November 14, 2007 Farewell Toblerone

11:14am by Lijen (Team)

Today we bid farewell to our good friend and teammate Toby. Toby has beasted out many a work-from-home session with Jas and I over the past few months, and today Toby is leaving us. We will miss the many happy days working from our apartment in his warm, heart-felt company. We will always hold dear in our hearts the fond memories of picking up his poo off of our beautiful silk carpet. Who will fill the hollow and awkward void left after a television doorbell ring once Toby’s misplaced bark has left us? Working from home will never be the same without the constant music of Toby’s scampering paws pitter-pattering on the hardwood floor in the background like a soundtrack to our sad, boring existences. We will miss you Toby.

Currently deploring from: Starbucks Battery (Financial)

November 12, 2007 Track Day: Infineon Raceway

12:34pm by Cheechoo (Cars)

Lijen and I went to Infineon Raceway this weekend, and met up with an old college buddy who brought his 400hp FD RX-7 to swing it around the track (3rd pic). I had brought my old DC2 Integra to The Streets of Willow before, and it was a blast. But the scene there was somewhat sparse, being that Willow Springs is way the hell out there. There were only maybe 45 cars there. Now, this can be a good thing if you’re the one actually bringing your car on the track, because the less people the better. But at Infineon, I didn’t drive, I was just a spectator. There were a TON of people there. The place was huge. There were at least 100 cars there, not including Audi’s “Sportscar Experience” fleet of RS4’s and S5’s and S8’s (2nd pic). It was awesome just watching the cars circle the track, and just walking around checking cars out. In my opinion, the fastest guy of the day was a Spoon DC5 Integra R (right hand drive and all) on slicks. Those guys were fast. They must have been part of some racing team, just seeing as how the car was decked out with sponsor stickers and they were all wearing Spoon jackets, and the driver was in his fire suit.

Our old college buddy had a lot of fun throwing the RX7 around. I’m sure there was plenty of power in that car (3rd pic). The whole experience got Lijen and I excited to participate in one of these events someday. We’re thinking about an EG6 Civic Hatch, putting a good suspension on there, some sticky Bridgestones or Advans, and maybe a roll cage and a seat. Probably stay away from the engine because I don’t want to kill myself. But either way, it could be the first vDream project! We’ll call it vDream: Project EG.

November 09, 2007 The US Half Marathon

01:52pm by Lijen (Random)

As the great Johnny Chase once so gloriously yelled into the Grand Canyon… Victorrrryyy! That, my friends, is the look of a broken, exhausted (and constipated?) man. You like my pink dry fit don’t you?

I just got these pictures in my email today, so I thought I’d do a quick entry on the US Half Marathon that I ran with my friends Ben (left) and Tony (right). It was my first half marathon, and I dare say might very well have been my last. It was a grueling 13.1 miles, which included a pretty pleasant jog across the Golden Gate Bridge. The thing is, the actual event itself wasn’t all that difficult, I think it has to do with your adrenaline being boosted by the whole event production and such. Naw, it wasn’t the actual run… The run was fun. What sucked was waking up early every god forsaken morning to run 4 miles for training. I’m a night person; waking up at the butt-crack of dawn, not to run from point A to point B, but to run from point A to point A, isn’t exactly what I would consider a grand ol’ time. I don’t understand how people do it. It hurts so bad… But when alls said and done, I’m really glad I did it. It was by far the most fun I’ve ever had running in a giant circle…

Currently working from: Golden Gate Perk, Financial District

November 08, 2007 RSS Feeds Are Now Supported

05:55pm by Lijen (Site)

To all of our loyal subscribers (aka: me and jas), let me know if you have any issues or comments about the feed. This is the first time I’ve made one of these things, so I’m hoping I didn’t muck it up…

November 08, 2007 A Day In The Life

01:34pm by Lijen (Site)

So as vDream is coming along slowly, but surely, I thought I’d take a second to talk a little about our day-to-day as rogue cafe-warriors developing this project.

vDream is currently being developed by yours truly and my best friend/resident car aficionado Jason. Naveen Jain, the founder and CEO of Sparkart LLC (www.sparkart.com), is putting the food on our plates & and also guiding the project. Im the nerd, Jas (“Jas” is what I call him. Feel free to refer to him as “BAMF” or “Coolie”) is in charge of our car database.

