The Electropocalypse.

Would be a great name for a heavy metal band. But that might be beside the point. I am of course going to be writing about electric cars. And bikes… Hell i guess i’ll even include electric unicycles.

But yes. They are coming. They may not be viable currently as methods of long distance transportation but they’ll probably get there eventually. With Volvo joining the fray by 2019 and Nevs getting ready for production. As well as Rimac showing a very pretty electric super car. (Or just sports car. i can’t remember). Sure i’d love to believe that Audi’s E-fuel will take off  and be everything they’d hoped for. But i’m not holding my breath. Personally i’d like to see hydrogen become viable. As it is the most abundant chemical element on earth. And it would bring a bit of mundane routine into EV ownership. (Filling it up at service stations) While still staying zero emissions.

Governments and environmentalists will push for zero emissions harder and harder over time. There is already talk about banning the sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles by the 2040s. in some countries. And while i’m sad that the internal combustion engine is nearing its inevitable end. I suppose i’ll have to accept that. And either way. If something is permanent it easily becomes taken for granted.

Now i don’t expect any government to get a full ban into effect in just 22.5 years. Efficiency and expedience are words i don’t associate with most forms of government. Apart from monarchies and dictatorships. (OFF WITH HIS HEAD! and such) But they may surprise me. And it is simply a ban of new vehicles with conventional engines. With the possible benefit of automakers having to make an effort in order to make near zero emissions vehicles for their lineups. And attractive to consumers. Personally i’d love to see a fully electric E-class on the market. I’d buy it quite fast. A merc with less moving parts to go wrong. Yes please.

Sure i’ll miss the rumble of big engines in the future. One of my neighbors drives a GT350R and man does that car sound good just burbling down the street. And i do like big engines. Something that makes a car rumble and feel like its alive.But the thought of an electric vehicle has grown on me over the years. Instant torque. Low maintenance and ,in the right car, fantastic comfort levels. The thought of having one engine driving each wheel independently is enticing. With the right setup and a properly thought out car it could make for some spooky handling. Electric motorcycles on the other hand is something i’ve been into for quite a while. I’d love a Lito Sora. BUT. The lack of noise is an issue for me here. As a motorcyclist you need every bit of help that you can get. And that little bit of engine noise might be what makes a car driver notice you coming up for an overtake. Not everyone checks their mirrors before pulling out.

And i included the unicycles simply because i wanted to mention the Onewheel.

I just think its neat. (probably not technically a unicycle. But still. Neat)

So where was i going with this.. Oh yes. It might be time to start considering an electric vehicle soon. But for the love of god. Enjoy what you drive now. If you have something that you like driving then cherish it. Take a few more nice drives to nowhere and back and give it an extra wash. And try the cars you want. at least if you are able to do so.
For the time being lets keep our fingers crossed for sports EV’s that are actually great to drive in our futures. And for as many enjoyable miles in our current and future internal combustion engine cars.

Trying something new-ish

Eight months back i had some extra cash burning a hole in my pocket. It was time to get rid of the Golf. But deciding on what to get was not easy. I wanted something that would stand out a bit while still being a decent daily driver. And at $5000 i was spoiled for choice. But it was all common stuff in the local car scene. 200sx’s (S13’s S14’s) a skyline GTS-T, Mitsu 3000GTs. Volvo 850s, Miatas, A stagea that needed a bit of work, Golf GTi’s, Some Hondas, even a Nissan Sunny GTI-R that i had to pass on because i’d lose my license. Try driving one. They are too damn fun. A few Merc 190s. Had one as my first car and i’m kind of hooked. I’ve owned two so far. But i wouldn’t get anything other than the 2.5-16 this time. And there were none. They were all good cars in their own ways but nothing i hadn’t tried or seen before.

Then i decided it was time to try owning something from a country i hadn’t owned Anything from before. It was time to try American. But with my limited budget there was only a few options. (American cars are at a slight premium in Sweden) The SN95 mustang, The dodge stealth (which is out by default since its really a mitsubishi in drag) And the Catfish camaro. All V6 cars. The foxbody was tempting. But a bit hard to justify.

In the end i went fishing. Caught a nice fat catfish in gleaming silver. A V6, Manual, Coupe. I wanted an automatic T-top but they were not biting at the time. And in the end i’m quite happy with my catch. Although it bit me when i let my guard down. But more on that in a bit.

So i ended up in a slice of V6 americana. And man was i hounded for it. “Why didn’t you buy this” “Why didn’t you buy that” On top of that it turns out driving it makes me gay. At least according to the internet. Which i think is ridiculous. And so does my boyfriend.
I’m joking.. I’m a car enthusiast.. I can’t afford dating..

So. After eight months of ownership i think i’m ready to talk about it.
Well right off the bat i’ll say that cars like mine get too much crap leveled at them. I’m not expecting to change that with a blog post. But man people can be dicks. If i bought a park avenue with the same engine nobody would bat an eye. But let’s not dwell on it.

I went into this with a bit of knowledge and an open mind. And i have to say i’m not entirely dissatisfied with my choice. I made one major mistake with the purchase but that’s on me. Not the car. I bought it with a slightly whiny rear end. The car sounded a bit bad too. But yeah. I figured i’d swap the rear when it went pop for something a bit sturdier than the GM 7.5. Wasn’t counting on my job situation changing though so now its gone pop and its in the shop.. Getting another 7.5 installed. This time it might get a locker but its unclear at the moment.

Rear end aside i do like the car. As a daily driver it is my favorite car to date. Its comfortable, Spacious and surprisingly practical. Real good on gas as well. Better than the golf’s 1.6l engine on the highway due to the gearing being done by someone competent. The gearbox is a bit agricultural but i grew up on a farm so its familiar.
And even though its not a very muscly muscle car i’m real happy about being able to pass people at my own leisure. With the golf i had to plan about a week in advance. The plastics are cheap, But not horrid. I’ve driven a 92 Nissan sunny and i know what horrid is. It squeaks a bit. But that’s expected after 17 years. I must say that it has held up well though.

Pros

• Comfy and spacious
• Handles surprisingly well for a live axle car. Was expecting significant bump sensitivity.
• Boot space is great
• Seats are generously proportioned
• 300nm’s of torque makes it real easy to drive. Just let up the clutch and it goes.
• Good visibility
• Seats four in comfort
• Nice and simple to work on.
• Good on gas. Comparatively
• Cheap to insure and the tax isn’t too bad.
• Brakes are real good. (Four wheel discs)
• The AC works soo well.
• Sits pretty far up on stock suspension. Works well with my city’s multitude of speedbumps.

Cons

• You have to be part squid to get out of it in tight parking spaces.
• A bit wide for my street. But not too wide
• Not a fantastic winter vehicle. But i survived
• Can’t find wheels for it locally due to the bolt pattern. And tyres are more expensive
• The stereo is not great.
• Sound proofing. There is none
• Haters gon hate
• Gateway drug. I want more torque!
• Comparatively expensive spares outside regular service items. Some items even say “Call for price” Which is bloody terrifying.
• Window motors don’t work that well.

So there. I’m finally back in a car i enjoy and i plan to attend many car meets with it. That is if i get it back from the shop. And i am planning on doing some stuff to it. At first i figured i’d either do something with the V6 to get the power up. Then i looked at maybe getting the supercharged version of the engine to stick in there. But in the end the LS is my most reasonable option. Since they are plentiful and easier to get into my car. But that’s a bit further down the road. I bought the V6 with the intention of swapping it in the future. That way i get an LS powered camaro. But with my own spin on things. I’ll go through the suspension front to back, Change out the rear axle.. again.. for something a bit sturdier, Throw in a refurbished T56 transmission. Possibly a magnum. Or a 4L60E depending on what i feel like when i need to cross that bridge. And i’ll go through the engine properly before i install it. Possibly with some goodies thrown into it. I’ll go over the fuel system, Ignition, Wiring and add a whole lot of sound deadening. And probably run it on E85. Since its plentiful around here. Big plans. The body is solid and rust free for the most part. And i’ll have a V6 laying about to stuff into something else for fun.

