zoomvroom Car Culture, Humor, Random

What Happens When You Put 50 Party Horns Into an Exhaust Pipe?

Well, it’s pretty shrill…and funny.  It sounds like, well, a bunch of party horns going off at once.  If you watch this without busting a gut, there’s something wrong with you.  It’s going to be the funniest 15 seconds of your life…guaranteed (or you get something back).  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iELnlCZPR5Y

I’m very tempted to do this to my car, as it has dual exhaust pipes.  Yup, that means I’ll have 100 party horns.  Maybe somebody with a Top Fuel dragster will do this, but they’ll need fireproof party horns!

zoomvroom Car Culture, Humor, Random

Why Supercars Aren’t Cheap to Maintain

Supercars are constantly redefining how crazy cars can be.  Think about the 1990s.  The McLaren F1 was the fastest car in the world until the Bugatti Veyron.  The Lamborghini Diablo wasn’t nearly as fast, but it was just as raw and pure of a driver’s car.  However, the car that one can argue defined the 1990s supercar wars was the Ferrari Testarossa.  It wasn’t the fastest, the most terrifying, or most exhilarating.  What it did do, however, was pave the way for supercars as we know them now.  Yes, that means being completely unaffordable to the general population and outrageous repair costs.

This blog post is by no means meant to make supercars from the 1990s and first decade of the 2000s seem like horrible messes of cars that are best left to be stared at in museums.  Drive these cars.  It’s what they’re meant for.  Grab they keys and floor it if you get the chance.  Just remember to set aside a LOT of money to repair them.  Oh, and find a really good mechanic.  Just because they say that they service European cars does NOT mean that they will service your Lamborghini Diablo.  They will, but they will likely do it badly and cause further damage to something that is expensive.  Ask them if they service your supercar.  They can usually point you to somebody who will if they can’t.

Many jobs require special tools for that car and that car only.  Your Craftsman toolset will do irreversible damage to your car.   Doing a simple task such as changing the oil, which might take an afternoon in your mom’s Toyota Camry, can turn into a five-day knuckle-bashing fest on a McLaren F1.  Let’s not even start on the Ferrari Enzo.

Yes, that’s a stock McLaren F1 engine bay!  The gold throughout the engine bay is actual gold leaf.  The exhaust is titanium, and no, the blue connectors are not for nitrous.  They are for fuel delivery.  That engine bay looks like a lot of fun to access!  No wonder it takes five days to change the oil…

McLaren estimates annual repair costs to be about $30,000, which doesn’t seem too bad until you find out that an oil change is $8,000.  You can even ship your F1 to McLaren’s factory in Woking, UK for repairs, where McLaren employs two full-time F1 technicians for F1 repairs alone!  That’s what Ralph Lauren does for his THREE F1’s.  Yeah, that blazer you bought is going to good use.  McLaren suggests replacing the tires in pairs ($3,000 per tire!).  McLaren scrubs in every set sold, for free.  That means that they custom-make the tires for free!  Service can take up to 6 weeks – not including transit to the UK.  It’s ten days door-to-door by air, seven weeks by boat.  The bright side?  The car is appreciating so quickly that repair costs will never catch up to their now-astronomical price.  Chumps.

This is the floor of the customer service department of McLaren’s Woking factory.  It might not be so bad to come here after all…

That being said, the McLaren F1 is one of the most amazing cars to ever come out of a factory.  It was the fastest car in the world for almost 20 years, and the driving experience is supposedly second to none.  It’s also going up in price really quickly.  Get one now if you want.  Yeah, your kids only need a semester at Stanford anyways!

This is a Ferrari Enzo engine bay.  Not exactly pretty, but it gets the job done!  I’m a fan of the massive intake manifold and massive shocks.  Those two gold tanks are gas reservoirs. An astute commenter corrected me – they are not fuel pumps, as I originally thought! They are gas-filled reservoirs that keep the fluid in the shocks, called damping fluid, under constant pressure. Given the massive speeds the Enzo can easily hit, a single small bump in the road could prove catastrophic, so these reservoirs are necessary.

