seems to be a small fleck of something (dirt or sand or whatever) underneath the film.  A little disappointing that they flubbed that little detail on the install.  I am pleased that the bumper film does not have a big honkin' SUBARU lettering across it, there is only a very small discreet Subaru logo on one end to let you know it's a genuine Subaru part/add-on.  Also being really nit-picky here, but for some reason the wheel locks on each wheel (also part of the Pop1B) had some kind of white paint or residue on the face of the lock, that I had to scrape off of each one.

Passed 100 miles on the odo on the way home from work... 900 miles to go on the break-in!

reward for reading through all that.  Parked in a row of all blue cars at work today, including my friend's Fiat 500 that came by for a visit.  Interestingly they are all different shades of blue.

arrival

My BRZ just arrived at the dealership in Colorado Springs. I am super excited about that. I just need to finalize the paperwork, fork over some dough, and the car will be on its way to me via truck by sometime next week. Almost as exciting for me, and almost perfectly timed, Digital Polyphony has just announced that the BRZ will be available as a downloadable car in GT5 next week! For only $0.99, that's a must-buy for me... ok, can you tell which ones are the real car and which ones are GT5? :)

determination

I have been agonizing over my next car purchase for a while now, but I've finally come to a decision.  For a while it was trying to decide between the Scion FR-S or the Subaru BRZ.  I actually went back and forth on this a few times.  Then it was time for perhaps an even more difficult decision, choosing what color to get.  I had narrowed it down to either World Rally Blue or Satin White Pearl.  Both look equally awesome and I think for the lines of the FR-S/BRZ the brighter/lighter colors come off better than the darker ones.  In the end, I chose the WRB BRZ Premium 6MT.

Unfortunately, this is not my car.  But this is what it will look like.  I snapped a few shots of this one at a recent car meet at Blox Racing in Fremont.  Seeing it in person, ultimately helped me make up my mind and confirmed that it is indeed a pretty awesome looking color for this car.  It's also the signature color for Subaru.

So why am I taking/posting shots of someone else's car, instead of mine? Well, I don't have my car yet. Subaru is limiting the production of BRZs to only 6000 cars this year. At the moment because this car is so new, the demand heavily outpaces the supply. Most of the local dealerships in Northern California are all sold out, or have pre-orders and waitlists filled until 2013. Those dealerships that didn't take pre-orders are for the most part  severely price-gouging when their cars come in, marking up the price of the car by $4,000 or more.

 

 So what to do?  I started reaching out further and further, to places like Redding, CA and Reno, NV.  And eventually caught wind that a dealership in Colorado Springs, CO was actually offering some great deals.  They, unlike everyone else I've talked to in the Pacific NW region, are selling BRZs for less than MSRP.  No markups, no sneaky tactics, no unwanted addons.  Almost too good to be true.  I fired off a few emails with questions and made the plunge this week, putting down a deposit for a an order to get a BRZ just the way I want it.  They say my car should arrive in 2-3 months.  So now it's time to wait patiently yet again to get what I want...

...

Well, seeing as it's going to be a while, how's about I share a few photos of some of the models I ran into at the show.  Enjoy.

passing

Carroll Shelby

1923-2012

Race driver, sports car builder and all-American automotive legend Carroll Shelby is dead at 89.  Father of the Shelby Cobra, the iconic Ford GT350, and plenty other fantastic amalgams of sheetmetal and horsepower.
For more of his life story and tribute, visit Autoblog:
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/11/carroll-shelby-1923-2012/

The newest production Ford Shelby GT500 was recently unveiled, and it offers an unprecedented level of performance-for-the-buck.  $55K, 662hp, and the ability to go over 200 MPH.  Just wow.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/new-car-buying/ford/shelby-gt500/

Speaking of over 200 MPH, one of my favorite Shelby stories is actually a comedy routine by Bill Cosby, entitled, appropriately, "200 MPH".  "Oh wow look at them PIIIIIPES!!!  Coming out of the car, oh wow!"  Worth a listen if you're either a Shelby or a Cosby fan...

