Drove an 08 STI Today

Working for Source Interlink (formerly Primedia) has its perks. One of the other editors ended up with Cobb's 08 STI to tool around in, so I took it for a spin.

Although it was only lightly modded, it was still sweet to drive. I'll leave out most of the details since the story hasn't been published yet, but let's just say is wasn't much faster than my car. It just felt like a tighter, neater version with about 50-75 more horsepower and a 6-speed.

Didn't really have a chance to blast around turns, but I did get to tach it out in 2nd and 3rd. Pretty good tuning, you can tell its on the stock turbo, but it was still fun. It had some sticky tires that I wish I could have tried out a little more, but my drive was a little too short.

I can see where all the reviews are coming from that say the new STI is softer and more livable than the previous models. Even though it was modded, you could still feel how it mellowed out. I can only image how a stock STI must feel. But this is actually appealing to me considering how rough and annoying my current suspension set-up is on my WRX for daily driving.

The only downside was that I didn't get a chance to check out the new stock STI seats. Lots of Subaru fan boys have been flaming the 08's seats (probably because we got gypped on the Recaros... I don't blame them) but I couldn't tell you either way... it had some sweet Prodrive buckets in place of the stockers. Only thing was, they sat you on the floorboard. If I wasn't 6'2", I might have had a hard time with visibility, seeing as how Subaru appears to have raised the dash higher than previous models.

Bottom line, I want one. The new STI has gotten all this flack about the styling, but I really like it. Fast hatches / wagons are awesome. I totally regret not getting the WRX wagon (or an STI), and now that the new STI is a hatch, I want one. Badly. Cobb's car represents exactly what I want. Minimal mods to keep it street legal and daily drivable. Looks wise, this is exactly how I would roll - white on gold. They also took care of the nasty tail lights, adding some red tint.
How could you go wrong? A livable, manageable wagon (technically a hatchback) with 300+HP and all wheel drive?
And not to mention, this car smoked a new GT500 Mustang...

Trippy Optical Illusion

Pretty crazy. I want one.



I found out where to make your own - link
Good old google...

I've officially gone Blu

Well since HD DVD has been dead for a little while, I decided it was about time to go from red to blue. The PS3 is probably the best BluRay player out there, so it works out.


I wasn't really pulling for either format to win, I just went with HD DVD since I had a 360 instead of a PS3 at the time. The HD DVD add-on cost me around 70 bucks, came with 6 free movies and eventually led to a $50 rebate from Best Buy once it's death was announced. Ended up being ~20 bucks for 6 movies and a player. Not a bad deal. All the fire sales that followed HD's demise helped out a little as well. Even though HD DVD was a more finished product, it still lost. But I digress..


First few BluRays so far - Cars, Hell Boy, I Robot - chosen to demo the format, and it was awesome. Cars looked absolutely incredible. I Robot's effects looked awesome along with the sound being amazing and Hell Boy was just beautifully detailed, colored, and bad ass.


Best Buy currently has a 2 for $30 sale on certain titles, so I picked up Pans Labyrinth and Blade Runner 5 disk special edition (they are normally over 30 bucks a piece). I picked these up after I got Hell Boy and The Rock with the same sale. It's worth checking out, in-store or online.


Seems like their $50 rebate plan worked since I went right back there with my gift card to buy BluRay disks, LOL. Worked out for me too, spent 10 bucks on 4 BD movies. Overall, really stoked on BluRay, have a few more movies coming from Amazon and I updated my Netflix account to send BDs.


The top rack of my movie storage is so colorful now. It's almost getting to be half and half. It should be full of pretty blue cases soon... I'm such a dork.

Quote of the Week

Taken from a recent conversation today:

Me: Be there around 6. My Mom might be there so she can let you in.

Her: "Oh hey Mary Ann, I'm just going to be in Dan's room waiting for him with my clothes off"

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Happy Friday.

Project Cockpit: Part 3 - Big Update

Part 3: Frame Completed

Project Cockpit (lol) saw a whole lot of progress since this past weekend. I had a chance to cement all the pieces together to finalize the frame as well as fabricate the mounts for the wheel and the shifter.

