Packard: Ask the Man Who's Driven One

Packard's old advertising slogan used to be, "Packard: Ask the man who owns one." I happen to be a man who's driven one.

Driving someone else’s fully restored, concours-quality automobile worth about half the value of your house is a great honor and pleasure! Driving it through modern stop-and-go traffic while trying to change lanes is not.

And yet here I am, behind the wheel of the most incredible 1934 Packard Eight convertible that I’ve ever seen. You’d think that with it being painted such an extroverted two-tone green, other drivers would yield to your movements. But instead, I’m having to maneuver around some guy in a Nissan pickup who just has to have that particular spot in the line of traffic, and the woman in the Kia who just ducked into the lane in front of me and stood on her brakes. Hey lady, 4500 lbs of car doesn’t stop on a dime, you know. It’s obvious she doesn’t have a clue.

It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with on my daily commute to work, but today, I can’t help but sweat and worry a little, albeit with a huge grin on my face.

In a car like this, you’re somebody. You’re no average schmo driver. You’re the guy that adults wave to. You’re the guy to who kids point. “Whaddup, Al Capone!” yells a group of teenagers.


I could do this all day.

In fact, that’s exactly what I’d been doing all day. The owners were asked to show the Packard at a classic car show (along with some of their other cars), and needed it driven there. I’d spent about an hour driving it this morning, five hours fielding questions from bystanders, and was on the return trip when we ran into traffic.

In 1934, Packard introduced several improvements to their lineup and called the new cars the 1101 series. They were built on 136” wheelbases (in the case of this car), and powered by a 320 cubic inch straight eight engine producing 120 horsepower. The car I’m driving is a standard Eight model referred to as a convertible coupe. It’s color, a slightly yellow mint green with emerald green trim, is indeed a real Packard color combination. The cars featured such modern technology as a self-lubricating chassis, suspension ride control, and automatic choke. The transmission is a three speed, but only second and third are synchronized which means you don’t dare put it into first gear unless you’re at a complete stop. The flywheel on these must be massive!

Much to my surprise, it’s relatively easy to drive. You climb in over the running boards, and take your spot on a springy, leather bench seat. Despite the car’s massive length, you can easily reach over and touch the passenger door, so it’s only about as roomy as something like a Miata. Most of that space is taken up by an enormous steering wheel that probably measures two feet in diameter, and doesn’t allow for much knee space for leggy guys like me. Its thin rim and shiny black finish feel great in your hands, but the horn button and one of the three spokes completely block the speedometer positioned down by your right knee.

The gauges are lovely ivory pieces with beautifully machined grandfather clock-like indicators. You’ll find gauges for speed, oil pressure, engine temperature, voltage, and a large clock. The ignition switch is all the way to the right.

When you reach over and turn that key, a slow starter silently turns over the engine, which starts with little drama. The mechanic has set this car up wonderfully, and there’s no need to use the spark advance or choke adjustment levers located on the steering wheel.

I’ve been told that this car doesn’t like fast shifts, so I take great care as I reach out to find the black rubber knob on top of a very long shift lever. The clutch pedal goes to the floor, and I slowly move the lever all the way to the left, and back towards me for first gear. Through the shifter, I can feel the straight-cut gears aligning, and I give it a slight tug to get it fully engaged.

I let out the clutch, give it some gas, and the clutch releases in a very soft fashion. Despite the size and fairly lazy 7.00:1 compression, the engine revs pretty well. First gear is pretty short, so I reach for the shifter again, push down on the clutch pedal, and make the dogleg towards the dashboard for what I’m hoping is second gear, and not reverse. On the way there, I let the engine revs come down slightly, and slowly push the shifter into second gear. I’m thrilled when I let out the clutch and find that I was right! Third gear comes up quickly again, and the process is repeated once more.

Once moving, the car is relatively easy to drive. The cabin is filled with a mechanical song that is a combination of eight cylinders and gear whine, but it’s not offensively noisy. The large steering wheel made steering light and responsive (albeit with about 4” of dead space in the turn, and about 20 turns lock-to-lock), and the engine developed enough torque that I could leave it in third gear for pretty much the entire time, except for a dead stop. At one point, we were travelling an indicated 57mph down an interstate highway, and the car seemed happy to have maintained that pace for hours.

It’s no speed demon, though. Sixty miles per hour probably takes 25 seconds or more, and I couldn’t help but wonder if a tall 4^th gear would have been a great addition to newer cars.

The whole time you’re driving it, you can’t help but be aware of the size, though. There’s no zipping through traffic in this machine, and while the small side mirrors mounted to the spare tires are pretty, they’re virtually useless. You find yourself counting cars and colors via the inside rear view mirror, and making mental notes like, “After the second white car, I can change lanes.” And even then, you do it slowly lest you don’t see some idiot in your blind spot and punt him off the road.

Ventilation consists of two small doors, about the size of an envelope, cut into the cowl. Make no mistake, it still gets very warm in there. I tend to think the car did this to me on purpose, as it forced me to roll down the windows. Once I did, all that mechanical noise disappeared. I could hear the low rumble of the engine with a slight note of valve clatter, and it turned into the road-going machine that it was meant to be.

The car seemed to be talking to me, and together we channeled the spirits of those who had driven it over the last 77 years. I peered out over the long hood, and imagined myself pulling this stately car out of the Packard dealership. It was once someone’s dream car, and I hoped that somehow, their spirit still knew that someone was enjoying the car as much as they had all those years ago.

I know there was at least one spirit with me on that drive. My father’s two true automotive loves were MG TDs, and pre-war Packards. He never owned either one, but I know that, somehow, Dad was riding shotgun with me that day. Out of the corner of my eye, I could occasionally catch a glimpse of him wearing his tweed slouch hat, his elbow out the window, and through his thick beard, he was grinning even more than I was.

As I write this, the last of the dirt accumulated from the drive is probably being cleaned off, and the car prepared for winter hibernation. And while the car’s memories of this trip are being washed away, my memories of a day with this great car will stay with me forever.

I feel truly honored to have been asked to watch over this lovely piece of art for a while during its history, and I can’t thank the owners enough for allowing me the privilege to do so. 

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The Road That Used to be a Racetrack

The weather today in central Maryland is chilly and rainy. And, like any terrible parent, I'm standing outside our parked car with my 6-year old on a dead-end road in the middle of rural Carroll County.

So why am I subjecting us to this misery? Because we're there to listen to race cars. There's a great field of entrants today, and the sound of flathead V8s, modded small block Chevys, and Offey-powered dirt cars are enough to make any car guy swoon.

There's a great crowd on hand for today's racing action, too, and the smell of cheap hotdogs and soft pretzels wafts across the grandstands in a delicious haze.

Then I feel a tugging at my jacket. "Can we go now?"

Suddenly, the cars stop running and the crowd quiets. I open my eyes and, once again, I realize we're still standing out in the rain. I start looking around for the stands, the pits, all the modified race cars. But they're nowhere to be found. All that I see is a McMansion with a manicured lawn.

Where we're standing is the approximate location of what used to be turn three at Condon Raceway, just west of what is now Eldersburg, MD.

Years ago, I was talking to an older gent who mentioned there had once been a race track in that general area. Over the years, I never came across anyone else who knew about it, much less its true location, and it got shelved in my mind. A recent conversation with a car-guy friend reminded me of it, and I went in search of more info.

Condon Speedway was a third-mile dirt track oval that ran modifieds from 1953-1959. No one particularly famous ever raced there, yet for almost seven seasons, the men who brought out their cars and ran along the knife-edge of adhesion that is dirt track racing were heroes in their own right. Names like Mullinex, Morgan and Culp are still well known in the area, even if their history, and that of Condon Speedway, is not.

Sadly, the last remnants of the track have been long since erased from the landscape. But if you park along the gate of trees on Gina Court, take pause. If you squint through the daylight, you'll see the ghosts of a mechanic tuning a carburetor, a young man selling programs, and the sound of vintage cars powering their way to victory.

But if you smell hotdogs, odds are it's just one of the neighbors having a cookout.

Special thanks to Larry Jendras, Jr. for his patience in answering all my questions, and helping to keep alive the motorsports history of Maryland.

Arial view of Condon Speedway vicinity, 1995.
If you look closely, you can still see the oval's outline through the trees.

Photo courtesy of Google Earth.

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"What kind of car do you like to work on?"

A couple weeks ago, I came outside one night to find my Mazda MX-6 puking a large amount of coolant onto the driveway. After some investigation, I discovered that the water pump gasket had failed. And I got scared.

Why? Because Mazda shoehorned a 2.5 liter V6 transversely under the hood, and made the car a front-wheel-drive machine. Add to that a pair of overhead cams per cylinder head. Add to that the process of replacing the water pump entails removing most of the accessories off the engine, and the timing belt. And then on top of all that, I've never, ever changed a timing belt on a car.

I won't bore you with details, but the long story short is that three of us successfully replaced the timing belt, water pump, belts and gaskets over the course of a leisurely seven hours.

So while having lunch with a friend the other day, we were discussing the complex nature of something like a water pump/timing belt job on an MX-6, and the various other oddball repairs that some cars require.

We discussed the strange, unnecessary complexity of changing a PCV valve on an early Mazda3 (Step 1: Remove the intake manifold). Then we touched on other things like changing the water pump on a Ferrari Testarossa (Step 1: Remove engine). I then showed him some of the scars on my hands with accompanying stories.

"So what kind of car do you like to work on?" he asked.A simple question, but one that I took a minute to think about.

The options went spinning through my head as I found myself putting down my sandwich and staring into space. I mean, any car guy worth his salt would probably blurt out something like a twin-turbo Ferrari F40, or maybe a Bugatti Veyron with four turbos. Perhaps a sweet muscle car, like a '59 Corvette with a blown big block. Most of us probably have dreams of spinning wrenches in the pits at Indianapolis, or fine-tuning the air/fuel mixture on a Top Fuel dragster.

What could I say? There were so many cool cars that I could rattle off, and I'd had a hand on several cool cars over the years. But then I got thinking about how miserable it'd be to have to remove the intake manifold on a quad-turbo W16 Bugatti engine. And the castings on the F40 were probably poor. And I'd probably completely screw up the mixture on a supercharged motor and blow the heads off of it. I cringed a bit, but I had an answer.

"Pickup trucks," I said.

"Pickup trucks?" he asked while raising an eyebrow. "All the cool cars you know about, and you're telling me you like to work on pickup trucks???"

It's true. Ever work on one? You don't need to jack it up. You don't need to break your back bending down to it. The drivetrain is relatively straightforward. All the parts are big and pretty easy to get to. Heck, I've even crawled inside the engine bay and sat on the fender while working on a couple full-size ones.

After all, we know how much fun it is to drive and brag about all that trickle-down race car technology is on a car, but when it comes to working on the beasts, I'll happily take the simplicity of a big full-size truck.

Image from 4wheeloffroad.com

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LeMans 2011 in Review

Now that the dust has settled, and parts of Alan McNish's AUDI R16 have come back down from orbit, it seems that LeMans was not in short supply of drama this year!

Here are a few of the highlights:

And hour into the race, Alan McNish in a LMP1 AUDI passed the Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 (in GTE Pro) just under the Dunlop bridge. The rules at LeMans state that the slower cars can hold their line, and the prototypes go around them. Unfortunately, McNish went inside the Ferrari on a turn, causing the two cars to touch, sending McNish and the AUDI into a horrific crash. Amazingly, there were no injuries, including McNish, but the race was run under a full-course yellow for an hour. The Ferrari would return to the race a few hours later.

Sometime around 11pm, Mike Rockenfeller in another factory AUDI R16 came into contact with another Ferrari 458 (in GTE Pro), which caused the AUDI to spin and hit the guardrail at an estimated 170+mph. The car blew apart, sending the cockpit over the fence and into the woods. Amazingly, Rockenfeller also walked away unscathed, but spent the night in the hospital for observation.

In the end, it came down to Simon Pagenaud in the #9 Peugeot chasing down the #2 AUDI of Andre Lotterer for the overall lead. Despite Pagenaud's push to the end, the difference from 1st to 2nd place was decided by only 13 seconds! A heartbreaker for the Peugeot team, who was perhaps the most miserable-looking team ever on the podium.

Another great milestone was for Corvette Racing, who brought their yellow Corvette ZR-1 to a class win in GTE-Pro on not only the 10th anniversary of GM returning to LeMans, but also the 100th anniversary year of the founding of Chevrolet.

Full race results can be found here.

Another great year at LeMans - what did you think? Leave us a comment, or talk to us on Facebook and tell us your favorite parts, memories, or pledge your Peugeot vindication for next year.


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Le Mans 2011

If you love the 24 Hours of Le Mans like I do, then this weekend is a big one for you. Friends know not to call during the (somewhat spotty) broadcasts on SPEED channel, my wife knows I won't be mowing the lawn until the race is unceremoniously pre-empted by NASCAR practice laps, and I'll be shopping for enough snacks and carbohydrates to keep me fueled for at least 20 of LeMans' 24 hours.

As the saying goes, "You can't tell the horses without a program," so every year, I like to give a little bit of a background on the race - who to watch, what to look for, and some personal opinions and observations thrown in for color.

So what should you look for? Check out the class listings below. We'll even do a race recap on Monday, so stay tuned.

LMP1 (LeMans Prototype 1 - the big, fast cars)
Once again, it's the classic AUDI/Peugeot matchup for the overall win. Both teams are running diesel engines which have proven to be fast and easy on fuel consumption. Of special note is the introduction of the new AUDI R18, which is a closed-cockpit car (which is a switch from many previous years of open-cockpit AUDIs). This means the tires are narrower, but the new roof (and ungainly trailing dorsal fin) should mean higher speeds and stability along the two long straights at LeMans. As always, we'll be cheering for Tom Kristensen, the most winningest driver in LeMans history. Currently, AUDI holds the #1 and #2 spots, with Kristensen's car in fifth, with Peugeot 908s all around.

Diesel should be an interesting race this year, since the top seven cars are all within 1/2 second of each other.

Henri Pescarolo has come close to an overall win a few times in the past, and his team is always hungry for a win, even after some real heart-breaking finishes. Unfortunately, they've switched to a gasoline-powered engine this year, and will start the race in 9th, nearly eight seconds per lap slower than the pole-sitting AUDI. The Toyota-powered Lolas of the Rebellion Racing team should have an interesting battle all their own with the Pescarolo team, and are on the grid in 8th and 10th place. Unfortunately for the factory Aston Martins, they only managed to qualify in 22nd and 25th positions (20+ seconds per lap slower than the pole-sitting AUDI), so they will not pose a serious threat this year.


LMP2 (smaller, lighter, but less powerful versions of LMP1)
LMP2 typically plays second fiddle (usually third or fourth fiddle) to the rest of the race. The teams keep making them faster, but due to the class rules, the cars end up being tremendously handicapped. In smaller races, LMP2 cars have been known to score an outright win over the faster LMP1 class, but not at LeMans. This, incidentally, is why Roger Penske's Porsche RS Spyders (that dominated the ALMS series) never participated at LeMans. The team was invited, but he declined out of protest since the P2 class was hobbled so much that an overall win wouldn't be possible.

Nevertheless, if the French TV feed decides to show some LMP2 action, enjoy it like you would a rare delicacy. All the cars seem to be within a second of each other, respectively, so it could come down to tire and fuel management to decide the class winner.


LM GTE
This year marks the first year of the LM GTE classes, which are retain 95% of the rules for the class previously known as GT2 (there is no longer a GT1 class). The vehicles are based on road-going cars and must have gasoline engines only. The minimum production number is 100 copies for major manufacturers (25 for small ones), and use an engine of which a minumum of 300 have been made. Cars with carbon chassis are allowed as long as there are a minimum of 300 produced. Engines have to remain in their same location, and supercharged engines have air restrictors.

