I've got a pair of reebok driving shoes. I only wear them on special days, and the only car I own that's a manual is a '91 Integra.

I'm gonna go cry now.

Recently, I once again sucessfully resisted the temptation to buy dedicated driving shoes (in this case, Piloti Prototipos). I've had the addidas ones in the past, but consider those more of a fashion shoe.

I guess i didn't want to be "that guy"...on my last recon trip to the Dragon, I picked out the owner of an S2000 parked outside my hotel because of his shoes. Some Se7en owners with larger feet need the slim line soles of wrestling/driving shoes but I have size 8s and have driven the Cat in Red Wings.

I put a set of Hella FF1000s driving lights on the front of my WRX wagon, in addition to the stock fogs. My rationale is: I live up here in the hinterlands, where it gets dark early and often in the winter. My wife's opinion: I'm a huge dork. During the first weeks the lights were on the car I ran the plastic rock covers. You know, the white ones that say Hella. Well, the first time the wife saw them she wouldn't get in the car. She thought the covers were trying to say I'm "Hella Cool." I've switched to the transparent lexan shields now.

Back on topic, probably the geekiest car-related thing I've done recently (besides staying up late writing that Carlisle post or ordering an in car fire extinguisher) is rig up a garden sprayer filled with distilled water as a final rinse aid when I wash the Seven.

I went to a party at car club that was hosted by a car blog.

I have a pair of wrasslin' shoes for the same reason, size 13s. I also bought a pair of Puma Speed Cats, and never wear them, except when driving. SPEEEEDCATZ!

I bought a 1970s Jaguar and spent three weeks fixing a fuel leak and the carbs. Oh, wait, that's just dumb.

Aside from that I just bought a pair of Adidas driving shoes, and while almost fashionable, they are nice and narrow and help my giant hooves dance around a Mini's peddles on the weekends.

I just timed the oil change on teh Mazda 3... again.

I know i can knock 2 minutes off if i can find some quick releases for that farking under engine shroud.

I went over the GPS data from the last rally to compare sector times of stages that were run multiple times to see where/how/why I was faster in certain sectors on certain stages.
I also located another SOHC boxer for the rally car and devised underbody protection panels that I need to fabricate up.

I don't think anyone is as car-geek as rally people....

@b.borrman:
My stance is...if there's no Nomex involved, it's leaning toward fashion vs. utlity.

I have a pair of speed cats (incredible pedal feel)

Focus: I think the most obsessive car related thing I've done recently is use Klasse All In One on the Spanish tile in my kitchen. If you're not in the know, Klasse AIO is one of the best 100% acrylic cleaner/polish/sealers (especially if you live in rainy Florida where cars pick up dirt like Paris Hilton picks up STDs). It actually works great on tile.

If you were truly hardcore, you'd get yourself a pair of the nomex driving shoes.

Come to think of it, I should get a pair of those. Last time I did any serious wheeling in the Jeep, the boots I had on were less than favorable for easing in and out of the clutch in lo range in tight situations. If I do, then that will be the biggest car geek thing I have ever done. Other than spending too much $$ on my Jeeps anyway.

@b.borrman: I have a pair of Adidas driving shoes and a MINI, too.
I also meet up regularly with other MINI drivers at a go-kart place that gives splits and lap times and race until my hands are claws and my neck muscles have the look and feel of chewed gum.

@Drive-thru: You've at least got something like this I hope: http://www.fumotovalve.com/

I put them in my Jeeps and they are teh badness. Now if I could just make changing the oil filters as easy and mess free.

My dad once designed, built, and installed copper undertrays for his first gen MR2, in the hopes of making it more aerodynamic. But he didn't have the turbo. I think he was bored that weekend.

I made a baseball into a shift knob. That's more dumb than geeky, but it looked cool.

Also, everyone should get into boxing.

@Al Navarro: since you mentioned it I thought I'd check whether I could get the Pilotis in my size. Yes, they do come in a size 15. It's tempting...

@Al Navarro:

Ok, you found my secret shame, fashion driving shoes. Then again, I haven't really needed fire protection since my last rally four years ago.

The shoes are rather natty though.

@HDC:

GADZOOKS!

And on topic, I think this practically defines geeky.

I signed up as a press member to BMW Press and spent an entire afternoon downloading huge high-res shots of the BMW Art Cars. I did the same at Porsche and downloaded shots of Carrera 4Ss, and at Lamborghini downloading pictures of Espadas. Yeah, I'm officially awesome.

I'm pretty sure this is violating some arcane law as well, shhh.

About 10 minutes ago, I complained that Ray didn't give me an official Jalopnik Hat Tip for the story about GM using its GMAC stake as loan collateral.

@HDC: oops almost forgot...

my 94 chvy s-10 had this interesting plastic trough that would catch the oil filter mess, sliuce it 6 inches and drop it in line with where the drain plug was.

its stuff like that that makes you want to send flowers, sometimes.