endurance

About 12 years ago, I bought my first sports car--my 2000 MR2 Spyder. At the same time, I also joined some online communities devoted to the Spyder specifically as well as the MR2 family in general. These were online forums devoted to all aspects of owning, caring for, and driving these great little sports cars, but you could say that these were in essence car clubs. And although there is a ton of information available to any visitor to these communities online, in the end it is a social experience. The members of these communities plan many local and regional gatherings where you can meet up and not only check out each others' cars in person, but also meet the people involved -- typically people who share the same passion and enthusiasm for cars that you do. And that is how I met Bryan Heitkotter.

In the MR2 community, there tend to be two basic kinds of gatherings. There's the meet up in a parking lot and check out everyone else's car type of meeting, where the focus is usually on who has the latest mods, the fattest rims, the newest body kit on their ride. Maybe hang out and have coffee, or get something to eat together, and just chill. Then there's the other kind -- meet up and drive as a group somewhere, whether purely for the fun of driving, or cruising somewhere scenic like along the coast or up to wine country. I've done my fair share of both types of meets, and they are both fun, but my preference has been to do more of the latter. These MR2s are sports cars, not museum pieces. They were meant to be driven, not just looked at! So I prefer to spend my time driving them. So it happened that a group of MR2 owners suggested a gathering at the local SCCA autocross one weekend, and I went to check it out. Several of us ended up entering in the event, which is basically a timed competitive event driving around a course laid out in traffic cones. It's a great safe way to learn your car's dynamics and work on your performance driving skills. From that I got hooked, got my own racing helmet, and started doing autocross events on a regular basis.

And I started seeing a familiar face, at both the MR2 meetings and at the autocross events: this young kid, he must have been 19 or so, who went by the name of BryanH on the MR2 forums. He owned a first generation 1987 MR2, and drove it like he stole it out on the autocross course. I was a little stunned when I saw that he consistently drove his underpowered, 13 year old car around the course faster than I could drive my brand-spanking new Spyder. And he was modest and humble as could be, showing plenty of admiration for our new MR2s. I kind of compared him to the protagonist of the Inital D anime series, Takumi. Well I just had one thought -- if this kid is this fast in that beat-up old thing, how much faster could he be in my MR2? So I asked him to drive my car at one of the events -- with one caveat, that I get to ride along with him to see how he was driving so fast. What was he doing that I wasn't to be so quick? So we went out there, and ... just wow. I don't really know what just happened there. It was so dramatically different than what I was doing. He was going flat out in areas where I hesitated. Where I braked hard and slowed down for a corner, he tapped the brakes and trusted the car to find its way around the bend at significantly greater speed. And where I fought to keep the car pointed in the right direction, he quickly and intuitively steered and countersteered to maximize forward motion and minimize the skidding around that slowed me down. After seeing him do this on several occasions and seeing him compete at local and national levels, I remember saying to him, "you should really do this for a living. You have a natural skill, a knack for driving that I with all my practice cannot match." At the time he hemmed and hawwed modestly, because realistically who gets the chance to become a real race car driver? Don't you have to basically be bred from birth to be a F1 driver and spend your 2nd birthday tooting around in a shifter kart to qualify? Not to mention find a sponsor.  Over the next few years Bryan started coming out to the meets and events in the Bay Area less because he lived all the way out in Fresno and as you all know the price of gas has been steadily increasing. And I got busy with work so I had to stop doing the autocross events. So we sort of lost touch...

Well fast forward to 2011. I believe I've blogged in the past about my favorite driving game/sim for the PS3, Gran Turismo. They're up to Gran Turismo 5 now which is a fantastic game. In addition to being able to race online with other players, they periodically hold competitive events not terribly different in concept from the autocrosses we used to do.  Get the fastest time around the track that you can, competing online against all the other contestants.  The competition was called GT Academy, with the final prizes being a trip to Silverstone racing circuit in England to compete as one of the final 16 finalists.  And the grand prize being a job with Nissan's racing team as a real life race car driver!  I participated in the first round (everyone who owned the game in North America was eligible to enter), but the competition was fierce and my skill was lacking - I think I ranked somewhere around about 67000.  So I put it aside and went back to playing the game as a regular joe.

