Car People Speak: The Worst Day of My Life

The year was 2005. The date was December 22. The time: 6:30 p.m. The event: the worst day of my life. The event that took place on that day will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life. Nothing else even comes close. That day replays in my mind over and over again. It will continue to do so until I have passed. I will never forget the day I lost one of my best friends.

December 22, 2005, started out as any other day. The Christmas spirit was in the air and everyone was getting ready for the magical 25th. It was a relatively warm day for December (I remember wearing a tee shirt). My Christmas shopping was complete with the exception of one very important thing: my mother's gift card to the ever popular Target. Realizing how important this was to her, I made it my priority for the day. So, at about 5:30 p.m., I decided to make the drive out to the local Target. Little did I know that this simple act of kindness would end up becoming the worst day of my life.

My mission was simple: drive to Target, pick up the gift card and then drive home. How hard could it be? I had made that drive numerous times without incident. So, without a care in the world, I hopped in my trusty green machine: a 1998 Jeep Cherokee Classic. This was one of teh most beautiful pieces of machinery I had ever laid eyes on. It was fast, smooth and a dream to drive. It made a wonderful roar that made you want to waste even more fuel than you already were. But, most important of all, it had soul. I don't know how Jeep did it, but that thing was addictive to drive. This made the trip out to West Knoxville actually enjoyable.

I started the green machine up and was greeted with the ever familiar song of a 4.0 liter straight six and cooling fans. And just like that, I was off. In no time at all, I had arrived at my destination. I made the short walk inside Target and purchased the card to my mother's happiness. It was time to go home, so I jumped into my Jeep and drove off into the distance. I was feeling pretty good as I listened to the sound of the band Bush. Little did I know that in two minutes, my joy would be crushed, thrown to the ground and stomped on until it didn't exist.

As most sad stories go, they end badly. Welcome to the unpleasent ending. As I drove home, I came across an intersection that I had driven through plenty of times. The light was green, I needed to turn left, so I went for it. I made it across the white line and then, in mid turn, everything stopped. You see, at the same time I was making my turn, a senior at Bearden High School was making his speedy getaway through the intersection. It wasn't until mid turn that I was his red Toyota Tundra. I will never forget what happened next.

When you get into an accident, you know it's going to happen. Everything slows down so you can remeber it. I had no control over my body and neither did the operator of the Tundra. The only thing I could do was hold on as the Tundra slammed into the front left fender of my Jeep. I won't lie, it hurt. Both of my airbags went off, with the one on the right hitting me square in the face. My week old Dr. Pepper spilled all over my leg. I was cold, wet, scared and most of all, angry. The F-word spewed from my mouth like it was the only word I knew. After everything settled down, I decidet to do the normal human thing and get out to survey the damage. Let's just say it wasn't pretty.

My green machine was injured and it was bad. His lungs were punctured and green fluid was spilling out onto the cold street. His ankle was shattered and his foot was bent in the opposite way. He would never walk again (unless you replaced the radiator and front differential). I had done the unthinkable. I had shoved my best friend into the moving path of a tank. It was over. To quote my father, "One minute you're driving along in your Jeep, and just like that, you're sitting at home with your driving privileges taken away." Thanks dad.

I, as well as the senior from Bearden, walked away from the accident with nothing but a bruise. But unlike the Tundra driver, who I overheard mentioning to his mother that he could finally get something with four wheel drive, I was had lost a true friend. I'll never forget that day as it in some way made me a better person. That day taught me to cherish everything you've got because just like that, it can be taken away.

Rest in Peace Mr. Jeep.

Car Review: Sleeper Status.

The term "sleeper" is a very special moniker in the car world. It is a status given to only a select few. A rough definition says that in order for a car to be a sleeper, it must give off the impression of being slow, dimwitted and generally lame when in reality, it is nothing of the sort. Justin Moore's 91 Ford Taurus SHO has the characteristics of a true sleeper.

Purchased at the ripe old age of 15, Justin's SHO has been in his life for nearly 10 years. It has traveled all over the country, but lives most of it's life in the quite suburbia of Knoxville. Justin bought the car in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where it was sitting under a tree waiting to be saved from the crusher. The former owner, who Justin kindly describes as "an old red-neck), had left the car sit under that tree for two years. Suffice it to say, the SHO was not running.




Justin, a true car guy even at such a young age, performed a standard tune up to try and breath life into his new acquaintance. Plugs and wires did nothing, but a further inspection revealed that the car had jumped timing. Once that was addressed, his SHO was up and running and the proof was in the smoke.

"We used to call it 'old smoky'," said Justin. The original 3.0, Yamaha built V6 had bad rings and valve seals. The car smoked so badly that at the age of 16, Justin was given a ticket for passing a bus, only to find out that he received his ticket because the cop followed the smoke trail to Justin's home.



Now, for those of you unaware, the Ford Taurus SHO is a very special vehicle. It was a joint effort between Ford and Yamaha that created the car and turned it into a cult classic. The 3.0 liter V6 made 220 hp and was matted to a 5sp, Mazda built manual transmission. Car and Driver Magazine recorded a 0-60 mph time of 6.6 seconds. This was in 1989. There was a reason the SHO stood for "Super High Output."




Justin is honest when he mentioned he initially wanted a Mitsubishi Eclipse GS-T as his first car. It wasn't until his dad pointed out the SHO, that his interest in the strange car began to grow. "My dad told me about how much faster the SHO was compared to the GS-T."

With his dreams of the Diamond Star behind him, Justin was forced to bond with his Taurus fast. With in four months of owning his SHO, the bad rings and seals finally gave up the ghost. A new engine from a 93 was sourced and swapped in. Since then, the 93 engine has received new rings, bearings and crank and the car has seen three transmissions. It may seem like a lot of maintenance, but this is an American car built in the early 90s. As it sits now, it also has 300,000 miles. Justin purchased the vehicle with a lowly 143,000.

As of this writing, Justin has purchased another SHO, but this time it's a second generation automatic with the larger, 3.2 liter block. The plan is to swap the 3.2 block into the first gen, which has suffered oil pump problems, anchoring it to its parking space. Once swapped, Justin's SHO will be road ready once again, but it will be sporting even more torque.




Justin's Taurus SHO can be easily seen as a member of his family. It has taken him across the country and too numerous towns. He has had a long list of other vehicles, including two other SHOs and turbocharged 240sx built by him. But none of those cars have made quite the impression as Justin's pearl white, sleeper.

Car Tech: What makes a Subaru a Subaru.

First, we'd like to offer a disclaimer: this is not a sales pitch. We here at Empty Road love cars of all shapes and sizes, but Subarus have always been a little...different. There's a reason for that.




This (assumingly) is what car people think of when they think "Subaru." The sound of a modified WRX/STI is something truely unique. These are four cylinders that do not really sound the way a four cylinder should. Instead of a high pitched scream, all that comes out of the tail pipe is a low, deep, unmistakable rumble. The reason for this is a combination of a few things: engine design, exhaust header design, and whether or not the engine chews on a turbocharger.

The boxer style engine (used in Subarus, Porsches, old VWs, and other odd-balls) is unique in the way it's cylinders are layed out at a 180 degree angle: they're flat. This design means that the use of harmonic balancers and balance shafts is un-needed. It also gives the vehicle a low center of gravity: there's a reason helicopters use this design.




The flat design helps give Subarus their sound. The firing order of the pistons also plays a part. A Subaru has a firing order of 1-3-2-4; which means that while one cylinder bank is releasing exhaust, the other is waiting its turn. It all adds up to a pulsing sound. That pulsing is amplified by how the exhaust headers are designed.













These are aftermarket Borla, UN-EQUAL LENGTH (UEL) exhaust headers for a naturally aspirated Subaru(the bold is just for emphasis).







This is what they sound like with an aftermarket exhaust (axleback). Because of the firing order and the odd length of the headers, exhaust pulses are collected and exited at odd times.

But, without the UEL headers, the same car would sound like this:



This is a naturally aspirated car with stock, EQUAL LENGTH (EL) headers and a modified exhaust. Yes, it does sound different.



And these are why. These are the stock headers on a naturally aspirated Subaru. As you can tell, they are equal in length. It allows the exhasut pulses to be collected and exited at an equal length.


Now, on to turbocharging. Some of you out there who have inherited your grandmother's old Outback are porbably curious as to how to make your Subaru sound like your rich friend's WRX. The first thing you should do (after taking off the Coexist bumper sticker) is realize that you'll never truely get that sound unless you go turbo.

A stock WRX/STI not only has UEL headers from the factory, but they also have a devise that acts as second muffler: a turbocharger. This turbine that forces air into the engine to make more power is also in the way of exhaust gases. It causes a turbocharged Subaru to sound "smoother" than a naturally aspirated one. The sound may be very similar if you add UEL headers to your grandmother's old Outback, but it will not be the same.