The hub centric spacers you’re talking about are very different than what was used on this Civic. Since the thick, hub centric spacers have their own studs, you are given enough thread length for proper tightening. The cheapo Dorman spacer used on this Civic does NOT have its own studs and takes away enough of the…

Actually, this is why you need extended lug studs whenever you space out the wheels on any car, especially if you’re going to use the cheap parts store spacers. I had this exact same thing happen to my 240SX. It caused studs to break when the nuts backed off. Extended studs and open ended lug nuts are $250 for all…

Under 20K. Jeeps should be as simple as the dirt they drive on.

I’m thinking less plastic/cloth/leather, more stamped & welded steel. And no touch screen.

That is nice looking...far too nice for mud dipping. Would be great if they could offer a cheapo version for those who actually plan to off-road their Jeep. I know the answer is already no, but it’s nice to dream.

It took two months to get it back on the road the first time. I’ve been enjoying the rebuild of it now, it’s a nice balance to my engineering job. Like it takes multiple years from kickoff to production for the day job, but in a weekend I can completely swap out the suspension on my car. It’s a good sense of…

Yeah, I couldn’t find a picture of one at the bottom of a hill. Close enough!

Technically, the longest was from Lexington to Bowling Green, KY (167 miles) for my VehiCross in 2015. However, the more interesting trip was from Newark, DE to Edison, NJ (105 miles) for my 240SX. I went to see it on an impulse and ended up driving through an absolute monsoon on the Turnpike. You couldn’t see more…

Clearly this Audi is trying to harken back to its rally roots.

Those Formula D guys also have to do tons of crazy stuff to those engines to make them durable enough to handle that kind of abuse. They’re amazing engines, but for near instant 500 HP, the 2JZ is still king.

1st Gear: Don’t forget that all of those energy absorbing features make it easier to tweak the front or rear half of the frame. Bent unibody is an immediate total. All of that energy has to be dissipated somewhere and it will damage the chassis. Better than damaging your body, but still...

Last year my grandmother sold her 2004 Crown Vic to the dealership because she was 93 and had decided she was no longer fit to drive (good for you grandma, thanks for making it easy on us). Her car was in great shape, I don’t think it had 40,000 miles on it and was perfectly maintained. The only low point was the…

In the case of Nissan, NISMO has veen a casualty of cost cutting. Carlos Ghosn is all about the profits and doesn’t give a damn about performance, though he is quite happy to market all of the racing Nissan USED to do...

If Nissan can deliver more than some badging and trim, this will be great. However half of NISMO’s current lineup is just branding. I’d much rather see NISMO being focused on pure performance and not just a cash grab. Diluting the name with NISMO Quests and Rogues isn’t going to make people want to buy a NISMO Z.

Way back in 1986, Ilmor debuted their 265A engine, Ilmor’s first ever engine, and plopped it into the back of Roger Penske’s IndyCars. Roger wanted an exclusive engine to go into his exclusive PC cars so he could beat down the IndyCar field. The PC cars were a mess, but even more so was the Ilmor engine. It was…

Honda’s original packaging was dictated by McLaren’s “size zero” bodywork philosophy. Honda also had a unique setup that used a smaller turbocharger than the other three engines and relied more on ERS. If it had worked, Honda would have had a smaller, lighter, more efficient engine than the other teams. It did not.…

I want to find one of these with a dead battery pack, dump the hybrid system, and drop in a K24. It’s a great chassis, saddled with a very early, very slow hybrid engine. Tons of potential for tuners if they can get past the fact that it’s a hybrid (and HASport did, they built one into a land-speed car that was…

If Monaco moved one week, I don’t think anyone would bat an eye lash. It’s Monaco, people will go because it’s Monaco. I guess the Coke 600 on the same day is ok since drivers can technically do both, as much of a pain as it is. One of the great joys of the Daytona 24 is seeing all the IndyCar and NASCAR drivers who…

I had two problems. First, I think the previous owner installed the wrong pads in the front. They overhung the rotors and would shudder at highway speeds. I had so much other shit to deal with I never got to replacing them. The booster was a whole other story. Officially, Mazda never had issues with the 3's brake…

Two points: