I think I shared a video in the past about the dangers of the new bigger pickup trucks, but unfortunately cannot find the link to it. Anyway, I am all for smaller trucks. The newer bigger trucks are to me, kind of like a sign of gluttony. It's too much.

#Cars #Trucks

The most fun drag race video I've seen in awhile, with some amazing visual effects. Funny how the car I chose is the slowest of the bunch, but this doesn't make me regret my purchase.

A couple of thoughts on some cars on this video:

• The Mini Cooper S even with only 201 horsepower, is pretty quick! It even beat the ...... in the drag race.
• That Toyota GR86 is actually quick. Can't sleep on those anymore.
• Man, that Hyundai Elantra N is so quick for a FWD car. A 4.9 sec 0-60, for a FWD car under 35K is crazy. I'm not sure what's stopping Hyundai from giving it an AWD system, but if they did, they would have a giant killer on their hands.
  
• That Ecoboost Mustang is super quick. I know the diehards will say get the V8 or don't get a Mustang at all. But that Ecoboost Mustang might be the best bang for the buck option if your budget is limited. I will certainly not fault anyone for getting it.
• The Mazda3 comes dead last and looks slow in this drag race video. And I will tell you, it does feels slow when you drive it. But if you actually look at your speedometer in daily driving, you'll notice you're consistently driving faster than you thought you were. I don't know what Mazda did, but it's deceptively fast. And while again it was the slowest car here, you'll note that during the launch, it was the smoothest of all the cars. And that's exactly why I picked it. If I wanted wheel spin during acceleration, I can get that all day in my Mazdaspeed3. I wanted a car that will launch with the minimum amount of wheel spin, and the Mazda 3 Turbo is that car.

#Cars #Mazda #Mazda3 #MiniCooperS #Toyota #GR86 #Hyundai #ElantraN #Ford #Mustang

So this was a highly informative video. I know this is in a way, marketing for Magnaflow, but reserve your judgement until you watch the video. There's some interesting info in there with regards to airflow, as well as how offset designs can affect airflow.

So the size of the muffler doesn't affect airflow as long as it is a true straight pipe design. As soon as you introduce some bends into the flow, like on mufflers with offset inlet/outlet designs, you lose a bit of airflow compared to a straight pipe design.

Another interesting bit of info is that chambered resonators, which introduce obstacles for the air to flow around, flow less air than a straight through design.

Okay, I see where Magnaflow is poking at Flowmaster here, because Flowmaster typically uses chambered resonators. But again this doubles as a marketing video for Magnaflow, so take that with a grain of salt. For all we know, Flowmaster has figured out a way to make the air flow just as well using chambered resonator designs. But my basic knowledge in physics bear out the idea that, a straight through/pipe design will flow more air than one where the air has to go around obstacles.

Anyway, where was I? Ah, typically, OEMs will use chambered resonator designs. Great for reduction in exhaust volume, but not so much for performance. If you're driving a car with a turbocharged engine, you want straight through mufflers to get the best performance out of your turbo.

Knowing that, I now see why some aftermarket exhaust systems flow better and sound louder than other designs. It's all in the design of the mufflers, as well as how much bends there are in the exhaust system as a whole.

#Cars #CarExhaust #Magnaflow

Ever since the Mazda 3 Turbo came out in 2021, I've been on the lookout for a great sounding aftermarket exhaust upgrade. I'm mainly looking for an upgrade in sound. I don't want it loud like a typical Mazdaspeed 3 exhaust setup. But I'd still like a deep, classy sounding exhaust.

And I think this is the one. It has that deep bassy sound like from the Magnaflow exhaust, but this sounds deeper. Maybe that's due to the 80mm downpipe? It doesn't seem to be as loud as the Corksport and Borla, at least not as attention seeking.

Unfortunately, this seems to be a custom built exhaust. At least you can glean some useful info from the video though. It is using 3 inch piping, with a split design like the Corksport/MBRP exhaust. Sound is managed via two Cortek mufflers (a brand I've never heard of before). You can probably substitute those mufflers for comparable bottle resonators from Vibrant, but I mean the Cortek mufflers in this video sound so good, why not just use them.

#Cars #Mazda #Mazda3Turbo #CarExhaust

This guy gets it. I have come to the same conclusion as well these past few years.

Disclaimer, I don't drive my car on the track. I drive on regular roads just like most of the general population. So this opinion really only applies to driving on regular roads.

While I don't consider my Mazdaspeed3 a “fast” car, nor is it on the same level as a BMW M2, I can assure you it is fast enough to have you lose your license. When driving cars like these fast with the intent of having fun, what you're really doing is risking your license to have fun. And it's always never enough.

The roads are never long enough. The roads are never open enough. The speed limits are never high enough.

We don't need faster cars. We need slower cars that are more fun to drive in regular daily driving. Something like an MX-5 or a BRZ/GR86, or a Civic SI or a Mazda3.

#Cars #MickDrivesCars

I was aware of the GR Corollas catching fire, but was not aware of the numerous other issues they have with other newer models. WTF indeed.

#Cars #Toyota

If you have a RWD car and you're planning to lift it up using ramps on the front and floor jack on the rear, watch this first.

I was planning to lift up my car using the same setup: ramps on the front, then jack up the rear to rest the tires on wheel cribs. On a FWD car, this probably would have been fine if you put the transmission in gear before jacking up the car. On a RWD car, both the drive wheels and parking brake is set on the rear wheels, so there was nothing to stop the front wheels from rolling back.

Credit goes to the uploader for being man enough to share his mistake. His upload might just save somebody's life and their car.

#Cars #RaceRamps #CarMaintenance

A reminder that Mazda is still obsessed with making fun to drive cars. In this video, Dave Coleman revealed that they keep a Lotus Elise around and use it to benchmark steering feel in their cars. Also, apparently just a year after the CX-50 came out, it's already getting refinements to its suspension and steering feel. They didn't even wait for a mid-cycle refresh.

#Cars #Mazda #MazdaCX50

There is no way that 2022 GTI is making just 241 horsepower. Even on that last roll race where the Sonata got a bit of a lead, it was pulling on it. The Sonata NLine makes 291 horsepower. That GTI must be making close to 290 horsepower stock.

#Cars #Volkswagen #GTI #Hyundai #Sonata #Subaru #WRX