In high school, I put a dixie horn (from J.C. Whitney, of course) on my 1985 Jeep Cherokee. I was so cool.

Thinking a little harder, I once watched a dirty video of a woman and a shift knob (still connected to the car) on a car blog. It's hard to get geekier than that, unless you were the woman.

God, what blog was that?

I signed up as a press member on BMW Media and spent an entire afternoon downloading huge high-res pictures of BMW Art Cars.

I did the same at Porsche and got pictures of Carrera 4Ss and GT3s, and at Lamborghini where I pillaged images of Espadas and Jalpas.

Yeah, I'm officially awesome.

Also, I bet this is violating some sort of arcane law. shhh...

Does buying a "Save The Enzos" shirt count?

(Especially if it's in the largest size offered, which I call "2 XLs and a Sport Fury")

@Bumblebee: Not only did I see that video but it was sent to me by at least 3 people

Installed some custom repair shims (eBay, $17) to fix the top motor mount on my wifes Saab 9000, rather than pony up for a new one.

They work, er, sorta.

@teargas: i, too, rock the puma faux-driving shoes. two different pairs, actually. (I say faux, because they have a warning tag on the tongue, in German, stating that they're not fireproof...)

Also, I swapped the stock antenna on my car for a 2.5" shortie. Next up will be installing bracing.

@lascauxcaveman: Whoops, I just sent a tip to Jalop about Nissan electronic keys not getting along with cellphones.

That's pretty geeky.

@Bumblebee: whats geekier, you watching it or the dudes here at...i mean there at that blog looking at it first and saying "that needs to be on OUR site!"

I bought a Mini...

I go out of my way to make my commute include a dirt road so I can ogle a fintail Mercedes sedan sitting in a field. The cleanliness of my car suffers for it, but that's alright.

That, and until relatively recently, I insisted that the 6 year old pair of Vans I had were excellent driving shoes, as they were so worn out as to be, essentially, slippers.

I've got a digital collection of various car company logos. There's about 370 of them (excluding variations).
I memorized my Supra's VIN.
My own fantasy garage is creeping up on 900 entries.

@Bumblebee: That video is beyond awesome...ahem, um....I've heard.

I've done so many geeky things it's hard to pick a #1. I keep a detailed fuel log that tells me my mileage, cost per mile and what ECU map I was running.
I've waxed the deck of my LawnBoy, top and underneath. I also waxed my SS kitchen sink, that didn't work out well though.
I made my own hardened tranny mount (do NOT google that) instead of paying $50 for an STI part.
I painted the hats on my brake rotors Detroit Diesel Alpine Green because red was too flashy and black and silver were too stealthy.
I sandblasted and repainted my rear tow eye, because I can see it.
I patterned, cut and sewed my own leather shift boot.

On the driving shoes - I just got the DC driving shoes that recently came out. Not because they are the best driving shoes out there (they probably aren't), but because the first run includes a limited edition in the Subaru rally colors. Can't wait to use them at the track and underwhelm people with my mediocre lap times.

And as far as other car-geekery, I downloaded and printed the entire multi-thousand-page tech's guide for my car, and 3-hole punched all the pages and put in binders. I did this JUST IN CASE I take something apart and need to know the torque specs for a nut/bolt. But hey, it did provide me with the schematic necessary for disabling the daytime running lamps.

Oh, perhaps most recently I took several hours and smoothed the face of the brake calipers for my '68 C10 build-up. They are now painted a nice gloss black and awaiting assembly and installation.

When I was 17 I made an open-element air cleaner for my Mustang using the lid from a bucket of driveway sealer. It worked pretty well too.

Tom

Oh. im told that since i use a TORQUE wrench on my lug nuts...

I raced my 94 Olds 88 in a street braket class at the local drag strip last weekend,(the race car is still in pieces).

Up against some actual built up race cars, i went 4 rounds before the event got rained on. Actually MADE money racing the grocery getter and had fun doing it.

On the Shoe issue -anyone ever have a pair of adidias Sambas? They are indoor soccer shoes, which means they are tight, light, and have excellent arch support!

O, and geekiest car thing . . . I just suggested a pair of "driving" shoes because they have arch support.

I got removed from a (Auto)blog 'cause I couldn't get along with their favorite pet Lithous.

Wait.

Backdafuckup...

There are such things as "driving shoes"?!?!

@IppoJ: Ha! The handmade leather shift boot thing. I did that with my old Rover sedan. It was some of my very best work.

It was worth it just to hear the Scotsman I sold the thing to a few years later say, "Thaaat is Nought a Rrrover Shift Boought!"

@dearyou:
The Pilotis come in the orange and black...which would have matched my Cat...upping the geek factor.

I'm a commenter on Jalopnik.

@Greg A.: yeah, does this count? thanks for adding me!