Rev Speed invades the historic Tsukuba Circuit with their '07 Winter Time Attack Super Battle. My first impression of the participants at this event was, take the majority of the best tuner cars from last year's Tokyo Auto Salon and put them in a head-to-head battle to get the quickest time at Tsukuba. Unlike the Tokyo Auto Salon, where everyone's car is spotless and motionless, this event has everyone prove they're worthy of their reputation of being a tuning god by hitting the track. Also included in this Super Battle were a group of Aussies, who brought their best vehicles and drivers from the land Down Under.

The Rev Speed Super Battle was broken up into two categories: the Open Class and the Street Class. The Open Class included all-wheel drives, rotaries, rear-wheel-drive turbocharged front engines, RWD turbocharged mid-engines, RWD naturally aspirated mid-engines and front-wheel-drive front engines. Each vehicle in the Open Class had to run S tires or lower, a full rollcage and have a fire extinguisher system onboard. Street Category participants had to run radial tires, catalytic converters, retain a working air conditioning system, retain a working stereo system, retain a passenger seat, no acrylic windows, no carbon-fiber doors, no sequential transmissions and no major engine swap (a B16A to a B18C engine swap is OK to run in this class).

Each class was given three 20-minute open sessions to run their quickest lap times. For safety purposes and to make sure there wasn't too much impeding traffic everyone was separated into five different groups. The first group was the first part of the Open AWD and Rotary Class. This group included the infamous M-Sport R34 GT-R, which ended up smashing the competition by over a full second, running a 54.481-second lap time. The second fastest competitor in this group was the yellow Trial Mitsubishi Evolution that stopped the clocks with a 56:094 and a straightaway speed of 216.955 KMP. The naturally aspirated RWD Autobacs AMS Yokohama S2000 set another impressive time of 57.492.

In the second group of the Open AWD and Rotary Class was the super-fast yellow widebody Panspeed FD3 that managed to clock the second fastest time of the day with a 55:603-second run, which is very impressive considering it's not all-wheel drive. The Top Fuel S2000 was the first of three cars driven that day by Nob Tanaguchi. Nob and Top Fuel managed to put down a 57.506-second run with an impressive straightaway speed of 220.363 KMP. The J's Racing Honda Fit must've been experiencing some type of mechanical problems because it only reported to one out of three track sessions.

The third group included the Aussie brigade. Three of the five Aussies were able to break into the infamous Tsukuba sub-1:00 mark. The Aussie team had a very impressive display of vehicles with so much attention to detail given to each. It was also amazing to see how much manufacturer support the Aussies were getting at this event.

The Zero Sports Subaru Impreza with Tarzan Yamada at the wheel claimed the fastest time of 57.737 for the fourth group, which was expected since they were the only Open Class vehicle in this group. Prodrive Japan came in with the second fastest time for this group at 101.352 with their GDB Impreza street car. Knight Sports Engineering gave Prodrive some pretty close competition with their fastest time of 102.139 in their Street Class Mazda RX-7 FD3.

The fifth group was filled with just street cars, but they did have one competitor break into the sub-1:00 mark. This competitor was an Evo from MK Sports with, yet again, Tarzan behind the wheel.

It was amazing to see the cars from last year's Tokyo Auto Salon in action. Not only do they look really good, but these cars can also haul some serious ass. Another amazing aspect is how low these vehicles were setup for Tsukuba. The majority of the Open Class cars were setup so low that when they were making a few of the tighter turns their front diffusers were scraping the ground. The Rev Speed Time Attack Super Battle is very serious business here in Japan. There was so much manufacturer support from brake companies and tire companies to tuning companies-all with their key people out there tweaking their cars.

Editor's Note
Torn, battered and bruised, the GST Motorsports Subaru GC8 rumbled into the paddock just completing its second run session of the day. Posting an impressive 1:50 lap time, the Subie managed to squeak into fourth place. The deafening roar of the boxer engine came to an abrupt halt as a handful of the team quickly went to work making the necessary adjustments on the Subie's suspension, while the rest focused on repairing the passenger-side front end that encountered damage on the track just seconds before. GOTO:Racing's Brian Lock, who is in charge of piloting the GST time attack machine, quickly unsheathed his helmet and yelled out the window, "Does anyone know our lap times?" Team/shop owner Mike Warfield quickly responded "1:50." As Lock analyzed the data from his run, the team continued to work on the vehicle in preparation for the next session while Mike attempted to keep the group organized and levelheaded, knowing the chaos that was sure to ensue throughout the day.

The story you are about to read is seen through the eyes of Mike Warfield as we turn back the hands of time and follow this team and driver as they prepare the GST Motorsports Subaru for the inaugural Super Lap Battle. Mike's personal diary is filled with many of the highlights as well as disappointments that make the world of motorsports what it is today. Nothing is as easy as it seems.

It all started with a phone call from Source Interlink Media's Elliot Moran back in August inviting us to compete in their annual Super Lap Battle at Buttonwillow Raceway on Nov. 7. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Source InterlinkMedia invite-only event, it's an event for the top time attack teams/cars in the U.S. where the best domestic-based U.S. and JDM teams are attracted. This year it was rumored that arguably the fastest time attack car in the world, the HKS CT230R Evo, would be in attendance.

Over the past two to three years Buttonwillow's CW13 track configuration has become the U.S. equivalent to the renowned Tsukuba track in Japan, where our times are used to measure and rank us in the U.S.

Our preparation began in late September on the way home from the Tuner Shootout event in Las Vegas after we went head-to-head with AMS's awesome Evo. At that event, we were beaten by just over a second on a 4.5-mile course and realized that while our car had been very successful at West Coast events, we were seriously underpowered when going up against cars like the AMS Evo. We were running a low-compression Cosworth motor with a Garrett GT30r turbo and knew that in order to be able to compete with the top cars we'd need to step up to the GT35r's horsepower. So the GST crew agreed that we needed to do something with the motor to help with the additional lag. This was sorted rather easily with a quick call to Nickolaus DiBlasi of JE Pistons where we had a custom set of 10:1 compression pistons for our Cosworth motor on the way.

Another issue we had been fighting since building the car was the balance between needing to run fairly wide sticky tires and our inability to run a suitable ride height due to the clearance issues the 275s presented us with. In stepped our driver Brian Lock of GOTO:Racing, who with much deliberation worked out a way to remove the material from the fenders allowing us to bring the cars ride height down to where we needed it. A quick search on the Internet and we were able to find a suitable bolt-on fender flare to keep the aesthetic impact at a minimum.

With the new motor built, we proceeded to dyno tune the car. The new piston and turbo setup didn't disappoint; we managed to make an additional 100 whp over what we were running-with no loss in spool and better shift response. Now we were ready to test the car and work out the fresh chassis setup with the new ride height.

With the Super Lap Battle less than two weeks away, the only track time we could find was at Thunderhill with the folks from Hooked on Driving. Although an HPDE day was less than optimal, it would prove good enough for a shakedown on the new motor, as well as provide us with some time to set up the chassis. The test day went without an issue and we felt comfortable that we only improved the car's overall performance. Brian was able to run consistent times in heavy traffic, reporting back that the car was much easier to drive with the newly improved chassis setup. We were ready for the Super Lap Battle.

With the remaining days prior to the event, it became one big blur of final prep. All fluids were changed, bodywork was cleaned up and before we knew it, it was the night before the event. We closed up shop, loaded the rig and set out for our three and a half hour drive to Buttonwillow. The crew and car arrived at the Motel 6 off of the I-5 at around 1 a.m. and bedded down for five hours of sleep so we could be at the track gates when they open at 7 a.m.

With our partners from GOTO:Racing, we got the rig setup and ready for the days activities and sent the car off to tech. Tech was a fairly straightforward process with the steward taking a quick look over the car and the log book. Now we were ready for the first practice session that would determine our run group.

With Brian settled in the car, the crew moved to the pit wall where we would communicate with him over the in-car radio system. The warm-up and first hot lap went without incident with Brian running a low 1:50. As Brian started to push things a little harder on the second hot lap, he overcooked his turn-in coming out of Talladega, which sent him straight off in excess of 120 mph. As he made his way back to the pits, the crew prepared themselves for the worst. Upon inspection, the damage while aesthetically bad, wasn't too bad mechanically with only the passenger side of the front splitter, fender and headlight damaged. As the crew thrashed to get the repairs complete prior to the first timed session, Brian went over the data from our AIM dash and reported that the spring rates we were running were too stiff for a bumpy track like Buttonwillow. He was struggling to keep on the gas with the amount of understeer created from bump correction during cornering.

With time to do no more than repair the damages to the car, we worked on softening the shocks as much as we could as well as taking out a little wing to help the car rotate a little better. During the first timed session, reports were coming in on some of the other competitors and to no surprise the HKS CT230R was running a low 1:44. If you haven't seen this car in person before, let me tell you that the engineering work is simply first-class. The attention to detail on every aspect of the car is awe-inspiring. You could quite easily imagine it equally at home on a concourse or racetrack-a shear work of art and every bit as fast as it looks. From what we could tell, the next fastest car was the Twins Turbo third-generation RX-7 with the AMS Evo a couple of tenths behind it and then us about five-tenths back. We needed to push harder in the next session.

As the day progressed, so upped the temperature. We felt confident we had improved the car and were ready to knock some time off our mid 1:49 that we set earlier and see if we could get the second place overall. We conceded that short of strapping a rocket to the car or finding a wormhole on the track there was no way we could be anywhere close to the now mid 1:43 that the HKS car was running.

As luck would have it, neither of the two cars in front of us were able to manage times as fast as they did in the first session, so we felt confident we could bring home second place. With Brian now out on track, we sat eagerly watching our stopwatches. His first hot lap was a low 1:50; things looked promising. The second lap was another mid 1:49. I radioed Brian to let him know his times and gave him some encouragement to try and clip the eight-tenths we needed for second place. Brian drove the car as hard as he could but our luck had run out with the setup being simply too stiff for the track. Brian unwillingly had to get off the power and fight the understeer too much; he was only able to run a low 1:49.

