fro and the cowboy monkey

Poetic Licence (Caution: Microsleeps can Kill)

2007-09-03T23:57:00.000+10:00

The reaction to the life, to the living itTrying to run to keep ahead of the impending tsunami of activitySo many things happeningSo many thoughts and distractionsEveryday life doesn't pass me byBut instead floods my every senseA candle burnt at both endsFor lack of a way to light it in the middleThings to do outweighs the things yet to be doneBut time keeps ticking unrelentingAnd I keep buying

Stream-of-Thought

2007-07-27T02:28:00.000+10:00

I think I mentioned it before, but I like the idea of Tumblr. Just catching those thoughts. It appeals to the stream-of-consciousness blogging that I occassionally do.After lining up to go to Batemans Bay and navigate for the nicest guy you'll meet, Matty T, it all fell in a heap. The car broke down, the gearbox made awful noises, it was poo. Matty Drove it down from Canberra to Batemans Bay and

I <3 Language

2007-07-26T17:01:00.001+10:00

I was surfing through Tim Bray's blog, and came across this gem:Understanding Engineers: FeasibilityI love the way language is contextual, both socially and technically.

Hot Rod Prii

2007-07-23T14:55:00.000+10:00

So, I recently saw a blog entry by Tim Bray, and felt obliged to reply. Which led me to thinking.I grew up reading Street Machine magazine and Fast Fours and Rotaries. I saw the evolution of modification from "Fit larger engine/fit larger carburettor/fit larger diff" to the age of fuel injection, turbos, aftermarket computers and electronic boost control. Initially there was concern that the

Malaysia 2007

2007-07-19T23:19:00.000+10:00

Looks like Naomi and I will be heading over to Rally Malaysia in a couple of weeks time, to look after Clocks and timing for the event and provide technical support. I'm excited to get the opportunity, and a little apprehensive. I mostly just want to get it right, having not been solo in this sort of role before.In the interim, I'm off to the Bay Stages Rally in Bateman's Bay this weekend to

IWhat?

2007-05-05T01:51:00.000+10:00

I finally relented and bought an IPod. Silver Ipod Nano, 4GB.But that's nothing. The real news is that I've become a podcast fan. For a while TheDogBox has been pimped on bmsc.com.au, and I've done my best to ignore it. Having just got this new-fangled technology, and being a tight-arse, I looked for what I could download for nix from the intarwebs, and this sprung to mind.Well, I'm glad I did.

15 Automotive Questions

2007-02-16T10:31:00.000+11:00

Okay, so I need to write more often, so I've stolen this premise from the article "20 Questions With James May", which was done by Two Wheels Only Magazine. Except 20 was a bit much, so I've culled it back a bit. I'm hoping that this meme will spread, and some of my automotive-leaning friends will follow suit (Ben, I'm looking at you). If nothing else,

Le Mans, La Sarthe, Le T-shirte

2006-12-03T23:39:00.000+11:00

I stumbled across this site a while ago, whilst on my hunt for cool t-shirts. Whilst I ended up buying a triple pack from Diesel Sweeties, I still held a place in my heart for the motorsport derived t-shirt. I have too many, but as they say, too many is not quite enough.In other news, I actually worked on my 180B rally car this weekend, and it is now approaching ready for another onslaught into

Watch from Dr. Weston

2006-11-14T23:29:00.000+11:00

Some of you (well, one of the two of you who read this) will know that I have a somewhat strange compulsion for timepieces. I love watches. I love their design, their function, their feel, their movements. And everyone should have picked up on my fixation with motorsport, in particular, Rallying.How do these relate?Well, I got this letter in the mail yesterday. It wasn't something I was expecting

Wrong Permit?

2006-11-12T23:35:00.000+11:00

So, I got to be a CAMS Observer at a National Tarmac Rally the other day. An interesting experience it was, too.I had several lengthy discussions with various people, and confirmed my suspicions that 98% of rallyists (tarmac or gravel) are just good dudes. They may not pay a lot of attention to the rules of their sport, but they wouldn't be a lone in that foible.Anyway, is there a nice way to say

Cest la vie, Australia

2006-11-02T23:09:00.000+11:00

I look back at Rally Australia as I knew it, and it is a pretty special event. I was lucky enough to get to drive around in one of the Advance cars at Telstra Rally Australia 2006, and it was pretty special. Well, the vibe was, the gig wasn't.Despite the early morning of collecting Doctors, Fire, Ambulance and rescue personnel, and putting them in place at the start and middle of stages, I still

World's Coolest Car Trailer?

