The Copen is a typically Japanese adorable little 2 seater. It already offers fully swappable body panels, so creating fun and funky 3D-printed versions is a natural extension of that program. The new panels themselves are a mix of bubbles, geometric shapes, and organic structures.

As it stands this is a small move made by a niche player, but fast forward a year or so and you shouldn’t be surprised to find Mercedes, BMW or especially Tesla offering something similar on their premium cars to allow customers to create truly custom cars. Get rid of the funky moonscape designs, replace them with monograms or crests and you’ve got something right up Rolls Royce’s alley.

So what would you 3D-print onto one of your car’s body panels?

The post 3D-Printed Car Parts Are The New Hotness appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

We’ve teamed up with AutoZone to walk you through how to do an oil change on literally any production vehicle (I’m daring you to point out some obscure Citroen on our Facebook page, and yes I’m aware of Tesla)

When do to an Oil Change:

The common rule of thumb is to change your oil every 3 months or 3000, whichever comes first. For most modern cars, this is simply no longer true. Many cars produced since 2000 can go 7000 miles or more without a change thanks to synthetic oils. Check your cars manual or simply google when your car’s scheduled oil changes are, but you can’t go wrong assuming 3 months and doing it early.

What you’ll need:

• Jack and jack stands
• Oil pan or empty bucket
• Wrenches
• New oil filter and possibly a washer for the drain plug
• New oil

How:

Here the process is always the same. Simply –

• Find and watch YouTube videos or read forums showing the process on your particular vehicle
• Drive your car over to a friend who has tools or run your car until the engine is warmed up but not hot enough to burn you. Or burn yourself – your call really.
• Jack up the front of your car and place it on jack stands
• Place the oil pan or bucket underneath your engine
• Locate and remove the big, obvious bolt sticking out of the lowest point of your engine. It won’t look like any other bolts around it. Any YouTube videos or diagrams should show you.
• Drain all the warm oil into your pan or container
• When the flow out has reduced to a trickle, you can remove your oil filter. This will likely be a brightly colored cylinder on the side or bottom of the engine. These sometimes require a special wrench to remove, but can often just be done by hand 
• Once the oil is done flowing out of engine, simply reinstall the bolt (often times with a new washer) just to snug and install the new filter – first rub fresh oil along the rubber gasket of the new filter to aid in creating a tight seal.
• Fill up the car with the required type and amount of oil (again in your manual or online forums)
• Drive to the auto parts store to dispose of the used oil for free, then check your new filter and drain plug for leaks and the level on your dipstick to ensure the oil level is within range
• Assume a smug face now that you’ve successfully done your first oil change

Why:

Doing your own oil change is the first step towards mechanical proficiency. Yes, it will likely cost you the same amount of money and time as it would to just take your car in to a oil change stand, but the sense of accomplishment, bragging rights, and empowerment are certainly not the same. There are generally only two reasons I hear for not tackling an oil change yourself – lack of desire and fear. While I can’t help with the first one, the latter should certainly be solved by the list above.

If you need any help with this or need a DIY garage in Los Angeles, check out Wanderwell Society in Venice. It is a great DIY social club that can help you fix your car, boat, or even washing machine!

The post The Power of the DIY Oil Change appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

In memory of driving a smoking car home, I can recall that the white smoke seeping out the hood was from the back of the bonnet closest to the firewall the day I drove it home. If you look back at the last photo from Part I, there was a coolant leak that streamed from somewhere behind the front wheels. After a few days of digging around the interwebs trying to figure out why I have a coolant leak, it seemed that this is a common occurrence in all Audi’s. I spent an evening taking off the engine covers and inspecting the leak and all the symptoms point to the rear coolant flange. Interestingly enough, this flange is isn’t visible at glance and is located in the back of the engine block. You see that red arrow? Well it’s under that rubber hose and a bunch of other shit right before the first firewall just for your inconvenience. Yes, I said that right, first firewall. This car has two firewalls because German engineering or something.

Feeling confident I went ahead and purchased the necessary parts along with some of the items the previous owner’s mechanic recommended. Being that I didn’t want to spend too much money on repairs, I made sure to calculate my spending and keep it under $300 if possible. So off to the parts store I went. I purchased the rear coolant flange, mass airflow sensor, coolant, and spark plugs, at just shy of $220. As I was walking away from the store I remembered that the hood strut had a tendency to fail. My cheap ass was contemplating if I really wanted to spend another $30 on a hood strut, but I recalled working on a car in the past with a pole jammed into the fender supporting the hood was not a good idea. I shelled out the extra cash to prevent decapitation and a potentially expensive medical bill. This was probably the smartest idea I’ve had in the past few weeks.

