Author: kurt

Ask 100 car guys what their favorite car wax or detailer is, and you’re liable to get 100 different answers. Over the years I think I’ve tried them all, from the “buy it at the grocery store” Turtle Wax to the “ridiculously overpriced but nice smelling” Zymol. There’s one company I keep going back to for all of my car care products, and that’s Poorboy’s World.

Their slogan is, ‘Not Much Money, But What a Shine’, and their products are indeed priced less than premium products from other manufacturers. If an $8 can of Meguiar’s Car Cleaner and Wax is all you use, then the Poorboy’s products may seem expensive; if, however, you buy your car care products from Griot’s Garage or another high end supplier, the prices will seem quite reasonable.

Prices aside, the Poorboy’s products I’ve used work very well. I’m a huge fan of their Spray and Wipe Waterless Wash, and use it on everything from paint to interior plastic to glass. When used with a good microfiber towel, it’s one of the few cleaners I’ve ever found to remove the oxidation from the inside of a windshield (instead of just wiping it around). Their Natty’s Paste Wax is another great product, and produces a longer lasting shine than any other carnuba wax I’ve used. Poorboy’s Wheel Sealant makes brake dust hose right off, although removing and waxing each wheel is a pain in the ass.

If you need microfiber cloths or cotton drying towels, they’ve got a much better selection of high quality products than you’re likely to find locally. I use their glass towels and their waffle weave drying towels, and am always pleased with the end result.

Want to try their stuff, but don’t want to commit to buying the full size versions? Poorboy’s World offers sample kits of their most popular products, which also work well for last minute touch ups at car shows.

More info: Poorboy’s World

The mid-70s were bleak times for any American who considered himself a car enthusiast. The original gas crisis was still fresh in the public’s mind, and it left consumers demanding better mileage over more horsepower. Air pollution was a growing concern, forcing car makers to develop complex, horsepower-robbing emission control systems. Consider this: in 1975, the base Corvette only put out 165 horsepower. The Camaro Z28 had been discontinued, and the biggest motor remaining in the Camaro lineup was only good for 155 horsepower. A good zero to sixty time was anything below ten seconds, and things would grow even worse with the introduction of exhaust-system-clogging catalytic converters in 1976.

Enter the Chevy Cosworth Vega. Originally conceived by Chevy’s engineers in 1970, the car featured a dual overhead cam, sixteen valve two liter motor designed by Cosworth Engineering. How good could the car have been? Early prototype Cosworth motors made as much as 180 horsepower, but suffered from durability and pollution control issues. By the time the car was launched in 1975, the horsepower had eroded to a more pedestrian 110. Still, 110 horsepower in a car that weighed less than 2,800 pounds wasn’t half bad, and yielded a 0 to 60 time of 8.7 seconds. The Cosworth 2.0 liter motor made peak power at 5,600 RPM (versus 4,400 on the Vega’s standard 2.3 liter motor) and redlined at 6,500 RPM (versus 5,000 on the 2.3 liter motor). The car was light and had reasonable handling, made decent power and loved to be flogged. Done up in the original black-with-gold-trim paint, with a gold engine-turned dash, it featured just enough flash to set it apart from the rest of the econobox herd. It had all the ingredients of a home run for Chevy, except for one thing: the price was astronomical. The Cosworth Vega cost roughly twice as much money as a standard Vega, and was less than a thousand dollars cheaper than a 1975 Corvette. Buyers avoided the little-Vega-that-could like meth users avoid oral hygiene, and the car was quietly discontinued after the 1976 model year.

Time has not been kind to the Cosworth Vega, and like any other 35 year old car, good examples are getting harder to find each year. Here on eBay is a very nice example of the breed, offered at no reserve. The car features a full restoration and has only 30k documented miles on the the clock. There aren’t any bids yet, so chances are you can snipe this piece of Chevy performance history for less than seven grand.

Not sure how this missed the mainstream news, but Electric Motor Cars has begun shipments of its $33,950 Pickup model to dealers, including Des Moines Motors. Manufactured in Romania by Dacia (now a subsidiary of Renault), the electric mini-pickup claims to have a range of 260 miles and a load capacity of 2,000 pounds. The batteries can be recharged on household current in eight hours, or in three hours using 220v. Nothing has been published about top speed, zero to sixty times, battery life or vehicle warranty.

