ABOVE: Still one of my favorites, the runner up in the Subcompact and Compact Family class, the 2019 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk. Photo: Ryan Douthit, MediaSpigot LLC The Northwest Automotive Press Association’s Mudfest event brings in the newest 4WD/AWD vehicles for judging by a host of automotive writers. Now in its 25th iteration, this year’s event…
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I’ve long wanted to build some sort of super sleeper. You take one car that is not anywhere near a high-performance vehicle from the factory, add in some sort of higher-horsepower engine/drivetrain/suspension, and surprise a bunch of people. Here are three of my dream projects on our sister site, Subcompact Culture. Read more …
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I’ve long said that most people love to belong to something. Whether it’s a club, a devout loyalty to a brand, or whatever. Everyone likes to belong somehow when it comes to automotive things. There’s seems to be an unofficial hierarchy to it. The base layer is “car guy” or “car gal.” Next up is…
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We just picked up a brand-new ARB Classic Series II portable Fridge Freezer. This new fridge comes in a new color, but it also has new features such as Bluetooth connectivity. Let’s see what’s in the box. After we unboxed the unit, we plugged it into our Pajero utilizing the ARB Wiring Kit, which we…
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Spring is here and we survived the overblown Snowpacalypse in the Pacific Northwest. The weather is getting nicer with gorgeous sunshine, tolerable drizzles, and breezy cloudy days, which means it’s the perfect time to break out the RC crawler for play time. Despite spending a lot of time inside during the winter, the Traxxas TRX-4…
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Having accessible air is a necessity when off-roading. Deflating tires is a must in order to allow for a comfortable off-tarmac ride and additional traction, and quick inflation offers up the opportunity to get your rig ready for your ride home. Since Andy and I have multiple 4x4s (a Mitsubishi Delica and two short wheelbase…
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One of my least favorite maintenance practices is having to replace the gear oil in a vehicle’s axles. It’s often smelly, messy, and an overall pain in the butt. So when it came time to replace the 80W-90 oil in our 1991 Mitsubishi Pajero‘s axles, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. But I had…
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RC cars are a rabbit hole of wallet-emptying enjoyment. The hobby mimics 1:1 vehicle culture on a smaller scale, even down to the events. The Washington Remote Control Rock Crawlers, mostly known as WARCRC, holds a Top Truck Challenge for scale RC vehicles and last Saturday was the group’s annual event. As the event name…
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Vehicles from the 1980s and 1990s are starting to become popular projects, especially those older JDM or Euro cars and trucks that are now available for import to the U.S. under the 25 year rule. But those looking to buy something from the malaise or Radwood era should remember: these are not new cars, and…
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Over the years Andy and I have reviewed several products, whether it be via our sister site Subcompact Culture or here, we put each item through its paces. Since we’re ramping up gear reviews, we thought it appropriate to create a series about them. Introducing Crankshaft Culture Gear Garage. We kick off this new segment…
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