Top Ten Cars - Dream Garage.

Okay, so I was looking at some guy's resume (that's my job) and he lists "car building" as one of his interests. Ok, whatev, he likes to wrench right? Nope, he's building a locost 7!

One of his links is to DP's page. Apparently DP1 is now running! I haven't had time to read/view it yet, but the pictures look awesome. And he's also got a Ariel Atom. With TWO Hayabusa motors in it. Wow.

I send the above to my car buddies, my brother D, and my buddy P. They like to stay anonymous on the net...

P sends me this blog post, titled "Daydream" (he likes one word titles). That started the discussion, of which I'm properly calling, my dream garage.

Cost no object, top ten cars you would see in your (10 car) garage. I'm too lazy to link them like P, so too bad if you don't know the car. You should be ashamed of yourself.

1) Exige S, or regular Exige and swap in a K20a Honda motor. I'm a former Toyota owner, but the 2ZZ-GE just doesn't cut it. It was high tech for it's day, made with just enough oomph and tech to beat the B18. Then Honda drops the K20 and it's game over. Exige is just the best darn Lotus street car ever. Dead sexy with the moves to match. Elise is similar, but gimme the hardtop!

2) Cayman S, or regular Cayman w/3.8l swap. Yeah, another "S' car and another swap candidate. Putting the bigger 911 motor will give the Cayman "just enough" horsepower to match the outstanding chassis. Sticks like an Elise, but WAY more comfy. I dig the leather and luxo-car goodies and would much prefer this day to day. Stock engine was just okay in the S and likely dreadful in the non-S.

3) Z4 M Coupe. I love the way this car looks. While the Cayman and Elise are sexy, the MC is just a ugly bloke. And the drive should be similarly thuggish. 330hp motor from the E46 M3 is superb. Having sampled it in the larger car, I can only imagine how it would be with 200 (?) lbs less to pull along. Love the rear 3/4 view of this car.

4) RS6 Avant. Love fast wagons, but the WRX doesn't have enough comfort. With the heftier Audi build and luxobarge accouterments, I would want the RS version and not just a regular S6, though those are nice enough. For most people.

5) Rolls Royce Phantom. Baller status. P already picked the Audi counterpart (Bentley Continental), but I prefer the Roller and it's BMW parents. Jay Z, Diddy, Fat Joe and me. Rolls is a legendary nameplate, but I like modern cars, so the hip hop Phantom is the one.

6) Ferrari - seems to be required on any top ten list, but which one? Classics are great to look at, but less so to drive. F430's are playboy cars and a dime a dozen around these parts. Enzo is stupendous, but seem to have a penchant for crashing. I'll take new over old, so the 599 GTB is the one for me. Beautiful lines, flying buttress c-pillars. 612hp V-12 motor up front, classic stance. Doesn't hurt that I saw one in the Ferrari parking lot in Maranello a few months before it's official release. Amazing performance with some roomy comfort to boot. Will be the first Ferrari in a Gran Turismo game, and I love that series.

7) Pagani Zonda F. Another car seen up close in Italy, at San Cesario (which is kinda hard to find). Even saw the man himself, Horacio Pagani, though it was inside the build area, so no cameras were allowed. Love this car. Company started when I graduated from HS, but it is a legitimate "supercar". Way more soul than your Lambo or Audi (do they really make supercars?). The "F" is for Fangio, one of the greatest drivers of all time.


My wife suggested these first 7 cars on my list.

8) Mercedes Benz CLS63, oh heck, it's a dream list right? Brabus Rocket. Fastest Sedan in the world, and I bet it's pretty quick too. This is a love it or hate it design, and I personally love it. Brabus just takes it to the next level, though the MB 6.2l motor is pretty sweet too.

9) Impreza 22B. First of the true rally car super specials. Okay, maybe the first that I remembered. Still an amazing car 10 years later. Must be blue (before it was called WRB) with gold wheels.

