Heathen is the new black.: July 2011

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Ugliest New Car Award

I would like to introduce to you the Acura ZDX. I hereby declare this car the ugliest currently manufactured car in the USA. This car is a new kind of ugly.

I hear you all asking,"WTF IS IT?" I can't answer that easily. It is a crossover of sorts. It's like some Japanese guy made a metal oragami SUV which ate a station wagon. Imagine that taking a massive shit and this auto is the result. What I do know is that it is actually a 4 door. The rear door handles are hidden and are black and are in a different direction as the front ones. Anything that big that is a hatch bach is just unnatural.
I know that the interior is waaay better than the exterior. Even if you had 4 pantiless girls in short skirts on heavy periods inside the car is easier on the eyes than that ugly beak outside. Acura really likes those beaks. They remind me of can openers. I think the designers took the hint and will tone things down next time. Just look around the web and EVERYONE despises the way this Acura looks.

Bye-Bye Blockbuster

You were once a dominant force, but now you are vanishing in thin air. Please refer to my previous posting in July 2010.

1996 Black Mitsubishi Eclispe GSX/ Lexus IS 300

Ok so with this post, I am going to talk about my adventures with my Mitsu. First off, I recall I got the car with nearly 70k miles on it in late 1999. I got it for $12k. It was in decent shape. The moonroof rattled, no floormats, the stereo needed the number key, and everything worked. I didn't even test drive it. My dumbass forgot my license or something so my dad had to test drive it. I was soooo extatic getting this car. This was the first time I actually got a car that I wanted that wasn't a hand-me-down. Even the color was one that I wanted!

So I got this car knowing that there was a huge aftermarket for this car and that it could be tuned from a stock 210 HP to easily 400+. I just started getting it in driving condition. I actually had to purchase floormats and pay the dealer to get me the code for my stereo. That started my cursed relationship with the Mitsubishi dealership. From there, I got some sound deadening material for the sunroof and we were golden. The stereo was an Infiniti that had an EQ, tape with auto reverse, and even an AUX input for my cd player. Speaking of cd player, my original one sucked because it skipped like a mutherfucker. So I "borrowed" one with a 3 second anti-skip. That was the shit! My passenger was my dj because switching cds while driving was dangerous. Eventually someone else "borrowed" the thing back. Oh well. =)

The stereo didn't last that long. I was looking online for these so-called mp3 players. I had a good collection of mp3s and wanted to get a device to harness that technology. I forgot the brand, but I eventually found one for $400 and I purchased it online because no one carried mp3 players for their car. Back then they had lots of places to purchase car steros, Circut City, Good Guys and lots of small places that install these things. Now, not sooo much. So I replaced the deck and people were once amazed at my music collection.

Next up I changed were the speakers. I dropped another $300 on speakers. No bass recepticle though. My trunk was small enough. Then came the performance stuff.

My first purchase was an exhaust system from Greddy. It was made specifically for the car so it was simply bolt on. Nice shiny stainless steel. The car now had presence. The car would announce my arrival with the low note exhaust note. This was no longer stealth. Next up was a blow off valve. This was a neat device that would let out excessive boost pressure so that it could spool up quicker. This would happen when you let off the gas. It sounded like the car would sneeze (or sigh). CHOOOOO! At the maximum you would hear this for over several blocks. I decided to turn it down the quietest and even at that setting you would hear it a block away. It really did help when I shifted gears. The turbo spooled up quicker.

Another probably more annoying modification to my car was the turbo timer. Since the car was a turbo, the engine needed to cool Expecially with my spirited driving! The turbo gets REALLY hot and gets oil pumped into it for lubrication when the engine was on. The problem arises when you turn off the car while it's hot, the turbo is super hot and then cooks the oil and you end up with a major problem. So then with my new device the car would idle for 30 seconds after I lock it and walk away. I can't tell you how many people ran up to me to tell me that I left my car on. I usually smile and thank them for the concern but assure them that it's supposed to do that. So the car probably had 275hp or so. It really was fun. I am greatful that I never got into any accidents and happy that I rarely lossed races. =)

One of my favorite things to do was an AWD burnout. I would drive on those metal plates and drop the clutch at 6000 RPM and then I would pretend that my car was a Nissan GTR! All 4 wheels would peel out and eventually catch the tarmac and leap ahead. That was one of the fun things was the AWD when it rained. The roads became my playground.

