Groundhog Day Cars and Coffee, doing it all over again . . . but this time it’s different! In a new venue, much more pleasant, with more space. And the turnout was pretty much the best variety, quality and quantity of cars that I can recall. And this is in February, so I’m hopeful that it will continue to thrive.

Oppos with knowledge of Japan, please let me know what a person might enjoy about visiting Kobe, Japan (and/or surrounding areas). I have an opportunity to visit there this spring, and other than getting to experience a different culture in general, I need specifics to motivate me to deal with the logistics.

My GTI has 40k miles. I decided to go to the dealer for my oil change since my usual place has changed owners and I’m not impressed by how it’s running now. Bonus at the dealer: I need my DSG transmission service!

Of the 40-plus people in my local office/corporate headquarters, I am the only one on my side of the building (local office). Four people are present on the corporate administration side. I almost feel bad having lights on beside my office. I definitely can concentrate as long as Oppo stops distracting me.

The holiday finally gave me time to replace the rear sway bar in my GTI again. I’ve had a ST 25mm hollow bar for about a month, but wanted daylight and above 50 degrees. Merry Christmas!

Lots of people buying used cars have liked cheap, readily available Crown Vics, but they are slowly dying out. Given that the Crown Vic was used in the US for police and other government roles, and produced for a long time (1992-2011, apparently), there are many used examples, it has been recognized as quite reliable,…

I flew north last weekend to visit my parents in New England and played rental car roulette, ending up with a Kia Soul. After putting 370 miles on the car over the weekend in varied conditions, I have observations and opinions to share.

Took the company front-wheel drive Equinox further off road this morning than many more capable vehicles will ever see. At one point I had a fan club of hungry cows.

The post on the overpriced E46 M3 for some reason sparked a memory of a university friend who was a BMW fanatic and let me drive his E36 328 sedan once. After university we didn’t stay in touch (he was more a friend of a housemate). Today I was curious what he was up to, and I find that he is, in fact, a long-time…

Someone I know announced the purchase of a Honda Clarity on Facebook. Until that moment I was not aware of this car as a plug-in hybrid, I may have heard about it as a fuel cell vehicle. What is the Oppo hot take?

Is “Jumbo Seven” an oxymoron like “Jumbo Shrimp?” Probably. This is about a friend’s one-off Lotus Seven replica. A former road race vehicle on a custom (largish) frame, and he re-built it for the road. Saturday I got to drive it a little bit, and even with some bugs still to work out and being on a residential…

You will give me this car, you cannot resist the puppy dog eyes.

Well, this was going to be a post for SC Oppos who might wish to meet up at the Greenville Cars and Coffee on Saturday (E90M3, daender, Jordan, and any others who I haven’t met). However, rather than improving, the weather forecast is solidly predicting rain on Saturday morning. Dang it. I may still stop by and see…

Today is the final autocross of the season. [Update: I won my class for the season even though I didn’t show up today, even though I’m not the fastest, and even though I missed a couple of other events!]

I’m at a professional conference and tonight I joined some clients at a bar after dinner. It got loud. I don’t like it when the level of noise is so high that my throat hurts from shouting a conversation. I’m old and boring.

Was behind this on my commute. Enjoy the wing to start your day.

Jordan was taking many more pictures, but says that he may have issues with uploading who also just dumped his in a post. Here are the few that I took, with something for Flavian, E30M3, and even David Tracy Just Jeepin’.

Me and Jordan will be at Charlotte cars and coffee shortly if anyone local wants to meet IRL.

The last two weeks I have been moving toward stopping the search for a more sport-oriented car than the GTI. I have left it at work for several nights in that time, which I would be worried about with a Cayman or C5 Z06. It was fun at autocross, and also on the street when I wanted it. And it is easy to take my dog…