2006-10-17T22:42:00.000+10:00

Coop is pretty cool. And taking a home-made retro salt-lake racer for it's shakedown run is cool.But mostly, how cool is this trailer!I covet that trailer. It reminds me of 50's cool and great design. Totally impractical for my needs, but so cool!Shamelessly stolen from this post on Coop's blog.

Miscellany, Friday 13 October 2006

2006-10-13T13:06:00.000+10:00

Another boring Friday at work. Thankfully, it's pretty quiet, given the lack of people in the workplace. All at home looking after their kids on the last day of school holidays, I imagine. In recent news, I managed to get along to the NGK Rally of Melbourne as an "apprentice" CAMS Event Observer. Very interesting, and it was great to finish the year in

Comic shortcuts?

2006-08-23T18:38:00.000+10:00

I stumbled across this, via surreptitious link-surfing:http://joeljohnson.com/archives/2006/08/wally_woods_22.htmlA fantastic blog entry. Why? Well, there's a few reasons: * Here is a guy that heard about a "Holy Grail", bought it, and has now put it into the public domain. * It has a backstory that he's explained adequately, retaining some of the mystique around the item, but stating enough

Musings from Toyota Rally SA 2006

2006-08-23T18:35:00.000+10:00

I was fortunate enough to be ferried across to Tanunda for Toyota Rally SA, the penultimate round of the NEC Australian Rally Championship. Whilst on the surface of it, it was just another rally, there was an undercurrent of change with the recent changes in Australian rallying.The VirginBlue flight across was uninteresting (CBR-MEL-ADL), but on the Melbourne stop-over, I ran into the event

Update: 23 July 2006

2006-07-24T01:50:00.000+10:00

Went to Subaru Safari Tasmania. Could not find a bluddy scallop pie for love nor money. What's the go, Taswegia? Pimp your wierd-arse sea-based organism pastries, and then not deliver.Then I've been crook, and un-motivated. Who wants to read about that? No-one, that's who.Looks like I might make it to Toyota Rally SA, though, so that's good.180Bee has all doors on it again. Still got a bent lower

I wrote this article...

2006-07-05T20:47:00.000+10:00

...for Capital Motor Sport News, and whilst I'll link to it, seeing how I'm the author, I figure that gives me the right to reproduce it here. Mac (CMSN Editor) called me to get my take on the subject, and I pumped this out over lunch. Not my best work, but not as god-awful as I feared it may have sounded...Why does the Rally of Canberra matter?The (ex-Subaru) Rally of Canberra has been in the

Time is finite: Part 1

2006-06-25T13:21:00.000+10:00

I spent some time in Queensland the other week, and it was great. I loved the temperature, I loved getting around in shorts and a T-shirt, I loved the relaxed attitude of the people I was with. What I didn't enjoy was the lack of time I had there. A recurring theme in my life currently is not being able to squeeze enough things into the time available.A good example is today. I was intending on

Sacrilege, or just Unique?

2006-06-01T22:16:00.000+10:00

Either way, I kinda like this:http://cars.ign.com/articles/710/710765p1.htmlWhile there is no doubt in my mind that Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift will be a painful cinematic experience, the idea of sticking RB26DETT's in cars from the 60's appeals to me. retrotech all the way, baby.Except, while the 67 Mustang is an automotive sculpture classic, a veritabe piece of art on wheels, underneath

Flawed Cars: Reply

2006-05-12T23:46:00.000+10:00

So Ben whacked up a post about flawed cars, which got me thinking about the subject.While some may see aspects of certain vehicles as flaws (and no doubt, some of those aspects are flaws!), some of them are in the nature of the compromises made in creating a vehicle, and some flaws and/or compromises create character.Ben's comments were with regard to old cars. And they all seem pretty valid. But

Killing Time: Euro GP '06.

2006-05-07T22:41:00.000+10:00

I'm desperately trying to avoid the temptation of scooting over to formula1.com and checking out the results, as I prepare to go over to Paulie's and watch the 2006 European GP.Paulie made an open offer to me (foolish man!) about 2 years ago, that I could pop over and watch Grand Prix at his place. Why at his place? Because Paulie has the rear projection TV whihc is huge, the DigitalTV nous,

postsecret.blogspot.com

2006-04-20T21:27:00.000+10:00

After seeing the link on Flickr, I followed.Very cool.

