ZX-14. 

ZX-14 (picture 2). 

ZX-14 (picture 3). 

Ridiculous.

So, Kawasaki took the wraps off it's new mega-bike this weekend (see http://www.zx14ninja.com/). They are calling it the ZX-14. The thing is going to be a monster. It is replacing the venerable ZX-12, and is marketed against (mainly) the Suzuki Hayabusa, but also the (discontinued) Honda 1100XX. Some of the more important numbers are 1352cc inline four cylinder, approximately 200 horsepower, and an estimated top speed of 200 mph. Kawasaki hasn't released a curb weight yet, so that will be important information to know. Either way, this bike is ridiculous. It will be interesting to see a head-to-head comarison between the ZX-14 and the Hayabusa. Also, the rumor-mill has it that Suzuki will be releasing a new 'Busa in a year or so. I guess the horsepower wars (see M-B AMG cars, for example) aren't limited just to four wheeled vehicles. See above for a picture...

8.8 @ 148.

So I have a new roommate. As I was walking my dog through my parking lot two days ago I noticed a new car in it. It was an older Mustang, somewhere in the 1995-1997 body style. As I was walking by, I first noticed that he had powder-coated (black) the stock three-spoke wheels. Then I noticed that it had been lowered quite a bit--there was almost no wheel gap. As I walked around it, I noticed the *biggest bottle of nitrous I've EVER seen in my entire life* in the back seat. It is (literally) larger than a SCUBA air tank. It is probably 15 inches in diameter and about 30-36 inches in length. The thing is a monster. So then I look a little more closely. I see the car has 275/40 BFG Drag Radial's (on the stock rims)...nice. Now, I'm really curious. I see four point harnesses on both the driver and passenger seat. However, when I look in the front, I do *not* see an intercooler, so I figure there is no turbo kit. Lastly, I look at the back and I notice that he has taken the (stock) spoiler off the trunk deck (very nice) and I see no exhaust coming out the rear--so I figure he has just a dump exhaust coming out the bottom of the engine, with no real exhaust pipes, let alone mufflers.

I finally put two and two together and realize this must be my new roommate's car. So last night I get the chance to ask him about it. He starts telling me a little bit about it, and I am *floored*. Here are some of the things I learned: forged pistons, three-plate clutch, equal-length headers, ignition, MAF, etc., etc. Then I learn two more incredible things: 116 octane race fuel and a 300 (!!!) shot of nitrous. I was flabbergasted. So he tells me he goes to an 1/8th mile track once a week and a quarter mile track once a month. He then tells me something that I still have a little difficulty believing, but here it goes: his best ET is 8.8 seconds (in the quarter) with a trap speed of 148. He said that was with a 300 shot of nitrous in first, second, third AND fourth gears. Finally he said he is having a motor built that he should have put in not too long from now. It is a 347 stroker motor with 11.0:1 compression pistons.

Anyways, I asked if I could go with him sometime and he said yes, so I am looking forward to that. It wasn't clear whether I can go and watch him race (which would be cool enough), or if I can ride shotgun with him (which would be ridiculous). I'll let you know more, when I know more...

New (rear) brakes installed...

I got my brakes installed last Thursday. Here are my initial observations and thoughts: There is a definitely noticeable improvement in braking power. However, I can tell how inferior the fronts are now in comparison to the rears. Additionally, I can also tell how spongey the pedal feels now; I could really use the stainless steel brake lines. But, I can definitely feel an improvement and look forward to at least getting the fronts replaced with equivalent parts, and ideally to get the SS lines as well. Great purchase, definitely worth my money. So far I have experienced none of the noise reported by some other people.

I need to wash my car and wheels, but you can see the rotors pretty well. 

Brembos... 

New rear brakes for the Passat.

Well after 53,000 miles (see Post below) the Passat is ready for some new rear brakes. I checked prices for OEM (VW) parts, and the rotors were $162 and the bads were $65 for a parts total of $227. Well, out of curiosity (actually because I wanted better parts) I checked the aftermarket to see what was available for my car. I found some very interesting parts, as well as prices. Tirerack offers Brembo rotors for my car. They are OEM size so they are meant for the stock caliper. The official name is Brembo Sport Slotted rotors (see http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brakes.jsp?make=Brembo&model=Sport+Slotted+Rotor for information). They are (obviously) slotted rotors. Although many aftermarket brake kits offer cross-drilled (and some manufacturers as well), I have heard that slotted cool nearly as well and last longer too. We'll see. I also found upgraded pads as well from Hawk. They are the Hawk HPS High Performance Street brake pads (see http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brakes.jsp?make=Hawk&model=HPS+Street+brake+pads for more information). So, I added up the price and the total came to $231 and change (including 2 day shipping). So essentially I got superior performing parts for $4 more than the OEM components. The braking performance should be noticeably improved, and that will be accentuated when I need to replace the fronts and do so with the Brembo/Hawk combination there as well. I have been looking for, but unfortunately unable to find braided stainless steel brake lines, but I hope to do that as well. The brake lines added to the Brembo/Hawk combination I think should really improve on the performance of the stock brakes. I am getting them put on tomorrow and hope to be able to take some pictures of them installed before they put the wheels on. Hopefully more on this later...

Back (inside) side of Brembo rotor... 

Brembo Sport Slotted Rotor... 

New pads and rotors... 

Road trippin' summer...

So I put a lot of miles on my car this summer. If you'll recall, I bought it about four months ago and it had just under 40k miles on it. Well, it now has nearly 53k miles on it. Here is why: After picking it up in Ohio, had to drive back down to Winston via Asheville (long story); mileage = 518. I went to the beach with my friends after exams; mileage = 564. I drove down to see my brother; mileage = 129. From there I drove up with him and his wife to meet my family in Williamsburg, Virginia, went out to Norfolk, then back to Winston; mileage = 633. I drove out to California (from North Carolina) to visit my best friend in Redlands via Asheville, North Carolina; mileage = 2,413. From there I drove up the coast to see some friends at Pismo Beach and then continued on up to Portland, where I was spending the summer; mileage = 1,121. Commuting to work every day from Portland to Hillsboro for the whole summer; mileage (daily round trip) = 44. Trip to Salem from Portland for work; mileage = 102. One trip to Mount Rainier, plus driving around Mount Rainier National Park; mileage = 476. One trip to Walla Walla from Portland; mileage = 499. And the grandaddy of them all, Portland to Winston-Salem, via Ruffin, South Carolina (I had to pick up a puppy dog); mileage = 3,191. That's how the majority of the miles got piled on there. But the majority of them (~90% or more) are highway miles, so hopefully it wasn't too hard on her.

Here are some numbers for the latest (and greatest) trip I made. Portland, Oregon to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, via Ruffin, South Carolina: 3,191 miles; it took me 55 hours (including 8 1/2 hours of sleep and one hour spent picking up the puppy); 120.698 gallons of premium unleaded consumed; average fuel economy was 26.4 miles per gallon; average speed (including gas, sleep, and puppy stops) was 58.0 miles per hour. For the first 900 miles I averaged (including gas stops) 74.8 miles per hour, which if you do the math including the stops for fuel, is hauling ass. During one hour's period of time I averaged 85 miles per hour (including slowing down for traffic, etc., etc.). Those are some of the numbers from my trip. I hope next May is the last time I ever have to do it again. It will be a lot slower in May--moving truck and all, you know...

About five hours into the trip... 

Making pretty good time through southern Idaho...

50 hours in...I look it, don't I? 

My new baby...

I got a new car. This weekend I picked up a 2003 Volkswagen Passat 1.8T with a 5-speed manual. It is a great little car and I have enjoyed it very much even though it has only been a couple days. It has what Volkswagen calls a Blue Anthracite exterior and black leather interior. It has the Monsoon sound system (which kicks ass, by the way), and heated seats, etc., etc. It is pretty darn nice. The turbo comes on pretty strong around 3,000 rpms. As a small aside here, APR offers a (1 bar) chip that bumps the horsepower up to 214 (from 170) and the torque up to 247 (from 166), so that would turn it into a little monster. With the chip the power to weight ratio would be better than a TSX, IS300, SVT Focus, etc., etc. Not too bad from a little four banger four-door big German sedan. Anyway, the previous owner has a pretty dark tint on it. I am slightly worried about that because my last car had a tint on it (about half as dark as that on my Passat) and I got stopped twice because of it. But it seems like it is kind of a crap shoot, because I have seen lots of cars with dark tints on them. We'll see, and I'll keep my fingers crossed. I'll keep you posted as to how things go with it...

Note the 5-speed and the 160 mph speedo... 

It will have new license plates soon. 

My new baby.