This Is Why Loving Cars Can Be A Terrible Thing... Part 1: Nostalgia

If you couldn't already deduce that I have an extreme obsession with everything automotive, I will go ahead and tell you that I do. It goes far beyond any obsession I've ever experienced. This, however, is something I've grown to accept and, like most other car enthusiasts, have welcomed openly and have even decided to expand. Of course, this obsession does have its downsides. A warning to all readers: this article will slightly delve into my personal life and may evoke criticism...

MY CURRENT CAR
This is probably what bothers me the most on a daily basis. My first car, a black 2004 Honda Accord Coupe EX, is still the car I drive to this day. I am almost 22-years old and I have had this vehicle since just a little after my 16th birthday. It has a slow K-Series engine coupled with an automatic gearbox. It only makes about 160bhp and it's pretty heavy for something so underpowered. It does, however, provide a comfortable ride and (if you're into this sort of thing) fairly decent gas mileage.

Here is my (badly Photoshop lowered, with shopped wheels and lip kit because I must have deleted the original photo, and it's currently dark outside so have a good laugh at this) Honda:

Back story behind this photo: I wanted to start an automotive team/page/blog/everything, called ZOMO. My friend and I took my car to the top of a parking deck in downtown Raleigh and I took some photos with a Nikon D5100 (which I sold like an idiot). I went home and, without reading any articles for tips or doing any research on similar pieces, photoshopped an HFP lip kit and Volk TE37 SL's on my car. I then attempted to lower it. This took me about two hours of randomly doing different things until it kind of worked. ZOMO has yet to become anything, but a friend and I still home to make it into something someday.

Having a Honda Accord and loving performance vehicles is an awful thing. I can't sell this car because it has 215,000 miles on it and I just can't let go of the nostalgic value it possesses. I basically grew up in this car and it has taken me literally everywhere. This car had somewhere around 120,000 miles on it when I purchased it (from a Ferrari Dealership), and was always the most reliable and fuel efficient vehicle out of all of my friends'. This car was in perfect condition when I bought it, aside from two small paint spots on the trunk lid. Literally every scratch, ding, seat tear, and crack in this thing is there because of some stupidly awesome memory.

For example, (and keep an eye out for photographic evidence) behind the driver's seat, serving as an armrest/cup holder for a rear passenger, is a bit of plastic molding along the body, under the small rear window. Just before the cup holder cutout, there is now a huge crack, nearly separating the cup holder from the rest of the molding. Why? Because I, as I often did, was allowing a good friend to drive my car, me being the passenger, with another good friend in the back. The backseat passenger, as he often did to mess with us, was lounging across the backseats without a seatbelt (obviously). Well, if you've ever goofed around in a car, or had someone else do it, while not wearing a seatbelt, you know that sudden jerks in direction can send you flying around the cabin. My backseat friend decides to imitate someone in the "doggy-style" position as part of a story he was telling (who knows?), so my driving friend decides this is a perfect moment to sporadically jerk the wheel from side to side, throwing my other friend helplessly about the backseat. A huge knock and pop later, we discover this massive crack caused by my friend's head. I will never be bothered by this crack and will never attempt to repair it. It's a stupid "you had to be there" memory and it's awesome.

I hit my first, and hopefully last, deer in this car. I even hit a small tree on my driveway when I was a much younger idiot in this car. I drove through a ditch in this car, as well. Basically, I got all of my driving stupidity out of the way in this car, and that is a wonderful thing. That is why I don't regret this vehicle, but I still wish I had something more performance oriented. I am currently at a point in my life, as you are probably aware since I'm somewhat of a writer, where modifying this vehicle is too expensive and buying another vehicle is way too expensive. I have been in this rut for quite some time and am slowly working toward making my way out of it, but it seems to be taking forever. In the grand scheme of things, it isn't taking very long, but when I see kids younger than me driving E46 M3's and Evo X's, I begin to feel like I will never achieve my automotive dreams.

I do, however, have automotive-related projects in the works that I am working toward marketing into something to help me achieve my dreams. This blog is one of those projects, albeit probably the smallest and least likely to generate much assistance. But this blog is somewhere I can point to my casual writing and a place to sort of get to know me and hopefully follow my journey toward my dreams.

Until then, however, I will drive the wheels off my horrible, awesome, slow, brilliant Honda Accord.

A Valiant Effort, YouTube

What happens when people who aren't heavily involved in the car community attempt to discuss cars?

Well, if you have a sense of humor, the result is often hilarious. A brilliant place to see this happening is the world's favorite website for video sharing. YouTube comments are definitely among some of the most entertaining reading material freely available. I've gotten to the point where it's nearly impossible for me to watch a video without spending 10 additional minutes scrolling through the comments section. There never fails to be at least one comment that has me wondering if there is an undiscovered animal species, very similar to humans, but with much less brain power.