As the crew headed back to the rig to greet Brian, everyone agreed that considering the competition and having the ill-handling car, fourth place was nothing to be disappointed about. After all, we managed to go over a second faster than we've ever previously gone at this track.

With the rig all packed up and the team back on the road to the shop, we started to discuss what we needed to do to the car for the weekend's event, the Redline Time Attack Finals at Laguna Seca. We discussed how we would be able to make the car pass the strict 92dB sound limit, but that's another story. While this one didn't end with the win we all wanted, everyone was very encouraged with the way the crew and driver managed to keep the car on track and improve our times steadily over the course of the day. As the saying goes, "We'll get 'em next time!"

The numbers game that is SEMA is nothing short of mind-boggling. Two million square feet of automotive excess divided up into 11 sections. More than 2,000 new products including parts, tools and accessories are beholden upon a good 100,000 or so SEMA-goers. More than 100 countries' worth of industry leaders, movers, shakers, even those not so inclined to lead, move or shake, roam the city of sin's convention center depths in search of what they-and those pushing it-consider the next big thing, which indelibly ranges from anything from silly donk accessories to the not so silly go-fast bits we usually seem to rave over. Much goes on at the industry-only, once-a-year Vegas-based gala-like event, but as usual, what we care most about are the parts.

What makes a classic car a classic car? Are the qualifications simply that of age or is there more to it? If the cutoff point is, say, 1969, then does that make the '73 Civic modern? Must classic cars be antiquated through and through. Are carburetors, manual windows and lap belts prerogatives and, if that's the case, will EFI conversions, split-entry turbochargers and four-wheel disc brake conversions ban such contraptions from the halls of the classics forever. If a tree falls in the forest and nobody's around to hear it, does it still make a noise?

The definition of a classic car is open to interpretation. But not to the Japanese Classic Car Show Association, or JCCS for short. Their rules are hard and fast albeit simple: eligible cars must be Japanese in origin and pre-1985 produced. The lack of rules leaves much open to interpretation, helping make JCCS' annual classic car show the success that it is.

JCCS is coming of age, with its Long Beach, California-based, October 2007 event tallying up more than 300 cars on display and several thousand spectators trickling in and out throughout the day. And with support from OEMs like Mazda, Nissan and Toyota, it's arguably become the biggest, small car show around. Privateers drove and trailered in just about anything from mint 510s, new-looking Starions, showroom-worthy Zs and '73 240s fitted with VQ35DEs, while OEMs like Mazda cracked open the museum cases and brought out such greats as the '67 Cosmo, which, for those that don't know, was the first twin-rotor production car ever. Festivities in celebration of Toyota's and Mazda's milestone anniversaries-50 years for Toyota in the U.S. and 40 years of rotaries-were also held. We even saw Jay Leno roaming around.

Not all JCCS cars are show queens, which is arguably what makes the event as enjoyable as it is. Daily drivers-both former and current-and track cars also occupy their own sizable pieces of the show. There was even room left over for the obligatory, beat-down rust buckets, which just goes to show you how serious JCCS is about their rules, or perhaps lack of them.

Pull up T.O.R.C.'s website and it all makes sense - "...to promote the preservation, restoration, modification and use of pre-1985 Toyota models." That's what the Toyota Owner's and Restorer's Club is there for; kind of like the National Archives of Japanese cars. T.O.R.C opens up its vault of historic automotive paraphernalia but once a year at its All Toyotafest car show held near the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. If the site looks familiar to you, that's because the same people behind T.O.R.C are also responsible for JCCS, the Japanese Classic Car Show, which you may recall coverage of in Turbo's Feb. '07 issue. Like JCCS, the All Toyotafest is free, and with more than 250 members' cars of the Toyota, Lexus and Scion variety on display, it isn't something we wanted to miss. Neither should you.

T.O.R.C.'s pre-1985 cutoff apparently isn't exactly hard and fast though as we saw plenty of late '80s, '90s and even a few '07 models out and about. Toyota, Lexus and Scion all made official appearances displaying everything from the redesigned xB to the impressive IS-F, which somehow manages to cram a 400hp 5.0L V-8 underneath its hood. This little surprise from Lexus made the show all the more worthwhile for those who trekked from destinations as far off as the Midwest and even the East Coast since it's the first time this car's been unveiled outside of the major auto shows. About half the cars on the field exemplified T.O.R.C and carried their respective pre-1985 torches proudly. The other half consisted of small gatherings of VIP Lexus sedans, rock crawler Cruisers, boy racer Scions and a swarm of drift-ready AE86's.

You could call T.O.R.C.'s 12th All Toyotafest a success. Of course, the fact that this year also marks Toyota's 50th anniversary and that the carmaker also announced news just two weeks prior that it's officially surpassed General Motors in overall sales now making it the world's largest automaker didn't hurt.

For the most part, car show standards are fairly strict. To compete, you'll need something near perfect. To win, you'll need something that's better than perfect. Car shows also have shiny trophies or at least some sort of prize you can stick on a shelf and forget about; various, often arbitrary, categories to compete in; and generally a few winners but for the most part a bunch of losers. The annual Eibach Honda and Acura meet has none of this; that's why it's a meet and not a show.

Every year Eibach opens its parking lot to arguably the largest grassroots Honda and Acura meet around - ever. Hondaphiles flock from as far off as the opposite coast as Eibach's Southern California headquarters, some go solo, others make the trek in cop-magnet caravans on a mission. The nice thing about Eibach's meet is its grassroots feel; the lots aren't filled with stuck-up magazine cars and trailer-driven show queens. Sure, they're there, but there's also plenty of daily-driven street cars, most of which deserve the spots they claimed at Eibach, but still a few that probably shouldn't have bothered with pulling out of the garage that Sunday. No matter though, that's what makes Eibach's meet so special; visitors are given a taste of all spectrums of what Honda enthusiasts have to offer, for better or worse. And besides, it's free. You can't go wrong with that.

The sleepy little town of Morrison, Colo. is not the type of place one would expect to find hundreds of highly tuned Hondas and Diamond Stars battling it out for import supremacy. But keep on a few miles past the somnolent, ex-mining village and you'll stumble upon Bandimere Speedway, one of the highest racetracks in the nation and home to the Proformance Engines IDRC Import Nationals.

Two years ago, when the Import Challenge first came to town, it wasn't much to speak of. A Supra with 18s and a flip (chameleon) paint job took best of show and the drag races weren't necessarily a fair match-up-the wins went to whoever could hold their car together the whole day without blowing a head gasket or CV joint.

After two years, two shows and a lot of growing pains, it seems the mountain boys have finally got it together. Although the strip throw-down final was between two hot-shoes from the West Coast, the turn out of locals was immense. With more than 400 local racers tearing up the strip, from 10-second blown Hondas, to a 23-second Reliant K, everybody had a good time as the hot sun cruised in and out of the clouds. There were plenty of spectators to enjoy the sights as 5,000-plus were on hand, quaffing drinks and snow cones while watching intense drag racing action.

Besides the hot race action, many vendors were on hand to show their goods and strut their stuff, as a number of them had DJs spinning beats and battling each other all day. Trance and hip-hop could be heard competing with each other, as the brazen roar from the high-performance exhaust echoed off the mountain wall that this racetrack was built into. Of course, no show would be complete without the requisite burnout contest, which was hotly contested, but the eventual winner would be a Nissan Altima.

The real stand-filler was the Miss Import Challenge. More than a dozen lovely ladies would compete, but only one would prevail. Taking the win light would be the blonde bombshell-too bad we don't know her name, but we still voted for her.

On the track, the high elevation of Colorado proved to be detrimental to the times of the Quick Class racers, preventing them from doing their best. Even with the elevation, Russ Matusevich qualified in the top spot of the Nitto Tires/Turbo magazine Quick VIII with a blistering 10.18 at 138.02 mph. Russ qualified more than half-a-second faster than his closest competitor, but his '85 Supra later succumbed to mechanical problems, removing him from competition. This opened the door for the KG Precision stable, which had three cars at the event. The final round was an all-KG affair, with shop owner Kurt Gordon facing off against Leevon Eisele. The boss went down when his 11.31 was not enough to beat Leevon's 10.92. Not only did Leevon's win help him pocket $1,000, but it also moved him ahead of Lisa Kubo in the IDRC season points standings.

In the Toyo Tires Street Class presented by Sport Compact Car, half of the eight-car field was of Diamond Star heritage. In the end, it would be a bout between a Toyota and Diamond Star. Gabe Massine and his '92 Plymouth Lazer faced off against the '91 Supra of Dante Smith. Gabe had a best run of 12.08 in the competition, while Dante had a best effort of 12.16. The close race that all hoped for was spoiled when the Supra broke at the line.

Along with the two heads-up classes, there were three classes of bracket racing on the menu at the Proformance Engines Import Challenge. By the end of the day, this little tourist town near Red Rocks, Colo. didn't know what hit them.

Asylum Motorsports Super Comp Class
Winner	Joel Yeagle	Lakewood, Co.	'78 Spitfire	12.200
R/U	Steve Tasca	Colorado Springs, Co.	'95 Civic	14.051
Mile-High Motorsports Super Mod Class
Winner	Dustin Moore	Arvada, Co.	'00 Civic	16.995
R/U	Dennis Miller	Arvada, Co.	'94 Integra	15.989
PFI Performance Super Stock Class
Winner	Mitch Baker	Parker, Co.	'00 Tundra	17.922
R/U	Rick Lam	Longmount, Co.	'95 Honda	17.587

NITTO TIRES/TURBO MAGAZINE QUICK-VIII CLASS
QUALIFYING
1	Russ Matusevich	Northridge, CA	'85 Supra	10.189 / 138.02
2	Leevon Eisele	Quartz Hill, CA	'98 Honda	10.797 / 134.16
3	Brent Levistad	Loveland, Co.	'90 CRX	11.134 / 128.75
4	Kurt Gordon	Huntington Beach, CA	'94 Civic	11.314 / 132.69
5	Chad Doerr	Loveland, Co.	'88 CRX	11.468 / 129.72
6	Donell Branch	Cold Springs, Co.	'88 CRX	12.161 / 118.73
7	Aaron Schley	Orange, CA	'94 Civic	12.535 / 107.50
8	Tom Lacrosse	Littleton, Co.	'95 VW GTI	12.680 / 109.18
QUARTERFINALS
Tom Lacrosse	12.958	108.96 mph	.911 r/t	$100
Kurt Gordon	11.922	127.37 mph	.863 r/t	WIN
Mark Hawkins (alt)	12.600	111.29 mph	1.072 r/t	$100
Leevon Eisele	11.484	124.37 mph	.820 r/t	WIN
Aaron Schley	13.020	101.21 mph	.590 r/t	$100
Brent Levistad	11.824	85.99 mph	.843 r/t	$100
Donell Branch	11.912	121.49 mph	1.349 r/t	WIN
SEMIFINALS
Russ Matusevich	BROKE			$250
Kurt Gordon	12.400	130.80 mph	1.442 r/t	WIN
Leevon Eisele	22.813	58.85 mph	1.923 r/t	WIN
Donell Branch	11.463	100.74 mph	1.320 r/t	$250
FINALS
Kurt Gordon	11.316	136.32 mph	.836 r/t	$500
Leevon Eisele	10.922	135.14 mph	.748 r/t	$1000
TOYO TIRES STREET-VIII CLASS PRESENTED BY SPORT COMPACT CAR
QUALIFYING
1	Dante Smith	Albuquerque, N.M.	'91 Supra	12.226 / 114.12
2	Shane Richmeier	Henderson, Co.	'73 Datsun	12.291 / 110.85
3	Gabe Massine	Lafayete, Co.	'92 Lazer	12.490 / 108.43
4	Jerry Hepburn	Lakewood, Co.	'94 Supra	12.732 / 111.47
5	Hal Landry	Aurora, Co.	'98 Eclipse	12.995 / 107.09
6	Jason Martinez	Westminster, Co.	'93 Talon	13.043 / 108.40
7	Eric Sandoval	Westminster, Co.	'94 300ZX	13.062 / 110.79
8	Erik Westlund	Lakewood, Co.	'92 Talon	13.089 / 103.45
QUARTERFINALS
Dantee Smith	12.470	110.32 mph	1.078 r/t	WIN
Erik Westlund	13.272	102.81 mph	1.049 r/t	$100
Jerry Hepburn	12.969	110.85 mph	1.321 r/t	WIN
Hal Landry	14.531	102.94 mph	.688 r/t	$100
Shane Richmeier	12.443	110.68 mph	1.350 r/t	WIN
Eric Sandoval	13.691	109.67 mph	1.140 r/t	$100
Gabe Massine	12.087	111.26 mph	.853 r/t	WIN
Jason Martinez	12.878	108.48 mph	1.005 r/t	$100
SEMIFINALS
Dantee Smith	12.167	114.58 mph	1.022 r/t	WIN
Jerry Hepburn	12.707	113.66 mph	.862 r/t	$250
Shane Richmeier	16.956	69.95 mph	1.109 r/t	$250
Gabe Massine	13.011	107.39 mph	.887 r/t	WIN
FINALS
Dantee Smith	BROKE			$500
Gabe Massine	12.712	109.83	1.014 r/t	$1000

The weather was great and there were more than 5,100 spectators taking in the action at Bandimere.

Leevon Eisele, racing out of the KG Precision Engineering stable, took home the victory in the Nitto Tires/Turbo Magazine Quick VIII at the Proformance Engines IDRC Import Nationals.

Facing off against Kurt Gordon (the KG of KG Precision Engineering) in the finals, Leevon didn't flinch, running a 10.92 to Kurt's 11.31.

Leevon got the props from the Colorado crowd. There were 5,100 spectators and more than 400 cars in competition at the event.

Russ Matusevich and his Supra took low e.t. honors and the top qualifying spot in the Nitto Tires/Turbo Magazine Quick VIII with a wild 10.18-second, 138-mph blast. Russ made it to the semis before breaking while facing off against Kurt Gordon.

Team Saturn made the trek, but were unable to qualify for the field of eight.

Tom Lacrosse and his '95 GTI represented the VW camp in the Quick VIII. Tom nabbed the eighth and final spot with a 12.68-second e.t.

Equaling only the Miss Import Challenge contest in crowd turnout, the burnout competition kept the stands filled. This Nissan Altima took home top honors.

There was also a show 'n' shine competition at the event. Here we see the top Integra.

Miss Import Challenge. Don't know her name, but still voted for her.

Donell Branch represented Colorado well. Qualifying in the sixth spot, he advanced to the semis by running an 11.92. He fell to the eventual champion, Leevon Eisele.

It takes a little more than an hour to get from one side of Oahu to the other. With such a small surface area in the middle of the big blue Pacific, one would think it's impossible for the import scene to make a splash in the 50th state. On September 2, 2000 the IDRC gave the small island of Oahu a taste of mainland drag racing and the islanders were up to the challenge. Track officials tabulated that 2,000-plus spectators and 80-plus racers came through the gates. This was actually very impressive. One thing we found strange was the fact that the race didn't start until 2:00 PM and ended at 10:00 PM. It later made sense because the smart locals wait for the sun and humidity to go away before taking on the quarter-mile.

A few of the cars that shipped out to the Aloha State included the first two Nissan Skyline GTRs to ever go heads up against each other, Vspec's S15 Silvia, Donnell Branch's CRX and the 9-second Venom Civic coupe.

Considering that the Skylines are both daily drivers the e.t.s were quite impressive for the Toyo Tires Street VIII class competitors. The R-34 Skyline was an APEXi-sponsored vehicle, utilizing an arsenal of over the-counter APEXi parts. Running Nitto NT555R's, the white GTR collected numerous low 12-second timeslips which gave Owner Toshi "Big Baller" Hayama bragging rights.

The Import Tuner magazine-sponsored R-33 Skyline was down a few ponies compared with the R-34 model but was still able to run mid-13s throughout the day and eventually make it as far as the semifinals. One interesting fact was the car was able to roam the island freely once the racing was over.

The V-spec SR20-powered 240SX had its share of problems starting in California. On the way to the transport, an intercooler pipe blew completely off and was run over by the vehicle's 18-inch Enkeis. The Nissan would spend the week in Hawaii at Hypersports Racing, where a new intercooler pipe was fabricated. The Silvia competed in a car show the weekend prior to the Nats.

Donnell Branch made the trek out from Golden, Colorado. He informed us that either a clutch or transmission problem kept the car from shifting smoothly from first to second. The W.A.R CRX qualified third and did an admirable job, making it to the quarter finals but fell victim to Kazu Yamaguchi's 10-second Civic.

The Venom-sponsored Civic arrived in the islands just in time for the IDRC event. The Civic was on a mission to give Hawaii Raceway Park spectators a 9-second pass but after a violent Jimmy O'Connor burnout the Civic snapped an axle. After a quick swap, the Honda ran a 10.20 at 150 mph on its first test pass. Unfortunately, problems arose which made it impossible for Venom to give the crowd what they wanted. The good news is the 10.20 pass was the quickest and fastest run ever at Hawaii Raceway in a front-drive Honda.

In the Quick Class hometown heroes at the event included Lanny "Kid Sensation" Higa, Paul Umholtz, Kazu Yamaguchi and Wade Segawa. The two Hypersports cars owned by Lanny Higa and Paul Umholtz pulled last minute efforts to run at the event. By Friday Lanny's engine would drop a cylinder on the dyno and Paul's car experienced blow by in the radiator. Just as the fat lady was about to blow her horn Lanny pulled a frenzied, late-hour wrenching session-assembling a second motor which was ready by Sunday and Paul fixed his problem by Friday. It should be mentioned that neither Honda had a motor in it the Monday before the event.

The Aloha Nationals was a success on many fronts. According to track officials the event ran very smooth and the attendance was outstanding. Furthermore the action was feverish. The draw of the tropical atmosphere may entice more racers to island jump next year. Already Turbo's entire staff is lining up to cover the Aloha Nats 2001.

The Turbo Magazine TouchOne thing you might not be aware of is the fact that every Turbo staffer has, or used to have, some behind-the-wheel experience in import drag racing. Ask any of us to give up the camera and keyboard for a chance to pilot a race-car and there would a scramble for the keys. Whether the car is a 15-second bracket racer or a full race-spec 9-second screamer, rest assured someone would answer the call.

At this event, I noticed one of the cars shipped out from California was on display and not racing at the Nats. The car was a 240SX with a V-spec S-15 conversion motivated by a fairly stock SR20DET. Why? I asked IDRC director Wayne Kiang what the deal was. "The intercooler pipe blows off at 9 psi and the engine is tuned to 22 psi. Phi Phung (Dynamic Autosports technician) spent the week prior to the event trying to resolve the problem but decided to give up." After hearing that, I wanted a crack at the problem for a chance to drive and compete the vehicle in the Toyo Tires Street VIII. Wayne paid the $45 racer fee, giving me the green light to run the car if I could revive it. I set up camp in Nitto's tent.

Right off, I noticed the intercooler pipe had a very harsh bend right into the throttle body and the silicone connector was double clamped at both ends to keep it from coming off. I figured the only way to fix the problem would be to wire the intercooler pipe to a secure part of the engine to keep it from coming off. The closest thing I could find to resemble safety wire was a coat hanger from the IDRC booth; I wrapped it around the blow-off valve flange and a steel coolant hose. I was able to twist it like a trash bag tie until the hanger was tight enough to keep the pipe from falling off.