Furniture is crap.

2006-04-05T06:50:00.000+10:00

This is something I could quite happily do. Having just spent money on bedroom furniture which gets delivered on Saturday, I don't think I'd be too popular domestically, but it certainly has appeal.

Musings: Sunday 02 April '06

2006-04-03T01:39:00.000+10:00

Funeral for the late Nathan Walker tomorrow. Depressing in the extreme. I really hope that some good can be found in this tragedy. I don't know what the good possibly could be, but I hope that someone finds some.Trying to decide which new helmet to get (to replace the one damaged in the accident mentioned in the last entry). I'm not sure if I want another Sparco Pro-Jet open-faced helmet, a

Reflection...

2006-03-28T02:01:00.000+11:00

As most people that know me are aware, I had a bit of a wake-up call on Saturday, when in what was a relatively minor off in the rally car, I had a substantial log come through the window and belt me in the side of the head. Then there were other events over the weekend that have caused even more pause for thought.In the two days since, I've had plenty of time to reflect, and think about whether

Larger than life?

2006-03-23T00:50:00.000+11:00

I read this article over on Coop's blog (found via a Jalopnik linkage), and whilst I agree with the premise in modern day drag-racing or Formula One, the premise didn't ring true for me.Whilst even doyens of the politically incorrect like Sprintcar Racing and NASCAR have been brought into the mainstream (and hence politically corrected), there is a huge raft of motorsport that still has larger

Rally Des Femmes '06: The aftermath.

2006-03-16T22:41:00.000+11:00

I've just uploaded to flickr some photos of the damage my wife did to my previously beautiful 180B. I've since done a local rally with the car (Mini'Dulla '06) and managed to finish 7th outright, so there doesn't appear to be any damage to anything other than panels and pride.I've got just over a week to be ready for the first round of the Total traction Services ACT Regional Rally Series, the

Subaru Rally of Canberra 2006

2006-03-16T00:27:00.000+11:00

Well, it's over for another year.I saw the cuteness of curvy women in racesuits (ooooohhh! sexy!), the wonder of a Ford Focus Group N(P) rally car (sounds cool, doesn't go very fast... yet), and enjoyed the 3am starts and 1am finishes.Next up is the Captains Flat Rally, the first round of this years Total Traction Services ACT Series, and the next opportunity to bring the 180B out for some fun.

I've been a bad, bad blogger...

2006-02-01T02:50:00.000+11:00

And have missed blogging in a month and a half. What's happened in that time?Well, a bit, but not a lot.On the rallying front, I'm just starting to get back into the groove in 2006. I'm starting to ramp-up my involvement with the Subaru Rally of Canberra for this year, which will mean a bit of overtime for the next 5 weeks to get everything in line for that event.Which is a big ask, 'cause in the

New Mazda Concept to come...

2005-12-14T22:44:00.000+11:00

Jalopnik reports (via Dubspeed) Mazda intend to display their new "small, low-priced Mazda that was a cross between the RX-8 and Aston Martin DB9".New RX-7? RX-3? RX-5?Who knows, but I hope that it's cheap!

Telstra Rally Australia '05: The Photography

2005-12-01T01:45:00.000+11:00

I finally got around to uploading some of the photos I took at this year's Telstra Rally Australia. You can bear witness to my lack of skills behind the lens at http://www.flickr.com/photos/frosport/.The photo that stood out to me was of Will Orders.But then there was this one of the weird poetry on the side of three Japanese entered cars:Also in there is a photo of me relaxing mid-spectate,

I've been everywhere, man...

2005-11-21T21:13:00.000+11:00

Returned on Saturday from a most excellent adventure. Travelled across from Canberra to Perth, return, in the luxury of a Winnebago. Based on a Mercedes 413CDi, this 3-litre turbo-diesel trucked four of us from one side of the continent to the other in relative comfort, although with some sea-sickness thrown in from the wonderfully controlled ride.So I got to catch up with family (which was nice)

2005 WPS Rally Bathurst

2005-11-02T22:20:00.000+11:00

I've been away for a little while. I was "Assistant Course Checker" for the 2005 WPS Rally Bathurst, which is the last round of the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship for this year, and essentially a "new" event.It was a very interesting time. I got to spend Wednesday through Sunday with Iain Stewart, co-driver to Ed Ordynski, and an Australian Rally Championship winner. And just a tops guy

Mazda's New Coupe?

