iMatt :: The Blog of Matt Clare

Lindsay and I had a fun time at the 2010 British car show at Bronte Creek Burlington.

It was fun seeing the all of the British car, including the MGB. Lindsay’s last time in an MGB was when her mother was pregnant. Maybe we should have bought one of the ones in sale so our kid can tell the same story?

Last May Canada Post announced that they were replacing their Grumman Long Life Vehicles (LLVs) they currently have with the new Ford Transit Connect.

I spotted one of them on a car carrier today. Looks sharp.

I’m a big fan of the Ford Transit Connect mainly because of its efficiency of packaging and innovative design. The Transit’s European heritage ensures that it’s got modern suspension and fuel economy. Here’s hoping it serves Canada Post well.

Car and Driver has started a new campaign: Save the Manuals!

As a fan of rowing my own gears I have to throw my support behind manual transmissions.

I’m a fan, but many aren’t. When I bought my last two used cars I had to cast a very wide net to find a manual transmission. They don’t have a high “take rate” and some vehicles don’t even offer a manual transmission to reduce development and manufacturing costs. I can’t argue with the manufactures logic – but I do have to wonder why drivers don’t want more control.

I know what gear ratio I want and far too often an automatic transmission doesn’t, and beyond that changes the ratio when its not wanted and not change it when its needed. Some vehicles allow drivers to use things like paddle-shifters to control what gear they are in, but the shift often takes longer than a second and that’s way too late.

Porche’s PDK and VW/Audi’s dual-clutch systems amongst others use a clutch and gearbox, not an automatic transmission, to remove the need for the driver to operate a cluch and have a computer control the it for you. Porche driver’s appreciate more control over their transmission than an automatic can provide, but they can’t be the only ones.

One of the most enjoyable cars I’ve ever driven is an 80s Ford Fiesta with three cylinder with a 5spd manual. I’m certain that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy that car as much without being able to ring all I could have out of the engine.

Long live the manual transmission! We let ignition timing and choke operation slip out of our hands – lets not give up the manual transmission too!

More at www.caranddriver.com/features/10q3/save_the_manuals!-car_and_driver
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Here’s a few of my pictures from the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix.

Great race! Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton – I knew he had Canadian a pole and win in him!

I’ve been looking for a modification for my new-to-me car to help make it my own. I searched around the forums that deal with the Acura CSX and the Honda Civic and quickly realized that the simple “bolt-on” modifications available for the Honda Civic don’t work with the CSX as it has a slightly larger engine that was borrowed from the Acura RSX.

I started to home in on the engine’s air intake as a good place to focus my efforts. An air intake that allows more air to pass into the engine can increase the power (a little bit), this is done by decreasing the amount of effort to draw air into the engine and ensure there’s always enough. Less restricted air intakes also tend to improve the sound of the engine by allowing more induction noise to be heard.

Some Acura CSX owners had tried applying other Honda Civic-intended air intakes, but they would tend to trip the Check Engine light. The solution a lot of owners were coming to was modifying the airbox top cover to fit a generic cone-type air filter. The modifications involved trimming away most of the cover’s plastic and attaching a standard 3′ flange cone-type air filter to the now exposed tube. This not only involves a better filter but allows air to be drawn from more locations than the restrictive tube that leads to the front of the car – this could be the cause of the cars not-so-great throttle response.

Many Acura/CSX forums detail this DIY process, CSX DRIVER (login required – probably the best how-to), Acura Forum and this YouTube video of an obnoxious kid.
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