My next mission was to find a helmet and some race gas. Kazu Yamaguchi let me borrow his helmet and I was able to scrounge up enough C-16 by borrowing about a quart from each racer to make a little over a gallon. By the way, thanks to Lanny Higa, Donnell Branch, Kazu Yamaguchi and Toshi Hayama for lending enough fuel to make the competition. My job. How could I shoot the race while driving? The best thing I could do would be to switch off driving the car with another person; that happened to be Sean Holloway from APEXi. Both of us took our shot at driving the turbo 240SX.

Much to my amazement, the trick worked and the engine held 22 psi; however, there was now an over-boost problem. Thankfully, the over-boost protection mode on the car's HKS boost controller was set at 23 psi. The over-boost mode reverts boost back to stock when activated. While over-boosting in every gear, the car ran a 14.9 so I knew it was capable of running faster if I could fix the boost problem. I played with the boost controller and made it to the first qualifying round, running a quicker 14.5 but the 240 was still hitting over-boost protection.

That's when I found out the controller was programmed wrong-and reprogramming it would take too much time. I wouldn't make the last two qualifying rounds for the Street Class. I decided to bypass the controller and figure out another way to boost the car. Donnell Branch from the W.A.R CRX was nice enough to lend me a vacuum tee I used to bleed off wastegate pressure. Cautious of bleeding off too much pressure and over-boosting, I decided to restrict the tee with a vacuum line air filter from the HKS controller. The second round with the vacuum tee and filter locked in a 14.1 e.t at a steady 11 psi. I needed to figure out how to squeeze a few more psi out of the car so I decided to take the vacuum line filter off the tee which would bleed off much more pressure. The scary part was not knowing what the car would boost. On the last round of qualifying, the 240 boosted exactly 22 psi and took the number three spot in the Street VIII with a 13.1-second e.t. All I had to do was pull up to the line for the quarterfinals to win $100. The 240 ran a 13.2, taking the win light to enter the semifinals.

A quick check of the coat hanger revealed it was working, but was also getting stretched out because there was a lot of play in the hanger. I loosened the clamps, pushed the pipe back in and gave the hanger a few more twists. Problem solved.

The next run would be against a Skyline that was running consistent low 12s; all we had to do on this run was pull up to the line and we would come home with $250 and a big-ass trophy for bragging rights. Of course, we lost to the Skyline but the 240 was still able to make a complete pass, turning 13.4 in the quarter.

With the help of some from the racers, I was able to re-live an experience I thought I never would again. To be behind the wheel of an import and competing in a heads-up event made me realize how much fun it is to be one of the racers-and even a pit crew member. Not only was it a blast for my adrenaline glands but this experience reminded me what we are all fighting for-pushing the limits and having fun. I love the smell of race gas in the morning!

Results

High-Tech IV
Qualifying
1	Ernest Lum	11.745@103.96	Aiea, HA
2	Michael Hinkle	14.838@96.17	Pearl City, HA
3	Leonard Barboza	16.948@77.03	Mililani, HA
4	Vivian Barboza	17.247@77.30	Mililani, HA
Semifinals
1	Ernest Lum	11.985@102.27	1.064 r/t
3	Vivian Barboza	17.016@76.00	.699 r/t	$100
2	Michael Hinkel	14.668@95.11	1.027 r/t
4	Leonard Barboza	16.607@80.22	1.066 r/t	$100
Finals
1	Ernest Lum	11.528@104.21	1.307 r/t	$500
2	Michael Hinkel	16.348@91.49	.661 r/t	$250
Nitto Tires/Turbo Magazine Quick VIII
Qualifying
1	Paul Umholtz	10.771@135.11	Wahiawa, HA
2	Wade Segawa	11.426@129.69	Honolulu, HA
3	Donnell Branch	11.863@125.30	Golden, CO
4	Lanny Higa	12.367@91.25	Mililani, HA
5	Lance	12.555@99.93	Honolulu, HA
6	Kazu Yamaguchi	13.491@87.56	Honolulu, HA
Quarter Finals
1	Paul Umholtz	-Bye Run-
4	Lanny Higa	-Broken-
2	Wade Segawa	11.280@133.87	.793 r/t
5	Lance	12.414@115.13	.648 r/t	$75
3	Donnell Branch	12.174@120.02	.528 r/t	$75
6	Kazu Yamaguchi	10.737@142.44	.915 r/t
Semifinals
1	Paul Umholtz	-Bye Run-
2	Wade Segawa	11.310@124.27	.790 r/t
6	Kazu Yamaguchi	13.952@118.66	.721 r/t	$250
Finals
1	Paul Umholtz	11.099@130.73	.875 r/t	$750
2	Wade Segawa	11.628@131.58	.694 r/t	$375

Results

Toyo Tires Street XIII
Qualifying
1	Toshi Hayama	12.425@115.93	Irvine, Ca
2	Brandon Nasu	12.616@113.60	Honolulu, HA
3	Gary Castillo	13.126@110.52	San Diego, CA
4	Michael Ferrara	13.366@111.12	Huntington Beach, CA
5	Michael Ji	13.410@111.07	Honolulu, HA
6	Car #03	13.572@107.10
7	Kimo Han	13.585@106.43	Honolulu, HA
8	Cedric Smith	13.732@106.91	Honolulu, HA
Quarter Finals
1	Toshi Hayama	12.274@118.05	.886 r/t
5	Michael Ji	13.119@112.92	1.463 r/t	$100
3	Gary Castillo	13.297@107.94	1.196 r/t
7	Kimo Han	16.020@102.49	.725 r/t	$100
2	Brandon Nasu	12.559@114.48	.763 r/t
6	Car #03	13.088@108.46	.712 r/t	$100
4	Michael Ferrara	13.519@108.67	.724 r/t
8	Cedric Smith	13.708@108.44	.694 r/t	$100
Semifinals
1	Toshi Hayama	12.133@117.82	.926 r/t
3	Gary Castillo	13.409@111.17	1.174 r/t	$250
2	Brandon Nasu	13.002@102.34	.800 r/t
4	Michael Ferrara	13.635@100.88	.919 r/t	$250
Finals
1	Toshi Hayama	12.228@120.05	1.062 r/t	$1000
2	Brandon Nasu	12.588@114.77	.597 r/t	$500
IDRC $21,000 Bracket Packet Series 2000
Super comp (7.49-to-12.99)
Winner	Frank DeSantos	Honolulu, Hawaii	11.71 dial	$500
R/U	Kary Book III	Honolulu, Hawaii	12.71 dial	$200
Super Mod (13.00-to-14.99)
Winner	Michael Wong	Aiea, Hawaii	14.85 dial	$500
R/U	Jeffrey Ching	Pearl City, Hawaii	14.40 dial	$200
Super Stock (15.00-and-slower)
Winner	Shea Barboza	Mililani, Hawaii	17.97 dial	$500
R/U	Emerito Guillermo	Ewa Beach, Hawaii	17.90 dial	$200

This old-school 510 ran numerous mid-10s. The Datsun relied on a fuel injected turbocharged 3TC powerplant.

The Venom Civic made it all the way from the mainland but was only able to complete one run, a 10.20 at a blistering 150 mph. This was the quickest and fastest car at the event.

Kazu Yamaguchi qualified in the number 8 spot by turning in a less than par 13.49 e.t. He was able to click off a 10.73 at 142 in the quarter finals.

Even if Lanny rubbed Buddha's belly for good luck, that still wouldn't have fixed the dropped cylinder in the Hypersports Civic.

This Sonic VW has one trick set-up. The crew spent the day fixing a driveline problem to make one exhibition run.

This Speedline Civic was painted and reassembled the week before the IDRC event. It was all worth it because the driver, Lance, made it as far as the quarter finals.

The first ever Skyline match up in Hawaii kept the crowd in awe.

Quite a change for Donnell Branch and the W.A.R CRX team. Going from their normal Mile-High Colorado track to a sea-level atmosphere must have had an effect on crew and car alike.

That's Mr. Kid Sensation Lanny Higa piloting the infamous Alphanumeric/Hypersports-sponsored Civic. We were told that the car will now stay in California for the IDRC season finals and all of the 2001 season.

This coat hanger rig made me $250 richer!

Adding New Fuel To An Old FlameWhen Eric Plebani's Starion first graced the pages of November '99 Turbo, it caught our eyes by being a fast, budget-conscious Diamond Star. Budget-yes, but bucket, hell no! It proved that innovation can be achieved for pennies-good ideas cost nothing. Our first encounter with Plebani's '87 Mitsubishi Starion was on May 15th, 1999 at Island Dragway in New Jersey. The vehicle debuted running consistent 11.5s at 124 mph, which is enough to be considered a very worthy Starion even to this day. Back then, the Diamond Star was equipped with a bone-stock 4G63 Eclipse powerplant plugged into a bone stock OEM Starion transmission with the help of a Buschur Racing motor mount kit. Advanced Clutch Technology was able to design a bulletproof clutch set up to transfer the ponies to the rear. A ROM-tuned ECU working in conjunction with an HKS VPC (Vein Pressure Converter) and Buschur Race Pump handled fuel management. "The motor was originally bone-stock because we didn't even know if this set-up would work at all," said Plebani. "After it debuted at the IDRC event, we were confident the platform would be capable of running good numbers."

That Was Then, This Is Now!In just under a year, Plebani was able to move up the ladder from double to single digits. His home track is Atco Raceway and this is where the long process of getting the car to hookand book began.

Once he realized the set-up was working flawlessly, Plebani swapped out the 20G turbo for a larger T-66 Innovative turbo. The new hair dryer was set for 27-psi of boost pressure, just like the original. Besides the turbo swap, Plebani also had Buschur Racing open up the cylinder head and load the engine with forged pistons and billet rods.

