The second round of the 2012
Formula Drift Championship took place at
Road Atlanta, and it couldn't have been more exciting! A brand new layout, controversial calls, quick-fixes, and outstanding battles are just a taste of the twists and turns that came about the weekend.
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Posted by: Jonathan McWhorter | May 16, 2012 | Categories: Coverage | Tags: Achilles, ASD, Chevrolet Camaro, Daigo Saito, eBay Motors Mustang, Falken, Ford Mustang, Formula Drift, FR-S, Fredric Aasbo, Garrett Turbo, GoPro, Hankook, Hyundai Genesis, Joon Maeng, JTP, Justin Pawlak, Ken Gushi, Lexus, Louie Contreras, Mazda, Monster Energy, Need For Speed, Nissan, nitrous, Road Atlanta, round 2, RX-8, S13, S14, S15, SC430, Scion, Scion tC, Silvia, toshiki yoshioka, turbo, V8, Vaughn Gittin Jr, Walker Wilkerson |
Formula Drift at Road Atlanta for 2012 brought a few new changes to the course this year. First and foremost, the layout of the track has been changed in the famed Turn 10 Complex. Instead of going through the "horseshoe" in a counterclockwise direction, it now is reversed. At first glance, one might think that this configuration is awkward, as the straightaway leading uphill (quite steep, mind you) to the horseshoe is rather long in relation to the tight corners of Turn 10a and 10b. However, the drivers have managed to adapt pretty well by adjusting their strategy for taking the course. Since drivers must keep momentum and speed to climb the hill, this layout change prohibits the extreme entries that we are used to seeing from previous years.
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Posted by: Jonathan McWhorter | May 12, 2012 | Categories: Coverage | Tags: Brett May, Daigo Saito, Ford, Formula Drift, FR-S, GReddy, Jonathan McWhorter, Ken Gushi, Lexus, Mustang, Nissan, Retaks, Road Atlanta, RSR, Ryan Tuerck, S13, S15, SC430, Scion, Scion Racing, Scion tC, speed gun, Tony Angelo, toshiki yoshioka, Vaughn Gittin Jr |
Yesterday, the automotive world lost one of its international legends – Carroll Shelby, the 89 year old creator of the world famous Shelby Cobra 427, and the Ford GT40 that beat Ferrari at Le Mans.
Shelby is one of those names in the automotive industry that everyone knows, but it’s possible that some of our readers aren’t familiar with his long and storied history, from his days in Formula One, Le Mans, and even land speed racing at Bonneville. Rather than quickly writing up a story about Carroll Shelby from the media center at the American Le Mans race at Laguna Seca, I think I’ll just provide a link to a couple good articles on Shelby that I saw in the New York Times and USA Today before I have to get back to shooting on the track. (more…)
Posted by: Antonio Alvendia | May 11, 2012 | Categories: Newsworthy | Tags: AC Cobra, Antonio Alvendia, Bonneville, Carroll Shelby, Carroll Shelby death, Carroll Shelby dies, F1, Formula One, GT350, GT40, GT500, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lemans, Shelby, Shelby American, Shelby Cobra |
Whether you own a
BMW or not, it's
really tough to not be blown away by the sheer number of high quality cars that made it to
MFest VI in Las Vegas. Even though we didn't even get an ounce of sleep the night before, the caravan, event, and parties were so fun that we had no problem going nonstop throughout the weekend!
MFest weekend started off with the epic,
world record setting caravan up from Barstow CA and ended with an equally
epic pool party at the Tao Beach Club in Las Vegas.
MFest Chris and his team could not have been any more hospitable or welcoming - nor could the weekend have been more mind blowing. No wonder we have TONS of photos!
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Posted by: Mike Kim | May 07, 2012 | Categories: Gallery | Tags: 1M, 335i, Barstow, BMW caravan, E30, E36, E46, E92, GTR, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, M3, M5, M6, Mfest, Mfest 6, MFest VI, Michelle Yee, Nicole Reckers, Nissan, R35, Tao, Tao Beach, Xena Kai |
Everyone has their own personal style, preference and idea of what inspires and motivates them. Just as in so many other areas of our lives, these influences and tastes come through in the selection and overall direction of an automobile and its build. The great thing about having an automotive based hobby is that every part, every color and every look has a purpose to the individual builder. You really can say that, just by looking a car, you can tell a lot about the owner. Some like to take themes to extremes and others like to keep it mild. Some are more race oriented for track purposes and others lean more toward street driven enjoyment that allows for a less practical method of tuning. That's where
Ryan Lee and his bagged 2003
Nissan 350z come in.
When Ryan rolls up to places, slammed to the ground, on a bright Pacific Northwest day, people take notice. The sun reflects off the wheel centers catching your eye before your brain even realizes what's going on. In the split second after that moment, you unconsciously decide to either praise or criticize Ryan’s ride. Either way - his point is made. His goal has been met and, whether you like it or not, you have already recognized his hard work and personal style.
