VTECnical’s 2007 Honda Civic was taken into the dealership after a local Circuit City installed a Pioneer AVIC Z2 navigation system.  After an inspection and diagnostic, they deemed Circuit City’s wiring a “fire hazard” and told VTECnical that he couldn’t take his car home.  After being quoted by the dealership a whopping $12,119 worth of damage, he is working on getting Circuit City to cover the bill.

This story brings up a few issues that need to be made more clear.  The 8thCivic.com forum thread shows that Circuit City is currently working with him on getting this sorted out.  But in our opinion, if Circuit City really gets smacked with a $12k check, they are the ones getting screwed.  First of all, the bill that was written up is blown out of proportion.  Worse case scenario is they mucked up the wiring, dash, and heater.  If it really takes a shop 40 hours to replace that, then they obviously have no idea what they are doing.  Secondly, a 2007 Civic is only worth about $14,000 according to Kelly Blue Book.  If he wanted site navigation so bad, he should have just paid the few extra bucks for the OEM setup.  On the other hand, he will probably get a new car out of all this, so props to you VTECnical!

 

Jay appears to have little faith in the success of an American Top Gear.  His main fear is that the show would not be produced by real life “car people.”

In The Sunday Times Leno states ”Another problem for Top Gear in America is the biting humour and criticisms of the cars. My great fear in America is that, for instance, if Kia was our sponsor this week, we’d have to say the car was fantastic.  In my mind I can just see Jeremy lambasting Americans for what they did to his show. ”

This shows Leno’s respect for the original Top Gear show.  In order for the American Top Gear to be successful, we feel that Leno would have to be part of it.  I mean, who else is going to play Clarkson?  Maybe that is the main problem.  We are expecting it to be just like the original Top Gear.  Why can’t we just come out with an original car show that is entertaining?  Why must it be labeled “Top Gear”?

BBC’s Top Gear is already perfect in many people’s eyes.  The American version would have to live up to these expectations if it came out.  Any flaws in the show would be pointed out immediately.  The show is doomed.

It could have been worse?  The Nurburgring is the hotspot to set laptimes and test out your new ride in Germany.  This would also lend itself to being the hotspot for a bunch of crashes. 

This driver of this GT3 seems to have done a little too much overcorrecting.  But when they get it back right side up, it doesn’t look half bad.  That might be a GT3 I could afford, just slap on a little bondo here and some touch up paint there, that shiz will buff right out. 

Here is a look at some crashes from the early days of the Nurburgring. Watch it, it is quite amusing.

Chrysler’s attempts to save money may have gone too far. They are currently looking into shutting down the Viper plant in Detroit in order to cut costs. The Detroit plant currently only produces the Viper, but shutting it down would result in savings of several million dollars a year.

The Viper is only badass car Dodge has made recently. Needless to say, I am sure they will be hearing from enthusiasts to keep the plant alive. Hopefully with the advent of bringing muscle cars back into the game, they will produce another car that can live up to the Viper’s history………maybe the new Challenger?

Bad ass boys have bad ass toys…..Rc toys that is.  I remember back in the day before I could drive, all I had to approximate the adrenaline rush of racing a car around were RC cars.  I had a Team Losi XXX-S when they first came out along with an older Team Associated Truck.  Dr. James Brighton wanted to bring the RC world to a new level.  He built a fully functioning radio controlled version of the H3.  This engineer from Cranfield University can effectively show the H3’s limits without ever putting himself in any danger.  GM claims that this thing can step over a 407mm wall, run through 610mm of water, and transverse a 40% slope.  That’s pretty impressive, but can it do wheelies???? Didn’t think so :P

The shockwave theory has been successfully demonstrated at the Mathematical Society of Traffic Flow in Japan.  This video clearly shows the shockwave progressing backwards at a steady rate because of human overreaction. Now it is their job to solve this traffic problem.  Currently the only solution was to make freeways larger and make on and off-ramps longer to allow more room for accellerating/braking. Maybe incorporating a system similar to Mercedes’ automatic braking system when you are on cruise control can be adapted to determine if the drivers brake input is a false alarm or necessary when you are on the freeway. Click Here for more information on the experiement. Simple things like talking on your phone while on the freeway can have a butterfly effect a few miles behind you.

 

Even with the recent evidence that suggested that the probability of Global Warming was no more likely than a Global cooling effect, the X prize foundation is still pushing their competition to find the most efficient and practical car out there.  At the New York Autoshow, they announced that Progressive Auto Insurance will be the corporate sponsor of the competition.

The rules allow for two types of entries.  One group of entries will compare 4 wheeled vehicles that seat 4 or more and the other group encompases 3+ wheeled vehicles that only have to seat 2.  The general guidelines are a car that gets over 100mpg or equivalent of another energy source such as electricity.  Oh yea, did I mention the winner will get a sweet prize of $10,000,000 +.

Currently they have about 64 entries from 22 different countries.  If you think you have what it takes to build an uber efficient car, then check out the details on ProgressiveautoXprize.org.

At first glance, it appears to be a CAD drawing of a Subaru Impreza.  A closer look will reveal the art of Benedict Radcliffe.  Radcliffe is known for his automotive pop culture related projects and this 1:1 scale model of the Suby is no exception.  It resides in London, England outside the Paul Smith Gallery. 

If only it had a motor, it would have one insane power to weight ratio.

 

Rumors have revealed that famous Love Line and The Man Show host Adam Carolla may be one of the hosts on the US version of the BBC Top Gear.   Additional rumors indicate that Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfield may be the other two hosts.  That is a pretty impressive cast list, but are they qualified? 

 In my opinion, heck yes they are.  All three of them are gearheads with extensive collections of awesome rides.  Jerry, the Porsche enthusiast reminds me of Hammond’s affection for Porsches.  Jay Leno might be on par with Clarkson.   That leaves Carolla matching May.  May is the end of many jokes, and I can see Carolla being the end to many perverted jokes.

Some of Carolla’s cars include a sweet BRE replica Datsun 510 that was featured on the cover of a Grassroots Motorsports and also an E30 M3.

 

My dream game has officially arrived!  Well it’s not here yet, but it was debuted in Japan.  Zenkoku Dekotora Matsuri was launched and it looks like a blast.  Now you can build one of your own Decoration Trucks and drive it around the city.  I am still unclear whether you will be racing other Dekotora or just driving around.  The customization that this game allows is endless.  It even lets you airbrush your own side panels with art.  Also, don’t forget, the more lights, the better!  Check out the trailer here.