The end result should be a great "run what you brung" series, with the likes of such enthusiast favorites as the Corvette ZR-1, BMW M3, and Porsche 911 RSR battling with newcomers like the Ferrari 458, Lotus Evora and even an Aston Martin Vantage and a Ford GT.

One of the intriguing things that has been added is the split of the LM GTE class into "PRO" and "AM" classes. The PRO class allows for three professional drivers to pilot each car, while "AM" only allows for one professional driver per car, with the other two being amateurs. Between the driving and the factory money in the PRO class, it should quickly become a game of the "haves" versus the "have nots".

Nevertheless, the ones to watch should be the duels between the Corvette Racing ZR-1s against the BMW Motorsports M3s. The Bimmers set the class lead, with the lead car being nearly 2 seconds per lap faster than both Corvettes. Also keep an eye on the silver/red Porsche 911 RSR of the Flying Lizard team, a particularly talented and fast crew, that is currently 12th in class.

The real X-factors in the LM GTE class are the new Ferrari 458s. Although a PRO team has one sitting 2nd in class at the moment with a blistering speed not far off the lead BMWs, fuel management and reliability could either put the cars out front, or bench them one by one. To no one's surprise, the Lotus Evoras are in dead last, and third from dead last.

Enjoy the show - I know I will!

AUDI R18 (LMP1 class pole position)

Photo from lemans.org

Signatech Nissan Oreca (LMP2 pole position)

Photo from ototweet.com

BMW Motosport M3 GT (LM GTE Pro pole position)

Photo from bwmblog.com

AF Corse SRL Ferrari 430 Competizione (LM GTE AM pole position)

Photo from Andrew Goldstraw on Flikr

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The Magic of Le Mans

I remember being about 14 years old when I first found out about the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I happened to catch it on some TV sports channel, and I remember watching the Sauber team running their pair of silver Mercedes-Benz C9s to an overall win. The cars were unlike anything I'd ever seen before - they were sleek and swoopy and spacecraft-like, had a great engine sound, and fire blasted from the exhaust pipes on every shift. Best of all, there was a bunch of equally wild-looking cars racing, too.

At the first commercial break, I learned that I was watching an endurance race called the 24 heurs du Mans. The premise was simple: Drive as fast as you could through eight miles of the French countryside, then do it for 24 hours straight.

Ingrained in my memory is watching those silver Mercs streak along the track, then through the fast right-hander known as "Tetre Rouge" ("redhead"), then on to the 4-mile long straight, famously known as "Mulsanne". Imagine what an 800+hp car can do when you floor it for four miles! (Ed. note: during the late 1980s, the turbocharged Porsche 962s were reportedly hitting speeds in excess of 250mph.)

To a young car geek, it was all magical. As I got older, I read even more about the race, and fell in love with its rich racing history and tradition. Here are just a few:

- Until 1970, the race was started with the cars not placed on a grid, but parked along the pit wall. When the starting flag was waved, drivers would run across the front straight to their awaiting cars, start them up, and drive away with reckless abandon! During the last year of this type of start (1969), famous driver Jacky Ickx protested the unsafe start by casually strolling across the track to his car, where he took great care to fasten his safety belt. Although he was one of the last to start the race, he eventually won.

- In 1962, Ferrari brought their new for 1962 (and darling of the ball) Ferrari 250 GTO, driven by Mike Parkes. During an altercation with an Aston Martin, the GTO ended up in the sand trap at the end of the Mulsanne straight. The car ended up completing only 52 laps before it retired with overheating issues. When the car was restored in the early 1990s, sand was still found wedged in the nose.

- During the 1949 race, Luigi Chinetti won the race in a Ferrari 166MM after driving for over 23 1/2 hours straight (his co-driver became ill after being in the car only 20 minutes).

- Even non-race fans are familiar with the spraying of champagne by race winners. This was started by Dan Gurney when he won the 1967 race with AJ Foyt in a Ford GT40.

- The worst crash in motor racing history happened in 1955 when Mercedes-Benz brought one of their 300 SLRs to the race. Near the beginning of the front straight, the Mercedes-Benz collided with an Austin Healey. The impact broke the Merc's engine from the chassis, sending it skipping through the crowd, killing 86 spectators.

Victories, tragedies, and traditions alike, it made for 24 hours of drama that only a racing enthusiast would get into. These days, the cars are still very exotic, but both the track and the cars are much safer. Fortunately, this hasn't hurt the stories that are told during those 24 hours.

To this day, I still wake up early on a Saturday to catch the first several hours of the race. I get chills watching the field roll off the grid, and hear the engines come up to speed as they come out of the last of the Porsche curves and sweep onto the front straight. I'll watch through the night, catch a nap in the early hours of the morning, then am back up at 5am to watch the last four hours. What can I say? It's my Superbowl.

This year, the race is scheduled for June 11-12, starting at 9am EST (3pm French time) and is being shown by the Speed Channel here in the States. If you find yourself around a TV, give it a few laps, even if you've never watched another race, or are a dyed-in-the-wool NASCAR fan.

There is truly no greater spectacle in motorsports!

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Bench Racing, and Other Great Lies #6

Here's one from Christian's past that he's offered to share as part of the next great installment in the wildly-popular, Bench Racing, and Other Great Lies series.

We love to hear stories, whether they're true, or just a great lie. So click the "Contact" link in Christian's profile, and send 'em to us. We'll even help edit, and maybe exaggerate a lie or two ourselves!

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One day during my Sophomore year in high school, my friend, Steve, stopped me in the hall. "What are you doing after school? 'Cause I have my Dad's Trans Am today."

This was a rare treat for both of us. Steve's father was a company executive who owned a handful of interesting toys including a big block '68 Corvette convertible and this car, a 1983 Pontiac Trans Am with the Daytona Pace Car package. We immediately made plans to go for a drive after school.

Within minutes of the final bell ringing, Steve and I were jumping into the car like, well, two kids who borrowed Dad's cool car.

We cruised it to a local 7-Eleven where we eased it into a prime parking spot right in front of the door. The car was loaded to the hilt with all the goodies, including the aerodynamic wheel covers and a 5-speed, and the white paint made the wedge-shaped car look like the shark that it was.

We'd only been inside a couple minutes when we came back outside to find a large gentleman admiring the car. A few pleasantries were exchanged between him and Steve as I got into the car. As I did, I overheard the man say to Steve, "I see you have a dent in the rear quarter panel and a crack in the spoiler. I do bodywork, and would be happy to give you a price on the repair." Steve thought that sounded like a good idea, and agreed to pull around the side of the building to get a quote.

I almost smacked him when he got back in the car.

We pulled around the side of the building, parked between a dumpster and an old blue and tan '77 Thunderbird. Steve got out to talk to the man when another man got out of the Thunderbird and popped the trunk. I wished that Steve had left me with the keys, but I stayed in the car and locked my door.

What eventually made me get out of the car was several loud, metallic banging noises followed by the car shaking. This was caused by a slide hammer punching eight holes in the fender. For the next five minutes, I watched as Steve's eyes remained the size of dinner plates covered in a big heaping of panic. Before he could panic any further, plastic filler was made up and spread over the holes. "All it needs is paint," said the first man. "That'll be $300."

The scam had been set, and these guys had two naive 16-year-olds in their sights. Steve gulped hard, and took a step towards the man. "That's not right. You said you were going to give me an estimate. Not actually fix the car."

Unfortunately for Steve, the man took a step towards him, and the second guy (still holding the slide hammer in his hand) was glaring at me. "I don't know what you're talking about. You owe us $300, mother fucker. And you're going to give us that money, right now."

"I'll have to go to the ATM across the street," Steve said.

"That's good. We'll follow you over. Don't try anything stupid." And that's exactly what we did.

We got back into the cars, and Steve pulls the Pontiac to the driveway. "Hold on. TIGHT." We were about to try something stupid.

