Tuesday, November 30, 2010

CAR HighLIGHT: FINAL MOTION STAGEA

We've all see pictures of Nissan Stageas fitted with front R34 or even R35 conversions. But honestly, is that even necessary when the stock car can be made to look like this? It's not everyday that you see a fully stripped out, track-prepared station wagon unless you happen to live in Osaka where Final Motion is located. This is one tuning shop that hasn't succumbed to the tightening regulations that have forced most tuners in and around Tokyo to go, well, a little soft. Things are very different in the Kansai area of Japan, extreme is still the order of the day when it comes to personalizing cars, after all this is where VIP originated from.

As promised, here's the second of three desktop sets from our Need for Speed Hot Pursuit game.

Sometimes when staying in random hotel rooms, I often find myself trying to imagine what sort of goings-on had previously transpired in the same space. Maybe it's like trying to see ghosts.

I'd love to know what stories that the hotel walls would tell, if they could speak. I'm sure some of the rooms I've stayed in would have some interesting tales to say!

You could likely say the same thing about old street machines too. I'm sure there are cars out there which have been witness to some amazing events and stories over the decades.

Have you guys enjoyed haulers and sedans month? I for one sure have, and as we wrap it up I wanted to do a quick post celebrating one of my favorite people haulers of all time - the third and fourth gen JDM-spec Honda Odyssey. Even in stock form, the sleek, low slung lines of these vans give them lots of character. With a little (or a lot) of customization and they look even better...

Wild Concept Cars at the 2010 LA Auto Show

Mercedes-Benz Biome

Mercedes-Benz Biome
This is the Mercedes-Benz you'll aspire to own in, say, 2310. The bright white concept looks like it belongs on the set of Star Trek. Yet the Biome was actually designed at the German company's design studio in Carlsbad, California. There's room for four-passengers inside, or so we're told, and the seating position is in a diamond format.

RETROSPECTIVE: DECADES OF HOT WAGONS

I think I speak for most of us when I say that I LOVE station wagons. Wagons make awesome platforms for customization, and they will often end up being cooler than their sedan or coupe counterparts. Over the years there have also been some very desirable station wagons, straight off the showroom floor.
As we close out Sedans and Haulers month, I thought I'd take a look back at the history of the hot production station wagon.

EVENT: SEMA SHOW PT.9

Time for my final review of SEMA. I hope these reviews have given you a good insight into this huge trade show.
Back to the cars. The Honda stand was simple and low budget (hey, Green carpet, we have a stand!), but had a great variety of CR-Z’s from various builders including in-house 'Honda Design' (Red CR-Z) and Honda Performance Development, better known for their ALMS racecars.
This was the first time I had seen the new Honda CR-Z in the flesh and I have to admit, I was impressed. Performance is still a bit of an issue in stock form.

RANDOM SNAP: THE SYBORG

What you are looking at here has to be one of the coolest pickup trucks ever. Built out of a '91 GMC Syclone, the HighPerformanceTrucks.com Cyborg has gone over 165MPH at the Mojave Mile, ran in the Spectre 341 Hill Climb, and is a regular at open track events.
Even in stock form the AWD turbocharged Scyclone is impressive, but this...this is just insanity.
-Mike Garrett

http://highperformancetrucks.com/HPTSyborg/wordpress/

READERS RIDES: SWAPPED E320

READERS RIDES: SWAPPED E320

Howard sent us this picture of his dog hauler, parts hauler, and daily driver. It's a '94 Mercedes E320 Wagon powered by a '95 C36 AMG engine with a nitrous kit for good measure.
Powerful, smooth riding, great looking, and very unique.
Good choice, Howard.
-Mike Garrett

Monday, November 29, 2010

EVENT: FIA GT1 URBAN DISCIPLINE

The unstoppable expansion of Sao Paolo has gradually enveloped the Interlagos circuit: high-rise apartment blocks, industrial units and the ubiquitous favelas are pushed right up to the boundary wall surrounding the track. The inevitable need for living space means that the 70-year-old circuit is now completely surrounded by the urban sprawl. It makes for a backdrop unique in racing.

The patriotically-painted kerbing around the track bears witness to the punishment that happens when soft rubber meets serrated concrete: the kerbs and subsequent run-off areas are criss-crossed with the stripes of the unfortunate or over-exuberant. You can tell from the wear on them that they have to be frequently repainted. Could these particular stripes be where Lewis Hamilton ran wide at the Descida Do Lago corner in the F1 race a couple of weeks back?!

While digging through the archives from Bonneville Speedweek this past year, I came across this almost forgotten snap of a Mercedes W126 with wheels from a Mercedes C230. There's no better way wrapping up Haulers & Sedans month by seeing one of these full sized sedans crusted in that magical and ethereal salt.
And as we start to close off 2010, my head has already been engulfed in thoughts of being at Speedweek in 2011.... The Salt has me.
-Linhbergh

EVENT: 2010 AUTUMN DRIFT MATSURI - PT4

It's time to take a final look at more drifting action from the Autumn Drift Matsuri now, as we wrap up the coverage of what has been one of the most exciting drift events of 2010.

You would assume that after the late night drift action things would have been slow to pick up on Sunday morning, but with as many as 300 cars in attendance there was always something going on out on the tracks.

I was impressed to see so many cars had survived the night and were still in one piece.

I also spotted a few cars I hadn't seen the previous day, as more drifters joined the day at the discounted price that is charged for those that drive only during the Sunday.

RANDOM SNAP: THE SALTED HAULER

Here's another from Bonneville Speedweek. This Chevy Cabover was the hauler of choice for the RSL Racing team, the team which brought out the LSR Ferrari Enzo.
You can't get much cooler than hauling a Ferrari, let alone a salt flat racing Ferrari, in something like this.
-Linhbergh

CAR Highlight: JOHN DOLLISON'S S13 SILVIA

Reading through the recently posted Ebisu articles, Dino mentioned that I went AWOL during the G1GP finals. That's because I couldn't resist the opportunity to shoot Aussie John Dollison's S13 at the top end of the Nishi course.

With John coming from the same State as me in Australia, I've known him for quite a few years now. This man seems to never fall shy of impressing people with the unique styling he does to any of his cars.

Vanning is a movement that never completely caught on stateside. People went from modding sedans then straight into SUVs. Those individuals that made the switch to vans are die hard van fanatics. They live, breath, and believe in the vanning lifestyle.
When I arrived at Auto Fashion's VIP Festival, I was expecting parking lots full of lowered sedans of all makes and sizes. What I wasn't expecting was this VIP'd out 1997 Honda Odyssey.

EVENT: FIA GT1 BRAZILIFICATION

FIA GT1 BRAZILIFICATION, Event

Another airport, another flight, another FIA GT1 World Championship race… But this time the destination was something even more special than normal, somewhere I never imagined I'd get to visit. A riot of colour, the noise of the engines matched by the roar of the crowd, the challenge of a legendary venue with a history that stretches back through the classic eras of racing: it could only be Interlagos: the home of Brazil's Formula One race. All the great drivers (and cars for that matter) have raced at Interlagos, and now I would be getting the opportunity to walk the hallowed Tarmac and sample its famous atmosphere. As I left London to grey skies and the threat of snow, Brazil seemed like a pretty good place to be in November. The Brazilian national colours of green and yellow are dominant at Interlagos, except for one hugh swathe of azure blue at the run-off outside Mergulho corner. I was hoping the skies would match that colour

Hottest car: 2011 Wheels and more Audi R8 V10.6

The German luxury tuning company for sports cars, Wheels and more, introduces their latest conversion of an Audi R8, simply named V10.6. The standard R8 is on a 5.2 liter FSI V10 2xDOHC; and Wheels and more increased the engine's serial power by doing some tweaks. Under the hood, they made a valve controlled exhaust system, special stainless steel and an ECU upgrade. The tuned Audi R8 can now have a whooping 600 horsepower and 590 pound of torque. It then runs at 115.4 horsepower per liter.

While organizing the shots I took up at Ebisu during the WDSC event, I came across this snap of Kevin Delhaye's D1 Street Legal S15 Silvia. The French pro drifter sourced the car from Okachan at Yashio Factory and took it back to France with him giving it a full color change...but the pink mirrors remain to hint at what it once was. Hopefully we will see Kevin out in more Street Legal rounds during the 2011 season.
-Dino Dalle Carbonare

DESKTOPS: NEED FOR SPEED HOT PURSUIT

The NFS team have prepared some awesome desktops from the new Need for Speed Hot Pursuit game. This is the first of three sets, with the others released in the coming days. Let's kick things off with this Bugatti Veyron wallpaper...

The Hottest Cars Deserves the Best Cooling System

The Hottest Cars Deserves the Best Cooling System

A vehicle with a good ac system makes a sweat free and comfortable ride especially during summer days. A vehicle's air conditioning system is made of different components such as evaporator, expansion valves, compressor and condenser. These parts work together in order to have a cool air inside a car. Good ventilation is important in order that fresh air can circulate properly inside the car.
One of the important parts in the air conditioning system is the condenser. Some of the vehicle owners don't know the function of ac system.

If I could pick one vehicle that excited me the most at the LA Auto Show, it would have to be the Quattro Concept in the Audi booth.
Andy Blackmore covered this car a bit when he looked at the Paris Motorshow , but I thought I'd post some of my own observations on this beast from the LA show floor.

We hope you are enjoying our extensive coverage of SEMA. This time around, I'll focus on some of the European and Exotic vehicles at the show. There is always a lack of European cars at SEMA, this year was no exception. Despite this, there were a few highlights.

This always had a crowd around it. A BMW E92 Vorsteiner 'GTRS3' widebody was covered in Satin Silver Vinyl by Waptivo.

Every now and then I scroll through the pages of Swisscarsightings.com. Just recently the owner of the site, Matteo, visited the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo in Arese, Italy. One of the cars he found there was this Alfa Romeo 164 Pro-Car. It is one of those iconic cars that has reached mythical proportions.
It's powered by a V10 engine that had been developed for the F1 program that Alfa Romeo started, but in the end it never materialized. So now they had a V10 engine but no car to put it in. After several years the idea came to enter the Pro-Car series. They called upon Brabham's expertise to build them a tube chassis and in 1988 the car was born.

This story and this car mean an awful lot to me.
I hope you can bear with me as I try to convey the full story for you. It won't be easy but I'll try.
Recession is defined as a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced. It's a pretty cold way of looking at what the economies of the world have been experiencing for the last few years and it is especially cold if you've been hit harder than others. I suppose I don't really need to mention the sort of financial mess Ireland is in, no thanks to a small group of society who lived beyond their means for so long with no thought as to where the repayments would come from. Banks freely giving money away and people willingly taking it was a sure fire recipe for an eventual financial meltdown.

My next Car Spotlight comes from the Long Beach Motorama back in September. At first glance this car looks like your typical "rat rod" or "suicide rod", but this wasn't built out of a common Ford or Chevy. No, this thing started life as a 1956 Austin Taxi.

Jordan Mayall's 1999 Nissan Laurel is a car that looks like it has rolled straight off the streets of Japan and onto a boat headed for New Zealand's shores. But that couldn’t be further from the truth; this car is 100 per cent Kiwi built. “I wanted to create a car that looked like it had been built by a tuning shop in Japan, instead of here in Hamilton,” says Jordan. “That means there is nothing but Japanese parts in this car; it’s all genuine gear from the best tuners Japan has to offer.”

