y.m.m.v

Smoothin' the Growler

The odometer now reads almost 1,400 km and my left foot is almost doing the right thing: clutching without thought.

Upcoming weekend is another journey north, potentially in snow covered conditions.

The last 600 km were spent smoothing out the engine with nice controlled under 3200-RPM driving. I needed to find destinations close to home and yet unfamiliar to keep my interest higher. I managed this by crossing the Mercier Bridge and heading West.

Places that surprised me were : the city of Léry, the Beauhernois Lock at the mouth of Lake St. Louis and the nearby Hydro Quebec powerstation, especially lit-up at night. (map)

Nothing so unexpected as crossing under a seaway ship going through the first lock!

Mitsubishi 2004 WRC

The challanger most awaited return: 2004 WRC Lancer

^{props to WebWombat in Aussie-land}

Bami 0, Car 0

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) commissioned a study : “Methods to Reduce Traffic Crashes Involving Deer: What Works and What Does Not”

• driver speed is negligible impact
• whistling devices do nothing
• 8 ft tall fences work
• hazard lights in deer migration area work

Read more at The Car Connection

Excess for Success

So you have a Le Mans class engine and you want to sell more pickup trucks. Err, yes, that’s right, put the engine in the pickup truck.

Welcome to the Dodge Ram SRT-10 with 0-100 kph in 5.2 seconds. Makes those “contractors” with cash even faster on the highway. Scary excess.

Money Matters

The U.S. Big Three auto makers have complained their Japanese counterparts have an unfair advantage, and that the Bank of Japan should be admonished for buying and selling in currency markets to ensure the yen stays some 20% undervalued. That equates to a 20% price advantage for the Japanese, the Big Three charge.

Isn’t the job of a nations’ money manager to do just exactly that ? Ward Auto has the rest of the story.

Low Pressure Toyota

Toyota Access Pricing is a method of having a haggle free Toyota purchase.

“Access Toyota responds to the most common complaints about haggling over price and high-pressure sales tactics, by alleviating the need to negotiate,” said Stephen O’Regan, Dealer Principal of O’Regan’s Toyota in Dartmouth.

Power Outage

Power Outage

Johnny "B"Good

Daimler watchers at AutoExpress reveal that there will “B” a “Bee” series Merc. Volvo V40/New-Focus/BMW 1 series scale no less… the “B”aby executive cars are coming.

Out of Focus

The “Blue Oval” has built a world-class car in the form of the new Ford Focus. It is such a highly awaited car, that VW pressed hard to finish the Golf V to compete effectively against even the predecessor model.

So now comes word that the new Focus won’t make an appearance in NorthAm. I guess Ford will just deed the market to Mexican made Golf V’s. Nice going.

Rallying Around

News came that Richard Burns is not competing in 2004 for Subaru due to serious health issue. Doctors found the cause of his “blackout while driving” to be a brain tumor.

By the time this was made news, Colin McRae had already signed with Nissan to pilot in the Dakar and possibly other “Rally Raids”. That means his unlikely to be available to Subaru.

So, who will be Subaru’s 2nd driver for 2004 WRC season ?

Cottage Time

It was a long week at work. Kinda shows in my lack of posts.

Last weekend though was a wonderful first drive to the cottage in my Subaru TS. Here are some pictures of the vehicle in its most natural habitat.

5 minutes after arrival, I spotted one of our favourite balsam fir tree cracked at the base and leaning dangerously towards the cottage. Almost 3 hours of “emergency work” using a pair of hand winches and chain-saw, the tree fell in a totally different and controlled direction.

The upcoming weekend should be another memorable driving excursion to the cottage, but hopefully there will not be any emergencies…

If you click on this picture, a rather large one will be loaded.

The tree:

The Nokian WR Winter tyre:

The nice wagon:

3D Flywheel

A 3Dimensional flywheel may be the method to store energy for electric cars, so claims the designer

WRC For Sale

Because you have to much money, buy your own WRC Rally Car.

Blown Vibe

General Motors, a partner with Toyota in the Vibe/Matrix Corolla derived vehicles has finally announced officially the availability of an Eaton supercharger for the 1ZZ-FE 1.8 litre engine. Such an item has been available for the Matrix since late summer.

Vehicle Black Box

The automotive industry is on a clear collision course with civil liberties, said the Society of Automotive Analysts (SAA). “Already, onboard data about how a vehicle is driven can be and are being downloaded without the knowledge or consent of the driver. That information is being studied by fleet owners, inspected by law enforcement, and even being subpoenaed into courts of law. Ironically, these data are being made available courtesy of the vehicle’s manufacturer and paid for by an unknowing consumer.”

Imprezif 100

I picked-up my Platinum Silver Subaru Impreza TS Wagon today. It had about 20-km on it, due to being shuffled between dealers to suit my promised date. The 2004 nose and tail lights are very nice and the overall interior has improved over the “Bug-Eye” series (‘02-’03) … in my opinion.

Trouble is my left foot was “asleep” due to years of “lack of work” and the clutch was an alien device again. Well, I did get going and managed to surprise myself. Though my choice of shoes could have been better.

68-km later, I was in Iberville, a nice little town south of Montreal. I had Nokian WR winter tyres installed at Fafard Alignement ( 2ie Rue, Iberville, (450) 346-5406 ). The guys in the garage were stunned by the odometer and raised the car way up to allow me a nice look around underneath. Wow, seriously well made car. I wasn’t the only one impressed by the Impreza’s mechanics and price.

