A Texas man claims he was dive bombed by a low flying pelican which caused him to drop his cell phone.  He then decides to reach for the cell phone which caused him to vear off the road and into a salt marsh with his million dollar car.

When your ass sits in a million dollar plus car you should at least be paying attention to the job of driving instead of talking on a cell phone.

That probably goes for any vehicle you are driving.

Thanks to Bill for the link to this site with some spectacular garages housing some excellent cars.

Many of you out there have been waiting impatiently for the installation of the Tomei turbocharger in the Evo IX.  Believe it or not, I have too.

A couple of weekends ago I started on the installation with great hopes of sharing the experience with all of you.  While I did accomplish the installation I have run into a significant problem that prevents me from concluding this chapter.  After installing the new turbo and radiator the first test drive ended with a check engine light and a P0500 code. 

In order to save you some time in looking up the P0500 code, it refers to the vehicle speed sensor that is built into the transmission.  Fortunately there is nothing wrong with the speed sensor, but there continues to be a voltage problem that prevents the ECU from reading the sensor.  I will continue to track down the source.

In the mean time I will provide you with the adventure of installing the Tomei ARMS turbo.

First step was to make certain that I had everything I needed and then get the car up in the air.  Luckily Jim’s Garage has a lift that makes getting the car up to a nice working height a snap.  I had spent the previous days making stops at auto supply stores to get fresh anti-freeze and distilled water as well as all the appropriate fasteners for the installation.

With the car up in the air it was time to remove the under-tray that covers the bottom of engine bay.  This consists of unfastening twenty to thirty “scrivets” and a few screws.  If you own one of these cars it is a good idea to have plenty of spares on hand, too.

With the under-tray out of the way I drained the coolant into a catch pan.  That gave me a chance to undo several items from the top of the engine compartment.  The air intake was removed along with the heat shields over the stock turbo.  Then I loosened the radiator hoses and worked on removing the O2 sensor.

From under the car I removed the bolts and springs that hold the down-pipe to the turbo as well as the factory bracket that holds the turbo to the engine block.  It was also a good time to get another catch pan and unbolt the oil return from the turbo.  This goes from the turbo to the oil pan and since Tomei provides new gaskets, I removed it completely and cleaned up the piece.

With the radiator drained it was time to pull the old radiator.  A ten thousand mile radiator is not necessarily and old part, but this one had a bunch of wrench rash on it.  There was a new Mishimoto unit ready and waiting for installation.  I did find that I had to purchase some rubber bottom mounts as the ones on the old radiator were either worn or incorrect.  I found it easier to remove the radiator fan and motor than to try and pull it as one assembly.

There were two nuts and two bolts holding the turbo to the exhaust manifold and I removed them.  With the radiator out there was plenty of room to remove the turbo assembly. 

Then began the job of installing the new O2 sensor housing on the new turbo with all the new gaskets that Tomei supplied.  There were also new tubing for oil and coolant to the turbo.  These came with new banjo bolts and crush washers.  It was easiest to install them before the turbo was bolted on.  Minor tweaks to the tubing were made by sticking a Philips screw driver in the tubing and gently reforming them. 

With everything bolted to the turbo and fasteners torqued to the proper specifications it was time to bolt on the new unit.

The folks at Tomei really make a nice unit and it bolted up just as the factory turbo had.  I used fresh fasteners and torqued them to specs, too.  Then I installed the O2 sensor and plugged it into the connector on the valve cover.   Next was the down-pipe bolts and springs.  I ran the threads through a die and coated them with anti-seize before bolting the pipe up.

The radiator was next.  I had to wait a few days for the parts from Mitsubishi to arrive, but they did and the radiator and fan slipped in place.  New Samco hoses were used and a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water was mixed and installed using an AirLift tool.  The AirLift uses compressed air to create a vacuum in the cooling system.  It lets you know right away if you have a leak and when all is right the tool uses the vacuum to suck in all the new fluid.  It is really a fool proof method of ensuring there is no trapped air in the cooling system.

