Does the way your vehicle runs affect your mood?

Absolutey.

My car (like everyone else’s) runs better in cooler temperatures. Each gulp of air the engine takes contains more oxygen and results in more efficient combustion. Smaller inputs from the throttle are needed to get the desired response.

Cooler weather also means that chassis and suspension bushings are slightly harder. This results in better road feel and in this case, better responses to steering input and better communication through the wheel.

Cooler temperatures mean that the brakes work with greater efficiency as well. The already incredibly tactile shifter feels even more direct.

I have a laptop connected to my engine’s CPU through the OBD2 port under the dash. I can make small adjustments to the fuel/air ratio. With experimentation I can get what might seem like tiny performance gains. But no matter how small these improvements they manifest themselves as a tangible sensation.

Life is short, your time is precious. Your clothes, your food, your transportation: These are all things you must contend with on a daily basis anyway.

Why shouldn’t they be as much of a source of pleasure and satisfaction as you can afford?

Yesterday, what I thought was a simple fix turned out to be a small nightmare , but six hours later all fixed and ready to go,and lots of skinned knuckles .

For sure.

No, but my chauffeur can become quite livid, he’s a jolly good sort, but tends to let himself down at times.

No—except after it’s been professionally washed, as it was this past weekend after almost a year of NO washes. It seems to run so much better for the rest of the day, and this makes me very happy.

Yes! I turned on my relatively new (2013) car on Saturday morning and heard a rattling noise. By the time my husband got under the hood, it stopped and I haven’t heard that noise again, but it made me so anxious that something might be wrong with it already. He said it may have been water in one of the fans from all the rain we had, so I’m hoping he’s right.

Every car I had before this one has been a bit older and has given me plenty of problems. Car trouble pisses me off.

GQ @SQUEEKY2

“Skinned knuckles”. Stay dirty my friend.

@SecondHandStoke Thanks.

@Pachy

Washing my car(s) by hand is a meditation.

More importantly I know what products and methods are used. I know for example that there is no highly abrasive brake dust in the cloth I’m using on the car’s delicate clearcoat.

There’s also no risk I will warp a brake rotor by spraying it with cool water on one side while it’s still hot.

Drive through car washes are concerned only with making your car look as good as possible quickly and inexpensively. They have no concern about their effect on a car long term.

Hand washing personally is also a great opportunity to inspect your car up close. Multiple times I have found a potential problem sooner because I was looking it over as I washed.

If my car messes up, I immediately get it to someone who can make it better.

My dad was kind of a dick, and a former auto mechanic so I avoided the machinations of machines as a kid, in order to spend less time with him. My sister (who my father physically abused, along with mom – hence my distaste) was the grease monkey and loved helping dad work on her cars.

TMI, I know, but there it is.

RIP Robin Williams. :)