Tag: cars

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Race Day

The whole IT Department went to Fort Bonifacio for karting at SpeedZone followed by our Christmas dinner.

We left the office early but got delayed because I missed a turn and decided to take a route through Makati. Big mistake. We lost 30 minutes stuck in traffic. We eventually got out of the mess and finally got to our destination.

We quickly registered at the counter, got our racing gear, and geared up. The suits were a bit moist, from the sweat of the previous user no doubt. The balaclavas were freshly laundered. You can still smell the fabric softener on them. That was great relief since the helmet paddings were also a little bit moist.

Once everyone was geared up, we went over to the pit where the carts stood waiting. After a short briefing by the track master, we climbed into the tight padded seats of our assigned karts. When we were all seated, the marshals started our motors and waved us one by one into the track. One by one, we stomped on the gas pedal and zoomed off into the track.

I didn’t expect it to be so much fun! At first we were a bit clumsy with the foot pedals and the steering wheel but as soon as we got the hang of it, we started zooming through the straights and twisting around the corners. I even accidentally went into a short drift or two :D You can see the background blur as you focus on the track and the other karts, hear the whine of the tiny engines, feel the wind even from under the helmet and suit… It was exhilerating!

Unfortunately, it was all over much too soon. A marshal flagged us down one by one and directed us back to the starting point where they shut down our engines. We clambered off the karts, heads buzzing from the adrenaline rush, and headed to the changing room to gear down.

Then it was dinner to talk about “the race” over food and a drink or two.

Will I be back? You bet!

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Playing Mechanic

My car’s oil pressure warning light came up while I was driving along South Superhighway (SSH) last week. That’s a pretty distressing event so I had it checked right away. The diagnosis was leaking spark plug oil seals. I took a look at the oil seals myself and saw one that was obviously cracked and wrongly installed. It looked like something I could do since I’ve already seen mechanics opening the valve cover and doing stuff. In fact, one of them probably mis-installed and cracked the leaking spark plug oil seal in the first place. So I decided to take the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) route.

I did the rounds of the stores and grabbed a bunch of supplies and equipment: spark plug tool, screwdrivers, spark plug oil seals, liquid gasket, carb cleaner, and electronics cleaner. The plan is to remove the spark plugs, spray carb cleaner into the spark plug wells to clean the engine oil that leaked into the spark plug wells, spray electronics cleaner into the spark plug connectors, remove the valve cover, replace spark plug oil seals, reseal the valve cover, and finally put in new spark plugs.

First thing in the morning, I grabbed my supplies and equipment and got to work. I tried removing the spark plugs using my spanking new spark plug tool. They won’t budge!!! I was finally able to extract one after much straining and sweating. But the tool’s handle broke when I tried extracting another one. So it was down to just removing the valve cover, replacing the spark plug oil seals, and resealing the valve cover. These I did with no further incident.

Later, I went to a nearby gas station and asked the friendly neighborhood resident mechanic to extract the spark plugs, clean them with gasoline, clean the spark plug wells and connector with compressed air (instead of carb cleaner and electronics cleaner), and reinstall the spark plugs. All done in a few minutes. Experience definitely helps. A lot.

In the end, although I wasn’t exactly able to accomplish the plan myself, I was able to do half of it. And it was fun! :)

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Oversteer and Understeer

I’ve always wondered what oversteer and understeer was. My car geek friend Eric “Ayrton” tried to explain it to me: Oversteer is when the vehicle turns much more than was desired by the driver. Understeer is the exact opposite. But I couldn’t quite comprehend. I guess it requires experience. Last saturday, I had a front strut tower bar (STB) installed on the car. Doing this is supposed to improve responsiveness especially when taking corners by slightly increasing oversteer . I didn’t feel any difference. That is until yesterday when I took a turn and was a bit surprised when the car turned more than usual. Oversteer! And I guess everything else before that was understeer. Haha. Now I get it :P I quickly compensated and went on my merry way.

