By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Yesterday, Chris asked if you had misgivings about cars you’d sold. It seems like a lot of people do, which is part of the reason I can never let go of any of my rides. But what about the flip-side of this equation: what car do you rue the day you ever laid eyes on? Typically, the car you regret will be a major basketcase–that mother of all projects, the car that will always have you broke and stumped–the ride that, demonically, develops another catastrophic problem each time you fix the one that’s currently disabling it. And yet, you can’t let it go.

My ultimate basketcase is my ’84 diesel Escort. Sure, it’s been fun learning how to work on diesels, and I haven’t stopped working on this car since the day I bought it. It’s got a Mazda motor–the parts for it are incredibly rare and obsolete, and anything I do to it costs me about five times more than the equivalent repair on my Ford-powered Escort, which generally runs like a top. The diesel has demanded major overhauls, presented me with massive parts failures, and generated huge bills. It’s left me stranded and once even caused me to wreck. In short, the diesel Escort is the bane of my existence, and it’s a car that needs to be gotten rid of. But I can’t–and I regret it more with each successive drama.

How about you? Ever had a car you wished would just be destroyed by an act of God? Do you still have it?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

A hydraulic hybrid is a high-mpg propulsion system that eliminates the need for batteries. Basically, a small diesel motor powers a hydraulic pump that fills an accumulator, which in turns sends fluid pressure to pump motors that power the wheels. Then, regenerative braking grabs back as much as 70% of the vehicle’s stopping energy to charge the system back up. The result is a 50% increase in fuel efficiency.  So far, hydraulic hybrids have been limited to commercial vehicles and military applications–UPS plans on adding hydraulic hybrids to its delivery fleet this year, and a company called Hydra-Drive has developed a hydraulic-hybrid Humvee and is planning to supply the US Army with more vehicles. But now,  Lightning Hybrids, a contender for the Progressive Automotive X Prize, is developing a 100 mpg passenger car prototype for the open market, the first-ever attempt to put hydraulic hybrid technology in a civilian passenger vehicle. The ride has a pretty decent quotient of retro-styled cool, with a carbon-fiber body intended to evoke the ’63 split-window Stingray, and it opens up like a clamshell in a manner reminiscent of the Saab Aero X concept. Keep an eye on this build–it looks like it’s going to be pretty cool when it’s done. More pics below the jump, and check out Wired to read more.

Continue reading "What's Next: Hydraulic Hybrid Technology For Passenger Cars" »

Automobiles, like people, come in all shapes and sizes. We have big ones, little ones, fat ones and skinny ones, and they all have a certain appeal to them. This weekend I found myself driving around in a car that I never thought would fit someone who’s 6’4" and 235 pounds. It was a Smart ForTwo diesel that was all tweaked up by Brabus, the crazy German tuner that takes mild-mannered Mercedes and turns them into super cars. When I first got a glimpse of this thing I was really was stunned at how small it is. I mean, it’s SMALL. However, looks can be deceiving, very deceiving.

The Smart is basically an egg on wheels. Interior room is actually quite impressive as I fit in there with no problems. The cockpit is laid out to provide you with everything you need and nothing you don’t. A big speedo with integrated fuel and temperature gauge are right in front of you, while a tachometer and clock are positioned in the middle of the dash in separate external gauge pods. The Smart also comes with a basic stereo, climate control and power windows. Again, simplicity at its finest. Seats are four-way adjustable and really don’t offer any support. Anything more than a 40 mile trip means you’ll be hurting.

Continue reading after the jump.

Continue reading "Pint Size Play Toy: Brabus Smart Car" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

I really loved this Duramax-powered 1970 C/10 built by Chris Calkins. It was the DHRA Pro Street Champion last year, and consistently runs mid-10s. There’s a full writeup on this awesome truck at Diesel Power Magazine, and I have a bunch more pics after the jump. Too bad the hood was down!

Continue reading "SEMA 2008: Orange Crush" »

By Jen

AKA SuzyBruisy

I guess it’s more of a barn than a garage—Volkswagen TDI Cup competitors have to work on their rides door-to-door in a big white pole-tent lit by nothing but oversized Ikea-style Japanese lanterns. In keeping with its low-rent image, the TDI cup promises some of the most exciting racing out of the many different series that are running at Road Atlanta this week. With lots of bumpin’ and bangin’, it’s not all that far from my other favorite motorsports series, but with all the stuff that NASCAR opponents are always whining for: namely, road-course tracks (Sprint Cup series has two), and "stock" cars that truly are basically stock—nearly all the mods these 2.0L turbo-diesel Jettas are running, I’m told, can be ordered by the average joe from the dealership. This Saturday’s TDI Cup race, to be run immediately before the Petit Le Mans, will be particularly cut-throat. Why? Because it’s the final race of the season, the one that will decide the champion and award the $100,000 purse.

