The repair, part II

The engine has finally been tuned, and I noticed an immediate improvement. Here's what was done.

The repair, part I

I've said it before and I'll say it again: with every delay is a valuable learning experience. When the throttle cable snapped, we were to replace it along with the clutch cable (out of precaution) and do an engine tune all in one repair.

After swapping the cables out, we ran out of time.

The good news is I verified what the new cables alone specifically improved.

2015 Golf Driving Experience (part 2 of 2)

So, the Mk VII Golf. It's the newest generation model that's now on sale in North America, and it's based on VW's new modular (MQB) platform.

In essence, certain sections of the platform can be enlarged or shrunk, then assembled like Lego bricks. Thus, they can make a variety of different cars with those underpinnings, the Golf and GTI featured below being the first.

Greater economies of scale are the result for VW; more equipment for the same price is the result for us.

2015 Golf Driving Experience (part 1 of 2)

Six minutes of driving time is not an experience.

The venue was good. The organization was good. Even the presentation bits beforehand were fairly good. Everything was drastically better than last year's event, except the most important part: the driving.

There were two tracks with one car to try each. We only got two laps per track. By 'virtue' of this, we learned next to nothing about what the cars can actually do – though it seemed that the drivers and presenters didn't quite know, either...

Maiden voyage (insert Titanic reference here)

The car had only been driven about 200km since the restoration ended. I'd never have expected to be in this position so soon, even after a botched restoration. At least we were near the end of the drive at this point...

Awakening

Three years. I've spent three years not driving my Fića due to a crappy restoration.

Ever since it arrived, I was constantly discovering something else that wasn't right. A blind monkey's half-assed attempt at wiring, together with 'new' parts that either didn't work or were missing altogether pushed my poor little car into the depths of immobility.

My hopes of ever driving it toppled like dominos with every problem I discovered. The lights couldn't work properly. The engine wouldn't stay on. The handbrake didn't work at all.

And it was all perfectly preventable.

Review: 2014 BMW i3

We've just traveled to the end of the century. Global warming has flooded coastlines and there's been a drastic drop in human population. Cities are completely automated and antiseptic.

The march of technology has since trampled the trades – all repairs are down to a programmer doing a software reflash. Something like a handcrafted table is as rare and desirable as a Van Gogh was ten decades prior...

What ethics a robot should abide by is on the mind of nobody. Robots capable of emulating thoughts and emotions have wound themselves into the fabric of this function-over-form society long ago. No, the hot topic of the day is, must a robot be mortal to have a soul?

By the way, the time machine we used wasn't a booth or an 88-MPH DeLorean, but a watch. A simple watch. One with a touchscreen display where you enter the time you want to travel to and how long until it should automatically bring you back. Fail to physically touch it when the timer hits zero and it'll return to the past without you...

Review: 2014 Subaru Forester 2.5i

Last year, I had a chance to take a crack at the previous-generation Forester, finding it to be capable if uninspiring. Now I have an opportunity to review its successor, the all-new-for-2014 model in this absolutely lovely shade of gold – sorry, Burnished Bronze...yeah right.

Were it about the color alone, I'd fail this car right now. But since the new Forester looks exactly one billion times better in any other hue, I can allow myself to be just and impartial in my assessment.

Review: 2014 Chevrolet Malibu

Integrity is hard to find in the dating scene. While many girls use it sparingly to accent what's already there, a growing number put on so many tons of makeup that even their mothers can't recognize them when they go out – which may have been the point, come to think of it.

Anyway, many guys pursue these girls having no idea that their apparent beauty is an iron mask. By the time it comes off, irrevocable promises have already been made. So these guys feel cheated – and the use of makeup is ruined for everyone...

It's the same with cars.

Review: 2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited

Ever shopped for an electric toothbrush? It sways you with the idea of better cleaning than a regular one. But while you're already getting an electric toothbrush, you might as well get one with a timer. Or the one with three different types of cleaning heads. Or one that also shoots mouthwash between your molars.

Pretty soon, you get the feeling that those $230 could have been better spent on something else...

Let me come back to that.

Review: 2013 Volkswagen Beetle Turbo

The first-ever FIFA World Cup happened in 1930. Having then been in existence for 67 years, it was about time for football to have an organized international competition...

The country I'm from has been playing football for most of the sport's existence. So when word about the Cup got out, it wasn't a question of if we were going – it was a question of organizing ourselves. Ultimately, our final placement (fourth) was eclipsed by the legendary events that led to it.

Like all other 'football nations', we've since developed a dedicated fan-base for whom the world stops when a match is on.