Kimini 2.2 - Videos, links,
and audio files

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Videos are all ".wmv" format unless otherwise noted.

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My videos:


Test Drive 1 (6MB)
Frankly, I was nervous as hell. *Everything* was suspect... what would break first? Nothing broke, but I did have an "event." Turning down the hill after the stop sign caused the fuel to run forward, away from the pickup. This resulted in an embarrassing stall, making me feel very, very, far from home right then. The haze in the background is smoke from the huge fires in Southern California. While I thought I had problems, others were watching their homes burn down. I kept that in mind which is why you don't hear me lose my temper when the engine quit...

Test Drive 2 (5.4MB)
After fixing the fuel system, out we went again. For the first drives, I had removed the fuel cell foam, which unfortunately allowed the pickups to float, sucking air. I also hadn't thought through the fuel header tank, which I figured out was being emptied faster then it was being filled. Anyway, after it was fixed, it ran much better, but it still wasn't running right. Later I discovered the MAP sensor wasn't wired properly.

Test Drive 3 (12MB)
First test drive after Kimini was built "for real." Still no shell, and in fact this shake-down drive was an effort to regain some enthusiasm... sanding sucks. The notable event is at 5000rpm, something happens which (as of the day of the test) I didn't understand. The engine acted like it hit a rev-limit. At the moment I suspect something related to the VTEC switch point which is around that rpm. (Update: Later investigation showed the problem was caused by excessive back pressure in the exhaust... I think.)

12/27/05 First complete road test since completion (17MB)
The first drive as a complete car, just around the neighborhood. While the drive went fine I was very uneasy; yesterday's "warm up" drive didn't go well, with the engine suddenly running on 2-3 cylinders for some reason. I had driven it home, left it overnight, and today it ran perfectly. Great, nothing like a serious problem that just "goes away." Only time will tell if it's really gone. I also discovered why inner fender wells are a good thing...

0 - 60 Tests (9.7MB)
It's a very common question, "What'll it do 0-60 in?" - okay, let's find out. There's also a little spirited driving, showing just how easy it is to zip about. FWIW, a later test after the speedo was properly calibrated, resulted in a much faster time because I didn't have to shift... 0.7 seconds faster.

Ann's Drive (20MB)
My sister Ann's impressions while driving Kimini for the first time. She's much more animated than I am so this one is much more entertaining. It also gives a new perspective of the driving experience rather than just from me.

Cecil's Drive (22MB)
My buddy Cecil drives Kimini. As an ex-roadracer so his input was valuable and, like Ann, he's more animated then I am so it's more entertaining. Someday I hope to get a drive in his 3-wheeler (still in construction.)

First autocross practice, 1 April 06 (57MB)
The car performed well, better than the driver! It leans a bit but since there were no anti-roll bars it wasn't unexpected. Anti-roll bars will be added soon.

Second autocross practice, 3 June 06 (59MB)
The car did very well, this time on a smaller more twisty course. I'm slowly figuring out the magic combinations of driving a mid-engine car fast. To all those who said/say the car would spin way too easily, nope, not a problem. With the stiffer springs there is no need for anti-roll bars - good. It was a very warm day.

Third autocross practice, 25 June 06 (67MB)
Another hot day (93deg F). This event was held at an abandoned airbase in El Toro, CA, so there was room for a large course. Lap times ranged were 88 - 100 seconds; my best being a 94 - I need to brake harder coming into turns - there's still a lot of untapped potential in this little car! Average course speed was around 45; I stayed almost entirely in second. I drove Kimini the 60 miles to and from the event; the WaterWetter and distilled water coolant helped but it still ran warm on the way home.

Streets of Willow trackday, 17 Nov 06 (53MB)
Streets of Willow Springs, a great venue for Kimini's first trackday. This was the culmination of the 9-10 years of design and building; to see whether my design decisions could cut it or not. In short, the car handled as well as I could have ever hoped for; the dreaded oversteer was not an issue. Cooling was still a bit of a problem, and the brakes got pretty hot, both will require duct-work changes, but overall, a wonderful day.

Laguna Seca trackday, 2 Jan 2007 (45MB)
Laguna Seca is an awesome track in a beautiful part of the country. Unfortunately, it means there are rich neighbors who complain about the noise, which means a 92dB limit - really tight. The car did great, and passed everyone in my group. With the upgraded brakes, there was no problem diving hard into corners. What I discovered though is that I need to spend some serious time learning how to drive better. My brother said I'm doing a "fast in, slow out" cornering style, and I have to agree with him - something to work on. I had to lift off the gas going up the hill because of the sound meter, off to the right (I came very close to getting kicked out due to being too loud.) Oh, and the SuperTrapp muffler sucks eggs, I've decided.

Dyno Day, 2 Dec 2007 (50MB)
Finally got the car on the dyno. I went with a group of guys driving all sorts of coolness, which I include a few of here, with mine the last one. I fully expected to be disappointed by the numbers, but instead was very happy! A stock Honda Prelude makes about 165 horsepower at the wheels and this run shows the engine's pretty happy with the few mods I've made.

RV-8 Airplane ride (10MB)
The day finally came to get a ride in my brother's RV-8A airplane. Pretty cool except that my stomach always takes away the fun. No I don't lose my lunch, but it's always just enough to negate the fun. I suppose if I built a plane and flew it a lot I'd get over it but for now I'm sticking with cars. His plane was sometimes reluctant to start due to the fuel boiling in the fuel injector lines (it was a very hot day.) Once it's running it isn't an issue. An uneventful flight, not like what'll happen when my wife finds out...

