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Quick Spin – Drift 101

Almost all of us have done it. There’s a moment when you’re carrying just enough speed through a turn. Maybe it’s a wide open intersection or maybe it’s a tight corner you know well. You’re feeling sly, suddenly aware of all your driving talent, and you punch the throttle enough to step the tail out. If it was the first time you’ve done it this afternoon you might immediately lift off and flail at the steering to settle the car back down. If it was midnight in a rainy nowhere you’d probably been doing it for the last half hour and you keep the throttle pinned until the telltale flare of wheel spinning revs levels out, your grin so large it threatens to shatter the side windows. For those few yards, you felt you were drifting.

You weren’t.

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A History of Vehicles – ’94 Mazda Miata R Package

Open road? Check.
Top of second gear? Check.
Weird ridge in the tarmac? Check.
Poorly matched shocks? Check, check, check.

We are cleared for take off.

Or at least that was the monologue as the Miata initiated a sideways twerk over the aforementioned irregularity in the road surface. In this car, on this part of the road, there are two choices. Hold off on throttle application until you’re well past to avoid the sickening pogo action of the R-Package Bilsteins on an undulating surface or….whoop over it and just deal. Miss Daisy isn’t riding passenger today, or ever, so whooping is the most often the choice.

Around the Corner – Radwood

There comes a point in a car’s lifetime when it is simply a used car. A pile of metal and rubber forgotten to all but the most dedicated owner or poorest college student. Cars that the California Air Resources Board offers you $1000 for every two years. That prompt a swipe left when included in your profile pic. That inform your co-workers that an older car to you is from twenty years ago, not five.

We’re in an odd spot, those of us who appreciate cars of this flavor. It’s even difficult to name this grouping of car so many of us are enthralled by. You can’t call them classic without fear of the homie with a ’70 Charger and matching torque wrench coming after you. Calling them vintage feels wrong, the very utterance of the word clouds your vision in sepia filters and sparks the uncontrollable urge to nonchalantly light a cigarette and exhale toward the ceiling.

I suppose we could call them…Rad.

What do you look for in a car?

Stop light interlude.

Wiggle the steering wheel. Blip the throttle. Check the distance between it and the brake. Slot the lever from first gear to second to first. Observe the shift distance.

Light changes. Green means go.

Note the clutch take-up. Roll halfway into the throttle, then mat it. Slight giggle as the rear tires pay lip-service to the concept of traction. Slight giggle from the passenger as her seat tilts back with the force of acceleration, forward with the brakes.

Stop light interlude.

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So…what are you looking for when you drive a car?

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A History of Vehicles – ’03 Toyota MR2 Spyder

If it hasn’t become obvious by now, I want to drive everything. Or at least everything that interests me.

I took zero good photos of this car. But you’re not here for pics anyways, right?

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Around the Corner – Canepa Cars and Coffee May ’17

I challenge you, dear reader. I challenge you to look deep down inside yourself, to search your feelings, find what’s real, and answer me one thing…

Craigslist Surfing – Quick Picks V3

For some of us Friday means payday. Payday might mean going out tonight, it might mean paying the bills, or it might mean browsing the internet for your next project.

That said, you’d think every day was payday with how often I do the last one.

Let’s see what we’ve found this week!