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Posted by: Lucas Perez | May 01, 2012 | Categories: Carspotting | Tags: 350Z, Accuair, cakeface clothing, Era-1, Garage Autohero, HKS, Lucas Perez, Nismo, Nissan, Ryan Lee, Weds Kranze, Yoshi Shindo, Z33 |
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.
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Posted by: Antonio Alvendia | Apr 26, 2012 | Categories: Driver Seat | Tags: 4UGSE, 6 speed, A960E, autocross, BR-Z, BRZ, D-4S, D4S, direct injection, driving impression, FA20, FR-S, FRS, GT86, Ken Gushi, race track, Red Rock Canyon, Red Rock Resort, road course, road test, Scion, skidpad, Spring Mountain, Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, Subaru, Tetsuya Tada, Toyota |
Reporting live from Sin City, the 2012
MFest is already underway... and it's getting HECTIC over here! MFest is much more than a BMW meet. MFest is much more than a BMW car show, and it's definitely more than a run-of-the-mill track day. What started out as a meeting of BMW M-cars has turned into an entire takeover of the Las Vegas Strip, with hundreds and hundreds of cars mobbing the freeways to Vegas in a huge caravan, averaging roughly 100mph (although, honestly, I saw some people that had to be going MUCH faster than 120 because of the speed at which they passed us on the 15 North!).
While there were plenty of M-powered caravans (we're talking multiple M cars, not Dodge Caravans with M engines) driving from other states, we drove along with the Southern California group, and it was super fun!!! While everyone else is out pre-partying it up at Lavo inside
The Palazzo, we're sitting in our suite next door at
The Venetian uploading pictures into the new gallery we made, which contains
Images From MFest 2012.
Now our readers can see what the MFest experience is like, whether they're with us in Vegas, or chillin out at home. Enjoy the images, and if you're here at MFest with us, please upload YOUR own photos into the shared gallery linked above, so everyone can see your MFest photos too!
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Posted by: Mike Kim | Apr 21, 2012 | Categories: Gallery | Tags: BMW, Chris Mfest, DSTROYR, E92, F10, F11, GT Haus, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, M5, Mfest, Mike Kim, Palazzo, Terry Pham, Venetian, VF Engineering |
Nearly two weeks ago, some of you saw a portion of the 1.968-mile temporary street course in Long Beach, CA when
Formula DRIFT slid into town. Just this past weekend, fans were treated to the full street course with the
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. During the three-day event, fans were able to see a variety of races -
IndyCar, Firestone Indy Lights, American Le Mans Series, Pirelli World Cup, and the infamous
Formula DRIFT team competition. Local Long Beach drifter
Kyle Mohan and 2011 Rookie of the Year
Aurimas "Odi" Bakchis won the team DRIFT competition.
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Posted by: Oliver Petalver | Apr 20, 2012 | Categories: Gallery | Tags: Alex Tagliani, ALMS, American Le Mans Series, Aurimas Bakchis, Bryan Herta Autosport, Dallara DW12, Dan Wheldon, Danica Patrick, Dyson Racing, EJ Viso, Falken Tire, Firestone, Firestone Indy Lights, Formula Drift, GoDaddy Racing, Honda, HVM Racing Lotus, IndyCar, Izod, James Hinchcliffe, Jimmy Vasser, Justin WIlson, Kevin Kalkhoven, KV Racing, Kyle Mohan, Lotus Dragon Racing, Lotus Racing Dragon, MotorMavens, Oliver Petalver, Pirelli, Scott Dixon, Sebastien Bourdais, Simona De Silvestro, Sonny, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Barracuda, Team Penske, The Pike, Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Will Power |
The
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach opened today with a practice session of the
American Le Mans Series (
ALMS). Even though the practice session opened with a heavy downpour, we were super excited to shoot the amazing looking cars as rain soaked our cameras and permeated through our clothing, down to our socks. Even though racing on a rainy day through a street course with big concrete barriers may be a grueling nightmare for many drivers, these conditions are perfect for some spectacular photos. The weather may not have been as nice as the
Formula Drift event last weekend, but its a nice change to what seems like an eternally sunny Southern California.
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Posted by: Mike Kim | Apr 13, 2012 | Categories: Coverage | Tags: 911, ALMS, American Le Mans, Evora, Falken, FalkenALMS, Ferrari, Green Hornet, GT3, GT3 RSR, GT3RS, Lotus, M3 GT, Mike Kim, Oliver Petalver, Patron, Porsche |
Could this be the very first Toyota GT86 that has crashed at a racing event? Everyone has been talking about the debut of the Toyota GT86 (Scion FR-S/Subaru BR-Z) in Japan’s D1 Grand Prix Series. Also newsworthy is the fact that Falken Tire was making its return to D1 with this attention grabbing car, which was built by Up Garage, a chain of Japanese used parts stores. (more…)
Posted by: Antonio Alvendia | Apr 13, 2012 | Categories: Video | Tags: AE86, d1, d1 grand prix, D1GP, FRS, GT86, Hibino, Ken Maeda, Maeken, Odaiba, Scion, Tetsuya Hibino, Toyota |
