Long Beach Grand Prix

Fast and Furious Movie Showing

RB Wheels Has a Few Wheels

Don't Piss Someone Off and Leave Your Car in their Possession

ZR1 in the Wild

People who race Mazdas like Corvettes apparently, the ZR1 in particular. I found this example parked in the Mazdaspeed pits at California Speedway during a NASA event. It would have been nice to see it on the track, but it was brand spanking new and shiny. I can understand the desire to let it break in a little bit longer before stretching its legs on the track.

NASA Racing, Its Been Awhile...

Old E46 M3 Exhaust For Sale

I finally got motivated and have listed the Hamann exhaust from my old E46 M3 on EBay. The exhaust is famous or something because it was in a tv show... scroll down to learn more on that.

Someone Needs to Make Direct Injection Upgrades

I have a great desire for a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro 2LT. The reason is that I want to twin turbocharge the sucker. However, what will hold me back for awhile is the lack of upgradeability in the direct injection fueling system. I really want to see what kind of power can be pushed out of that motor though (the 3.6L V6 VVT DI). I want to take down Nissan's VQ37! In the meantime I suppose I could try and poke at the engineers who work on that engine to see what kind of numbers they think could be pushed out by the stock direct injection system.

Import Racers

Back in 2005 (or maybe it was 2006 when it aired) I did a tv show that aired briefly on ESPN2 called Import Racers. Only a few short years later it is very interesting to think about where everyone has gone since it happened. The host Sal Masekela is now all over E! on top of his duties hosting all that is the X-Games. Eric Hsu has gone onto work for the motorsports power name, Cosworth and Tanner Foust has become a superstar driver. Then there is myself who has moved on to engineer for General Motors. Progress is beautiful, eat that Audi! Check out the show below:

IDRC Drag Racing

Red Bull Drifting World Championship

This was just a teaser. I will post up more photos when I get through the editing process. It was a busy weekend. I must sleep!

UPDATE:
I made a Flickr set:
Red Bull Drifting World Championship

Nissan 370Z Uncovered, Inside Line Puts Me on the Spot

Last night Edmunds.com, Inside Line more specifically, and Nissan North America invited a few enthusiasts to check out the new 2009 Nissan 370Z ahead of its scheduled release at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show. Somewhere around two minutes after I arrived the crew from Inside Line walked over with their camera and requested a few thoughts on the sports coupe. I had hardly seen the car in person, no more than photos online, but I rolled with what I could. The result can be seen on the Inside Line 370Z Party Page.

Go karts, but I can't drive

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Equinox

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Equinox

Recently I finally got the chance to drive the Chevrolet Hydrogen Fuel Cell Equinox (try saying that 5 times fast). Sitting still in the parking lot the vehicle emitted noises one did not expect to hear from an automobile, at least not yet. It produced a quiet whir and a bit of clicking from the power electronics. All it all it wasn't very audible over the sound of traffic driving by. Once inside though, with the doors closed, the exterior noise was blocked out. I took the passenger side initially, while a coworker took the wheel. I used the opportunity to poke around at buttons and listen to the vehicle. Mostly the interior followed that of a normal Equinox. Although in place of a tachometer sat a kilowatt gauge. As a reminder that this wasn't a typical vehicle, or even a mundane hybrid, the shift knob featured the GM water droplet badge and the navigation screen displayed the fuel cell power flow. When leaving the parking lot the Equinox accelerated up to the speed of traffic with no drama. The ride was also very smooth, no jarring shift points. After a few minutes of driving I swapped spots with my coworker and took over the helm.

Being an Equinox the vehicle was significantly larger than what I am used to. For just that reason I did not expect it to perform anything like my BMW 335i. Pulling out into traffic I got on the accelerator and, while by far not the fastest thing I have driven, it wasn't the slowest either. It weighed somewhere in the range of a decent mid-sized sedan in terms of get up and go, meaning I wouldn't fear for my life merging onto the 405. I stayed on the pedal for a little bit and it hit me that I had lost a connection to the vehicle. I am tuned to feel for speed through gear changes and audible rpm. However, a fuel cell vehicle does not have such feedback. The sound of the electric motor was somewhat audible, but with music playing and people talking it just wasn't enough of a factor. I had to glance at the speedometer to get my bearings back straight. The smooth, uninturrupted, acceleration was a great experience though. The one possibel downside was that when coming to a stop, the brakes required more input that I was used to. The system transitions from regenerative braking to mechanical braking depending on the amount of depal depression. I probably would have been more comfortable with the braking if I had not come from mainly driving a sporty vehicle with a stiff and sensitive pedal. The brakes were in line with those of a standard Equinox, not that that is necessarily a good thing.

In the end I wish I could have had more drive time. Maybe then I could have found some Priui (plural for Prius) to drag race.

Toyota Hilux

GM Next Gen Mild Hybrid

Today in Geneva General Motors announced the second generation belted alternator starter mild hybrid system. Now I might just know a little bit about this project... or I might not... It is very interesting to read people's opinions on the announcement though. It seems that it is perhaps too early still for people to really grasp the concept of the system. I try and read everything I can when it comes to feelings about GM's mild hybrid systems and I also try and find all the information I can about competitors. Not to say though that it might have any effect on future developments... Perhaps I've said too much already.

Picking Apart and Putting Together R35 GT-R

Today I had the opportunity to poke around at bit at two R35 Nissan GT-Rs. As far as I am aware they are the first two GT-Rs in consumer hands in the United States, they are JDM models that were shipped over from Japan. While the JDM models are interesting. There might be more changes in store for the US market (Nissan wants to make sure the car is ridiculously fast). Even still the Japanese get DOT glass and headlights. It looks like Nissan saved money on parts by making things to US standards from the get go.

Automotive Forums R34 GT-R at Time Attack

Woo I was on tv... The piece aired on Redline TV which runs on the Speed Channel. The footage is over two years old.

This was also the event where I managed to brand my face with a brake rotor. Lesson learned... do not lean in too close when adjusting tie rod ends immediately after the car gets off the racetrack...

Fuel Cell Equinox

The picture above features a Chevrolet Fuel Cell Equinox. The vehicle is part of GM's Project Driveway program. 100 fuel cell Equinoxes get to be tested by the hands of general consumers. The vehicle recipients are in varying parts of the United States, but at least have access to hydrogen fueling stations.

The fuel cell vehicles are interesting. The powertrain has significantly less moving parts than a traditional ICE powered vehicle. However, of course that means trades offs to more exotic materials and newly developing technology. I love improving emerging technology though. That is why I do what I do... I hope this Equinox will teach me some new things too.