On the way home I began to muse how my buddy Dave married Jacinthe mere two blocks away and the excellent party that followed. Iberville is a nice place.

So, given 98-km, I had a new car, new winter tyres and an uncanny ability to shift up while daydreaming. Shifting down is still not going great. The Nokian WR are quieter and smoother then the Bridgestone all seasons the car came with.

Stay tuned …

Nissan Jikoo

‘The Car Enthusiast’ writes about the Nissan Jikoo. The little car shows a distinct sense of style and “austerity”, a word well chose by article’s writer.

You can see more @ CarDesignNews

#2 Toyota

DETROIT (Reuters) - For the first time, Toyota gained the title of world’s second-largest automaker in the third quarter, as it outsold Ford by 166,000 vehicles.

Compromised Energy

The US Senate has had a deal brokered to remove the last obstacle for a sweeping new energy bill.

The measures sought by Grassley would create a temporary new tax break for biodiesel, a fuel additive made from soybeans, and alter an existing tax credit that provides $2 billion in annual subsidies to the ethanol industry.

Ethanol lost direct support from the bill but will still receive funding from the general treasury.

Overall, this is a win for biodiesel … but I shudder at the politics behind it.

WRC Party

When the season is over, the winning team parties.

Although Subaru came in 3rd in the manufacturers title, Petter won the whole shebang, and “Rally Legend” Tommi Makinen retired in grand style. Must have been a heck of a party!

Talk of Biofuel

VW speaks of next generation biofuel engines that combine the benefits of diesel and spark ignition engines.

In Canada, Neoteric Biofuels Inc actually sells online parts and additives for biofuel use.

WRC 2003 Champion

And the winner is Petter Solberg, driving for Subaru!

Pictures of SEMA

Bling-Bling and booth-babes, it must be a street-car-fetish event: SEMA 2003.

Subaru WX-01

Will they or won’t they ?

Subaru will produce a vehicle in the SUV/Wagon class, but will it look like this ? Hard to say, though rumors of a “Murano-like” vehicle confirm the general silhouette.

But what about the price ? Most likely “very high”.

A good point is that the WX-01 was shown as drawings in 2001… so it really be done.

Gallons

CBS News’ 60 Minutes produced an episode entitled : How Many Miles To The Gallon ?

You can guess what it is all about.

Made in Japan

Mike Rutherford from “AutoExpress” gives his views on the domination of the Tokyo Motor Show by the hometown teams.

The Japanese are more patient, determined, hard-working and talented than we give them credit for. More importantly, they are very, very clever. Will European and US car companies never learn?

The strenght of the Nihongo firms also lies in the strength of their designers, often now expat Europeans. CarDesignNews puts many of the styles and people behind them into perspective.

Ford Focus RS8

At SEMA, Ford presents the Focus RS8: 5.0 litre V8 powered, rear-wheel-drive Focus.

PistonHeads give it a review…

In one word: why ? It must be the 1/4 mile….

You see, the 1/4 mile is what the “Quarter Horse” racing is all about and now cars are subjected to the same “challenge”.

For Sale: Ford Probe GT

My colleague Silviu is selling his 1993 Ford Probe GT. See the forsale side pane. The car is in Montreal.

Dude, where is your car ?

Well, still in Vancouver from sound of things … this may be a few days more.
Why ? Because it is silver.

I’ll know more tomorrow.

Silver Wedge

Many have asked about what the Impreza will sport as color and options:

- 2.5 TS Wagon in Platinum Silver Metallic
- added options:

• block heater (welcome to Canada)
• remote starter/door lock/kill switch (upgrade to security)
• luggage cover (an option on the TS)
• rear differential protector (cottage country is dangerous)
• spoiler kit on hatch (more down-force, better looks)
• air filtration kit (stop dust and pollen)

This car badly needs a name that fits. To me it looks like a wedge/kite/glider, it’s rugged and silver in colour.

Anyone ?

Impreza 2.5 TS

[nice 1024x768 pic]

So what does a bio-diesel loving, emissions conscious, small and efficient car person like me buy ? Well, I “bought” ^{( I don’t have it yet, but might as will let the “cat out of the bag”. )} a Subaru Impreza 2.5 TS Wagon.

How does that work you ask ?

Until 2006, I doubt that I could find a good diesel vehicle in North America for a competitive price. VW’s made in Mexico simply don’t rock my world enough, especially considering the price/performance/resale-value.

Since I don’t drive to-and-from work everyday, my car will be used for those commutes that matter to me: cottage, travel, etc… Which is also why I bought a “non-city-car”, a Wagon.

I like a solid, well engineered and built car; the base model TS Wagon is just that.

What clinched it ? “Zero down” and 1.8% financing over 60 months on the 2004 models. Paying only a smidgen above $1200 in interest over the entire loan makes my “love-thy-Bank-but-only-so-much” feelings rather happy.

Naturally, this means that I have had to re-shuffle my yearly budget and move some “Nice to Have” things onto the back-burner. But I finally get to drive a stick again and heel-and-toe all I want.

The story of this Wagon will continue on these pages. I will detail the all little tweaks within a reasonable and sane budget, that the car will recieve.

First, 4 season+winter tyres on the regular steel hubs: Nokian WR

Sigh… now the wait becomes harder :D
1 week ?

Gotta find a good name for it …