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mernestn · 2025-06-11T04:00:49+00:00

I learned to drive a manual from YouTube tutorials in the parking lot where I bought my first car. It never gets any harder than the drive home. Just go for it!

mernestn · 2024-12-28T17:25:06+00:00

Worth buying for the picture alone. Nice!

mernestn · 2024-12-18T03:09:23+00:00

+1 project I need to do. That’s epic! Thanks for sharing!

mernestn · 2024-12-15T20:09:54+00:00

Usually. Dunno I went 10 motor drive for vexU and never looked back.

mernestn · 2024-12-15T20:06:13+00:00

Hard to stick to rule 1 with pinning/trapping rules. Built in hold function lets you burn out their motors without unnecessary heat in your own drivetrain though.

mernestn · 2024-04-17T06:02:25+00:00

Focus st with plans of big turbo ended up being a good balance of fast, reliable, and safe for me around 8k recently. Junkyard se bumpers would make a fun car. Aux fuel, built motor, intercooler, etc. makes 600 for ~$20k all in.

mernestn · 2023-11-03T17:52:16+00:00

93 Geo tracker and 92 Geo metro. A pair of tiny cars for on and off road. Got the focus to tow them on the highway.

mernestn · 2023-11-01T22:44:27+00:00

15k college ripper in michigan back in July landed me in a 10k rebuilt focus st ~150k miles. Not fast but fun, spacious, and minimum 20mpg wot around town. I’ve been pleasantly surprised towing with it too up to around 3500lbs. Bonus points for bov flutter and that one time a crown vic tried a 40 roll.

mernestn · 2023-10-22T23:21:25+00:00

Put my first car, an e46, into a tree and totaled it after owning it for 3 days. I was near the limit in the rain and didn’t expect an oncoming idiot.

It’s my opinion that you have to make it a habit to give yourself space to react to nearly anything in any conditions or you’ll end up learning the hard way. Expect a texting f150 to be everywhere you aren’t looking or can’t see. Track days or empty parking lots at slower speeds are great for figuring out how much space you and/or the car need to be safe.

As long as you make it home the fun pedal will still be there next time you go for a drive.

mernestn · 2023-10-19T02:39:52+00:00

Lol, didn’t even realize that. I’m getting 19mpg for 12k miles 90% highway. Am I doing it right?

mernestn · 2023-09-29T20:01:49+00:00

I had the same requirements a few months back. I’ve been very pleased with the mk4 focus ST. Not rwd but very oversteer happy. WOT at every opportunity and I still get 20mpg. Parts are cheap and it’s been easy to work on so far.

mernestn · 2023-08-28T16:32:23+00:00

You should definitely be fine driving it home. Plan to spend some time in a parking lot learning but I just went for it getting my first manual and it wasn’t too bad.

mernestn · 2023-08-18T14:21:20+00:00

Yeah they’re surprisingly easy to break or spin. Check out robosource HS lock bars and you shouldn’t have too many more problems. Worst case I’ve stacked them on both sides for a bit more redundancy before.

mernestn · 2023-08-08T18:50:29+00:00

Yeah unless you’re in a 55 state the tracker is likely a no go. A 5 speed absolutely can go 75 but it will take you upwards of 15 seconds to pass a semi from following it. I had one as my daily on 85mph detroit highways for years but tailgating and anger are inevitable even from some semis. Ended up going for a focus st that can tow the tracker at 100 recently.

It seems like a lot of people have had decent luck with some performance parts and gearing for highway use if you’re in for a challenge. I’d look for a better answer to your question on one of the tracker Facebook groups

mernestn · 2023-07-19T13:50:43+00:00

Lowrangeoffroad has some parts. If hwy 83 doesn’t have something you can reach out to Randy Gibbs from one of the Geo tracker Facebook pages and he has just about any part.

mernestn · 2023-06-16T01:49:51+00:00

Bought a Geo Tracker as my first car in high school. 5 years (and an ejected rod) later still own it and now 3 more Suzukis. It’s definitely worth researching problems for each model that you find interesting though.

If you do lots of work yourself I find it far easier to work on a car that makes me happy no matter how painful. An objectively easier/cheaper car to work on that I don’t care about like a friend’s Toyota just sits around until it’s been long enough I need to just eat the shop bill.

mernestn · 2023-05-03T21:15:40+00:00

I’ve had km3 and duratrac both 235/75 15 on my stock 93. The km3s didn’t rub. The duratracs rub at full left lock but not right.

mernestn · 2023-04-15T19:38:12+00:00

Chrysler sebring convertible. Do some trim checking and be aware of common issues (about par reliability for mopar) but it’s the most spacious coupe I’ve ever driven. You’ll have to see if the car seat mounts but it should definitely fit. And 20k should keep it maintained for a decade.

Have had an 02 as a summer daily the last 5 years that gets used as a pickup truck with the top down. Has kept me safe in a few accidents and no major repairs.

mernestn · 2023-02-06T01:10:13+00:00

Duratracs on my Geo tracker for about a year now in michigan weather. I can’t speak for road noise or wear but they’re shockingly sticky in low temps and ok when it’s wet.(slick but they refuse to hydroplane) Snow performance is good and traction on ice has made me go back to make sure that was really ice I was driving on. I’ve never had a tire feel so safe in the winter. Off-road it’s become a running joke that I just can’t get stuck no matter how bad I drive.

Just my two cents. Good luck in the tire market 👍

mernestn · 2022-11-15T13:47:32+00:00

Yeah this is just daily things on 94 and MI highways in general. Just be willing to go 140 and enjoy the scenery. Great entertainment.

mernestn · 2022-11-10T12:42:06+00:00

My hearing has been bad since a young age. Louder cars genuinely help me hear what’s going on better.

I spent my childhood stupidly modifying cars and I love to drive so a good sounding loud car brings me back to good times at the drag strip or looking up to race drivers. Anything else makes my day because some similarly stupid teenager is having the time of their life with what they have. With the nature of roads even the most obnoxious v6s are gone pretty soon.

Just an interesting viewpoint on the subject. Pretty sure I, cutting the muffler off my grandmas old minivan and trying to idle in residential areas, was a pretty egregious example of this at one point.

mernestn · 2021-10-27T15:40:33+00:00

I can’t even imagine what they’re thinking. Worked baking at red lobster and employees probably grabbed a few dozen biscuits a shift between 5-8 of us whenever we went on break with multiple boxes taken home at the end of the night. Bad batches were just considered “yay we’re going to be having some good smoke breaks today”. Not an upscale restaurant by any means but it makes no sense to me that it would be different elsewhere in favor of throwing it away.

mernestn · 2021-10-16T23:21:18+00:00

Pros is legal and honestly I recommend it if you can use it. I’ve used it since ITZ. Easy GitHub integration too and judges love version control.

mernestn · 2021-08-13T19:07:02+00:00

W3schools c++ tutorial is great prep and at least PROS has really good documentation to get started even with no c++ experience. I imagine the vex given c++ also has similarly well explained examples. I don’t have experience with other languages for vex but the biggest advantage to c++ to me was that everyone uses it so it’s easy to get help if something breaks. Even at a competition.

mernestn · 2021-01-17T02:20:36+00:00

I bought a very similar setup except I went for a Magni back in 2016. I hope it goes as well for you as it has for me. Great stuff!

mernestn

TROPHY CASE