You’ll probably remember CarDomain member and TDI Cup competitor Chris Castagna (crc930), who showed up in the blog last week as the series points leader following the race in Iowa. He showed me around the garage area today and we talked a bit about the series. It turns out our boy has been knocked down to fourth in the points, following a couple of nasty wrecks over the last two races, one of which he says was purposefully caused by a rival. He can still win the championship on Saturday—all he has to do is win the final race. He says that no matter what the outcome, it’s going to be a fireworks show, with a lot at stake and many drivers willing to do anything to win. Plus, Atlanta is a fast track with long straights where drafting is possible, which will skew the starting grid by pushing many slower cars to the front during qualifying. It’s going to be a wild ride—let’s wish Chris luck! Check out more TDI Cup garage pics.

Check out the Amoco Ultimate Your Car Is Worth It Photo Contest. They’re giving away gas money on a weekly basis, and one Grand Prize Winner will get to go to France for 24 Hours Of Le Mans!

Continue reading "CarDomain Member Shows Off The TDI Cup Garage!" »

By Jen

AKA SusyBruisy

Here’s a few snaps of the American Le Mans Series cars in the pit lane waiting to get out on the track for afternoon practice. There was a bit of a shuffle following that session—the clean-diesel Peugeot 908 LMP1 ran the fastest lap, unseating both the Audi R10s, who tend to run at the top, with a lap time of 1 min, 6.952 sec. That beats the No. 2 Audi’s record-setting lap time of 1:07.091, run yesterday. Impressive, green one! More on Peugeot’s race program shortly, as I managed to make it to their "meet the press" shindig this evening. In the meantime, check out the Piloti Ford GT and a bunch of other ALMS cars in their pit stalls, below.

Check out the Amoco Ultimate Your Car Is Worth It Photo Contest. They’re giving away gas money on a weekly basis, and one Grand Prize Winner will get to go to France for 24 Hours Of Le Mans!

Continue reading "In The Pits At Road Atlanta" »

I recently had my diesel Escort in for some injection-pump tuning and the windshield got smashed. Fortunately, the guys at the shop were pretty cool about paying for it after I showed them the pics that proved it was unmarred when I left it with them. So today, the glass people they referred me to came and replaced my windshield free of charge. I’ve never done a windshield myself, but the very talented Scott of Professional Auto Glass made it look dead-easy, and did a very polished job in under half an hour. Highlights included learning how to pop the windshield frame clips with the special tool (I’ll have to get me one of those for when I throw paint) and the motorized caulking gun that laid down the big bead of silicone. Fun! There’s nothing like having a new windshield, too. All those accumulated pits and chips that you barely notice? You never realize how much they compromise your visibility until you get a new one. See some install pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Beautiful: A New Windshield For My Diesel" »

A mid-80′s Buick Park Ave isn’t the kind of car that most people would think to put a lot of care and work into, and that’s part of the reason I love Bruce’s turbodiesel conversion. He’s fitted a Garrett turbo to his ride’s 4.3L diesel, and is currently reassembling the engine with a ton of performance internals. Having had an 80′s diesel all apart recently myself, I’m really stoked to see how this project will come together in the end—I’m betting that this old oil-burner will handily blow the doors off rides whose owners wouldn’t otherwise give it a second glance. Check out Bruce’s ride page to see how the project is going!

Get one of the new 50-state-compliant TDI Jettas or SportWagens and you can score a $1300 income tax credit on your next return. Though the idea of paying consumers to buy new cars is always a little economically and environmentally dubious, I guess Uncle Sam has decided it all pays off. VW claims that the Jetta TDI can get a very respectable 38 mpg and 44 hwy on diesel under real-world conditions, though the EPA’s "estimated" mpg’s amount to a more modest 29/40. Almost worth it!

I finally sent my diesel Escort parts car to its new home, and it’s not the junkyard! Some crazy person from Portland has a donor car that he wants to use to put this one back on the road—geez, if I’d known someone was going to try and do that, there’s a thing or two I would’ve done differently during its tear-down (like, maybe not cut through the stabilizer bar with a Saws-All to get the transmission out?). I also went to the All-British Field Meet on Saturday at the behest of my favorite head-shop guys—full photocoverage will be up soon! Later, I installed a horn on my Escort GT to replace the factory one that was getting to sound more and more like my cat coughing up a hairball (check out the amazing before and after videos). And finally, I’m in the midst of installing one of those obnoxious split-boots on the passenger-side CV joint of my Eagle—and really kicking myself for cheaping out instead of just getting a complete half-shaft.

How about you? What did you do this weekend?