2005-10-18T23:43:00.000+10:00

Ben mentions a Jalopnik story on a Mazda concept coupe, probably/possibly based on the MX-5 platform.Oh, how I hope there is some truth to these rumours! There's a few things I see being different here, though.While I understand the assumption that it would use the 2.0 litre engine of the MX-5, it makes sense for it to use the 2.3 litre powerplant of the SP23 Mazda 3 and generic Mazda 6 models. I

Fatigue Kills (it didn't, but it came close)...

2005-10-18T23:17:00.000+10:00

I had a great weekend at the MotoGP, with bikes, beer and surprisingly for Phillip Island, sun.The trip down on Friday afternoon wasn't so great. I drove my wife's Falcon ute down, with our Ducati tied down in the tray. She flew straight to Melbourne from Sydney, so I would meet up with her at the Island, and she would ride the Ducati back from the Island, and we could pillion about while down

Entry-level motorsport?

2005-10-12T23:45:00.000+10:00

Ben posted some thoughts on "entry-level" motorsport, and in doing so, asked two questions (see below). Here are my thoughts, by way of answer, and some other things besides... Are the barriers to entry into motorsport too high? I don't know that the barriers to entry into motorsport are too high, so much as there are too many.I think of entry level motorsport as motorkhanas, hillclimbs and

Meme Digression: Mack the Knife

2005-10-05T23:02:00.000+10:00

I'm sure this is the first in a series of meme progressions/digressions that I'll discuss with you all...Ben posted up about his Jazz/Swing based Mercedes mix tape, and I commented that it sounded cool, but missed that hep-cat tune "Mack the Knife" that seemed to fit with what I knew of the tunes he'd mentioned.Of course, Ben put me onto the Wikipedia Entry on Mack the Knife, which lent a

Improved Production?

2005-09-27T23:59:00.000+10:00

Well, it's been a while since I last blogged. Sorry 'bout that.It's been an interesting intervening few weeks. Aside from the usual dilemnas of life, I had an interesting weekend being pit crew for an Improved Production car at Eastern Creek this weekend just gone.I'd never have thought to make a Datsun Sunny into an Improved Production race car. I don't think I contemplated just how far you

Stimpy, you Eeejiot...

2005-09-15T00:51:00.000+10:00

Yes, welcome to our irregular series of tales of moronity, and idiotic adventures. In which our heroes take the everyday tasks, and using their powers of stupidity, manage to balls them up completely.Things like taking an unladen car trailer from a residence in Weston Creek, to a house in Belconnen. A simple task. How could I balls it up, in a new and invenive way, I hear you ask?Well, I can do

Seed Fruit, or Fruit of the Godz(illa)?

2005-09-09T01:08:00.000+10:00

As pointed out on BoingBoing, watermelon becomes really cool when it's Godzilla's unhatched offspring. One of the few occassions that I'm glad I can't read what's on the page. I'm interested, and scared, all at once...

Bleeargh.

2005-08-29T01:18:00.000+10:00

I'm sure this won't be the last post I try to give that title. But this one was the first.For Pete's sake, I hate feeling like this. Like someone has stomped on my abdomen for the last week. Aaahhh well, at least I can eat again. Man, I love eating!Went to Oran Park to give Rowdy moral support at the supersprint. Frustrated 'cause I wasn't competing. Glad I wasn't competing, because after a week

Metrify! Damn you, USA!

2005-08-22T14:17:00.000+10:00

So I was feeling a bit poorly today (well, all weekend and today, really), so after moping on the couch for most of the day, I thought I'd hit the web and visit the usual cycle of sites, blogs and on-line galleries.Hoopty Rides is a semi-regular on my blog-cycle, and has a little piece on user-serviceable components, which is actually really similar to a tale that Ben told not that long ago.Of

Khanacross Crazies

2005-08-21T22:08:00.000+10:00

Well, Saturday morning dawned to rain, and an overcast outlook. I can't believe that Aaron was so darn keen to run the bluddy khanacross, but I went out and did my bit as the Chief Steward for the day.It was a bit of a quagmire, and it was certainly entertaining. I took some photos that are over at my flickr account, and there were a few good tales to tell from the day.

A picture says...

2005-08-15T01:34:00.000+10:00

Well, maybe not a thousand words, but maybe a couple hundred?Thanks to my wife, a photo of the notorious Datsun 180B in action:

Ahhh, Feel the Serenity.

