HemiSam

Congratulations! That's a great start for a new ride. Most beginners overdrive a car. Key is momentum, keeping the shifts at a minimum (especially if you're a stick car), don't over brake or over pedal....momentum. Sounds a lot easier than it is. Be ready for a lot of tire purchases HS

Very nice, 101! Great looking ride. Just got back from an event where I got to test out my new setup. The first day was a bit painful....some teething pains and it hailed after only two passes. We worked through those and I managed some clean passes the second track day which was cool and sunny. This pass we pushed the boost ramp and found the track's limits. It was a colorful pass for a couple of reasons... I've got some adjustments to make like rear gear and tune tweaks, but it's close to being in a good place. HS

That's very cool! Doesn't get more convenient than that. HS

I just returned from the Texas Mile. Unfortunately, I was not running this time as I wanted to test my car at the 1/4 mile before going WOT for a mile with the new build. DAMN...I've never seen more accommodating weather conditions. Friday was 20mph steady tailwind with gusts to 30mph. It doesn't get better than that...EVER. Shit. Anyhoo, saw some amazing things. A Ford GT in Gulf Oil livery beat his record and went 279.8mph...crazy. A nissan GTR went 255mph. Super neat car...had tire heaters. The driver was a big boy too...didn't stop him. Saw a guy go 255mph in a dayglow pink bike...can't make that up. Some amazing runs and incredible machines. Great people too. Sat and Sun weather was stunning. Damn I love that event. HS

"vintage" is sexy these days, but the bottom line is it generally means old and the wear and tear that goes with it. Same with cars....an old car is cool but you better be prepared for a lot of drips on the driveway... The dictionary should have "fixer upper" in the definition for vintage... HS

French press FTW! I've owned by Frieling #6 (double walled stainless) for a long time and it still looks great. Helps keep the java warm. HS

Wow. Been a rough year... RIP, All! HS

Thanks for sharing, tyrion and raffy. I was hoping that it was just the one bag/variety that was roasted that way, but I now expect it will be all four varieties. Not the end of the world, but I don't want all my coffee to be like a Vienna roast... It kills off too many flavors/nuances for me personally. I used to like my coffee super dark many years back, but my tastes have evolved over the years and hopefully that's a result of exposure to more flavors and better appreciation. Regardless, I'm a slut for the java....can't help myself. Wish my stomach was as strong as it used to be...LOL. HS

I received my first order from Old Bisbee, the 4-pack sampler with 1/2 lb portions. Smelled wonderful when I got home from work last night so I brought the Tanzanian Peaberry with me to the office and prepared it in my French press. I have very much enjoyed Tanzanian Peaberry over the years, although my preference is Central and South American varieties. First observation was the beans were roasted quite a bit darker than I expected having read the information they publish (i.e. something along the lines of we don't offer varying roasts...we roast to the peak flavor). The beans were quite dark and oily...I'm guessing roasted well past the "second crack". The coffee was good, but not great in my humble opinion. I will try the other varieties soon and perhaps they will be more to my personal liking. I've been drinking George Howell's coffees for a long time, as well as others including some local roaster's beans. The GW coffees are some of the best I have had. HS

Great pics, VPI...thank you as always! I enjoy them. Dread...here is a small procedure you may very well be aware of. It's the best thing you can do for better braking w/o costing you a dime IMO. See the bedding-in Street Performance pads section. Just in case you start tracking the car. Also, if you get serious I would upgrade the brake fluid so you have a higher boiling point. Also, be sure you "parade" the car immediately after hot laps for a while so you don't mar your rotors. Looks great, BTW! http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/bed-in-theory-definitions-and-procedures/stock-brake-system-bed-in HS

A street legal race car. Nice... Definitely woody material. HS

A kid hit Dodge RAM truck in his old Ford Bronco when I was at the range teaching my son how to shoot skeet. Polite as could be but he damaged the rear bumper and quarter pretty good. He had GEICO and I have to say I was very impressed by how well they handled taking care of the repair. Would not hesitate using them after that experience. HS

Oh no.... RIP, Garry! You'll be missed. HS

Oh no...RIP, Phife! The Low End Theory ("I Left My Wallet in El Segundo and "Bonita Applebum") I've listened to all too often over the years... RIP, Mr. Joe. HS

Placed my first order with Old Bisbee for the sampler. I've been drinking George Howell's coffees for many years. This should be an interesting diversion. HS

Good color. HS

The 2016 CTS-V looks interesting. Look to be putting down about 540ish rwhp and 515ish rw torque. That allows for a 15-20% driveline parasitic loss which isn't terrible for an auto with a torque converter. Car weighs over 4100 lbs w/o driver...that's a heavy girl. I really liked it when they made the V wagons with the manual transmissions...cool cars. What sized vehicle you looking for, Laowei? And do you have a disposition for rear wheel, four doors, etc...? HS

That's right, they went turbo and V6 vs the prior supercharged LS cars (eaton positive displacement blower basically). Forgot about that, amigo, and you even told me that. Turbos are brutally efficient, but there's a fair amount of complexity. Having an OEM figure out/engineer it is definitely a bonus vs the approach I've taken with the Challenger. We'll see how much headroom those new V6's have in stock trim....the aftermarket will find the limit. I'd be looking at the ring lands on the pistons and whether they're 2618 alloy or the like before I'd figure the rods or crank would go. Interesting on the titanium rods. I run 300M on mine. Anyhoo, sorry to see this but you've got a nice number of cars in the price bracket depending on what dimensions / requirements you have. Fewer if you're focused on domestic. The Hellcat Chargers are interesting four-door domestics and make stupid power. Quite a bit bigger, though. I've got friends running them in the low 9's now at the quarter....crazy for a 2 ton+ grocery getter... HS

Sad to see this, Laowei. They are great cars that are very fast/quick right off the lot and can be made faster very easily with a pulley swap and a bit of tuning magic. Slap a pair of stickies on the rear wheels and you can go 10's easily at the quarter mile. Then there's all the support for GM products (only better/cheaper for modding domestically is Ford). But if you can't get it to do what it's supposed to on basics, and considering it was your daily, why make yourself crazy?!? Good move IMO. Too bad...bad ass vehicle indeed. Any thoughts on what might replace the Caddy? HS

Very nice combo indeed! Love both colors (my Challenger is blue and my Jeep is white). Our neighbor's son traded in his jacked up Ford truck for a proper vehicle....2011 WRX and I got a spin in it this morning. He had just installed a Cobb's (I think that's the aftermarket brand name) tuner kit. The downpipe was out of stock but he had the intake and tune installed. Car makes about 15psi and I have to say I was pretty impressed with the power to weight ratio. Great little car for the money. Has about 55K miles on it and the air was cool here this morning in TX and she pulled pretty hard so I was pleasantly suprised (just back from a trip to Aruba so I needed something to make me smile...). He's had it a month and still isn't quite settled driving the stick, but he did fine. Maybe another neighbor will buy an ST and I can get a feel for it one day. I think the Mazdas are sporty and a great choice for the wifey. Not too big, not too small and they're sharp looking. HS

Very sporty small SUV. Hopefully the 2.5L AWD... HS

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HS One of my favorites... HS

HS A whole lotta win in this thread. Great idea. A little something from down South... HS