Hottest car: 2010 Citroen Survolt Art Car

2010 Citroen Survolt Art Car

French automobile manufacturer Citroen has just unveiled to the public, through its international showcase titled C-42, the exciting new model that shows the future of its industrial adventurism. Also included in the display is the new 'art car' version of Survolt, the company's concept racing car. It is made by Francoise Nielly, and together with Flavio Melchiorre's customized a Citroen DS3, the Survolt won the prestigious Citroen Creative Awards Competition.

2011 MTM Audi TT RS

Wettstetten/Ingolstadt-based Audi tuning and refining company MTM announces that it can break the 300 km/h with less than 500 horsepower, using the Audi TT RS. This seems a very difficult job for most tuners. What MTM does is it modifies the vehicle's electronic control unit and equips it with MTM's own turbocharger and a whole new set of MTM exhaust system. The tuning company's aim is to increase driving dynamics, acceleration and maximum speed.

How to use an Ignition Coil
I have had second thoughts about adding this page to my website, questioning wether its such a good idea to encourage people to build their own cannons. However, seeing the dangerous methods of ignition that people use, I figure its in the interest of safety for people to use a proper ignition system and trigger their cannons from a safe distance.

In a world where some car enthusiasts change their vehicles more often than their underwear, it’s refreshing when someone embarks upon an automotive escapade that spans more than a decade. This ’75 Datsun 1200 is definitely one of those escapades. Well, it’s more a labour of love in the eyes of its Christchurch-based owner, Kade O’Keefe, who admits to having a visual affair with the sedan’s box-shaped lines for as long as he can remember.

Whilst staying in Nihonmatsu for the week leading into G1GP and Autumn Matsuri, I headed down to Nikko Circuit where a private drift day was behind held.

With this month's theme being Haulers & Sedans, this Nissan Stagea seemed to be an exceptional choice to do a spotlight on.

I was quite surprised as to how well this car slid on the track, with very consistent runs lap after lap.

The JAF GRAND PRIX Fuji Sprint Cup was a heck of a busy three days, with SUPER GT and Formula Nippon sharing the same bill for the first time ever. And while that was all pretty spectacular, one of the weekend's support races really caught my eye, the Minor Touring Car Race, featuring raspy old gems from the seventies and early eighties, such as this immensely cool Nissan B310 above.

It wasn't just B310s though, as there was also a brace of B110s, the first iteration of Nissan's famous Sunny model.

Three months isn't a long time to assemble a drift car from scratch. Here's Part II of the S15 build that was done in just 12 weeks.

For those of you who missed Part I, click here to catch up on how the Auto Salon / Industrie Clothing S15 Silvia took shape.

When I think of VIP style, my mind conjures up thoughts of important political dignitaries being escorted around in full sized JDM sedans dropped to the ground with two flags waving up front representing their respective countries. If my fantasies somehow played out in the real world, those sedans would look somewhat similar to this second generation Infiniti Q45 from this year's VIP Festival.

For the full Drift Matsuri experience one truly has to witness what goes on at night at Ebisu, if not from the behind the wheel, at least as a spectator. After grabbing some food at the BBQ that Andy and Emily of Powervehicles organized, Casey and I went out around the dark extremities of tracks like Minami and Kita to bring you this post, dedicated exclusively to the night action.

The main feature of the JAF Grand Prix Fuji Sprint Cup was the pair of races for both the GT500 and GT300 classes of SUPER GT. Launching from standing starts (as opposed to the regular rolling getaways), there was a whole new dynamic to what were single-driver sprints. Each driver would pilot the car for one 22-lap race, with no refuelling or driver switches allowed. For the first of the GT500 races (above), Richard Lyons took a commanding pole position, and never once relinquished the lead on his way to a lights-to-flag victory.

Last month I had the opportunity to drive a 2010 Lexus IS F for a week, and since this is one of the hottest four doors on the market it's a worthy addition to Haulers and Sedans month.
Previously I'd spent some time in an F-Sport-equipped IS350, and while that was an entertaining ride, it's really just an appetizer to the V8-powered IS F.