For the next ten minutes, the two cars bobbed and weaved through traffic on Route 202 in Delaware at high speed, cutting through neighborhoods, blowing through stop signs and red lights, all the time hoping we'd come across a police officer. If a bridge had been out, we'd have jumped it, Dukes of Hazzard style! Hal Needham couldn't have asked for a better car chase.

Eventually, we cut through a shopping center and barreled down a side road. We pulled into a neighborhood, and came to a screeching halt in the driveway of an elderly gentleman who was mowing his lawn. He must have thought we were crazy, but seeing the panic in our eyes and our shaking voices convinced him that we were telling the truth. He and his wife let us use the phone, and Steve called his father to explain everything.

Forty-five minutes later, Steve's father pulled up in the driveway, and escorted us back to school where my ride home was waiting.

I don't know if the car was ever repaired, but it took me years to not go into a blind panic every time I saw a blue '77 Thunderbird.

Photo from http://autopolis.wordpress.com

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The Idiots of Seville

I was surfing through my music library the other day, when I came across, "Love is Life" by a Brit-Club music band called Candyflip. The music lives up to the band's name, and has a very trippy-sounding, semi-House feel to it.

It's not really what I'm into anymore, but throughout 1990-1992 year, my friend Vinnie and I used to play that album constantly!

We loved it because the bass used to travel throughout the interior of Vinnie's car, and we'd put the windows down and crank up the music wherever we went. In hindsight, it's no wonder neither of us got laid back then.

So while our music wasn't particularly appealing, the third part of our trio was - a 1976 Cadillac Seville.

Vinnie had assumed ownership of it during his Sophomore year in high school. It had belonged to his grandparents, who had purchased it brand-new in 1975 and loaded it with every option. It was finished in white with a blue vinyl top and plush blue Velour interior. Once his grandmother became too old to drive, she passed it along to Vinnie. It had a grand total of 31,000 miles on it when Vinnie got his hands on it, and had probably never traveled over 40mph. Vinnie and I changed all that.

In 1976, Cadillac released the Seville model as a top-of-the-line model (it actually cost more than the 1976 Eldorado) aimed towards the impending fuel and emissions problems that plagued American carmakers in the mid-'70s. Nevertheless, GM stylist Bill Mitchell (famous for the initial look of the Corvette Sting Rays and 1960s-era GMs) designed a wonderfully-proportioned 4-door sedan that gently sloped towards the rear, arguably later copied by the current Rolls Royce Phantom.

It featured an Oldsmobile-sourced 350ci small block V8 with a Bendix electronic fuel injection, all backed up by a TH400 automatic transmission and either a 2.56 or optional 3.08 rear end. The whole thing was good for 180hp and 275 lb-ft of torque just off idle. The torque came in handy, as it was required to lug around two idiots, a CD player, and 4300lbs of vehicle!

Despite its seemingly lack of performance numbers, Vinnie drove all four doors off that car. We'd hustle it down narrow, twisty back roads like it was a sports car. It would cruise from stoplight to stoplight like it was it's job. And we discovered that it would glide along for many, many miles of highway at speeds that buried at least one gauge needle in the process.

It's certainly a good thing that neither one of us knew anything about cars, because we'd sit and fantasize about fiberglass body panels, a roller cam, and some wicked twin-turbo setup we'd somehow find on a junked Callaway Corvette. We could dream with the best of them!

Unfortunately, it was a bad thing that neither one of us knew anything about cars, because the car proved to be very unreliable. The aging electrical system seemed to throw fits, whether it was an oddball accessory that was shorting out, or the alternator burning out again.

After a few years of investing a small fortune into the Seville, Vinnie's parents suggested he get rid of the car. He ended up with a used, 4-cylinder '92 Mustang notchback (ironically in the same color combination as the Seville). We both cried when he traded in the Caddy.

I still occasionally come across one of those boxy Sevilles, and the memories of those days of my youth become numerous enough to have filled the car's ginormous trunk. I just don't think anyone who owns one ever plays anything as cool as Candyflip.

Photo from OrlandoClassicCars.com

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Bench Racing, and Other Great Lies #5

The next great installment in the wildly-popular, Bench Racing, and Other Great Lies series.

We love to hear stories, whether they're true, or just a great lie. So click the "Contact" link in Christian's profile, and send 'em to us. We'll even help edit, and maybe exaggerate a lie or two ourselves!

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I once heard a story about a really great mechanic. He was one of those great mechanical geniuses that didn't believe in opening up a parts catalog to fix something. Instead, he'd happily disassemble ridiculously complex things (like a tilt & telescoping steering column), fix whatever needed fixing, then reassemble it.

On one particular high-mileage car that was in for such a repair, the car's owner noticed that the gauge panel was out of the car, and the mechanic was holding it in his hand. "You know, with the gauges out, it'd be really easy to wind 100,000 miles off that odometer," he said to the mechanic.

"OH GOOD LORD, NOOOOO!!" replied the mechanic. "That would be illegal! But," he continued,"if something were to happen where the odometer become incorrect, there's no way that I'd know what the correct mileage was, and I'd have to rely on the owner to tell me."

Surprised by the mechanic's honesty and integrity, the owner shrugged and let the mechanic go on about his business. Just as he turned away to go look at something that caught his eye, he heard the mechanic exclaim, "Oops!" followed by the sound of the gauge cluster hitting the floor. The odometer gears became displaced, and little black numbered dials were seen spinning on the floor.

The mechanic looked up to the car owner, and said, "Oh jeez, do you remember what the mileage was?"

"About 38,000," the owner said with a grin.

Image from bikernet.com

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Playing Petter Solberg

The tach sweeps past 5,000rpm and I look down the road, eyes focused on the quickly approaching guardrail on the outside of a tight left hander. I step on the clutch, and heel-toe shift down into second, blipping the throttle and spooling up the big turbo. Halfway through the turn, I let the clutch out, and all 300 horses are put down to the pavement.

About the time the engine reaches redline, there appears a quick right. No problem, except the new pavement that’s been put down has a nice bump in it. Near the apex.

The front suspension unloads causing instant understeer. Milliseconds later, the rear lightens. Tires chirp, three differentials and a host of yaw sensors jump to action. The rear steps out, and we drift through the turn looking like Petter Solberg. My passenger starts shouting pace notes, and we give a quick cheating-death cheer before reaching for third, and the next corner.

What’s this machine we’re driving? An older Subaru WRX STi. The beastmaster of the Subaru stable. The WRC car with a full interior. The car that comes factory-tuned by Subaru Technica International (STi) with all the parts you wish you could own.

Over the last couple decades, Subaru has made a few attempts at building a performance-oriented sports car. Among them was the odd wedge-shaped Subaru XT-6, and the bigger let-down with the funky windows, the Subaru SVX. Subaru’s parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, specializes in everything from aircraft to power plants to construction equipment, and a company like that has no business building sports cars.

And thank God they quit trying.

The result is a pudgy 4-door sedan (and now a wagon - Ed.) that will do 0-60 in 4.6 seconds, and a quarter-mile in 13.5 seconds. Stock. On a bad day.

Just approaching the car is imposing. The first thing you notice is the massive hood scoop feeding the top-mount intercooler. Then the car’s stance hits you, showing off flared fenders and a ride height a half-inch lower than it’s little brother, the WRX. But it’s pretty hard to miss the ironing board-sized rear spoiler. Our tester came with the optional gold-painted BBS alloy wheels, and the only color the purist in me thinks is worthy of being on an STi, World Rally Blue Pearl.

Inside, you’ll find a pair of STi seats trimmed in blue suede with deep side bolsters. They look more supportive than they actually are, but aren’t nearly as compromising as a dedicated race seat. Once in the driver’s seat, however, you’ll really enjoy the thick-rimmed MOMO steering wheel. The feel is wonderful, and looks trick.

