Newmarket Ontario Car Show June 10th

Think I'm going to pay this car show a visit and grab some nice car photos for Instagram.  Anyone else going?

I Left Wheelwell

Just wanted to explain why I left Wheelwell.  First off I'm not going to lie, I wanted it as a way to feed interest in my American Motoring blog, YouTube, etc and but when I post a new YouTube video or article and really didn't receive any traffic from there.  But I'm willing to accept that maybe there is no interest in my content from Wheelwell members.

The big reason I'm leaving is that I was once a member of the automotive site www.streetfire.net.  They were trying to be a kind of YouTube for the automotive community and it worked pretty good for a time but it started to suffer from the same advertising plague that is creeping into Wheelwell.  At first there was a "shop" page, then ads start to show up on the borders of the site.  Next they started to allow advertising video which soon turned to non automotive ads.  Then the site eventually was overrun and it was difficult to find anything automotive on the site.

Wheelwell is going the same direction.  When it first started it was all about the members and their cars, then ads and shop page, then ads showing up in your "garage page" around your car which I'm sorry is total BS.  You make a cool car, post pics on their site, which draws views that makes them money.  But I was fine with all this until today.

Today I got a direct message from a Wheelwell "Creative Director" reminding me that there is a shop.  Then she asked what's on my "to buy" list of parts I have planned for my car.  That was enough.  Ads I can choose to click on or not.  Stores I can choose to buy from or not but don't send me direct messages.  That's like telemarketer calls. I can create my own garage page here on the blog and it will be ad free.

I understand Wheelwell needs to keep the lights on but when it's in your face all the time you just don't want to go there.

So I wish Wheelwell luck and I hope they don't end up going down the same path as Streetfire.  I'll do my own thing here.

Posted The First Episode of The Daily Drive!

Hey everyone PLEASE check out my first episode of the Daily Drive.  It's a little rough around the edges but I really hope it's something you can find interesting.

In this episode I drive the Shelby, give an overview of my plans for the series, we talk about being an American living in Canada, and how I came to the decision to buy a Shelby GT500.  I do a few small pulls to hear the engine whine as well.

I'd really appreciate if you would check it out.  Feel free to give some feedback.  Give a like if you feel it's worthy.

The H3 Might Be Going Bye Bye

Back in 2013 I bought my '07 Hummer H3 after my girlfriend suggested that I move in with her.  She live further north and at that time my only car was an '07 Mustang GT.  Moving meant a longer commute in heavier snow.  There was no way I was doing that in a Mustang.  I saw the H3 for sale while I was getting some service done, it looked big and bad ass.  I thought, "There's the solution. A big Hummer would get me through any snow Ontario has to dish out, and I can park my Mustang in the winter. So I bought it.  I had big dreams with the H3.  I was gonna start off-roading, we were gonna camp more, go biking.  It was all justified.

Now it's 2017 and I did none of those things.  All I did do was drive it to work and twice a year to the States.  It certainly lived up the my first assumption that it would do well in the snow.  It hardly acknowledges any weather exists at all.  It effortlessly climbs through any snowstorm or flooding I encountered.  But I never did the cool off-roading or backwoods camping or anything.  I just ground away on those expensive tires commuting.

As it aged it of course started having issues, mainly electronic.  One day you start it up and there would be an message about some failure, then the next time you start it up it was gone.  I dumped an additional $4000 on maintenance and various emission sensor replacements.  Then last week I was driving to work and I got a message saying, "STABILITY SYSTEM FAILURE." What the heck is that?  I looked online and it said it's a blanket warning that covers many different things.  Okay that's enough.  With an exhaust leak that I was told could cost anywhere from $300 to $3000, new electronic problems, and big $2000 tires that need replaced I think it might be time to take a serious look at how much this vehicle was costing me.

I grabbed a pen, paper and calculator and was pretty shocked to discover that just in gas the Hummer was costing me $520 CAD a month!  Just in gas!  That's approximately $67 each time I fill and I was filling twice a week.  Pile on insurance and other expenses I was just $200 short of a Ford Focus RS payment.

Imagine a Ford Focus RS as a daily driver rather than an H3.  I figure it would at least cut the gas in half.  Most of my commute is highway and while the Focus isn't spectacular at fuel economy the H3 is awful.  Okay maybe I'm just trying to justify buying a Focus RS but it is better gas mileage than my Hummer H3.  It is AWD for snow, and it does come with a set if winter rims and tires along with summer rims and tires.

I've already talked to one Ford dealer that could get me the deal I wanted but only had a Nitro Blue care available and I'd rather have the Stealth Gray.  Today I spoke with a different dealer that says he can get me a Stealth Gray Focus RS.  If he can give me what I want for my Hummer I could be driving a Focus RS around as a daily driver.

The Hummer was awesome for what it was and I'm probably going to miss it but the expense and the fact that I never used it how it was meant to be used make me feel this is for the best.  I'm a speed guy, my brother is the offroad guy.

A Chic Flick for Your Stick Shift

A Few nights ago the girlfriend and I flipped on Netflix and I heard those dreaded words, "Can we watch a romantic comedy? Please?"  So with a sigh I agreed and she started flipping through them, each one seemly just as torturous as the next.  I went and grabbed some scotch assuming I was gonna need it.

Flip, flip, flip, WAIT! Go back.  I saw something that looked interesting.  At least there was a cool car in the thumbnail.  "Hit & Run, A Comedy That Never Takes it's Foot Off the Gas."  Honey maybe this I asked?  She read the description, "Determined to get his fiancee to L.A. to take advantage of an amazing opportunity, Charlie breaks out of the witness protection program to drive her." The genres was exciting romantic.  We were in.  The movie stars Dax Shepard and his real wife Kristen Bell.  For those that don't know Dax is a huge gear head and he wrote the damn thing so fingers crossed.

I have to admit it was pretty damn fun.  Without spoiling anything Dax drives a number of cars while running from his ex-con associates (Bradley Cooper) and a police agent (Tom Arnold). and thank god most of the movie is show on wheels.  The star vehicle is a heavily modified 1967 Lincoln which he claims is cranking out 700 hp.  I don't know but it sounds good.  There are lots of smoky doughnut and maybe the movie helps your partner understand you a tiny bit more.  She loved the movie and hell I'd even watch it again.

Overall terrible chic flick night was covertly diverted.

2020 Ford Bronco Rumors

There has been a lot of hype over the Ford Bronco concepts that have been floating around.  I have to admit seeing them does make me consider trading in the old Hummer.  The word now is that it is officially coming back according to AutoBlog (Link).  There hasn't been any word on what the power plant will be or even what it for sure looks like.  Here are some of the recent renders floating around.  Obviously they are just color swaps of the same render but I like the dark one personally.  Something about a white Bronco just doesn't sit well with me.  Can't put my finger on the reason why.  LOL

The rumors of the Bronco's return isn't a new thing.  A few years ago there was another concept of what the Bronco could be.  Back in 2004 Ford was flashing this concept around and personally I'm pretty happy it never hit production.



So why all the fuss?  Really it's just a less practical SUV with just two doors and less seating.  Well the reason is because people remember the original and see immaculately restored examples like the one below and realize it's just cool.  For me I really like my H3, it's rugged. capable, and unique so I'll be holding on to it for quite some time.  But DAMN! Doesn't the restored one below just make all the concepts look like crap?