Category Archives: Automotive

Yesterday I Learned

Yesterday I learned that when my 2001 Ford Mustang is running, the key fob is disabled and will not let you lock or more importantly unlock the car doors. I started up the car in order to warm up the cabin, took the key fob off my keyring, and then locked the door behind me. I was only going to be a few car lengths away from it but I didn’t want anyone hopping in it and stealing it. This turned out to be a huge mistake. One call to AAA and 45 minutes of car idling later, they showed up to jimmy a door open for me so I could turn it off. :(

Interestingly my dad’s Ford Explorer, which is only a few years newer than my car and shares many common Ford parts, doesn’t do the same thing. It’s key fob works perfectly fine with the engine running. Hmm.

Go Kart Racing In Budapest

I was in Budapest last week for the Automattic company meetup and during that meetup a bunch of us went out go karting. I took my GoPro HD Hero 1 with me and mounted it onto my go kart using a suction cup. The videos turned out pretty cool (although lighting was an issue) so I thought I’d post two of them here. :)

The Opening Race

I had gone to this place a few days before so I already knew the track and the karts but most of the people I was racing against where new to the track and karts, hence the speed differences.

The Championship Race

The people who posted the top 7 best lap times were put into a starting grid and had a final race off. The track’s narrow width made it nearly impossible to pass but it was still quite fun!

The final lap (starting at about 8:20) was a victory lap which is why I was goofing around and trying to powerslide. :)

2001 Ford Mustang GT

After two months of driving a beater in order to get good at driving stick and better at driving in general, I’ve moved on to a significantly better car — a 2001 Ford Mustang GT. I picked it up last Saturday night and it has a 260 horsepower V8 with a 5 speed stick shift. It is amazingly fun to drive and is really quick (at least to me, heh).

2001 Ford Mustang GT

2001 Ford Mustang GT

More pictures can be found over in the thread I made on some forums I run.

Here’s some video I made using my GoPro. It looks like I’m going slower than I actually am due to the wide angle lens and because I have it mounted on the top of my windshield. ;)

Monster Tajima’s Amazing Sub-10 Minute Pikes Peak Hill Climb

Last Sunday, Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima absolutely hauled ass up Pikes Peak for the 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. He was the first person to break the 10 minute time up the mountain.

Make sure to watch this video in HD and in fullscreen — it’s an amazing bit of driving.

PS: I am so getting one of those cameras once I get a better car. It’ll be fun to record roadtrips, etc.

The Monster Attacks Pikes Peak

Check out this great video of Pikes Peak International Hill Climb world record holder Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima racing up the mountain earlier this year.

(best watched fullscreen and in HD)

Just listen to those turbos whine…

Travis Pastrana’s New Year’s Eve Jump

Incase you missed it, here’s Travis Pastrana proving once again he really is the craziest guy on Earth:

That’s a 269 foot jump, breaking the old ramp-to-ramp rally car jump record by 98 feet.

Update: Here’s behind the scenes of his jump: