Harley-Davidson Motto

"Harley-Davidson, converting gasoline to noise since 1903, with a byproduct of horsepower." - Some guy at my work.

Bugatti Veyron X3

Here's 3.6 million USD coming at you.

LA Auto Show 2007

Mmmm so I went to the LA Autoshow back in November. Here are the pictures, courtesy of David Shao, taken with a Canon Rebel XTi DSLR. Enjoy!

BMW M5


Ferrari


Lamborghini


More Lamborghini


And even more Lamborghini


Absolute last Lamborghini


Audi R8


Nissan GT-R


More Nissan GT-R


BMW 1-Series in orange


BMWW 1-Series again


Mitsubishi Evolution


Mercedes-Benz CLK Black Edition


Lexus IS FAST


Lexus IS FASTER


Lexus IS FASTEST


BMW M3 Coupe


BMW M3 Coupe again


BMW M3 Sedan?? An extra 2 doors!


Mercedes-Benz SLR

Ferrari Made of Yarn

A certain Ms. Lauren Porter from Bath Spa University knitted a complete Ferrari for her honors degree. It is supported by a steel frame, with the rest of the bodywork consisting of stitching and embroidery. Instead of doing this, she could have clothed hundreds of African children; but then again, it's so hot in Africa maybe they don't need the clothing. I guess it was a better idea to make the Ferrari then.

10 Fastest Cars of Spring 2007

Everybody loves fast cars, so here are the 10 fastest as of Spring 2007, along with some specs.

Note: Ranking is based on 0 to 60 mph acceleration time. It may not be the most accurate way of deciding whether a car is "faster" than another car, but it is the most convenient. The power to weight ratios are also listed for reference.

10. 2006 Ford GT


0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.8 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.16 hp/lb
Engine specs: 5.4-liter V8; 550 hp
MSRP: $149,995

9. 2002 Pagani Zonda C12 S


0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.7 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.20 hp/lb
Engine specs: 7.3-liter V12; 555 hp
MSRP: $325,000

8. 2003 Ferrari Enzo


0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.6 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.22 hp/lb
Engine specs: 6.0-liter V12; 660 hp
MSRP: $1,000,000

7. 2006 Porsche Carrera GT


0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.6 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.15 hp/lb
Engine specs: 5.7-liter V10; 605 hp
MSRP: $484,000

6. 2007 Lamborghini Murciélago LP640


0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.4 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.18 hp/lb
Engine specs: 6.5-liter V12; 640 hp
MSRP: $350,000

5. 2006 Mosler MT900S


0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.1 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.27 hp/lb
Engine specs: 5.7-liter V8; 600 hp
MSRP: $189,000

4. 2006 Koenigsegg CCX


0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.1 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.32 hp/lb
Engine specs: 4.7-liter V8; 806 hp
MSRP: $600,910

3. 1998 McLaren F1


0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 3.0 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.29 hp/lb
Engine specs: 6.1-liter V12; 680 hp
MSRP: $1,307,000

2. 2006 Saleen S7


0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 2.8 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.26 hp/lb
Engine specs: 7.0-liter V8; 750 hp
MSRP: $585,000

1. 2006 Bugatti Veyron


0 to 60 mph acceleration time: 2.5 seconds
Power to weight ratio: 0.23 hp/lb
Engine specs: 8.0-liter W16; 1,001 hp
MSRP: $1,357,000

Technorati Tags: fast cars, bugatti, ferrari, lamborghini, pagani, ford, porsche, mosler, koenigsegg, mclaren, saleen

It's a Bird, it's a Plane, No it's a Wheel Chair Car

A company in Hungary by the name of Rehab Rt. has come up with a car for the disabled, called the Kenguru. A person in a wheel chair can literally roll right in, and start driving. The wheel chair locks into place, and the car's controls are centered around a joy stick, with styling similar to the Japanese Kei cars. If this car were to come to America, it would definitely be a hit. Finally, all those handicap spots can be of good use.

Technorati Tags: kenguru, wheel chair, car

Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix 2007

On Saturday, David, Jeff, and I went to the 2007 Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix. It was my first time being at a real race, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Let me tell you, it was INTENSE, an attack on all the senses: I could see the cars racing at 140 MPH, I could hear the screaming engines, I could smell the burning rubber, and I could feel the heat emanating from the track. The only thing I couldn't do was taste the cars, but I doubt that would have been a pleasant experience.

We ate lunch at the local CPK (California Pizza Kitchen), which was right by the track. The Long Beach track isn't really a track, in the traditional sense. The track consists of normal, everyday surface streets with barricades on the side. We were lucky enough to get a table outside, thanks to David's coworkers, so we were able to eat pizza literally 30 to 40 feet away from cars going 100+ MPH into a turn. It was hard to keep the food down.

With that said, here are a few of the pictures we took with David's Canon Digital Rebel XTi (you can find more in my flickr album):

Check out the rest in my flickr album.

Technorati Tags: Toyota, Long Beach, Grand Prix

A Series of Unfortunate Events

It all started during spring break. Chris and I were hanging out at my house, when we decided to go and get some boba at Life Plaza, the Arcadian hang-out place of choice. As usual, Chris volunteers to drive; back at UCLA, Chris drives me everywhere. And I mean everywhere, whether its to the gym or to get food. But this time, since we're hanging out in Arcadia, my hometown, I figure that I should drive him around for a change. He says that he really doesn't mind driving, but I insist that I drive for once. The GF was also at my house at the time and needed to go home for dinner, so we all hop into my car and I start heading towards her house. The rest of the story involves a red light, a right turn, and a police officer. Long story short, I received a ticket for not coming to a complete stop at a red light prior to making a right turn. If you want to read the full story, I believe Paul has it all documented over at his blog.

After I get home, I do a Google search on the violation code that the officer has given me, and find out that the ticket is approximately $270 in California. To my surprise, the official ticket comes 3 weeks later with the bail set at $370. I suppose living in a safe and fairly nice area comes at a price; the city needs to get its money from somewhere, namely drivers who don't know all the technical traffic rules but are extremely safe otherwise. Such as me. Those of you who have ridden in my car before know that I drive like a 80 year old grandmother, minus the slow reflexes and seat position. Although, this one time I did try moving the seat all the way up just to see what it feels like. It was rather uncomfortable. Despite the appearance of my cars, I obey all the speed limits and traffic rules, that I know of. With that said, I'll be going to court sometime in May, as well as to an 8 hour traffic school session. Funny thing is, if I had only let Chris drive my ass around once again, all of this could have been avoided. Moral of the story: always let Chris drive. Good times.

A few days after the previous incident, another stroke of misfortune hit me. My car, the very same one that I got the ticket in, would no longer start. Turns out the starter died, and with the car in my driveway blocking the other car, a new adventure begins. Jordan, who prefers to be called Jodan, came over under the false pretense that we were going to the gym. Little did he know, instead of working out at the gym, he was about to get a workout on my driveway. I recruited Jodan, Wing (the GF), and Richard (my brother) to help me push my car. We attempted to swap the working car that was in the garage with the broken car that was stuck in the driveway. My driveway is fairly steep, maybe a 60 degree gradient. We had no problem getting the car out of the way. Now with a clear path between us and the parking spot, we attempted to push the car up the driveway. We planned to gather momentum on the flat surface street before going all the way up the driveway. I clearly recall the GF remarking,

"This isn't so bad, we can make it."

as we were gathering speed for the uphill climb. With that, I shouted

"GO! PUSH PUSH PUSH!"

as we went full speed ahead up the driveway. We pushed my 3,009 pound Acura 3.0 CL all the way up a whole 4 feet before we lost speed, and started to slide back down the slope. I abandoned my post and leaped for the handbrake, pulling it just before the car slid onto the street.

It goes without saying that I ended up calling a mechanic to come replace the starter. The price, after labor, ended up $270. Unlucky number two hundred sleventy. OK that one's a little far out there, but I had to try. Here are a few pictures of the cause of my troubles:

Lastly, onto my most recent, and most horrific malady. I've been debating whether or not to blog about this, but since I am here to entertain you, even at my own expense, I will. Dear reader, I recently developed a large and painful bump on my butt. Yes, my butt. This bump could be anything, ranging from an infected pimple to an insect bite. All I know is that it hurt like hell whenever I did anything, such as sitting. The feeling is much like a tooth ache, where your brain is constantly registering pain. The only difference is that the pain is coming from your rear end. It's times like these that I wonder, "Why, God?" Life becomes miserable in general; food doesn't taste quite as good, games don't seem quite as fun. Most of this is due to the fact that almost everything we do requires us to sit. Not something I want to be doing now. After excessive application of Neosporin, my butt is much better now. Hopefully nobody looks at me funny after this story, or suspects the worst whenever I shift in my chair.

But even after my series of unfortunate events, I must say that I am still quite happy. Plenty of good things have happened along the way, I just didn't write about them, because we all know that misery makes better blogging material. I read somewhere that everyone has an "equilibrium happiness point," meaning that even after something good happens or something bad happens, people will generally return to their natural state of happiness. I'm a happy person; I believe in happy endings. Good friends, good music, good food, and good work outs make everything better.

This weekend I'll be going to the Long Beach Grand Prix, so stay tuned for pictures, lots of it.

Technorati Tags: misfortune, Acura CL