I'll just leave this here VIII

I'll just leave this here VII

I'll just leave this here VI

I'll just leave this here V

Not quite epic, but fail none the less

Well the wheels fit... kinda.  In hindsight I should have gone with a 45 series tire rather than a 50.  Been having some rubbing issues on the front, so I figured I would roll the fenders.  Even with a heat gun I managed to crack a little paint.  What's more in trying to get the inner lip flush I put a few small dings on both front fenders.  Looks like next weekend will be spent with a rubber block and small mallet to try to get them out.

On the plus side I only had one small rub since the roll & pull.... and I get to learn a bit more about DIY body work.

Wheels & Tires are on

Pardon the crappy camera phone pictures, it was the easiest way to get something up now.

Got up on the early side and made a few calls to find someone to mount and balance tires I didn't purchase from them on wheels I didn't purchase from them.  Turned out the answer was about a block from home.

So after a few walks and drives; getting the wheels and tires over to the shop in the Jeep, walking home to the get the miata, and back they were on.

Here's the Miata in monster truck mode, I was very worried about fitment at this point.

Then I got home after hearing a few rubs on the block drive home... time to get the baseball bat and do a quick little roll.

No dice, still rubbing, still eating up the tire, gave it another go.  No luck, got to a friend's house and we went crazy on rolling, the need to do so became more apparent when I left some rubber at the entrance to his driveway from the horrible rub that come with turning and going over a bump.

As you can see they fit well, a bit aggressive, and they fill the gap nicely on my car which is only slightly lowered.  The added 20mm of rubber grips much better, though I can feel a bit of added weight coming from the hollow spoke R-package wheels.

Spec Miata Birthday Cake

From Reddit (which is a wonderful site, if you haven't checked it out).  Guy's sister is a Spec Miata Racer, and this is her cake.

The Enkei 92's showed up!!

My Enkei 92's showed up, 15x8, can't wait to get them on!  Hopefully I'll get tires and have them on saturday, I can't friggen wait.  This pic goes with the theme, here they are with a found dollar.

Thank you JSCSpeed, you guys delivered!

I'll just leave this here IV

I'll just leave this here III

3 New 'Cars' posters that are awesome

 

I really liked the first movie, and it's looking like the second will be equally wonderful.

I'll just leave this here II

A bit of prettification

Not done yet, but I was getting sick of the über-plain look.  Just wasn't doing it for me.  It needs a bit more work, which will come, but for someone who once did graphic design professionally (quite a while ago) it just wasn't cutting it.  If you hate it, tell me, if you love it, tell me, if you have suggestions, tell me.

Drop Engineering Lugs came in!

As promised by JSCSpeed, my Drop Engineering lug nuts came in!  These should be the perfect compliment to the Enkei 92's headed my way... can't wait to get it on, no more hellasunk for me!

Just over a week ago I couldn't hold out any longer after seeing a few shots of a black roadster rolling on gold 92's, and needed my own.  Gave Mike at JSCSpeed a ring, and within 10 minutes they were on their way... about two hours later I had a tracking number, and they showed up as promised.  I think I'm going to need to pick up a set of locks too, I'd rather not see a Honda (same fitment, ya know) rolling on my re-releases of these gorgeous classics, so I need to find some.

The lugs look awesome, fortunately Mike counseled me away from red lugs (I'm colorblind as all hell), and suggested the black should match the center caps a bit better.  Hooray for progress!

I'll just leave this here. I

Figured I'd start another semi-regular post, with weird somewhat auto-related imagery.  Some is weird stuff I've found and collected on the depths of my hard drive, some is new finds.

So to start, if ATAT's were famous cars from Karznshit (more at the link)


Plus I'm a geek, so it's a great combo of all the finer funner things in life.

Mike Ryan and his badass Semi

By now some of you have seen this video of Mike Ryan hooning about in a gulf liveried rig.  Fun vid, cool vid, different.... But Mr. Ryan is a certified badass, not because of this vid, but because he pulls the same automotive jackassery up Pikes Peak.  Yes, that man that almost ran me over is one and the same.

