We have a winner for our January #MOTORMAVENSBUILD Contest presented by KoyoRad Racing! David Bellomo, a 21 year old Toyota Technician from Haymarket, Virginia is the owner and driver of this S14 240SX, which has a Toyota 1JZGTE VVTi engine swapped into it. Check out the Build Thread that David created on the MotorMavens forums! (more…)
Posted by: Motor Mavens | Feb 05, 2013 | Categories: Forum | Tags: 1JZGTE, 240SX, Build Thread, contest, David Bellomo, dirt drop, drifting, KOYO, Koyorad, MotorMavensBuild, Nissan, S14, VVTi |
This weekend, I went out to
Buttonwillow Raceway for the
Global Time Attack and
Shift S3ctor Pro Am with my friends from
Whiteline Suspension. While walking around the paddock, I couldn't stop staring at this blue
Ben Sopra R35 Nissan GTR from
R's Tuning. This thing looks menacing as hell, especially from the rear! While many people might have seen this car at the
SEMA Show in November or in the
Fast & Furious 6 movie trailer, I honestly didn't recognize it at first.
When I walked up to the car in the paddock garage, I was thinking, "Oh damn. Someone built another Ben Sopra GTR?!" While I see R35 GTRs all the time (there are 3 of them on the street I live on), it's not often that I get to see one done up with the super expensive Ben Sopra aero kit. At $45K, the Ben Sopra aero costs slightly more than half the price of the car! This was definitely a treat and a surprise - this weekend was the first time I got to see a Ben Sopra GTR in action on a race track!
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Posted by: Antonio Alvendia | Feb 04, 2013 | Categories: Carspotting | Tags: Advan, Advan Racing GT, Antonio Alvendia, Ben Sopra, Buttonwillow, Buttonwillow Raceway, Fast & Furious, Fast & Furious 6, Fast & Furious 6 Trailer, Fast&Furious, Fast6, Global Time Attack, GTA, GTR, Nissan, R's Tuning, R35, Ricky Kwan, rumblestrip, Shift Sector, ShiftS3ctor, Time Attack |
As most of our readers already know, my automotive background has been primarily focused around the culture of Japanese cars. I still remain a purist in this sense, but in the last few years, my automotive tastes have broadened. Ever since my first trip to Europe (something like five years ago), my interest in German cars has been steadily increasing. I never really paid attention to the Volkswagen brand because I've been a long time fan of rear wheel drive cars... but I immediately saw the light
the first time I drove a Volkswagen Golf R.
My good friend
Mitch Sison from
EcoShine Auto called me up over the weekend and told me about this meet happening at
Volkswagen of Van Nuys, organized by
Brandon Chasin of
Wustefest. I figured it would be a good opportunity to see some nice looking local Vee Dubs, so I grabbed my camera and my brand new
Canon EF 35mm 1.4L lens and headed to the meet.
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Posted by: Antonio Alvendia | Feb 01, 2013 | Categories: Gallery | Tags: Audi, Audi A4, Audi A4 Avant, Brandon Chasin, Corrado, Dub Nation, EcoShine, fifteen52, Golf, Golf R, GTI, HRE Wheels, MAE, MAE wheels, Mitch Sison, R32, Rabbit, Schmidt, Schmidt wheels, Van Nuys, Volkswagen, Volkswagen dealer, Volkswagen of Van Nuys, VW, VW dealer, wustefest |
Michelin North America's
BFGoodrich brand just recently unveiled the all new
BFG g-Force Rival, an
ultra high performance tire designed for drivers that want versatile tires for their high performance street cars; tires sticky enough to be used in autocross and track-day events, then driven home.
Last week, I was given the opportunity to test the new BFG Rival at
NOLA Motorsports Park, and it delivered on every single one of its claims. The BFG Rival might even be the best new tire in the Tire Rack lineup for weekend autocrossers, road racers, and
midnight canyon runners. However, before we jump to any conclusions, let's take a closer look at our experiences on the racetrack.
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Posted by: Antonio Alvendia | Jan 29, 2013 | Categories: Driver Seat | Tags: Antonio Alvendia, BF Goodrich, BFG, BFG Comp 2, BFG Rival, BMW, David S Wallens, E46, Ford, Ford Racing, FR500S, Grassroots Motorsports, Hankook, Impreza, Louisiana, M3, Mazda, Mazdaspeed, Michelin, Mustang, mx5, New Orleans, Nola, Nola Motorsports Park, Rival, skidpad, Skip Barber, STi, Subaru, Terry Earwood, Tire, Tire Rack, Ventus RS3, WRX |
Just thirty minutes south of Reno Nevada and 40 minutes east of Lake Tahoe lies the most dangerous stretch of highway in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and quite possibly, the entire west coast -
Nevada State Route 341.
As the twisty road slices through the mountains towards the oldest city in the state of Nevada, a
gold and silver mining town called
Virginia City, it allures drivers with breathtaking views of the snow capped mountains in the Sierras - but this is all part of Highway 341's deadly charm.
Drivers who are tempted into gazing upon the majestic beauty of the Sierras while behind the wheel are often fooled into making fatal mistakes at high speed. Taking one's eyes off the single lane road even for just a few seconds can easily lead drivers
headfirst into the rocky face of the mountain, or worse - off the treacherous cliff side, where the drop is
hundreds of feet, with sharp boulders and abandoned mine shafts below.
For close to twenty years, a man named
Duck Fuson has been challenging Highway 341 in a 1974
Porsche 911. This is his story.
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Posted by: Antonio Alvendia | Jan 07, 2013 | Categories: Center Stage | Tags: 911, 911E, 930 Turbo, 993, aerodynamic, aerodynamics, BF Goodrich, BF Goodrich R1, BFG R1, Bilstein, blow off valve, Bogart, Bogart wheels, Brumos Porsche, cross drilled rotors, Crower Cams, Duck Fuson, Eibach, ERS, F1, F9A, Ferrari Club, Getty Design, GMT Master, Gurney flap, Haltech, Highway 341, Hillclimb, Hurley Haywood, Indianapolis, Jagermeister, JE Pistons, Le Mans, NACA duct, Nevada State Route 341, North Hollywood Speedometer, oil cooler, Porsche, Porsche Club of America, Porsche Supercup, Quattro Club, Rolex, RSR, Sierra Nevada, Spectre 341 Challenge, Spectre 341Challenge, Tarett Engineering, Tial, Virginia City, wastegate |
Although many people have visited the famed
Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, most live their entire lives without ever experiencing what it's like to run top speed down the salt, let alone win. I recently received a note from a dear friend of mine, Peter Brock from
BRE Racing fame. He sent me a photo of this car -
Bombshell Betty - a
1952 Buick Riviera land speed racer that has broken the World Speed Record in its class at Bonneville... twice.
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Posted by: John Brooks | Jan 02, 2013 | Categories: Gallery | Tags: bombshell betty, Bonneville, Bonneville Salt Flats, buick, Jeff Brock, John Brooks, Land Speed Racing, Peter Brock, Riviera, Ronnie Dunn, Straight 8 |
I love Ebisu Circuit!!! And I’m not the only one. This photo is one of the reasons why! Look at the white S13, being driven by Naoto Suenaga from the world famous Team Orange – his front wheel is right up against the sideskirt of the purple S13, being driven by street drifting hero Naoki Nakamura of Team Burst!
No wonder people from all over the world make the pilgrimage to Ebisu Circuit in Fukushima Japan several times a year! (more…)
Posted by: Antonio Alvendia | Dec 27, 2012 | Categories: Oh Snap | Tags: Antonio Alvendia, Ebisu Circuit, Naoki Nakamura, Naoto Suenaga, S13, Team Burst, Team Orange |
Formula Drift driver Walker Wilkerson had his Truck, Trailer and Formula D race car stolen and it was last spotted in Carson, CA! Please Keep an eye out for the truck and trailer. It has Washington State license plates 3614XR. Please contact authorities and Walker if you spot the car, truck or trailer. Additional details can be found on Instagram, twitter and tumblr, @MOTORMAVENS @WalkerWilkerson
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Posted by: Mike Kim | Dec 24, 2012 | Categories: Oh Snap | Tags: 240SX, Falken Tire, Fatlace, Formula D, Formula Drift, Garage Autohero, LS1, S14, Stolen, Stolen Car, Walker Wilkerson, Washington State |