When I was walking around the California Hot Rod Reunion last month, I came across another car that would make a perfect spotlight for Haulers and Sedans month. It seems the back in the '60s just about any body style could be built into a drag machine, and it wasn't all that unusual to station wagons out there on the strip. This '56 Chevy two-door wagon is a fine example of that.

What do you do when you need an easy way to haul your project car?
You turn it into a trailer.
You might remember Aaron Beck's Kuda project from New Zealand. The car is currently being rebuilt, and Aaron came up with this brillant way to haul the car back and forth between work, home, the sandblasters, and anywhere else it needs to go.
You can check Aaaron's blog for more updates on the build.
-Mike Garrett

CAR Highlights JZX90 TOYOTA CRESTA TOURER V

While Rod was over in the UK for JDM Allstars, one of the drift cars that stood out at Wembley was Zack's 1994 Cresta Tourer V. Four-door drifters are a perfect fit for this month's Haulers & Sedans theme, and this lurid red JZX90 certainly deserves a spotlight.

There's something about four-door sedans that lend themselves so well to angular body-kits. Zack's Cresta uses a five-piece DAMD kit from Japan.

This 1988 Civic Wagon started off as a joke.

It was a build which infamous tuner, Bisimoto, took quite light heartily. But as all jokes go, its all about the delivery or final punch line. In order to have that great punch line a bit of seriousness had to brought in.

Las year, a print magazine held a high profile engine building challenge and invited all the big tuning houses to compete. The challenge was for those tuning houses to build an engine that can produce the most horse power per liter in an streetable, unleaded fuel engine. Many tuners (we'll be leaving the names out to protect those involved) entered with turbocharged motors with the exception of two tuning houses. One of them was Bisimoto Engineering.

Car Ignition System Works

Car Ignition System Works

This section examines ignition. A basic ignition system consists of the battery, low-tension cables, the ignition coil, distributor, coil high-tension cable, spark plug cables, and spark plugs. The ignition system provides high-intensity sparks at the spark plugs to ignite the fuel charges in the combustion chambers. The sparks must be supplied at the right time and they must have sufficient energy, over a range of conditions, to ignite the charges. The energy comes from the battery and alternator, and the voltage is increased by the ignition coil. The system has two circuits. The primary or low-tension circuit initiates the spark. The secondary or high-tension circuit produces the high voltage and distributes it to the spark plugs. There are three general types of ignition systems. Breaker ignition uses contact breaker points in the distributor to initiate the spark. Electronic ignition doesn't need contact points. When a signal is received, triggering occurs through transistors in an ignition module. Direct ignition has no distributor and uses coils to supply high-voltage direct to the spark plugs.

Check Valve Adjustment

Valve clearance is the distance or gap between the cam and the top of the valve. Because the NSX has a rocker arm between the cam and valve, we measure this clearance as the distance between the cam and the rocker arm pad (where the cam lobe actuates the rocker arm). We adjust the clearance by turning a set-screw located at the end of the rocker arm. The bottom of this screw effectively rests on top of the valve, so turning the screw clockwise moves the rocker arm up towards the cam (less clearance), and falls away (more clearance) if we turn the screw counterclockwise.

GALLERY, NEED FOR SPEED ON TOUR SYDNEY PT.I

One of the last things on my agenda before I set off for Vancouver was to work with EA's Australia offfice on the Need for Speed On Tour event, which was held on Thursday. To launch the new Need for Speed Hot Pursuit game, the team decided to stage a car show and concert rolled into one. Although my legs feel like they're about to fall off (straight after the event was Auto Salon's Final Battle) it was certainly worth it!

Sydney's Need for Speed On Tour took over both venues at Fox Studios. In the Royal Hall of Industries would be a car meet...

...While straight after was a concert headlined by Outkast's Big Boi in the Hordern Pavilion. Ex ASM Editor William Ng (who had his K20A DC2R and AE86 Levin on show) got me into Outkast's ATLiens back in high school, so it was cool to see Big Boi perform live!