The first gremlin Plebani encountered was the OEM transmission. With the motor ingesting 27 pounds of boost pressure, the transmission would literally spin apart on him. While covered in gear oil after yet another transmission change, Plebani decided enough was enough. Soon after, a Chevy Powerglide was poised to be installed into the determined Diamond Star. Plebani brought the Powerglide to a local V8 shop that fitted the transmission with a set of friction-free roller bearings designed to help the little four-banger turn the gears. After a few test sessions with the 'glide, Plebani determined the stock rear end gear was too tall, so he installed a shorter one-this is when magic started to occur.

The Starion landed in the land of 10s with the 'glide and all of the other engine mods, so it was time to play with the suspension. At the time, Plebani said, "I wanted the car to run reliably at 27 psi and once I have it dialed in at that amount of boost, I will go to 30 psi." Today he said, "to get into the 9s, I had to play a lot with the shocks, tire pressure and anything else that could get my car to hook and book. I videotaped all of my runs and the footage made a big difference in learning what the car was doing down the track. What made the biggest difference was the Ground Control set up in the rear. I played with different shocks and spring rates, but the Ground Controls seemed to work the best. As a matter of fact, I still haven't made the jump up in boost, but with a little more suspension tweaking, the car will be ready for 30 psi."

Although the motor was still very healthy, Plebani made the decision to install a Stage III Buschur engine complete with a Buschur sheetmetal intake and fuel rail, a set of Unorthodox Racing pulleys and one big-ass Spearco intercooler. After all the mods, the Screamin' Starion grasped the nines in June and has since ran its best time of 9.73 at 141 mph at the '00 Diamond Star Shootout. Plebani and his Starion have seen trap speeds in the 146-mph range, and with a little more suspension tuning, the car should be in the low 9s and knockin' on the 8s.

Nobody loves old-school imports more than Puerto Ricans. Their motto, "If it's not an older body import, then it's not worth building." Most of these Puerto Rican powerhouses are packin' a rotary, 3TC or 2TC, and are going faster than the laws of physics say they should. The Pan American Nationals is an ongoing battle of piston vs. rotary; Puerto Rico vs. USA and, as usual, all bets are settled at Atco Raceway.

USA And, As Usual, All Bets Are Settled At Atco Raceway.The new millennium saw the Nats get off to a record-breaking start, with more spectators and racers than ever. This predominately Puerto Rican event has been on going strong for nine years and each year, Puerto Rico's top racers are invited out for some awesome drag race action on U.S. soil.

A close call with Mother Nature put this year's show in jeopardy. The word was out the event would most likely be rained on, and sure enough, the rain came pouring down. After a two-hour rain delay, the track officials spent another two hours drying and prepping the track. Now a four-hour delay is a long time for anybody, but this crowd was pumped and blood-thirsty for burnouts. Personally, we wouldn't be too surprised if no one left the track, because even after the downpour, it was still a standing-room-only event.

The much-talked-about Sakura was a headliner for Team Puerto Rico. Days before the event, driver Erik Torres and crew decided to do a few last minute dyno pulls before hitting the track. They discovered the car was down on power and they were using every trick in the book to get the Mitsubishi to run correctly. By day's end, it was obvious the Mirage's low mph was not up to par. Torres was able to turn a day's best of 7.89, but with a 158 mph trap speed. This car can normally break into the 7.5 range while attaining more than 170 mph in the traps. Only Team Sakura can be disappointed with a 7.89.

No stranger to the tube-chassis market was Kike Shields out of Puerto Rico. Every tube-chassis car representing Puerto Rico at this event was built out of Kike's Chassis shop. Kike (pronounced "Key Kay") was not suspension tuning PR's race cars as one would expect, he was on hand to pilot one of his creations owned by Julio Portela. His date for the day was a '72 Datsun powered by a 13B rotary. With Kike behind the wheel, the car ran consistent 9.2s in competition and one 18.35 in the semis due to a bye-run. Since PR vs. USA is run bracket-style, the edge goes to the consistent driver/car. In the end, Kike's hours of labor building the car paid off, as the Datsun won the event and Kike's wallet was $10,000 heavier.

Brendon Alvarez out of Miami is a familiar face at the Nats, as he is one of America's Top Guns. This year he was a little harder to recognize, because of his new car. Brendon's 8-second, PSI-sponsored, piston-powered Toyota Corolla has been replaced by a pistonless '93 tube-chassis RX-7. The new car did not miss a beat, and qualified number one for Team USA with an 8.6. Kike Shields eliminated Brendon in the second round due to a break out time. The RX-7 dialed in an 8.95 and ran an 8.94, ouch.

Almost missing the last round qualifier was Marcos Acosta. The team made a late arrival on Saturday and just as they were getting ready to make a pass, rain came pouring down. Due to the rain on Saturday, Marcos had to make a qualifying pass Sunday morning to lock in the number two spot for Team USA. Since the car only had one qualifying pass, Marcos was unable to figure out a correct dial-in on the MX-3, which is why his slower-than-normal 8.9 dial in was shattered in the first round with an 8.69.

Although we don't know much about the underdog Isreal Rodriguez and his '71 Datsun, the Team USA racer was able to take out some of Puerto Rico's best racers in competition, one of them being Sakura. The Compai Datsun made it all the way to the finals before losing to Kike's '72 Datsun.

The Pan American Nationals is on a level all by itself. Nowhere else do the fastest tube-chassis cars from Puerto Rico come out to play with the best the United States has to offer. Although Puerto Rico won this round, the United States has a few up-and-coming "X-File" cars ready to blow some doors off. A big thanks goes out to our Puerto Rican translators for the event: Rafael Fuentes from Competition Engineering, Johnny Headers and Mick Martinez from Chassis Engineering. The 2001 Nats promise to be bigger and better; see you there.

DRIVER	HOMETOWN	CAR	DIAL-IN	E.T	MPH
1ST ROUND
Israel Rodriguez	Lodi, N.J.	'71 Datsun	9.78	9.76	136.73
Guillermo Dovilla	Puerto Rico	Starlet	8.80	8.56	150.27
Rafael Roldon	Rauanquets,P.R.	'82 Toyota	7.95	10.55	81.22
Julio Illanas	Mayaquez, P.R.	'71 Mazda	-Broke-
Anibal Rivera	Corozal, P.R.	'94 Mazda	8.50	9.13	136.61
Jamie Torres	Philadelphia	'81 Starlet	9.50	10.86	105.41
Carlos Montano	Paterson, N.J.	'71 Datsun	8.80	11.63	74.20
Luis Torres	Rio Grande, P.R.	'89 Mazda	8.60	9.74	125.06
Luis Vivo	Bayaman, P.R.	'91 Mazda	9.48	9.82	132.50
Marcos Acosta	Bronx, N.Y.	'95 Mazda	8.90	8.69	153.08
Julio Portela	Puerto Rico	'72 Datsun	9.10	9.23	131.77
Mike Improta	Ansonia, N.J.	'82 Toyota	8.85	9.09	147.88
Brendon Alvarez	Miami	'93 Mazda	8.85	9.71	110.34
Jose Burgos	San Juan, P.R.	'82 Starlet	8.65	8.77	148.44
Erik Torres	Puerto Rico	'93 Mitsubishi	7.90	8.58	164.35
Carlos Guzman	Vineland, N.J.	'82 Toyota	9.20	9.54	144.06
QUARTER-FINALS
Julio Portela	Puerto Rico	'72 Datsun	9.05	9.23	141.35
Brendon Alvarez	Miami	'93 Mazda	8.95	8.94	145.41
Carlos Montano	Paterson, N.J.	'71 Datsun	8.80	11.33	80.03
Luis Vivo	Bayaman, P.R.	'91 Mazda	9.58	9.52	120.54
Israel Rodriguez	Lodi, N.J.	'71 Datsun	9.75	9.53	139.57
Rafael Roldon	Rauanquets,P.R.	'82 Toyota	8.00	9.17	154.98
Erik Torres	Puerto Rico	'93 Mitsubishi	7.90	8.10	164.80
Anibal Rivera	Corozal, P.R.	'94 Mazda	8.28	8.07	148.34
SEMI-FINALS
Israel Rodriguez	Lodi, N.J.	'71 Datsun	9.50	9.60	137.86
Erik Torres	Puerto Rico	'93 Mitsubishi	7.99	7.89	158.50
Julio Portela	Puerto Rico	'72 Datsun	9.05	18.35	56.16
FINAL
Julio Portela	Puerto Rico	'72 Datsun	9.05	9.34	126.52
Israel Rodriguez	Lodi, N.J.	'71 Datsun	9.50	9.69	138.18

Nestled in the cornfields in the middle of Ohio lies, possibly, the most underrated quarter-mile facility in the country-Norwalk Raceway. Here, Honda-hating Diamond Star lovers gathered to show who's who when it comes to thrashing their opponent down the quarter-mile. And even though the competition was fierce, this was the friendliest gathering of race enthusiasts you could ever come across.

Celebrating its eighth birthday this year, the show boasted almost 200 competitors and twice the normal amount of spectators filling the infield and grandstands. People came from as close as Norwalk and as far away as Miami. Two spectators even came from Aruba and the Middle East to glean some Diamond Star tips for their own cars back home. Competing cars were divided into 10 classes of varying states of tune. From the slowest, non-turbo category to the DSM-powered class, featuring Eric Plebani and his Buschur-sponsored Starion, who blasted his best ever e.t at the Shootout-a 9.73 at 141 mph. Look out Quick Class competitors, as you may soon be in a Starion's rear view mirror!

The class to watch this year was the Quick 8, featuring the fastest "race only" Talons and Eclipses. Spectators (and even racers) lined up around the burnout box to witness these monsters tear up the track with low-10 and even 9-second passes. Sean Glazar entered the Quick 8 as the number one qualifier, blasting a 9.83 in his Mitsubishi Mirage. That was about all Glazar could muster up, as he took himself out of the running after the first round, due to mechanical gremlins. Glazar will be a formidable force in future races.

