TjRubley.com

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There’d likely be no BMW without motorsports, asserted the German maker’s CEO, Helmut Panke, during a Geneva preview, Monday night. The automaker used the event to display its latest entry into the demanding Formula One series, as well as this version of the Z4 M Coupe. The track-ready version will make a whopping 400 horsepower out of its 3.4-liter in-line six. Expect the automaker to produce only a few hundred, according to company officials, with some expected to go to the U.S. when production begins mid-year. Whatever series it participates in, Panke said it is critical for the automaker to dominate. “BMW could not be the dynamic, most performance-focused car company if we weren’t involved in motorsports,” he insisted. “Step-by-step, we would lose our identity.

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My buddy Ed just picked up his 2006 Black Magic Pearl GTi w/ package 2. Naturally I was eager to see the car in person and I got my chance this past weekend. My initial reaction from seeing pics on the web was that the car looked waaay too tall and heavy. While it does sit very high (reportedly to meet a U.S. 5 star crash rating), it’s a well put together car that’s very light on it’s feet and the leather package is really really nice. So far so good.

Ed is an active member of Epitome, a Seattle based VW tuning club. So naturally, purchasing the car was just the first step of what he had planned. Already shopping for wheels and suspension, he actually made his first modification in the form of Revo Technik software. Boasting 250hp and over 300ft/lbs of torque (yes, you read that right), I was very eager to see how the little 2.0l performed. My expectations of lumpy idle and surging powerband were quickly dismissed as Ed drove us to dinner at Gustav’s in Vancouver. The car behaves very neatly and just cruising around town, you’d never suspect anything was changed. And then he floored it from a rolling start and I was thrown back in my seat — that’s never happened to me in a 4 cylinder car before! And the charge just kept coming, all the way through 3rd gear. Ed boastfully let me know we had just brushed 100mph and quickly settled back down. All I can say is my first impression was a damn good one!

The next day I had a chance behind the wheel of the monster, which is no understatement. Attempting to take it easy, I just used part throttle at first and still, nothing but fantastic and immediate power that just keeps coming. Starting from just off idle, all the way through redline, the linear and eager Revo modified GTi just kept impressing over and over, faster and faster.

And then Ed told me the modification was only $500. I’ve driven Paul’s 06 Gli w/ 2.0 FSI Turbo (same motor Ed has) a few times, and I’ve been impressed with the stock output. But the Revo version is just ridiculous because it’s so easy to apply the new power and does so with no drama.

It was hard to give the car back, but Ed had a Noon flight to catch. So we’ve planned on making a track day later in March. I can’t wait to see this thing completely unleashed! Thanks for the drive Ed and congratulations!

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No, I don’t mean the drivers. I’m sure it’s not a walk in the park to do what they do, but lets face it, it’s pretty shitty racing. How do I know? Well I know for sure now because I watched the entire Daytona 500 last Sunday. :collective gasp: Anyone who knows me at all, knows that I’m a elitist motoring snob, and people like us despise and hate NASCAR. But truth be told, I hadn’t watched an entire race, start to finish. Ever.

But that all changed when we got HDTV hooked up last week. With only 12 HD channels in the lineup, I find myself watching all kinds of programming I would typically never touch with a ten foot pole. Shana first busted my balls on this subject when she caught me watching 20 minutes of HD Olympic… ice skating. I know, I know, that’s really sad. But the picture was incredible I’m telling you!

Considering I missed the best live HD programming offered in this country a few weeks earlier, Super Bowl XL, I had to tune in for what was likely the second best live HD programming, the Daytona 500. Besides, it couldn’t be any worse than ice skating, could it?

The feed was actually of lesser quality than I was expecting, but still pretty impressive. Broadcast in 1080i, it was subject to pixelation in panning shots with heavy detail. But still plenty clear to see that Bon Jovi is plenty old during the opening music act for the show.

