MOBILE RACE COMMAND CENTER

If a race isn't too far away, I'll often take my Element, my home-away-from-home. This weekend's race in Wisconsin is too far, over 1600 miles roundtrip according to Google Maps. I've installed a Mac Mini in my car to keep me entertained on the road. I can play tunes while driving and watch movies and TV shows when parked. If I looked tired at Hatfield-McCoy, part of the reason was I stayed up too late watching the season premiere of Weeds!

To install the Mac Mini, the first problem I needed to solve was "Where will all mount all this stuff?". The Honda Element doesn't really have a good hiding space for all the hardware I needed. The Element SC, however, has a HUGE center console and it looked big enough for my purposes. There's a company in Michigan that modifies Element SCs to make them suitable for handicapped drivers. They rip out the consoles and sell them on eBay. I think I had to pay around $500 for mine (that's including the handbrake, as the standard one won't work).

PHOTO 1: How the console looked when it arrived

PHOTO 2: Holy cow! It fits!

PHOTO 3: Carnetix P1900V/P5V PSU ... puts the Mini to sleep when ignition is off, wakes it up when it's on.

PHOTO 4: Carnetix Mac Kit requires you to wire it to the Mini's on/off switch internally. It replaces the Mini's cord and power supply brick.

PHOTO 5: Carnetix PSU installed under passenger's seat. I don't like things like this installed on the floor, but I didn't have much choice and it's been no problem ... yet.

PHOTO 6: Installing the new handbrake. I had to remove the driver's seat. Bummer.

PHOTO 7: Handbrake installed, head unit out, and console dry-fitted.

PHOTO 8: Apple Dock painted and installed. Griffin PowerMate installed.

PHOTO 9: Touchscreen installed. OSX Combined Update being installed.

PHOTO 10: The head unit and Mac Mini in place. There's a pocket beside the Mac Mini with a 4-port USB hub in it. I had a local car stereo installer fabricate some of the special parts. He did a nice job.

PHOTO 11: I have an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard and Mighty Mouse for use when I'm not in motion.

PHOTO 12: I fabricated a platform that can be installed when I remove the rear seats. I place a Cabelas camp mattress on it, making it shockingly comfortable to sleep on.

PHOTO 13: A view of the platform from the side door looking back. The black fabric is a cabana specifically made for the Element that I purchased from Honda.