10) This is where the low powered sissy hairdresser's car goes. And the story is something like, "it was my first real sports car, and I really love it, even though it is underpowered, it is pure and handles and is the essence of sportscar-y-ness." MR2 Spyder (MR-S). I would replace the Corolla motor with a K20 (gasp! blashphemy! - yeah, get over it) for 200 reliable HP and 8000 rpms of fun. 10:1 weight to power ratio is plenty for the streets.

That's my ten, and a majority of them are real life attainable. Now if only I could afford a garage to put them in!

-Hong

Alto Velo "B" Ride & Monte Bello.

What was I thinking Part II? With the horrible show on the AV "A" ride, I thought I could hang on if I did the AV "B" ride, because it is slower. Right? Wrong!

A mile or two into the start of the ride, I see the "Pros" go up the side of the double paceline and everyone is getting antsy. Of course as soon as they are up front, the pace picks up. I hang on as long as I could and get dropped in Stevens Canyon road (@~ 6 mile mark). I think I stayed on the "A" rider longer!

Dman these women! They're too fast.

So I called it quits and decide to hit Monte Bello again. I wasn't feeling too good, but I figure I could knock off some time since I've done it once before. Knowing the road should be good for 10 minutes right? Look how much faster I did OLH the second time around.

I was grinding it out on the lower 3rd. I really should get some lower gearing in the back. I could probably go faster if I spun a lower gear. Got to the school and wanted to relax, but I dropped down a gear and kept on pushing. Middle section was nice and rolling, I even caught and passed two people. So what if one was an older woman, and the other an older gentleman on a time trial bike...

Top third was pretty hard and I kept getting out of the saddle to make up some time. Get to the top and checked my cell phone. 48 minutes. Whoop de doo. I did it two minutes faster.

I suck.

Here is the ride profile. Only 28 miles, but 5 of it is climbing.

Alto Velo "A" ride & OLH

What was I thinking? I haven't been on the bike for over two weeks. I would rather do the AV "B" ride on Saturdays, but it doesn't work with my schedule. I can ride on Sunday mornings, but the A ride is for the serious riders. I thought I could at least hang with them until Portola.

Wrong.

Meet at Peet's at 8:30. Parked right outside the store on State. Nice. There were already about a dozen people there. Got my bike, got my gear. Wait around a bit and some tall guy comes out of the store and says, "Everyone ready?!" The group does a collective grunt and we're off.

Find myself riding next to a guy named Greg. We chat it up a bit, he's a Cat 3 who's taking it easy today. I guess it's technically the off-season, but the weather has been amazing. I've got a long sleeve, but can still ride in shorts.

"A" ROUTE: Foothill, Page Mill, Arastradero, Alpine, Portola, 84, Tripp, Kings, 35S, 84W, Pescadero, W. Alpine, Page, 35N, 84E, Portola, Sand Hill, Foothill to Peets.

About 60 miles total, I was only able to hang on for about 7. I suck.

Legs felt bad going up Arastradero. I keep thinking my brake pad was rubbing. It wasn't. On the back side (okay, it's not even a climb) the group kept pulling away. I'm not a good descender and the pack is faster than a solo rider OTB (that's my excuse!).

I caught up at the stop sign, only to get dropped again on Alpine. I saw them up ahead, getting smaller and smaller. Very disheartening! I need to ride more.

I decided to do Old La Honda again, to see if I can go any faster having been up the road once. There were a few other riders today, so it was nice to have some motivation. I caught and passed about a half dozen riders. There was this one dude in a neon yellow jacket who was always about 10 yards ahead. I would pull him in, and then he would take off again. I was trying to stay in a safe zone and not blow up. He was on a mountain bike no less!

Well, thanks to this guy, I rounded the corner and saw the mailboxes earlier than last time.

25 minutes! I'm solidly middle of the pack now. Ultimately I want to get under 20 minutes, but I realize those next 5 are going to be a lot harder than these first five.

Cruised back down 35, 84, Sandhill and Foothill. Finished up exactly 2 hours after we left.

That's a nice little loop I plan on doing a lot more of.

-Hong