First real drive in the FMM

Today was the third annual RSW Jemez/Valle Caldera cruise, about 200 miles though one of the most scenic parts of New Mexico with about 150 cars, and over 200 people... and it was a blast!

It also marks the first real drive in the miata, first go at mountain roads, first time putting real miles on, first time in a small area for hours on end.  I honestly have no complaints.  Since I'm stock, keeping up with GT500's, Supras, Vettes, blown Mustangs, 300z's, and the like was tough on the straights, but through the twisties it was brilliant.

Rolling into the sleepy town of Jemez springs was amazing, we absolutely took it over.  Of course this caused issues for the lunch stop as it seemed we double the population of the town, and had to wait accordingly.

I know there will be more pics coming to show the group, and the picturesque landscape.

Forza 4 Video (has me worried)

This new 'leaked' video of Forza 4 has me concerned.  Too many buzzwards similar to the abortion that was NFS: Shift 2; social, immersive, accessible.  Forza 3 was amazing, an absolute blast, but I realize the learning curve can be tough, and it's certainly not an arcade racer.  This makes me worry they want to turn it in to one to go after more potential customers.  Forza, rather their maker Turn 10, has yet to screw up.  In fact the games have continually gotten better.  Better physics, better features, more cars, more realism.... but this is worrisome.

1982 Toyota Starlet With Turbo G54B Mitsubishi Conquest Motor

Badass.

Kelvin Racing Starlet

From the Speedhunters Facebook Account.

I don't know the story, just that this miata is pure sex.

Very cool drift vid from Russia

The only bad part is half of it is intro, but the production quality and ability of these guys more than makes up for it.  Automotive ballet, sure, but this looks as though Ridley Scott directed it, very very well done.

Sad Video is Sad

Keeps on ticking though...

The Miata Ice Racing Special

Ice racing is a big deal in Canada, and usually dominated by the likes of Lada's factory team. In a fit of motorsport enthusiasm, Mazda decided to take control of the series, and constructed the Ice Racer. Click on the images above to see full size pictures.

The car almost didn't make it. Some higher executives in the factory thought the time and effort should be spent on other things, like figuring out how to formulate more shades of blue for the "regular" Miatas. Thankfully, the enthusiasts prevailed and the Ice Racer was born. Originally slated to be limited to 50 cars, one extra was added for Richard Dekker of Edmonton.

It's a limited homogolation special equipped with a turbocharged V6, full time 4 wheel drive, and radically adjustable suspension. Only 51 were made, and they all share the Safety Orange paint job for easy retrieval from snowbanks. There is no top, giving the Miata Ice Racer a guaranteed victory in the little contested Roadster category.

The engine is modified to deal with ice racing's peculiar demands. Thanks to the sub-freezing temperatures in the sport, Mazda was able to do away with the radiator and oil cooler, lightening the car by 52.1 kilograms. The engine is also fitted with a warm air induction system to help deal with the cold. A turbocharger is fitted to help heat the intake air - it runs at very low boost because of the density of air at the usual cold temperatures. Hotter cams round out the package, and give 268 horsepower in -20 degrees Celsius. Due to these modifications, however, the engine overheats whenever the temperature rises above freezing. Because of this, dry-pavement testing session has never been possible.

The suspension has a full 9 inches of adjustability. On a smooth, well prepared track, the car is run in the lowest position to lessen drag and take advantage of ground effects. This is the ice racing equivalent of a superspeedway. On a "natural" track, however, the car is run at its highest setting to avoid snowdrifts and other course debris such as ice fishermen. The tires are heavily studded with half inch bolts. The tranmission is a 5 speed, driving a full time 4 wheel drive through three Torsen differentials.

Thanks to this all out effort, Mazda has been able to wrest the ice racing crown from the Lada team, winning the championships at the 1995 Ice Racing Break-Ups.

