This Manual AWD Turbo 1998 RAV4 Will Make Your Subaru Cry

Ryan Shaughnessy is a huge fan of both the Toyota RAV4 as well as the—a mad station wagon made for the Japanese market only. So he swapped a 256-horsepower Caldina GT-T 3S-GTE engine into his 1998 RAV4. The best of both worlds makes for some great snow-conquering hoonage. Shaughnessy describes...

Sep 13, 2025

How The 2017 Ford Raptor Lowered My Neighbor's Property Value

Shortly after turning my backyard into a deep, slippery mud-pit with the 2017 Ford Raptor, I received a text from my landlord: “Good afternoon. Please come see us at your convenience.” Oh shit. On the morning my coworker Freddy and I were meant to pick up the U-Haul trailer to...

Sep 13, 2025

What's The Best-Worst Car You've Ever Owned?

There were days when I would walk out to , key in hand, filled with joy and anticipation for the drive to come. There were also days when I wished I would walk out and find that my car had been crushed by a meteor and I’d never have to...

Sep 13, 2025

How My Rusty 1948 Farm Jeep Challenged $50,000 Wranglers On The Trails Of Moab

From day one, all cards were all stacked against this idea. Pretty much every major mechanical part on this 1948 Willys CJ-2A was broken in some way, I had little money and even less time, and the weather in Michigan made repairing anything in my garage total misery. The prospect...

Sep 13, 2025

How A Guy Built A Rear-Wheel-Drive Honda Integra In His Garage Is Completely Insane

This car started out as a right-hand-drive, front-wheel-drive, JDM Honda Integra and its owner David Richmond figured he would do (what seemed like) a simple parts swap to make it rear-wheel drive. Simple is not how things worked out. Richmond explained on video turned up today on that he thought...

Sep 13, 2025

Here's Exactly How Much My 1948 Jeep Off-Road Project Cost

Oh god. This is going to be bad. After my “budget build” 1948 Willys Jeep, dubbed , turned from a project into an all-consuming obsession, I basically handed over my credit card and wept in the corner. Here’s the damage. Project Slow Devil began hopelessly. For months, many of my...

Sep 13, 2025

The Headaches I Endured To Get My 1991 Yugo Street Legal

My head was pounding. It felt like it was being crushed in a vice. I could barely breathe. “Do you mind if I take my helmet off, officer?” I asked. He said it was fine, there was no rush. It was a Sunday afternoon after all, and I had just...

Sep 13, 2025

This Cheap Tune Gives You The Honda Civic Si Hatch That Should Have Been

If you were disappointed that the, your best bet might be to get the cheaper Civic Turbo and slap on a Hondata tune. Here comes the 214 horsepower and 220 lb-ft of torque you deserve. Back in the day, if you wanted more power out of your Honda Civic you...

Sep 13, 2025

How Has Getting Older Changed Your Wrenching Habits?

I get messages all the time from readers reminiscing on their glorious wrenching days. As much as I enjoy reading these, they’ve got me deeply worried. Will I someday have to give up the wrench? Will I be too old and infirm to complete even the simplest repair? Or can...

Sep 13, 2025

The Brilliant Engineering That Keeps Your Engine Cool

As smoke billows from your hood, you look down at your gauges to see the needle pegged in the red. Your engine is overheating because something in your cooling system has failed. In the final episode of , I take apart and dive into an entire engine cooling system out...

Sep 13, 2025

How To Install Racing Seats In Your Car To Improve Your Driving And Feel Like A Bad Ass

There’s nothing more satisfying than experiencing something that feels like it was engineered with a distinct, desired purpose. Naturally, you want as much of that feeling as possible with your car, and installing racing seats is a decently inexpensive and super effective way to improve safety and driving experience in...

Sep 13, 2025

This Time My Shitty Old Volkswagen Got Me Mugged

When you stall a 1974 Volkswagen at an intersection, any intersection, even ones on the far side of Memphis in the middle of the night, somebody always materializes to help push it to safety. This time it was a volunteer firefighter about to leave a nearby drug store, and a...

Sep 13, 2025

Putting A Wood Deck Into The Back Of My Car Was Way Easier Than I Thought

I don’t know how long I’ve had this stupid fascination with putting a wood deck into the back of , like some enclosed truck, or the world’s smallest ‘70s van. Finally, my car now has one, and I’m surprised at how easy it was to build. There are a couple...

Sep 13, 2025

Here’s Exactly What It Cost To Buy And Repair An Old Toyota Pickup Truck

A year ago, I had the urge to buy an old four-wheel drive Toyota Pickup. The boxiness of the body, the square stance of the off-road suspension, the no-frills interior, and the perceived reliability of an old Toyota—it all came together to create an irresistible combination. But is the craving...

Sep 13, 2025

Two Tricks For Making An Engine Swap Easier

As a , I have about the easiest time of anybody in the car world when it comes to dropping an engine. There are four bolts to undo, a handful of wires and lines to unplug and the whole thing can come out. The rest of you have a tougher...

Sep 13, 2025