No Respect, Project Nissan Sentra Spec-V part 3, Building a Race Ready Suspension System

By Mike Kojima

There are 5 elements that have to work well in a successful time attack car. In order to win, a car has to have lots of power, lots of aerodynamic downforce with minimal drag, good suspension, anchor-like brakes and sticky tires. Of these 5, suspension is the most important system for a winning time attack car. Getting the best possible handling is more important than eeking out every last bit of power from the engine. Without good suspension you cannot get the most out of the tires, brakes, aero or engine. To see older editions of this series click here!

[Read the rest of this article...]

Wrench Tips #1: Take a Picture... by Dave Coleman We turn a lot of wrenches at MotoIQ, and between the bloody knuckles, we've actually learned a thing or two. Going  forward, we'll be posting a helpful tip each friday in the hopes you might screw up one less thing under your hood over the weekend. Enjoy!

 

[Read the rest of this article...]

Wrench Tips #1:  Take a Picture...   ...

[Read the rest of this article...]

Project Acura NSX Part 3, Building a Race Proven C32 Engine

By Billy Johnson and Sarah Forst

Project NSX is the Brainchild of FX Motorsports Development, an NSX tuning shop whose time attack turbo NSX is currently smashing unlimited class records throughout the Redline Circuit. FX Motosports Development is transferring a lot of the knowledge gleaned from their time attack program to build the ultimate NSX turbo street motor. The goals of our motor is to make a rock reliable 530 or so wheel hp on pump gas with the ability to be track driven without missing a beat

[Read the rest of this article...]

The Best-Engineered Cars of LeMons By Dave Coleman The 24 Hours of LeMons is recognized as many things. Incredibly stupid. Safer than OxyContin. A flagrant waste of natural resources. Yes, yes, and yes, but to us, it is also a festival of junkyard engineering. Ever wondered how a Geo Metro would perform with a CBR 900 engine? Ever wondered if you could build a mid-engine, 8-cylinder Can-Am car out of a couple of Vanagons? Ever fantasized about building a mid-engine racecar out of a 1971 Honda Z600, a first-gen RX-7 and a Motorcycle? All this can be found at LeMons, and all of it deserves a closer look.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Freebuilding The Engine

by Dave Coleman

The engine used in this project was freebuilt from no less than four junk engines. Freebuilding is like rebuilding, but without all the stuff that costs money. Ignore all your instincts to think long term, and focus only on what is absolutely necessary to make the engine perform the task at hand -- surviving 14 hours of abuse before exploding. Labor cost, it should be noted, is not considered in LeMons accounting, a fact that can lead to countless lost weekends and the absolute destruction of any social life. You have been warned.

[Read the rest of this article...]

 

How to Turbocharge a Miata for less than $100

by Dave Coleman

After a few timid part-throttle passes listening for detonation, we finally buried the pedal and watched in horror as our little creation ripped off 170 hp on 7 psi of boost, pegging the 100-psi fuel pressure gauge in the process. Shock, horror, giddy satisfaction and abject terror had a bus fight on the way to our heads. Abject terror won the fight. There was no way the car would survive 14 hours of racing at this power level. It would overheat, throw a rod, melt a piston, ping its ring lands into oblivion, and overheat some more. Then the fuel lines would explode and we'd all burn to death. We immediately started trying to figure out how to make less boost.

[Read the rest of this article...]

And on the 8th Day... Falken Tire's S13 Drift Monster By Mike Kojima This is a story of teamwork and determination that began with a Bang.  During the morning practice before the top 32 elimination at the 5th Seattle Round of the Formula D Professional Drift Series, Dai Yoshihara had a serious accident that destroyed the Falken/Discount Tire Lexus IS350 that was featured by us just a few weeks ago. The accident struck a serious blow to Team Falken as the Lexus had just come to a point in its development where it was a force to be reckoned with in Dai’s hands.  With high qualifications in Las Vegas and Seattle, it seemed just a matter of time before Dai and the Lexus would sit on the podium.

[Read the rest of this article...]

The Frankenmiata's construction was so complex, so long, and such a horrendous pain in the ass, a single story couldn't contain it. Click through the ...

[Read the rest of this article...]

A Look Inside, Technosquare's Ultimate Street Car Turbo Nissan VQ35DE

By Mike Kojima

Cheston Chiu’s turbo Nissan 350Z is well known in the Nissan Z community as being a fast well rounded machine.  Cheston’s car is more than just good looking, its been the runner up in Sport Compact Car’s Ultimate Street Car Challenge, placing just 10 skinny points out of first place.

[Read the rest of this article...]