My Car: 2000 Mercury Mystique

"This is my car, there are many like it but this one is mine..." Okay if it isn't already obvious this my car a 2000 Mercury Mystique. The Mercury Mystique and its sister car the Ford Contour are a series of cars that came from Ford Motor Company. The Mercury Mystique is mid-size sedan that comes with either a 2.0 Liter 4 Cylinder or a 2.5 Liter V6. It was orignally made for the international market, but Ford decided it should be in the US market too. In 1995 the first Mystiques and Contours hit the road and by 2000 the last of them were produced. The first generation of Contours and Mystiques had some newer features that became stadard today. The second generation of Mystiques and Contours had a few face lifts and some horsepower gains; by 2000 the V6 model had a total horsepower rating of 200 HP. My car is the only car of this series I have tested and it is the V6 model. It had about 70,000 miles on it when I got it; so far it's the best car I have ever driven (probly because its mine). It already has a few modifications done to it and I don't plan to do anymore because I already have plans to trade it in within the next year or two. The Mercury Mystique is a nice mid-size for almost anyone.

Gran Turismo 5

Here is one of the most realistic and interesting games out on the market Gran Turismo 5. Grant Turismo 5 (GT5) is the fifth installment of the Gran Turismo series and is currently the latest version out on the market. GT5 has probly the best graphics, best realism, and best of all its for the Play Station 3. GT5's level of "in to it" is determined by how much you have invested in to getting a setup. By setup I mean items such as steering wheels, HDTV(s), Surround Sound, etc. The more you have invested into getting a setup, the more you get from the game experience; for instance I have 19" HDTV, 2.1 base sound, and the Logitech Driving Force GT. These items allow for involved game play, but the game can be played with much less sophicated setup abd still get enjoyment. What makes GT5 great is how the game progresses, you start at the bottom (like any other game) and work your way up to fame and glory, but unlike any other game it takes alot longer (as in monthes longer) to were as must games usually take at the most a couples of days to completed. All-in-all, GT5 is probly the best racing game on the market.

K&N High Flow Air Filter

After plenty of research and personal experience I can say that K&N Air Filters are great (under certain circumstances). K&N advertises that their air filters improve performance and fuel economy as a result. I can tell you that through all my research, K&N stock drop-in high flow air filters don't improve horsepower. The only way to improve horsepower is to add a cold air intake system, if your car does not already have one. Don't be discouraged, an increase in throttle response is noticed with these drop-in filters and the engine idles smoother. I was lucky that my car came stock with a cold air intake from the factory. Okay, so my car already has a cold air intake, but does it improve performance? Probly not, because the cold air coming in already gives the engine a boost in performance by itself even with a stadard paper air filter. Usually performance cars such as Corvettes, Cobras, Vipers, etc. would be the sort of cars that would have an improvment with a drop-in high flow air filter. So why did I get a drop-in high flow filter from K&N? Well, it complements the cold air intake and the new performance muffler I will be getting. In my final opinion the sort of people who should be getting a high flow air filter are race car drivers, performance car drivers, and anyone that wants to squeeze that last drop of performance out of their engine. As for filtering ability, high flow isn't always dirty, but make sure you consult with an automotive expert and/or professional mechcanic to see if it is worth it.

Team Przekop Nitro Motorsports

Many people don't know that I have a race team, well sort of. My unofficial race team is currently not a team or at least a one man team. Team Przekop Nitro Motorsports has one nitro gas R/C car and one driver. I do plan to expand the team in the next five years and make the team an official team with more than one driver and car. I started the team in a single thought and made it. Right now my on road Traxxas Nitro 4-Tec limits me to on road races. My car is in need of a chassis overhaul, the motor is too small, the exhaust needs to be bigger, and the drivetrain needs overhauling too. Oh, and my car needs a new body. As of right now money isn't coming in, so I can only go with what I got. My car is capable of going 65 MPH; yeah not bad for a 1/10th scale car. I do plan to write more stories about my R/C car team if things get going.

Zippo BLU Lighter

Another Zippo review this time with the Zippo BLU Lighter. Zippo did it again with another extraordinary lighter. The Zippo BLU Lighter has been out now for couple of years with mixed reviews. I am going to tell you the pros and cons of this beautiful lighter. First the pros, the Zippo BLU produces a very hot (very blue) flame. The Zippo BLU is capable lighting other things, besides cigars, like candles. Like the original Zippo it has a refilable flint device. It also has the Zippo click when the lid is opened and closed. Now the cons, the Zippo BLU lighters tends to be touch and go with its ignition, but only because the fuel is escaping the pipe at a high rate. The other disanvantage is that flame does tend to go out if just release a little bit of pressure on the button. Other than that it is a great lighter that is more sucessful than not. As for the flame it produces a flame that is about an inch and a half high, which some people say is not high enough. In my opinion its high enough.