Today's example comes from a Simple Misfits video where the usual host uses fake spray paint to paint lines on vehicles who are double parked. The prank is a little hit and miss, but the comments are beautiful. In the video, one of the prankster's victims is the owner of a white FR-S. Now, here's the kicker: the FR-S has been debadged and then re-badged with Toyota badges to give it that "JDM AS F*CK" look (I assume). I know this must be the case because the setting of the video is in the US, specifically California, and we all know that in the US, the new line of 86's is sold as either a Scion or a Subaru. I'm going ahead and chucking any chances that this person imported an 86 from either Japan or Europe out the window because no one would do that. Anyway, I also know this is an FR-S rather than the Subaru BRZ because the front end is clearly that of an FR-S.

Here is a comparison of the three:

And here is the car in question:

Now, here comes the great part. I will post the entire comment thread for your enjoyment. I did not edit out any names or anything because all of it is completely public on YouTube, anyway. Also, ignore the obvious troll. I only left him because there's at least one guy who takes him seriously and it's worth a couple chuckles.

I encourage you to take to time to read through every comment, as their struggles to grasp the concept of swapping badges is so sad, but so beautiful:

Yes, I responded. And yes, I come off as a bit of an ass, but I just couldn't help myself. Usually, I just laugh these kinds of things off, mostly because at least ONE person in the thread gets it, but this time I felt I needed to come to the rescue for the sake of the car community.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that cringefest as much as I did! Feel free to share any links or photos you might have to similar instances.

Motor Monday! 08/11/14

Today is all about the heart and soul powering the four-wheeled monsters we all love. For me, the engine actually took a little longer to grasp my interest. It was obvious that without them, cars would be immobile, but when I first gained an interest in cars when I was younger, engines weren't really part of my favorite car criteria. My first car was a Honda Accord Coupe powered by a K-Series four banger because, although my parents were actually interested in buying me something I wanted, I had no power preferences. I am aware that there are many Hondas out there cranking out big numbers, but most enthusiasts know that if you want big power right off the lot pre-engine mods, Honda probably shouldn't be your first choice. It took years for my interest in engines to finally be sparked, but when it finally was, I became a little obsessed. The first things I'd look at were engine specifications and I was all about unique engine swaps.

So today, I will be talking about a favorite engine of mine. This engine, as well as most good things in life, is not necessarily legal in the United States, but it can be found dropped in many different shells over here. Unfortunately, the vehicle it comes standard in is illegal in basically every way, shape, and form until it is considered a classic and can bypass all safety and emissions laws.

I'm talking, of course, about the RB26DETT:

It can be found in the ever popular Nissan R34 Skyline GT-R, a car that we all wish could legally find its way stateside. Unfortunately, a company called Motorex severely ruined our chances until the car is considered a classic.

The good news is that these engines are available for import from Japan and, if you can find a nice shell to drop it in, you can have your very own R34-powered vehicle to tide you over for another decade or so until the government considers these cars classics. Lots of enthusiasts are dropping these in an S-Chassis and it's proving to be pretty awesome. But I always encourage everyone to get creative. It's not like we don't have time to waste before we can all have real R34s.

The Toyota FT-1 Concept

Since today is Supra Sunday here at The Daily Driver, we thought it would be necessary to take this opportunity to discuss how we feel about the Toyota Supra's rumored return in the form of Toyota's new concept car, the FT-1.

The Supra made a name for itself as a high performance vehicle without the looks or price of a high performance exotic. Yes, its ultimate downfall was its high price tag, but drop in the same amount of cash as the price of a Ferrari, and you end up with something that outperforms nearly every supercar to date. The same can be said with most cars, but there is no denying that the Supra makes a much better tuning platform that many other vehicles. We feel as though the FT-1 is too much for a Supra, as it looks very exotic, with a design similar to the LFA.

Ultimately, here is what we believe: Toyota has recently released the new version of the 86, sold in the US as the Scion FR-S or Subaru BRZ (for our purposes we will refer to it as the FR-S, today). We understand working jointly with other car companies can do good things for sales and profits for both companies, and we understand that the FR-S is the new AE86, but imagine if it wasn't. See, we really like the design of the FR-S (or any version of the new 86), but the Subaru boxer engine under the hood can be a tad bit disappointing at times. Boxer engines are awesome, but how awesome would it have been if, instead of the new 86, the FR-S was released as the new Supra? Instead of a boxer engine, its power plant could have been a turbocharged inline six that we all desire for the new Supra. There are many people out there new dropping MKIV hearts into 86s, anyway, and its proving to be a beautiful swap. Hindsight is always 20/20, and many may disagree, but the FR-S, with a little redesign performance-wise, would make an absolutely incredible Mark V Toyota Supra.

That's just our two cents...