Not a pickup guy? No worries, because cargo van and station wagon versions are also on their way to the states. All versions are based on the fossil fuel powered Dacia Logan, designed to be a low cost but reliable vehicle for emerging markets.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has long been the bane of low volume importers, since EU or Japan vehicle regulations differ significantly from U.S. regulations. If this hasn’t yet been approved by the D.O.T. for road use, buyers will be spending $34k for an “off highway use only” golf cart. Has anyone validated the 260 mile range claimed, or the payload capacity of 2,000 pounds (which puts it on par with a Ford F150)? Is anyone else concerned that Electric Motor Cars doesn’t even have a website? Call me a skeptic, but when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Source: Autopia and The Des Moines Register

After 28 years, the seven-millionth Ford Ranger rolled off their St. Paul assembly line last month. Ford also announced their intention to end Ranger production in 2011, with a replacement scheduled for the 2012 model year. Internet rumors say the new compact pickup will be based on a smaller version of their perennial favorite F150.

I owned a 4wd Ranger, and it was a decent little truck. Comfortable enough, powerful enough and capable enough, it was a reasonably priced alternative to Toyota’s Tundra. Got a good Ranger story? Got pics of your truck in the dirt? In honor of the Ranger’s demise, let’s see ‘em.

Source: Autoblog

Like we told you yesterday, Toyota has announced a recall of 2010 Prius models to fix software related brake issues. New today is the extent of the recall, which now includes the Prius, the Sai, and the Lexus 250h. Worldwide, the number of vehicles recalled is 437,000.

Oh, and they’re also recalling 7,300 four cylinder Camrys for a brake hose problem. And you thought your week was off to a bad start.

Having spent the bulk of my adult life living near NYC, I’ve got an affinity for NYC taxis and the misfits who drive them. Generally speaking, a proper NYC cab is a massive, American made rear-drive beast that handles like a garbage barge (and smells about the same). Taxi drivers, who come from every forgotten third-world country on the planet, exhibit uncanny car control skills and have not a single fear. I’ve driven race tracks at speed with FIA licensed drivers that did not demonstrate the ‘testicular fortitude’ of the average NYC cabbie.

When Chevy stopped building the rear wheel drive Caprice in 1996, NYC cab companies began to look for alternatives beyond the venerable Ford Crown Victoria. Ultimately, they rolled out a fleet of Honda Odyssey minivans. This proved to be a disaster, as the front wheel drive Hondas proved no match for the grueling life of a NYC cab. Potholes ate alloy wheels for breakfast, with a side order of half shafts. Maintenance that was quick and easy on a Crown Vic or Caprice proved to be more complex on the Odyssey, and cab companies realized that a front wheel drive minivan was not a good substitute for a rear wheel drive sedan. Most companies abandoned the experiment, and today some 90% of cabs in NYC are Crown Vics.

Enter the Ford Transit Connect, a vehicle that Ford hopes to pitch to NYC’s Taxi and Limousine Commission for approval. Shown at the upcoming Chicago Auto Show as a compressed natural gas vehicle, the Transit Connect fits nicely into Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s “green taxi” initiative. Here’s the problem: the Transit Connect, like the Honda Odyssey, is a front wheel drive, unibody construction light duty vehicle. In fact, the Transit Connect uses a platform originally developed for the first global Ford Focus.

Given the TLC requirement that New York taxis must be updated every six years, the jury is out on whether or not the Transit Connect will prove durable or cost effective enough. Ford has a lot on the line here, and they need to present a viable alternative to the Crown Vic to meet New York’s standards. The Transit Connect may be their best shot at retaining the business.

Source: Jalopnik

If you’re anything like me, you probably have drawers full of obscure tools bought for maintenance on vehicles you no longer own. Need a stator puller for a mid-80’s Honda CB motor? I’ve got one. How about an 8mm carb balancing tool? Got that, too. Electronic carb synchronizer? Check.

There are some tools, however, that no gear head should be without. Some get used all the time, while others are there just in case. I’m skipping over the obvious stuff like good sets of combination wrenches, sockets, extensions, screwdrivers and pliers; if you don’t already have these, you can’t really consider yourself a gear head, now can you?

Here’s my list, but feel free to tell me yours:

Computer: Since you’re reading this online you probably already have one, but every gear head needs a computer with internet access. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of car and motorcycle boards out there. Some are model specific, like Miata.net. Others are more general in nature (like bimmerforums.com), but all provide a repository for every last bit of information you could want to know about your vehicle. Two points of caution: first, the information is worth what you pay for it. If someone on a forum suggests that you pour sand into your motor to ‘polish the pistons’, you’d be wise to get some validation before you try anything that just doesn’t sound right. Second, search is your friend: nothing pisses off crusty forum vets like noobs asking the same question, every day, for five or ten years.

Floor Jack / Jack Stands: Don’t cheap out here, because you generally get what you pay for. First, think about your vehicles. If you own a ‘Vette, that bottle jack you bought to rotate the tires on your Jeep CJ isn’t going to do you much good. Likewise, that low profile jack for your slammed S2000 isn’t going to do much good when you need to rotate tires on your lifted Tacoma. At the very least, you need a jack (or jacks) that will allow you to raise every car in your garage for service. If you lift unibody cars by their jacking points, a channel saddle that supports the unibody seams (instead of the standard dished saddle) is a good investment.

Since jack stands support the weight of the vehicle when you’re underneath it (and keep you from being squashed like a bug), always buy stronger stands than you think you’re going to need. If your car weighs 4,000 pounds and you’re doing brakes on all four corners, you’ll need stands with a minimum capacity of 1,000 pounds each. Buy the ones rated at 1,500 pounds, just for that extra margin of safety. Inspect them prior to purchase; make sure that the teeth on the saddle engage the pawl firmly, and make sure any welds are solid. Inspect your jack stands regularly, and replace them if anything looks out of sorts.

Lug Wrench: The one in your car’s tool kit may be good enough for the occasional roadside emergency, but any gear head who rotates their own tires, changes brakes or fixes their own flat tires needs a good lug wrench. Once you get proficient, you can spin off lug nuts almost as quickly as you can with an impact gun. They come in standard and metric, and in different sizes of each, so make sure you’re buying the correct size for your vehicles.

Compressor: A 110v floor model is preferred, but everyone needs at least a cheap 12 volt portable air compressor. Properly inflated tires improve handling, last longer and give you better fuel mileage. Besides, nothing sucks more than trying to find a gas station that still has air for customers.

Tire Gauge: That cheap pencil style air gauge you have in your tool chest? Throw it out. That fancy digital tire gauge you blew twenty bucks on? Smash it with a hammer, then throw it out. Buy yourself a dial type air gauge with a bleed valve and rubber armor (because yes, you will drop it).

Half Inch Drive Torque Wrench: Few things piss me off quite as much as shops who use impact guns to tighten lug nuts on wheels. Why? First, excess torque can damage wheels and warp rotors. Second, have you ever tried to change a flat tire by the roadside after some asshat cranked down your lug nuts with 350 ft-lbs of torque? It pegs the suck-o-meter, trust me. Buy a torque wrench, learn how to set it and use it to torque the lug nuts on your wheels to the manufacturer’s recommended value (usually 95 ft-lbs or so). And ALWAYS verify that anyone working on your car has torqued the lug nuts properly.

Tire Plug Kit: A decent kit with a t-handle reamer and t-handle plugger will set you back $20 or so. Buy extra plugs and keep them in a ziplock bag, since they dry out over time. Ditto the rubber cement used to lubricate and seal the plugs. I carry a kit in each of my cars as cheap insurance against flat tires. Just remember to NEVER plug holes in a tire’s sidewall and use plugs in a tubeless motorcycle tire only until you can replace the tire.

Rechargeable Drop Light: Ever notice how the cord of your plug-in droplight always manages to block the wheel of your creeper? Ever notice how this happens at the worst possible time, like when you realize you don’t have rags under the car and the hot oil is running into your armpit? A rechargeable drop light solves the problem.

OBD II Code Reader: If your ride is newer than the 1995 model year, you need one of these gadgets. Want to know the source of that “check engine” light? Is it an oxygen sensor or just a loose gas cap? OBD code readers allow you to capture the ECU’s trouble codes and diagnose the source of the problem. Some allow you to reset trouble codes, saving a costly trip to the dealer for service.

Dremel Tool: Not something you use every day, but when you need it, you REALLY need it. I’ve used mine for everything from cutting exhaust bolts to slotting stripped screw heads.

So that’s my list; what did I forget? What tool can you not live without in your garage?

Google’s ad during yesterday’s Superbowl explained in less than a minute how the story of someone’s life can be pieced together from their search queries. Using only the search terms and user’s clicks of the search results, Google told the story of a user who seeks love while studying abroad in Paris, finds it, moves to Paris, marries and has a child.

