Category Archives: Cam’s Cars

What can I say? I love cars (and trucks). This section of my blog contains all the posts about my favorite hobby.
If you want to view posts by vehicle just click on the link below to visit Cam’s Car Index

At Some Point Around Easter…

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After coloring eggs I commenced the wiring portion of my subwoofer / amplifier install. That’s going to be a big job. Mike was a huge help and we got the seat and some panelling out and and started running the ground wires and RCA cables. This coming week I’ll have to remove the center console and the actual receiver (from the instructions I’ve got it won’t be fun). But hey- that’s what life is all about: Doing things that aren’t fun with the hope that later something not fun that you did will result in fun.

Originally Posted April 13, 2009

While My Wife Was Away…

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The one thing I was able to do while I was a bachelor was start my new car stereo! I’m not an audiophile or anything like that, but I do like to turn my music up pretty loud while I drive. My friend Justin suggested that we add some sub-woofers and a couple of amps. He made some custom speaker boxes for the trunk area of my car (it’s hard to tell from the picture, but the boxes are sunk about 9 inches into the trunk bed). We put two 8″ subs in each box and we’ve got two 250watt amps (one for the subs and one for the mids). All we have left is the wiring (which will be the hard part) and I’ll be ready to blast out my ear drums.

I got to see “Fast & Furious” on opening night last week (thanks Fran!). Anyone who knows me can tell you I’m a fan of the series (and a little nutty about tricked out cars). I hosted a Fast & Furious party the Tuesday before the movie came out. I had hoped to make it through the first and third movie (I don’t care too much for the second), but there was so much action in the first that everyone had adrenaline overload and bailed. I felt like “Fast & Furious” was a nice addition to the franchise- it filled in some gaps in the movie arc and provided a few unexpected twists and turns. Definitely worth a watch.

Originally Posted April 11, 2009

Need for Speed

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This is a post about my obsession with vehicle power. I’m not trying to be tacky, I just love modified cars (plus I have a lot of blog catching up to do…).   It started out innocently enough back in 2003 with an Acura Integra. It was a forest green 1995 model with 142 horsepower. I loved it. Compared to our 2000 Honda CRV it was a rocket. It was this car which got me hooked on the idea of upgrades. I looked at cold air intakes, exhaust systems, toyed with the idea of an engine swap and then one day, quite by accident, I found my new car.
Acura RSX-S

It was a modified silver 2002 Acura RSX-S and I had to have it. The base engine would have put out 200 horsepower but this RSX was equipped with a Greddy Turbo, Intercooler system and an upgraded exhaust which shot the output to a little over 300 horsepower. Perfect for a speed freak. The acceleration was satisfying. Time moved on and my appetite for power increased (as did my understanding of engine capacities and limits). I wanted something more powerful but upgrading the Acura wasn’t going to give me what I wanted. It was time for a change. I looked for something that would reflect my personality a bit better. I moved away from Japanese innovation to…

myvette.jpg
…American muscle. I purchased a black 2006 C6 Corvette a few months ago and I couldn’t be more pleased. With 680 horsepower (more on this in a sec), unrivaled handling and heart-pounding acceleration I have found true automotive love. While it appears to be a Z06 model, my vette is really a clever impostor. It’s the standard C6 coupe with every Z06 accessory such as body panels, brakes, emblems, etc. While the base coupe has 400 horsepower stock, this Vette attains its massive power via a twin turbo setup (you can read all about the APS twin turbo upgrade here). There are numerous advantages to the stock coupe with the upgrades.  The Z06’s lightweight engine materials (i.e. titanium, magnesium, etc) make it dangerous to add more pressure to the cylinders via forced induction. The LS2 engine of the ’06 coupe, while smaller and heavier, is actually much better suited to a turbo upgrade. It’s my opinion that you can safely get more torque and horsepower out of it than the Z06 block. In addition, with the coupe you get a removable top, better gas mileage (I’m averaging 25mpg!), the option for an automatic transmission (I’m loving it), it’s way cheaper to insure (it’s only $7 more a month than my Acura!) and it costs less then a comparable Z06 model. Spiffy.

Maybe one day I’ll trade out the Vette for something a little faster… or maybe not.