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...
CARSPOTTING> Montego Blue Miata With Meisters
Fall is arguably one of the most beautiful times of the year in Washington - aside from the rain that is. The normally muted palette caused by an overcast sky suddenly comes to life with bright orange, red and yellow leaves amidst the evergreens that stand fully dressed all year. It's in times like these that the Seattle car community shines; auto enthusiasts like Karim Kerawala keep their rides looking fresh all year round. Where the question of, “Is this your daily driver?”, is met with a slight smirk, because this Montego Blue 1997 Mazda Miata is, in fact, Karim’s daily driver and any other suggestion would be more than absurd - there's no other way to roll. 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...
CENTER STAGE> JCCS Award Winning Sakura 510
Building a car from the ground up isn't an easy task to do - physically or mentally. Some might already know exactly what they want to do, while others may have a general idea and focus on one thing at a time. Plans always change (which is the exact reason why my S14 has been sitting for over a year) but one thing that all these owners have in common is...Dedication.
This Datsun 510 project was started 13 years (and three owners) ago. The original owner (Joe Smith - sounds like an alias), had the body and paint done. He also accumulated a lot of NOS (new old stock) parts though the Nissan dealer he worked for but the car was never finished. Eventually the car ended up seeing two other owners before Dom Stokes bought it. Read more...
This Datsun 510 project was started 13 years (and three owners) ago. The original owner (Joe Smith - sounds like an alias), had the body and paint done. He also accumulated a lot of NOS (new old stock) parts though the Nissan dealer he worked for but the car was never finished. Eventually the car ended up seeing two other owners before Dom Stokes bought it. Read more...
CENTER STAGE> AE86 Inspiration: Running Free
This past week, all the key members of the Motor Mavens Crew have been extremely busy, working on developing some cool new website features that our readers will enjoy. I recently had the opportunity to hang out with some of my AE86 friends from out of town also. MotorMavens contributor and AE86er Pedro Velado came all the way from El Salvador to hang out at my garage and talk about AE86s; and on the same day, my close friend, Osaka-based AE86er Taku Machida came to visit on his last day in the United States before he and his family moved back to Japan this past weekend.
Since all these AE86 friends have been coming by to hang out and look through my photo albums, filled with old school AE86 photos from over 10 years ago, I felt that it would only be fitting to dig up some old school AE86 photos for our website too. You see, I have to exercise extreme control in order to avoid posting up AE86 photos and stories every day on the MotorMavens site. Hell, if it were solely up to me, I could make it a site that only had AE86 and old school Toyota content... but we wouldn't want to alienate all our readers who own other car marques.
Today though, I'm going to indulge and share images of one of my favorite AE86s from a stash of photos I took FIVE YEARS AGO. Yes, I took these photos way back in 2005. The red Sprinter Trueno in the photos is the famous "Yama red" AE86, owned by hachiroku driver Yamashita Koichi from the legendary Kanagawa-based drift team, Running Free. Running Free has a small handful of original members, but Yamashita is definitely the most famous in the group. Read more...
Since all these AE86 friends have been coming by to hang out and look through my photo albums, filled with old school AE86 photos from over 10 years ago, I felt that it would only be fitting to dig up some old school AE86 photos for our website too. You see, I have to exercise extreme control in order to avoid posting up AE86 photos and stories every day on the MotorMavens site. Hell, if it were solely up to me, I could make it a site that only had AE86 and old school Toyota content... but we wouldn't want to alienate all our readers who own other car marques.
Today though, I'm going to indulge and share images of one of my favorite AE86s from a stash of photos I took FIVE YEARS AGO. Yes, I took these photos way back in 2005. The red Sprinter Trueno in the photos is the famous "Yama red" AE86, owned by hachiroku driver Yamashita Koichi from the legendary Kanagawa-based drift team, Running Free. Running Free has a small handful of original members, but Yamashita is definitely the most famous in the group. Read more...
WEBMINING> Bluebird SSS at Flex Auto Yokohama
Ever since we started the Motor Mavens blog, I've been so busy that I haven't really had much time to cruise the web like I used to. However, there are a few sites that I try to check once in a while, because I really like the content. Al's Car Stuff Blog is one of the very few sites that I see that consistently posts up cars that I like! I don't know much about Al or his background, but seeing these photos of this Nissan/Datsun KP510 Bluebird 1600 SSS on Al's blog brought me back to a Japan trip I took several years ago.
Back in 2004, I went to visit D1 driver Takahiro Ueno and his shop, Sui Vax in Yokohama, Japan. I was doing a feature photo shoot on Ueno and his shop for Modified Magazine at the time, so I spent the whole day hanging out in Yokohama. When I told him how crazy I was about Japanese nostalgic cars, he said he knew a shop that I would love, and he wanted to take me there. That shop was Flex Auto Review - they restore and sell Japanese classic cars! Ueno was absolutely right. I flipped out when we got there! AWESOME. (I was kind of embarrassed afterwards, because I was so obviously excited when I was walking around Flex Auto... and I didn't quite show the same level of excitement when I was hanging out at Ueno's shop earlier that day. Oops, my bad.) Read more...
Back in 2004, I went to visit D1 driver Takahiro Ueno and his shop, Sui Vax in Yokohama, Japan. I was doing a feature photo shoot on Ueno and his shop for Modified Magazine at the time, so I spent the whole day hanging out in Yokohama. When I told him how crazy I was about Japanese nostalgic cars, he said he knew a shop that I would love, and he wanted to take me there. That shop was Flex Auto Review - they restore and sell Japanese classic cars! Ueno was absolutely right. I flipped out when we got there! AWESOME. (I was kind of embarrassed afterwards, because I was so obviously excited when I was walking around Flex Auto... and I didn't quite show the same level of excitement when I was hanging out at Ueno's shop earlier that day. Oops, my bad.) Read more...
