KeriBlog

Cars, Security and a Peek into my Life

Spoke at the Automotive Business School of Canada

This morning I spoke at the Automotive Business School of Canada.

It was great to meet you, class! Clever of you to specialize in this industry, an ever-growing one with gobs of money behind it, an endless number of verticals so there’s a place for whatever your passion, and best of all, people who are passionate, intelligent and industrious.

To those contemplating getting a degree in anything auto-related, this is your school.

Choose between a 2 or 4 year program, both of which boast an ridiculously high 90% grad placement rate over the past 28 years. And it uses a lot of experiential learning, like how the class annually hosts the largest outdoor Auto Show in North America.

The curriculum for this class features a weekly guest speaker. Last week was the President of Audi Canada, this week was Jim Kenzie and I, whom you’ve met before.

Students – links to things I touched on:

– my weekly column, ‘Keri on Driving’ here, the car section of this blog here, and my section at the newspaper here

– my issue with autonomous cars here

– a car runs on the CAN bus network here

– have a job for life by specializing in auto security here

– why I’m not a fan of hybrids here

– and really – just be prepared to out-work everyone and you’ll do great!

– no, wait, one more thing – I wasn’t checking my phone, I was checking the time, well, expect for this one time haha

Thanks for having me today,
email me anytime with questions
and good luck to you!

Go too:

The Automotive Business School of Canada at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario

 

 

Order the 10th Annual Kenzie Car Calendar

Each year, Jim Kenzie publishes a calendar of his best photos for charity.

Best part about the calendar:
100% NO Photoshop

This year’s cars!

1 – my top dream car

2 – best review I’ve written to date is about the MX-5

3 – Jim and I competed for Nissan in the 2014  Targa rally

4 – this scene became the below blog header

5 – so glad station wagons are coming back

Click here to buy, $15 + HST, half goes to charity, and make sure to tell him what to autograph.

I’m hidden on the cover.

I’m here:

That’s good helping.

We were testing Hyundai’s all-new 2015 Genesis in BC last spring. Here’s the blog post, which also links to the paper review.

Congratulations on a decade, Jim!

 

 

Targa Rally Day 4 – Meet Part of #TeamNissanTarga

Let’s start with my driving partner Michel Crepault.

A 30-year veteran of the auto journalism world, Michel founded and publishes L’Annuel de L’Automobile (Annual Auto Guide), a 14-year old, 700+ page book that details every vehicle available for sale the upcoming model year. Click that link to buy it.

We’re fast becoming a very solid team, and I’m lucky because right now, he’s doing our mapping homework alone, so I can post this.  Merci Michel xo

Our team’s entry into the fastest category is Nissan’s Juke, Nismo edition.

Driving the Juke is Jim Kenzie.

You know Jim, I’ve introduced you before because he’s awesome.  And good at Targa too, having competed in all 13 of them, and winning 3 times, phft.

Part of that winning us because of his navigator, Brian Bourbonniere.

That’s his racing suit that he wears in the passenger seat, and is so good at navigating he once completed a rally without making a single mark on the paper, handing it back to the rally master as it was given to him.  That is ridicuoulsy difficult.

No matter how many questions I pester him with, only patience in return.  And I have a _lot_ of questions.

And this is Cathy Cole, the glue of the team. She herds us around and takes care of logistics, and when you say to her, “Cathy, can you please…” she’s already thought of it, and pulls it out of her purse.

Helping her adhere my sticker to her binder is Mario, our tech, who I’ll introduce you to in another post, along with Danny, Michael, Jenn and Didier.

We’re a solid team!

Because there’s a lot of laughing, and everyone gets along really well, which considering there’s so many of us, how rare is that. Exactly. #TeamNissanTarga

 

 

Enter the 6th Annual “Rally ‘Round the County”

If ever you’ve wanted to try a car rally, this Sunday in Milton Ontario is your chance.

My friend Jim Kenzie will be there, who has great stories to share, and make sure to ask him about fog lights, he loves them ;)
 
 
Below is his write-up, and if you do enter, good luck and let me know how you did!

***

The sixth Annual “Rally ‘Round the County” takes place this coming Sunday, May 25, starting at Milton Heritage Park.

Registration opens at 9 a.m., first car away at 10 a.m., and you should be all done by 1:30 p.m.

This is a low-key, family-oriented, ‘Time-Speed-Distance’ fun event – bring the kiddies!

All you need is enthusiasm and a modicum of mathematical skills. If you lack the latter, bring a calculator – we’ll teach you all you need to know!

Prizes for best scores, and for best costumes. Sure, dress up – why not?

Silent auction and barbecue (included) all to raise money for Girls Inc. of Halton, which offers after-school programs for girls who need support.

$60 entry fee per car.

Jim Kenzie will even be there with his lovely 1977 American Motors Hornet hatchback. But don’t let that stop you…

A ‘Welcoming Fund-Raising Party’ will also be held Thursday, May 22, at “Shoeless Joe’s Restaurant”, 800 Main Street Milton, between 5 and 8 p.m. 10 percent of all food sales will be donated directly to Girls Inc.

For more information, please visit RallyRC.com.

 

 

Hyundai’s all-new 2015 Genesis

2015 Hyundai Genesis

3.8L 6-cylinder, 8-speed automatic
Power/torque: 311 hp & 293 lb-ft

Read it online at Autonet.ca.

Top photo is looking good, eh? No branches sticking out of the roof?

Because this is happening behind the car.

Clean and ergonomic interior, and the materials are really well chosen. That’s open-pore wood, a rarity.

There’s also a happy absence of chrome and shiny bits, which as a mega-minimalist, I like.

This trip’s driving partner was Jim Kenzie.

We had a great time cackling down the road, so much that we missed an exit and made a 60km mistake.

We were in Kelowna, BC, home of the Ogopogo, one of Canada’s mythical creatures.

Hi Chad!

So arty.

Hyundai’s done a great job on its showcase vehicle – this is where the badge is headed.

All the features and finishings found in the BMW 5-series, Mercedes C-Class and Audi A6, but for $10,000 less, because the Genesis is a less known badge, which so much of the luxury sedan segment is about.

Take advantage of this. Get the second trim, “Luxury” at $48,000 and since Hyundai’s only bringing in about 2,500 of these to Canada, there’s the exclusivity.

 

 

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