Here is the bare frame all cemented up and ready to rock:

The steering mount provided the biggest challenge since the cross support is a round piece of ABS plasic, not the best to clamp onto. The best solution that came to mind was to notch the top and bottom of the pipe, creating flat edges on top and bottom while using a piece of wood to ensure a solid clamp. Orginally I was going to use a piece of wood top and bottom, but the top stayed super secure just using the notched ABS plastic edge.

When I was testing out the measurements and cutting up a spare piece of ABS plastic, I found that it fit perfectly. Since it took forever to dremel out the perfect notches, I decided to use the test piece by chopping up the existing solid horizontal support and fasten the new center section with standard couplings. This actually provided additional support since the couplings were cemented close to the cuts. Also, doing it this way allowed me to angle the platform just right to ensure the wheel gets mounted at the right angle. Rather than trying to make sure the cuts were in the right place, I could just simply twist it to where it needed to be while the cement way drying (you can see in the pic above that it was all measured and marked with a line).
Here is a picture with the wheel mounted:
That sucker is not moving. Super solid.



The next part is something I am most proud of - the shifter mount.
The way it mounts to the frame allowed me to angle it slightly towards the driver and the height is also perfect. I built the platform out of wood (paint stirers to be exact, lol, so they were free). It's essentially a platform with 2 runners along the bottom that double as support and the clamp mounting surface. The Logitech shifter has a center vise clamp, so I put a wood block for that to mount to as well. The way I mounted it to the ABS pipe was simple. I just capped the end with a 2 inch fitting and bolted down into it.

Here is the result:
Also pretty solid and mounts the shifter perfectly secure:
I had the shifter planned out from the beginning and it came out perfect. It went from vision to design to construction, where as the steering mount was more of a "problem / soultion" type deal that ended up working out favorably.



Since I wanted to ensure Project Cockpit (lol) was storable, I left the front and the rear un-cemented with plans to find a way to temporarily attach the whole thing.
Problem solved:
You can see how the joining piece of pipe in between the sockets has been drilled to the front coupler, so the whole thing just separates leaving the seat behind for people to still sit in while the front end can be stored in a closet or something. (cost - $1 each, booya)

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Needless to say, I'm incredibly stoked on how it's turning out. I tried it out by using a quick, temporary seat (my ottoman) and it's awesome. Really solid, no flex in the steering, perfect location of the shifter, etc. This is going to be bad ass...


Next and final installment: mounting the seat and squaring away the pedals. Stay tuned..

Stupid Car Forum Trends

Car forums are such a circle jerk. They can be really useful for buying and selling parts, catching up on news (although Autoblog usually does the best job), or good for laugh. Off topic sections are usually the best, but the part that actually deals with cars just bugs the shit out of me sometimes.

HDR - yay, let's all use a plug-in to pretend we are 'artsy'!
What's with the latest HDR fad? HDR stands for "High Dynamic Range" imaging (link) and it's actually pretty cool when used in moderation. The way you would create an HDR image is by taking 3 different exposures of the same image - one super exposed, one under exposed, and one just right - and combining the 3 to end up with something like this:


The result is sort of an exaggerated, fantasy-like photo. Pretty cool looking for photos of scenery, skies, etc... but super lame for car photos. If I'm checking out pictures of cars, I want to see the details of what the car really looks like, not some cartoonish, washed out attempt at HDR.

Here are some exampled that led the palm of my hand directly to my forehead:

Really? Am I on acid?
Are those 2 SVXs?!











I have no words for this one.













This would actually be a bad ass shot if the car wasn't in the picture. Don't get me wrong, it's a bad ass car, bad ass backdrop, but the car doesn't belong. It leaves me wanting to see the real photo of the car, and that takes away from the beauty of the scene behind it.


The thing that pisses me off the most, is that 90% of all "HDR" shots have the same 'photomatix' watermark all over the image since they all just used a plug-and-play program. Just cut the shit already. It was cool at first, but now it's just played out. Stop trying to be all artistic by using a filter.

On to rant number 2... Rotas.

Knock-off Wheels - I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.













































Why anyone would risk their 20-40 thousand dollar investment just to save a couple hundred bucks is beyond me. There is only 1 part of your car that actually touches the ground. Figure it out people.

DaTruth's blog said it best - please read

Stop "e" high fiving your buddies for buying the same crap. I'm sick of seeing the "offical rota thread" and the good old "post HDR pics!" thread.
They should be called "the offical I am a cheap ass who doesn't care about my car or passengers" thread and the good old "I pretend to be artsy by running my photos through a filter" thread.

You forum junkies should understand me when I say this. DIAF. Please.

MUTO - Wall-Painted Animation by BLU

Check out this video, it's super crazy/trippy.

It is an animation using wall paintings on public buildings in Buenos Aires. The part where the animation moves inside the building is the craziest.


MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

The coolest part was the integration of actual objects laying around, like the paper eating and the log getting knocked over.

Nuts, man. Just don't watch it on any sort of drugs.

Project Cockpit - small update

The frame is starting to come together, ABS was definitely the way to go. Pre-made bends, couplers and fittings all make for an easy build. It's like piecing together those toys that have long shaft pieces and varying connectors (edit - they were called connex!). I just need to pick up some PVC/ABS cement, but I don't really need it until everything is cut, fitted and finalized.

Best part is, 5 foot sections of 2 inch ABS only cost 3 bucks. The couplers and elbows cost about 2-3 bucks a piece as well.

Here is a test fit of the main frame rails to give an idea of where this is going.



I used a 3-way connector and a 90 degree elbow on the right hand side in order to have a mount for the shifter.
You can also see where the cross supports will mount.

I'll probably work on it this weekend, so stay tuned.

Ultimate '90s Party Mix

Tonight is going to be fun. About 20 of us have a Hummer limo heading up to Hollywood and I was put in charge of the music. While doing a little google research, I came across something that brought me waaaaay back...



Jock Jams vol.1

Here is a little taste of the awesomeness that was the early '90s:

1. Let's Get Ready To Rumble! - Michael Buffer
2. Get Ready 4 This - 2 Unlimited
3. Whoomp! There It Is - Tag Team
4. Strike It Up - Black Box
5. Tootsee Roll - 69 Boys
6. Pump It Up, Go 'Head, Go 'Head - Various Artists
7. Come Baby Come - K7
8. It Takes Two - Rob Base
9. Gridiron Groove - Various Artists
10. Gonna Make You Sweat - C & C Music Factory
11. Hip Hop Hooray - Naughty By Nature
12. Pump Up The Volume - M/A/R/R/S
13. The Power - Snap
14. Uh, Ungawaa! - Various Artists
15. Unbelievable - EMF
16. YMCA - Village People
17. Pump Up The Jam - Technotronic
18. Twilight Zone - 2 Unlimited
19. The Old Ballgame - Ray Castoldi
20. Rock And Roll Part 2 - Gary Glitter

Further research only yielded better results, Jock Jam vol.2:

1. Welcome To The Big Show - Dan Patrick And Chris Bermann
2. No Limit - 2 Unlimited
3. Everybody Everybody - Black Box
4. 1,2,3,4 (Sumpin' New) - Coolio
5. We Got A Love Thang - Ce Ce Peniston
6. This Is Your Night - Amber
7. Hey, Hey You - Various Artists
8. This Is How We Do It - Montell Jordan
9. Set It Off - Strafe
10. Macarena - Los Del Mar
11. I Like To Move It - Reel To Reel
12. Groovin' In The Bleachers - Various Artists
13. Party - Dis N' Dat
14. Get Down Tonight - K.C. And The Sunshine Band
15. Give It Up - The Goodmen
16. Action, Boys, Action - Various Artists
17. The Bomb - The Bucketheads
18. Boom Boom Boom - The Outhere Brothers
19. What's Up - D.J. Miko
20. Happy And You Know It - Ray Castoldi

Funny thing is, I'm sure I can dig up vol.2 somewhere in my closet, LOL!
Boom Boom Boom by The Outhere Brothers... download the album version, not the radio version. It's so dirty and grimy that its funny.

It's going to be a fun night...

It Came!

Project Cockpit (lol) - Part 2: Planning/Design

Well the G25 wheel came today, giving me the opportunity to take some measurements and draw up some rough sketches.

I decided to go with 2" ABS piping since its nice and cheap, easy to drill into, and there are pre-made joints, bends and connectors. (You can see them in the sketch below)

Once the main structural frame starts to come together, I can figure out how I want to brace the wheel mount, but you get the idea.



Here is just the base layout along with the peripheral measurements so I know the dimensions that the mounting platforms need to be.