2005-08-14T22:23:00.000+10:00

No, I'm not talking Castle-style antics here. Serenity, as in the movie, based upon the Joss Whedon created TV Series, Firefly.Used to be a petition, but on-line booking of tickets for a midnight screening at Hoyts Belconnen is here. I've passed the link on to work-mates, and now I pass the link on to you.Thanks to the good folks at Riot-ACT for the linkage...

Still No Word...

2005-08-12T01:28:00.000+10:00

On the Rally Australia front. Planning for the trip to go and see the last Rally Australia in Perth is well underway, and the road trip is going to be massive. Can you say "Winnebago"?Just in from collecting the trailer, I'm getting my own rally car ready for the challenge of the Bay Stages Rally 2005 (this Saturday).Expect an update and appropriate photographic linkage in the near future...

Rally Australia Silence?

2005-07-27T22:32:00.000+10:00

Hmm, you could hear a pin drop round here... rally.com.au, the "official voice" of Australian rallying and the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship, has been distinctly devoid of any announcements or pronouncements regarding the tender process for the new host of the Australian round of the World Rally Championship.There is an ARCom meeting coming up soon though (mid-August, I'm told), so

Audi RS4 as a tow vehicle?

2005-07-20T22:35:00.000+10:00

RS4TowCar7 Originally uploaded by FroSport. As promised, spotted at the Peter Hopwood 100, the Audi RS4 Tow car. To say it spun me out would be a mild understatement.As you can probably imagine, there are more photos of the beast over at my Flickr account...

Whimper

2005-07-19T23:11:00.000+10:00

This kind of thing makes me cry. More photo's found here. I'm looking to find full reports on the web now...

2005 Peter Hopwood 100

2005-07-18T18:39:00.000+10:00

After a quick Friday Night trip to Sydney for the CAMS NSW Rally Advisory Panel meeting, I spent Saturday and Sunday at Wakefield Park, doing a stewards assessment at the 6th Peter Hopwood 100.It was interesting to see how a circuit race was organised, in contrast to the rally/motorkhana/khanacross stuff I had done before. Each discipline has its peculiarities.There were some interesting things

Followers (or Ben Speaks More Truth)

2005-07-13T18:36:00.000+10:00

As Ben points out in his rant, there seems to be a lot of people blindly following what car culture tells them is cool. This is evidenced everywhere I go, and by a lot of people I talk to. But with the advent of the internerd, these people can congregate online.There's good people mixed in with them too, but there are a lot of examples at places like OzDat, AusRotary and Pulsar Group Australia.

Look, Shiny ticking things...

2005-07-10T01:13:00.000+10:00

I have fetishes for gimmicks and gadgetry. Aside from my somewhat weird fascination with mechanical pencils, I also have a thing for watches. Analog moreso than digital, but nonetheless... I came across an advert today for Nite watches. While the mother company website provides minimal info for maximum flash, the UK site is slightly less annoying. Or the even more functional, if less designed

Clarkson cash back for GT?

2005-07-06T11:27:00.000+10:00

In a tale of woe that I would not have though imaginable in this day and age, Jeremy Clarkson of "Top Gear" fame tells the tale of woe of vehicle electronics and gadgetry gone wrong.This is the sort of thing that could have been expected fifteen to twenty years ago, when vehicle security systems started to be implemented. But for a "Factory Approved" security system to do this sort of thing, in

"Rumble Bee" Stickerage

2005-07-04T17:33:00.000+10:00

My "Rumble Bee" stickers arrived for the rally car today.Expect to see photo's in the near future!

Mmmm, Donuts.

2005-07-01T00:55:00.000+10:00

This post over at Hoopty Rides reminded me of the motorsport food experiences I've had. Whilst I've had many, many bad motorsport food experiences, I've had a few good ones.Memorable "Good" Motorsport food experiences include: Donuts from the donut van that used to be behind Tralee/Pepsi Powerdome/Fraser Park Speedway. Fresh donuts, made right there and eaten straight away. And they were

Hot Rod for the Modern Age

2005-06-29T22:29:00.000+10:00

When rods became popular, they were stealing the shells of cars 30 years earlier, and putting engines in from popular vehicles from 10 years ago.To that end, is this sort of thing the "New Hot Rod" of the '0X?I really hope so.

Is this a sickness?

