Alanz Eyes

Dyno Day

Add comment May 24th, 2008

I went to a Dyno Day to get my car’s power output tested. Being a turbo-charged vehicle, I thought it would be a good idea to find out what it puts out. While I was there, I took some photos of a lot of other really hot cars. Enjoy.

My car ended up putting out 206rwkw. It gives me a base to work with when I start doing upgrades in future.

Dead Money

3 comments May 8th, 2008

I’ve been looking into doing some modifications and upgrades to my car, and in the process of talking about it with various people, some of them have responded with, “Why would you want to spend money on your CAR?  It’s DEAD MONEY.  It’s going nowhere!”

It’s interesting how many people buy cars and just drive them around until they die, or until they trade them in on another car.  Or some people don’t buy cars at all, either considering it a waste of money, or can’t afford it, or it doesn’t fit into their belief systems.  And then there are those who spend money on their cars, doing them up, improving their performance or appearance.

Car Cruise

Add comment April 26th, 2008

We went on a car cruise with other Ford drivers of XR6’s, XR6 Turbo’s, XR8’s, and GT’s. Was a lot of fun, and included lunch too. Here’s a few of the photos.

It’s time to return

1 comment March 19th, 2008

After being inundated with complaints from the horde of screaming fans (hi Ella!), I figure it’s time to return. Plus, I’ve gone through a few emotional issues now, and feel much better. It’s actually quite fascinating how the loss of a parent can affect you, when you never thought it would. At least, you never think you’ll be affected the way you end up being affected…

I’ve changed the template of this blog, in preparation for another change in my life. I like working with the changes in my blog reflecting changes in my life. I think that works well. This change is, according to some feedback I’ve already received, much more professional looking, and better to read.

More photos of the XR6 Turbo

Add comment July 29th, 2007

I took a few more photos today after giving the car a bit of a wash. I like it looking nice - as does everyone, I guess, when they get a new car…

Driving my car

3 comments July 23rd, 2007

One of the most enjoyable aspects of having the new car is, of course, driving it. I was taking a friend for a drive yesterday, and he asked me why I got that car instead of one that didn’t have the turbo. I told him it was simply the ‘fun factor’. Why else would you get a turbocharged car, if not for the enjoyment it gives you?

I was just doing a bit of reading today about how people drive their cars, and I realised that I have a number of different styles of driving, that take advantage of the functionality of the car and the transmission. I thought I’d talk about those different styles.

How much was your car?

Add comment July 10th, 2007

A friend of mine, who’s also a loyal fan of this site, asked me this morning how much my car was. It wasn’t an easy question! There were different prices all over the place, so I had to summarise the complications for her. Here’s what I wrote:

It took me a long time to understand the complications of Australian tax law and how they applied to me, and then use them to my advantage, let me tell you! Here’s a summary of the complicated situation in a way that simplifies it…

• Car is worth ~$53,000 on the road
• I work as a contractor with a salary management company, who becomes my ‘employer’
• Salary management company is eligible for the purchase of fleet cars, which gave me a fleet discount on a brand new car of about 10%
• As a contractor I can lease the car
• Leasing the car avoids paying GST (which is payable on the value of the car after the term of the lease) so that drops the car value by about 10%
• Value of the car drops to ~$42,000 on the road
• I get a lease on this which comes to about $1475 a month over 5 years ($88,500)
• I salary package it with my pre-tax income, which drops my taxable income and results in a tax savings
• The effective payments out of my after-tax income is about $880 a month, which means that over 5 years I’m actually paying only for the value of the car ($52,800)!
• There’s a residual of $12,000 at the end of the lease. I can sell the car for about $25,000 (based on current depreciation of that kind of car over the past 5 years) and walk away with ~$13,000 profit, resulting in a $53,000 car only costing me about $40,000.

I’m sure you can see how the ‘price’ of it becomes quite complicated for my situation! But I’m very glad that I had a lot of time to research and gather information about how to do it the best way.