Cooper's one-year anniversary (4.7MB)
March 18 2004 marked the one-year anniversary of Cooper's injury and operation. This is just a few minutes of him today at the local park playing with a buddy. Yeah it isn't car related, but many important things in life aren't. My wife and I are very happy to have him recovered and he seems so glad to be alive. I must say I haven't seen too many dogs this happy!


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Other cool videos:

Top Gear Broadband (link)
An excellent hardcore BBC sportscar show. This is a link to their video library, test drives of just about everything worthy!

Big steam train (150MB)
I finally got to see a real, actual, running steam train, not one of those little weenie ones at amusement parks. This one ran between Los Angeles and San Diego upto the mid 1950's. While the video is huge, something like this deserves to be show in high-quality. So just be patient; the wait's well worth it, and make sure to turn up the sound!

Alain deCadanet, uncensored (2.0MB)
If you get the Speed channel, no doubt you know who Alain DeCadenet is. One year during a race at the "Goodwood Revival" he performed a maneuver that caused someone to go off, but wouldn't take any responsibility for it. I thought that was really poor form. So here's a fun video of him, an out-take made during production of a show about the WWII British Spitfire. (Contains some bad language)

Pulling a buddy's car out of the snow (15MB)
I've seen plenty of dumb videos on the Web and while most aren't worth the bandwidth, every once in a while a real gem comes along. This one... it goes from "Yeah so?" to "Geez!" A big file but worth it.

European hill-climbs (link)
Video Concepts has some really cool videos for sale. The link above is a sample from a European hillclimb. It's very impressive stuff, both for the cars and video production. The most amazing driving is near the end... what I call "zero margin." When the page opens, click on what the red text "Video" points at, "Camera No4".

Fast lap of Sebring in Porsche GT3 (10MB)
Some very fast shifting... very impressive, and a very fast lap from on-board.

Audi Rally car, the old days... (6MB)
Imagine driving a 500hp AWD car as fast as possible down dirt roads - tightly lined with people! Fancy footwork too.

A very fast 1962 VW van (28MB)
Take one 1962 VW van, put the shell on a later year van, but also stuff a 520hp 993 twin-turbo Porsche drivetrain under it. Interestingly, it has virtually the same performance as Kimini. I love cars like this; old looking ones that kick some serious butt. A large file but great fun.

BMW Rally car close call (link)
BMW rally car gets about as close to completely losing it as possible. It looks like there are about four times where things could have gotten much worse.

Model B-52's last flight (4.4MB)
A very impressive model airplane, though "model" doesn't do it justice. A fellow in England decided to build a B-52 replical bomber and he sure did, with a 28ft wingspan. For engines, he could have done a lot of reasonable things, but no, he decided to make it absolutely authentic, using eight real micro-turbines (which last time I checked were $3000 each.) Sadly this is its last flight; there were comments it was pilot error, getting left and right mixed up as the plane turned back. :( Normally I don't like posting someone's misfortune and grief as "entertainment." But it is such an impressive plane, no one got hurt, and hopefully some or all of the turbines were saved. Make sure you have sound turned on.

Very manuverable Mini (link)
A custom Mini at an autocross. He must use differential braking at the front to do those 360s. Regardless I don't think anything short of a kart could beat his time.

1100cc sport-bike powered kart, crazy! (15MB)
Cram 150hp or so into a 250lb kart and you'll have a crazy ride. I could do without the techno music but it's still good. Probably gives an idea what Schumacher feels.

100hp turbine-powered kart (2.3MB)
What can I say, this just cracks me up, I want one! This is of several high-speed passes (90mph claimed) and he pulls in and shuts it down so you can see it really is a gas-turbine and not just sound effects. In addition to this video they have many others (click on "multimedia") on their own site, www.turbokart.com.

A child's imaginative drive (6.2MB MPEG)
This is a lighthearted, very well done digital animation of a child's imaginary drive in his backyard. Great fun - I've watched it several times. Good sound, which you may recognise... and watch for the badguy's weapon.

Megabusa on track (7.0MB MPEG)
A Hayabusa-powered Super-7 on track. Gotta love that throttle oversteer, and passing just about everything including Ferraris.

BMW-powered hillclimber (10.5MB MPEG)
A very impressive, very fast ride up a winding mountain road. Though it sounds like it has either a bike or even a F1 engine in it, it's actually a straight-six BMW M engine in the back generating 385hp. Watch this and understand why there's so much more to motorsports then dragracing and NASCAR...

Ariel Atom test drive (43MB MPEG)
A large but very exciting and entertaining video. This is the British Top Gear TV show segment when they test drive the Ariel Atom, a car I'm very impressed with. I don't think Ariel could buy better advertising then this - great fun to watch.

Tiny V8 (1MB MPEG)
Here's an extremely impressive V8. I can't imagine how many 1000s of hours went into its construction.

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Misc fun videos I've collected:

How long can you hold your breath
Lady Sitters
Cure for bordom
Never disturb your husband
Ride in the snow
Best home improvement tool ever.
Trunk Monkey 1
Trunk Monkey 2
Bad dog!
The keys
Invisible fence
Hungry? Try Taco Town!