In 2007 we were a tiny bit disappointed that Nissan chose not to bring an Xterra to the IMPA Test Days. We were delighted that the X made an appearance at the 2008 event and even more delighted to catch it on video for our views.

Check out the sloppy, wet, wheel lifting action after the break. Be sure to use the full screen, as this is shot in full HD!
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Today was supposed to be off road day, but it turned into something completely different. I had a road car awakening. You could even say that I broke my BMW cherry. I discovered M.

To say that I didn’t understand before would be wrong, but I truly fell madly, deeply in love with the experience that is built into M Cars and that was by driving the convertible M3. Not to mention a hoonage filmed photo session with the boys from NYC and an AMG SL.

There are tons of photos and more importantly, some great video to go along with our time with the M3. Unfortunately, the hotel wireless won’t allow me to upload any pics for now.

As for the off road stuuf, we only drove 3 trucks today. We’ll have full video reviews of the 2 door Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, Nissan Xterra and the HUMMER H3T. That’s right, the H3T started rolling off the production line on Friday and we got one dirty today! Not to worry, the videos and photos will be worth the wait.

We’ll get some photos up when we can, but for now there is a cocktail party calling my name!

The trip from Watertown New York took longer than expected today, given that every interstate in Pennsylvania is under construction. Other than construction, the drive was just sweet. Great scenery, little traffic and a couple of mp3 players full of tunes for the new stereo.
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These days, most new cars leave the factory with a pretty decent sound system. While they may not always satisfy the audiophile, they do just fine for the majority and they are pretty reliable to boot. Working in the industry, I’ve come across plenty of aftermarket stereo installs that made a total mess of the functionality of the vehicle. From butchered fitments, to botched wiring it is often a nightmare for the tech who is asked to fix some installer or owner’s mistakes.

For all of these reasons, I usually stay away from replacement radios but the used Xterra we picked up a couple of months ago had been fitted with a Pyle radio that really was a pile. FM was the only function that worked, though even that was a bit of a crap shoot as the display did not work. I’m not an audiophile, so I went on a hunt for an inexpensive basic radio that included a CD player. A search through a few major chain sale flyers turned up the Sony cdx-GT110 for a great deal. As an added bonus, it also has a front jack for and mp3 player.
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It’s been a while since I’ve posted on the challenges of buying a used up car. Given that we’ve just had a new addition to The Garage, it might make some sense to touch on used car buying again. This time though, we’ll go over how you can educate yourself about a specific car and save a bunch of cash along the way, without using the help of a sales pro.
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Finally the warm weather has arrived and along with it comes the first lapping day of the season. On Sunday, Shelby and I packed the kart and all the associated gear into the back of the Xterra and headed up to Mosport. This was our first visit to the new Mosport International Karting Academy track and we were excited. We had heard a lot about the layout of the track, along with the healthy elevation changes. We did not race last year, so this was Shelby’s first time driving in a year & a half so the plan was to just get out and run as many laps as possible before having to head home for Easter dinner.

The first session saw it’s share of spins, due to a rusty driver and old, hard tires. Then she was gone. I could just see her head bobbing around over the hump of the esses leading into a left hand Monza curve. The chain had come off & she was moving the kart off to the side of the track. Dad was in trouble. After damn near killing myself pushing the kart back across the infield, I readjusted the chain and out she went for the next session.

Overall, the kart ran well all day and Shelby’s driving steadily improved as the day went on. The track looks great and Shelby had a blast driving it. She says she likes it better than the other tracks over at the Mosport Driver Development Track and she really likes those.

We are waiting for Glen Arnold over at Arnold Racing Engines to complete our new engine for the season and then we’ll be ready to roll. It’s looking like we’ll miss the first few races of the season, but then the points chase will be on.

I’m not usually one to complain too much about gas prices. I drive an suv, mainly by choice, but partially because we need at least one vehicle with some cargo space and towing capacity. I refuse to drive a minivan on principle, not that a Quest gets any better gas mileage than an Xterra.

This morning, the low fuel light was on so I had no choice to stop and put in gas. Or perhaps I should say liquid gold!$1.02 a liter!! I put in $35 and it only filled the tank half way. This is freakin brutal. Of course Karting starts this weekend, so switching to a car won’t be happening any time soon.

To put all of this into perspective for all you American readers, there are roughly 4 liters to a gallon. At the current exchange rate, that works out to roughly $3.27 US dollars a gallon! A quick online search shows gas prices in Buffalo taday ranging from $2.52 to $2.85 a gallon. Buffalo is about an hour long drive from downtown Toronto.

Us Canadians are a quiet bunch who don’t freak out about stuff, but perhaps this is something we should start sounding off about.

PUCKER FACTOR: the direct effect caused when the severity of one’s actions exceed the limits of rational thought.

The incident had a pucker factor of 10. The moment the laws of physics threatened to punish me for testing the boundaries, my nether regions clamped up tight as a vise.

I have joined the Southern Ontario Xterra Club for their 2nd Annual Adventure Weekend. 3 days of trail riding, biking, swimming and loads of great food while camping on crown land directly beside lovely Cooper’s Falls. Located on the border between the Muskoka & Kawartha regions, the Cooper’s Falls area is the entry point to a network of trails that lead across the rugged Canadian Shield. It has been a hot, dry summer so the trails are dry & dusty with the occasional puddle of mud caused where small rivers once crossed the road. For the most part, the trails are pretty tame, with only the occasion bump from a rock touching the bottom of the truck. There are some sections however that require the assistance of spotters to guide the drivers over large chunks of rock that look poised to break any vehicle that dares try to pass. It was on one of these sections where I became verklempt.

I was driving a 2003 Nissan Frontier, the pick up truck brother of the Xterra. The truck is more that a foot longer than the Xterra, which actually helps it when climbing these steep steps of rock. But the problem with the extra length is that the back end sticks out farther and tends to get caught up when coming back down these same hazards. And so it was that when I approached a whale sized rock with a nearly vertical drop off, that I decided to take the easier path down. I chickened out & took the simple route. Of course the simple route involved sweeping wide to the right to avoid a large rock on the left, while traveling so slowly the speedometer does not even move. I had watched an Xterra take this route and it was a piece of cake. Where life became difficult was when the longer truck took up more space on the hill and suddenly the road fell away from below the left front wheel. The truck dropped so fast that I thought for sure it would roll over, until a quick thinking Xterra owner jumped on the back bumper. The drop stopped and the truck teetered on the edge while balanced on 2 wheels. When it became clear that we had some stability, I crept forward until a third wheel touched the ground, and then the fourth.

The rest of the ride was smooth sailing and was rewarded with a cold swim beneath Cooper’s falls, a cold beer, a great meal and good times with some new friends. Next time maybe a shorter vehicle will help prevent another dose of Pucker.

This article originally posted on an old site I owned which has been retired.