SLO-Z

This is an update on Project Slo-Z, as I like to call it. [Aptly named becoz the OZ is pretty slow.]

There’s no such thing as enough. The more I've got the more I want, it seems. More, as it turned out, isn’t such a bad thing.

My beloved Kenwood fizzled out on me. Luckily it didn’t just quit; it gave me subtle hints here and there that the end was nigh. At first the CDs needed some coaxing to eject. Then they needed serious coaxing to eject, and I knew our relationship was over when, on loading a CD, the display would read “Mechanical Error” and the CD would slide back out.

A day later found me online hunting for a worthy replacement. I’d almost given up and got just any old player when I stumbled across this feature-rich Pioneer at Circuit City.

This monster is off the chain, ladies and gentlemen. Not only does it have a built-in equalizer/sound processor, but it lets you equalize the pre-amps separately and that right there makes all the difference in the world. That way you can take all the bass out from the cabin speakers if you wish and let the bump come solely from the trunk just like I like it – highs high and lows low.

Inspection was due this month and my all-season Yokohamas were begging to be replaced and they squealed every time at my ministrations every time I pushed them, so I did some digging on some high performance tires and settled on some reasonably aggressive Kumho Ecstas. Great tires – stiff sidewalls, low road noise & a great tread design that minimizes hydroplaning, which is my nemesis. They’re 20mm wider than stock and so improve the Slo-Z’s stance.



Tune-ups, when it comes to vehicles, are as inevitable as rain over the weekends, and recently it was the OZ’s turn. NGK Iridium spark plugs are arguably the best so yours truly settled for those. Amazingly, they only cost a couple of bucks each which is great value considering I probably won’t have to worry about them for the next 75,000 or so miles of ordinary driving. [If my driving can be described as such!]


I had the sticker below on my first good car and decided to put it back on for effect, just to see if it would have the same effect on people. It still does. Takes a quick minute for them to figure out what it might mean tho.


Like I’d previously said, I’m done messing with the car, as in trying to make it go faster. I’d be a fool to anyway, since I can only squeeze so much performance out of it unless I laid out some mucho dinero which I don't have right now.

Well, there you have it. Keep it right here for Advanced Driving Techniques, next.

>All photos are property of whoever took them, except that last one. Don't jock my style, b*tches!<