Peering through the wheel, you’ll also notice red electroluminescent gauges, dominated by a center-mounted tachometer. Our tester was also equipped with the Performance Gauge Pack which includes a turbo boost gauge, oil temperature gauge, voltmeter and gauge pack housing which mounts to the center of the dash. A metal trimmed shift knob on a 6-speed transmission rises from the floor. It all provides for an environment that feels stylish, yet very purposeful, and reminds you that this isn’t your Mom’s Legacy wagon.

Of particular interest are three switches you’re not likely to find in any other production car. The one on the dash is connected to a pump under the hood that sprays cool water on the intercooler. Another on the center console is marked “DCCD”, or Driver Controlled Center Differential. And there’s a mysterious dial close by.

If you’re smart, you’ll leave the DCCD switch turned to auto. Otherwise, you’re in for a quick lesson in handling characteristics and weight transfer. You see, Subaru has equipped the STi with a manually adjustable center differential. Leave it on auto, and it splits the torque 35/65 to the front/rear wheels. But if you adjust it to one of the six manual settings, you can get the car to induce everything from controlled understeer to holy-crap-that’s-fun oversteer.

It’s like driving a video game.

And driving is definitely what this car is all about. Turn the anodized metal ignition key, and the 2.5 liter flat-4 starts with a sedate growl that runs through a custom STi-tuned exhaust. It’s surprisingly quiet inside the car, but is very deep and intimidating from outside. The engine note will seem odd to most people, as horizontally-opposed engines tend to do. Unfortunately, below 4,000rpm, the STi’s engine sounds very industrial, like a cross between an old Porsche and a city bus. But above that, the growl is surreal with just a small hint of a whoosh from the IHI turbo topping out at 14.5psi.

However, once you put the car in first and step on the gas, you’ll find the only thing you’re aware of is looking down the road to see what’s ahead, because you’ll be there very quickly. The engine has a very short powerband, but reaches it’s maximum 300 lb-ft of torque at 4,000rpm and tops out at 300hp at 6,000rpm. The 8.2:1 compression means the car is very docile before the turbo kicks in, and the STi tends to wallow around in it’s 3263lb curb weight. But once the turbo comes up to full boost, the car consumes asphalt at an impressive rate.

Braking is equally impressive due to the large 4-piston Brembo calipers on 12.7” front rotors with 2-piston rear Brembos on 12.3” rotors. Stopping from 70-0 takes just 157ft, and pedal feel is firm and controllable. The pads also heat up nicely, but their competition nature means they tend to be noisy when cold and give off a lot of dust.

Handling is a different story. The 225/45-17 Bridgestone Potenza RE070 tires have sharp turn-in and very high levels of grip. But what keeps things entertaining is the computerized all-wheel drive system and differentials. Leave the center differential set to “Auto”, and the car does a fine job of cornering.

It’s at this point that the driver becomes the weak link in the chain, because if you forget it’s all-wheel drive, the car becomes unsettled. Power out of the curve like a rear-driver, and the STi goes from brief understeer to oversteer to balanced handling while the system anticipates what you’re doing, and what the car should be doing.

If you adjust the differentials to be rear-biased, the effect is much less and the car behaves like a RWD car with a hint of oversteer. It mostly comes down to overall feel and your own driving style, but after a few days with the car, it’s so user-friendly it’ll make even your grandmother look like a handling goddess.

What your grandmother won’t like, however, is the suspension. On a smooth road, the shock dampening and spring rates are an excellent match, complimented by 20mm sway bars on either end. But on city streets, the race suspension shows it’s weakness. Will you mind it? Probably not, but a daily-driven STi would be a poor choice for a car in a city full of potholes and other road imperfections.

So is the STi really all it’s cracked up to be? It’s loud, rowdy, and the styling is way over the top. But with pricing in the low- to mid-$30k range for a car that will outrun most street cars, embarrass cars costing several times as much, and will turn impressive numbers at the track, it looks like Subaru has brought the ultimate package to the everyday consumer.

photo from sportscarforums.com



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Battle Scars

The other day, my daughter was looking at my hands. "Daddy, what's that?" she asked, with all the innocence of a six-year-old.

"It's a scar, honey."

"Oh. How did you get it?"

Instantly, my mind started re-living the pain of that day. I was replacing the belts on my father's old Bronco II, and I was wrestling with bolts that hadn't budged in years. Unable to get one free, I pulled out the 1/2" drive socket wrench, put it on the bolt, and pushed with all my might.

Just then, the wrench slipped off the bolt, and my hand went full-force past a bracket, gouging a knuckle on my right hand and removing 1 inch of flesh from my wrist.

I, then a man of 23, cried. People two towns over heard an obscenity carried by the wind. My foot later hurt from kicking the truck's bumper in anger.

Naturally, my daughter got the abridged version, but it got me thinking about all the various scars on my hands from all the years of working on cars. And that we, as vehicle enthusiasts, probably all have our share of wounds that come from our love of all things mechanical.

I have scars from cars. I have friends who have scars from motorcycle kick-starters that snapped back to rip open the calf on their right leg. I once met a man who lost most of his face from a motorcycle accident.

Are we stupid for wanting to continue our love of working on and caring for these machines? After all, we stay away from bees because they sting. Most people don't eat liver because of its taste. And we know not to jump from an airplane without a parachute.

Rather, we tend to get up, brush ourselves off, and wipe the blood away with a greasy shop rag. Then we pick up the wrench, or get back on the motorcycle, and do it all again, knowing full well that there's a good chance we'll be injured again.

Face it. We're mechanical masochists.

Few things in life see this same kind of dedication. In a disposable world, where it's easier to "buy it new" rather than repair it, car and motorcycle enthusiasts continue to be the ones who will find it worthwhile to finish the job. After all, there's no better sense of accomplishment as when, after the job, you close the hood over a purring motor.

So take a look at your hands, and think about all the scars you see. It's even okay to ask friends about theirs. Or take the time to talk to the grizzled old mechanic - he probably has the best stories.

Don't be afraid to show off your mechanical scars. They're just tattoos of our passion.



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The Legend of Chip Miller

Seven years ago today, the car world lost one of the truly greats, Chip Miller.

I met Chip during a family vacation to Ocean City, NJ when I was 15. I was riding my bike when I came across a red, 1990 Corvette ZR-1 in the driveway of one of the many ginormous houses that sit on the beach. I'd never seen a ZR-1 in person, so I stopped to gaze at it from the sidewalk.

As if on cue, the garage door opened up, and a man backed out a loud, black Cobra. My jaw hit the ground. He must have seen my reaction, because he looked over, and beckoned me over with a broad smile. We chatted about cars while he hosed off the Cobra (which turned out to be a replica - but he had two real ones "back home"). Two of the things that struck me as instantly cool about him was that by age 30, Chip had owned a Ferrari Daytona. And he'd returned a then-new Viper because of it's overwhelming awfulness. Yes, he was a car guy's car guy.

"Have you ever seen a Callaway Speedster?" he asked. I knew there had been only 10 twin-turbo ones made, that Otis Chandler owned #1, and that they were the hottest Corvettes ever.

"Just in magazines," I said with a shrug. He beckoned me into the garage, where a second garage door was installed on the back wall that opened into the first floor of the house. He opened the door, and sitting there was Chip's Callaway Corvette Speedster, which was #10 and only had a handful of miles on it at the time. As if that wasn't amazing enough, next to it was the C4 Corvette that won the first Corvette Challenge Series race in 1988 (it was the red Doug Rippie car at the top of the link - Ed.). By comparison, the white 1987 Porsche Speedster was fairly mundane in such company. On the back wall was a Chevrolet promo model of every year Corvette, and at least a thousand books on cars.

It was all an amazing experience, not just because of the cars, but because Chip seemed like such a genuine nice guy.

I ran back and told my parents about what had happened. "So what's he do?" they asked. I admitted that I didn't know. "Well, you should go back and find out what he does that he can afford all these great cars!" It was their way of inspiring me. Their philosophy was that if someone out there was living your dream, find out how they made it there.

