~~275 degrees of Christmas~~

So I was driving last night around 12am. There was only 1 car on the freeway with me.
I was coming off an onramp merging from 24 to 580/80. Doing about 60 when out of no where, I felt my car faint to the left.. I looked down and didn't see the traction control come on... So I correct my steering accordingly.. and the car kept on sliding.
I ended up doing a 275 in my lane. missing the cement wall and the car in the next lane. There was a point when I thought I was gonna hit the wall, I think it was when I was sliding backwards..
You hear people say your life flashes before your eyes right before you die. I can tell you that that's not true. I would say its whatever you were doing before that comes to mind. And its funny how things and people pop into your head as well..


Moral of the story.
Be nice to your guardian angel.
Don't panic in any sort of emergency situation.
The second you panic, you loose control.
And never give up ( I learned this from my instructor from BMWCCA Car Control Clinic.
He said that when you loose control, keep on looking where you wanna go and your body will do the rest, he was right)

Drive safe everybody.

Beer Flavored Green Tea..

yep.. Beer Flavored Green Tea...
my review...

Mario Kart Love Song

3rdGearTV 004: Looks like a storm trooper

3rd Gear TV 003: Darkside

twittered..


battery light came on
lost power steering
smoking under bonnet
lost power steering
pulled over
leaked all coolant

dropped it off at the dealer...le sigh... T-T

i drive myself crazy..drive myself crazy...

wow its been a long time since I last blogged.. well twitter is down right now and I really need to blog.

Time for some news about my own vehicles. Found out today that the corolla(AE86)'s fender can't be rolled easily without deforming the shape.. due to the construction too well and strong. There's 2 sheets of metal bolted/welded together. So no can has rolling of the fenders for the panda.

BMW(323i)'s clutch continues to wear out... not sure how much longer it'll last. I'm hoping at least another year. So I can has time to save up for my next car (STi?)




well.. lets see.. toyota spent $200,000 on a prototype aygo.. the Aygo Crazy (i go crazy) Very clever name play. Would I go crazy if they sold this car here? no worry kids, they'll never make this Aygo in production. Cuz it'll cost too much and perform too well (MPG and MPH) It would make the Prius look bad.
All I can say is that econ tuned performace cars ftw.
here's a closer look at what Toyota spent their Yens on

What happens when you take a mundane Toyota Aygo microcar and mate it to the go-fast parts of a Toyota MR2? You get the Aygo Crazy (Get it? I-Go-Crazy). While this one-off concept will never see production, it does offer us car nuts some insight as to what fun manufacturers can have with automotive inbreeding and some serious coin.

At best, the stock Toyota Aygo putts around with a 1.0-liter gasoline engine under its front hood that is good for about 67 horsepower, and a 14-second crawl to 60 mph. The engineers at Toyota spent about £100,000 (close to $200,000) ripping the wheezer out and replacing it with a mid-mounted turbocharged 1.8-liter engine. With the new powerplant cranking out 197 horsepower, and a manual transmission sending it to the rear wheels, the 2,200-pound Aygo Crazy sprints to 60 mph in less than 6 seconds. If the go-pedal is held to the floor, the genetic experiment will top out at an estimated 127 mph.

Not to leave the job half-done, Toyota flared the bodywork and added a wheel/tire package to accommodate the power. The interior has been fitted with a cage, racing seats, harnesses and a Sparco steering wheel. The seats and doors have also been trimmed in suede and leather. According to those who have driven the Aygo Crazy, the balance of the car has been upset with the engine now mounted over the rear wheels. Snap oversteer is the rule -- much like in another econocar-turned-mid-engine-monster from 1990.

In conclusion.. toyota you suck when you killed the MR2/S and Celica.
Not that either of those cars were the greatest performers..
Now go redeem yourself by making a lovechild with Subaru.


If you're thinking about getting a Prius, think again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BImIaN4qyE

BMW gets srs...

O Hai everybody
I haven't blogged in a long ass time. so I'm back for good now.


Lets see... news in internal combustion..
BMW is srsly srs aboue their RR race bike.
The S 1000 RR is a litre inline-4 w/ transversely mounted engine. I find it amusing that they're using Yamaha R6 bodyworks on the test mule bike. Gotta love the all carbon fibre bodywork.



I wonder what prompted BMW to jump into the superbike racing arena...
But it looks like it wont be long before another German automaker does the same.

VW still has motorcycle on the back burner.

"I would still like a small, valuable motorcycle manufacturer," says the 71-year-old Peich (charman of VW)
He still wish he had purchased Ducati in 1985.
I'll be the first in line at the VW motorcycle dealer when they bring the GX-3 into production



For the complete article, check here
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/17/officially-official-bmw-s-1000-rr-race-bike/

a short blurb about riding

yI've dedicated this blog to automotive news. But I'd like to take some time and talk about what's been going on this weekend. This weekend was the first weekend of Spring. And browsing on BARF (www.bayarearidersforum.com), there's so many fatal accidents involving motorcycles and cars. It really made me wonder if riding was the right choice to make. I know its an expensive and dangerous mode of transportation and sport. But I have to admit that riding is definitely addictive. The adrenaline you get from riding is incomparable. I guess its the need for speed in all of us riders that calls us out there to ride. The feeling that nothing else matters when you're riding, and the freedom that you get is pretty much as close as you can get to flying as humanly possible.. I guess its sorta like sky diving..except you're going horizontally instead of vertically.
There were at least 2 seperate fatalities this weekend. We'll never know exactly what happened, but with these kind of accidents, its usually rider error amplified due to excessive speed. I know its really easy to go fast on a bike, but we all have to restrain ourselves from twisting that throttle all the time. I know I don't have any readers on my blog, but if you happen to ride and you read this, or if you know a friend who rides, please remind them how fragile life is and that it can end in a blink of an eye, or a twist of a throttle...

