Sunday, October 26, 2014

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Engine technology (more car geek stuff)...

Car technology has continued to improve year after year and is now at a point where all the new technology is exciting and most importantly... FUN.

In 1974 my family purchased a German made Mercury Capri with a 2 litre Overhead Cam 4 cylinder engine that produced 80 horsepower and 98 lb/ft of torque. 0-60mph was 13.5 seconds and got 25 mpg.

Fast forward 40 years to 2014.  Another German made 2 liter 4 cylinder engine.  This time in a BMW 228i.  Horsepower is now at 240 and torque is up to 255 lb/ft.  0-60 is now 5.4 seconds and gets 35 mpg.

My 1987 Ford Mustang 5.0 with a 5 liter (302 cu.in) V8 put out 225 horses and 300 lb/ft of torque with a 0-60 time of 6.5 seconds and got roughly 21 mpg.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Goodbye ol' girl...

162,000 miles and 14 years.  She has a good new home with someone who knows how to care for BMW's.  Still sad to see her go.

Friday, October 3, 2014

Back to it's roots...






Recent BMW series have gotten bigger and bigger.  The current 3 series is actually as large as the last generation 5 series.

The feel of the cars have also started to change as well.  Although among car people, the complete line of BMW vehicles are still class leading in terms of handling, performance, build quality and safety.

The BMW 2002tii is considered among BMW owners as the start of what is known as "The Ultimate Driving Machine".  The new F22 is BMW's attempt in getting back to it's roots.  So far I can say that the F22 (228i and M235i) have hit the target.  Nimble, fast, responsive, etc....