2005-06-29T00:37:00.000+10:00

Tonight I went and looked at a 1977 Datsun 200B sedan, and have agreed to bring it home to my house. Yes, just what my wife wanted, another Datsun to sit in our yard and becoming a lawn-mowing chicane.Why a 200B, you might ask? Well, it's mostly got to do with engine capaciies and the rules under which we go rallying in Australia, but the 200B came with a Datsun L20B 4-cylinder motor, which

Marque Club Membership Pays Off

2005-06-29T00:19:00.000+10:00

In a master stroke detailed on Dubspeed, but initially brought to my attention on Jalopnik, Porsche markets directly to its marque-club members (the Porsche Club of America, or PCA), and offers its special edition "souped-up" Porsche to PCA members before it's released to the general public.This is the kind of marketing/thinking that ensures that despite the relatively diminutive auto-industry

I am a statistic.

2005-06-28T03:20:00.000+10:00

As Ben said, everyone loves a survey. Sure, it's a bit self-centred, but that's me all over. If only I could have skewed it towards Datsuns somehow...

Simple as Datsun.

2005-06-23T22:37:00.000+10:00

Following on from Ben's post over here, I thought it only fair to show you the offending Datsun equivalent part. You can judge for yourself whether this is transparent or opaque.Just judging from the amount of screws involved, I'd say it was always meant to be user-serviceable.Yes, the Datsun is from a bygone era, when things were meant to be fiddled with by the hacks that bought them.Although,

1300 Clubman: Formula Stylee.

2005-06-21T22:29:00.000+10:00

Okay, so when I was at Oran Park on the weekend, I saw this thing, and just had to take some photo's of it: I'd love to know more about it, and might have to get along to another round of the NSW Road Racing Series, just to try and catch up with it's owner/driver.I can't pin-point what it is, but something about it just appeals to me.

Mixed Bag? Definitely!

2005-06-21T19:26:00.000+10:00

A few weeks ago, I logged on to the Triple J website, and lodged a Mixed Bag request. A "Mixed Bag" is a selection of three songs, that are played during the Super Request program (Monday-Friday, 6-9pm).I thought nothing of it, until I recieved a phone call from Rosie Beaton, saying that my mixed bag would be played that night, and recieved phone calls through out the night, getting me to

Oran Park: A new adventure.

2005-06-20T02:14:00.000+10:00

I'd been to Oran Park Raceway once before, back in mid-2004, when I had an invite to hang out in the pits at a V8Supercar round with the Dunlop tyre technicians.This weekend wa a bit different, with Rowdy and I attending a more club-level event with NSW Improved Production, Formula Ford, Formula Vee and a whole bunch of other stuff racing. I was only there on the Saturday, but it was a completely

Saab-GM integration?

2005-06-16T23:20:00.000+10:00

This is an example of how things can go wrong when system-integration doesn't work. And just exacerbates all those who enjoy giving GM a hard time.

2005-06-16T23:10:00.000+10:00

Sorry for the break in blogging, scooted off to Melbourne for a couple of days doing some work malarchy.I've been down to the Bega Valley Rally since my last post, navigating for my friend Matt, in hi snewly aquired DR30 Skyline rally car, which proved to have plenty of potential, but not much speed in its current form. The list of "upgrades" to be performed is relatively long, but I have every

Cobra, Stingray, Cheetah?

2005-06-09T22:31:00.000+10:00

I'd never heard of a Cheetah, until I saw this link on Jalopnik.Spaceframe tube-chassis stuffed full of 350 small block Chev?I wonder what my chances are of entering one in Targa Tasmania?

Rally Focus Not-News

2005-06-09T22:05:00.000+10:00

Further to my entry below, rally.com.au has this short interview with Ross Booth, Ford Motorsport Operations Manager.He doesn't really give any new information, just that the Group N (P) Focus hasn't done any testing yet, and is still being built. And that they are in it to win… which will be an interesting challenge if it is a 2WD car.

New Focus?

2005-06-09T21:40:00.000+10:00

There's talk on Autocar of 3-litre, 6 cylinder, turbocharged, all-wheel drive Ford Focus. Now there are parts of this story that sound feasible to me, parts that sound desirable, and parts that sound wrong.The all-wheel drive bit sounds very feasible. As does the turbocharging. Funnily enough, those bits also sound desirable to me.The bit with the 3-litre, 6 cylinder engine from the unreleased

Open Systems for in-car computing?