You can see from the last sketch (hopefully) that there are threaded mounting holes on the bottom of the pedal base, so mounting the pedals should be simple.

Time to go back to Lowes...


The Good Stuff
Here it is in all its glory, the Logitech G25.

Current (temporary) setup:


Some Close-ups






All I can say is, this wheel setup kicks ASS.
If anyone out there gets this wheel to go with GT5 Prologue here is a hint to setting it up - select 'driving force pro' in the options menu, but...
*In order for the clutch pedal to be functional, you just have to push the very top botton on the control pad (where the triangle button would normally be) during the race to enable it. Kind of lame that you have to 'enable' it each race rather than just changing the settings one time, but it's only one button to push. And the setup kicks so much ass that nothing can really bring it down from a 10/10 in my book.

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I'll be picking up the materials tomorrow, so check back for more progress later.
Enough writing, time to play!!

Project Cockpit (lol) - GT5

Part 1: The Beginning


With all this wonderful tax money coming in, (economic stimulus check and more than twice that for my regular tax return) I figured it would be a good idea to start on a project that I have always wanted to do since the early Gran Turismo days when the force feedback wheel was new hot shit - a racing SIM cockpit. Considering how W went through all this trouble making sure we 'stimulate the economy', who am I to let him down?

I figured it would be kind of cool to sort of document the process here in this blog, keeping an updated 'project cockpit' type deal. And seeing as how I no longer work on the content side of things for Source Interlink - formerly Primedia - (where this would have been a sweet project for the sites) my personal blog will do.

Game:
First things first, I needed the game - GT5 Prologue. Luckily, I had $75 in best buy gift cards waiting in the pipe. So far - total money spent: $0 with 30 left in credit.

Wheel:
Since I only had gift cards to Best Buy, and they never have any decent stock in store, I would have to shop around online for the G25 wheel from Logitech. They had the regular force feedback wheel for PS3 in stock, but it's time to go big.

If you aren't familiar with the G25 from Logitech, you should be. It's got a gated 6-speed shifter with push-down reverse, 3 - count 'em - 3 pedals (yes a clutch), and a force feedback wheel with 900 degrees of rotation and paddle shifters in case you want to mix things up.

Pure awesomeness doesn't come cheap. They list for $300, but can be found around $250. Like the PS3 itself, there isn't really a way around the cost. I'm not willing to go used or refurbished just because I don't like to gamble with a purchase this big (even if its minor).

I have been finding that Amazon really does have the best prices. For me, shopping around these days means just going straight there. Sure enough, they had it for $240. Free ground shipping, or free 2 day shipping with their free "Prime" trial membership which I opted for... not bad.

Cockpit:
Rather than just buying one of these:
http://gtcockpit.com/
http://www.racergamer.com/
I decided to build my own since I am trying to keep costs as low as possible (duh - the whole point of this project)
The Playseat deal is nice, but it's another 300 bucks and it doesn't really store too well, no thanks. The Sparco one is just a dream...

So, the hunt for materials began. I started looking for the seat first and found that even the most ghetto racing seats from APC were still 180-250 bucks. I found a bunch of ghetto racing seats on Ebay, but they were only sold in pairs. 160 for 2 seats. I might have found someone who wants to go in on it, but that would have been too much of a hassle. So I just decided to keep a lookout and ask around until the perfect opportunity presented itself, and it did.

Saturday, I went to see Iron Man with my bro and his wife at the Irvine Spectrum. Sharper Image was going out of business and had all these crazy sales. The store looked like it had been looted. They had these gaming seats on super-duper clearnace for 70 bucks. Regular price was around 200. The seat is pretty cool, it has a pair of speakers right behind your ears and a sub-woofer in its base. Considering most balling ass racing SIM cockpits have a woofer custom mounted, score one bonus point! The best part is, it folds up for easy storage.

So here's what I have so far...

Total spent:
Game - $0
Logitech G25 - $240
Seat - $70
(Rest of the materials to come)

I will keep this updated as the project comes along. Sorry about the long post, but it was the kick-off blog for 'Project Cockpit lol.' I promise the updates will be better.

And if you want to see some crazy examples, check out this site - Race SIM Central to see where some of the inspiration came from. (yes there are forums for everything!)