Vince's Stuff: Italy trip photos, a bit of progress on the RSX

The trip to Italy was a nice break from winter. We drove over 800 km (on one tank of gas!) in our diesel Renault Clio and never saw a trace of snow. It really felt like Spring in Italy, even though we were only in February at the start of the trip. We spend an evening in Amsterdam on the way home (where it was not as warm as Genova). I also visited the OMP headquarters, just north of Genova, and it was impressive. They had a 70's Ferrari F1 car in the showroom, formerly driven by Clay Regazzoni. As is usually the case, there are not many high-end cars in Genova, but there are a lot of interesting ones. We went to see a soccer game in Milano, and there, you see Lambos and GT3's.

Cool Saab 900 coupe in Amsterdam

Bad photo of a cool Seicento on OZ Racing wheels

Clean Mk 2 Golf on Pirelli wheels

I love the Africa Twin

Unexpected "Trail" version of the Ford Transit

Forte Sperone, high above or apartment in Genova

Vintage Panda

We work on small cars!

More scooters than cars in Genova

Size difference between a Seicento and a Crosstrek

Fishing boat on the beach

Our trusty Clio

A Daihatsu I had never seen before

300 CE-24 coupe

Regazzoni's Ferrari at OMP

H-pattern gated shifter!

It's not big by modern standards

They are also distributor of Bell helmets. Jules enjoyed the display

Modern Senna-style helmet

Vintage Lauda helmet

Jules trying out a Le Mans Ferrari seat

Leclerc's helmet

And Lando's

Many, many suits!

Cool Defender at Ikea

Volvo T-5R wagon in flat black!

Two different greens

Camogli looks like a post-card

Inter Milan at San Siro stadium

Cool design of the stadium

Emira at the dealership in Milan

Oscar enjoys a very thick slice of pizza

Only Morgan I have ever seen in Italy

992 GT3 in Milan

This old Yamaha was in mint condition

Canadair Super Scoopers at the Genova airport

I haven't done much with the RSX... the weather has been very winter-like. I did drive it a bit on days when the roads were dry, and I still enjoy it. It doesn't have a lot of low-end torque, so it feels pretty slow around town. It is, however, pleasant to drive and comfortable. I am really curious as to how it will feel on track compared to the yellow Civic. One job I did, with Oscar's help, was to change the lens of the gauge cluster, which was stained with something white which I just could not clean off. Luckily, when I bought my RSX motor a few years ago for the EK coupe, the seller gave me a few other parts, including a gauge cluster from a 2002 RSX. The cluster is not compatible with a 2005, but the lens is. It made a nice difference in the interior. We also figured out how to change the radio lighting to orange-red, like the cluster has. Since I had already changed the shift boot, the interior is looking quite nice. The driver's seat is ratty, but I am changing it anyway. It's my next project for this car, in fact. Then, I will bring the car to JS so he can swap over the suspension. I have ordered a baffle kit for the oil pan, which is less than 200$, so I think it's good insurance. I have been keeping an eye on used wheels, because the OEM summer wheels, while they look cool, are not very wide (7-inch) and their offset is not very agressive. I think people will be surprised with what I chose, but I picked up a set of early 2000's Mustang GT wheels. Why? They were only 200$, they are 8 inches wide, they are not heavier than the OEM wheel and they have a more agressive offset. This means I will have a wider contact patch and the track of the car will be 4cm wider. I think that's a decent modification for 200$. Also, this allows me to have a set of comfortable street/rain tires on the OEM wheels. Just stacking the bare wheels beside the OEM ones shows that there will be some nice extra width.