Supra Sunday! 08/10/14

As you may have gathered from the title of this post, this Sunday will be dedicated to one of the car community's favorites, the Toyota Supra. It seems like only the die-hard, anti-JDM enthusiasts advocate against the Supra, as I have seen more than one person transform from hating the Supra to absolutely loving it. It is almost impossible not to fall in love with something so beautiful with such an amazing tuning potential. If you are a car enthusiast, chances are there is a special place in your heart for the Toyota Supra, specifically the Mark IV.

If there ever existed a car that most of the world would agree to bring back into production, it would be the MKIV Supra. Yes, it's easy to see that this car was produced in the 90's, but sometimes that's not always a bad thing. Of the events that took place in the 90's, the design and production of this Supra was the greatest. There are many things from that era that most of us want to forget, which can be said about most of human history, but the MKIV Supra falls into that finite category of things we will always remember in a positive light.

So we would like to take this Sunday, the first Sunday post from The Daily Driver, to remember this wonderful piece of machinery, and to dedicate the day to hoping that the FT-1 is not actually the new Supra. We dedicate this day to the hope that the rumors all false and that one day an MKIV-based Supra will return again.

Supercar Saturday! 08/09/14

Today has been a very busy day. There is not a lot of time to go too in depth with this post, so we're just going to drop and image of one of our favorite supercars for you to look at. We'll try to come back within the next day or so to edit this post and make it more in-depth. Until then...

Here's a Ferrari 458 Italia:

Isn't it beautiful?

Now, here is its butt:

What a nice butt! Have a wonderful day!

Fastbacks & Hatchbacks Friday! 08/08/14

I found myself pondering for awhile about which car to select as our first Fastbacks & Hatchbacks Friday feature. My first thoughts wondered to Honda, as they've been part of the hatch game for quite some time, and the S2000 even has some pretty awesome aftermarket fastback hardtop options for purchase. But I realized that starting things off with a Honda may be a little too risky. We have to build a decent reputation here at The Daily Driver before we can drop a Honda on the audience without receiving all that unnecessary negativity from the seemingly massive anti-Honda crowd. That's when my mind went the obvious route. There's one company that's been doing hatchbacks for decades. I mean, some of the flagship vehicles for this company are sold exclusively as hatchbacks. Of course, I'm referring to that wonderful Deutschland automaker, Volkswagen.

Now, if you noticed our previous blog post, you may be thinking "well, it's clear that this blog is only going to be posting about German vehicles." It may seem that way, and we may genuinely love (and I mean LOVE) German engineering, but we can assure you, our future posts will be very well-rounded, covering literally every automaker we can think of. The reason we're going ahead and using two Germans back to back, is because...well honestly we just need to go ahead and get it out of our system before we can move on to other things. So I hope you will bear with us, as tomorrow we will not go to Germany.

Alright, so on to our selection. If you're a Volkswagen buff I'm sure since the first paragraph you've been assuming you were about to see a picture of a GTI. Well, that's not the case. See, we here at The Daily Driver do not condone the manufacturing of vehicles for specific areas, especially when they are awesome vehicles that we really want in the States. We believe in loving a vehicle whether it's illegal in our home country or not!

So with that, we bring you the beautiful Scirocco R:

For this particular instance, we are focusing on the third generation Scirocco, particularly the Scirocco R. In 2008, Volkswagen reintroduced the Scirocco (unfortunately, exclusively to Europe) after putting the brakes on production nearly 20 years prior. And I'd like to say, they must have taken absolutely all of that time designing the body of the third generation because it's the most perfect hatchback I have ever seen. The downfall of many hatchbacks in the past has been their lack of aggression, but the third generation Scirocco made up for all of it. Just look at that front end!

The reason we have specifically chosen the Scirocco R is because we like things faster and with more factory goodies because we're humans and humans always want more. The R is based on the GT24 that was used to race around the Nurburgring. If for some reason you don't know what the Nurburgring is, just know it's the most important racetrack in the world. Anyway, the R has a pretty sweet 2.0L engine that cranks out a pretty impressive 261 horsepower. That's a lot of fun packed under the bonnet (yes, bonnet, because when you're talking Euro you have to get into character) for a stock hatchback. The R also comes with some nice exhaust and wheel factory upgrades, as well as a slightly different face for better airflow. There are also a few other little factory goodies that come exclusively on the Scirocco R. Overall, this is one of the most awesome hatchbacks I wish we had in the States.

Here's the section some might find controversial. If you aren't a fan of stance, pretend you never saw this. I, personally, love a very low Scirocco R and I wish I could have one to "ruin":

Credit to Vossen Wheels for the photo of that beautiful machine and those custom CV3s! Also, I've seen how much people seem to hate Vossen Wheels. I also hate that I feel the need to defend myself, but just keep in mind I don't care. We at The Daily Driver love all cars and believe just about every aftermarket part manufacturer out there is doing at least one thing right. Credit to anyone out there spending his or her valuable time to bring us awesome parts for our cars. And credit to Volkswagen for the third generation Scirocco, and especially the Scirocco R.