Carroll Shelby Dead: Age 89

It is a sad time indeed. The legendary Carroll Shelby has passed at age 89 of pneumonia.


A true innovator and pioneer, he lives on in his cars and as an inspiration to many.


Over the years this mighty giant went from racing in to production. After a heart problem he was born with stripped him of his track suit, he decided he would design cars others could use. Among his mighty and beautiful creations were the Shelby Cobra, the Viper, as well as the GT40.

When Ford and Ferrari were working on a car together and Ferrari pulled out, Shelby stepped in to help finish the revolutionary race car, the Ford GT40, which would go on to steal the Le Mans title away from Ferrari - for four consecutive years.




Rest in peace, Texas' Giant.







For an even better telling of this great Hero's story go to: http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/carroll-shelby-2012-05-04

College Engineering Advice

First thing to know is: I'm studying Mechanical Engineering. Currently a sophomore I've had a bit of experience and so I compiled a small list of ideas for future students. (Also, I'm an ASME Officer, jus' sayin')

Some high school students ask me questions about classes and there are a few select rules that I've ended up telling most of them, so here goes:

1. Screw AP

     Dual Enrollment is much more worthwhile. You are guaranteed the credit, you can build your GPA early on and DE classes are generally easier than AP.

2. Take AP

     I know, I know, I'm contradicting myself. But listen, Dual Enroll in classes that don't matter to your major. So say you're doing engineering, too. Dual enroll English and social studies, and arts or humanities studies as well. Things like calculus, chemistry, physics, statistics, etc... you should AP. The reason is even if you don't pass the AP you'll at least learn a lot more in AP for when you take classes in college, plus it serves as good practice. So mess up as much as you want and your college GPA isn't sacrificed for your mistakes.

3. Learn to Study

     I mean this one. Some people study differently; flashcards, basic notes, practice problems, hell some people don't need to study. Learn where to study, some people can do it around friends in their room, some people need the quiet solitude of library stacks. If you're like me, you prefer to be outside in the sun by water. It's nice. Point is, get comfortable, and get studied!

4. Accept Advice and Criticism

     Learn to accept that sometimes a separate point of view can be right. Sometimes you'll spend an hour on a single problem and get no where near right, a friend can offer a simple concept or idea that will instantly get it right. If you're too prideful to accept help, get over it. You'll never work alone as an engineer, and if you can't accept help from a friend, you'll be doomed for the rest of your career.

I hope this helps a bit, and no worries, I'll be offering more tips and advice through my semesters as an engineering student alongside my assessment of cars.

See ya guys!

6 Hrs of Spa

On Board Telemetry of the e-tron from Spa

This past week Audi returned triumphant from their WEC race at Spa. The 6 hour long venture ended in a 1-2-3-4 place win for Team Joest, lead by one of their new super weapons, the R18 e-tron quattro.
This new car uses a hybrid system to recover energy from the brakes while slowing through corners, and then pushes that power to electric motors for cornering through, and out once power is applied at the apex. This gives the car more grip and a higher linear velocity when coming out.

In all this new fangled car should be ripe by Le Mans; a lot of data was taken and experience learned for tweaks on the new cars. Afterall, the Delta Wing and TS030 are waiting to challenge Audi's authority.

Here's a video from onboard the car with it's telemetry at Spa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OREUhlcK28


See you all around the corner!

Truth in 24 II

It is no secret that I'm an Audi fanatic. My blog is mostly going to be about German cars, I          drive a Volkswagen, and I'm even taking German 101 this coming fall.


It is also no secret that Audi dominates at 24 Hours of Le Mans, and has so for the last ten years. This year will be no different, in fact it'll be easier. Their main competition, Peugeot, has dropped out of the race. They have also left manufacturer racing entirely because they can no longer afford the venture.


So who will be left to stand between Audi and the title? This year it will be Nissan with the Delta Wing and Toyota with the TS030. Not to mention that Audi themselves have a brand new weapon, the R18 e-tron.

These two cars thrown in against Audi will make for an exciting race, invariably worthy of a movie no doubt?


See three years ago, when Peugeot had a car that was significantly faster than the old R15, a documentary of Audi's race season was made, "Truth in 24", and this year they will be making another one of these documentaries.


If you are a fan of Audi, racing, Le Mans, or any sort of combinations of the three, I suggest you watch it. It is 90 minutes of pure adrenaline, watching one of the best teams and one of the best cars attack Sebring, Monza, and Le Mans.


Remember, Le Mans is on June 16th, so stay tuned to hear more about the race and Audi!


Go Team Joest!




Audi USA: http://progress.audiusa.com/
Audi Sport: http://www.audiusa.com/us/brand/en/exp/motorsport.html?csref=inid_motorsport
Le Mans: http://www.lemans.org/en/
Peugeot: http://www.peugeot.com/en.aspx
Nissan Delta Wing: http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/nissan-deltawing-launch-le-mans-2012-03-13
Toyota: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_TS030_Hybrid