2Wheel Philly

                My car has been one of the fastest appreciating assets I have ever owned.  I’ll explain.  I picked my car based on supply and demand.  There is a high demand for E30’s, and a low supply.  I watched the market ebb and flow for 6 months, before I was ready to pull the trigger.  I waited till a month where prices were down, chose a car in a desirable color, with desirable options, that was in generally good shape.  I paid 1700$ for the car, and drove it home from Rahway, NJ.  Now already I knew I had gotten a good deal.  Typically these cars in my condition sell for 4500$, meaning that I had doubled my car’s value by driving it off the lot.  Later, I acquired a 200$ set of wheels.  They are OEM, and were a rare option for the year.  These add 500$ to the value of the car, bringing my total value up to 5000, and my expenses up to 1900.  The final part is the original hardtop I am picking up Saturday.  The cost of the hardtop is 650$, but due to its rarity, and good condition, it is worth $2000.  This means that the total retail value of my car, if I sold it right now would be roughly 7,000.  My total costs thus far are $2,550, meaning that for evey 1 dollar spent on my  car I will recoup 2.75.  This amounts to a 275% return on my investment, over a period of 6 months, something that a vanguard mutual fund will never come close to doing.  Most of this value comes from rare accessories that are desired by collectors, as well as the time equity that I have personally put into the car.                  So the next time someone tells you investing in cars is stupid, or criticizes the amount of time/money you spend on your car, tell them to shut it, and direct them to this article.  

                The final consideration is your timeline.  Sourcing parts, particularly for an older car, can be very difficult.  Ordering parts online can take a couple days, and sometimes you simply cannot wait.  If you plan on doing your own work, make sure you keep a “parts guy”, because eventually there is no doubt you will need him. 

There are people who care about cars, and people who don't.  The mazda3 was clearly designed for the latter.  Not that its a bad car, persay its just that driving it, is akin to driving a bucket full of soggy wallpaper and glue.  Let us start with the drivetrain.  The smooth revving 2.3L engine is a pretty solid power plant upon which to build.  Unfortunately the car does not come with a manual transmission.  In fact, manual is not even an option on this car.  The transmission is okay, though the shifts tend to be somewhat abrupt.  Particularly when merging onto the highway the car has a propensity to downshift unexpectedly.  In the twisty’s, the car is a hot mess.  Due to the front engine, front wheel drive layout, the balance is not nearly what it should be.  It has a tendency to nose dive under heavy braking, and squat under acceleration.  The car also needs much bigger sway bars, as the body rolls through corners like an oversized weeble person.  The interior of the car is okay.  The materials have a somewhat cheap feel, though the car is put together well.  The radio is one of the most frusterating contraptions ever contrived.  None of the knobs do what they are supposed to.  The big knob in the middle, does not adjust volume, instead it adjusts balance.  The tiny little knob to the starboard side of it adjusts volume.  I will refrain from commenting on the styling of the car, as everyones tastes are different.  The mazda3 is a perfect representation of our culture.  It gets you where you are going, and isolates you from outside.  Its economic, quiet, and an absolute piece of crap.  What this car is really missing is a soul. 

Anytime you drive an old car, there will be sounds.  Good sounds, bad sounds. All types of sounds.  To the mechanically inclined, though, these sounds are clues.  They direct us to where, or what may be malfunctioning.  The first trick is to classify the sound.  Is it a rattle, is it a thump, is it a thwack, is it a scream, whine, or squeal?  Does it sounds as if two pieces of metal are hitting each other?  After classifying the type of sound, it is important to try to localize it.  By identifying the sound type, and area it comes from, a good mechanic should be able to narrow it down to 2 or 3 parts within 12 square inches.  This drastically narrows the search area.  If the sound occurs infrequently, try to determine the circumstances under which it occurs.  Try to check if it happens at a certain RPM, or only turning a certain direction. Check and see if the sound happens when you hit a bump.  The circumstances that reproduce the sound are just as important as the sound itself.  For example, a sound that only occurs when you hit a bump, would be indicative of a suspension problem.  A whining when you turn would indicate a power steering issue, typically a leak in the pump.  An RPM dependent ticking could be several things, anything from a valve issue, to a ring, but either way it typically indicates major engine work is needed.  The final death sentence for a car is the metal on metal sound coming from the engine compartment, accompanied by hissing.  This typically means your car is dead.

There is a race, though, unlike NASCAR it is not in a circle.  In fact while the speeds are fairly slow, handling is maxed out.  Spec E30 consists of racing old BMW's, all of which are exactly the same mechanically.  The governing body, North American Sportscar Association, inspects each and every car to make sure they are the same.  In wheel to wheel racing, these cars can go up to 150mph (pretty fast for a 25 year old car).  For saftey the cars must have full roll cages, as well as castor and camber adjustment on the wheels, and fire suppression systems. Spec E30 was created to encourage inexpensive, entry level, competition. 

Its the worst, and It happens to all of us. In fact, when I see a bus, I do everything in my power not to get stuck behind it.  If the bus is taking a left turn, no matter how little time I have, I will drop the gear.  The most frustrating part is now the frequency with which the buses stop.  No longer do all the kids meet at one bus stop for a given neighborhood.  Instead, bus drivers are forced to stop at the end of each driveway.  Not only does this clog up traffic, but it also frusterates bus drivers as well.  Normally I wouldn't mind getting stuck behind a bus so much.  It happens, and there's really nothing you can do.  Of course the reason I was very upset by this today was because I had a first period test.  In conclusion, I propose massive funding for a monorail system connecting helicopter parents and their children, to schools.  Clearing up the road for the rest of us.

Parking in West Philadelphia is the stuff nightmares are made of.  How many times have you searched, and searched trying to find that one needle-like spot, in a haystack of a city?  I for one, am done with it.       Here in West Philadelphia, the reason nobody can ever find a spot is simple; there aren’t enough spots.  Why aren’t there enough spots? When developing property in Philadelphia there is no parking requirement.  This leads to more people with cars, than there are spots.  Not only does this leave the city dwellers who have cars frusterated, but really leaves us commutters out in the cold.  A new proposed building going in on the corner of 43rd and Baltimore avenues will have 60 new luxury apartments.  How many parking spaces? 4.       Compounding the problem, is a lack of parking knowledge.  Cars, as a whole, pack together pretty efficiently.  Since they are all roughly a rectangle shape, cars can be parked with very little space between them.  Unfortunately some people seem to lack simple spacial concepts.  Too many times one will see cars parked such that they have lots of room on two sides, but not enough room that another car can park there.  Often the owner will claim that its so they “don’t get parked in”.  Anyone who gives this excuse should be sent back do driving school.  Physically, any car is designed to get out of a space that is only 6 inches bigger than it it.  Though you may claim to be parked in, you probably are not.  Much more often, the cause of your parking spot entrapment is a PICNIC error.  PICNIC is an acronym that stands for “Problem In Chair, Not In Car”.       Finally, since there are so many 2 hour spots in the city, long term parking is at a premium.  Many city dwellers will take these long term spots and let their cars sit for weeks, or even months.  Not only does this create an annoying eye sore, but clogs the arteries of our fair city.       Finding a spot is extremely unpredictable.  Its like spotting a jackelope, or catching a coelacanth, it happens, but not often.  Some days, finding a spot can take minutes, other days it can take 40 minutes or more.  Often looking for a spot can make a commuter late to class.       It would seem there is an easy solution for the stuent commuter though: why not just buy a Usciences parking pass? At 600$, a Usciences parking pass is more than could ever be justified for a parking spot.     In summary, a parking pass is too expensive, there are not enough spots, and its making students late to class.  As I write this my car is parked in the school parking lot, sans permit.  I would like to call on Usciences to lower their price for a parking permit to something in the 300$ range, making it a reasonable expense that more students could afford (on top of the $35,000 we already pay to go here).

    I’m sure everyone realizes that brakes are pretty important.  Those 4 small patches of asbestos grabbing about a 1/4 inch thick piece of metal, are all that sit between you and hitting a wall at 75 mph. This week I’ve decided to do the breaks on my BMW.  I will be rebuilding them, as well as upgrading certain aspects.  In order to undertake this project, I have ordered the following: Rotors, Pads, Lines, Fluid.  
   The rotors will be Brembo blanks.  When upgrading rotors many people opt to go with slotted, or drilled rotors, though this is totally unnecessary. In fact, slotting and drilling rotors means that they are less able to dissipate heat, this often results in overheating brake components and can cause long term damage.  When running certain race only pads, the operating temperature must remain higher.  This is the proper application of slotted rotors. Because of the smaller surface area, they retain heat, keeping the high performance pads within their proper operating temperature.  That said, slotted/drilled rotors do look nice, but thats really all they would do.  
   As far as pads, there are many different options.  Organic are typically non abrasive, though they make a lot of brake dust, and provide little initial bite for stopping power.  Semi-metallic pads are usually made of asbestos, mixed with a metallic abrasive agent.  Though these accelerate rotor ware, they provide high initial bite, low dust, and relatively long life.  Ceramic pads are extremely expensive, though they offer the longest life.  Furthermore they produce little dust, and are unlikely to warp rotors.  Unfortunately they often provide very little initial bite, and are a very expensive option.      For my upgrade I decided to go with Stop-tech Street Performance pads.  These pads are a semi-metallic high performance street pad.  They will produce a moderate amount of dust, and are moderately abrasive, though they have high initial bite, and longer life, and excellent all weather performance.  The Stop-tech pads come highly rated from various websites, and seem to be an all around solid option.       Brake lines form one of the only replaceable pressurized components of the braking system.  While I would have preferred to switch to braided stainless steel brake-lines, it was simply not cost effective. Braided lines swell less under pressure, transmitting more brake feeling through the pedal to the driver.  When threshold braking this feedback allows one to determine the exact point before the car skids.  Anticipating the car skidding becomes particularly important when driving a high horsepower rear wheel drive application.      One of the most under-appreciated parts of the braking system is the brake fluid.  This fluid is what compresses putting pressure on the calipers, which pinch the rotors, slowing the car down.  Under great heat this fluid will actually break down at a molecular level.  For my upgrade I decided to spend a bit of extra money in order to go with a top shelf brake fluid.  I chose Motul RS5 Performance brake fluid. This should be resistant to brake down, and should keep my braking system operating in tip top shape for years to come.  
   I will be following this up with a review of the components afterwards.  Attached is a picture overview of the braking system.  With these upgrades I hope to be able to cut my stopping distance by up to 30  as