R.I.P. to all the riders lost this weekend.

Skateboard Concept Car

We've all seen fancy retro/sci fi space ship inspired concept cars before..
But this one takes the cake and eat it too. I feel like the car needs a honorable mention.
Its a car that looks like a skateboard!!!
It doubles as a "sculpture" when its parked. It enhances your driveway when its parked!
Your kitteh will also have easier access to shelter at night =^-^=!

a side note (OT)

I know I dedicate this blog to automotive news.. but I can't help it but to post this..
I got a text today at work on my cell..

FRM:sms-extension-user@google.com
SUBJ: Apple Dev
MSG: did someone from apple call u to talk about the dev kit?

I replied to the sms and I didn't get a response..
So I emailed the address (sms-extension-user@google.com) and to my surprise I got a response.

A Google user sent you a text message. See
http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/sendtophone/response.html

so... whats Google trying to pull here???
Did someone actually use firefox to sms me? or is Google trying to figure out what Apple's up to?
What I'm wondering is why how Google knew I have the iPhone and I downloaded the SDK...
It almost sounds like someone's been reading my gmail... o-O??

EDIT: NEVER MIND.. FOUND OUT MY FRIEND DID SEND ME A MSG FROM FF USING GOOGLE...

Back on topic
Scion will reveal the HAKO tomorrow afternoon at 3:15 PM ET. The unvealing will be streamed live from Scion.com :)

lots going on this week......

and its only tuesday...
lets see whats going on in the news so far....
The Brits are coming out w/ a supercar.. Keating TKR/SKR..
lets not talk about the built quality of everything British... um... lets talk numbers.. 400hp..
Unless this thing weights about the same as a Lotus Elise... 400 I'm sorry is just not gonna cut it.
My neighbor's M5 has 400hp and can carry your whole family + grandma
so we'll have to wait and see if this super car is gonna fall apart traveling at high speed like the F117 (who's retiring btw, thanks for the heads up www.thedigitalkitty.com)

Something's happening in FORD's camp... but I'm not gonna blog aboot it.. see pic below


Onto something more important and interesting..
Bugatti is up to no good again... this time with a 2+2 Bugatti GT: Streamliner 12-2.
yes it looks like a veyron... it goes fast.. carrys 4.. and yes you'll never be able to afford it cuz gas is now $108 a barrel and this car will drink the whole tank in about 10 mins at wot







I've always wanted to go to Dubai for the crazy architecture... but...umm..

100 cars car crash... um ... 25 caught fire...6 full size buses involved as well..


BMW's considering full electric car by 2012.... nothing's set in stone yet.. i just like this graphic posted on autoblog...

More on Toyota/Scion's HAKO as its revealed.. can't wait for more specs...

this is not internal combusting.... Apple released the iPhone SDK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

http://www.macworld.com/article/132400/2008/03/iphonesdk.html

i'm so hapi right now :D

download yours here!
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/program

Bring the litte one here~~~

Fiat has just announced that the Fiat 500 Abarth SS will hit the euro market in nov...
With an output of about 160bhp... at 200kg lighter than the MINI One... this would be the class leading car for the micro compact class... Come on Fiat, bring this baby to the US!!!

Greater than kimchi.. ?

hmm
could this be one of the korean car that would make me buy a korean car?
It'd be affordable... good warranty.... but no manual =*(

talk about bringing sexy back...

I gotta give it up to Alfa... they've really hit this one out of the park...or..nailed it right in the butt...

I remember going to car shopping w/ my parent when I was little.. We were in the Alfa dealer... looking at the cars ( I can't remember which model...) The distinct front grill branded my young mind and has never left since.

You're probably wondering how sexy this car is... well.. here's a recent poll to put things in perspective for you

The duo of Scarlett Johansson and the Alfa Romeo 8C have been voted the perfect car and passenger of our dreams in a poll conducted by the car show MPH '07 and the 4Car website. It's a great question, one we've pondered among friends and for which we've come up with various answers, but this poll pretty much nails it for us. The winning team of actress and Alfa beat out some stiff competition to take the title, including Jessica Alba, who narrowly missed the top spot for perfect passenger with 22% of the vote to Johansson's 23%. The Alfa, however, was a clear favorite with 30% of the vote, compared to the runner-up for perfect car, the Bugatti Veyron with only 13% of the vote.

Yup.. you read that right... (Scarlett Johansson + Alfa Romeo 8C) > ( Jessica Alba + Bugatti Veyron)
Trust me, I did the math and double checked it twice.

And now... for some sexynesss...

New Fishy~

His name is Puddles =)

The Awesomeness of Wang

...with the optional built-in impact printer, expanded memory, and built-in cassette tape drive for program storage and retrieval. The 600-series debuted in 1972, and appears to have sold into the late 1970's, when Wang phased itself out of the calculator business.
we moved out of the calculator business to work on world domination...

Dear Steve Jobbbsss

Whats up with teh Airbook Mac? (macair boob) Macbook Air..

first of all... the name is weaksauce.org

second of all... the spec is weaksauce.org

third of all... the price is weaksauce.org (but nicely placed between macbook and pros)

Mackboob derrr is so crappy that it made the Apple Stock dropped....

Sorry Mr. Jobb... I dont think I'm gonna get one even tho I'm a Mac fan..