With that task completed it was on to the intake system.  I had to be careful to ensure that tubing and clamps would not interfere with the electric fan since things had gotten just a bit tighter in that area with the new radiator.

When everything was buttoned up I did a final check of connectors, clamps and bolts before I turned on the engine. 

I let the engine warm up while I went over a few more things and put away wrenches.  I was so looking forward to the first drive.  It lasted about 100 yards before the CEL and then the engine started running far too rich.  So back into the garage and continuing problem determination.

“Think Pink” was her standard  and most of her race cars were.  Donna Mae Mims died at the age of 83. She was quite a lady.

In December of last year Automotive News published that Toyota’s Japan market Crown luxury sedan went from 60 MCUs to just four.  This news quickly spread across the automotive industry as car manufacturers sought to reduce the complexity and weight of the existing networks of processors and wiring that permeate modern motor vehicles.

Your typical car contains 25-35 microcontrollers and luxury cars have 70 or more.  Connecting all the sensors to those controllers as well as interconnecting the processors to ECUs is the CAN (Controller Area Network) which currently has a data rate of 1Mb/sec.  Another proposed standard is FlexRay which is designed to move data at a rate of 10 Mb/sec.  Motorola has been experimenting with a network design they call Switch Fabric that should move data at a rate approaching 2 Gb/sec.

Automotive designers and manufacturers are struggling to reduce the weight of cars as the demand for more processors and the cabling necessary network them and their sensors increases.  Manufacturers admit to their mid-range cars containing 45 to 65 pounds of wiring, but the figure is likely much higher and especially for luxury cars.  Reducing or eliminating the weight of wiring can drastically improve fuel economy.  Some cars are using Blue Tooth to communicate from switches to controllers in order to eliminate wiring.

The term domain-based computing is being used in automotive design and as a result is more multi-core processors and moving current systems to 32-bit architecture.

Today 32-bit microcontrollers are used in engine, transmission, navigation, ABS, entertainment, GPS, and stability control.  Sixteen bit MCUs are used for SRS (air bags), body control, instrument panel clusters, even HUD.  8-bit controllers are used on power mirrors, door locks, HVAC, radios, CD players, lighting, anti-theft, seat controls, power windows, etc.

With hybrid cars coming into the car population in ever increasing numbers as well as a smattering of electric cars, micro processing needs are ever increasing.  Regenerative braking, power management, and multiple battery systems require more processing, networking, and programming.  Oh yeah, and more wiring.  That’s right, I said multiple battery systems.  As more systems are employed the electrical demands are soon outstripping the capacity of a single 12-14 volt electrical system.

New regulations concerning collision avoidance systems, passenger SRS systems, multimedia, etc., will require more of the above.  If our homes were this integrated we would be paying five times as much for the privilege of having a roof over our heads.

On the bright side, Philips Electronics has released the LUXEON Altilon power LED headlamp. 

While we have seen LED technology employed in automotive and truck taillights as well as in traffic signal controlled intersections, it is now advanced to the point that it can be used to light the road ahead. 

Audi now uses this LED lighting in the R8 headlamps for both high and low beam functions as a $5000 option.  These provide more than 850 lumens with a color temperature of 5600K that conforms to both ECE and SAE specs.

You can expect pricing of this technology to drop dramatically as it becomes the new lighting standard that will not only enable far more flexibility in vehicle body design, but also dramatically reduces power consumption for lighting.  LED life is also far longer than conventional bulb technology and produces far less heat energy.

Soon your eyes will have to adjust from dealing with the HID blue headlight beams to the LUXEON LED wave length.  You can expect conversion kits for existing HID headlamps, too.

A good friend of mine returned from some vacation time in Germany and sent me these fantastic photos of just a few of the cars he got to see up close:

While I was away on a three week road trip to New England a package arrived and it contains the Tomei ARMS turbo upgrade I have been impatiently waiting for since I ordered it in mid-May.

