You Can't Beat this Meat

Since most of us are on vacation right now, I'm going to do the same thing and take a vacation from writing about car related shit. I live and breathe cars the other 355 days out of the year so I need a break too.

I'm in the hotel room resting right now from a pretty nasty fall. I've never eaten shit on a snowboard where you roll over head first. The conditions in Niseko are beautiful right now and the snow is literally powder almost everywhere, but falling over on your neck is never a good thing. So I'm going to chill out for the rest of the day. I got in 4 bitchin runs down various slopes today so I'm satisfied for now. In Niseko, the lifts take you WAY up the mountain so ...

Merry Christmas from Niseko, Japan

I just settled in at the Niseko Higashiyama Prince Hotel Tower on Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan. Having only visited inhabited areas of Japan, I've never seen a one car JR train, but I rode in one today that chugged through some pretty desolate areas. I'm up here to get some snowboarding in during the holidays with the Tajimas (I am a friend of the family). While in Hakodate, I visited the Hokunyu dairy processing and packaging plant and tasted some kick ass yogurt, milk, and butter (more on this later).

All I can say is that is absolutely freezing up here. Yes, you can say that I'm a pussy when it comes to cold since I'm from Los Angeles. It's currently -4 deg C her...

Subaru F1 ???

Did you know that in 1990 Subaru attempted to campaign at F1 car? Overall it was a catastrophic failure to compete, but I do give them props for trying. Or props for blasting away a shitload of money is more like it. More than likely this huge expenditure was the result of the Japanese "bubble" economy when the yen was the up and coming world currency in the 1980's. Anyhow, here are the specs I got off of iwoc.co.uk.

Engine configuration - flat 12
Bore x stroke - 84mm x 52.6mm
Capacity - 3498cc
Compression ratio - 11.5:1
Estimated power - 600bhp @ 12,500rpm
Max rpm - 13,000
Engine weight - 159kg

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Used Parts Extravaganza @ XS Engineering

After being in business for 11 years now and collecting junk for just as long, the guys at XS Engineering created a section on the website for "Specials & Clearance" parts. Remember: another man's trash is another man's treasure. This saying can also apply to women, but that's a whole different story. Anyhow, yes I have a personal interest in some of these used parts since some of them belong to me, but there are so many good parts on there that you could almost build a car from purchasing parts from the Specials & Clearance section of the XS Engineering website. There are used parts, parts on special, and clearance items all in one place. There are even random parts such as an

Cool Cars We Miss

My friend Evan Griffey wrote an excellent article on MSN Autos about the cars of yesteryear. Evan was the original editor of Turbo Magazine way back in the day when it was a privately owned magazine at IGC. Evan has been around and knows his stuff. Check it out:

COOL CARS WE MISS<...

DaTruth About Fake Chinese Parts

I was reading the infamous blog written by Damessenjah called DaTruth. There I discovered the most accurate, descriptive, and picturesque analogy of fake Chinese parts. If you pay attention you can see that Damessenjah is a well written fellow who chooses his words eloquently. I love how he clowns the stupid ass FFF - it's hilarious. If you are a FFF, then you'll know exactly what he means and you should learn from his words of wisdom so you don't look so fucking god damn stupid to people in the REAL world. If you are not a FFF, then you'll laugh your ass off. It's funny how Damessenjah references these stupi...

VQ35DE ITBs

ITBs = Individual Throttle Bodies. This is a term that probably originated from the Honda camp back in the late 90's. I think it came from all the Honda nerds that used to say "ITR" for Integra Type R and they thought "ITB" sounded similarly cool. Yes, they THOUGHT. Anyhow, for a naturally aspirated engine, ITBs are the optimum method to control air flow into an engine. It is much easier to adjust runner lengths (air horn lengths) and throttle plate areas all while getting maximum airflow and maintaining maximum airflow velocity. This is why you'll find most race engines from SCCA to F1 with ITBs.

The one part that almost ALL aftermarket ITB installs in America seem to ignore...

While I was at PRI in Orlando last week, I ran into Katsu from HKS USA. HKS Europe displays at PRI annually and Katsu was there helping. I'm not sure why HKS USA doesn't display, but whatever floats their boat. Anyhow, Katsu gave me a quick tour of the almighty, fast as fuck, HKS EVO CT230R Time Attack car. I was told it only makes 520whp on an AWD Dynojet (which typically reads higher than 2WD Dynojets). This car weighs only something like 1080kg or 2376lbs. That is 1000 pounds lighter than a stock EVO! EVO owners and tuners - prepare to drool:

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HKS CT230R EVO - Up Close and Personal

While I was at PRI in Orlando last week, I ran into Katsu from HKS USA. HKS Europe displays at PRI annually and Katsu was there helping. I'm not sure why HKS USA doesn't display, but whatever floats their boat. Anyhow, Katsu gave me a quick tour of the almighty, fast as fuck, HKS EVO CT230R Time Attack car. I was told it only makes 520whp on an AWD Dynojet (which typically reads higher than 2WD Dynojets). This car weighs only something like 1080kg or 2376lbs. That is 1000 pounds lighter than a stock EVO! EVO owners and tuners - prepare to drool:

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3rd World

I'm not usually one to clown the 3rd world countries of the world. However, we who live in the western world usually take things for granted. For example, things like roads, trucks, cars, etc. You would think that in today's day and age that countries like China and places in Africa would have most modern western conveniences. Not so if you are outside of Shanghai, Beijing, or the city ...