Performance is stunning, to say the least. 0-100 kmh in 6.3 seconds on glare ice! If you ever get a chance to experience one of these creatures, do not pass up the opportunity.

Borrowed from: http://keith.miata.net/iceracer.html

LSX Powah!

LS6 in an E36 = win.  Bonus points for a great vid.  From Skylinelife

AMF | Carl Nadeau - Dmcc 2010 Highlights from Jordan Hamelin on Vimeo.

Jim Guthrie on Speedhunters.com

As I just said, I love speedhunters.com, and one of the reasons is great coverage of so many events.  Looking on my facebook stream I see Jim Guthrie posted some pics from speedhunters, so I had to find them.

Great show on your first year of drifting Jim, keep it up!

Dear EA Games: You fail.

Before I delve into the bad, let me start with the good.  I posted on the Speedhunters.com board that the game which they were shilling for, NeedForSpeed Shift 2, sucked.  Speedhunters didn't moderate that comment.  Good on ya guys, I appreciate it.

EA, you said this was a sim, you said you were going after Forza and GT5, you said you recorded all these sounds, said you were the same team that made real sims, said it wasn't an arcade racer.

Part of me is appreciative, one less distraction, but I'm not appreciative to be fleeced out of $60 for rehashed crap.

You lied, and you should be ashamed.

Big ups to Sean from Solid Tech

My friend Sean participated in the Texas mile this year, while I try to find a vid from that event, here is a clip from him from that same week, he's in the dirty-sick-nasty turbo Camaro throwing down a 9.04.

I'm really looking forward to NFS: Shift 2

ALMS driver Tommy Milner tears up Laguna Seca, not in his usual M3, but a C6R.  And not a whiff of petrol in sight, this is in game footage from the new Need For Speed game.  Being the dork racing game aficionado I am, I have it pre-ordered, and intend on picking it up on release day, tomorrow, March 29th. I really wish they had waited until mid June for release, this will be a detractor from studying :(

Sofakinghawt

Entirely non-miata, not even car, but still makes me feel happy in all the same ways (and more).  Keira Knightly is schilling for ol' girl Coco, and someone had the admirable idea put her on a Ducati. (looks like the Paul Smith sport classic, I think).  Less words, more goods.

Miata Pr0n Vol XII

Linhbergh of Speedhunters was poking around in Houston at a Miata meet, and saw this beast.  Part daily, part track slut, all business.

So, without ado, here are a few thousand of his talented words.

Keep up the good work man.

Well this is embarrassing....

It's been so long! Work, and studying for the LSAT has been eating me alive.  I wound up with an unexpected alteration in my employment, hope it will be for the best... plus I'm trying to prepare myself to kick the LSAT's butt in June.  We shall see...

Despite the distractions, the FMM is not on hold, quite the contrary.

Where to begin?  How about today! Though I'm still waiting in $700 in found money to roll in via two photo gigs, I figured I'd go ahead and blow it.  I had a great chat with Mike from JSCSpeed and after about 10 minutes of ordering, and bsing, I have a set of 15x8 +25 Enkei 92's on the way! Mike said I was the first to man up and order, which is a bit of a leap seeing as how so few are in the US right now.

I gotta fess up a bit, I chose gold, and for a weird reason.  I have a brassy old lady of a neighbor who drives a pontiac GTA.  I really like her car, almost everything about it, especially the red body on gold mesh wheels. Plus having an STi helped cure my aversion to odd wheel colors.

And so the wheels stay around, I picked up some Drop Engineering lug nuts as well.  I'm psyched.

Holy OMG fast Miata

So it's not a Miata Powered Miata, it's an RB of some sort (some contention on if it's an RB25 or RB26), but it is a bad mutha.  9.84 at 143mph is something sick, and the owner should be very very proud.

