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Afraaz Irani

Afraaz Irani holds a BS (Honors) in Computer Science and Biological Sciences from Stanford University. He also holds an MD from the Stanford University School of Medicine.

One of Afraaz’s hobbies includes working on cars. Afraaz has been into cars ever since he took Auto Shop at Santa Clara High School. He enjoyed learning about the four stroke engine and appreciates the challenge of figuring out what is wrong with a car and how to fix it.

Afraaz’s first car was a used 1993 Ford Probe GT with the 2.5L V6 engine and a five speed manual transmission. Costing a hefty $1000 the car served him well for many years, before eventually succumbing to California smog emissions likely due to bad valve guide seals. The probe was a fun car, at one time slated to replace the Mustang (thankfully it never did)!

Afraaz Irani loves to drive a manual transmission car — the coordination and skill of using both arms and legs to guide a car appropriately makes driving more engaging and enjoyable. With the introduction of dual clutch automatic transmissions, it is likely that driving a manual transmission car is a dying art. Indeed even Ferrari no longer sells a car with a manual transmission. The Mazda Miata remains one of the few remaining cars to sell a significant portion of its cars with a manual transmission.

Afraaz Irani enjoys keeping on top of the latest literature by following car enthusiast magazines including Car and Driver and Motor Trend. He is also a fan of CNET on Cars which reviews Car Tech.

The recent trend in automobiles to add more tech is of particular interest to Afraaz Irani since it marries his educational background with his passion for cars. Tesla’s revolutionary model of electrification of the automobile, as well as the ever advancing demands of customers from their car infotainment systems are of particular interest to Afraaz. The focus in Silicon Valley on self-driving cars is something Afraaz follows very intently. Almost all major manufacturers (Nissan, BMW, Ford, GM, etc) have setup shop in Silicon Valley to explore future trends in tech and automobiles and self-driving cars. While Afraaz is loathe to give up control of his vehicle, the safety promise of self driving cars, especially for the more mundane stretches of road could result in vastly safer roads.

 

Relevant links:

  • Pit Row DIY: Do it yourself auto shop where you can rent time in a full service auto shop