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Range Day

Just came back from the range. Bishop, Spook, Dervish, and I went to this shop and range owned by Bishop’s friend. It was a totally nondescript taho factory but once the guard let us through the gate we were greeted with the sight of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII(?), a Toyota Supra, a Porsche, an Escalade, and some others sitting in a [also] nondescript garage. Bishop’s friend still wasn’t there so we waited for a bit. After a while he drove in on a Mercedes-Benz. The guy sure has the right interests :)

After some introductions he led us up some stairs and through some corridors and then into the shop which was cluttered with shorts and longs in various stages of assembly or disassembly. The right interests? Hell yeah! After a lengthy chit-chat, we proceeded to the indoor range where we all got to try an extremely shortened M16 (Infant), a full-length M16 with RAS, a suppressed M-16 also with RAS, a Benelli M3 Super 90 with a folding stock, an HK MP5A5, a suppressed Beretta 21 Bobcat, a suppressed Walther P22, and a Glock 19.

It was fun but I’ve realized all this trying out all sorts of shorts and longs won’t do me any good and I need to practice and hone my skills with a short of choice. Spook said we might be able to schedule a visit to a club next week, become a member, and practice more systematically. Finally! :)

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Victim of a Random Car Check

Well looks like the police are doing something about the carjacking problem that has been plaguing Quezon City the past few months. Or at least trying to appear like they’re doing something about it. Police officials had been on the news admitting belatedly the problem and talking about doing something about it. More recently, they chased three alleged carjackers riding a red Nissan Sentra, cornered it, raked the car with gunfire in a supposed gunfight, and finally made sure everyone was dead. It was all in the news because a TV crew was able to record the incident. Then there was tonight.

A few moments ago, my sister and I were on the way home from Fort Bonifacio visiting relatives. As I sped [at a bit over the speed limit] along that drag racing strip between EDSA and White Plains Road, I spotted a police FX, so I immediately slowed down. Besides, I was about to make the turn towards White Plains road. As I made the turn, the cops inside the police FX started spotlighting me. I thought it was just a cursory check (Are they singling out Nissan Sentras?) so I went on and started to accelerate. But they kept spotlighting me from behind and then drew up alongside and flagged me down.

I stopped, they stopped in front of me, and two cops alighted. One was carrying an M16 (Do I look too much of a threat?). One went up to the window, the other one slightly behind him. To be fair they were polite. Said it’s a cursory check. Was about to let me go when as an afterthought, he asked for my license. I gave it to him. He then asked for my firearms license. I didn’t realize I was still carrying my license from long time ago at Malabon range so I said I didn’t have one. But he insisted. Apparently he glimpsed it from inside my wallet (Note to self: leave it at home next time).

Anyway, I realized what happened and I again opened my wallet and gave the license to him. He commented to his colleague “Glock pa to, oh.”, and then they did a more thorough check. From what I know they’re just supposed to look but not touch. But I thought I’d take the path of least resistance and cooperate so I just let them look under the seats and in the glove compartment (but they didn’t ask for the trunk to be opened). While poking around, they were asking if I have a gun with me. And I kept telling them that I don’t, I have no PTC, etc. And while this was happening my concern was what if they palmed a sachet of shabu and planted it under the seat as they were searching. Damn, was I nervous.

Suddenly, the cop looking under my seat said “Ano to?!?” My heart skipped a beat and I thought “He planted something!!!”. I was really relieved when it turned out to be my umbrella. Whew! After a few seconds, they stopped, returned my licenses, apologized for the inconvenience (to which I good naturedly said “No problem. You’re just doing your jobs.” :P), and let my sister and I go on our merry way home.

Wonder what would have happened if I had unwittingly ignored their spotlighting me and sped on as I usually do on that road. Would they have chased me? What if I they were in an unmarked vehicle and in plainclothes? Should I stop? What if I had packed my piece? What if they had planted drugs? All those things are passing through my head after the incident. Darn! What a night!