When you buy an Enzo, you’d better have every single piece of paper detailing EVERYTHING that was done to it!  If you don’t, be sure to spend far more than the service cost off of the asking price!  When something goes wrong, it goes from a relatively inexpensive fix to a SNAFU in seconds.

Oil or shop fluids will irreversibly damage at least one $6,000 carbon-ceramic brake rotor, so a set of factory covers protects them during service.  I’m not joking!

Each authorized dealer must buy a $10,000 special tool kit and this scissor lift to work on an Enzo.  The massive V12 takes 12 quarts of oil.  That’s a lot.  Most cars take around 7.

Oh, and a word for the wise – warm up the Enzo’s big V12 with the $60,000 carbon fiber engine lid open, and the carbon fiber intake body will expand enough that the lid won’t close until the engine cools off.

This is a Porsche Carrera GT engine bay.  This car has long been the source of heated controversy, which only heated up after the tragic deaths of Paul Walker and Roger Rodas almost a year ago (they died on November 30.  I will do a one-year memorium post on that day).

Like every other Porsche, the Carrera GT gets an oil change every 15,000 miles.  No, it’s not based off of a semi truck engine, but good guess!  The entire car was a shelved endurance racing project from the 1990s, so it was built to be reliable.

An oil change is $3,000 because:

  1. A set of four ramps ($1,100) is required to get the car over the hoist arms on the lift.  Yes, it’s that low.
  2. The rear-heavy car has to be attached to the lift so it doesn’t tip or fall off of the lift.  A $550 set of 3/4 inch aluminum plates bolt onto the car for that purpose.  Most owners leave them installed.
  3. Two engine-oil filters – one replaceable and one reusable screen.  Strip the drain plug in the aluminum cover, and you’re down $6,800.

Replacing the ceramic clutch is $25,000, including labor.  By comparison, a $30,000 full brake job is a steal by comparison.  You can see how these mechanics live well.  When the Carrera GT was new, dealers had to buy a special $10,000 table and $8,000 jig to hold the car’s engine during service.

Overall, maintaining a supercar isn’t easy or cheap.  Should you buy one of these cars, make sure that there is a piece of paper detailing everything done to the car.  You’ll thank me later.

zoomvroom Humor, I Challenge You!, Random

The World’s Hardest Car Quiz!

No, I haven’t passed it yet.  I recommend taking it…over and over again.  My best score to date on this has been 60%.  And I thought I knew a lot about cars.  Go figure.  Try to take the quiz and pass – it’s harder than you’d think (even if you ARE a natural test-taker!).

http://www.carwow.co.uk/world-hardest-car-quiz

Tell us your score(s) – we won’t make fun of you for failing (I’ve done that a few times with this quiz)!

The whole point of this quiz is to have fun…so do that!

zoomvroom Humor, Random, World News

Why Driving a Surplus Military Truck May Not Be a Good Idea

While this happened a while ago, I’ve been having fun with lots of other posts.  Anyhow, here goes.

Huntington Beach, CA police had an eventful night on September 10.  Officers responded to a call of a suspicious military vehicle around 7:45 p.m.  They found an elderly man driving a surplus military transport truck through town.  Early on, officers heard several loud pops.  These turned out to be backfires.

This elderly man led police on a chase for a short distance, reaching speeds of up to 10 mph.  Yes, 10 mph!

When the man arrived at his business, the police arrested the man for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.

The unnamed man was released later that evening.

Maybe driving something this large through town ISN’T such a good idea…

zoomvroom Car Culture, Humor, Random

Wish the Chevrolet El Camino a Happy 56th Birthday!

Most of the time, there are truck folks and car folks.  I’m guessing these are truck people’s feelings towards the environmentally-concerned…But, this is how car people feel towards truck people…

    

While they may share some interests (big engines, burnouts, disturbing the peace), their vehicular interests rarely coincide.  The Chevrolet El Camino and Ford Ranchero changed that here in America.

The Chevrolet El Camino went on sale as a 1959 model, and was based off of the Impala/Bel Air platform.  The body style truly popularized the term, “business in the front, party in the back.”  During the 1960s and 1970s, the El Camino was little more than a Chevelle with a pickup bed.  Thus, it was offered with the legendary SS performance package, which gave it a big-block Chevrolet V-8 (396-454 cubic inches), an optional four-speed Muncie M-22 overdrive transmission, heavy-duty suspension, and for some odd reason, a vinyl roof (I have no idea why, plus it looks absolutely TERRIBLE!).  A few El Camino’s were actually optioned with the rare LS6 performance package normally found in the Chevelle.

My favorite story about the El Camino is an owner of a 1970 LS6 El Camino saying that he would have to drive around with 300 pounds of concrete in the bed to prevent the tires from being shredded by simply putting the transmission in first gear!  He got kicked out of quite a few drag strips because of that!

From 1978-1987, the El Camino was based on GM’s G-Body architecture, which it shared with the Chevrolet Malibu, Monte Carlo, Buick Regal, and Oldsmobile Cutlass.  GMC sold a rare companion version of the El Camino, first called the GMC Sprint, and then the GMC Caballero.

Prior to GM’s 2009 bankruptcy, plans were made to import GM of Australia’s Holden Maloo ute as the Pontiac G8 ST, essentially a modern-day El Camino.  But, Pontiac was killed during GM’s restructuring, and the would-be El Camino revival never came to fruition.  That’s not to say that people haven’t been building custom El Camino’s over the past few years, basing them on the Chevrolet Camaro platform or the GMC Canyon/Chevrolet Colorado platform.  GM’s announcements that it is permanently ceasing operations in Australia starting in 2017 essentially means that we will likely never see a factory El Camino again.

Wish one of my favorite vehicles a very happy birthday.  I promise that I will do a blog post honoring the El Camino soon – I love it that much!

Until then, enjoy the pictures of the El Camino over the years!

Tell me which generation is your personal favorite.  The final El Camino picture is completely ’80s, which is somewhat awesome!  If I owned it, I would put in a modern LS3 crate engine and wreak havoc…

zoomvroom Car Culture, Random, World News

Why the NASCAR Fight Syndrome Needs to Be Treated

NASCAR is just about the highest form of motor sports in the U.S.  I know that some of you will disagree with this but hear me out or forever hold your peace.  Think about it this way – Formula 1 has only had a few Americans compete in it over the past 60-some-odd years.  NASCAR is the American version of Formula 1.

There have been some gigantic fights in NASCAR over the years, but the one that really kicked it off was Bobby and Donnie Allison getting into a fistfight with Cale Yarborough in 1979 at Daytona.  There have been some other big fights, notably the Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin pit crew fight a few years back.  The most recent just happened to be a series of fights between Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, and Matt Kenseth.

Is NASCAR still NASCAR or is it WWE?  Look at the picture and decide for yourself.  Here’s the lowdown on what happened.

A restart with 63 laps to go sent Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth bashing eachother for the lead.  Keselowski thought Kenseth was pushing him and didn’t leave a line toward the wall for Kenseth, who was, in fact, trying to pass him.  Kenseth was forced into the wall and bounced into Keselowski, damaging both cars.  While that’s not uncommon in NASCAR, what happened next was.

A restart with six laps to go gave Kenseth, who was a lap down due to his damage, a free pass, which means that he was no longer a lap down.  You’re thinking score for Kenseth, right?  Not exactly.  On his way around the track, he somehow managed to “accidentally” drive around Keselowski’s nose (not his facial nose – his car’s!), damaging the car.

On the restart with two laps to go, Keselowski bashed Denny Hamlin in turn 1.  Hamlin felt Keselowski’s push, and was enraged when he fell to 11th because of this.  Keselowski lost his momentum (and his Top 10 spot), and fell to 16th place due to the now-extensive damage to his car.

You’re probably thinking, “Okay, that’s normal.”  What happened next was more than abnormal.

After the race, Hamlin jammed on his brakes directly in front of Keselowski to show his immense displeasure.  As a result of this, Keselowski floored the gas and tried to spin Hamlin.  It didn’t work.  He simply went right around Hamlin, clipping Hamlin’s rear bumper in the process.