Durring my ownership, I noticed there were lots of recalls. Seriously, I would get at least one a year. That and the fact that my car started breaking down. Frequently. And shit started to add up.

Off the top of my head, I went through
3 clutches
1 Radiator
1 water pump
1 set of spark plug wires
1 brake master cylinder
Lots of brake rotors/pads and tires.
The car drank gas like damn because of the 4wd.

I might add that it was only $5 to fix a flat in your tire at the time. Now its fucking $20 for the same goddamn shit.

I also averaged a speeding ticket every other year. I might add that I never got citations for running red lights or stop signs, just speeding.

Very expensive. Not just that, the car is 4wd, meaning that you can't tow it with the standard tow truck. I needed a goddam flatbed. This made things worse because AAA would never send me what I needed and this would make the process even longer. I had a cell phone, and that helped. So eventually I got sick of everything breaking and the horrible experiences with the dealership. I then did some research and purchased my NEW 2002 Lexus IS300.

I was always obsessed with keeping my car clean. I would get it washed weekly!

I liked they way they treated me at Lexus. I knew that cars break down, but at Lexus they rarely did and they take care of you and (here is the best part) usually give you the benefit of the doubt. To this day, I HAVE NEVER BEEN WITHOUT A CAR BECAUSE LEXUS ALWAYS GAVE ME A
LOANER.

This was a sad day. Christmas Eve, some asshole hit me from the rear.

I was super cool but the guy dragged out the process. Very obnoxious.

So I took it to the body shop

That was pretty annoying. It took them several months to get my car back to normal.

Monday, July 18, 2011

My 1986 Volvo 740 GLE

Wassap all!

In this post, I wanted to remember all of the customizations of my 2nd car, my volvo. This car was an important one because this was when I had an avenue of manifesting my car customization.

When I first got my silver Volvo, I was in the 11th grade. The car was unimpressive on many levels. The car was a hand-me-down from my parents which got it new. With some quick math the car started its life with me when it was nearly 10 years old. It had 70k something miles on it and I left it with double that. It went through a transmission where my dad had to drive the car backwards up the hill. That in itself was remarkable. It also survived a head- on crash with some bitch. The car was totalled with my dad in it. The car did save my dad's life. That was remarkable. Then my dad got it back and fixed it. It came with heated seats which was kind of neat when you are out late partying. This made the car popular with the ladies. That and my impressive tunes.

The car was notorious for its break squeaking. I frequented midas for their break warranty. I even had custom plates because they started using images in the plates. I had a HAND and then LTHIS

The original tire size was uncommon, so I decided to get a slightly wider one that was cheaper.

The antenna was stuck. If you look at similar models on the street today, you will see that their antenna is fucked up. So I took it out. I recall that the replacement was exorbantly priced at the time. $200.

It had a decent stereo casette deck that came with it. It even had auto-reverse (that was a big deal back then) and Dolby NR. The thing with it was that all the casettes would get stuck in there and the radio station would change erratically.

So we started things out with a JVC casette with a detachable face. The detachable face was a big deal back then because people would take their entire stereo out of the car so that it wouldn't get stolen. Quite often you would see people look like retards walking around with their car stereos. A detachable face was cool because you could fit it in your coat pocket.

I got that with a small Jensen Amp. I just started learning about brands quality, power, and wires. Then your's truely lost the face somewhere (I suspected in the mall). Interestly enough, I was not sad. I was a bit happy so that I could buy a BETTER deck. Next one I got was a Blaupunkt casette. I did my research this time. This one was German, it felt like it was made well. It had high power for the speakers and an aux output for my portable cd player. I might add, I got my cd player and I thought it was the shit. It would skip like a mutherfucker, and would DEVOUR batteries like in 2 hours. Back to my stereo decks, The Blau was super cool. You could program it to scroll a message when you turned it on. I had it say something like Whats Up Prince Robin! Or something like that. One sad day, the thing broke. On the bright side, I started a full time job and blew my entire paycheck on an Alpine deck AND 6 disc cd changer. That was SUPER cool. Not to mention I was one of the first people to download mp3s and burn my own cds on a 2x cd burner(hahaha It took like an hour to burn a cd). Not to mention I had to download mp3s on a piece of shit dial up. It took me one hour to download one goddam song. I still have some mp3s that I got when I was in High School. At that point, I was at the pinnacle of audio fidelity in my Volvo. I know for a fact that I have invested more in the car for what it was worth. But, it was all good. At that point in time, I invested in 3 sets of speakers in my car. One set died and was promptly replaced. Then I had BASS. I had several base recepticals. I had a Bazooka, and then a Rockford Fosgate. The car literally rattled like it was falling to pieces. As for the Amps, I had a small Jensen, then I got some high powered X brand. Then I learned that you need to have quality power. I had an Alpine amp and a Rockford Fosgate Amp. I forgot how many watts they were.

As for the rest of the car, I was down to change anything and/or everything I could afford. I changed the lights inside. I had purple dome lights, purple floor lights, red bulbs in the speedo/tach, even the reverse lights were purple. I went through several sets of floodlights. You would be thinking I lived in a foggy area, but you would be wrong. I even had some strobe lights. One time they were smoking and I had to pull over on the freeway. One time I noted it was rattling below the car and realized that it was the catalyitc converter. I went to a guy and they removed it. Yup, I had a straight pipe in my Volvo, and fuck it was significantly faster. Then I got a cone air filter that gave it some more pep. Then I wanted to do more, but realized that this car has reached its speed potential and not worth putting more money in it. I read about some guy that put a 5.0 Mustang engine in his Volvo and that though crossed my mind, but I really didn't like the shape of the Vovo enough. One thing about the car was that it rarely got me stranded. It was a reliable car for the most part.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Ferrari in LA Auto Show 2008

What's up all!!

I was going through my photos and noted that I still have my pics from 2008 LA Auto Show. Interestingly enough, that was the last year we saw Italian automakers (sans Fiat and their new 500) in the biggest auto show in the West Coast.

Ferrari 430 Scuderia

I might add that Southern California is the biggest market for cars in general. Shit, Ferrari has made old models that are super expensive named after the state. For example remember the one on Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Well, that actual one in the movie was a FAKE, (I really hate that fact) but the real 1957 250 GT California is SUPER expensive. The last one was auctioned off in Monterey, Ca for a cool 4.9m. I wonder how much the insurance is on that car. Even now, Ferrari currently has a hard top convertible called the California. So back to my original point... Ferrari makes cars for Southern California called California, but don't show up to the biggest car show in the state? WTF??

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Street Scene in LV

Here was a street scene in LV. It was 90 plus degrees outside. We were en route to the Mob Museum in the Tropicana. I would have posted pics but it was not allowed. So perhaps next time I can get some pics off before I get kicked out.

GM EV1

So with this particular Blog, I thought I would some pictures of the rare 1996 GM EV1. I don't know how many are in existence, but I do know that they are less than a handful out there. I was lucky enough to see one in real life on the streets, and now I know where you can see one; in the Peterson Museum in Los Angeles.

If my memory serves correct, they were only leasing these vehicles for $600/month. From what I understand, these cars costed over 1,000,000 to make EACH. I recall they went over 100 miles in one charge. As you can see, it was strictly a 2 seater and VERY aerodynamic and lightweight. I would have loved to put a 300hp engine to see if it will do 200mph. Another thing that was neat was the safe inductive charger. It works similar to your battery operated toothbrush charges without metal contacts. You can charge it in pouring rain and be 100% safe.