At 172,000 miles, the 2015 Ram 2500 tow truck has handled everything I have thrown at it with zero drama. Equipped with the 6.7 Cummins inline-six and 6-speed manual transmission, this truck is built to run to 500k and beyond. But there is one known ‘weak link’ in this fantastic motor...
After my deep dive into Classing the Thunder Roadster, it is exceedingly clear that Yamaha-powered variants are running at a significant disadvantage. Furthermore, I am on a quest, so to speak, to find a competitive, sub-20k racecar that punches well beyond its price point. And since the Spec...
I am happy to report that my love affair with the Thunder Roadster has not waned. If anything, it has sparked an engineering journey that I am super excited about. And throughout that process, I have found the documentation around the Thunder Roadster severely lacking. As I continue down this path...
I have a reputation for driving some of the most cosmetically ‘tasteful’ racecars in the field. It’s a throwback to my drifting days when DIY builds, spray-painted cars, and zip-tied panels were the norm. That aesthetic carried over to my wheel-to-wheel racing. I’v also been...
My first race in the Thunder Roadster was everything I wanted it to be except for one thing: oil temps. As I raced through the field during the Aussie Pursuit race, I was closely monitoring my oil temperature gauge as the temperature crept to 290 degrees. Flirting dangerously close to being pinged...
Sometimes your subconscious makes choices that you aren’t 100 percent aware of. And over the last two seasons, I have experimented in several racing series. With nothing quite feeling right. There was always this nagging, ‘this ain’t it’ feeling, no matter how I approached...
Two hours into my endurance race stint, my foot was on fire, literally. By the time I stepped out of the Total-D Miata, I had a second-degree burn. Welcome to the world of Miata hot foot.
The 2015 4th Gen Ram 2500 farm truck gets used a lot around here. So much so that I didn’t even notice when the 150k mark came and went. But when I did notice at 160k, I asked myself a few questions. Namely, have I ever changed the drivetrain fluids?
I came across an ad for these little matchbox drift cars. You mount them to your dash, and they move when the vehicle turns, giving the appearance of a ‘drift.’ At first, I thought, ‘That’s silly.’ Then it became, ‘Eh, kinda cool.’ Which quickly turned...
The minimalist chassis of the Miata Exo Car (aka ‘ghettocet’) makes it the perfect platform to test ideas. Complex designs become relatively easy, like mounting the radiator in the rear. And very early in the build process, I decided on such a rear mount design. As I near the end of the...
The ‘ghettocet’ Miata affords plenty of opportunity to take things back to ‘old school.’ With that in mind, let’s explore hockey puck motor mounts on this project. It’s something I built years ago for the CA18DET swapped 240sx. And something very fitting to...
Remember that two-week window I had to complete the Miata ghettocet before the holidays? Well, those weeks came and went with very little progress. Why, you ask? Because I had to rebuild the engine. Which meant waiting on parts. But after a short delay, I am back on track, and the drivetrain and...