Keselowski then proceeded to drive into pit row as he chased down Kenseth, who was unbuckling his safety belts (a common practice among drivers after a race as they come near their pit box).  He T-boned Kenseth, and then inadvertently hit the rear bumper of Tony Stewart.  Stewart, who wasn’t going that fast, stopped his car, jammed it in reverse, and rammed into the front end of Keselowski’s car, destroying the front end.  Keselowski, who was frantically trying to get away from Stewart, backed into Danica Patrick’s car.

Keselowski then untangled his car from the small pileup and drove past everybody and went into his garage.   Hamlin followed him, making contact as Keselowski made his way into the garage, and stuck both cars together.  Keselowski floored the gas in reverse so he could get away, leaving a massive, smoky burnout mark in the garage.  He then drove across some equipment of the team’s that was laying on the ground to get to his car hauler.

The now-furious Hamlin climbed out of his now-stopped car first, and started storming towards Keselowski’s baby-blue Ford, which just so happened to be parked right in front of his black Toyota.  A Hamlin crew member led him away from the cars and handed him a towel to dry his face off.  However, as Keselowski climbed out of his car, Hamlin walked over to Keselowski’s car and threw the sweaty towel at Keselowski, hitting him in the helmet.  Hamlin then ran over to the stunned Keselowski and put him in a bear hug and started to wildly shake him.  After a few moments of scuffling among drivers and crews, Keselowski walked to his hauler.

Let’s not forget about Matt Kenseth.  Kenseth wanted blood.  He followed Keselowski and attacked him from behind as Keselowski was about to enter his hauler trailer.  Crew members of Kenseth intervened after Kenseth put Keselowski in a headlock.  Keselowski’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, put Kenseth in a chokehold and started to drag him away.  Kenseth crew members immediately separated the two brawling drivers.  During this encounter, Keselowski said, “You hit me under yellow.  You hit me under yellow.  You hit me under yellow.”

Here’s what Kenseth had to say about the incident.  “(Keselowski) was doing something with Denny.  The race had ended, and he’s running into cars on the cool-down lap.  I mean, the race is over, and he comes down pit row and drives into the side of me.  That’s inexcusable.  He’s a champion, and he’s supposed to know better.”

After composing himself inside of his hauler for a few minutes, Keselowski gave a few words to USAToday.  “When we restarted fifth with no right front on it, we fell all the way back to 16th and ruined our day.  That gave us a big Chase hurt, which is unfortunate.  Then, for some reason, after the race the 11 (Hamlin) stopped in front of me and tried to pick a fight.  I don’t know what that was all about, and he swung and hit at my car, so I figured if we’re going to play car wars under yellow and after the race, I’ll join too.  Those guys can dish it out, but they can’t take it.  I gave it back to them and now they want to fight, so I don’t know what’s up with that.”

What Keselowski should have done would have been to take the high road and forget about it.  Why give attention to angry people like that?  Just let it roll off and forget about it.

Hamlin called Keselowski “Out of control.  He’s desperate, obviously, and it’s either four or five of us are wrong or he’s wrong because he’s pissed off everyone…that was unfortunate.  Matt was nearly out of his car, and he just plowed into Matt and then ran into Tony and then went into the garage and cleared out transmissions and did burnouts in the garage.  Just acting like a dumb*** instead of a champion.”  Hamlin also added Keselowski “Will probably try to wreck everyone” at Talladega next week.  “He’ll just be out of control like normal.  We’ll do what we’ll have to do to get in, and that’s the big picture.”

NASCAR’s vice president of competition, Robin Pemberton, said the sanctioning body had called Keselowski into the hauler.  “We asked Brad to come in and talk to us a little bit and get his take on what went on in the closing laps of the race and the post-race incidents, so we’ve got that and we’ll talk to some other people,” he said, adding Joe Gibbs Racing mechanic Jesse Sanders was also called to the hauler for his role in the altercation.

Kenseth was angry about what Keselowski did to him on pit row (for good reason).  “I don’t know if he was mad at me,” Kenseth said. “I had my HANS (safety device) off and my seat belts off and everything. He clobbered me at 50 mph. … If you want to talk about it as a man, try to do that, but to try and wreck someone on the racetrack, come down pit road with other cars and people standing around with seat belts off and drive in the side of me.”

Keselowski’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, blamed Hamlin for the entire incident.  “I think Denny started the whole thing after the checkered flag,” he said. “Started pushing Brad around, and at some point we’ve got to stand our ground and not let that happen. From there, I guess some people got frustrated and the fight broke out.” ​

Kevin Harvick, the winner of the hotly-contested race showed that maybe NASCAR’s new Chase for the Sprint Cup Series Championship format had added pressure to the races, and that every moment matters.  When asked if NASCAR might send hefty penalties to the drivers involved, he replied, “You’re crazy; they love it.”

NASCAR announced today that both Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski were both being penalized for their actions following the race.

Keselowski has been fined $50,000, and been placed on probation from driving for the next four races for violating the following penalties:

Section 12-1:  Actions detrimental to stock car racing.

Section 12-4.9:  Behavioral penalty – involved in post-race incidents

Stewart has been fined $25,000, and has been placed on probation from driving for the next four races for violating the same penalties.  I disagree with NASCAR giving a penalty to Tony Stewart.  In my eyes, Stewart did nothing more than what most drivers do – back into their car as a warning.  Yes, he did ruin the front end of Keselowski’s car, which there was no need for at all.  He would have been better off leaving it alone and going on to his pit.  I feel that NASCAR was unfair in their penalty assignment, and should have given a penalty to Matt Kenseth.  Kenseth’s actions, as well as the rest of the drivers involved, were highly unprofessional and childlike.  His actions were foolish and will most certainly hurt him in the future.  I feel that Keselowski’s fine and probation are completely deserved, and he needs to seek treatment for this.  I understand that drivers in NASCAR are highly impulsive, but playing bumper cars with big-boy toys that can kill people is unacceptable and foolhardy.  All of these drivers need to have more than a slap on the wrist and a fight among themselves.  They need to talk it out to each other in a civil manner a couple of days after the incident, and I hope that we will see apologies from all drivers involved in this blemish on NASCAR in the near future.

Here’s the entire video of what happened.

 

 

zoomvroom Humor, Random

Why You Should Never, Ever Test Drive a Ferrari 458 Italia Like You Stole it

I’ve been talking a lot about Ferraris recently.  However, I don’t quite think this is the kind of publicity Ferrari, or anybody for that matter, would want.  Test-driving a car like you stole it is never a good idea.  Driving a car like you stole it, even if you DID steal it, is also not the smartest thing to do.  Apparently, this German driver thought otherwise.  This 458 was only a month old, but you might have a toilet or toaster oven with a Ferrari logo on it in the near future.

The crash happened in the German city of Hannover.  According to the police, the car was being driven very aggressively, despite wet and slippery conditions.

After merging from the left and initially overtaking a slower vehicle, the driver of the Ferrari then attempted to take a highway exit at speed, at which point the car spun out of control.  Despite the car spinning, ending up on it’s roof, and then flipping back over, the 47-year-old driver and his 69-year-old passenger were miraculously unhurt.

The dealership selling the car had it on display at a stadium in Hannover, which is why it’s got all of the promotional gear.  Talk about oops.  I’ve always wondered what would happen on a test drive if you spun a car.  Now I know.

Speaking of Ferrari 458 Italia’s, there’s been a recent NHTSA recall involving the car because the trunk cannot fully open from the inside.  If you’re a wealthy human trafficker, don’t get this car.  Now your trafficking victims can escape you!

Ferrari 458 Italia that crashed during test drive (Image via Andreas Eickhoff, NW-News)

zoomvroom Random, World News

California Man Accused of Stealing the Same Ferrari Twice!

Cars are stolen a lot.  It’s an unfortunate reality, but it’s life.  It’s just pretty much unheard of when the same person steals the same car twice.  But, that’s what apparently happened recently in Fontana, CA.

I don’t know what his motives were, but Earnie Hooks stole a certain black 2014 Ferrari 458 Italia Spider.  According to police, Hooks was intoxicated when he pulled up to a roadside checkpoint.  When the police ran the plates, they found out that the car was reported stolen.

Hooks managed to evade the police (given the car at his disposal, probably not too hard to pull off) and later abandoned the car, which was found and taken to impound.  However, about 3 a.m. the next morning, a special somebody broke into the impound lot and stole the car…again.  He was found five days later in Studio City, still driving the stolen Ferrari.  The LAPD arrested him, and Hooks somehow found the gall to plead not guilty to both the charges of car theft and resisting arrest.

Twice Stolen Ferrari

Here’s the Ferrari after Hooks was arrested.  I guess that if you’re going to steal something, go for the nicest possible car in sight…

Twice Stolen Ferrari

Here’s Hooks.  I don’t know where he got so banged up, but my best guess is during his arrest.

All I can say about this is wow.  For somebody to steal a Ferrari while drunk, evade police, BREAK INTO the impound lot, steal the car, and drive it around Los Angeles for 5 days and not be noticed is pretty amazing.  Don’t do this, kids.

 

zoomvroom Gifts for the Car Enthusiast, Random

Roadkill Hat Give Away Coming Soon!

While I know that I just published a blog post a few minutes ago, I feel kinda bad that I was negligent enough to not post earlier this week.  For those of you who are keeping track of my blog posts, you will know that I have published 288 blog posts!  That’s a huge accomplishment, and I’ve decided that I am going to do a give away of a Roadkill baseball cap at 300 blog posts.  It will be like the give away that I had at 100 and 200 blog posts.  I will give each reader a random number between 1 and 100, and have one of my parents select a random number between 1 and 100.  Whatever reader is closest to that number will get a Roadkill baseball cap mailed to them, courtesy of the Unmuffled Auto News.  Please note that I am not doing this give away because I feel badly about not publishing Tuesday, I just think that a give away is something fun, and 300 blog posts is a milestone.

I hope you have a nice weekend, and stay tuned for a very special blog post next week!  It’s going to be a surprise, so much of a surprise in fact that my parents don’t even know about it…hopefully…

 

zoomvroom Car Culture, Humor, I Challenge You!, Random, World News

The World’s Craziest Go-Kart!

Go-karts are fun little vehicles.  Some of them can go up to 70 mph – in just a few seconds!  Others can climb up hills.  Most don’t have Chevy big-block V8 engines, though.  Dirt Every Day, a fun off-road show on the Motor Trend Channel has a go-kart with a 454 big-block.  I’m pretty sure that that just elevated the host, Fred Williams, to the crazy-maybe-stupid category.

In the previous episode of Dirt Every Day, Fred had an off-road club of college kids called the Poly Goats come and demolish a 1986 Pace Arrow motorhome.  For those of you who don’t know what makes it so special, I have one number for you: 454.  Nothing else needs to be said.  The Poly Goats made mincemeat of the Pace Arrow.  By the end of the episode, it was a bare chassis with a 454 cubic-inch V8, a Turbo 400 transmission, and a beefy rear end.  That’s a good start for a monster go-kart.

However, Fred needed to build and install all of the necessary components to ensure that this crazy contraption starts, stops, turns, and shifts.  However, every go-kart needs to be safe, so Fred turned to his good friend, Frank, who is an engineer.  Frank helped Fred out by giving him tips about the rollcage.

After Frank, some of the Poly Goats come to help Fred get the crazy kart good to go.  After a long day wiring the pedals, steering column, and shifter, fabricating the wide wheel set, and wiring the engine up, the go-kart is good to go.  Fred wisely decides to not drive the go-kart around his neighborhood.

The next morning, Fred trailers both his mini go-kart and his recently built monster go-kart out to a remote ranch for some off-road hoonage.  He is going to have a shootout.  Instead of him driving both go-karts, he has a couple of Poly Goats come and assist him.  They are brave souls.

One of the contests is where the contestants have to see who starts their engine first.  The big go-kart wins by a mile.  The next contest is a timed obstacle course where the drivers have to go around one or two trees depending on kart size, moving around bottles, and going in between cattle skulls.  The tiny go-kart wins.  Then, a drag race, as drag races have proven to be popular on the Motor Trend Channel.  The big go-kart wins.  You just don’t expect a tiny gas-powered go-kart to win against something with a 454.  Then, Fred decides to have a tug-o-war competition.  Yeah, we all know who won there.

After all of the contests, Fred takes the monster go-kart off-roading.  It looks like a lot of fun.  Don’t do this at home, kids.