When the title of a movie is “Death Race” and it’s about drivers trying to inflict maximum bodily harm on everyone – and everything – around them, fluff like characterization, plot, and theme should rightfully be on the side lines or, better yet, as roadkill.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment brings all that explosive glory from the big screen to the little 50 inch HDTV. Main badass Jensen Ames/Frankenstein, played by real-world “I’m an action god” Jason Statham; his Ford Mustang Fastback; and navigator Case take on the best/worst drivers in future America’s answer to extreme reality shows. Yeah, the movie’s a remake of Death Race 2000, which starred ultra-cool “Kill Bill” David Carradine, but jacked up – and how! – with today’s techno whiz bang stuff. Incidentally, when’s Natalie Martinez, who plays the delectable Case, gonna be on Maxim or, preferably, Playboy?

Anyway, if you want more recap, go Google or Wikipedia yourself. Death Race DVD, which comes in both the regular version (which we saw) and Blu-Ray (which you should get), contains both the theatrical release and the longer and, in our opinion, better unrated version.

Bonus features are different on each disc. Both show how the movie was made, from production work to interviews with Statham. Incidentally, he should have been the new James Bond, not “don’t I look like an underwear model in my blue speedo?" Daniel Craig. We're just saying.

"Behind the Wheel" is, to us, the best feature of both discs. There, the secrets of the spectacular car stunts with their human castmates are unveiled. (Yeah, we’re biased. Long live the Machine!)

We couldn’t believe what was on the Blu-Ray. First, there was the “Tech Specs” selection. Besides spec (get it?) details on the hot Ford Mustang, we got the lowdown on the other vehicles; their drivers; crew; and, of course, Case (who's even hotter).

“U Control” and “Picture In Picture” allowed us to simultaneously watch the movie and see how it was made. Sweet. But the best part occurred once we connected our disc to the Internet. We could, using “BD-Live”, create our own races and share them with other Blu-Ray friends (whether they liked it or not). We could:

• Create our own races via our own audio, video, and even text info with “My Movie Commentary.”
• Dub a pivotal race scene in the movie as the announcer. Even better, submit your dub to a contest where Director Paul W.S. Anderson will select the winners. Woohoo! Time to polish up that Oscar nomination.

UPDATE:  We’ve just received word that they’ve extended the deadline of the competition to February 1st. 

• Create a montage of scenes and share our Oscar-worthy efforts through “My Scene Sharing”, then watch the movie in sync (even with friends in Bora Bora) and trade messages while watching via “My Chat.” Note that both standard and Blu-Ray versions have commentary from director Anderson and producer Bolt.
  

Other stuff includes avatars and trailers.

So what’s the lowdown on the Death Race DVD? We liked it, if you hadn’t guessed by now. We’re fans of cartoony violence, exploding cars, and hot race navigators like Case. Mmmm. Case. Seeing how it's all done made us appreciate the movie even more.

So, you “Fast & Furious” wannabes, get away from your riced Honda Civics or, god forbid, Scion xAs, and buy the movie. We’ll be waiting for you wusses at Terminal Island.

For more information, you can click here to go to the official Death Race movie site.

Turbo Magazines got some exciting projects in the works. In our upcoming issue we take the new R35 as a new project car with plans to ramp up the horsepower using the new  HKS GT570 racing package.

HKS R35 GT 570

If you thought the R34 power was something to doll about wait till you see what our new project car did on the dyno.

  •  GT570 Racing Package

    •  Legamax Premium Muffler

    •  Super SQV - Sequential Blow-off Valve Kit

    •  Hipermax III Sport

    •  Super Hybrid Filter

    •  Super Fire Racing Spark Plugs

After months of planning we made the trip out to Puerto Rico without knowing what to expect...

To say Puerto Rico is repping the import scene is an understatement after seeing all the 7,8, and 9-second cars roaming the island, many of which are driven on the streets as commuter cars. Look for our upcoming magazine as we plan to dedicate all our hard work and effort into a special edition PR issue!

Its a sad day as its been seven years since that fateful day that took thousands of lives in NYC.

September 11th will be forever in our hearts in and minds as those tragic photos and videos of the twin towers brings an eerie feeling. I can go on and talk about how our president was quick to jump into war and make a mess of our great country but this is a time to reflect on those who lost loved ones. We will never forget you.

Im sitting at my computer when i recieve a text message that read "Cindy Mc Cain drifts", followed by a weblink post to a ESPN website. At first i thought it was a hoax linking me to Rick Rolling on You Tube or some porn site. I clicked on the site and couldnt beleve my eyes!

There was Cindy Mc Cain sitting in a auto garage with a 240sx in the background. My friend from Hawaii best summed it up by saying "meen da buss 240 in the background"
Translation: Thats cool check out the busted looking 240 in the background.
Anyways as i continue to watch the video i notice shes really into the sport! Mc Cain is sitting there explaining how to initiate and what to expect when drifting. Pretty sick if you ask me. Who would have imagined a Presidential hopefuls wife appreciates and does something we all enjoy. I think its time to vote for Mc Cain and have his wife legalize drifting and modified vehicles. Yeah i know its a long shot but who knows?!?
In case you missed the video check out the link

Cindy Mc Cain Driftin interview

Turbo Magazine's been hard at work testing the new Subaru STI '08 and were happy to report that the new found power numbers achieved were very promising.

Our final test results netted over 102 lb-ft. of torque and 60+hp over our stock runs. Be  sure to check out the upcoming December issue as we breakdown the parts and testing used to net those numbers.

This week i ran into a problem with my Subaru. Literally.

Driving on the 57 freeway  in the 3rd lane i noticed a 300M driving next to me. There happened to be a pole sitting in the lane closer to the dividing lane. The jerkoff begins to veer into the line and flings the metal object into the air towards my car. Now i didnt have time to manuvre as im not Jackie Chan and dont have reflexes to dodge projectiles. All i hear is a loud noise as the metal bar hits my car. I cuss and swear but cant do much as i enter the work parking lot. I park the car and jump out and to my suprise see the pole sticking out my grill. Grill was damaged, Stil emblem toast, carbon hood cracked, HKS intercooler badly mauled on the top, AC condenser core smashed (possibly broken), and horn smashed beyond repair. I guess im lucky it didnt fly through the winshield and impale me!

Turbo magazine is dedicated to all things performance and you as the reader have come to realize how much weve changed over the past few months.

In a quest to further facilitate our expansion and growth in readership we would like to ask you as our readers to send us a email at Turbo@sourceinterlink.com and let us know what you want to see more within the magazine. From more tech to specific stories give us some input to make us an even better magazine. Thanks Scott

Evasive Motorsports cylinder head returned from Portflow after recieving some light port cleaning and valve job after Hiro from SP Engineering had done most of the porting in house.

Look forward to some additional coverage on the Evasive 4G63 as it goes through extensive modifications with plans to compete in the upcoming  November Super Lap Battle

We've been working hard at Turbo Magazine to bring you some of freshest content within the import performance market as of current. Recently, our diligent intern Travis Hargrave put together a My SPace webpage which in our opinion was long overdue.

If  your a member on My Space come by and check out our webpage. We will be updating current issues and future issue cover pages as a sneak peak teaser for all our readers. Dont forget to add us as your friend!

Turbo Magazine My Space webpage

Come check us out this weekend July 12-13th at Willow Springs for our Super Lap Battle Qualifying round.

Do you think you have what it takes to compete with the biggest name tuners in the world? Only way to get an invite to our Final event in November at Buttonwillow is to place in the top 3 in Street, Limited or Unlimited classes. Some of the top teams to scheduled to appear is the C-West/BC/Design Craft carbon S2000, Crawford in their brand new STI and World Racing with Rado piloting the road race Scion TC.

Prepping a vehicle for an event or trade show isnt exactly the funnest of times.

I know i should be grateful to attend and showcase my vehicle but its a total pain in the ass if you know what im talking about! Anyone care to chime in and tell me some horror stories?

Turbo Magazine is looking for a few good men or women to join as freelancer photographers or tech writers to contribute for Turbo Magazine.

Take note that this is not a full time job at Turbo but a month to month freelance gig. Think you got what it takes? Were not looking for dreamers or candidates that are wet behind the ears looking to brush up their skills. We need qualified people who specialize in their skills who can contribute right out the box and deliver the highest quality work that Turbo Magazine is known for. If you feel this is your calling hit us up at Turbomagazine@sourceinterlink.com

This past weekend i had an opportunity to fly out to Chicago and witness firsthand AMS Performance and their facility. To say their shop and staff are bad ass is an understatment.

The meet was met with high expectations and it didnt dissapoint as over 100 people across the states including a caravan of cars and people from Canada made the treck. From dyno contests, a Gran Tousimo 5 showdown to a shitload of cars on display they had it all.  Heres a few images and check out our upcoming novemeber issue for a full story!

Hey guys we need to hear some opinions from you and have you vote for SP Engineering and Turbo Magazine in our Castrol Syntec Top Shop Challenge. Were gonna blow the competitors out of the water!

Vote as many times as you want! Theres no limit! Help us rise from the bottom of the voting pack and watch the RB26DETT wreck *** up.