I heart racing games... I said it

I'm a huge dork.  I admit it.  I drug my girlfriend out so my dear friend Jerry and I could be at the midnight release of Forza 3.  I loved the Gran Turismo series (but have no ps3, nor patience). Historically the Need For Speed games are lots of fun for an hour, then the arcadey physics and game play, coupled with hokey story lines, get old.

I've been skeptically reading the updates on Need For Speed: Shift 2 on the speedhunters site.  Thinking they were shilling for some dough.  Then thinking it looked like a cool customize option that would lay on a crappy arcade foundation.  Then being cautiously optimistic it was a legit racing game.  Now...now I gotta say I'm psyched for it to come out.

Foamectomy

I did, or rather tried to do, a foam ectomy on the Miata.  Since I couldn't fit in with a helmet I wasn't doing my part in enjoying it, so I had to do something about it.  I'm thinking it may need a bit of a revision, I don't think I could come close to passing a broomstick test at this point.  On the bright side it wasn't tough.

Did both sides, my fiance is a gorgeous 6 foot tall former collegiate volley ball player, and I'm 6'2" so room in the Miata is a bit of an issue.  Soon as I hop in with a helmet I'll report back... or cut more.

After removing the seat and undoing the never ending hog rings holding the cover on, I had to cut out much of the foam under the shovel.  It wasn't pretty so I'll spare you.  On the bright side zip-ties make for a good, and more finger-friendly hog ring replacement.

The opposite of the Miata under car vid

A few days back I posted a vid from under a Miata tearing up the track, allowing you to see what a workout the suspension gets.  Totally different sort a vehicle (dragster) and a totally different sort of racing. Enjoy!

The current state of the legality of the Nissan Skyline

This isn't Miata related, but it is car related, moreover Japanese sports car related.  It also involves great interests of mine, namely law, government, and politics.

It's a sorta lengthy read, but a good read, an informative read, and a great tale of how a keystone of the Skyline community is now on a warpath.

http://skyline-life.blogspot.com/2011/03/state-titled-nissan-skyline-gets-seized.html

So you remember the Bike v Car drift right? The RX7 is gonna be...

Soooo much sicker this season.  If you don't know what vid I speak of here it is.  Well, it will still be driven by former Indy driver Jim Guthrie, but now it has a blower, more yellow, and a wide body.

I cannot wait to see this beast A. Completed, and B. Tear it up!

More Awesome Car Art!

Xander Walker is the Shep Fairey of the motorway, and the Lewis Hamilton of the gallery.... and you can buy his work on Etsy (which is a great site in it's own right).  Plus, each of these unique hand painted (with a stencil), signed pieces is only $25.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/strassenversion?ref=pr_shop_more

Miata Suspension work out

Seriously awesome video from youtube showing a rather unorthodox angle of a Miata killin it (I assume) at an auto-x.  Amazing to see what a workout the suspension gets.

Miata goes... Ice Racing!

Mazda MX-5 on Ice

4 hour race for journalists, TV fans and readers

20 modified racing MX-5s set to start

Extensive programme with training sessions, qualifying and the race

Åre, Sweden, 21 February 2011. Mazda opens the 2011 motorsport season on Swedish ice. After the successful MX-5 Open Race last year, Mazda is inviting racing enthusiasts to Sweden for the MX-5 Ice Race from 21 to 24 February 2011. A total of 20 modified MX-5s, tuned for driving on ice and wearing spike tyres, will participate in the four-hour race on the ca. 5 km grid.

The MX-5s will be piloted by teams from 26 participating nations, among them motor journalists with racing experience, and TV fans and readers who won tickets to the event in special contests. The four-day event in Åre, Sweden will include two extensive training sessions, a qualifying session to determine pole and starting positions, along with the race itself which is divided into two sessions. When the snow settles, the team that drives the most laps during the four hour race will win.