In the semi-finals, the local favorite, John Shepherd was given a bye run into the final, due to Glazar bowing out. The boys from Connecticut had to work for their win however, as they coaxed the Pruven-sponsored Talon to victory over Jesus Rivera. This set the stage for tense moments at the line for the final, as Dan Cokic, driving the Pruven car, was matched against John Shepherd. Cokic was able to manage a slight jump off the line and get a two-car lead on Shepherd. About mid-track, Shepard showed the brute force of his machine and was able to win by a length at the finish, blasting by Cokic's 10.637 at 132 mph with a 10.126 at 142 mph.

As a side note, we feel the "Mechanic of the Day" award should go to Dan Buschur for his fleeting attempt to run the Quick 8. Buschur debuted his 1991 Talon featuring all "bolt-on" parts supplied by his brother, Dave Buschur of Buschur Racing. In his first qualifying pass, Buschur managed to break his transmission, locking third gear in place. In the time it would take most people to simply assess the situation, Buschur loaded his car onto a trailer and brought it back to his brother's shop. He then dropped the transmission, welded the differential on a bone stock spare, re-installed the unit, and made it back to the track just in time for the last of the qualifying passes. His work was futile though, as the clutch grenaded mid- track, totally destroying the clutch assembly and flywheel. We recognize your efforts, Dan...better luck next time.

As the last car ran down the quarter-mile, most attendees were on their way back to Dave Buschur's shop for the awards ceremony. The trophies were handed out to the first, second and third place winners in each class. That was not the end though, as this tightly knit group of racers hung around to enjoy the drinks supplied by Dave Buschur and revel in the day's experience. Many racers were quick to look forward to next year-all hoping that the event keeps growing and the e.t.s keep falling.

QUICK 8
Winner	John Shepherd	'91 Talon
Runner-up	Dan Cokic	'90 Eclipse
DSM POWERED
Winner	Eric Plebani	'87 Starion
Runner-up	Robert Ochsher	'89 Colt
FWD
Winner	Greg Bedard	'94 Talon
Runner-up	Dan Weaver	'99 Eclipse
DS ELIMINATOR
Winner	Frank Deninno	'90 Talon
Runner-up	Dan Weaver	n/a
NON-TURBO
Winner	Craig Ristoben	'96 Galant
Runner-up	Tony Fuzzetti	'93 Talon
SECOND GENERATION
Winner	Carl Vonnegut	'95 Talon
Runner-up	Savitar Charudattan	'95 Eclipse
STOCK APPEARING
Winner	Michael Stinebaker	'91 Talon
Runner-up	Edward Puskaric	'90 Talon
3000/STEALTH
Winner	Jack Tertadian	'94 3000GT
Runner-up	Vineet Singh	'92 Stealth
BRACKET 1
Winner	Joe Bianco	n/a
Runner-up	Ken Maynard	'90 Talon
BRACKET 2
Winner	Robert Arrowood	'92 Talon
Runner-up	Fedja Jeleskovic	'95 Talon

Lest there be any doubt, Japan is car crazy. With an extensive number of racing series to choose from, there's something for everyone here. However, as the motorsport calendar draws to a close at the end of each year, there's very little offered to keep the most die-hard fans content. So events like the Toyota Motorsports Festival (TMF) are a godsend, as they help bridge the gap during the cold winter months. As soon as we heard what the guys at Toyota had in store for this year's event we got ourselves down to the legendary Fuji Speedway nice and early, ready to take in all of the day's action.

An amazing 29,200 people turned up, impressive considering the dismal weather. The mere sight of some of the cars on display was enough to get your average car guy salivating! The lineup included everything from your entry-level Vitz (Yaris) all the way up to the 2006 TF106 Toyota F1 car. And if this wasn't enough, Toyota made sure their loyal fans got their money's worth by bringing in some of the most well-known racing drivers in Japan, as well as high-profile personalities like F1 star Ralf Schumacher. And in celebration of the long partnership between Yamaha and Toyota, Valentino Rossi's Yamaha YZR-M1 Moto GP bike was brought in for a special demonstration run. Taking the Yamaha works machine out on the track was Japanese Moto GP rider Norifumi Abe, who put the high-powered bike against some of Toyota's better known historical and modern race cars, including the F1 car.

The day kicked off with the Altezza and Vitz cup races where spectators were treated to some extremely exciting bumper-to-bumper racing-a perfect way to wet the appetite before the serious machinery was warmed up and taken out for the demonstration runs. As the drivers battled it out on track we took an opportunity to walk around the main pit area where people crowded around the machines that have brought fame to Toyota on and off the racetrack, including the V-8-powered 2006 Supras; the new Lexus LS430s that compete in the Super GT race series; and the GT300 cars like the Celica and MR-S. It's always great taking a close look at modern GT race cars like these. It brings home the amount of work and engineering that go into them-like the extensive use of carbon fiber; the superbly arranged pushrod suspension layout; and the extremely powerful braking systems. Making our way up toward the top part of the pit area we hit a mouthwatering array of Formula Nippon cars. But what really got us salivating was the engineering masterpiece parked in the Esso-Ultron sponsored pit. We are, of course, talking about the Toyota TS020 GT1 Le Mans racer-a car that took second place in 1999 at the infamous French 24-hour race. The attention to detail in its engine bay is simply outstanding. It may look cluttered from a distance, but as you begin to take in all of the individual components-like the piping, cooling systems and wiring-it all begins to make sense. The interior is equally impressive. Everything revolves around the driver. Opening the doors reveals the complex carbon-chassis and bodywork designed to take advantage of the aerodynamic flow at high speeds.

Toyota has totally embraced the cult following that the drifting scene is currently enjoying by inviting six top-level drift cars and drivers for a short exhibition run on the main straight. Drivers like Orido, Ueno, Imamura and Kunny showed off their skills in their Toyota drift cars by slaloming around parked cars and showing what 600 hp can do to tires! On the main paddock area an impressive number of 2000GT owners brought their immaculate historic cars to show off and drive on a special parade lap along with the numerous Sports 800 micro cars on show. To mourn the fact that Toyota is killing off yet another popular sports car, the MR-S, a special stand was dedicated to its long history both on and off the road. A final limited edition celebratory model was presented. It will be on sale until the end of the year.

The main track action got under way as Ralf Schumacher took the F1 car for a few hot laps, even under the wet weather conditions. Special mention has to go to the traction control and launch control systems these cars run that allows them to use optimal grip from a standstill, even with over 700 hp coming from a compact 600-kg curb weight! Ukyo Katayama took the TS020 for a few fast laps, showing off the amazing power of the Le Mans racer as he spun the rear wheels in almost all gears on the wet track. To give spectators a good indication of the difference of speed between cars of different classes, a Super GT LS was lined up against a Formula Nippon racer on a quarter mile where it proceeded to be beaten by the lighter machine. The Formula Nippon car was then crushed by the TS020, which was in turn completely eaten up by the Moto GP Yamaha. Abe, on the bike, then went against Ralf Schumacher who managed to show what an F1 can do by winning the challenge hands down. As a surprise, Toyota invited the Williams F1 team with their new 2007 F1 car, which runs a Toyota engine, to parade around the circuit with Nakajima (son of the famous F1 driver) at the wheel. The relatively inexperienced driver proved just how hard it is to handle one of these beasts in the wet, as he kept locking up and overshooting corners and ended his lap by spinning and almost stalling the engine. We hope this is not a prelude to his rookie year in the 2007 F1 season! Yet another surprise was in store for the crowds: the 2007 Super GT works LS430 was taken out for a quick lap. The car, still under development, was wearing a bare carbon-fiber body and had been redesigned since the 2006 version.

All in all, Toyota put on a great show for its fans. It was a well-organized event with plenty of action and entertainment for the whole family. After seeing so much tasty machinery on show, we can't wait for the 2007 racing season to get started!

There's a long list of car-guy must-dos out there, but here's something that should be at the top: driving an open-wheel car. It's not easy or cheap, but being stuffed into a featherweight, open-top, mid-engine tub and thrown onto a track is one of the few things that can provide an intense man/machine interaction. And even fewer will throw you into a spin as easily.

Bridgestone's Racing Academy, based at the Mosport International Raceway just outside of Toronto, Canada, offers a racing school dedicated to the open-wheel driving experience. It's also one of few places that let you pilot a formula car and begin to feel aero grip - assuming you have the gumption to corner at speeds high enough to induce the effect.

The Reynard F2000 chassis used by the academy is a tube frame fiberglass monocoque powered by a 2.0-liter SOHC Dodge Neon motor putting out roughly 130 bhp. Mated to a four-speed non-sequential dog-box, the 1000-pound chassis - shod with Bridgestone's new RE-01R street tires - can still race to 60 mph in under five seconds, even with its tall first gear. But going in a straight line is the least of this car's talents. The capacity to take tight 90-degree kinks at well over 50 mph and fly through mild sweeping turns at triple digit speeds with the throttle floored is what makes the F2000 unlike any streetcar.

The open-wheel track experience also takes out all the complexities of tracking a conventional car. Its near-perfect balance strips away the need for driver tricks necessary with some layouts, like trail-braking in a front-wheel-drive car. It rewards classic driving skills: early braking, smooth neutral-throttle turn-in and fast-track out. It also gives the driver no nonsense response while still retaining enough suspension to use fundamental track skills like proper weight transfer (unlike karts).

And it's the best way to figure out just how good you are. Manhandle the controls and the car gets upset. Develop a delicate racer's touch and the machine will dance through corners. With so little weight over the front axles, turning the wheel is a matter of finger effort. Any slight motion prompts immediate response. The same goes for the gearbox and unassisted brakes. Heel-toe downshifts come with just a twist of the knee, while upshifts can be done with a slight throttle lift and no clutch.