My job was to source the cars. Finding 80 cars on a work day was certainly tricky, but a lot of the guys took the day off (or called in sick) to take part. Thanks guys!

GALLERY, NEED FOR SPEED ON TOUR SYDNEY PT.II

Continuing on from the previous post, here's more of the cars that were on show at Need for Speed On Tour Sydney.

Motive's Andrew Hawkins and host Annette Melton in front of Jason's hard-tuned S15.

After missing Tuesday’s practice session due to the team battling ignition issues I was happy that the team and I were even at the event and ready to race with all the gremlins we were faced with.
This is an amazing shot of the Team Need For Speed AWD Scion tC pulling up to the grid before the start of session two...

I arrived bright and early for the drivers meeting enthusiastic about the chance of whipping our AWD tC around CW13 at speed for the first time.

I bumped into John Naderi on the walk back to our garage. We spoke about the issues I have been experiencing with the front differential in our car wanting to drive straight when turning under acceleration which led to all the difficulties’ keeping the car on the race surface at corner track out.

How about we kick off the old work week with one final look at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show?
Here we'll check out some of the action in the Ford booth, the Lotus booth, and a few other odds and ends from the show floor.

At the SEMA show, you see lots of brand new customized vehicles, and lots of heavily modified classics from the '50s, '60s, and '70s.
What you don't see are a lot of cars from the 1990's and early 2000's. That's a big part of the reason I was drawn to this E38 BMW 7-Series.

Since it also fits into our Haulers and Sedans theme, I thought it was worth a quick spotlight.

Let's proceed with more drifting from Ebisu as we immerse ourselves further into pure, unadulterated Matsuri goodness! Opening this second part is a shot of Aussie drifter Christian Pickering nailing the apex on the first corner of the North course with his Riverside S13, one of my favorite places in the whole of Ebisu to shoot from.

I sometimes like to escape down to the Higashi course, usually the most relaxed and quietest circuit. The demanding layout that snakes up and down the mountain also attracts those looking for a spot of grip driving, giving an interesting mix of action.

I even spotted this kei-car attempting to get some angle with the use of a little handbrake...

...but I you really can't beat the power-induced slide now can you?

With everyone convinced that the future of the car magazine is set to move entirely online, viewable on iPads or smartphones, it's great to see that paper has no intention of giving up. This month a new magazine has hit the bookstands in Japan, aimed at classic car aficionados and general car enthusiasts that appreciate vintage machinery.

EVENT, 2010 AUTUMN DRIFT MATSURI - PT1

The Japanese are always so proud of the marked seasonal changes that hit their beautiful country. From spring to summer, and from summer to autumn the variation of colors that are exhibited in rural areas, as well as the cities, are nothing short of breathtaking. This is also what makes our usual seasonal pilgrimage to Ebisu Circuit so pleasant, although it's not exactly the foliage we are there to cover. Autumn, up in "Drift Heaven" can only mean one thing, it's Matsuri time!

EVENT, THE 2010 LA AUTO SHOW PT.2

Alright, time to return to the place where that new car smell is always in the air - the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Here in the opening shot, we have the gorgeous looking 6-Series Coupe Concept that BMW was showing off.

Unlike a lot of concept cars out there, this one should be very close to the production version. As with the rest of the current BMW lineup, it looks fantastic.

Going around to various automotive events, I meet a lot of people. Many of them ask what car I drive. And most of the time, they would expect someone who is so active in the automotive world to have a car that would match the on paper glamour.
As I answer their question, I can just see the fire from their eyes fade and the not-so-enthused response of "Oh, that's cool." immediately follows.

Links

try

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Mercedes-Benz Biome

Monday, November 29, 2010

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Friday, November 26, 2010

The Hottest Cars Deserves the Best Cooling System

Thursday, November 25, 2010

2010 Citroen Survolt Art Car

2011 MTM Audi TT RS

How to use an Ignition Coil

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Monday, November 22, 2010

Saturday, November 20, 2010