Mazda MX-5 Ice Race provides exciting Finish

Lake Kallsjön, Sweden, 24 February 2011. Mazda's MX-5 roadster proved again yesterday its pure sports cars genes, this time on ice in Sweden at the Mazda Ice Race 2011. Clear blue skies and polar temperatures provided the right conditions for an exhilarating festival of drift and control as drivers from 26 nations competed in specially modified roadsters for a podium finish.

Day 1 – the Aussie's make it look easy
After Tuesday's practice sessions and qualifying, a clear favourite emerged with the Australian team, which dominated Day 1 and took pole position. They also won the hearts of everyone by wearing swimming trucks over their racing overalls – in honour of summer down under – and driving with a tiny kangaroo mascot fastened to the top of their car's safety cage. They made it look easy on Day 1 with their only real challenge coming from the Russian team, which took second on the grid.

Day 2 – Russian Heroics and Belgium Consistency
Race day featured beautiful blue skies, glistening snow and a morning temperature
of -31º C. This ensured ideal conditions on the ice of Lake Kallsjön, which is located in the Östersund region of west-central Sweden. The race itself was conducted in two sessions, each two hours long, with the car completing the most laps the winner. Like last year's MX-5 Open Race in Italy, it was drifting control and not pure speed that proved the decisive factor in the race. The Australians continued to dominate as they had on Day 1 and led for nearly the entire race. But then a small mistake, a spin-out, and Russia overtook them at the end, holding on for the chequered flag; with Australia second.

Russia's win followed some amazing heroics from the team. They began the race in second place but spun-out early, fell back to 14th, only to battle their way back to second by the end of the first session. They then patiently held this spot, hoping for a miracle, and were able to capitalise on Australia's misfortune at the end of the final session for a truly exciting win. The Belgium team displayed the consistently good driving you would expect from last year's MX-5 Open Race winners, coming from far back in the pack to take third. The unforgettable day out on the ice culminated with a Champagne spray on the podium from the three winning teams.

The Mazda Ice Race 2011 was crowned later that evening at a gala dinner and show for pilots, teams and invited guests who had won a Mazda competition in their home countries for a place at the event. Jeff Guyton, Mazda Motor Europe's President and CEO, gave a short speech and presented trophies to the tired but happy winners. This was followed by dinner and a celebration of MX-5 Ice Race memories lasting late into the night.

Stolen from Autoblog

Words, words, words, awesome video of miatas ice racing.

Check out my friend Dan's build blog!

My badass friend Dan has a blog up on his drift car.  The guy is an amazing driver, and a really great guy, and can be seen in this video as the flag guy, and in this video as the guy drifting, as well as the main drifter from Albuquerque in keepdriftingfun.com 's upcoming vid!

So give him some love http://danbrockettdrift.blogspot.com/

Overdue update of the Registry

I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  I have the Miata, Hardtop, some extra parts, and a bunch of stuff left to sell.... but the FMMF is in the red for $1,221.92.

I'm deadset on picking up the Enkei 92's asap, and those with tires are going to be another $900ish.  Fortunately I have some more found money coming in to offset the bulk of that, but still looking at needing to make up another $1500 or so still, since I really want to keep to the idea of the FMM.

Miata Pr0n Vol XI

Taken from a collection of pictures from the parking lot at the Tokyo Auto Salon.  And again, shamelessly stolen from Speedhunters.  Of course there are many other pictures in the collection, Skylines, RX7's, and even a lowrider.  Something to suit many different fetishes.

Miata Special Edition for the big 900k

Mazda is releasing a new special edition to celebrate hitting the 900,000 Miata mark.  Saying special edition Miata doesn't mean a helluva lot, since there are 30 some special editions in the 22year old history of the model, but cool none the less.

More words over at Autoblog

Might be true, might be false, might be funny

Found randumbly on the intardwebs.  We've heard it all before, Miatas are hairdresser cars, etc etc.  I won't feed into this by bitching about the boxster either.  I'll just set this here.

Miata Pr0n Vol ???

Very hot roadster & RX4 relaxing by the side of the Highway in Japan.  Via Mike Garrett of SpeedHunters