So the thing is, Jas & I don’t have an office. We’ll, that might be a little inaccurate. It’s more like we have about 25 different offices in San Francisco that we rents space in at the cost of about 2 cups of coffee a day, give or take a muffin. On any given day you might find us at Rockin’ Java in the Upper Haight, Dolores Park Cafe in the Mission, The Grove in the Marina, or Caffee Trieste in North Beach, but your best bet is probably in any one of the numerous Starbucks in the Financial District (no stalkers please). Today it’s Yali’s in Berkeley. I think theres a name for our kind. Wait, I think I have something bookmarked somewhere. There it is. “Bedouins” (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/11/BEDOUINS.TMP). I kinda like the tone of that. Neo-nomads.

Anyways, its interesting the things you hear and the people you see everyday by just sitting in a cafe all day. Not that I’m an eavesdropper or anything, but yea, maybe I am just a little bit. I mean, you see a guy and a girl sitting awkwardly in the corner and you overhear something about food or relationships or the weather in between tracks of radiohead and you cant help to just mute your computer for a sec and catch a quick lesson on what NOT to do on a date right? It’s kinda fun in that way, everyday I have a new set of coworkers that I can spy on without them knowing. What could be better? Maybe neo-voyer would be a little more accurate.

So I’ve never had a blog before. I’ve never been that interesting, but at least now I have something remotely interesting to write about. If the way I write is interesting or not, well thats another story. But you know what? I can always seduce you into reading my posts by posting more slick teasers of some vDream cars. This ones one of my favorites. I’ll also throw in a picture of Jas reading something that is apparently pretty mind boggling. It’s probably this blog post…

P.S. RSS feed coming soon.

November 07, 2007 I don't quite see it...

06:09pm by Cheechoo (Cars)

Behold, the Dodge Avenger Stormtrooper. A tuner car supposedly modeled after George Lucas’ infantry soldier in the Star Wars series. I don’t quite see it…

November 07, 2007 vDream teaser: Special cars

02:53pm by Cheechoo (Site)

As a teaser for the upcoming vDream.com release in 2008, here is a “special” car that we have drawn. You will not be able to customize these rides, but you WILL be able to test them at dynos and the racetrack. They will also be your avatar if you are “driving” it, so you can show off to other users that you have a special car.

The first vDream Special Car is the Audi R8 Le Mans race car, winner of five 24 Heures Du Mans championships, and seven American Le Mans Series championships, this car is storied as one of the best racing cars in history. In vDream, if you get a hold of it, you can own a piece of history in your vGarage!

October 31, 2007 New Rally Battle: 2008 Subaru WRX STI vs. 2008 Mitsubishi Evo X

11:45am by Cheechoo (Cars)

The newest episode of the Japanese Rally-battle consists of the new versions of the popular STI and Evo.

Some preliminary specs: EVO X: 300hp / 325 lb-ft 3500 lbs 4.5 sec 0-60, 12.5 sec 1/4 mile

STI: 320hp / 320 lb-ft 3300 lbs 4.5 sec 0-60, 12.5 sec 1/4 mile

Not surprisingly, the stats make this look like a mirror-match. Personally, I’m disappointed in both.

Firstly, I’ve always been a big fan of the Evo and its superior handling. But 3500 lbs? Why have they made this car so fat? Its only strong point is its aggressive looks. People will buy this car solely for the looks, despite its inferior potential in the form of “I’m too fat”.

The STI technical specs look fine. No game-stoppers here. Except for its looks. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not ugly. But it’s supposed to be a rally-inspired, pocket-rocket, boy-racer! It’s starting to look like more of a family car, like the Legacy. But, if they have a Legacy, why make the Impreza line look like one? They’re almost doing an in-house competition: Impreza vs. Legacy: The family car competition! It’s almost like Toyota’s entry-level econobox melee: Yaris vs. xA vs. xB vs. xD.

It seems like STI buyers are going to need either a facelift, or a strong aftermarket geared towards aesthetics; and EVO buyers are going to need a strong carbon fiber-oriented aftermarket or a penchant for tow-trucks in the form of lack-of-spare-tires.

October 07, 2007 V35 Nissan GT-R

06:27pm by Cheechoo (Cars)

The GT-R is back! 500 hp Twin-Turbo V6, AWD, 7-speed Sequential Transmission. But… Nearing 4000 lbs? All some very cool stuff, except for maybe its weight. It has been speculated to give Porsche a run for its money.

It definitely has the looks – it seems to have gotten rid of the runny-mascara look of the old prototypes, even though the mask is on this one. There is certainly enough hype for this iteration of the GT-R to challenge Porsche. I guess we don’t know how cool this car can actually be until the official Nurburgring times get released, or at least some official 0-60 and skidpad numbers. The Nissan GT-R is not here yet, but the hype sure is.