So how was the race? Well I was right, it was 15-30 minute boring-ass segments strung together with the occasional 10 second spectacular wreck. I’ll bet the same format is followed for WWE programming, but I’m not going to watch to find out… at least not until it’s in HD

But the really disturbing part of the whole show was the sheer brilliance of the NASCAR marketing department. The title of this blog entry, These Guys are Good, is dedicated to them. The 500 was a very impressive marketing blitz that hit you from every angle, including those I didn’t even realize until I tuned in.

As I tried to pretend to know even less than I care to about this shitty racing series, I realized half of the driver’s names in the field were very familiar. Jeff Gordon, oh yeah, he sells Pepsi. And the number 8 car, yeah, that’s the Budweiser car driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. He sells the ‘new’ Wrangler jeans too I think…

As I started to realize the TV had already pre-programmed my brain for NASCAR advertisers, I started to note all the brands that we happen to use or purchase:

• Alcohol Sponsors - The number 07 car (not to be confused with the 7 car) is sponsored by Jack Daniels. Heaven knows I know his products and the sponsorship that sprawls across the hood simply says ‘Jack’ in the same script as the bottle. And the number 26 Jamie McMurray car, damn, another whiskey sponsor, Crown Royal. They’ve got my number for sure… And the number 40 car, DOH!, Coors Light - I was practically raised on the stuff!
• Service Industry - FedEx and UPS, use them both all the time.
• Retail - Home Depot, well they own me for sure. And there’s supposed to be a Lowe’s going into Corvallis any time now. Best Buy, the adults Toys R Us, yeah I’ve been there a few times… And Office Depot is just down the street!
• Cellular Phones - How did Cingular and Nextel/Sprint know we were shopping for a new phone company?
• Auto Manufacturers - Well sorry you guys, you loose. I don’t think there’s a Chevy, Ford, or Dodge in my future. Although Toyota is going to field an entry next year, and we own one of their trucks - damn!

Truth be told , I think I do business, or will do business, in one way or another with nearly 80% of the NASCAR sponsors. But which one was responsible for getting me to watch something I swore I never would? DLP HDTV/ Texas Instruments. They’re a huge sponsor and their ads ran every commercial sequence. Not that I own a DLP, but it got me to tune in and check out the HD coverage.

So there I sat for 3+ hours watching the Daytona 500 and getting totally disgusted at the needlessly shitty racing that provided so many advertising opportunities. At the end of the race, Shana asked who won. It was Jimmy Johnson in the number 48, his first Daytona 500 victory. Did he earn the win? Aside from keeping his nose clean by not starting any pushing and shoving, really he just managed to stay out of the way of wrecks in front of him. Then a huge stroke of luck as he managed to draft past the front of the field just before a final yellow flag came out. When the field finally resumed under green, there was only one lap left and no one could pass him.

Great job dude, can’t wait for the Lowe’s to come to Corvallis!

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Autoweek is reporting a possible merger between the IRL and CART racing series. This could really help open wheel racing in North America.

Points of agreement include 50/50 ownership of the merged series, which will be independent of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with George and Kalkhoven acting as co-chairmen.

Based on the current state of affairs, several other things are apparent. The more traditional 2.65-liter turbo V8 currently used in Champ Car seems the more likely choice, as opposed to the IRL’s normally aspirated 3.5. Champ Car…

Help us Obi Won Kinobi, it’s our only hope — to have a serious race series that’s not NASCAR!

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The Dot Eaters chronicles the history of video games with detailed behind the scene’s info, screenshots and sounds, and more. It’s a simple site, but all the goods are there.

Definitely a trip down memory lane for me growing up during the home computer boom for video games. Here’s some of the one’s that really took me back:

Pong! Yes, I really did have a friend (Johnny I think) who had older sisters, and they got a Pong system. From what I can remember, we played it all afternoon but never picked it up again after that. It was intriguing, but not much fun.