A few months ago, when they started publicizing the GT Academy again, on TV and within the game itself.  They filmed the whole final round of GT Academy and it became a reality series that aired on Speed TV.  And lo and behold, the name of the man they crowned as GT Academy USA champion sounded awfully familiar.  The one and only Bryan Heitkotter!  Imagine my surprise and pleasure to hear that this highly skilled and modest guy had managed to take it all the way to the top and had won a contract as racing driver for Nissan's racing team and was living the dream.  If you watch the interview video I've linked above, you'll see what a great and humble guy he is, and hear a little about his story.  I'm a little disappointed that he didn't mention his early MR2 driving roots, although he does talk about autocrossing of course.  Winning GT Academy is no doubt a turning point in his life, because basically he had been living a fairly banal existence, unemployed in Fresno when he entered the competition.  Now that's all changed as he travels the world, testing and racing cars and earning his international competition license under the aegis of Nissan's racing efforts.

Who knows how far Bryan's star will continue to rise, but right now he is doing something pretty amazing:  this weekend he is in Dubai, along with 3 other GT Academy champions from past competitions in the U.S. and Europe.  They are campaigning a Nissan 370Z race car in the Dubai 24 Hours endurance race which has already started, and ends in about 10 hours.  Best of luck to you, Bryan, and the RJN racing team -- kick ass and take names!

More info about the race and where to find info about the Dubai race, on GT Planet:
http://www.gtplanet.net/2012-dubai-24-hours/

resurgence

It has been a while since Toyota came out with a car that generates any kind of excitement for a car enthusiast like myself.  It seems like they have been content with selling boring appliance-cars like Camrys and Corrollas, and also leading the hybrid revolution with the equally yawn-worthy Prius.  I'm not excited at all by the prospect of driving any of these cars.  I've been a Toyota loyalist for many years though, and so I tried to stay in the family, buying my last two cars from Scion and Lexus.  But I've held on to my last real sports car from the year 2000, my Toyota MR2 Spyder (known as the MR-S in the home Japanese market).  To me, that was the last time Toyota made anything truly sporty.  Sadly, US sales of the MR-S ended in 2005.

Fortunately, Akio Toyoda, the current president of Toyota, felt the same way.  He is a true car guy and even takes the time to be involved in motorsports. Now that's leadership by example.  He wants to bring back sporty and fun driving to the Toyota family of vehicles and that started with the Lexus LFA, which he helped push into production.  However the LFA costs a cool $375,000 -- er, how about something for the regular folks Akio?

Fear not, 99%-ers, Akio has your back too.  Toyota and Subaru started work on a joint collaborative project that would create a new Front-engined, Rear-wheel-drive platform.  Inspired by Toyota's past sports cars like the 2000GT (another one of my dream collectible cars), and the wildly beloved RWD AE86, it will be powered by a Subaru-developed boxer 4-cylinder engine and make 200hp.  It will reach dealerships as the Subaru BRZ, and in various forms around the world as the Toyota 86 (Japan), GT 86 (Europe), and Scion FR-S (US).

Early press reviews are quite positive, describing the car as fun to drive and easy to push hard to the limit, making it a very attractive car to enthusiasts and drifters in particular.  Toyota/Subaru even go so far as to say that they set the Porsche Cayman as their handling benchmark while developing the 86/BRZ/FR-S.  If that is indeed what they are trying to go for, I will definitely want a test drive when these little rockets come out.    The styling is pretty sweet and dare I say it, from some angles it even looks like a baby LFA:

Scion FR-S

Lexus LFA

Unfortunately my old MR-S is starting to show its age, and it might be time soon to start thinking about a replacement.  Could be that an FR-S is the answer.  Coming to dealerships, your local twisty roads, and the racetrack, in May 2012.

celebrity

My fellow racing and track-day cohort turned car builder Hong Quan has finally made it big time, getting some national exposure by having famed comedian, Tonight-show-host and car guy extraordinaire Jay Leno feature his custom-built 3-wheeler (some call them trikes) on his automotive website, Jay Leno's Garage! Congratulations to Hong and hope the build orders start flowing in.



Link to Jay Leno's Garage for more info and photos.

Looks like Autoblog has finally seen the light and posted up an article about the Prong 3 there as well... mainly riding on Leno's coattails.

Hong also made the local news on NBC... hope you remember the little people when you're rich and famous pal!

loanshark

I dropped off my IS350 at the local Lexus dealership on Friday morning for some warranty repairs and several service campaigns.  They said it would take several days so they sent me on my way with a loaner car ... they gave me a 2003 ES330, wait it gets better, it came in white with chrome wheels and gold badging.  Talk about NOT my style... I feel like an old man driving in it, this car seems to be perfect for someone 60 or 70 years old.  Which is to say my dad would probably love it.  Not me.  It's like driving a boat, instead of reacting to my inputs like a well-tuned road-carving instrument, it kind of takes them as suggestions and grudgingly moves in the general direction you want.  The power steering is super boosted and has no feedback at all.  The brake pedal mushes like you're stepping on tofu.  The power coming out of corners is... almost nonexistent.  It can barely move out of its own way.  Is this what most consumers find comforting or normal?   

There are a few interesting perks in this car though.  It's kind of fun switching the shock absorbers back and forth between Sport and Comfort while driving over a bridge... I doubt it helps the handling much but you can definitely feel a difference in the ride.  The other thing is, I now kind of understand why others drive so badly in this car.  With such sensory deprivation from the realities of the road, how can you avoid it?  It forces me to do the same things they do ... drive slowly (to avoid upcoming hazards, as the time-to-react to everything becomes painfully higher with the weak responsiveness), constantly tap the brakes (because the pedal gives you no resistance or reassurance whatsoever), and I even have to back up and readjust the steering angle when turning into a parking spot (because it has the turning radius of a 747).  I didn't even feel bad when I had to cut off someone to change lanes, the person behind me probably said, whatever, this guy can't help it, he's probably 70 years old and has the mental acuity of a chimpanzee.  I've heard people say, it's not the car, it's the driver.  Well I'm telling you right now, the car makes a helluva difference.

I can't wait to get my IS350 back.

tesla

This electric-powered Tesla Roadster has been showing up in my parking lot at work a few times now... wonder whose it is?  Tesla is getting a lot of attention these days, some of it not so positive as the company struggles to make a profit and alienates some of its prospective buyers with contract-breaking pricing increases.  Enjoy this funny video someone made as social commentary about the situation:  Hitler vs Tesla

rotation

We recently finished paying off V's Scion ... so the natural inclination of an automobile junkie is to start thinking about buying a new car. But with the economy taking a huge nosedive and so much uncertainty I think the wise choice is to stick with what we have, especially if there's no real need to go out and buy a new car. Our cars are running just fine and a new ride would just be, well, extravagant in these times. Unless we went out and bought a hybrid or some kind of small commute car. But the Scion and Spyder are perfectly suitable cars when we feel like going into fuel economy mode.

To stave off the burning desire to blow off a large chunk of my dough on some very tempting glistening example of modern automotive design and engineering, I've decided to uh, blow a smaller chunk of my dough on some very tempting glistening example of modern automotive design and engineering. So I've been shopping around for a new set of wheels for my IS350. I still haven't really rewarded myself for working so hard last year and I have a pretty nice tax refund coming to me soon, AND I will need a new set of tires soon anyways. So the timing seems right, and giving a new look to the Lexus will hopefully tide me over until we see better economic times.

I started out by looking at the mesh-style wheels, like the Volk SF-Winning and MRR GT-1. German wheel maker BBS is pretty well known for making wheels in this style. I think these have a nice classy look to them and look good with the style of the IS, but mesh-style wheels have lots of spokes and are kind of hard to keep clean. Cost is also a huge factor. Forged wheels like the Volks cost a pretty penny but are stronger and light weight; the more common mass-produced cast wheels like the MRRs are cheaper but more prone to bending or damage if you hit a hard bump or pothole, or require more material (and thus more weight) to get the same strength.

Five spoke wheels are the classic style for a sports car, but for a sedan like the IS I am not sure the standard 5-spoke looks right. For a coupe or sports car they look great. However a split-5 spoke design works pretty well, and that's what the standard 18" wheels on the IS are. I decided that I want a set of wheels that don't stray too far from that aesthetic, yet are bigger and lighter. And of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I wanted them to look better than the stock ones which look a little too curvy and flowery to me. They are still very good looking wheels though, which makes choosing a better wheel very difficult.

I've finally decided on a wheel that I really like, the AME Tracer FS-01 made by Enkei in Japan. Enkei is like the Toyota of wheels, they are the giant wheel maker in Japan and they have a high tech manufacturing method called M.A.T. that supposedly bridges the gap between cast and forged wheels, giving wheels almost as much strength as forged wheels but at lower manufacturing cost similar to cast. A high-tech wheel for a high-tech car. Because they are a full-face rim (the spokes extend all the way to the outside rim of the wheel) there is no fat lip like some of the real ballers like to sport on their cars, but I'm going for a classy, sort of understated look. I've liked this wheel ever since I first saw it and after looking at all the other options I keep coming back to this one. So I've pulled the trigger and ordered a set -- they're individually imported as a special order from Japan so I will have to wait about 4-6 weeks for it.

Here are a few other photos of IS's with the same wheels and I think they look pretty nice. They are also about 6 pounds lighter for each wheel than my stock wheels so I am going to get some mild improvement in acceleration, cornering and braking. I'll also go for slightly wider tires than stock and that will help as well.


Thanks to fellow ClubLexus member eddiec for the pic of his dark gray IS350 with the FS-01s.

Stay tuned for more pics when the wheels come in and I get them mounted on my car.

retrorockets

My friend and fellow car junkie H. recently posted up his automotive resume of sorts, listing all the cars he's owned over the years. That of course led me to think about my own rides and... (start shimmering dream sequence effect) it's time to take a spirited drive down Memory Lane...

1) 1991 Toyota Tercel (a.k.a. Rice Rocket I) (1991-2002)
For a car guy, you could say that their first car is like their first love. It may not be the best or the one you stay with, but it will always have a special place in your heart. So it is with the original Rice Rocket. It was painted white, had kind of rounded edges, and being Japanese the name wasn't hard to come up with. The 4-speed long-throw stick shift helped make the most of the mind-numbing 82hp of the 4 cyl engine up front. Armed with 2-door coupe design, a sweet-looking black vinyl interior that one chick even thought was leather, and a "RELAX" bumper sticker on the back, it was the epitome of cool in 1991 for a high school senior. So what if it didn't come with a stereo? That's what a passenger is for, to flip the tape on the boombox when side A is done. It even had a dealer-installed sunroof. Unfortunately RR1 met its untimely demise when it smashed into a freeway offramp divider. Miraculously my sister-in-law who I had lent it to for her college commute escaped with only minor injuries despite RR1 not being equipped with an airbag. By then I had already acquired my next two rides so it didn't mean so much to me, but I will always remember it fondly.

2) 2000 Toyota MR2 Spyder (a.k.a. Stealth Fighter) (2000-)
Growing up my family was very fond of Toyotas ... we had some bad experiences with various American and European makes, but when we started buying Toyotas we found they were economical and reliable. Even when I was in school I became enamored of Toyota's first and second generation MR2s -- they combined sporty performance with rock-solid reliability. No wonder that when I started working and making a little money, I lusted after the new concept MR2 that Toyota displayed in 1997. By the time it went into production in 2000, I had met V. and she encouraged me to pursue my dream. Driving a mid-engine 2-seat roadster opened up my interest in cars and motorsports -- I tried my hand at autocross and then open track days, and got into the import tuning craze. The Stealth Fighter remains in my garage today, and although I no longer drive it every day it makes a great pick-me-up on the weekend drives and the occasional track day.

3) 1992 Toyota MR2 Turbo (a.k.a RedShark) (2002-2005)
As far back as high school I had already fallen in love with the 2nd-generation MR2 which had according to some auto magazines, Ferrari-style looks and Toyota-style price and reliability. And a standard-setting 200-hp 2.0 liter turbocharged engine providing the oomph. Unfortunately Toyota discontinued this model in the U.S. in 1995 and I never had a chance to buy one new. Well with a little extra cash available I was able to finally pick one up used. It was a fantastic ride with plenty of power, stylish looks, and superb mid-engine handling. It held its own at the racetrack, but it was also a practical car that I could drive every day. Unfortunately I eventually sold it because we didn't have the space for so many cars. I still miss it, and maybe someday I will own one again.

4) 2005 Scion tC (a.k.a. Rice Rocket II) (2005-)
When we got married I decided we needed a more "practical car" that we could take everywhere and haul a little more than a few small bags of groceries. But being who I am, of course it still had to be somewhat sporty yet comfy. The sporty ride of the MR2s was getting a little too harsh for the daily grind of my commute. At first I was thinking about an Infiniti G35 but I kind of recoiled from being so extravagant, and decided to look at something more economical. The new Scion tC fit the bill perfectly with its sporty 2-door coupe/hatchback profile and a surprisingly ample set of luxury, convenience and comfort features. And to a certain extent, I felt it was a spiritual successor of sorts to my first Tercel. Eventually V's Mercedes started to fall apart and it just wasn't worth fixing it, so we sold it and V took over the Scion as I started searching for another ride.

5) 2006 Lexus IS350 Sport (a.k.a. Silver Lexstasy) (2006-)
When we got rid of the Mercedes C280 it seemed logical to buy another car to fill the same purpose: another 4-door sedan. But V was happy to take the Scion off my hands, so I was free to shop for another car for me! Woo-hoo! Performance and style were my key criteria. Oh, and made by Toyota of course. At this point though, Toyota itself had gotten a little boring in their offerings. The Japanese equivalent of GM, some call them, but without the Corvette. They had discontinued sporty cars like the Celica or MR2, and a Camry or Avalon wasn't going to cut it. The real exciting or interesting cars were to be found in the Scion and Lexus brands. Well I certainly wasn't going to be rolling in a Scion xB so I went to look at Lexus. The IS350 was the standout performance sedan with a fresh new look and an impressive 306-hp V6 motor driving the rear wheels. It makes the daily drive to and from work just a little more bearable, maybe even entertaining.

Looking back at all these rides, it seems kind of modest and actually a pretty short list considering I'm supposed to be a "car guy". Aren't I supposed to have like 5 cars at once, at least two up on stands or cinder blocks in the front or back yard? And surely at least one truck to haul or tow them, and something with a V8. No muscle cars? Obviously my automotive resume needs some beefing up. I guess I'm coming to the realization that I am more of a driver than a mechanic -- I have tinkered with my rides to a fair degree, but I get much more enjoyment out of just taking them out on the open road or on a closed track.

So what's next in P's garage? I'm not sure yet -- maybe it's time to stray from the Toyota fold and see what else is out there. I'm definitely feeling the mid-engine magic might take hold of me again. I'm running out of affordable options there though. The Audi R8 seems like a solid choice but the Porsche Cayman is a bit more affordable. Then again, there's that new Lexus LF-A that will be coming in 2010. Maybe I should just start saving up for that. But reports say it might be priced over $300K. That's a pretty huge chunk of change for a Toyota!