2005-06-07T23:40:00.000+10:00

Whilst surfing the web, I ran across this article on Jalopnik, detailing Automotive Open System Architecture (AUTOSAR).So a quick look at the AUTOSAR website (www.autosar.org) reveals a little more detail regarding the "partners" involed:Initial discussions on the common challenge and objectives were held by BMW, Bosch, Continental, DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen in August, 2002 and the partners

Another Ground Effect fan.

2005-06-06T20:50:00.000+10:00

Just like Ben, I too am a Ground Effect fan.Just like Ben, I too own a pair of olde-skool Ranchsliders.The Ranchsliders were officially my rally pants, having adequate pockets for a navigator to hold all the pens, keys and such, whilst having them not in the arse-al area, enabling easy sitting in racing seats without sitting on top of wallets and such. And they were damn comfy while you were

Trips around NSW...

2005-06-05T22:28:00.000+10:00

A jam-packed weekend of hilarity and fun...The wife and I racked up 1100 kilometres this weekend in a frenzy visiting friends and running errands.From Canberra, we journeyed northward to Sydney on Friday afternoon, where I attended my monthly CAMS NSW Rally Advisory Panel meeting. There's some action to come out of that over the next few days that I'll link to as information is released.Meanwhile

This could have been you!

2005-06-02T23:44:00.000+10:00

A few Saturdays ago, I got to participate in the "2005 Snowy Hydro Southcare Canberra Rally Experience". I had a great day, even though the Datsun had to retire hurt with a broken driveshaft.But the reactions of some of the people I got to take around in the rally car were fantastic. I got to take about 7 people before my car retired, and all seemed to enjoy their time in the car. The day raised

Automoblox

2005-06-02T22:18:00.000+10:00

Well, Ben has found yet another cool toy. Automoblox.The only real problem I can see with them is that I'm going to want to buy the whole set.Ben finds all the coolest toys.

(Factory) Rotary Datsun? Yes!

2005-06-01T02:12:00.000+10:00

Over on Ben's Blog, he talks about rotary engines going in all sorts of wierd cars. Even Nissan played with them in the Silvia family of cars. The rotary Silvia only had a short life, and the Silvia nameplate was killed off only a few years ago.Although there is talk of it making a comeback... Much like the Z-Car revival Nissan has pursued in the last few years. Then again, Ghosn was also talking

Long Time, and no blog...

2005-06-01T01:49:00.000+10:00

Yes, I've been incredily recalcitrant in my blogging, and I wouldn't blame anyone at all for kicking me in the crowntch for my slackness.So slack, in fact, that I had completely forgotten about this blog that I had... Yes, that bad.I'm sure that I'll be using Ben's blog to provide me with inspiration for future entries. In fact, I'll be relying on it.The mind is like a muscle. Without exercise,

BMSC Summer Rallysprint

2004-02-01T17:26:00.000+11:00

Helped out at the BMSC Summer Rallysprint yesterday. 8 kilometre course, run three times in either direction. I helped out in an official capacity, as driver of the zero car, which opens the course for the competing vehicles, and chcks that everything is the way its meant to be. The trusty Datsun wasn't available for the gig (the rear suspension still being rebuilt), so I did it in Marty

I'm still not comfortable...

2004-01-29T23:37:00.000+11:00

I know that its odd, but I'm still uneasy with the concept of people reading this and not really understanding me... so I'll try and add a little detail for you. I'm a public servant for the Australian federal government. Yep, a boring beauracrat. I have a penchant for most things geeky, but would never consider myself a geek. Not that I don't want to be, but I don't have the technical

Pointing out the obvious.

2004-01-29T21:55:00.000+11:00

Just in case you missed the little description up the top there, or the bit about me focussing on rallying, or the links to the left... I'm a bit obsessed with rallying. Not the "take placards, we're demanding the gumbyment do something about this" kind of rallying, neither. I'm talking about driving cars around in the forest, preferably at high speed, with some idiot sitting next to me telling

First blog post... evar!

2004-01-29T21:02:00.000+11:00

Well, I saw this blog and thought it was time I got off my arse and started blogging myself. I've been reading blogs by everyone and anyone recently (like the last twelve months), inlcuding words of wisdom from dudes like Tim Bray, who manages to be incredibly smart (he was responsible for a large part of the XML 1.0 Spec), incredibly geeky (he was responsible for a large part of the XML 1.0 Spec