And naturally we had to get an Atari like the rest of the world. It’s hard to describe how hot this console was. I remember one of my Dad’s co-workers coming over to play Pole Position on it. The guy damn near skipped dinner and was glued to it all night!

Pitfall. Hours and Hours spent on this one LOL!

E.T. I included this image because this game was really lame, but E.T. was huge and we played this game alot!

And then after the Atari, we got a Commodore 64! I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for this computer, I wouldn’t be in the career I’m in today. My Dad and I learned to program BASIC and even assembly code on this little powerhouse. But what the Commodore 64 was really good for was games (especially since most of the C64 community actively pirated everything under the sun).

Zork I. Oh… My… God… I remember spending tons of time on this one with my buddy Jason. We had the books, we drew maps and flow charts. You had to because the save feature only worked half the time and you had to remember what steps needed to be done to get back to wherever you were. It was amazingly complex game and the lack of graphics was actually a cool feature that made you use your imagination (GASP!)

Jumpman. Possibly the catchiest little game of it’s time. Compared to the Atari, the Commodore games offered what was considered great graphics, gameplay, and sound. And this game featured all of them.

Ultima III. Before Final Fantasy (maybe not actually) there was Ultima. Being a role playing game nerd (don’t tell!), this game was cutting edge. In fact, doteaters.com has a Ultima III sound clip and I swear it gave me shivers! There wasn’t much music in these games, so what there was, was played ALOT! Considering the amazing man hours into this game, I’m surprised I’m not still humming that little tune.

Dr. J and Larry Bird One on One. One of the very first from EA before they were EA Sports. EA games were a huge step forward in graphics development. Even if the premise of the game wasn’t that intriguing, you ended up playing it anyway because it was superior to the rest. We also played Archon and Pinball Construction Set.

Heart of Africa. Now here’s a real gem that was a ton of fun to play in a politically incorrect manner. The premise was you were an early explorer discovering new lands on behalf of your nation. You could attempt to make peaceful relations with the natives and acquire wealth slowly. Or of course, you could amass an army, start a war, and simply take over their country; which nearly always was the key to winning the game. Good lesson for kids

And the worst part is, my Playstation 2 has died for the second time since I picked it up in November of 2000. I guess I won’t be hitting that sweet tooth tonight. And Playstation 3 is pushed back again until Christmas! ARGH! I’m going to have to find a C64 emulator and load up some old school games!

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How cool would this car be in 1974?! Here’s an excerpt about the car from the Unofficial Alpina Homepage:

For Alpina, BMW´s presentation of the 3,0 CSL provided them with superb advertisement for their products, because many of the components on the CSL were Alpina-developed.
But Alpina also offered a more powerful version of the CSL, the BMW Alpina 3,0 CSL. The engine was still, of course, a 3,0 litre unit but Alpina made a lot of changes to it. They fitted forged higher compression pistons, three Weber double-carburetors of the type 45 DCOE, bigger inlet and outlet valves and a new camshaft. A new special exhaust system is also fitted. The engine now has 250 bhp and acceleration is pretty impressive. 0-100 km/h in 6,7 seconds, 0-160 km/h in 14,8 seconds and 0-200 km/h in 27,1 seconds. That is faster than the Aston Martin DBS V8 and the Ferrari 365 GT and they costed twice as much. The top speed is 243 km/h. The handling is also better thanks to Bilstein springs and dampers. The brakes are better, the discs are bigger at front and ventilated all around. Inside the car the seats are racing items from Scheel, three new instruments are there and an Alpina leather steering-wheel.

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Yep, 1989! Featuring reviews of the Alfa 164, Saab 9000, and Tiff in a Sierra Cosworth RS. What’s not to love, especially the hair LOL!

Top Gear Season One, Episode One

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Remember the touch screen they used in Minority Report? Multi-touch Interaction Experiments. I want one! That photo gallery example shows a great desktop looking interface!

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