I admit I was a bit embarrassed to knock on Chip's door again. "Could I interview you?" I asked. He laughed, but invited me in. We sat upstairs at the kitchen table, and talked about his life.

Chip had graduated from a junior college, and was able to scrape up enough money to invest it with a business partner, Bill Miller (no relation - Ed.). Together, they bought a large plot of land in Carlisle, PA that came to be known as the Carlisle Fairgrounds. They started hosting events like antique shows, and eventually turned to the automotive world, which now is the primary focus of the venue.

If you've ever been to a Carlisle Events show, you've probably seen Chip wandering the crowd. I'd often look him up (and even ran across him at a non-Carlisle show), and was thrilled when he'd recognize me, and ask questions about things that only he and I would have discussed. To a young car enthusiast, it really meant a lot, and made you feel special.

I don't remember where I first saw it, but I was terribly upset to read of his death. Chip had been diagnosed with a rare disease called Amyloidosis. From what I'd read, it attacks the body and leads to a miserable state of life. In Chip's case, it had attacked a number of his organs very quickly, and he passed away in a matter of weeks.

My own father would pass away two years later, but at the time, I felt like I had lost another father figure. I couldn't help thinking how tragic it was that such a wonderful, caring, and genuinely nice guy would have been given such an awful ending to his life. It didn't seem to be a fair fate for such a good person.

Not long afterward, I was attending a Carlisle show and I ran into his son, Lance. I had practiced what I thought I might say if I saw him. It sounded great in my head, but instead I found myself fumbling over my words. "I know you don't know who I am, but your Dad was really great, and I enjoyed meeting him, and..."

"Of course, I remember you! You came upstairs at the beach house and talked with him. He was thrilled that someone so young would be that interested in him," he said.

I once read that one of the things that Chip wanted to do was to make a difference in peoples' lives. Chip definitely made a difference in mine, and is one of the people that I credit with making me the car enthusiast that I am today.

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For more information on Amyloidosis, and the Chip Miller Charitable Foundation, please visit http://chipmiller.org/.


Check back here for a photo soon - just need to scan it in. - Ed.


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Trophee Andros Electrique

If it's not obvious by now, we're car guys here  And one of the drawbacks is that the office DVR gets filled up quickly by car shows of all types. Not the mindless NASCAR commentary that seems to dominate the SPEED channel for 10 months of the year. Instead, it's oddball car shows that happen in the middle of the night. You know, when real car guys are asleep.

The other day, we came across a small piece on the "Trophee Andros Electrique". Don't worry, we'd never heard of it, either, but we were instantly intrigued.

You see, the Andros Trophy (expanded info here) is an ice racing championship held in France. It's basically a series of courses that are plowed through the snow (sometimes on a frozen lake), then drivers race small, rally-type cars around them.

Not really a new concept, but what was new was that last year they added an electric series to the schedule. The first year of the electric series, there was a field of 8 cars, this past year it was up to 12. As an interesting side note, Nicolas Prost (son of the famed Formula 1 driver Alain Prost) was the first-ever series champion.


The cars are powered by Lithium Ion batteries which drive electric motors that are the equivalent of 122hp and 200 Newton-metres of torque. They're light, and rear-wheel drive, making for a 0-60mph acceleration in under six seconds (on ice), and a top speed of about 100mph.

In an interview on the show, Mobile1: The Grid, Chief Designer Luc Marchetti explains, "Three years the evolutions of the electric cars' adaptations were needed. A car, which is totally built around a traction chain and batteries. We switched to electric motors, not only for ecological reasons, but also to show technical progress. To show that it's possible to have fast cars that aren't necessarily noisy and polluting. It was a real challenge.

"The biggest challenge, especially in this series, came from climate conditions. Heat, cold, humidity, everything in fact could make things malfunction. Of course today, we've taken all of that into account, and everything seems really obvious to us now. It wasn't that simple - we had a lot of problems that we had to fix over the years.

"Nowadays, with 250 kilos (550 lbs.) of batteries in a race like the Andros Trophy, we're able to drive, on most tracks, 30-40 laps. Most races are only about 6-8 laps long, so we're able to fully recharge the batteries in 20 minutes between races and be ready to go again.

"About the noise, some enthusiasts may miss it. I am really glad to protect my ears now, but also not carry the smell of thermal engines on my clothes in the evening. As for the spectators, there has been a change in people's mentality. The cars do make a little bit of noise, but now we're also working on an electric noise."


So, who's ready to go ice racing with a Prius?

 Photo from AutoblogGreen

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Follow-up to "Fun With Hypermiling"

A few weeks ago, we at the CarGuyChristian blog highlighted our wildly successful series, "Fun With Hypermiling" which actually broke down the costs and benefits associated with Hypermiling and theories on fuel-saving techniques.

Not only did our research come up with some interesting findings and conclusions but, more importantly, it got people talking about fuel savings.

We received a lot of feedback and e-mails (keep those letters and notes coming, folks!), but one fan sent me a link that I thought was another great source of information. Plus, we like the fact that it takes some of the mystery out of internet chatter, and actually looks to replace it with intelligent reasoning. Do we agree with all of it? Not necessarily. But we do feel that giving people the information to help them think for themselves is much more valuable.

The proof? As the fan wrote me in his e-mail, "The aggregate savings at the gas station is lost by the time spent in filling your tank twice as often and at slower rates. Better to maintain your car and stop driving like a jerk." That's a man with an opinion!

In any event, take a look for yourself, and we'd love to hear what you think! Leave us a comment, or join the discussions over on Facebook.

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Like A Scene From A Movie

One of my favorite parts of a movie is the soundtrack. It's one of those subtle things that can adjust the way the viewer sees the film, and takes the scene from something mundane and makes it incredible.

Just think - without the soundtrack, Indiana Jones would just be a dude in a hat. Tony Manero might just be doing stylish square dancing. Smokey and the Bandit could just as well be going for a scenic drive to Texarkana.

Sometimes in life, things come together. And you have the really cool, seemingly orchestrated moment that happens just by chance.

One night many years ago, I was driving north on I-295 from Delaware towards New Jersey. It was about 2:30am, and traffic was light. But it was one of those great, mid-summer nights, and I had the Miata's top down and the radio blasting.

Out of the radio came the surreal 1984 hit, "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths. As I sped the red roadster down the highway, I was the only one for miles on the interstate. The headlights sliced through the darkness, illuminating dashed white lines on the road, only intensifiying the feeling of speed. The exhaust crackles and pops resonated off road signs and the occasional parked 18-wheeler. And while the lyrics aren't particularly cheerful, Johnny Marr's guitar wailed from the speakers right through my soul - and I thought the whole world felt streamlined and magical as I sped through the night and across the southern span of the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

All was well until about mid-span, when I spotted a set of headlights coming up behind me at a quick pace. Knowing I had probably blown way over the speed limit during my fantasy, I figured it was probably one of the bridge police catching up to me for a chat. I let off the gas, coasted down to the speed limit, and waited for the red and blue lights to go on.

But they never did.

Instead, I watched as the approaching car moved over two lanes, and I caught a flash of something un-police-car-like under one of the orange streetlamps. I quickly turned down the radio, only to be greeted by the sound of a Ferrari flat-12 engine blasting by me at full chat, contained in a red Testarossa.

And like a scene from a movie, all of it was perfect and incredible.

photo from speedhunters.com



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A Rude Awakening

Ahh - Monday morning. The day that signals the official end of the weekend, and back to work for pretty much everyone. Every now and then, however, it's great to have a Monday off as a 3-day weekend.

If you're like me, it's a wonderful feeling to sleep in until late morning. No annoying alarm clocks to jar you awake, and you lay there basking in the afterglow of the dream world. This, of course, segues wonderfully into the beginnings of a lazy day of nothingness. It's what a "day off" should really be.

One Monday morning, I was in this same frame of mind. I'd been looking forward to enjoying a great day of doing nothing for quite a while. I was even excited all day on Sunday, just looking forward to it.

Then, at about 6:45am, I was awoken by what I thought was an alarm clock.

Coming quickly out of delicious REM sleep, I laid there dazed while I try to discern what was going on. Soon, I determined it was a car horn that was stuck on. "It'll stop soon," I told myself.

Ten minutes later, it hadn't stopped. And now, since my Monday-mini-vacation had been interrupted, I wasn't at all pleased. I pulled on some jeans, grabbed some vice-grip pliers, a pair of wire cutters, a large hammer, and headed out the door. I didn't even have shoes on!

A block away, I found the culprit - an old, red Mazda 323 hatchback. It must have had a ground wire break, or a short-circuit of some sort, because it's horn was blaring away, and no owner was in sight. A number of the neighbors were standing around, and when they saw me arrive with a mad look, and a large set of wire cutters, they knew to stay out of my way.

Fortunately for the little Mazda (and my well being, since my plans for the car would have probably meant I would have faced a potential arrest), the owner soon arrived. He was a sleepy college kid who feigned interest in the situation through his hangover.

"Is this your damn car?" I asked. He nodded. "You got the keys?" Nope. "Get back in there, and get your keys, or I will turn off this damn horn myself." Realizing I was at least 90% serious, he ran back inside and handed me the keys 30 seconds later.

I opened the door, ripped the cover off the fuse box, and yanked the red fuse for the horn. Silence once again fell upon the city of Baltimore. Relief overcame me, and after 40 minutes of hearing this tinny, little horn, I think I actually wept right there on dirty driver's seat.

I slammed the door, threw the kid his keys, mentioned that he should drive it to a garage to get it checked out, and to be careful because the fuse I'd pulled also controlled the brake lights. And with tools in hand, I walked back and went to bed.

So even though it's Monday once again, for you, dear reader, I wish you a day full of greatness. Take with you some of the delicousness of the weekend's sleep, don't stray too far from dreamland, and may all your car horns be silenced.

Photo from shiphorns.com

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Fun with Hypermiling - Part 6

Part 1 - Introduction - "What is Hypermiling?"
Part 2 - Test Hypotheses
Part 3 - Fun with air filters
Part 4 - We're talking tires
Part 5 - Driving Techniques
Part 6 - Is it worth it? 


So given everything that we've done, we should appreciate an annual fuel savings of $238.98. Sounds pretty good, huh? Free money, right in your pocket.

But here's where it gets really interesting.

While better fuel economy is great, the focus of my experiment was to see if the increased fuel economy is a good trade off for the wear and tear on the other items in your car that are being worn out faster by utilizing hypermiling techniques. I think it's something that all the "engineers" aren't accounting for in their reports.

Specifically, I'm thinking that with the increased tire pressure, the tires will bulge in the middle and wear out faster. When the car is put in neutral, it's using wear and tear on the throwout bearing, clutch, and transmission synchros. And when the car is shut off and restarted, there's additional wear and tear on the ignition switch, starter motor and the flywheel.

Figuring I'd keep this car about 10 years, this means that over the lifetime of the car, I'd save $2,389.80.
Being realistic, you'll need to replace the following items over the course of 10 years: tires, battery, clutch/flywheel, and starter. Conservatively figuring the car will see 15k miles per year, that's 150k miles over 10 years.

So if you owned a '94 Toyota Corolla like mine, here's how it breaks down, assuming you do the work yourself (tires are estimated, other parts prices taken from Advanced Auto online web store):

- Tires are about $320 (4 x $80) every 50k miles, so figure $960.
- One clutch - $40
- Starter - $107-$200
- battery - $60-$86

This is figured based on normal usage, so figure just for these four items, you're spending at least $1,167. This doesn't include labor to install them, and it does not include other items that may be required to be done (like flywheel resurfacing or throwout bearings for clutch jobs).

Once you start hypermiling, the wear on these items goes up considerably. For example, when driving to and from work, I would typically use the starter twice. By hypermiling, I was using the starter about 16 times. Every time the car starts, the clutch must be engaged, so that is 16 more times than normal that the clutch gets engaged. Also, as I coast in neutral, I engage the clutch to shift out of gear, then engage it again to get the car back into gear when I am done coasting. This accounts for at least 50 extra engagement/disengagement cycles. Sound like a lot? On a typical commute, I once counted 156 gear changes, just on the way to work.

Also, every time I shut the car off at a traffic light, I put a draw on the battery for things like brake lights, the radio, and then call upon the battery again to turn the starter motor. This puts additional strain on the battery, and could cause it to fail earlier in its life cycle.

I'm also overinflating the tires, so I'm putting undue wear on the center of the tread, and wearing them at a much faster rate.

So if all of these (except the tires) will expectedly wear out over the next 150,000 miles, by increasing their usage by at least 8 times their normal daily use, it stands to reason they will wear out that much faster. So, for example, instead of lasting 150k miles, they may last 20k miles. So your $107 investment in your starter just turned into a $749 investment in 7 additional starters.

And that $1,167 expense is now $2,616, which doesn't account for the increased (and unknown) extra wear on the tires which could equate to a few extra sets over that 10-year period.

So by Hypermiling, you might save $2,389.80 in fuel, but you'll spend at least $226.20 more to replace the parts that are now wearing out at a much faster rate. And that's if you buy the parts and install them yourself - your mechanic's labor fee is probably $85 an hour.

Based on the rough data, it appears that hypermiling would probably pay off if you were keeping your car for a short time (like a lease), or if you had an extended bumper-to-bumper warranty that would pay for the extra starters, clutches, etc.

Overall, I'm disappointed in the end result. I was hoping for a lot more mileage (at least breaking 40mpg) for my diligence.

On the positive side of things, I helped the environment by cutting my emissions at idle (traffic lights and coasting), I saved myself a few bucks worth of fuel, and by coasting, I learned a lot about how to take corners fast by carrying speed and not losing momentum. I was also VERY focused on every aspect of driving the car, and got better at planning maneuvers.

On the down side, it was boring (and mostly stressful) to drive so slow and methodically, and not really at a comfortable pace. The higher pressure in the tires also makes for some tricky driving under braking and on wet roads.

So it's back to normal, relaxing driving for me. It may not get me the highest mileage, but it's still respectable mpg and is exponentially less stressful!


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Fun With Hypermiling - Part 5

Part 1 - Introduction - "What is Hypermiling?"
Part 2 - Test Hypotheses
Part 3 - Fun with air filters
Part 4 - We're talking tires
Part 5 - Driving techniques

In Part 4, we talked about the trade-offs between adjusting tire pressures and gaining fuel mileage. By doing this, we gained 1.5mpg, for an average annual savings of 858 miles of fuel saved equalling 23.8 gallons per year which, at $3.44 per gallon, is an annual savings of $81.87.

The next step was to adjust my driving style, and see how that affects the Corolla's fuel mileage.

I started by coasting as much as possible. Since my drive is fairly hilly, this wasn't too difficult. Upon approaching the crest of a hill, I'd push in the clutch pedal, disengage the gear, and let the car roll.

Now that I've been making an effort to coast as much as possible, I tallied the mileage, and on my way to work, I was able to coast 12.5 miles (on a 33.5-mile trip). Coasting on the return trip home? 13.3 miles.

If I was an incredibly dedicated Hypermiler, I could probably increase this, but to be fair to other motorists, I get back on the gas when the car slows to the posted speed limit (because I'm gaining speed when going downhill).

At this point, it should be noted that many cars will not benefit from coasting in neutral. In most cases, the engine computer sees various parameters such as the throttle position and engine load, and compensates accordingly. In the case of a car coasting in neutral, the computer assumes the car is idling, and will still send fuel to the engine to keep it running.

However, if the car is kept in gear while coasting, engine vacuum occurs which makes the computer temporarily shut off the fuel supply to the engine, and thus use zero fuel.

In the case of my older Toyota, I didn't see any appreciable gas mileage improvements by using neutral versus engine braking.

The other method I employed was something else I'd borrowed from the Hypermiler handbook: turning off the car at traffic lights. I recently read that a modern fuel injected car consumes about the same amount of fuel at startup as it does idling for 6 seconds, so while I'm not shutting off the motor every time I stop, I know which traffic lights have me sitting idle for a while (30 seconds or more).

The result was a consistent gain, which brought my average to almost 38.7 mpg. This includes keeping the tires at 38psi (6 psi more than stock), shutting off the motor at long traffic lights, reducing idling time dramatically, and coasting for over 1/3 of the total round trip daily.

So if the car started at 34mpg before modifications, this means an increase of 4.7mpg by Hypermiling. Annually, this calculates to 2,688.4 miles of fuel saved equalling 69.47 gallons per year which, at $3.44 per gallon, is an annual savings of $238.98.

Next time, we'll see if it's really worth it to Hypermile.

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On a side note, I read about another Hypermiling technique in which the driver accelerates at full throttle to cruising speed, and uses engine braking (coasting with the car in gear) to slow down. The theory is that even though the car is using more fuel on the quick acceleration, it would equate to less fuel used than it would take to get the car to the same speed but at a slower pace.

I tried this technique and, unfortunately, I needed to cut the test short. After two days, I found that with this method, not only did my right knee start hurting, but it also gave me headaches, too.

Once the results were crunched mid-tank, I averaged 32.6mpg. However, this made for a miserable driving experience, so even if the technique would have done netted 50mpg, I would have probably not continued driving in this fashion.


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Fun With Hypermiling - Part 4

Part 1 - Introduction - "What is Hypermiling?"
Part 2 - Test Hypotheses
Part 3 - Fun with air filters
Part 4 - We're talking tires

In Part 3, we talked about the gains in fuel efficiency by modifying the intake track on a 1994 Toyota Corolla for increased airflow. By doing this, we gained about 1mpg, for an average annual savings of 572 miles of fuel per year, which equates to 16.8 gallons. At $3.44 per gallon of 87 octane, that's a savings of $57.79 per year.

One of the tenets of Hypermiling is to increase air pressure in your tires to the maximum allowed pressure. But before you go out and do this, read on.

On the side of your tires, you'll find a "Max pressure" amount imprinted on the tire. This is the tire manufacturer's maximum rating for that tire. It may say, for example, "MAX pressure 50psi". Your vehicle manufacturer might recommend you inflate your tires to 32psi. The reason this is done is because the engineers have found a happy medium, or proper inflation pressure, for that particular vehicle.

Imagine your tires as a balloon. When you overinflate your tires, they react much like a balloon that has been blown up to a much larger size. It is very hard, but very brittle and is easy to pop. On the flip side, underinflated tires will heat up quickly, which causes a failure (blowout). These factors will increase exponentially as the vehicle's size and weight increase.

The other factor to consider with tire inflation is the shape of the tread. If you look at the front of the vehicle (and assuming you could see through the bumper), your tires will appear as approximate vertical rectangles. As tire pressure is increased, the top and bottom of the tires will bow out. This, in turn, means not all of the tire's tread is in contact with the road. This decreases rolling resistance (thus improving your mileage by making the car work less), but the decreased contact patch means less resistance for more important things like going around corners or braking. Especially in the rain. This also means the tires will wear out much faster.

Basically, if you want to play with tire pressures, do so at your own risk.

Knowing all this, I decided to go with the recommendations of Hypermilers and increase the tire pressure. I didn't have the nerve to go to the maximum pressure, so I increased the tire pressure from the Toyota-recommended 32psi to 38psi.

The result was a consistent 1.5mpg gain, which brought my average to almost 36 mpg. Annually, this calculates to 858 miles of fuel saved equalling 23.8 gallons per year which, at $3.44 per gallon, is an annual savings of $81.87.

Total savings with modded air intake and overinflated tires: $139.66

In the next installment, we'll delve into various driving techniques. You'll be surprised by what we came up with.


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Fun With Hypermiling - Part 3

Part 1 - Introduction - "What is Hypermiling?"
Part 2 - Test Hypotheses
Part 2 - Fun with air filters

In Part 2, you learned about what I'm hoping to conclude from these tests, as well as the test subject itself - our trusty 1994 Toyota Corolla.

The car typically got an average of 34 mpg with my 33.5-mile one-way daily commute consisting of about 17 miles of hilly back roads and 16 miles of stop-and-go traffic. My typical driving style could be described as "average".

The first thing I tried was improving the airflow to the engine intake. By allowing more airflow, I hoped to reduce the airflow restrictions, making it easier for the engine to suck in air (imagine trying to breathe through a coffee stirrer versus a normal straw). My hypothesis was that this would create less work for the engine, thus making it more efficient.

The downside was that with increased airflow is more oxygen. When the engine's sensors detected more oxygen, there's a possibily that the computer will add more fuel to compensate. With this car being an OBD-1 car, there was no way to read the sensors accurately, but eventual mileage would indicate the increased use of fuel.

The stock airbox consisted of a tube that ran from the front of the engine bay to a large, empty box that held the air filter. The engine pulled air from the tube, into the box, through the filter, through the airflow meter (built into the top of the box), and down another duct to the engine intake, and into the cylinders.

I removed the tube and lower portion of the box. Then, I secured the air filter to the airflow meter, which still forced all intake air through the filter.

Much to my surprise, this modification netted about 1 mpg for an average of just over 34mpg.

While this doesn't generate specific numbers on fuel use, there is the possibility that the car realized more airflow than what that 1mpg increase showed, but may have been adding more fuel to compensate for the extra oxygen.

Whatever the situation, the car consistently saw that extra 1mpg with this intake modification. The cost was free and, given the average fuel consumption rate of me and the car, would have saved about 572 miles of fuel per year, which equates to 16.8 gallons. At $3.44 per gallon of 87 octane, that's a savings of $57.79 per year.

It should also be noted that the filter was an OEM-style paper filter, so additional mileage may be able to be obtained with a higher-flowing cotton filter.

In the next installment, we talk tires.


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Fun With Hypermiling - Part 2

Part 1 - Introduction - "What is Hypermiling?"
Part 2 - Test hypotheses

In Part 1, I gave a brief synopsis of "Hypermiling".

While reading several articles on the subject, authored by journalists who had interviewed automotive "experts" on the best way to save fuel, I decided it was time for some hands-on experimentation.

I was primarily concerned with a part of the equation that I feel is being ignored by everyone - the cost of wear and tear on the vehicle (and driver) from Hypermiling. And, would it be worth it, in the long run, to practice Hypermiling on a daily basis?

Everything on a vehicle is a wear and tear item. Tires, oil, engines and the like are the obvious ones. But others like subframes, unibody chassis, even your dashboard is a wear and tear item. Plus, if you were to never even drive the car, it would still deteriorate (the rubber and plastics would be the first to go). So whether the car is parked or moving, it's still wearing out itself, albeit at different rates per component.

Some of the recommendations for proper Hypermiling include things like coasting down hills, turning off your engine, and over-inflating your tires. These would be the initial focus of my experiment.

The car that was used was a 1994 Toyota Corolla base model. It has a 105hp, 1.6 liter engine with electronic fuel injection and 5-speed transmission. The car was in good tune, with 119k miles on the odometer at the beginning of the test, and used 10w-30 regular motor oil and 87 octane fuel. The tires were 175/65-14 Toyo all-seasons with a 600 treadwear rating.

For the purpose of this test, I refilled the tank on the same gasoline pump at a Sunoco station in Wheaton, MD. I would let the pump go until it clicked off when full.

The car typically got an average of 34 mpg (with little to no a/c use) with my 33.5-mile one-way daily commute consisting of about 17 miles of hilly back roads and 16 miles of stop-and-go traffic. My typical driving style could be described as "average", though I can drive it like a rental and still manage 31-32 mpg. Not too shabby, by any means.

In the next installment, we'll start getting into the various testing methods and procedures. You'll start to really see some numbers emerge.


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