Thursday, June 20, 2013

WasabiCars – Car Spotting in Japan


If you are reading this, then you are interested in cars in one way or another.  The same goes for the man Daniel O’Grady, the Australian living in Japan.  Daniel always had an interest in classic cars when he lived in Australia, but after he moved to Japan, his love for cars translated into classic Japanese cars.  This led to his YouTube Channel: WasabiCars.



Sunday, June 2, 2013

MindDrive – A Car Driven by Social Media

There is nothing like a great American road trip.  Ever since Ford made the automobile mainstream with the Model T, people have been driving to and from wherever his or her heart pleases.  Sometimes these excursions are for fun, and some have a purpose.  They all have one thing in common though: lots of fuel is used.  Now what if your runs off of Tweets, FaceBook posts, and Instagram follows?  This is MindDrive’s Project Ghia.

MindDrive is based in Kansas City.  It is an “auto-shop-type” based program designed to help the at-risk youth of the urban environment learn a trade, and to more or less keep them out of trouble.  Their stated mission is “to inspire students to learn, expand their vision of the future, and to have a positive impact on urban workforce development.”


What MindDrive is doing is very beneficial for the youth of today’s society, but they are not learning how to do oil changes in a 1993 Ford Escort.  Project Ghia involves taking an old 1967 beat up Volkswagen Kharmann Ghia, and not only restoring it, but converting it to an electric car that is powered by social media.

Basically, the plan is for the students to drive the car from Kansas City to Washington, DC to promote the program MindDrive.  The car is only given wattage to move if people “like” them on Facebook, comment on FaceBook, Tweet them, tag them, follow them, and so on.


To have a bunch of at-risk teens build a car after school is one thing, but to have them convert an old chunk of steel into an electric car that runs off of “social fuel” is another.  Help fuel them on their journey by following them, Tweeting them, and so on!  Their information is below!

MindDrive

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @TheRandomAuto

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Ford and GM Together: Best of Both Worlds, or Sacrilege?



Courtesy of MotorTrend

I remember when I first heard that the new Dodges would be getting eight speed automatic transmissions, I took a step back.  Finally!  Someone is moving past the archaic five speed autos (or four speed with overdrive depending on how you look at it).  It has just been a recent move for the some cars in the Big Three to be getting a six speed.  Now Chrysler has an eight speed?

Ford and GM is a little behind in transmission fuel efficiency.  Ford’s EcoBoost engine is amazing, but those gears are everything.  Ford and GM have announced that they will be working on a nine speed and ten speed transmission, together.

"Engineering teams from GM and Ford have already started initial design work on these new transmissions," said Jim Lanzon, GM vice president of global transmission engineering in a statement.  "We expect these new transmissions to raise the standard of technology, performance and quality for our customers while helping drive fuel economy improvements into both companies' future product portfolios."

Ford and GM have done this before in the past though.  The Ford 6F and the GM 6T70 transmissions have been used in many cross brand vehicles including the Ford Fusion and Chevy Cruze.  All in all, it does not seem like a terrible idea.  I am a diehard Ford fan, but if everyone can win at fuel economy, perhaps it is not that bad.  After all, Ford still has the EcoBoost on its side!

Apparently the nine speed transmission will be used on front wheel drive cars, and the ten speed will be used on real wheel drive cars.  This is all fine and dandy, but there is one thing that I am unsure about…  Will the same transmission be used in next generation Mustangs and Camaros?  These cars are the center of most Ford vs. Chevy debates.  Will it be the smartest idea to put the same transmission in both pony cars?  I hope not, but only time will tell.

So I leave it to you: is this the best of both worlds, or sacrilege?

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!  @TheRandomAuto

Friday, April 5, 2013

The Brilliant Bus


Courtesy of the Palm Beach Post

Well this is something different.  We have a bus.  What’s so special about a bus?  This bus is a unique creation by retired Estella Pyfrom.  So a retired woman purchased a bus; what’s the big deal?  Well, how are you reading this: your phone, your computer, or a tablet, right?  This is something many people, especially children, do not have access to.  A simple desktop computer is something that a lot of us take for granted.

Estella Pyfrom realized this and with her retirement money spent an initial $450,000 on “Miss Estella’s Brilliant Bus”.  The bus was fitted with 17 computers loaded with educational software.  The bus tours around the Palm Beach area in Florida, allowing children without access to a computer get their hands on one.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The Best Driving Video Games (That I have Played)


Two things that I need to get out of the way: one is that these are games that I have played.  I won’t judge games that I have not played for better or worse, as that’s not fair.  Second, these games are DRIVING games, and not games that are specifically RACING games.  So for all of you Gran Turismo fans wondering why your games are not listed, please see the two reasons above.  The following games are in no particular order:

Driver (1999)
Courtesy of Pwned

Come on, it’s in the name!  I remember playing this game as a little kid.  You are the wheelman, the mysterious undercover cop trying to chase down the evil Jericho.  That first level in the parking garage was a pain in the you-know-what!  I just hated hearing “hey man, watch the paint”, and “OK, Man! OK! OK! OK!”  These were good times.  Aside from that, this game was something that I had never played before at the time.  It was the first real open world driving game for me.  Sure it had limitations, and the cars could be destroyed by just pushing another car, but it was fun!

Driver 2 was fun to get out of cars, and Driv3r was fun, yet too much like Grand Theft auto, but when I first saw that AMAZING live action trailer for Driver San Francisco based off of that first level of the first game, I was hooked.   This leads me to…


Friday, March 15, 2013

Chrome Wrap: The Average Joe’s Alternative to an Oil Sheikh’s Daily Driver


It’s simple: girls like diamonds, and guys like chrome.  Any guy who loves his car, bike or truck, will usually try to get a tasteful amount of chrome accents on it when the budget allows.  What one would commonly see is wheels, exhaust, interior trim, engine dress-up pieces, and the like.  But what about having a chrome car?  Well unless you own an oil empire in Saudi Arabia, you may have to settle for chrome wrap.

Some of you may be asking, “What is a wrap?”  For those who are new to this, I’ll explain.  It’s pretty much what it sounds.  A large sheet (or precut pieces of vinyl) is placed over a car.  It’s as simple as that.  Doing this will give the car a completely new look such as changing the car’s color, adding graphics, or both.  Take a look at this black Mustang being turned blue!

Courtesy of Auto Blog

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Welcome to The Random Automotive

Do you like cars?  Detailing them?  Working on them?  Studying them?  We do too.  Let's see this blog grow.  Join us!

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