The folks at Kami Speed have been very understanding of my frustration and kept me informed as to the status whether it was good news or not.  Apparently the Tomei turbo has been more of a success than expected and production has barely been able to keep up with demand. 

Fortunately Tomei insists on maintaining quality no matter what and that translates into my long wait.

Here are some photos of the turbo along with a really nice O2 sensor housing that will be added to the Tomei kit.  This housing is from a company called Exotic Speed that produces this beauty out of stainless steel.  On my Evo 8 I had used a nicely welded up stainless steel version from eBay that I really liked and was looking for another one for this car when I came across the Canadian company that was selling these.

Next I have to set aside a weekend to install the new turbo, the Mishimoto radiator, and what ever else has stacked up on the bench.

There will be more on that weekend and photos of course.

I have been busy enjoying an end-of-summer road trip to New England for the past week.  Now I am spending some time on Cape Cod renewing acquaintances with relatives and old friends.

As I drive around on highways and byways I am always on the lookout for a police vehicle as traffic law enforcement continues to be an excellent source of revenue without the procedural bother of hiking taxes.

Now a new automotive manufacturer has arrived on the American scene to produce police cars exclusively.  Carbon Motors has designed a prototype that is diesel powered and fully integrated with lights and computer equipment.

This is a police car that perhaps Mad Max would envy as it produces 300 hp from a turbo diesel and 400 lb/ft of torque.  Being diesel its fuel consumption is modest and it sport clam shell doors for ease of loading prisoners in the back seats.  The rear compartment is sealed off completely from the officer’s cabin in the front so that the prisoner can pee and barf to their hearts content without making a mess of the front.  Something that is a real problem with today’s police cars. 

The rear seat is a one-piece molded affair that has indentions for handcuffed hands.  It has plugs in the floor so it can easily be hosed out and returned to service quickly.

The front cabin is decked out in the latest electronics and instead of switches to locate and reach for many are voice activated.  Gun racks are built in to the area between the seats and the seats are formed so that the officers can sit comfortably with their sidearm belted on.

On the outside all the usual flashing and blinking lights are built in to the body work.  Normally these things are supplied by aftermarket companies and bolted on and wired in to the police cars.  With their being integrated into the body work the car’s aerodynamics are much improved, too. 

The push bar is integrated into the front bumper as well.  This also translates to better aerodynamics and eliminates the need to drill mounting holes and bolting up to the frame of the vehicle.

The life of this vehicle is projected to be 250,000 miles which should make it cost effective.

The manufacturer is claiming that it has thousands of pre-orders and will start fulfilling them in 2012 from its Indiana manufacturing facility.

This is quite a departure from the traditional source of police cruisers where a standard sedan is offered with heavy duty equipment such as a larger capacity alternator and bigger brakes that is then decked out in aftermarket lights, electronics, push bars, and other items.  While not specified by Carbon Motors, the price is expected to be similar to a fully accessorized police car.

So when can the Blues Brothers get their own pre-owned Carbon Motors E7?  Never.  Carbon Motors is going to sell to law enforcement exclusively and with the stipulation that these cars can never be sold to the public.  Sorry Jake.

Today we put more time into perfecting the Miata.  The bump stops for the rear shocks showed up so that was the first order of business.

Removing the shock/spring assemblies means removing all the trim pieces from the trunk as well as unbolting the gold colored steel plate that covers the fuel lines in order to gain access to the top shock bolts.  Once those were loose and removed we put the car up in the air (on the lift) and removed the wheels. 

The anti-roll bar was disconnected, so was the lower shock mounting bolt, and then the upper control arm bolt so it could all be pulled down and the assembly could be removed.

With the Swift springs it was possible to undo the top nut and take the top parts off the shock so the new bump stops could be slid on to the shock rod.  The new bump stops also had to be cut down by one hump as per the Swift instructions.

Both shock/spring assemblies were re-united with bump stops and returned to their place in the rear suspension.  The bolts were tightened and the nuts for the anti-sway bar links were also fastened down.

While the wheels were off we put them on the Hunter balance machine again.  There was a minimal vibration from the rear that I wanted to track down.  Sure enough they were not only out of balance, they were out of round.  Fortunately, the Hunter technology tells how to re-mount the tire in order to make the assembly as round as possible.  Then they were dynamically balanced. 

Then the front wheels were also removed because the stock flexible brake lines were going to be replaced with braided stainless steel lines.  This results in a firmer feel at the brake pedal as the new lines don’t expand and flex with pressure to the degree that the stock ones did.

Since a lot of brake fluid was going to leak out during the lines swap it also was a good time to flush the brake fluid and we chose Ate Super Blue fluid.

We use a vacuum method of bleeding that allows us to keep the old fluid from contaminating the new fluid as well as eliminate air bubbles that would create a spongy feel.

After the new lines were on and new fluid was flushed through (including the hydraulic clutch) we changed out the fuel filter for a new one. 

The owner and I had experienced at times when the engine would cut out and lose power, especially when the fuel tank was getting low.  Since this car was ten years old and had been sitting idle a lot we figured that the gasoline was not only old, but had been subject to condensation as temperatures varied by season.  This would be caught by the fuel filter, but it would also clog and impede fuel flow to the point pressure would cut out.

Changing out the fuel filter is a bit tricky.  We are dealing with gasoline, after all.  We had to release pressure in the system by first taking the gas cap off and then pulling the electrical connection to the pump relay.  Then cranked and ran the engine until it would not run.  That released any residual pressure, but there was still plenty of fuel in the lines.

We made sure that we had something to safely catch the dripping gasoline as we disconnected the lines to the filter.  Then we moved the white nylon plastic clips to the new filter so the lines could be snapped on.  Then we secured the filter’s clamp and covered it with the black plastic protector.

The wheels were bolted back on and the lug nuts were tightened to the proper torque before we took the car out for a test drive.  Before we got more than a few feet we discovered that one of the new rear brake lines was touching the wheel so we put it back on the rack and were able to reorient the fitting with no trouble.

The test drive was fine with no other problems discovered, so it was on to the alignment rack.

We knew that the setting would change when we installed the Swift springs on the new Koni shocks since the ride height was lowered.  We also were looking for an opportunity to add in additional caster to the front.

The rears started out with over two degrees of negative camber.  That was much more than the car needed and would keep it from having the kind of rotation you would expect out of a shorter wheelbase car.  We also wanted the total toe to be as close to 0.30 degrees as we could so we chose to set rear camber at negative 1.8 degrees.  Moving to the front we found we could get almost six degrees of positive caster.  That was really great to see.  With a little less caster I could have gotten more negative camber, but in this application the caster was more of a priority so I left the front at negative 1.2 degrees and kept the “almost” six degrees of caster.  Toe would be set at 0.30 degrees total like the rear.

Why so much emphasis on the caster number?  Caster does a lot of different things for your handling and when it is set up to complement a suspension it can be a wonderful friend.  If it is not, it can be unfriendly.

Caster will allow your steering to center itself easily after you are done with a turn.  It will also add camber to the outside tire as you execute a turn.  When you brake it can lessen nose dive and therefore weight transfer substantially.  If you cannot achieve adequate caster you will start to lose all that helpful stuff.

With the alignment complete another test drive was in order.

It was a blast.  Now the car really felt like the happy little convertible it should be.  Corners could be pushed and the rear end controlled much more with the throttle.  The steering felt even more connected with the tires.  This car had really come together.

On Monday a set of FM anti-sway (anti-roll) bars were delivered and installed.  These bars were just a bit stouter than the stock bars an offered adjustability as well.  We were now anxious to and see how much flatter it would handle. 

Now the car really woke up and handled like a pocket rocket.  It made the most of the Bridgestone Potenza RE11 tires and the suspension really followed the contours of the road.  This is one fun Miata!