COVERAGE> Speed&Stance Swarms SpeedVentures
This weekend's inaugural Speed&Stance meet was crazy!!! I can't believe so many people turned up to the event, because we organized and promoted the entire thing in only five days. FIVE DAYS! Thanks to our friends at Speed Ventures, we were able to throw this gigantic car event in the parking lot of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana!
We advertised the meet to run between 12 noon and 5pm, but every single one of the infield parking lots at the speedway were FULL by 2:45pm! There was a crazy line of cars backed up from the infield parking, through the tunnel, wrapping all the way around to the Cherry Avenue entrance! I was told that once the parking lots allocated to the event hit capacity, the people at the gates had to turn away well over 100 cars! Insane.
Since traffic and road congestion became an issue, the good folks from Auto Club Speedway quickly opened up a couple more parking lots so that cars could pre-stage before rolling in to the actual show area, which saw both autocross and high speed road racing with Speed Ventures on the ROVAL course, and a beginner level car control clinic for Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ owners called the 86 Dynamic Driving Academy. Read more...
We advertised the meet to run between 12 noon and 5pm, but every single one of the infield parking lots at the speedway were FULL by 2:45pm! There was a crazy line of cars backed up from the infield parking, through the tunnel, wrapping all the way around to the Cherry Avenue entrance! I was told that once the parking lots allocated to the event hit capacity, the people at the gates had to turn away well over 100 cars! Insane.
Since traffic and road congestion became an issue, the good folks from Auto Club Speedway quickly opened up a couple more parking lots so that cars could pre-stage before rolling in to the actual show area, which saw both autocross and high speed road racing with Speed Ventures on the ROVAL course, and a beginner level car control clinic for Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ owners called the 86 Dynamic Driving Academy. Read more...
COVERAGE> Scenes From Formula D Long Beach
Formula Drift on the Streets of Long Beach is always an event not to be missed! The start of racing season (drifting season, actually) always feels like the first day of school. The drivers have new cars and new liveries, the race teams have new umbrella girls and updated outfits, and even photographers come through with new camera gear to capture the happenings at Formula Drift. This year, we had to contend with lots of clouds blocking out the California sun. We even had a little bit of rain fall at the event, but it certainly didn't dampen out spirits! Read more...
COVERAGE> 2013 Formula D Tech Day & Car Meet
Formula Drift always holds a Preseason Technical Inspection Day before the annual race season starts. The objection of the tech inspection is to go over each car to verify that all safety equipment and chassis modifications are fair and accounted for. When it comes to building a race car, whether its for drift, drag, road racing or rally, safety has to be a high priority for any team.
Source Interlink Media was the host of this year's tech day. This was a free event to attend for those enthusiasts and fans who want to get up close and personal with the cars and drivers. They had food trucks, free energy drinks, and of course, lots of local car show enthusiasts and their rides in attendance! Read more...
DRIVER SEAT> Track Testing The BF Goodrich Rival
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. Read more...
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. Read more...
COVERAGE> FR-S, BRZ & AE86 Passion at 86FEST
On October 7th, over 1500 Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ, and Toyota AE86 enthusiasts from all over the Western United States converged at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana CA for the very first 86FEST, and the energy was just incredible! The newly introduced Toyota/Subaru "86" platform (sold as Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ in the USA) has received international acclaim as the second coming of the legendary AE86, which has a huge cult following worldwide.
With help from sponsors like Falken Tire, OEM Audio Plus, Turn 14 Distribution, Whiteline Suspension, Motul, Spec Clutch, Mann Engineering, Flossy Shift Knobs, and M7 Japan, it's pretty crazy how quickly our inaugural 86FEST came together! Just a few weeks ago, I was driving at a Volkswagen event at Big Willow, and got to talking with the Speed Ventures organizers, Dave and Aaron, about how cool it would be if we could get a bunch of FR-S, BRZ, and AE86 owners together at a track day. They both expressed a lot of interest in the idea - especially since we have been thinking about ways to work together for nearly two years! Read more...
With help from sponsors like Falken Tire, OEM Audio Plus, Turn 14 Distribution, Whiteline Suspension, Motul, Spec Clutch, Mann Engineering, Flossy Shift Knobs, and M7 Japan, it's pretty crazy how quickly our inaugural 86FEST came together! Just a few weeks ago, I was driving at a Volkswagen event at Big Willow, and got to talking with the Speed Ventures organizers, Dave and Aaron, about how cool it would be if we could get a bunch of FR-S, BRZ, and AE86 owners together at a track day. They both expressed a lot of interest in the idea - especially since we have been thinking about ways to work together for nearly two years! Read more...