Following with more smart ideas, when working on a car usually you want to get easy stuff out of the way first. So with the hood strut replaced I went to town on the engine starting with the mass airflow sensor (MAF) which is located somewhere in the intake box away from the major work I needed to do. Within a few minutes into working, it dawned on me why it cost so much to service these cars. Changing the MAF sensor on a Japanese car usually takes about 10 minutes with just a few screws to remove. This car took about 30 minutes. It he time to get to the part that needs replacing far exceeds the time to actually replace the part, it’s mechanical surgery at best.

With the mass airflow sensor replaced, I noticed that the area surrounding the valve cover was abnormally dirty and quite possibly looked like it needed a new gasket. My grease monkey senses told me to replace that as well, and good thing I did. Once removed, the old gasket looked like it was probably never changed and was crustier than a teenage boy’s sock. When replacing a valve cover gasket you’ll want to make sure that the back of the cover and the parts where the gasket lay is properly cleaned and degreased before you reinstall. This will prevent any possible leakage upon replacing. Also if you plan on tackling this job yourself, I’d like to point out that once replaced and you start the car, it is normal for smoke to rise from cover due to the excess oil drips in the surrounding area.

Now we come to the dreaded job to find this coolant leak. After removing about a thousand hoses and bolts to get to the back of the engine block including the coolant reservoir tank, I was greeted with a wet and faulty coolant flange. With the flange removed, I saw clearly that the bottom part of the plastic bracket that is responsible for holding the exit hose rightly tightly in place had a big crack in it. I’m pretty sure that has to be the problem. But before installing the new one a new problem arose. The new coolant flange had two holes whereas the stock one that only had one.

This is because all of the new aftermarket flanges that you buy from Autozone or Oreilly’s were created with the intent to also work for newer model Audi’s and VW’s. My patience was tested as I read online and found out that I would need to buy a dummy plug. I decided to just go straight to the VW dealer since it seemed like such a specific part and I didn’t want order online and wait a couple days. Little did I know that stupid fucking dummy plug cost me a whopping $27. It ain’t called a stealership for no reason. By this time I just wanted to get back to wrenching before the sun goes down and I didn’t feel like MacGyverering a makeshift plug because doing a job twice on anything, especially a car, sucks. If you can afford to do it right the first time around, do it.

Feeling good about this coolant flange swap, I plugged up the flange and started screwing the first two bolts connecting the rear coolant flange to the engine block. Except that after about 3 minutes of wrenching the top bolt kept on spinning. Something wasn’t right. I removed the bolt and saw tiny shreds of metal on it. The fucking screw stripped the hole in the engine block at the worst possible location. How did I manage to do this? I was wrenching hard to reach places with my gloves and must have miscalculated the angle of the bolt. Lesson learned, don’t ever wrench tiny bolts with gloves on again. The sun was setting and I was beyond pissed. As I aggressively unscrewed everything to pack up, the other bolt that was supposed to hold the flange dropped somewhere down the engine bay and never met the floor. Feeling defeated with a lost bolt and stripped engine block, I just left it at that and called it a day. So much for this car being ready to go in less than a week.

The post Will It Flip!? – 2001 Audi A4 Quattro – Part II appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Tires help you stop when they can actually grip the road – so for the love of all that is holy get proper snow ones. Brakes make your tires actually stop, so you’ll need those first. Fresh wipers assist you in seeing what it is you’re braking in front of. And a solid battery makes sure you’re not stuck in the cold trying to start your car to no avail. These all seem like good things to us.

Many of these items are easy to replace on your own, or any shop such as an ACDelco professional service center can help. ACDelco comes as original equipment for all GM cars, and they can get you winter prepped and on the salty roads in the time it takes you to set up your dating profile on that hot new site you heard about during your office holiday party…

And once it is set up, your new date will be impressed that you are capable of piloting your sweet ride through the winter hellscape while all the other jabronies on the road are sliding around like 2-ton figure skaters. Now THAT is a good first impression…

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of ACDelco. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Isn’t it about time you prep your car for winterpocolypse? appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

The Cadillac Seville might not flood your memory with warm feelings of nostalgia, but it does represent a tectonic shift in both the automotive and sonic fields. This car represents the very first time a premium audio company entered the automotive market. Bose was the company to do it, and their vehicle division – Bose Automotive – has stubbornly continued to push additional sonic envelopes with each new generation of their vehicular hi-fi systems. They invented the branded car audio system, and during CES this week they debuted an absolutely stunning four(!) vehicle lines that you will be hearing, and sharing with others, in the coming year.

The Advanced Technology Series

This is it, the big daddy of the Bose Automotive lineup. The Advanced Technology Series (ATS) is not the kind of stereo system you can option into your Honda or a branding exercise that’s all off-the-shelf parts. Bose is only going to be coming out with an ATS system every few years, and to be included in a car Bose needs to have access from the very beginning of vehicle design. We’re talking a 4 year lead time for this product line. Why is all this necessary? How does the fact that with unprecedented access from the frame up, Bose can create the absolute best system for that vehicle strike you? This is why Advanced Technology Series systems will not be available widely, will only be in one specific vehicle at a time, and will only be coming out every few years. Look for their first such system, the 34 speaker Panaray system, in the upcoming Cadillac CT6.

Small Vehicle Series

Up to this point in all of recorded human history, branded hi fi audio systems didn’t exist in the smallest of compact cars. These  typically beginner cars make due with paper cups posing as speakers due to the segment’s bargain pricing. But once again, Bose is stepping into uncharted territory with their Small Vehicle Series. As the name suggests, these systems are exclusively for the heretofore sonically unloved A and B segment cars. And the genius here is in the packaging – bringing high end audio at a price small car buyers can afford. The boffins over at Bose Automotive played some clever tricks with their speakers and placement to create what I can easily and happily describe as the best stereo I’ve ever heard in that segment of car. Car rides with your poor cousin are about to become much more bearable.

Performance Series

Where other audio companies have certainly played is in the luxury and sports car market. Here, you have a wealth of choices depending upon car brand. So it is beyond obvious that Bose would play here as well, and this is where their Performance Series sits. This is their system of choice for your luxury sedans, face-melting super cars, and those that blend the two. While not a full Advanced Technology system, the Performance Series still represents the top shelf of Bose Automotive technology and implementation. From the visual elements to the invisible sound staging, these systems are world class. My personal favorite touch was the distinct placement of every instrument on the invisible stage on the dashboard.

Premium Series

The bread and butter of Bose Automotive – the Premium Series – is likely how you associate Bose and vehicles. These are the systems that are in a frankly amazing 9 manufactures’ vehicles. No other audio company can claim such a feat. The Premium Series will continue to be the cornerstone of Bose’s push into the automotive world, and expect to see the advancements of the ATS and Performance lines trickling down to everyday cars  each year as tech progresses.

Bose forged a brave new world in 1983, bringing high fidelity audio out of the living room and into the car. Now in 2016, with their announcement of 4 lines poised to push new boundaries, the future has never looked, or sounded, so bright. It is a good time to be an audiophile, and an even better time to be a driving one.

The post Bose Automotive Debuts the Future of Car Audio appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

The Roomba has been around for a few years now, but that’s always been more of a toy than a serious floor cleaning solution. Much like the villain from any 80’s Schwarzenegger movie, they are too weak and ill-tempered to truly be effective. Now Samsung, the company behind the leading Android smartphone, curved HDTVs, and even laptops has stepped up to the plate and given the world (and us to test) the POWERbot. Just imagine, a vacuum cleaner with a name like a Power Rangers monster. Yeah, you need this.

But looks and a cool name will only get you so far in this world, does it actually suck (in the good way)? We challenged the Samsung POWERbot to carpets, wood floors, area rugs, and tile entrances. Across every surface, this little Skynet scout didn’t hesitate to scramble over it and destroy any dirt it found. You can also forget about watching it endlessly bump into the same object as if it was some existential barrier. This sucker has 10 sensors that map out the room it is in and automatically plots the most efficient pathway to get your floors all clean and spiffy. It is actually frighteningly impressive to watch this machine replace what was a uniquely human task only 5 or so years ago. Next to this thing, commuting via jetpack just sounds exhausting and not worth the trouble.

Other household drones could learn a lot from the POWERbot, from it’s ease of use and design to it’s functionality. Nothing seemed to fluster this little robot. Not even when I  poured out a box of corn flakes right in front of it and loudly questioned the chasteness of its mother. Samsung’s little vacuum just plugged away and patiently ignored my taunts, like it knew it’s kind would soon be in charge…

But that day is not today. For now, you can enjoy as the Samsung POWERbot cleans your home, puts up with your pranks on it, or even gives your cat a ride. We may not have limitless energy, moon bases, or instant pizza quite yet, but by God we can have floors cleaned by a robot in this future that we’ve crafted.

The post The Samsung Powerbot is the future we were promised appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Automobiles are inherently mobile, and increasingly they contain equipment that would commonly be considered computing devices… Many of the ECUs embodied in today’s motor vehicles are carefully calibrated to satisfy federal or state regulatory requirements with respect to emissions control, fuel economy, or vehicle safety. Allowing vehicle owners to add and remove programs at whim is highly likely to take vehicles out of compliance with these requirements, rendering the operation or re-sale of the vehicle legally problematic. The decision to employ access controls to hinder unauthorized “tinkering” with these vital computer programs is necessary in order to protect the safety and security of drivers and passengers and to reduce the level of non-compliance with regulatory standards. We urge the Copyright Office to give full consideration to the impacts on critical national energy and environmental goals, as well as motor vehicle safety, in its decision on this proposed exemption. Since the record on this proposal contains no evidence regarding its applicability to or impact on motor vehicles, cars and trucks should be specifically excluded from any exemption that is recommended in this area.

To put that very simply, because you COULD do wrong or evil by modifying your car, you shouldn’t be allowed to do it; because you can kill with a hammer, you are no longer allowed to buy one; and because we made this hammer so complicated, any modification of it would make it a weapon not a hammer. Under their proposed reading of the law, you own your car but not the software that runs it. And while this is terrifying in-of-itself, it has far reaching consequences for all other devices that come with firmware preloaded. Your washing machine? Nope, you don’t own that either. Your television? Still belongs to Sony. Your microwave? I guess we’ll let you keep using it for now…

As word is spreading about this proposed change, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others are circulating a petition to add an exemption to the DMCA to allow people and independent shops to work on cars, and I encourage everyone to sign it.

The post It Could Soon Be Illegal To Work on Your Car appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

A new episode comes out the day I am writing this, which I will definitely torrent, but if I’m being honest last week’s episode still sits on my harddrive unwatched. I just don’t care that much. Top Gear is shiny and well produced, and features amazing metal in jaw dropping locations. But I’ve moved on to a show that is none of these things. I’ve moved on to a YouTube series shot either on a handheld camera or gopros. I’ve moved on to a show that entertains AND educates me. I’ve moved on to Mighty Car Mods.

Like many people, you might stumble across Mighty Car Mods as a YouTube suggestion if you are looking for DIY car projects or performance enhancing myths. If you’re smart enough, or properly bored enough, to click through you’ll find a pair of Australian twenty-somethings, both with full-time real jobs, no budget, no enormous crew, and occasional focusing depth problems. And they are killing it. The show’s hosts/cameramen/producers/composers/caterers – Marty and Moog – will happily take you through any modification to your car – from touching up wheel scratches to full custom turbo system installations – on real world economy cars using real world tools.

Marty and Moog have a great dynamic that matches anything from May, Hammond, and Clarkson of Top Gear. And you actually learn something from these quick 8min videos as opposed to watching an hour of the BBC’s  “car review show” that is featuring less and less actual content. And of course Top Gear is just entertainment at this, but Mighty Car Mods is doing that AND teaching. Edutainment at its best.

I’ve got an hour of Top Gear waiting for me right now that I can’t make time for, but I’m watching several Mighty Car Mods episodes a day as I work through all the seasons. And I’m very happy with that choice. Here’s a great starter episode to try out, all about how one achieves “street cred”:

The post This Show is Better Than Top Gear appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

We recently sat down with Henrik Fisker. This modern day renaissance man designed many of the cars that adorn posters and dreams worldwide. Not content with having an amazing design career, he went on to found several companies, design a yatch, and a motorcycle, and furniture, and…well you get the idea. He is currently launching two (!) companies – VLF and Fisker Automotive – along with two new cars (one car for each company, ‘natch…), so we just had to meet Henrik Fisker to figure out what makes him tick.

Interview has been edited for clarity and brevity:

[question] First of all, thank you for sitting down with FactoryTwoFour. I loved the Fisker Karma and it was the second car I reviewed as a new automotive journalist. You’ve done so much over your career and have been involved in so many interesting projects. When you were 25 years old, what did you imagine you would be doing with your life right now? [/question]

[answer]Honestly *haha* I expected I’d be owning my own car company quite frankly, living in LA! What hasn’t happened is owning my private island and racetrack! [/answer]

[question] There’s still time… Viewed from outside, you’ve had the Midas touch with your designs. Many if not all of your designs, the BMW Z8, Aston Martin Vantage, the Karma, have stood the test of time and gathered universal praise. What unifies all your designs? What are you trying to say with each one, and why? [/question]

[answer] I have always gone out on a limb and forced through things I believe in – like generous sculpture instead of slab-sided cars. If it’s too cluttered the cars tend to age quickly.

I just love cars. If I can connect anyone emotionally with my designs that’s something I love. Ultimately you want the person who buys a car to really fall in love with the shape. That is always my goal. [/answer]

[question] For you, what’s the most beautiful car every? Why? [/question]

[answer] *Haha* can I mention my own? The Jaguar E-Type convertible is so dramatic and the sculpture is so beautiful, it has to be the E-Type. For myself, it’s the last car I designed because I put so much into it. So that’s the Force One and Fisker EMotion. They have my sweat and blood.[/answer]

[question] Yes, so the Force One is basically a Viper turned up to 11 and re-bodied in more modernism than an art gallery. Why did you choose the Viper to base the car on? And if the Viper is so good, why mess with it?

[answer] Basically I had an idea for an American sports car. It’s the biggest market for sports cars, but there’s nothing at the highest level of the market. American cars mean you get the most band for your buck. I met a guy in Texas who was racing Vipers and all the mechanics of the car seemed perfect.

At the end of the day the Viper was the ultimate because of the long hood, the biggest naturally aspirated motor, and the fraction of the cost of a European sports car. American design is “show me what you got.” You shouldn’t be timid about it. The Force One, more than half the car is the hood, it’s got 21″ wheels, so it was really about designing the car to show the power.[/answer]

[question] So production started in August, have you delivered any cars yet?[/question]

[answer] Yeah, we just delivered the first car to a gentleman in Texas. Our next batch goes out after Christmas.[/answer]

[question]You only plan on making 50 Force Ones. How many have you sold so far, and who is buying them?[/question]

[answer]We’re just having fun. This is a fun club where we’re selling to collectors. We don’t do any advertising. We’re selling mainly to car collectors and enthusiasts. People with a high true affection for cars. This car is for someone who likes having their neighbor come over to their driveway and ask “what is that?”[/answer]

[question]This is such a classic old-school kind of car. Is VLF a rebuttal to electrification?[/question]

[answer]It would be very nice for the future if we have choice, electric cars or sports cars. I like choice. This is the extreme fun side.[/answer]

[question] I really loved the Karma, but given how everything went with that company why are you still playing in the electric car market? Nobody would blame if you if picked up your ball and went home…[/question]

[answer]  With the Karma, it was an amazing experience, it was like the wild west. There were only 3 battery companies for auto and ours went through recalls and went bankrupt.[/answer]

[question]With the EMotion you’ve cracked the 400-mile range barrier. Given that something like 90% of American’s drive less than 40 miles a day, does range really matter?[/question]

[answer]Here’s the simple reason why – it matters until we have an infastructure similar to gas stations. Unless you have a house, if you live in a city like New York or Paris you can’t charge every night. If you have 400 miles of range you only have to charge once a month.[/answer]

[question] So what does the future hold for you? What’s next?[/question]

[answer] A lot of hard work I think! I feel the future is extremely exciting. I just can’t sit still.[/answer]

[question] And finally, here at FactoryTwoFour our goal is to live “the original lifestyle,” what does living the original lifestyle mean to you?[/question]

[answer] Living the original lifestyle means you have to try to make your dreams a reality and never give up. It doesn’t have anything to do with money. I love traveling the world and meeting my customers, and it’s easy because the world is getting smaller. I love doing this, and living your dreams for me is it.[/answer]

The post An Interview with Henrik Fisker, the Designer’s Designer appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

With all the new rule changes, everyone from the drivers, the teams, and especially the fans are all starting over from 0. No one knows what is going to happen this year and that makes for exciting racing. It also makes for a fan base willing to explain to newbies the intricacies of the sport. Nobody has any idea how this season will turn out, so it seems that everyone is all too willing to volunteer their personal theory.

I watched my first F1 race two weeks ago in a crowded downtown LA bar, and it was a total delight. The TVs were too small, the sound was muffled, I had a terrible seat, and it was all great. Despite my virginal knowledge of the sport, I felt a part of this community and joined in their excitements and disappointments. For those two hours, I was an F1 fan.

Get out there, find a Meetup or Facebook group that organizes public viewing parties of the races in your town. Show up, get a plate of wings, and join in the fun of watching the teams and the fans try to figure out the new regulatory landscape. The racing has been good so far this year, and we’re only 2 races in. Plenty of time to jump in, down some beers, and join the F1 crowd.

The post Go Watch F1 With a Bunch of Lunatics appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.