Super Lap Battle at Long Beach Grand Prix had its ups and downs with plenty of engine failures, fires, and problems but it ended off on a posative note with Factor X of LV posting some fast ass times. Were talking 5 seconds off the ALMS cars times if you factor in this is the first time any of the cars or drivers have raced on the Long Beach course.

Along with our redesign and changes being made to the magazine, we would like you, as readers to play a more integral role in building Turbo Magazine into the leading  automotive performance magazine. 

How can you help? Its quite simple. If you think your cars got what it takes to be a recognized as a cover, feature, or even a readers ride, send us some high resolution photos (300dpi) minimum along with specs and future plans. Have some interesting tech stories or stories you'd like us to cover? Hit us up at turbomagazine@sourceinterlink.com and we'll be sure to answer your questions or consider your ride for a future issue.   -Scott

For everyone who comes to the Turbo Magazine website to religiously check to see if any updates on content or feature updates have been made, you'll be in for a pleasant surprise in the next few months. While were working hard  on redesigning the new and improved Turbo Magazine, with more tech coverage and feature cars than ever before, the website has been given the green light to be revamped as well. What does this mean? For starters it means periodic updates and mo more photos or content on our main page from 2001. You know and i know, seeing down loadable wallpapers from 1999 and limited interaction with editorial staffers such as I are just a few of the reasons this site has never been able to flourish. While theres no guarantees we will become the next big thing on the Internet, we can honestly say look for us on a more consistent basis as we will continue to bridge the gap between Turbo magazine and our website. The world wide web will be become a invaluable tool for us as we look to find readers rides, needs and wants from our readers in terms of content, and any thoughts or comments on a certain tech feature or unresolved issue you might have with a story we recently ran. Until then I'll keep blogging at random hours of the day and hope you keep coming back to this site in hope of creating our own nitch community.   -Scott Tsuneishi

Ever want to see which motor can be built to put out the most power? Lucky for us Castrol Syntec wants to find out too.

For 2008 we’re going to go head to head with our sister publications Super Street, Import Tuner, Modified, Sport Compact Car, eurotuner and even Lowrider to see who can make the most crank horsepower and torque. Since every magazine focuses on different motors we decided to measure this contest by horsepower per liter. This way when the Lowrider guys show up with a 7 liter LS7 motor, things will be on a level playing field. Now to complicate things a little there’s a displacement multiplier for using turbos. (yeah seems a little biased to us too). But we’re not going to let that get in the way though since we hit up our friends at SP Engineering, one of the premier tuners of the venerable Nissan GTR RB26DETT, to become Castrol Syntec’s Top Shop. We’re looking to go over 1000 horsepower with this motor on 100 octane so make sure you follow the build in the magazine as well ask check out our progress at www.SyntecTopShopChallenge.com.

So, you've made the decision to finally convert that "street/strip" car of yours into a full-on racecar.  I've found a lot of enthusiasts have their motors built to the brim with every forged internal possible...over-engineering is good. 

So your motor is built for 1500 whp but you're "only" knocking on 600whp.  Think Big.  As in Garrett's newest ball-bearing brethren.  Wow.  I can hear the NHRA rulebooks crackling...

Wow.  Everyone knew it would happen...but again, wow.  Click the link below for more.

http://www.nhra.com/content/news.asp?articleid=17880

I found the solution.  Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.  15x7 +35et clears 12.2" Wilwood 6-piston Superlite (not the crappy Dynalites) calipers.  Throw on a set of 225/50 BFG Comp T/A Drag Radials for 1/4 mile while still retaining your big brakes for your Honda.  Wow.

And the best part is the price.  $250 or so for the pair.  Nice.

I've test driven a few new cars, notable the Evo IX MR, WRX STI, and 350Z.  I'm not impressed with either.

Especially for the $31k - 35k they run fully loaded.  One of my buddies has an R33 GTR, and even though its somewhat dated, it so much more car.  Ultimately, the R34 would be the best bet.  I took a spin in one, and with mild tuning and a set of Ohlins coilovers, wow.  If you had your choice, what would you ***

I hate compromises sometimes.  400whp tuned for the track, 250whp for the street. 

You want decent brakes with large enough rotors for the road course, but when you want to bolt on a set of slicks, you can't (due to brake clearance).  I'm going to be doing some research to figure out how the 4x100 people out there can get the best of both worlds.  What solution have you used?

Nissan 350Z GT-S.  Sweet!

Loving the Nismo wheels...in that legendary bronze hue that Ray's made famous on the TE37.  Why don't more manufacturers anodize the lip?  Beats me...