The Bridgestone Racing Academy offers several courses, ranging from a one-day beginners' event to a full three-day training, where you're taught not only how to drive a race car, but how to race wheel-to-wheel with passing and race starts. This happens rain or shine. If you're lucky, you can even open-wheel race in the wet and learn about the rain line; something most amateur racers know nothing about (especially those from California). Prices range from 565 CND to 11,990 CND for a full nine-race series. We think it's worth every maple-leafed penny.

The massive aftermarket parts wholesale distributor Pro-Motion opened its doors to invite enthusiasts out for a day of food, music, and meet and greets with the many companies whose products Pro-Motion sells. Pro-Motion gained national attention recently when it was recapitalized by a larger entity for an astronomical investment price. Aftermarket goods have officially made it to the big time. If your company is being profiled on national industry news then you know you have it made. Our "tuner nation" has finally received widespread recognition in big business.

Pro-Motion was in a celebratory mood and threw a huge bash complete with a full barbeque spread, raffle giveaways, and even the Bergenholtz brothers appeared with their winning racecar. Just as you're thinking you've heard about these customer appreciation days before, let it be told that Pro-Motion brought it to a whole other level. Some lucky Pro-Motion fans walked away with iPods, an Xbox 360, and - get this - a widescreen plasma TV. It was an insufferably hot summer day, but Pro-Motion customers couldn't complain with loot like that up for grabs.

When people weren't waiting for their lucky number to be called, they were cruising around the vendor tents chatting it up with the likes of Edelbrock, Energy Suspension, HKS, Sparco, Synapse, PIAA, ACT, AEM, Fujita Air, Top Fuel, Tokico, NOS, Eibach and Rotora. Talk about a bunch of innovative powerhouses all in one place! Show cars on display inspired ideas, and new products made for Christmas wish lists. We were able to tell Energy Suspension how awesome their bushing kit worked on our Project 240SX and then moved next door to Edelbrock where we set up some killer plans for turbo'ing our Project Integra. PIAA also got our love as they hooked up our 240SX with some ridiculously deep-dish wheels while Sparco on the other hand took half our paycheck for their track gear that we just can't live without.

The sweltering in the sun was certainly worth it since you just can't beat having all of these top companies all in one place. Check out the photos to see what you poor saps missed, and be sure not to miss it next year if you're in the area.

When we say hotter than hell, we mean that 100% literally, figuratively, whatever - it was hot in every sense of the word. I have never been in such desert heat before in my life - then again neither had most of the D1 drivers. With the mercury hitting 112 and track temperatures hitting 150, the drivers entered a whole new blistering territory.

This D1 Las Vegas exhibition match was the most nerve-racking suspense-filled drifting event I have ever witnessed. Pit crews were constantly struggling to adjust the cars so they wouldn't go flying off the asphalt. Scorching heat and marbleized rubber do not make for an easy drift around the track. We witnessed the best of the best Japanese pro-drifters slam their cars into the wall because the pavement was simply too damn hot to get enough traction. Their usual 100+mph entry speeds were now a recipe for disaster. With each car that came down the track, the crowd watched and wondered in nail-biting suspense if this next heat-challenged drifter was going to hit the wall.

Further complicating matters was that the track temperature varied greatly from when the drivers practiced in the afternoon to when their final runs took place at night. What worked for them earlier was often a huge miscalculation later in the day. Adding to the challenge of the unrelenting heat was that the Las Vegas Motor Speedway set up a very narrow course that didn't leave a lot of room for error. Gone was the banked expanse of the California Irwindale track - this was a narrow short course that barely fit two cars side-by-side.

The fans were amazing in spirit and number, considering the sweat-inducing heat. Some of the attendees in the huge crowd were specially rewarded as they got up close to the action: the bleachers were so near the track many walked away with tire spew all over their faces.

Our favorite D1 announcer, Toshi Hayama, kept everyone entertained throughout the heat wave. In between runs the crowd got to check out the pits, which were not roped off so you could see every detail of the drift cars' set-up and the action of the crew changing suspension specs and tires. After all the crashes there was a lot of duct-taping bodywork going on as well. This event was also run at the same time as the NHRA Sport Compact series so fans could alternate between watching drifting and drag-racing.

This Grand Prix featured over twenty drift cars, with about half of their drivers being American, and about half being Japanese. All of the Japanese favorites were on hand to sign autographs for the fans, including Kazama, Yuke's Kumakubo, Yoshihara and monkey-man Nomura. The Drift King himself, Tsuchiya, also met with fans as he announced the event for Option video. The American drivers also put out an impressive showing, with Tanner Foust of AEM leading the way. Foust managed an unprecedented 120 qualifying points, a first in D1GP history, and was the first qualifier among all of the drivers. Unfortunately for Foust, he was out in the first round after a sticky emergency brake caused him to not stop in time and tap opponent Tanaka, an automatic disqualification. It was a sad event for the American side, as he was our best candidate to try and take the win.

Also representing for the American side was Alex Pfeiffer, who, after smashing his AE86 previously, was now piloting the show car worthy BRS RX-7. This pink beauty was designed for time attacks, so Alex was facing an uphill battle to make it cooperate for drifting. Ultimately a throttle problem knocked him out during the first round of the Best 16.

Although young scion Ken Gushi was on hand with his Mustang, he was clearly no match for Toshiki Yoshioka, who took his Corolla all the way to the final win.

In not so glorious news, Dynamic Autosports' Robbie Nishida took off his Quaker State 240's front bumper and failed to make the Best 16.

Also not making it to the Best 16 was Blitz's Nomuken, who smashed the legendary GT-R (and Turbo cover car) into the wall during one of the final qualifying rounds. After head mechanic Abe had stayed up all night perfecting the car, it was quite a sad sight.

Right after Nomuken crashed, two other Japanese drift cars also saw the wall. With the American drivers going next they saw the consequences of 90+mph entry speeds so they took it a little slower in the 80-90mph range. It was difficult for the drivers to find the perfect threshold between going too slow and looking sluggishly uncompetitive and going too fast and totaling their vehicles.

After running the Best 16, and the Best 8, the drifting field was whittled down to four: Tanaka in a Skyline, Yoshioka in his Corolla, Komoro also in a Corolla, and Kumakubo piloting an Impreza. Kumakubo was the odds-on favorite, as he has been drifting competitively for something like 15 years. The man has a lot of experience to say the least. He put the smack-down on Komoro's AE86 in the semi-finals and advanced his Suburu to the finals. In the end the engine-that-could won out and Yoshioka's Corolla took home the glory.

For all the riveting action you'll just have to go out and buy the Option DVD to watch it, as our few pictures here can't do these battles justice. (You can also see our Turbo staff ducking as drivers hit the wall that we were precariously standing next to.)

With the crowd waving orange D1 do-rags in the air, this Grand Prix was a resounding success despite the heatstroke-inducing temperatures. Hopefully all of the partying the D1 drivers did in Sin City eased away their memories of crashing and losing. We hope D1 returns to Las Vegas next year since it's a great destination for out of town fans to fly in, see some spectacular drifting, and hit the sights and sounds of the Vegas Strip. Just bring your hats, sunscreen, ice packs, misters and fans with you.

Needing to hone our road racing skills we at Turbo never pass up a track event. Mackin Industries, a leader in distributing everyone's favorite aftermarket goodies, knows that us industry folk love to get out there and race our personal vehicles so they set up a track day at the Streets of Willow. Located in the dusty California desert, Willow Springs has both a long and short road course. It's an excellent course to practice driving technique on since there are numerous corners of varying difficulty. Also available was a drift course that was set up for our sliding pleasure.

With everyone splitting the cost it made for a decently inexpensive day of racing (the downside of road racing, of course, is that it's so darn expensive to get track time). With Mackin inviting all the aftermarket companies and magazines out, it made for quite a diverse group. Turbo and Import Tuner ended up being the only magazine editors present, as we are the only ones who actually own our own personal track-preped vehicles and race ourselves. Fine with us, as we get more track time. Also on hand were the guys from A'PEXi, Sparco, Design Craft Fabrication, XS Engineering, ASPEC, TNT Motorsports and many others.

In addition to the wide variety of industry personnel, there was an equally diverse field of vehicles to battle it out for best lap time. There were enough AE86's present to get their own running group, several Lotus Elises, S2000's, Civics, Evo VIII's/IX's and even a couple of Skyline R32's. Divided into groups by skill level (sans the hachi roku group who got to run separate), it's the best way to run a track event to maximize learning and skill improvement. Beginners don't have to feel the pressure of holding up faster cars, and by only allowing passing on the two straightaways it ensures greater safety. This way you can focus on improving your lap time and taking the best line possible - not just on defensive driving and trying to block other cars in the corners.

I rolled into the event with my track-set-up S14, while Turbo's intern came in his Civic and our freelancer in his Evo IX. Import Tuner represented with their pair of Civics. I came with an extra set of tires for the drifting, but never made it out to that course as I was having too much fun on the road course to want to leave it. Being placed in the Advanced group certainly gave me a run for my money, because there seemed to be a positive correlation between advanced skill and advanced vehicle.

If you've followed the build of my S14 in Turbo you know that it has a great suspension system from Peak Performance and A'PEXi, and a wheel/tire combination for the track (Enkei RPF2 wrapped with Nitto NT01 DOT-legal track rubber); but we haven't messed too much with the power plant yet. The 240SX is equipped with the basic header, intake, exhaust and performance camshafts, but we were still severely down on power compared to the other vehicles in the run group. What this translated to on the track was that I held my own in the corners, but on the straightaways I was blown away. Knowing that I am as fast as Lotus Elise, S2000 and Skyline drivers on the curves is a big ego boost for the modest S14; but clearly these other cars' horsepower (often twice as much as our Nissan) came out when I was pitifully slow on the straights. Speeds were as high as 110 mph on the straights while the S14 was averaging 90 mph. As a highlight I did consistently pass an Aston Martin on the tight Streets of Willow racecourse. Just because you can afford a high-performance exotic car doesn't necessarily mean you know how to drive one.