DRIVER SEAT> Longo Scion FRS Tour of LA Drive
With all the attention the new Scion FR-S and Toyota GT86 have been receiving, people have been scouring the internet for photos and information on the exciting new front engine, rear wheel drive sports car platform that has been taking the world by storm. Scion dealers around the nation have been participating in Scion "First 86" unveilings, but the good folks at Longo Toyota/Scion have decided to be proactive in connecting with the newly developing Scion FRS owners community.
While other dealers concentrate on trying to move units, Scion salesman Jeffrey Chang and Longo Scion decided to sponsor the very first Scion FR-S Tour of LA driving event! Lots of great looking cars were in attendance, but I just couldn't take my eyes off the newly built Cusco Scion FRS, which was already outfitted with Toyota emblems, and the full line of Cusco suspension and accessories. Read more...
While other dealers concentrate on trying to move units, Scion salesman Jeffrey Chang and Longo Scion decided to sponsor the very first Scion FR-S Tour of LA driving event! Lots of great looking cars were in attendance, but I just couldn't take my eyes off the newly built Cusco Scion FRS, which was already outfitted with Toyota emblems, and the full line of Cusco suspension and accessories. Read more...
GALLERY> Autocon At Santa Anita Racetrack
This weekend's Autocon event at Santa Anita Racetrack was hot. Super hot. There were lots of other car events happening in other parts of the west coast, but it seemed as if most people naturally just flocked to Autocon, because it's a new event series that's gaining some good momentum. It was initially started as a smaller car gathering in Southern Cali's City of Industry, but it has seen quite a bit of growth recently. I even saw some of the core team from the old Hot Import Nights (the crew that was behind HIN when it was strongest) and Global Time Attack behind the scenes this weekend.
I've been traveling out of state for the past few weeks, but I decided to fly back to Los Angeles for this weekend's event - it was the perfect chance to enjoy summertime in Southern Cali, spend time with good friends, and finally check out Autocon in person. Read more...
I've been traveling out of state for the past few weeks, but I decided to fly back to Los Angeles for this weekend's event - it was the perfect chance to enjoy summertime in Southern Cali, spend time with good friends, and finally check out Autocon in person. Read more...
PERSPECTIVE> Rally Spectators Risk Their Lives!
While searching for some photos of a particular rally car (the awesome GroupB Peugeot 205 T16 Evo 2 to be exact), I came across a great thread on www.specialstage.com called “Those Crazy Rally Spectators” by forum member “Autohabit." I felt I had to show the MotorMavens readers a selection of the photos and give a little insight into some of them. Read more...
COVERAGE> Wheelspotting At Wekfest Long Beach
Long Beach is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues for automotive events. This weekend, our friends from Weksos Industries made the trek down to Los Angeles to hold yet another Wekfest event in Southern Cali. Even though the event is pronounced "weak-fest" and their company name is pronounced "weak sauce," the turnout was anything but weak. Lowlife car owners from all over California and Nevada scraped their oilpans all the way to the Queen Mary to show off their first class wheel fitment. Read more...
DRIVER SEAT> Scion FR-S Driving Impressions
The fact that Toyota (Scion) has reintroduced an affordable FR-Sports car (front engine, rear wheel drive) back into its product lineup is so exciting! Everyone has been talking about it, dreaming about it, and hypothesizing about it for quite some time now... but last week, I actually had the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the new 2013 Scion FR-S.
As a member of the automotive media and an AE86 owner, it's no secret that I've been blessed with the opportunity to see the new FR-S up close on a couple different occasions, but this would be the very first time that I had any quality seat time with the car.
This being said, once I received the gracious email invite from Scion, I cleared my schedule and eagerly jumped on a plane to Las Vegas to find out what it would be like to drive the highly anticipated FR-S on a winding road, open highway, autocross course, wet skidpad, and perhaps the most enjoyable - a high speed handling test at one of Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch's racetracks. Read more...
As a member of the automotive media and an AE86 owner, it's no secret that I've been blessed with the opportunity to see the new FR-S up close on a couple different occasions, but this would be the very first time that I had any quality seat time with the car.
This being said, once I received the gracious email invite from Scion, I cleared my schedule and eagerly jumped on a plane to Las Vegas to find out what it would be like to drive the highly anticipated FR-S on a winding road, open highway, autocross course, wet skidpad, and perhaps the most enjoyable - a high speed handling test at one of Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch's racetracks. Read more...
DRIVER SEAT> Testing The BF Goodrich Comp2
Those who have been following the @MOTORMAVENS feed on Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter probably already know that I tested out the new BF Goodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2 tire at California Speedway (Auto Club Speedway) this past week.
According to BFG, their new Comp2 tire promises drivers the ability to accelerate faster, corner harder, and brake in a shorter distance than their competitors. When asked exactly who they consider to be their competition for this class of tire, BFG pointed to Dunlop Direzza DZ101, Yokohama S-Drive, Kumho Ecsta SPT KU31, Cooper and Hankook Ventus V12 tires. Read more...
According to BFG, their new Comp2 tire promises drivers the ability to accelerate faster, corner harder, and brake in a shorter distance than their competitors. When asked exactly who they consider to be their competition for this class of tire, BFG pointed to Dunlop Direzza DZ101, Yokohama S-Drive, Kumho Ecsta SPT KU31, Cooper and Hankook Ventus V12 tires. Read more...
COVERAGE> AutoCon Show at El Toro Air Base
AutoCon 2011 turned out to be a pretty fun show - it has grown quite a bit since the last show they had. I drove all the way down from LA to El Toro Airbase in Irvine, CA so that I could start shooting the carshow roll-in at 10am, but they didn't allow any media to enter the show until 12pm! This definitely put a damper on my plans, because the rest of the normal spectators would be entering the venue at the same time as media.
The scheduling issue left me pretty disappointed to be honest, since my original plan was to shoot roll-in and staging before the large crowds showed up, then meet up with Antonio Alvendia and Oliver Petalver at Irwindale Speedway. I didn't make it out to Irwindale because of the scheduling mix-up, but I still enjoyed the rest of the day at the show. This event looks like it's getting bigger and bigger! Read more...
WEBMINING> Subaru BRZ STi GT300 SuperGT Racer
A friend of MotorMavens, Damon Lavrinc over at Autoblog just posted photos of this AMAZING looking Subaru BRZ SuperGT race car, which just made its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show. The car will compete in the GT300 class, which means all cars in the class are limited to a power output of 300 horsepower. Read more...
COVERAGE> Live Blogging The 2011 LA Auto Show
The 2011 LA Auto Show is here! Over 50 cars are making their debuts at this year’s LA Auto Show, with 20 of them being international debuts! Make sure you are following @MOTORMAVENS on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook our for LIVE up-to-the-minute photo updates of the coolest cars at the show! We’ll be live blogging today and tomorrow to bring you the best cars of the show, as well as some behind the scenes moments that most people won’t get to see normally! (more…)
CENTER STAGE> Royal Flush Subaru STi Scraper
A few years ago, the term "royal flush" wouldn't make you immediately think of cars. Rather then picturing a car's wheel fitment and ride height, it was more associated with card games. However, with wheels right at the fenders, tires tucking underneath them, and frame rails sitting only a few inches above the tarmac, this Subaru Impreza WRX STi owned by Austin Mardian from the Royal Flush Crew really embodies what it means to have your car sit flush.
When Austin rolls out to car meets and shows, he and his friends from Royal Flush crew definitely roll deep, with more than enough slammed cars to back up the name. For those of you local to Southern California that have been to many of the larger car shows, you might have seen several of the Royal Flush "VIP" style cars. Whether it's a Lexus or Infiniti on air ride or Austin's STi, they mob out in big numbers to all of the events they go to. While some of the cars in the crew scream for attention, the clean subtle look to Austin's STi was actually what caught my eye when I saw his car for the first time. Read more...
When Austin rolls out to car meets and shows, he and his friends from Royal Flush crew definitely roll deep, with more than enough slammed cars to back up the name. For those of you local to Southern California that have been to many of the larger car shows, you might have seen several of the Royal Flush "VIP" style cars. Whether it's a Lexus or Infiniti on air ride or Austin's STi, they mob out in big numbers to all of the events they go to. While some of the cars in the crew scream for attention, the clean subtle look to Austin's STi was actually what caught my eye when I saw his car for the first time. Read more...
OH SNAP> Scraping SGV with the Royal Flush Crew
Royal Flush. If you’ve ever cruised Valley Blvd in San Gabriel or Alhambra, gone to a car meet at a boba tea house, or checked in at a Chinese restaurant at 1:30am, chances are… you’ve seen them before. Whenever I’m cruising the SGV, I always seem to randomly look out the window and see some sort of slammed Lexus or Infiniti driving by on the other side of the street with a Royal Flush sticker on the window. I hadn’t given it much thought either, until I actually met some of the super cool people from the Royal Flush Crew at the Motion Auto Show in Long Beach.
All I can say is, this crew rolls DEEP! In case you didn’t already know, THESE are the people that are causing much of the traffic on Valley Blvd, making you and other drivers slow down and brake as they slowly scrape into the driveways of your favorite late night restaurants and kick-it spots. (more…)
COVERAGE> XDC Northwest at Pacific Grand Prix
August 13th marked the coming of one of the most anticipated events of the year in the Northwest. Xtreme Drift Circuit was coming to Pacific Grand Prix! This was a chance for the locals to put on a great show with the already talented list of drivers that follow the series.
XDC is known for their raw and mixed make series - making it an interesting change from the more serious Formula Drift. If there ever was an equivalent to the MSC drift competitions that are held in Japan, XDC would be it. Read more...
XDC is known for their raw and mixed make series - making it an interesting change from the more serious Formula Drift. If there ever was an equivalent to the MSC drift competitions that are held in Japan, XDC would be it. Read more...
COVERAGE> Scenes from Nisei Showoff 2011
This past weekend, all the core enthusiasts in Southern California's Japanese car scene gathered once again on the intersection of First Street and Alameda in the Little Tokyo area of Downtown LA for the annual Nisei Showoff celebration. The event was super fun as always - when I showed up at the event, it felt like a big block party with several friends all gathered around different cars, admiring the immaculate engine bays, or trying to figure out new wheel sizing and/or suspension setups. Read more...
CARSPOTTING> JUN Time Attack WRX in Norway
After the dust had settled and everyone had gone home from the Gatebil Rudskogen event, Lars Harlem asked Justin Shreeve and I if we wanted to see his time attack Subaru WRX. He had told us about his car months ago and I had seen it in various videos so I was more than excited to check it out. Read more...
CENTER STAGE> 1970 Datsun Nickel & Dime Sedan
Once called "the poor man’s BMW” by Autoweek’s G.D. Levy, the Datsun 510 is a well-engineered and affordable car that has remained popular among automotive enthusiasts for many years. Avid collectors of this car can be found around the world and one in particular is John Paul “JP” Dagsaan from the San Francisco Bay area.
I first met JP at the Japanese Classic Car Show (JCCS) two years ago in Irvine. I expressed an interest in shooting the car; however, due to the fact that JP was planning on driving back to the Bay area that same night, we were unable to set anything up. Fast forward two years to the present and you all are witnesses that I sneaked away from my family reunion in the Bay to shoot the car - and, if you're reading this, Hi Mom! How's that for dedication? Read more...
I first met JP at the Japanese Classic Car Show (JCCS) two years ago in Irvine. I expressed an interest in shooting the car; however, due to the fact that JP was planning on driving back to the Bay area that same night, we were unable to set anything up. Fast forward two years to the present and you all are witnesses that I sneaked away from my family reunion in the Bay to shoot the car - and, if you're reading this, Hi Mom! How's that for dedication? Read more...
COVERAGE> Pacific Grand Prix Open Event
Last Saturday marked another successful event held at Pacific Grand Prix. It was a full event with not a spot left open on the roster for drivers - a roster which included two Formula D drivers who are currently in the top 10 in standings: Justin "JTP" Pawlak and newcomer Walker Wilkerson.
In addition to the great American pros in attendance, it was an international affair as well. The Drift Union drift team from Canada came down again to show us how to have fun with style in their textbook tandem sessions.
Large crowds of spectators arrived, filling the stands and lining the fences en masse to catch a view of the great driving presented that day. NOS Energy Drink and (for the first time) Greg Young from Northwest Riders clothing, set up shop to talk to people and to hand out prizes. If you missed it, don't feel too bad - here's the next best thing to being there! Read more...
In addition to the great American pros in attendance, it was an international affair as well. The Drift Union drift team from Canada came down again to show us how to have fun with style in their textbook tandem sessions.
Large crowds of spectators arrived, filling the stands and lining the fences en masse to catch a view of the great driving presented that day. NOS Energy Drink and (for the first time) Greg Young from Northwest Riders clothing, set up shop to talk to people and to hand out prizes. If you missed it, don't feel too bad - here's the next best thing to being there! Read more...