The poignant story, along with Google’s suite of search stories, masterfully illustrates how some of the most intimate information in our lives–from planning a trip to political activism–are routinely and vividly expressed in our interactions with Google, and highlights the need for that information to have strong protections.

The Superbowl ad was Google’s first foray into national television advertising, and it’s great that Google used this opportunity to illustrate the importance of search privacy to one of the world’s largest audiences. Now that Google has shown how personal its records of user interaction are, it should follow through and protect that information from involuntary disclosure by anonymizing search queries. Microsoft’s Bing is anonymizing this information after six months by deleting the entire Internet Protocol (“IP”) address associated with your search queries. Google can and should anonymize search queries in the same way after six months or less.

I spent some time as a driving instructor, and I wish any of my students were as smooth as the driver dissed in this video. Maybe the guy didn’t have all the lines nailed, and maybe his shifting could have used some work, but I didn’t see anything I’d call dangerous. The primary job of an instructor is to instruct, and I sure as hell I didn’t hear any of that going on.

The video has a happy ending, though: the assnozzle instructor is now unemployed and presumably looking for something better suited to his temperment. Like being a clerk at the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles.

Source: Jalopnik

Adam Wickstead sent in pics of his very lustworthy 1973 BMW 3.0 CS. Built by Karmann for BMW, the 3.0 CS featured a 2985cc motor with dual carbs good for 180 horsepower. The CS line helped to establish BMW as a driver’s car, largely due to their success in European Touring Car racing.

Adam’s ride sports Alpina wheels and wears a rare shade of green paint. The E9 coupes, as BMW called them, were prone to rust so clean examples are getting hard to find.

Nice perspective, beautiful car. Not a trace of tinworm to be seen.

Unable to find an Aerostitch suit in size 85 long or an Arai helmet in size XXXXXL, Bigfoot was a very careful rider.

Danica Patrick is on a roll: after finishing sixth in her ARCA debut last Saturday, she’s decided that banging doors and bump drafting are fun. Her team, JR Motorsports, announced this morning that she’ll be driving the number 7 Go Daddy car in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

Per Patrick, “The ARCA race was a blast, and I’m not ready for my first Daytona Speedweeks to end just yet. I want more racing.” Patrick started twelfth in last Saturday’s ARCA event and had moved up as far as fifth before finishing in the sixth position.

No, that is not a misprint: Ducati has announced that the 2010 Multistrada 1200 will require major service intervals (valve clearance inspections) every 15,000 miles. Complex valve adjustment procedures, previously required at 7,500 miles and beyond the realm of most shade tree mechanics, often meant that riders of modest means shopped elsewhere.

Ducati claims the new Testastretta motor improves fuel efficiency, reduces maintenance costs and produces lower emission, while maintaining the level of performance expected from Ducati. New, harder valve seat material was used in the Testastretta motor to enable the longer service intervals. Prices start at $14,995 for the 1200 without ABS and jump to $19,995 for the top of the line Sport version. A base version with ABS is also available for $16,495.

Styling on the old Multistrada was polarizing, with riders falling into the “love it” or “hate it” camps. Personally, I thought it was ugly as sin, not something I often say about Italian designs. The new Multistrada 1200 loses the bloated fairing and bland lines, and returns to Ducati’s more traditional (read: minimalist) styling. I like the look and love the functionality, so look for a ride report in the near future.

Bigfoot. El Chupacabre. The Loch Ness monster. Honest politicians. People swear that they’ve had encounters, and swear on a stack of bibles that these critters exist. The Tesla Model S, revealed to the public just about one year ago, fits in the same realm; call it “auto-cryptozoology”. With clean lines reminiscent of a Maserati, it looked to be the out-of-the-park home run alternative to Chevy’s plain vanilla Volt electric sedan.

Twelve months down the road, Tesla has a concept vehicle, but no finished production prototype or finalized design. They also lack a development partner (Lotus helped on the Tesla Roadster), a manufacturing facility, a build process and, soon, a source of revenue. As Lotus will discontinue the current Elise / Exige platform in 2011, this leaves Tesla without a manufacturing partner for Roadsters until a new platform can be engineered and adapted.

Tesla has already received a government loan for $465 million, and will soon be shopping their IPO. It’s a crapshoot on whether or not the company will be able to pull off a successful launch of the Model S, but doing so would establish them as America’s premier electric car manufacturer. Personally, I’m going to wait a little longer before buying Tesla stock.

Source: Straightline

Veteran driver Bobby Gerhart won a crash-filled Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 race, complete with two red flags to clear the track of debris. Mark Thompson finished second and John Wes Townley rounded out the podium spots.

Veteran driver Bobby Gerhart won a crash-filled Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 race, complete with two red flags to clear the track of debris. Mark Thompson finished second and John Wes Townley rounded out the podium spots.

The question on everyone’s mind, though, was “how did Danica do”? The IRL star and media favorite managed a sixth place finish, despite her inexperience in using the draft to her advantage. Danica’s open wheel experience was evident from the car control she demonstrated on lap 52, when Nelson Piquet, Jr, forced her below the yellow line and into the infield grass. There’s a very fine line between correcting a spin at speed and overcorrecting a spin, and Danica’s recovery was near perfect. I’m still not a big Danica fan, but credit where it’s due: that was a very good a piece of driving.

Piquet Jr., the ex-Renault F1 driver, was disappointing in his ARCA debut. Unable to master the draft, Piquet appeared not to car who was above or below him on the track. In addition to his shunt with Danica Patrick, Piquet’s careless driving nearly took out series regular Steve Arpin. Piquet competes next Friday in the Craftsman Truck series; let’s hope he applies the lessons learned in yesterday’s race.

I’m pretty much a take-’em-or-leave-’em guy when it comes to cars built before the sixties. Sure, I appreciate the styling and craftsmanship, I just wouldn’t want to own one. Every rule has it’s exception, and mine is the ’32 or ’33 Ford Coupe.

Factory Five Racing, purveyors of fine quality Cobra replicas, have introduced a kit called the ’33 Hot Rod. Starting with a steel tube frame chassis, the Factory Five designers sculpted a body that’s wider, lower and more aerodynamic than the original. I see the influence of Boyd Coddington’s AlumaCoupe, and that’s a good thing.

How much will all this retro-tastiness set you back? The chassis and body, sans wheels and tires, motor, transmission, rear end, battery, fuel pump, paint and finishing bits will set you back just under $20k. Factory Five estimates that a complete car can be built for under $40k, including paintwork. That may be a little on the conservative side, since they’ve only estimated $250 for a Ford 4.6 liter V8 from a junkyard. Who wants a hot rod with a stock V8?

As with any kit car, the final configuration is limited only by the owner’s budget. Factory Five makes kits available in fendered or fenderless versions, with or without a hard top. Interested? Contact Factory Five Racing.

Got an empty space in you car collection between the General Lee and the Batmobile? Looking for something with a little flash to take to opening night of the symphony? Tired of one-upping your neighbors with the latest luxo-box from Mercedes or BMW? Stress no more, for the perfect single-digit-salute to the establishment is for sale on eBay. No, it’s not the Deathmobile used in the movie, but who’s going to know? You’ll need to add your own smoke generators, but that sounds like a fun Saturday afternoon project to me. The best part? It’s got a “Buy It Now” price of just $12,500. For less than the cost of a new Corolla, you can be rolling in style as you scare the crap out of the neighbors.

Source: MotorAuthority

I had to give equal time to the US equivalent of the Holden ad. Watch ‘em back to back, and you realize it’s the same add with different stock footage and lyrics. Look for some truly horrific mid-seventies bowtie products like the Chevette, Monza and (gulp) even a Vega. Although I do have a strange lust for Cosworth Vegas…

Danica Patrick has qualified in the 12th spot for Saturday’s ARCA series opener at Daytona. One of several open wheel veterans in the field, Patrick is joined by former Renault Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr., who is starting in the seventh postion, and IRL nemesis Milka Duno, starting in 31st.

Patrick, the highest qualifying female driver, is one of six women in Saturday’s field. Alli Owens starts from the 19th spot, Lielani Munter from the 25th spot, Jill George from the 38th spot, Jennifer Jo Cobb from the 42nd spot and Milka Duno from 31st.

James Buescher has the pole and Mikey Kile is second. The race will air tomorrow at 4:30 Eastern on Speed TV.

Can’t get enough Toyota bashing? Is your Calvin-peeing-on-the-Toyota logo no longer getting you the thumbs up? Now you can enjoy Toyota’s suffering with your morning coffee, but I’d hurry up and order your merchandise before Toyota slams Scooter’s Novelties with a “cease and dessist” order. And yes, I’m ordering a TiRD oval sticker for my FJ, just because it made me laugh.

Source: Scooter’s Novelties via Jalopnik