But dreams will be dreams until they are realized. And i’ll need a better paying job before i can get started. But with luck i’ll get there eventually.

So there you have it. My first blog post in ages. I’ll try to remember that i have a blog a bit better from now on.

The new Top Gear

Just got done watching the first episode of the new Top Gear.

And i must say i did enjoy it. There were some things that bothered me but on the whole i watched it with a smile on my face. I went into this with low expectations and they were a lot better than i was expecting. It was weird to watch a top gear variation without Clarkson, Hammond and May but the Grand Tour will probably give us all a good dose of the old trio. Which brings me onto another point. So far the new top gear seems to be centered on the duo of LeBlanc and Evans. I hope we see some more of the presenters in the next episode. I won’t get into too much detail about the episode because i don’t want to spoil it for people that might not have gotten to see it yet. (Not that there are many people that read this blog. But still. Some unlucky sod might stumble in here and read my inane ramblings)

Either way. I will wait for a few more episodes before i write up a proper post about it.

The value of a proper garage

After a couple of years of mooching garage space from friends and family i’m finally *Fingers crossed* moving to a place with a garage.

And i am quite understandably pretty damn excited about it.

Because there is a lot of insecurity involved with not having a space to work on your car in. If something broke on my Golf i’d have to call around to see if anyone could let me park it in their garage to fix it. And if that failed i’d have to either rent a space for a day or work on it out on the parking lot. Which isn’t ideal. When renting a space something could slow the work down and i’d end up paying more for another day. Or have to have it towed home. And working out on the parking lot just sucks. Can’t make much noise or weld. And if someone walked by when i was under the car they could easily grab my toolbox and run.

And it also restricts you in terms of buying cars. Because they have to run and drive and be good enough to where they won’t break down all the time. Which is expensive.

Whereas with a garage i’m more free to choose and do what i want. I can finally get myself a project car too. And i can work indoors where its warm and i can have a cup of coffee whenever i need to scratch my head at a problem.

I wouldn’t have to be underneath a car in -15*C weather while its snowing and the wind is blowing the snow right up my pant legs. And my hands turn into frozen claws..

I can look at slightly run down cars that need a bit of attention too. I can fix rust and do oil changes at my own leisure. I could have a car up on jack stands and procrastinate as much as i’d like too. And most importantly. I’ll be able to furnish the garage just how i like it. Can’t wait for when i’m able to put my drill press up again. A personal garage is security and choice. Which is really nice. So if you’ve got one. Enjoy it and don’t take it for granted.

Now i can finally look forward and indulge in my hobby again. Well.. In three months. Can’t move in until the current owners move out. But at least its something to look forward too. Already have my eyes on something to park in there as soon as i can find one

 

Modifying for the sake of modifying

This is something i see way too often on the internet and to some extent in real life. Someone is getting all hot and bothered about getting a new car and they want to modify it. Which is perfectly fine. The car scene is full of people with great ideas and that want to get everything out of their project. And without those people there wouldn’t be much of a car scene left. Unfortunately some people get a bit overzealous and kind of miss the point.

So you keep seeing stuff like “Hey i’m getting this car. What should i do to it first? Should i start with turboing it? Should i drop it on coils? Blahblahfuckingblah” And the short answer is.. Well.. No.
The question that person needs to ask themselves is “What do i want out of my car” instead of what other people think they should do. Because lets face it.. There are a lot of experts on the internet. Many of which will inevitably tell that person to shove a 2j in it.

My advice is always to drive the car as you bought it for at least three months. Then you’ll get an idea of what you like and what you don’t like about the car. You’ll also notice stuff that might be a bit worn or loose during that time. You might notice that the car bogs or maybe it feels a bit asthmatic at the top end. It might even be burning oil like a two stroke or pissing fluids past a busted head gasket. In which case that fancy turbocharger someone convinced you to buy is completely useless until the engine gets a bit of time love and care.

Or if you are really unlucky the car you bought and thought was immaculate ends up eating crank bearings or mauling a valve to death.
It is even possible that you’ll drive it for a week and then think

So when you’re about to get a new project. Take a while to consider what you want out of the car and what you want to do with it.

In the meantime i’ll just be sitting here. Looking at people suggesting 2j swaps to people in geo metros, thinking

Give it a go

Now this might make a few people butthurt.

But i think Chris Evans deserves a chance with his new format of top gear.
Clarkson,Hammond and May already have a new show on Amazon prime
lined up so they are probably doing just fine.

I watch fifth gear,Top gear uk, Top gear US, Some swedish motoring shows,
Youtube shows and i even watched top gear australia.
And i liked all of them for different reasons.
It just pisses me right off when people hate on stuff for the sake of hating on it.
Evans is a car guy. So i think top gear is in good hands.

The first season is always a difficult thing to pull off.
But if you look at top gear us then they got a lot better during season 2.
And the people that are still going “FUCK THE BBC”
over clarkson being fired are tiresome.
The BBC was scared of complaints,
Clarkson generated a bunch of complaints, And was sacked.
But now he is on Amazon prime.
Possibly with a contract that gives him more free reign over the show
and its contents.
And we’ve got double the car shows coming. A new take on top gear.
And whatever the old TG trios new show is called. How is that a bad thing?

Buses have one advantage over cars.

It is now an october morning. It is about 3*C outside and my car has been parked in the shade for the entire night. And this is where a bus ticket would be awesome.
There are few worse mundane things than going out to drive a cold car.
Right now it isn’t too bad. My Golf warms up pretty quickly. But when i had my old benzes i had a wooden steering wheel. And on really cold days my hands were almost freezing stuck to it. Whereas the bus has already warmed up and the temps are acceptable.

Still won’t take the bus though. Since i live in a rural area i have to go half an hour early by bus to make it to where i need to go in time.
And i don’t want to get gonnoherpasyfilis from the seats.. Was in a nightmarish situation once where i was getting up from the seat and the fabric was stuck to my clothes O.O

Another bother is that i have to change my brake rotors and pads. And i have no heated garage. Sure it works fine at first. But it doesn’t take long before my hands turn into frozen claws. And my usually chipper mood is worn down completely.
I like working on cars when it is warm. Then i can take my time and i usually listen to some dire straits or metallica as i’m working. But cold weather just makes everything a bit more frustrating.

Leather seats are particularly bad. My god do they get cold. I sort of drive cars with leather seats without actually sitting in the seat when it is really cold outside. Until they warm up.

Winter is coming.. And i’d prefer if it could fuck off instead. Especially since i’m now driving a front wheel drive car.. Really going to miss rear wheel drive in the snow..

Car meet woes

So.
Car meets.
This rant was brought on by a car meet i attended yesterday evening. And while i enjoyed it and almost tripped over my tounge at a couple of points in the evening there were some problems.
Now i will preface this by saying that i’m part of the more down to earth car guy/gal crowd so i’m mostly there to meet interesting people and look at nice cars. And i prefer the more family oriented car meets where things are slightly calmer.
But there are some things that will usually happen at car meets that can’t really be avoided if there are a lot of people there.

1. Idiots. There is always that group of people at car meets that aren’t exactly in tune with what the meet is about. The people that will instigate arguments with people and generally have a hostile attitude. Here in sweden they generally drive dented old cars and jump on the roof of it and spend the night being obnoxious.

2. Litterers. This one kind of melds together with the idiots point.
At most car meets there will be trash bags taped up in various easy to get to locations around the car park. But this doesn’t stop the compulsive litterers.
The car park went from presentable to a dump during the five hours the meet was going on. Beer cans, Glass bottles, Bags of candy and all kinds of other crap were strewn all over the area. And i heard that one moron had put a glass bottle on the ground and then hoofed it really hard. And since you could barely spit without hitting a car you can guess what happened to that bottle.

3. Rev limiter bangers. Now this one is minor. But after an E30 went around backfiring for some of the night and then backfired half a meter from me.. Causing my ears to ring for most of the night i got a bit fed up with it.

4. Hooningans. Pretty simple. People that haven’t understood that flooring it in a crowded parking lot is idiotic and dangerous.

5. The street racers. The people that meet up at the car meet and then move on towards the end to race at various locations during the night.
Now while i don’t condone street racing i don’t really care too much what they get up to on abandoned roads later. But the police and papers pick up on that and the street races are immediately associated with the car meet.

All these combined increase the risk of the parking lot getting boom barriers put up and people cracking down on anyone trying to organize a proper car meet.
Which would suck since the amount of parking lots large enough is pretty low and getting permissions for meets has gotten harder because of the previously mentioned issues. So if you are attending a car meet.. Please behave

But other than that the meet was really nice. (Cold as all hell though)
Almost tripped over an S13’s borderline bosozoku exhaust XD

I hate being in project car limbo

There comes a point in most car guys lives where something gets in the way of any
serious project. In my case its debt. (Company went bust. Long story) And this means
i have almost no disposable income. Which in turn means no way of getting a project.
Or anywhere to keep the project either.

I do have a car though. Had to save every spare penny to get myself something more
reliable for the time being. So i got myself an MK5 golf wagon with a 1.6l engine. It’s a
great daily but it’s not really a car i feel the need to spend money on. The peppy engine
and german handling is enough for what i’m using it for. And it’s the fiat panda kind of
fun.

But the urge to get something to really sink the angle grinder into is worse than the
urge for a cig after you’ve quit smoking. I need something to wrench on properly.
I catch myself dreaming up all kinds of different projects. VW caddy sleepers with
volvo white block engines, Pro touring buick rivieras, Nissan sunny coupés with
CA18ET engines and rear wheel drive… There are probably 30 to 40 project ideas
floating around in my head. All requiring extensive and expensive modifications.

But the one that really keeps nagging at me is my 190E two seat speedster idea.
And that one is the most expensive one. The 190 body is not that expensive in itself.
But the materials and parts will be. It is supposed to be my magnum opus. The most
extensive modification i have ever done. Every part of the original 190 would be
modified. The engine would be a massive twin turbo (and possibly supercharged) V8
affair.  A car that Would teach me everything i would ever need to know about building
a really fast car. That would reward me with an adrenaline overdose when it’s at the
limit. And kill me if i made a mistake. No interference from ABS,ASD,STC or any other
driver assists. Just power steering and AC. Because some comforts are important.
A car with  the ability to smoke up the tires violently at 100 km/h but still handle as
well as possible. Something that would fit perfectly with the song “Hail to the king”
By avenged sevenfold.  Lofty goals i know. But if there is a will there is a way. I already
started it once but because of a family feud i could not keep my garage and had to
get rid of the car..

And that should give you some idea of why i am not dealing very well with my current
situation. There is at least a six month period before i can even consider getting
another project car. And in that time i will be going to car shows, car meets, reading
forum threads etc. etc. Project ideas will come and go and i don’t know what my next
project will be.. And that is irritating.

JDM AS F**K. Wait what?

JDM. Japanese domestic market
Now i know this has taken on a completely different meaning to the JDM crowd.
But it always irks me when someone says that they’ve got a JDM car.
If it was imported directly from japan and is a japanese model. Yes. Then you are
right. But if you are driving an USDM spec japanese car then that’s not strictly
accurate.

Or the people that run around telling people how JDM their cars are.
Even though they’ve added a bodykit,Fender flares and done some engine mods.
And don’t forget the rota wheels that seem to be brought up in almost every thread.
Because if their cars were truly JDM they’d be bone stock right hand drive japanese
imports. Most likely with a bumper or headlights that need to be changed anyway to
keep it legal

And if you drive a pre-2004 japanese car and you want it to be JDM AS F**K..
Then you should maybe consider the 280bhp manufacturer gentlemans agreement.
Or the 190km/h (118.1mph) speed limiter that is a JDM must have

Now. You can keep calling your cars JDM for all i care. And this won’t change
At least not after a tiny blog post on a blog no-one has ever heard of mentioned it.

I’ll just call it by the make and model and not care at all 😛