Everyone was having so much fun that we barely noticed the scorching summer heat until some cars' oil temperatures rose and cool down laps were needed. Mackin Industries threw a great event with everyone of all skill levels walking away feeling like they had improved the finer points of their road course driving. Our choice in suspension and wheel/tire combination worked great for the S14, but I definitely yearn now to add more power to the equation so I can hold my own with higher horsepower vehicles at the track. Plans are in store to turbocharge the S14, so watch out at Mackin's next track day...

When we say hotter than hell, we mean that 100% literally, figuratively, whatever - it was hot in every sense of the word. I have never been in such desert heat before in my life - then again neither had most of the D1 drivers. With the mercury hitting 112 and track temperatures hitting 150, the drivers entered a whole new blistering territory.

This D1 Las Vegas exhibition match was the most nerve-racking suspense-filled drifting event I have ever witnessed. Pit crews were constantly struggling to adjust the cars so they wouldn't go flying off the asphalt. Scorching heat and marbleized rubber do not make for an easy drift around the track. We witnessed the best of the best Japanese pro-drifters slam their cars into the wall because the pavement was simply too damn hot to get enough traction. Their usual 100+mph entry speeds were now a recipe for disaster. With each car that came down the track, the crowd watched and wondered in nail-biting suspense if this next heat-challenged drifter was going to hit the wall.

Further complicating matters was that the track temperature varied greatly from when the drivers practiced in the afternoon to when their final runs took place at night. What worked for them earlier was often a huge miscalculation later in the day. Adding to the challenge of the unrelenting heat was that the Las Vegas Motor Speedway set up a very narrow course that didn't leave a lot of room for error. Gone was the banked expanse of the California Irwindale track - this was a narrow short course that barely fit two cars side-by-side.

The fans were amazing in spirit and number, considering the sweat-inducing heat. Some of the attendees in the huge crowd were specially rewarded as they got up close to the action: the bleachers were so near the track many walked away with tire spew all over their faces.

Our favorite D1 announcer, Toshi Hayama, kept everyone entertained throughout the heat wave. In between runs the crowd got to check out the pits, which were not roped off so you could see every detail of the drift cars' set-up and the action of the crew changing suspension specs and tires. After all the crashes there was a lot of duct-taping bodywork going on as well. This event was also run at the same time as the NHRA Sport Compact series so fans could alternate between watching drifting and drag-racing.

This Grand Prix featured over twenty drift cars, with about half of their drivers being American, and about half being Japanese. All of the Japanese favorites were on hand to sign autographs for the fans, including Kazama, Yuke's Kumakubo, Yoshihara and monkey-man Nomura. The Drift King himself, Tsuchiya, also met with fans as he announced the event for Option video. The American drivers also put out an impressive showing, with Tanner Foust of AEM leading the way. Foust managed an unprecedented 120 qualifying points, a first in D1GP history, and was the first qualifier among all of the drivers. Unfortunately for Foust, he was out in the first round after a sticky emergency brake caused him to not stop in time and tap opponent Tanaka, an automatic disqualification. It was a sad event for the American side, as he was our best candidate to try and take the win.

Also representing for the American side was Alex Pfeiffer, who, after smashing his AE86 previously, was now piloting the show car worthy BRS RX-7. This pink beauty was designed for time attacks, so Alex was facing an uphill battle to make it cooperate for drifting. Ultimately a throttle problem knocked him out during the first round of the Best 16.

Although young scion Ken Gushi was on hand with his Mustang, he was clearly no match for Toshiki Yoshioka, who took his Corolla all the way to the final win.

In not so glorious news, Dynamic Autosports' Robbie Nishida took off his Quaker State 240's front bumper and failed to make the Best 16.

Also not making it to the Best 16 was Blitz's Nomuken, who smashed the legendary GT-R (and Turbo cover car) into the wall during one of the final qualifying rounds. After head mechanic Abe had stayed up all night perfecting the car, it was quite a sad sight.

Right after Nomuken crashed, two other Japanese drift cars also saw the wall. With the American drivers going next they saw the consequences of 90+mph entry speeds so they took it a little slower in the 80-90mph range. It was difficult for the drivers to find the perfect threshold between going too slow and looking sluggishly uncompetitive and going too fast and totaling their vehicles.

After running the Best 16, and the Best 8, the drifting field was whittled down to four: Tanaka in a Skyline, Yoshioka in his Corolla, Komoro also in a Corolla, and Kumakubo piloting an Impreza. Kumakubo was the odds-on favorite, as he has been drifting competitively for something like 15 years. The man has a lot of experience to say the least. He put the smack-down on Komoro's AE86 in the semi-finals and advanced his Suburu to the finals. In the end the engine-that-could won out and Yoshioka's Corolla took home the glory.

For all the riveting action you'll just have to go out and buy the Option DVD to watch it, as our few pictures here can't do these battles justice. (You can also see our Turbo staff ducking as drivers hit the wall that we were precariously standing next to.)

With the crowd waving orange D1 do-rags in the air, this Grand Prix was a resounding success despite the heatstroke-inducing temperatures. Hopefully all of the partying the D1 drivers did in Sin City eased away their memories of crashing and losing. We hope D1 returns to Las Vegas next year since it's a great destination for out of town fans to fly in, see some spectacular drifting, and hit the sights and sounds of the Vegas Strip. Just bring your hats, sunscreen, ice packs, misters and fans with you.

Stillen is known not just for its racing heritage, but also for its generous open house parties. Last year over 800 350Z and G35 enthusiasts stormed Stillen's headquarters and overfilled the parking lots to show off their rides. Fans of Steve Millen flocked from all over the country to get a glimpse of his facility that houses the factory, R&D, and service center.

This year's open house matched the numbers and excitement in the air. So many people turned out that the police barricaded the street and directed traffic. The Stillen crew threw a great event with lots of activities to keep everyone entertained. Some of the bonuses included: free food (always a plus), raffles, factory tours, seminars, product Q&A, immediate installations of products, the car show and of course the big hit - the dyno.

Like a hands-on children's museum, Stillen displayed their 50-state-legal forced induction kit for Z and G35 enthusiasts to touch and inspect. Other items also up for sale for the Z and G included: suspension parts, sway bars, camber adjusters, engine dampeners and strut bars. Stillen is, of course, also known for their popular urethane bodywork available for the 350Z and G35. In addition to Stillen's products they also invited out other Nissan/Infiniti parts distributors such as ACT, Eibach and Mackin Industries.

The highlight of the day was the opportunity for everyday Nissan owners to test out their vehicles and see for themselves the difference in horsepower the aftermarket products made. Big crowds huddled around the dyno as enthusiasts unleashed their road warriors on the rollers. The loud, frantic scream of engines hitting redline was music to everyone's ears.

The Stillen open house was fun and everyone seemed to drive away satisfied. You can bet this will be another blowout event next year too.

Rolling in Turbo's Project tC, built for Scion's tC debut, we wound north through the Los Angeles freeways until we hit the Valley. Aside from being home to Valley girls, the San Fernando Valley is also the location of Turbonetics' headquarters. A proven leader in the turbo industry, Turbonetics held a Scion tC meet at their facility to promote their recently released tC turbo kit.

Having been to a bunch of meets and open houses I gotta say that Turbonetics certainly knows how to throw a party and keep the crowd happy. With free T-shirts, BBQ lunch, DJ, and tons of raffle giveaways, a good time was had by all. Rows and rows of tCs were lined up showing off their wares. Turbonetics opened their doors for visitors to check out the facility, and to run their cars on the dyno.

Turbo received tons of accolades from attendees for our Spectra-blue beauty of a tC. What was surprising to us is that we built our tC three years ago at the launch of the Scion model, and yet it still was one of the best looking cars at the meet (per comments from other tC owners there). When we modified the pre-production tC there were no parts available for it, and cosmetic body kits hadn't been released yet. Nonetheless, we did what we could at the time; and the end result was a pretty damn clean tC tuner. Three years later, our rush build still stands out from the crowd.

Turbo was also on hand to give away an exhaust system, which will be tested and featured in one of our future issues. The winner of the system was a local chap from Redondo Beach, California, although other folks had driven out from other states to attend this event.

Our stomachs filled with barbeque, we headed back to "the O.C." in our tC blue bomber. We didn't even get pulled over by po-po in our no-plate project. Like Ice Cube said: today was a good day. We suggest you locals check out Turbonetics' website for future car meets.

Itinerary
1/10 (W) Depart USA (main group from LAX)
1/11 (Th) Arrival in Tokyo
1/12 (F) All Day at TAS event "Industry & Media Day"
1/13 (S) TAS event (AM); Super Autobacs (PM)
1/14 (S) Twin Link Motegi Tour by RAZO & Nitto
1/15 (M) Depart Tokyo (main group to LAX)

Price
Package prices are per person based on double occupancy.
LAX Dep main group:
Early Bird $1850 (by 10/31 w/full payment)
Regular $1950 (11/01-11/30 w/full payment)
Other City Dep: Please contact Kintetsu.

Sign-up deadline: First 40 TO sign up or 11/30/2006
Package includes
1) R/T economy airfare (JAL) to Tokyo, Japan
2) R/T airport transfer in Tokyo (Charter Bus or Limousine Bus)
3) 4 nights hotel at Shinagawa Prince Hotel, New Tower
4) TAS VIP Pass (for entire event days include Friday, Industry & Media Day)
5) Twin Link Motegi Tour by RAZO & Nitto
6) Ground transportation for entire scheduled itinerary
7) Bilingual Tour Escort from Los Angeles (01/10 Wed - 01/15 Mon)
8) Bilingual Tour Guide in Japan (01/12 Fri - 01/14 Sun)
Bonus 1 - Limited Edition TAS tour Jacket!
Bonus 2 - Early Bird Discount! - Sign up by 10/31/06 and save!

Tokyo Auto Salon Tour Home Page & Contact info: