totaltestdrive

10 Fast and Frugal Machines

2011-03-16T05:53:00.000-07:00

With gas prices reaching up to almost $3.50 nationally, it's harder and harder to scratch your performance car itch on a working slob's budget. I wrote this article a while back to try to address that dilemma.

10 Fast and Frugal Machines

The goal was to find cars that had a power-to-weigh ratios of 1 hp for every 10 lbs. There are a few surprises on the list from Infiniti and Porsche. Check it out and see if any of these great vehicles are worthy to sip fuel slowly in your stable of cars.

Buying Guide Bonanza

2011-03-16T05:45:00.001-07:00

Back in the day, I wrote a bunch of Buying Guides for Autobytel.com. Here's a quick list of them for your reading enjoyment.

BMW Buying Guide

Suzuki Buying Guide

Mercedes Benz Buying Guide

Subaru Buying Guide

Audi Buying Guide

Episode IV: A New Beginaning

2011-03-15T15:52:00.000-07:00

So obviously I haven't been blogging for a long while. But, with some current changes in my work and life circumstances, I will finally have the time and commitment level to start actively blogging and working my way further and deeper into the abyss that is the internet.

Stay tuned for upcoming musings on cars and all things automotive. It's especially important now that Jalopnik has turned into rubbish.

CG

Roush Track Pack- written for WebRidesTV.com

2009-06-28T12:10:00.001-07:00

When the reintroduced Ford Mustang debuted back in 2005, who would have guessed that in a few short years there would be so many special edition models popping up? You’ve got your Shelby GT500, the Shelby Mustang GT-H (aka Hertz rent-a-racer), the up-and-coming Shelby GT500KR, the Saleen Mustang S281, Saleen’s Parnelli Jones Edition and the Steeda Q 525. All of those models are guaranteed to put hair on your chest and we haven’t even mentioned Roush Performance. Jack Roush got the idea to build yet another special edition high performance Mustang that would pack more punch then his spicy Roush 427R (which was an upgrade to the former top-of-the-line Roush Stage 3). He decided it should be a great daily driver on the streets and help you get this car racing when at the local track day. It’s called the Roush 427R Trak Pak and it’s packed (sorry) with all the wisdom of Roush Racing. Despite their poor spelling, they’ve managed to up the ante for all the other Mustang tuners out there.

They started with the tried and true maxim, “Add horsepower, car go faster.” Courtesy of the Roush intercooled supercharger, the engine delivers 435 horsepower and 400 lb.-ft. of torque for serious burning rubber hooligan antics. You can get in touch with all that power through the 5-speed manual transmission (no, automatic tranny here) and a torsion-style rear differential.

To reign in the extra grunt, the Trak Pak gives you 14-inch slotted rotors with six piston calipers up front, slotted brake discs out back, high performance brake pads and high temperature brake fluid so you can lap all day long without worrying about brake fade. To improve the ‘Stang’s reliability and performance consistency, you get a high flow front grille and radiator cooling shields. The Roush engineers did extensive testing to make sure that the car would handle the demands of stop-and-go traffic as well as its fair share of hardcore club racing abuse.

More importantly, Roush engineers added in a ton of suspension upgrades and much needed suspension tuning to help you shave seconds off your lap times. They included front and rear adjustable shocks and beefed up the springs, stabilizer bars and jounce bumpers, and threw in a strut tower brace for good measure. They even included adjustable camber/caster plates so you can tweak the handling to suit any racetrack. Coupled with improved chassis rigidity and high performance tires, this Mustang is seriously fast in the corners and offers enough driver confidence to make any ham-fisted Joe Six-Pak look good.

But what the hell good is all that speed if you don’t look good when you pull up to your local car club hang? Well, Roush has got you covered with an aero body kit that has a new front fascia, front spoiler, hood scoop and hood pins. And you’ll stand out from the crowd with the aggressive graphics, 18-inch chrome wheels, special badging and optional rear quarter glass louvers that remind everyone to “Back Off!” If you need to go for the ultimate in racer boy looks, you can get an optional carbon fiber rear spoiler. It’s adjustable and provides meaningful rear downforce, a rarity among today’s fashion trim pieces.

The interior is tricked out with competition gear and butt pampering goodness. It will be love at first sight when you set your eyes on the three-gauge pod with a boost gauge and the four-piece aluminum pedal kit. The shift light will help remind you of when you should have shifted the short throw shifter about 500 revs ago. Whoops. Well, you can comfort yourself by relaxing in the leather sport seats.

Get it right at the track and you may be leaving a Corvette, BMW M3 or many other Japanese and European imports scratching their hoods and wondering why they are being passed by a true American muscle car. Even if you don’t get it right, Roush definitively did. With the success of Roush Racing, why would you expect anything less?

If you decided to install all the Mustang accessories, performance products and racing parts you could get your hands on, it’s very unlikely that you could create a car as fun and balanced as this Trak Pak. Roush has managed to design a car that you can truly enjoy as a daily driver, and when the green flag is waved you’ll be guaranteed to have tons of fun in a Mustang that can keep charging through the turns a lot longer than you can.

In 40 years, the Roush 427R Track Pack may be ranked right up there with a ’69 Mach 1, ’70 Boss 302 or the awesome Shelby GT350. And with only 100 being built, it’s a shoe-in to be a classic car way before 2047. So grab your racing helmet and put on your racing shoes, because these cars will go quick. Get it?

First Loves- Me and My Miata- written for Super Street Magazine

2009-06-28T12:09:00.001-07:00

The roadster bug bit me a long time ago when a high school friend started driving his mom's crappy Mercury Capri. For two teenage guys, it was a pretty horrible ride to be seen in cruising around Scottsdale, Arizona. But hey, we were young and white and carefree. Despite all that, I loved the feel of the nimble handling and the open-air freedom that little heap dished out.

Fast forward a decade and some change, not much is different. I'm still white, relatively young (compared to a Galapagos tortoise) and I'm still carefree. When I told my friends that I was going to buy a Miata, I got a lot of strange looks and questions about my sexual orientation. My ladies (my wife and mother-in-law) thought it was "too small" to be driving in a sea of Los Angeles SUVs. Being too stupid to listen to what anyone else thinks, I decided it was time to make my roadster move.

I spied a squeaky clean 97 NA body Miata down San Diego way. By squeaky clean I mean it was relatively clean and the hood squeaked the whole drive back to LA. With a gooey handful of lube, I said goodbye to the squeaks and checked out the situation under the hood.

The stock 1.8 liter, 16-valve engine was happy to rev but sounded a little too much like a wet-dry vac. I popped on a Goodwin Racing Monsterflow intake with a freakishly big foam filter, and the little engine that could found its growl. Rawr! While I was poking around the engine bay, I threw on a fat strut tower brace to chill out the shimmy-and-shake those nasty potholes and rough roads can unleash.

The car's natural good looks and sexy lines were coated in dark blue paint and a tan leather interior. The gold pinstripes down both sides of the body were nappy, so I covered them with a mellow silver tribal graphic stick-on that was just like a Detroit crack whore, cheap and easy. Then it was time to put a fierce face on my little ride so I ordered up a set of Great White grille teeth, my favorite accessory eva! Kapow! The Miata had a grille that would represent my bad intentions in your rearview mirror. Git outta my way!

To get the most out of the corners, some new shoes were in order. The helpful homeys at Miata.net (a bunch of middle-aged guys who bought Miatas during their mid-life crisis, but whatever) helped me pick out some Toyo Proxes T1Rs whose low weight keeps the unsprung mass to a minimum. Miatas really hate to go running with heavy boots.

Sadly, my money and time were dwindling faster than the Earth's natural resources. I was left to enjoy the Blue Max in its mostly stock conditions. But when Mazda made the Miata, they got it all right from the genesis to the revelations. Their "jinba ittai" philosophy of horse and rider as one paid off in spades. I don't know nuthin' about relations with a horse, but this rider sure was happy.

I've fallen head over heels in love with this car. The way the two of us dance together up and down Angeles Crest was a thing of beauty. Get out the Barry White and put on the slow jams and even LA traffic couldn't break our rhythm. You don't need a big overpowered, kidney-punching, blow-off chirping show car to FEEL like you own the scene. If you're Zen about it, a Miata has everything you need. You can drive it all day at nine-tenths and it won't beat you up, break down, get you arrested or put you to sleep.

What the car lacks in flash, it makes up for in passion and driving pleasure. It's got all the speed and spirit you need to make that douche bag on Mulholland Drive in his M5 look like a granny pushing a shopping cart. Wind it up into a long sweeping turn and you can set the rear end swingin' out solid and bring it back without spilling your gingerbread latte. It's got so much balance and poise that it makes Michelle Kwan look like that two-legged dog on YouTube (I know you saw it and LYFAO).

I don't know what I'm gonna do when I have to get rid of my Miata and get something a little more family-friendly. I guess it will be just like that first girl you crushed out on. No matter whatever or whoever you end up with later, you still get to keep that picture of her in your heart. God, you were adorable, Mericia. Call Me.